Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Loose Cultivator Father and Daughter, Red Essence Ganoderma

Hongya Marketplace, Spirit Beast Restaurant.

When Zhou Chun was the only one left in the shop, his happy life began.

Due to the shortage of manpower in his family, Zhou Daoyi had not been able to replenish much stock during his recent trip to the marketplace, so many of the items in the shop still had only a limited quantity in stock.

The previous discount sale had caused many cultivators to purchase stocks for reserve, so they had no need to return to the Spirit Beast Restaurant to buy the same items for a while.

So even though he was alone now, there were actually fewer things to do in the shop, and it was rare to have even a few customers visit in a day.

Besides cultivating every day, Zhou Chun had plenty of time and leisure to practice spells and read books.

He had even taken down the notice suspending the purchase of spiritual objects and started to use his own personal spirit coins to purchase some spiritual medicine from outside.

Zhou Chun had accumulated three to four hundred spirit coins through buying low and selling high, which was a considerable amount of assets.

If he didn’t need those spirit coins as capital, he could even go to “Heavenly Treasure Pavilion” to purchase another first-grade high-quality magic artifact.

For Zhou Chun now, the only downside was that he had almost lost contact with his family.

To get news about the five major immortal cultivation family clans, he could only rely on scouting other families’ shops or gathering information from loose cultivators.

One day, as Zhou Chun was reading a book inside the shop, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from outside the store.

He looked up to see a man and a woman striding into the shop.

The man was a middle-aged male with several shallow scars on the right side of his face, seemingly wounded by some beast’s claws, with a cultivation level that was surprisingly at the eleventh level of Qi Refinement Realm.

The woman was a beautiful young lady dressed in a light blue dress with half of her face below her nose covered by a light blue veil, revealing only a pair of bright, spirited eyes and fair forehead; her cultivation was at the fifth level of Qi Refinement.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Chun immediately judged that these two people were likely a father-daughter duo of loose cultivators.

The origins of loose cultivators in the cultivation world are very complex.

Some were originally ordinary people who by chance obtained a cultivation technique and happened to possess a spiritual root, thus embarking on the path of cultivation.

These loose cultivators are the worst, with hardly any prospects to speak of.

Without guidance, they might not even be aware of the evil Qi, or even if they learn about the harmfulness of evil Qi from the cultivation techniques, they can only quench their thirst with poison until they have truly cultivated their mana.

Even if their will is incredible and their luck is exceptional, and they manage to cultivate to the second or third level of Qi Refinement in the wild, by the time they head to the marketplace or the gates of cultivation family clans, the evil Qi in their bodies would have already accumulated deeply, making Foundation Establishment almost impossible for them later on.

Another type of loose cultivator has a lineage of master and disciple, with a loose cultivator as a master from a young age.

If the master of such a loose cultivator has some wealth and strength, and is kind-hearted, he can start cultivating in the protection of a Spirit Cleansing Formation, laying down a good foundation for a promising future.

Similar to this are those whose parents are loose cultivators, who do not hesitate to exhaust their family wealth to nurture their children, providing them with early growth conditions no worse than those of family cultivators.

These loose cultivators often constitute a major source of disciples for various cultivation sects; as long as their talents are not too poor, they have the opportunity to join some cultivation sects.

Lastly, there is a type of loose cultivator who originates from various cultivation sects and families and is forced into becoming a loose cultivator due to significant mistakes or the destruction of their sect or family.

Although Zhou Chun guessed that the two people in front of him were related as father and daughter, he was not foolish enough to say it outright.

Otherwise, if he guessed wrong, it would be extremely embarrassing!

So without delay, he put on a smile, put down the book, and greeted them with a fist and palm salute, “Welcome to our shop. May I ask if the guests are here to buy or to sell?”

“Taoist friend is courteous. My name is Liu Qingshan, and this is my daughter Liu Shiyun. We have come to the Spirit Beast Restaurant on the recommendation of a friend to sell a spiritual object. I hope the Taoist friend can offer us a fair price so that my daughter and I do not make this trip in vain!” said the middle-aged man as he returned the salute to Zhou Chun, introduced himself calmly, and stated their purpose.

Zhou Chun, hearing this, felt a surge of joy inside him.

He immediately replied earnestly, “Taoist Friend Liu, rest assured, our shop’s business philosophy is to prioritize integrity and reputation. Since you were referred by another customer of our shop, we will definitely give you the fairest price in the marketplace!”

“I hope so,” Liu Qingshan sighed then reached for his storage pouch and took out a jade box.

Loose cultivators usually use wooden boxes to store things, so anything stored in a jade box is bound to be valuable.

Seeing that Liu Qingshan took out a jade box, Zhou Chun’s heart was filled with joy again.

“Please wait a moment, valued guest,” he said, taking the jade box and placing it on the counter to open it.

Inside the jade box lay a fiery red ganoderma, rooted and still attached to a piece of the trunk.

“This is… This is Red Essence Ganoderma!”

Zhou Chun looked at the ganoderma inside the jade box, at first thinking it was just a common Red Ganoderma.

But when he took out the ganoderma, the warm sensation that conducted to his touch startled him, prompting him to hastily put down the ganoderma and exclaim in surprise.

“What you said is correct, Taoist Friend; this is not any ordinary Red Ganoderma but the finest among them—the Red Essence Ganoderma!”

“This 200-year-old Red Essence Ganoderma was obtained by myself and a good friend after we exerted all our strength to slay a powerful first-grade superior Demon Beast, the Redflame Python. In doing so, my friend was poisoned by flames and is currently in a coma, urgently in need of a Detoxification Spirit Pill that I must purchase to treat him.”

“Therefore, I ask you to offer a fair price so that the efforts and blood of my friend and myself are not in vain!”

Liu Qingshan’s face was grave as he slowly relayed the origin of the spiritual medicine in the jade box to Zhou Chun.

Of course, whether his story was true or false, only he knew.

And Zhou Chun wasn’t concerned with how he had acquired the Red Essence Ganoderma; he simply said with a serious expression, “Rest assured, Taoist Friend Liu, if it is truly Red Essence Ganoderma, I will certainly give you a fair price.”

Then, he carefully picked up the stem and trunk attached to the Red Essence Ganoderma, gingerly took it out of the jade box again, and began to meticulously inspect and identify it.

Compared to other types of spiritual medicines, the age and authenticity of ganodermas and ginsengs were much easier to determine.

However, because the item this time was so precious, Zhou Chun repeatedly checked several times before he dared to put the object back into the jade box.

After a moment of thought, he turned to Liu Qingshan and said, “Indeed, this is a Red Essence Ganoderma over 200 years old, and its quality is very intact. It seems that Taoist Friend Liu is also someone who understands medicine.”

“That being so, I won’t beat around the bush. Our store is willing to pay 120 Spirit Coins for this item!”

Zhou Chun had previously bought a 200-year-old Red Ganoderma at a street market for 60 Spirit Coins.

Being an exceptional variant within the Red Ganoderma, it was normal for the price of Red Essence Ganoderma to double.

After hearing his offer, Liu Qingshan first nodded and said, “The price of 120 Spirit Coins is indeed fair.”

Then his brows quickly furrowed slightly as he continued, “But this price is something I could get at any other shop. Could you perhaps add a little more?”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun fell silent, seemingly weighing his options.

After a while, he looked at Liu Qingshan and nodded, “Considering Taoist Friend Liu was referred by a regular customer of our store, I can decide to add another ten Spirit Coins.”

Hearing this, Liu Qingshan did not hesitate to respond, “Fifteen coins, just add fifteen more coins, and from now on, whenever I have something to sell, I’ll come to you first. In addition, I’ll recommend your shop to all my friends!”

“Well, alright then. Taoist Friend Liu, you must keep your word and take care of our business in the future!”

Zhou Chun hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Liu Qingshan couldn’t help but smile and said, “Rest assured, Taoist Friend Zhou, I have always kept my word. Besides, your shop indeed has a good reputation and is trustworthy.”

Zhou Chun seemed quite pleased by these words, as he couldn’t help but smile as well.

Immediately, he took out 135 Spirit Coins and handed them over to Liu Qingshan, and then he put the jade box containing the Red Essence Ganoderma into his Storage Pouch.

“Taoist Friend Liu, take care and remember to come by often!”

Zhou Chun said as he saw him out of the shop. Watching Liu and his daughter walk away, the smile on his face could no longer be contained.

I’m going to be rich!

This time, I’m really going to make a fortune!

Zhou Chun looked at the Storage Pouch by his waist, his face beaming with joy.

Actually, Liu Qingshan had no idea that Zhou Chun would have agreed to the deal even if he had asked for an additional fifty Spirit Coins, making the price 150 Spirit Coins; Zhou Chun might have begrudgingly agreed.

Because only Zhou Chun knew that the moment Liu Qingshan took the Red Essence Ganoderma to Li’s Herbal Shop in the marketplace, the Li Family would have definitely snatched it up at a high price.

Previously, disciples from the Sanjue Sect all knew that the Li Family had an ancestral alchemy recipe called “Red Essence Treasured Pill,” which required the highest-quality Red Essence Ganoderma as the main ingredient to be successfully refined.

And the “Red Essence Treasured Pill” was an excellent spirit pill for cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage to break through bottlenecks. It was both highly effective and extremely valuable.

Back when the Sanjue Sect was still around, any disciple who presented a Red Essence Ganoderma older than 200 years received 500 Sect Merit Points directly, equivalent to 500 Spirit Coins!

Therefore, even if Zhou Chun had spent two or three hundred Spirit Coins to acquire the Red Essence Ganoderma, he still stood to make a significant profit.

So, that afternoon, as the sun was about to set, Zhou Chun closed the shop early and headed straight for Li’s Herbal Shop in the marketplace.