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

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Song Jiulai Just Loves to Gamble With Her Life

The successful development of the Second-stage Spiritual Grass made Song Jiulai incredibly happy.

This was a huge boon for the Sect.

The price of First-rank spirit grass was nothing compared to that of Second-stage Spiritual Grass!

The Longevity Sect was bound to get rich!

Although the success was only on a half-mu test plot, in Song Jiulai’s eyes, it was as good as a complete victory.

Song Jiulai generously rewarded Chen Miaomiao with five hundred points.

The value this breakthrough created was far beyond compare.

Fan Guzhou was especially excited.

The Second-stage Spiritual Grass would benefit him even more—after all, he was managing ten mu of Spirit Fields!

Fan Guzhou immediately wanted Chen Miaomiao to convert all the fields, but Song Jiulai stopped him.

Song Jiulai had the system relay a message to them: the Sect couldn’t plant Second-stage Spiritual Grass on a large scale just yet.

They could only plant it on the Sect’s own land on the mountainside.

Fan Guzhou was a little surprised and asked the system, "Why?"

The system replied, "Innocence is no protection when you’re carrying a treasure."

"..." After three seconds of silence, Fan Guzhou understood. "I didn’t expect you to be so cultured."

System: "One point deduction for insulting the system."

Fan Guzhou: "..."

He understood what the system and the Sect Master meant.

Second-stage Spiritual Grass wasn’t worth much in the eyes of a Great Power. But if a small Sect mastered a method for reliably producing High-level Spiritual Grass—a method that even Major Sects lacked—then things would get very dangerous.

No one was paying attention to the Longevity Sect right now, but that didn’t mean others were blind to a good thing when they saw it.

For now, they also couldn’t plant them in the large expanse of Spirit Fields at the foot of the mountain, which were designated for the new players.

They could just occasionally slip some Second-stage Spiritual Grass in.

In the current Cultivation World, methods for producing High-level Spiritual Grass were either monopolized by large Medicine Sects or relied on brute-forcing growth with Spiritual Liquid.

Even then, the survival rate in a mu of fertile land rarely reached fifty percent, so most had to rely on purchasing seedlings.

It was precisely these seedlings that the large Medicine Sects monopolized.

The Longevity Sect was already self-sufficient in producing its own Spirit Grass Seedlings, which meant cost wasn’t an issue. If they wanted to start reliably producing Second- and Third-Rank spiritual grass, they would have to wait until the Longevity Sect had fully stabilized and taken control of both the Feique Sect’s territory and Wang’an County.

That was why Fan Guzhou couldn’t start mass planting just yet.

The fact that they could be making money but weren’t was frustrating for Fan Guzhou, but there was nothing to be done. He could only listen to the Sect Master and start by converting some of the Spirit Fields on the Longevity Sect’s own territory.

For the early stages, the profits from just these fields would be enough.

Meanwhile, Song Jiulai was still at the Demon Cave Grain Market, looking to see if she could find any overlooked treasures.

She had just bought the Ice Butterfly Ore from Xue Dan, and looking further down the market, she saw many other things she wanted but couldn’t currently afford.

But then, she really did spot something.

It was a broken iron fragment.

It looked unremarkable, dull and lusterless, and one could only faintly make out a shape resembling half a wing.

It didn’t look like something a Cultivator would use.

The vendor, a Cultivator, hadn’t put up a sign. When Song Jiulai glanced over curiously, he immediately gave her an enthusiastic sales pitch. "Fellow Cultivator, interested? They say this is a key fragment from a lost Secret Realm. Only Qi Refinement Realm disciples from Major Sects like the Blood Prison Sect and the Extreme Saint Sect can enter it. Not something just anyone can get their hands on."

Song Jiulai asked dubiously, "So it takes a key to get in? Then, may I ask, what’s the purpose of this fragment of yours?"

The Cultivator replied, "It’s a good luck charm."

Song Jiulai: "..."

The system’s voice suddenly cut in, ’You can buy it. This fragment is somewhat useful.’

A glint appeared in Song Jiulai’s eyes, but she maintained a nonchalant expression. "Alright, it’s kind of interesting. I could take it home as a collector’s item. How much?"

The male cultivator’s eyes darted slyly. "One Mid-grade Spirit Stone."

’After all, it’s a completely useless fragment.’

’No matter how much you hype it up, it’s still just a useless piece of junk.’

’Besides, the whole Secret Realm Key story was just a load of bull he’d made up on the spot. In truth, he’d only heard a rumor from someone else—who knew if it was real or fake?’

’If it were the real deal, an ordinary Cultivator would never get their hands on it. He’d just gotten lucky and found it in another Cultivator’s Jiezidai—AHEM, AHEM, well, the details aren’t for polite company.’

Song Jiulai stood up and started to walk away. "You can keep it for yourself, then."

"Hey, hey, hey, wait, don’t go!"

Sure enough, a skilled haggler was devastatingly effective against a vendor who was stuck with a useless item and just wanted to unload it for a bit of cash.

The male cultivator put on a pained expression. "Fine, you name a price."

Song Jiulai still looked as if she couldn’t care less. "One low-grade spirit stone."

The male cultivator’s face fell. "Have you no shame?"

’What a familiar line,’ Song Jiulai thought. She’d already heard it three times today.

Song Jiulai feigned confusion. "It’s just a fragment. The only reason I’m even looking at it is because it’s unusual and I thought it’d be a fun little trinket to collect. If you don’t agree, then never mind."

Hearing Song Jiulai admit she was only curious due to her own inexperience, the male cultivator’s mind raced. "Alright, name a sincere price," he said.

Song Jiulai was perfectly calm. "Ten low-grade spirit stones. Take it or leave it."

"Done, take it!"

The male cultivator was just holding on to a useless item anyway; being able to sell it at all was pure profit.

Besides, he was in a hurry to get rid of the stolen goods.

This batch of goods wasn’t acquired through clean means.

Selling it meant getting rid of a potential problem.

The system said, ’Weren’t you afraid he really wouldn’t sell it?’

Song Jiulai replied, ’What’s to be afraid of? If he really hadn’t sold it, I would have just played the fool and paid the one Mid-grade Spirit Stone. But if he had tried to raise the price on me, I wouldn’t have bought it no matter how good it was. Besides, you said you were the only one who could make it work, so the fragment itself is useless to anyone else, right? I just didn’t expect this kid to have zero experience with haggling. He took the bait so easily.’

’Correct,’ the system said. ’He wasn’t lying. It really is a Secret Realm Key, but we won’t know which Secret Realm it’s for until we get inside.’

As Song Jiulai walked away with her purchase, the male cultivator heaved a long sigh of relief.

That thing had been sitting there for days, and absolutely no one was interested.

It was just a fragment, useless except as a curiosity. Selling something he’d gotten for free was pure profit.

Song Jiulai found a secluded spot to talk with the system. "So, you’re saying you have a way to open this Secret Realm?"

’Yes,’ the system said, ’but it will consume a lot of energy. I can restore it to its original form. You’ll feel a sensation when the Secret Realm is about to open.’

Song Jiulai was stunned. "Holy crap, you’re so OP! You can even repair a Secret Realm fragment? My god, Little Sys, I was blind. I can’t believe I ever thought you were useless."

System: ’It’s fine. I’m used to you being blind.’

Song Jiulai: "..."

System: ’The energy consumption will be immense. At the players’ current rate, you can forget about recruiting new members for at least a month. If we don’t get anything good from the Secret Realm, it’ll be a definite loss. But if we do, you’ll have hit the jackpot. Secret Realms suitable for the Qi Refinement Realm that attract the attention of several Major Sects are few and far between.’

Song Jiulai: "Are you kidding? Of course we’re taking that bet!"

She, Song Jiulai, loved nothing more than betting it all!