Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Ji An cheerfully paid the spirit stones and said:

"I’m here on a friend’s behalf to purchase a batch of spirit soil to upgrade the grade of a spirit field, from a Tier One Top Grade to Tier Two. You make the arrangements.

By the way, how should I address you?"

Of course, he couldn’t say it was for himself, otherwise, some might speculate and unexpectedly arrive at an alarming truth.

"I am Li Zhonghe," the middle-aged cultivator’s eyebrows raised; upgrading the grade of a spirit field is a long-term process, and the transaction will last many years.

If he could secure a stable client, it would be an endless source of wealth.

The unfortunate thing is that such a client he can’t maintain for long, within a few years, the shopkeeper would bypass him to deal directly with the other party.

The two walked along the street, comparing quotes from various shops, and finally stopped in front of one store.

The plaque of "Zhou’s Spiritual Rice Shop" had several cracks, with gold lettering peeling off to reveal the dark underlayer.

Li Zhonghe coughed lightly and said:

"Senior, it’s said that the Zhou clan of Manglong Mountain has been rooted in Immortal City for over a thousand years. More than twenty years ago, they received the aid of a benefactor, and the Zhou Clan Leader broke through to the Golden Core Stage.

The Zhou clan’s business mainly focuses on cultivation and alchemy, controlling thirty percent of the spirit rice and spirit medicine transactions in Immortal City.

Whether you’re looking to cultivate spirit fields or buy and sell spirit seeds, you can find the goods you want here."

He lowered his voice and continued:

"To be honest, Senior, my distant cousin is a concubine of the shopkeeper here, so I can secure some discounts.

As we walked along, we also asked for prices, and Senior can get the best discount."

She was his distant cousin by eighteen branches, and he had put in a lot of effort to climb up this connection.

Ji An looked down the street and nodded slightly, saying:

"Let’s go in and have a look. As long as the store doesn’t take advantage of customers, it’s fine."

Just now, he glanced ahead and saw several shops with Zhou clan banners. He wasn’t sure if they belonged to the same family, but he assumed they did.

"Rest assured, the Zhou clan has always been fair; otherwise, they wouldn’t have grown to this extent today.

Senior, please!"

Li Zhonghe ushered Ji An in, exchanged a few whispered words with the clerk, and the clerk seemed somewhat incredulous, arguing for a bit.

Although both parties spoke softly, Ji An could hear clearly that this middleman wasn’t as influential as he boasted.

He gently shook his head, wondering if the so-called discount would satisfy him.

The clerk proceeded to the shop’s second floor, and Li Zhonghe returned, smiling and saying:

"The shopkeeper will receive you upon notification."

Shortly, the clerk came downstairs, inviting Ji An and the others to go up. At the door of the elegant room, they saw the white-faced and round-faced shopkeeper, looking pampered.

"I am Zhou Changji, greetings to you, Senior. Please, come inside and take a seat."

The second floor of the shop was equipped with sensing arrays that could detect the cultivation level of a cultivator, perhaps not very accurately, but there would be no error in the Great Realm.

Li Zhonghe was stunned by the usually high-minded shopkeeper being so gentle and, hearing the form of address, felt a sudden excitement in his heart.

He was actually receiving a Chao Origin Stage cultivator; it was the first time in his many years as a middleman.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but hold his head high.

"The shopkeeper is too kind."

Ji An smiled, entered the room, and took a seat. After the pleasantries were exchanged, he directly stated his intention, then continued:

"There are five types of spirit fields, each around twelve mu. First, let’s buy two thousand catties of various spirit soils; I’ll continue buying later. What price can you offer in your shop?"

Two thousand catties could last about three years; he didn’t want to buy too much at once, as drawing too much attention was unwise.

Zhou Changji pondered briefly, then said:

"Since Senior was referred by Zhonghe, you can enjoy special discounts.

Black Moisture Soil and White Condensed Soil are six spirit stones per catty, and Cyan Splendor Soil, Red Flame Sand, and Earth Yellow Crystal are eight spirit stones per catty.

These are all Tier Two resources, which smaller shops struggle to supply in the quantities Senior needs."

In the Far North, Gold and Water Spirit Mechanism are abundant, so the production of these two types of spirit soil is high, but Earth, Wood, and Fire spirit soils are a bit scarce.

Ji An nodded slightly. Indeed, the quoted price was a bit lower than other stores, but buying at the quoted price would make him seem foolish.

He gave Li Zhonghe a glance; now it was time for him to shine.

Li Zhonghe smiled slightly and said:

"Senior, by purchasing ten thousand catties of spirit soil at once, our shop immediately receives a sum of spirit stones and can stockpile other goods..."

After bargaining, Ji An received a discount of four thousand spirit stones.

Zhou Changji shook his head with a feigned bitter smile, "The shop’s profit margins are too thin; Senior must look after our shop’s business in the future, or I won’t be able to explain to the family."

He picked up an abacus; his fat, thick fingers skillfully danced:

"Senior, you need to pay sixty-eight thousand spirit stones in total. Do you have any other needs, such as Spirit-Binding Stakes to enhance the grade of spirit stones? You can buy most resources related to spirit fields and spirit plants in our shop."

As long as we find the corresponding resource point, these spirit soils only involve excavation costs and shop rental tax costs; they’re not overly profitable.

"Do you have any rare Tier Two Upper Grade spirit seeds?"

Zhou Changji shook his head, "On that front, we cannot help."

The Zhou shop only acquires rare spirit seeds but never sells them; it’s ancestral teaching.

"Do you have any spiritual insects or other items that can increase the spiritual power and fertility of the soil?"

Ji An asked persistently, as the Gourd World species were too singular, and he wanted to build a more complex ecosystem.

"Senior, you’re asking the right person. Our Zhou clan has cultivated a type of spirit devouring insect that survives by consuming spiritual Qi.

Once mature, these insects produce a large number of eggs, and their nesting grounds contain earth element spirituality. When crushed, they can improve the soil.

Of course, improving the soil is a long-term process, taking decades to show noticeable results.

They have high environmental requirements and prefer to live in areas with pure spirituality."

Ji An raised an eyebrow slightly; he had read about this kind of spiritual insect in cultivation heritages, they were basically harmless and survived by consuming the free nature’s spiritual energy.

It sounded good, but low-tier ant nests had no effect on high-tier spirit fields. Only by cultivating large quantities of high-tier spiritual insects could they be useful, which would require many years of accumulation.

Fortunately, these spirit-devouring insects could serve as bait for other spiritual insects and fish, so buying them wouldn’t be a loss.

The downside is that these insects are preyed upon by various natural enemies, making it difficult for their population to expand, but in the Gourd World, this was of no concern.

"Can you bring some out so I can see the quality of the spiritual insects?"

Ji An smiled, as the claim that these insects were cultivated by their family could only fool those who were unknowledgeable.

"Please wait a moment, Senior, while I instruct them to bring the insects."

Zhou Changji left the room and instructed the clerk outside.

A moment later, the clerk brought in a tray with a mound resembling a termite nest. Yellow-brown insects could be seen moving in and out.

Zhou Changji introduced:

"When building their nests, these insects secrete a spiritual liquid that binds the spirit soil, which is why they can enhance the soil’s spirituality."

Ji An extended his divine sense to sense the life activity of the insects inside and asked:

"How much for the ant colony?"

"It’s just two thousand five hundred spirit stones."

Li Zhonghe took the role of bargaining, and finally settled at two thousand spirit stones.

Ji An asked a few more questions, and finding no other useful resources, he said:

"Let’s settle the bill and give me the spirit soil too."

"Alright, a total of seventy thousand spirit stones," Zhou Changji said, full of smiles. This deal was quite profitable, and with the family’s reward, he planned to take another concubine.

Ji An retrieved neatly stacked spirit stones from the Grotto Void Stone, two thousand of which were lower-grade, and the rest were middle-grade.

After killing a Tribulation Cultivator in Silver Moon City, he gained over thirty thousand middle-grade and lower-grade spirit stones, so this consumption only cost him half-priced in reality.

With the money and goods settled, Ji An left the shop under the enthusiastic send-off of the shopkeeper.

He took out a middle-grade spirit stone and handed it to Li Zhonghe, saying:

"Here is your hiring fee; the extra is a bonus. Now take me to the most distinctive restaurant."

Traveling thousands of miles, gourmet food must not be missed.