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

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Departing for Liu Xian City

While the new players were hotly debating whether to be grunts for the old players or grunts for the Sect Master,

The annual Immortal Sacrifice Ceremony was about to be held, and even the remote Wang’an County, on the very border, had received the news.

Unfortunately, this place was too small and remote. Any Cultivators qualified to travel to the other Sect Cities wouldn’t even stop here for a moment.

It wasn’t even worthy of being a supply stop for them.

Meanwhile, Song Jiulai was also preparing to set off with Su Huanli.

This time, Su Huanli wasn’t going alone; she was traveling with the main contingent from the Feique Sect.

Along the way, they would also be accompanied by some disciples from the Taohua Sect.

Such a large group would provide a greater sense of security.

There was no need to worry about encountering any danger. As long as they didn’t provoke any High-level cultivators, the Sect Token they carried could instantly send a message to the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect. This was the security guarantee the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect had provided when they first allowed various regions to establish their own Sects.

If a Sect Boundary Stone shattered, it meant a Sect was in trouble.

The Ten Thousand Immortals Sect would send people to investigate.

If a Token shattered, it meant a traveling party was in trouble, and the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect would still send people.

If it was discovered that another power was responsible, the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect would hunt them down relentlessly.

This was security. This was their reputation.

After hearing Su Huanli’s explanation, Song Jiulai now felt that it was acceptable for the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect to collect a bit of protection money.

’A head tax is a head tax, I guess. At least they only collect it once a year...’

The Sect Token was designed for large-scale events like this, where a Sect would typically send many people and their safety had to be guaranteed.

The Longevity Sect didn’t have a Token because they had too few people back then and didn’t meet the requirements.

The fact that they were even able to register a Boundary Stone with the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect was only because the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect and the Feique Sect had been lenient.

But now, Su Huanli suggested that Song Jiulai apply for one. He could do it right in Liu Xian City.

The Ten Thousand Immortals Sect had a branch office in Liu Xian City.

However, the day before their departure, Chen Miaomiao gave Song Jiulai a huge surprise.

"I did it! I succeeded!"

Chen Miaomiao gazed at the freshly made jar of wine before her, inhaling the intoxicating aroma of Blood Pearl Grass. Even for someone as stoic as her in the real world, she was now overcome with a rare excitement.

She was practically dancing, as if her research project in real life had just had a major breakthrough.

She took a light breath, committing to memory every step she had taken while brewing this jar of wine.

Not even the step of kowtowing twice to the jar when adding the Blood Pearl Grass could be forgotten.

This was a lesson learned from years of experimentation.

’Don’t worry about what it means; you just have to remember every single step.’

Blood Pearl Grass and ordinary mortal food had been successfully fused, and it had even retained some of its medicinal properties.

Its medicinal effect wasn’t as potent as a directly refined Elixir Pill, but it was the first successful product of its kind, and it fell into the category of gourmet food.

If even this could be successfully fused, it meant she could also start working on grafting Spirit Grass.

For instance, while Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures like Spirit Grass and Spirit Wood existed, it was because they were inherently natural.

They first grew in the wild before being cultivated by Cultivators, but they were never to be confused with ordinary things.

But some things were very rare: Spirit Fruits and foods that contained Spiritual Energy.

For example, mortal rice was just ordinary rice.

These things might seem insignificant, but if successfully developed, they could absolutely change the ecosystem.

’Could it increase the ambient Spiritual Energy?’

’Will there come a day when Spiritual Energy runs out?’

’Why can’t the food the players eat contain Spiritual Energy? They’re clearly growing in a world that has Spiritual Energy, yet they remain ordinary plants.’

Chen Miaomiao didn’t know. She only knew that she wanted to do something meaningful.

Even if this was a game.

Chen Miaomiao quickly told Fan Guzhou the news.

Fan Guzhou was also ecstatic.

He had just secured the contract for the land, and Chen Miaomiao had already made a major breakthrough. This was incredibly inspiring.

Chen Miaomiao donated the first jar of brewed Spiritual Wine to Song Jiulai.

This put Song Jiulai in a bit of a bind.

Chen Miaomiao had indeed accomplished something beyond the expectations of the Yunzhou Continent. The cost of the Spiritual Wine was slightly higher than that of Elixir Pills. Disciples of the Medicine Sect could guarantee two pills from one stalk of grass, whereas this jar of Spiritual Wine used three stalks, and its medicinal effects weren’t necessarily better than the pills.

The main thing was its positive implications.

If even Spiritual Wine could be created, then they could try mixing other things into Elixir Pills in the future.

For example, could Blood Pearl Grass and Beneficial Spirit Grass be refined together to produce a combined effect?

Song Jiulai thought for a moment. He felt Chen Miaomiao’s achievement was symbolic and gave her a generous reward—1000 points.

System: "...Do you really think that’s generous?"

Song Jiulai said, full of confidence, "She can redeem the Palm Thunder and other Secret Techniques all at once with that! Besides, she’s in business with Fan Guzhou, so she won’t be short of money in the future. If the other players find out what she did and all start copying her, and they keep coming up with new products now and then, I’ll go bankrupt at light speed if I give out huge rewards for every single one."

The System felt that it had been convinced by Song Jiulai.

It actually found his reasoning to be quite sound!

Chen Miaomiao also thought 1000 points was very generous. The cost of Spiritual Wine was still too high, and it could only be sold to people who enjoyed drinking. All you could say was that the first step is always the hardest; once this hurdle was cleared, more good things would follow.

She redeemed the Palm Thunder and the Secret Technique for crafting a Jiezidai, and had no plans to continue hunting demon beasts.

She was going to continue her research.

Song Jiulai set off with Su Huanli, taking the jar of Spiritual Wine with him.

The players, of course, had no idea their Sect Master was heading to the distant Liu Xian City. However, the players who chose to be grunts and those who chose to gamble on forging their own path had split into two groups.

Half of the new players chose to stay behind and ’work’ for now, while the other half chose to go hunt demon beasts.

Zhen Weida hadn’t been wrong about Shuitan. He really was an avid fighter. He was the last to come online, and his talent had reached an astonishing three and a half hours.

He became the Longevity Sect’s first disciple with an Orange Talent.

This absolutely stunned everyone.

And upon hearing they were going to kill demon beasts, he eagerly volunteered to team up with Zhen Weida and the others.

Zhen Weida was very satisfied with this grouping.

Two men and two women. A mixed-gender group makes the work feel less tiring.

Song Jiulai sat on Su Huanli’s small flying boat, heading for Liu Xian City. He was mixed in with a group of senior brothers and sisters from the Feique Sect. Fortunately, none of them were very talkative, and no one seemed surprised by his presence. Everyone was excitedly discussing what they wanted to buy once they reached Liu Xian City.

Shui Ping saw the two of them, maneuvered her Magic Treasure to fly closer, and struck up a conversation with Song Jiulai. "Junior Brother Jiulai, you’re going too?"

Song Jiulai nodded. "Yes, Senior Sister. Senior Sister Su and I are going to join in on the fun."

"Joining the fun is good, too." After saying that, Shui Ping looked at Su Huanli and said, "I heard from Eldest Senior Sister and the others that in Liu Xian City this time, the Extreme Saint Sect and the Blood Prison Sect have been assigned to attend the ceremony together."

Su Huanli was shocked. "What?! The Extreme Saint Sect’s Saintess and the Blood Prison Sect’s Saint Heir had such a nasty breakup when they called off their engagement. Those two Sects are mortal enemies. How could they be grouped together?"

Shui Ping wrinkled her nose. "Who knows? It was probably designated by that one person from the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect. Oh, right, I heard some news a few days ago. A disciple from the Taohua Sect got into trouble while they were out a few months ago. They said it was done by a Cultivator named Jin Shu, but they still haven’t found him."