Chapter 11 The Spirit Stones just earned are gone again

A few days later.

All the Spirit Rice in the System Space had matured; Lin Jing harvested it all.

Yet the system remained as miserly as ever, still giving just one Harvest Point per acre of land.

After harvesting, Lin Jing sun-dried and threshed the Spirit Rice before sending it all to Yu Ming Trading House.

Shopkeeper Cheng happily accepted everything and even negotiated with Lin Jing to reserve next year's Spirit Rice.

Since he had a buyer, he agreed readily, and after finalizing their agreement, Lin Jing left Yu Ming Trading House with the 160 Lower Grade Spirit Stones he had earned from selling the Spirit Rice.

......

In the following two months, Lin Jing spent most of his time at home, studying Alchemy and the Controlling Fire Technique, and would only go out once every few days.

Sometimes when he went out, he would run into the brothers Zhang Sen and Zhang Lin. Zhang Sen was quite talkative, and every time they met, he would strike up a conversation with Lin Jing.

Lin Jing wasn't too comfortable with this and typically responded with a few words before taking his leave.

Among Lin Jing's two neighbors, he had met one of the households twice—a young woman who seemed about his age.

However, she was not alone but accompanied by a five or six-year-old girl, who was very cute.

Zhang Sen mentioned that the young woman used to live with her husband, but he had unfortunately suffered an accident while hunting Demonic Beasts.

This left only the mother and daughter behind.

As for the other neighbor, Lin Jing had not yet seen them.

Today, Lin Jing was preparing to go out again.

After studying Alchemy for two months, Lin Jing felt he had understood the basics and was ready to start practicing alchemy.

Alchemy required the purchase of a Pill Furnace, formulas, and materials, which would cost a significant amount of Spirit Stones,

Including in the future, Lin Jing also planned to grow Spirit Grass in the System Space, to cultivate, harvest, and then refine it into Elixir Medicine for sale.

Wouldn't this entire vertical integration earn more than selling Spirit Rice?

"Tsk tsk... Perfect!"

Since he planned to collaborate long-term, it was natural to select a reputable trading house.

And now, he was preparing to visit the most famous one in the Fang Market.

"Yuebaolou."

Yuebaolou had a mysterious background and had branches in many places.

What always made it commendable was its good reputation and fair pricing, never using its large size to bully customers and always keeping client privacy secure.

As long as you were willing to sell something, they never asked where it came from and would accept it accordingly.

Of course, whatever you bought from Yuebaolou, you needn't worry because they absolutely forbade revealing any customer information.

Upon arriving at Yuebaolou, Lin Jing looked up.

The seven-story pagoda was unique in the entire Nanshan Market.

The area it covered was indeed substantial, and there was also a not-so-small square in front of the building, where Cultivators set up their stalls all over the square, creating a lively scene.

It was said that to set up a stall here, one simply needed to pay Spirit Stones to Yuebaolou.

Lin Jing did not stop there and walked directly through the square to Yuebaolou.

Yuebaolou was vast, with Magic Artifacts, Elixir Medicines, and Cultivation Techniques available in abundance.

As soon as Lin Jing entered, a maid approached to attend to him.

"Welcome to Yuebaolou, Immortal," she said. "May I ask what you need?"

"Immortal?"

Lin Jing was quite unfamiliar with this title and looked at her.

"So it turns out to be a mortal; no wonder."

"I need to buy a Pill Furnace, and then some Alchemy Ingredients."

"So the Immortal is an Alchemist; please follow me."

Envy filled the maid's eyes.

Then, she led Lin Jing to the second floor and directed him to a counter.

"Elder Yu, this Immortal wishes to purchase a Pill Furnace and Alchemy Ingredients."

After conveying the message to Elder Yu behind the counter, the maidservant promptly left.

"May I ask, what kind of Pill Furnace would you like?" Elder Yu asked.

"I have recently learned the Alchemy Technique and wish to try Alchemy on my own. I wonder if Elder Yu has any Pill Furnace to recommend?"

"The entrance to the art of Alchemy is not easy, especially for beginners, the failure rate is extremely high, and it's particularly easy to cause an explosion in the furnace."

"Therefore..."

"When beginners choose a Pill Furnace, they should prioritize quality and durability. Use this furnace for initial practice, and diligently work on mastering the Controlling Fire Technique daily."

"Although at first, due to the qualities of the furnace, it might be difficult to control the temperature, once you are completely proficient, there will be no further issues."

"At that time, if you switch to another Pill Furnace, the success rate of crafting Elixir Medicine will significantly increase."

Having said that,

Elder Yu turned around, took down a cyan Pill Furnace from the display shelf behind him, and placed it in front of Lin Jing.

"This Three-legged Copper Furnace is an extremely rare six-refinement furnace, with the body naturally radiating a treasure light and is extremely durable. Even if it explodes multiple times, it will remain intact, making it especially suitable for beginners to practice."

"Additionally, it's reasonably priced, only costing one hundred and twenty Lower Grade Spirit Stones."

Lin Jing picked up the Three-legged Copper Furnace and examined it closely. He could see a faint glow emanating from the body of the furnace, indeed as Elder Yu had described, with a natural treasure light.

"One hundred and twenty Lower Grade Spirit Stones for a six-refinement furnace is indeed a fair price."

During the past few days while Lin Jing was strolling around Fang Market, he had gathered quite a bit of information, including about this Pill Furnace.

Generally, the cheaper Pill Furnaces would cost around fifty Lower Grade Spirit Stones, but those furnaces were of abysmal quality; a slight mishap could cause an explosion and sometimes even harm the person doing Alchemy.

On the other hand, the good ones could cost upwards of a thousand Spirit Stones, which Lin Jing could not afford at the moment, but this Three-legged Copper Furnace was just right.

Right there and then, Lin Jing made up his mind.

"I'll take this copper furnace."

"Elder Yu, may I know the price of the ingredients to craft the Fasting Pill here?"

"Also, I would like to purchase some elixir recipes."

Many Alchemists, when they first start learning the art of Alchemy, begin by crafting the Fasting Pill.

There's no special reason, other than the fact that the ingredients required to craft the Fasting Pill are fairly common and quite cheap.

Lin Jing was no exception; he planned to start learning from the Fasting Pill.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment."

After speaking, Elder Yu took out a booklet from under the counter and handed it to Lin Jing.

"Seeing that Fellow Daoist might need a lot of items, here's the price list. Please take a look."

"Whatever you want, just let me know."

Lin Jing nodded, took the booklet, and started to flip through it.

"Energy Gathering Pill recipe (First Rank): 10 Lower Grade Spirit Stones."

"Energy Restoration Elixir recipe (First Rank): 10 Lower Grade Spirit Stones."

"Fasting Pill recipe (First Rank): 5 Lower Grade Spirit Stones."

"Poison Avoidance Elixir recipe (First Rank): 5 Lower Grade Spirit Stones."

......

"Energy Gathering Pill ingredients, 1 Lower Grade Spirit Stone per portion; Energy Restoration Elixir ingredients, 1 Lower Grade Spirit Stone per portion; Fasting Pill ingredients, 1 Lower Grade Spirit Stone for 5 portions..."

......

Subsequently, he bought several First Rank elixir recipes and one hundred portions of Fasting Pill ingredients.

For ingredients like those for Energy Gathering Pills, Energy Restoration Elixirs, and Blood Coagulation Pills, he requested ten portions of each, planning to practice with them when he returned.

Soon, he had finished his purchases.

This trip directly cost him over two hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

The Spirit Stones he had just earned were gone again...