Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Fellow Countryman, It’s You

Song Jiulai thought the idea was feasible.

Having all the players concentrated in the Longevity Sect was too conspicuous. Scattering them to other places could temporarily divert attention.

They could even take the opportunity to join sects like the Taohua Sect...

’Of course, if anyone asked where the players came from...’

’Loose Cultivators.’

’It was a simple matter. Loose Cultivators had always been found in these counties.’

With this in mind, Song Jiulai decided to visit the Netherworld Sect once she reached the Late Stage.

It was said to be another Artifact Refining sect, located due north of the Feique Sect. The journey would take three or four days.

It was a rather long journey.

Perhaps because her current body was different from those native to the Yunzhou Continent, Song Jiulai felt her Spiritual Energy was increasing quite quickly.

Her recovery speed was already faster than that of the local Cultivators.

She hadn’t encountered any bottlenecks on her way to the Late Stage; all she needed was the right opportunity to break through.

The area where she was training was already very close to the border of Demon Cave Valley.

After scouring the area for some time, Song Jiulai encountered disciples from the Feique Sect and Taohua Sect who were stationed at the border of Demon Cave Valley.

Those two sects were relatively close by.

Both the Taohua Sect and the Feique Sect would send disciples with higher cultivation to train and stand guard here. The Senior Sister Qiao whom Song Jiulai had met before was part of such a team.

There was a small supply point where they were stationed.

Its full name was the Demon Cave Grain Market.

A dozen or so simple houses had been built, forming a single street. There was a Medicine Workshop and an Artifact Refining Workshop here as well.

However, there were even more active Cultivators than she had seen in Wang’an County, because this place was inhabited exclusively by Cultivators.

Many Cultivators would kill demon beasts nearby and immediately start trading their spoils.

At the time, Song Jiulai didn’t realize it was because Demon Cave Valley was some distance from First Mountain. Players with low cultivation would have a hard time breaking through the surrounding Second-tier Demon Beasts to get here.

She herself had only discovered the trading post after several days of fighting her way through Second-tier Demon Beasts.

This was Song Jiulai’s first time here.

She figured Han Tian and his group would probably show up soon.

Most of the Cultivators hurried along, and their appearances all gave off an air of poverty—a feeling with which Song Jiulai was all too familiar.

Most of those who came out to train had spent their fortunes on Magic Treasures or precious spirit materials, leaving them with few Spirit Stones.

It wasn’t just shops buying Demon Beast Materials. Some Cultivators set up their own stalls to make urgent purchases of materials they needed but couldn’t find in the stores.

It was a bit like the black market Song Jiulai had seen in the Sea View Sect.

But its scale was much smaller, and the goods for sale weren’t as impressive.

At best, you might see some Third Rank spirit materials.

No one would sell anything truly valuable here.

"Third Rank Golden Wing Pearl for Third Rank Vajra Silk. Trade only, not for sale!"

"Selling Third Rank Spirit Snake Scorpion Tail Ox Bone. Serious inquiries only!"

"Buying Third Rank Demon Butterfly Insects. Must be alive!"

"Buying Third Rank Blood Pearl Grass and Third Rank Beneficial Spirit Grass in large quantities!"

...

The Cultivators didn’t shout; they simply hung signs in front of their stalls.

Everyone was too reserved to shout.

Song Jiulai watched with great interest.

Most of these Third Rank spirit materials couldn’t be called common in Demon Cave Valley, but they weren’t exactly rare, either.

It was just that their acquisition difficulty varied.

For example, the live Demon Butterfly Insect could typically only be caught by Cultivators skilled in Beast Taming.

Then Song Jiulai noticed someone selling spiritual ore.

"Selling Second Rank Ice Butterfly Ore in bulk. Price negotiable."

’Ice Butterfly Ore?’

’This stuff is pretty rare.’

There were many types of ores used for Artifact Refining. Aside from the common ones, most were both uncommon and difficult to work with.

It was similar to how many Elixir Pills in Alchemy were uncommon.

Ice Butterfly Ore, as the name suggested, contained ice. Yet, it was still an ore. It was said that during Artifact Refining, there was a chance to imbue a Magic Treasure with the essence of the ice butterflies within, allowing the treasure to summon them for an attack.

The ice butterflies didn’t belong to the category of demon beasts, nor any other conventional one, because they were only ever found inside Ice Butterfly Ore.

The thing was... High-level refiners found it not worth the effort, while low-grade refiners couldn’t manage it at all.

The Ice Attribute and fire were inherently incompatible, which multiplied the difficulty of refining it.

It was quite rare to see Cultivators selling these kinds of ores.

Given the number of players now, there was no telling who might come up with some bizarre use for it. Song Jiulai walked over and asked the female cultivator selling the Ice Butterfly Ore, "How are you selling this Ice Butterfly Ore?"

The female cultivator looked up. Seeing that Song Jiulai was a stranger, she paused for a moment before saying, "I have 100 pieces of Ice Butterfly Ore here. If you take them all, I’ll sell them for just 10 Mid-grade Spirit Stones."

’It wasn’t that the price was cheap; it was just that nobody wanted the stuff.’

’And the price was actually quite fair.’

"Ice Butterfly Ore has to come from a vein. The fact you could dig it up and bring it here means there’s plenty of it. Ten Mid-grade Spirit Stones is too expensive."

After returning from Liu Xian City, she had amassed just over a dozen Mid-grade Spirit Stones through player donations and her own sales. Wasting them on this wasn’t practical.

Song Jiulai glanced at the piled ores. Just looking at them sent a chill through her; she could vaguely see the shapes of butterflies dancing within. She said, "How about we call it making a friend? I’ll take the whole lot for five Mid-grade Spirit Stones."

The female cultivator’s head snapped toward Song Jiulai.

For a moment, shock, confusion, and disbelief flashed in her eyes.

Then she leaned closer to Song Jiulai and whispered, "Have you no shame?"

Song Jiulai: "..."

’What a familiar line.’

A sudden realization struck her. "So it’s you!" she exclaimed in shock. "Fellow countryman!"

The female cultivator: "..."

After parting ways that day in Liu Xian City, neither had expected to meet again.

Song Jiulai hadn’t expected it either. The female cultivator’s disguise at the black market had been simple, and she still looked much the same.

She was just a lot prettier now.

’The best disguise really is no disguise at all.’

The female cultivator straightened up. She, too, had a strong impression of the shameless Cultivator who had bought her Vajra Silk. "So it’s you," she said.

Song Jiulai immediately pressed her advantage. "See? Us meeting again is fate! I told you we’re from the same place! Come on, fellow countryman, no one’s going to buy this Ice Butterfly Ore even if you let it sit here until next year. I happen to be interested in doing some research with it, so just sell it to me for a bit cheaper, okay? If you have more in stock, I’ll even be a repeat customer!"

The female cultivator’s expression seemed to soften, but she still said, "Impossible. When are you going to change that habit of yours of cutting the price in half? Do you think any sane person would sell it to you for that?"

"Fellow countryman, we’ve embarked on the path of Cultivation now. We can’t really be considered ’people’ anymore."

The female cultivator: "..."

She was still shocked by Song Jiulai’s sheer shamelessness. Finally, she said, "Eight stones. I can’t go any lower. Any lower and I’m not selling. You can find someone else."

That was her bottom line. Song Jiulai knew it was unrealistic to push her any further.

But she put on a pained, utterly desperate expression. "I remember... on his deathbed, my father made me promise to buy a batch of Ice Butterfly Ore. Now I’ve finally found it, but alas, I don’t have the Spirit Stones to acquire it..."

The female cultivator remained expressionless. "Then I guess your father died for nothing."

"..."

Seeing that the other woman wasn’t taking the bait at all, Song Jiulai crisply took out eight stones.

"I’ll take it."