Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Training and Brewing
The ambition was grand, but reality was harsh.
A few players, eager to kick off a massive infrastructure project in this ancient world, were dealt a heavy blow right from the start.
First, there were a few fundamental problems with this ancient setting.
For instance, issues like medical technology and food shortages—mortals on the Yunzhou Continent didn’t have these worries.
A single, unscientific Blood Replenishing Pill could heal most of a mortal’s injuries, unless they were poisoned by a demon beast.
Common plagues and diseases were also nonexistent; only viruses from demon beasts could cause such devastation.
But the demon beasts had been driven into designated areas. This was the territory of a Major Sect, hardly a danger zone. As long as you never left home, you could go your whole life without seeing one.
Then there was the food problem.
Because the world was filled with Spiritual Energy—even though it was scarce in Wang’an County—that energy still allowed the five grains to grow with exceptional abundance.
Even rice, a rare sight, was specially cultivated by the common folk here.
The fact that every household could afford white flour proved that living conditions weren’t bad at all.
These two points alone were enough to extinguish any player’s desire to get rich through medicine or farming.
But the players weren’t ready to give up.
When life is too comfortable, there will always be those who seek higher quality.
If that was the case, then they would build upon the existing foundation and make it shine.
Earlier, Zhou Xiao had mentioned making better-tasting pastries. Tackling things from a culinary angle wasn’t a bad idea.
The players also bought a Blood Replenishing Pill to try. Their final verdict: it was disgusting. They all agreed that the Alchemy disciples had a long way to go in their craft.
The taste of Blood Pearl Grass wasn’t great to begin with. Compounded by the inconsistent skills of the Medicine Sect disciples, the resulting Blood Replenishing Pills lacked the legendary deliciousness of Spiritual Medicine. They were unbearably astringent.
In that case, why couldn’t they make a strawberry-flavored Blood Replenishing Pill?
Chen Miaomiao experimented for two days. While she hadn’t figured anything else out yet, she did discover that the roots and stems of Spirit Grass could be stir-fried and eaten...
’It’s not poisonous, anyway. Just stir-fry it with some salt, and you have a refreshing and tasty plate of vegetables.’
Meanwhile, the two players who had been discussing this logged off and started racking their brains, researching what kind of technology they could introduce first to this ancient continent.
It was only the second day in the game. By noon in the real world, night had already fallen in-game again.
Some players had to go to work, and even those who had pulled an all-nighter were starting to feel the strain.
Their in-game bodies might not react, but in reality, they still had to use the bathroom and eat. It was impossible to stay immersed in the game 24/7.
While everyone was busy, Song Jiulai couldn’t afford to be idle either.
Reading through documents was one thing.
She still had to figure out a way to make money.
The players were working for her, planting Spirit Grass, and she had to pay them a basic salary.
She had tentatively set it at two low-grade spirit stones a month.
Not only would she have to pay taxes on that, but how embarrassing would it be if she couldn’t even pay them?
So, she headed down the mountain.
Of course, her descent today was a coincidence. A radiant glow suddenly bloomed across ten thousand miles of the night sky.
A clear phoenix cry echoed from within the clouds, resounding for thousands of miles. A fiery red light illuminated the lands of Wang’an County, making it as bright as day.
Song Jiulai, who had barely taken two steps, felt an immense oppressive force.
It was suffocating—an absolute, majestic pressure. It was the overwhelming presence of a High-level Cultivator.
The fiery red light enveloped the surrounding hundred miles, and the aura was so powerful it felt as if it could crush the entire world.
’Damn it!’ Song Jiulai cursed internally. "System, what the hell is happening?"
’With a commotion this big, a High-level Cultivator must be revealing their aura, or maybe a fight has broken out.’
’Otherwise, everyone is usually low-key when passing through. High-level Cultivators would never let mortals and low-level Cultivators sense even a trace of their aura.’
System: "How would I know if you don’t?"
Song Jiulai: "...Then what good are you?"
System: "...So pragmatic."
But just as quickly, the commotion, which had lasted only a dozen or so seconds, dissipated.
The aura vanished. ’Well, it’s not something someone at my Level can know about anyway,’ Song Jiulai thought, and continued toward her destination.
She was heading to a place called ’Demon Cave Valley’.
Wang’an County was located in the borderlands of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect, and even these borderlands were unimaginably vast.
But Demon Cave Valley was the dividing line between the territory of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect and other Major Sects. Countless demon beasts resided there, and it was said that deep within the valley lived a Seventh Rank Demon Beast, a creature comparable to a Nascent Soul Stage expert.
This was even the place where Su Huanli was headed for her training.
Of course, Song Jiulai wasn’t capable enough to venture into the central region. She was just going to the very fringes of Demon Cave Valley to bully some of the easier demon beasts.
Cultivators needed to gain experience, and killing demon beasts was one way to do it. Most importantly, the carcasses of demon beasts could be sold for money.
She would also gather some materials along the way and see if she could find any wild spiritual ore deposits or the like. ’There can’t be another Sect Master as pathetic as me.’
If she had money, Song Jiulai wouldn’t want to go out at all. Wouldn’t it be better to just wait safely for the players to make money for her?
But that wasn’t an option.
If she didn’t train, she might not be able to keep up with that pack of fiercely competitive players.
Everyone knew that people from Huaxia were competitive wherever they went.
For now, she wouldn’t tell the players about Demon Cave Valley. ’As Sect Master, I’ll secretly get a head start first.’
Demon Cave Valley was huge. Incredibly huge. The demarcation zone alone was comparable in size to a country in the real world.
Even for Song Jiulai to reach the outermost fringe, it would take a full day and night of travel.
One could only imagine the sheer scale of the Yunzhou Continent.
The round trip would take two or three days.
Now that the players had arrived, her being away for a few days wouldn’t be a big deal. Besides, she could still contact them remotely through the system.
Besides, Song Jiulai was nervous. She was only going because senior brothers and sisters from the Feique Sect and the neighboring Taohua Sect were stationed there for training. They protected low-grade Cultivators from ambushes by demonic Loose Cultivators.
A Cultivator couldn’t avoid fighting forever, and not training was unrealistic.
If not for this protection, there was no way Song Jiulai, a mere Qi Refinement Realm Cultivator, would go.
It was said that further in, disciples from other Major Sects and even the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect were in the core region. Of course, they were there to deal with High-level Demon Beasts, unlike a poor wretch like Song Jiulai, who was using "training" as an excuse to make money.
While Song Jiulai set off in secret, the players began to mobilize as well.
Aside from those chopping trees and building houses to practice their control over Spiritual Energy, Chen Miaomiao and another player had already figured out the Sect’s first money-making venture.
Brewing wine.
That’s right, wine.
In ancient times, although wine existed, the conditions were poor, and brewing, in particular, required a lot of grain.
The Yunzhou Continent had no such worries. The conditions were too good; there was no shortage of grain. Moreover, mortal-grown grain was cheap. They could buy it, brew it into wine, and sell it back for a hefty profit.
Chen Miaomiao could also try to see if she could infuse things like Spirit Grass into the brew.
But for now, they were simply too poor. The only things she had on hand to experiment with were the Blood Pearl Grass and Beneficial Spirit Grass grown by A Wu. Any other miscellaneous Spirit Grass would require them to buy and cultivate seedlings.
A Wu was planning to harvest his two plots of land and sell the produce, but after she promised to pay him back, he left her ten plants to use.
Wine was something loved not only by mortals, but by some Cultivators as well.
Otherwise, why would a moniker like "Wine Immortal" even exist?
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