"You've struck it rich, Junior Brother Ji!"
Wei Songnian finished counting the talisman paper, his eyes burning so hot it seemed they could melt someone.
Recently, the sect had seized a new spiritual vein. With a new stronghold established, it was bound to draw crowds of disciples eager to hunt beasts and search for rare herbs.
Before, Foundation Establishment disciples didn't dare venture deep into the Ten-Thousand Mountains; if you ran into a powerful beast, even fleeing was a luxury.
But now, with a stronghold in place and a mountain-guarding array to serve as a safe rear base, things were different.
Centered around the new outpost, the sect would inevitably dispatch Foundation Establishment cultivators to clear out or drive away higher-tier monsters within a hundred miles.
Compared to before, the risks of beast-hunting had dropped dramatically. Venturing into previously untouched lands meant more gains, which greatly boosted disciples' enthusiasm for the hunt.
Magical tools, talismans, pills, everything became easier to sell.
Refiners, talisman makers, and alchemists were making fortunes. Even merchants like Wei Songnian were drinking deeply of the profits.
"I heard a hunting party found a main ingredient for Foundation Establishment Pills. When the sect refines its next batch, there might be a few more furnaces' worth."
Wei shook his head, then muttered:
"I can't fathom the sect's thinking, actually setting up a marketplace in our new territory and letting rogue cultivators in for supplies? Isn't that giving away profit?"
Listening to him grumble, Ji An lowered his eyes and said calmly:
"There are more and more rogues in the West Continent. I've heard that even Azure Cloud Immortal City and the surrounding markets can't handle the demand anymore.
Secretly, discontent among the scattered cultivators against the three great sects and the big clans has been growing.
This way is better. Rogues are given an outlet, and ties with the sects are eased a little."
The three great sects already held the finest spiritual veins in the West, and with the great clans hoarding the rest, the rogues had never lived easy lives.
"Hah! But wasn't this mess the sect's own making?
My elders said the sect began producing far more Opening Vein Pills a century ago, not only distributing them to their Daoist academies but even selling to outsiders.
At thirty-six spirit stones a pill, they're steep but late-stage Qi Refiners with no ambition beyond could still scrape together enough in a decade or so."
The herbs needed for the pills weren't particularly rare; any family with a history could refine them.
Wei couldn't understand the sect's logic. For centuries, the sects and clans had colluded to limit the number of cultivators. Otherwise, rogues would swarm like locusts.
Spiritual veins were limited. They couldn't withstand too many cultivators draining them day and night.
Resources, too, only produced so much. More cultivators only meant sharper conflicts.
So when the great clans saw the sect flooding the market, they had no choice but to follow suit and produce more Opening Vein Pills themselves.
More rogue cultivators meant the clans also had to increase their own numbers. After all, there had been plenty of cases where bands of rogues had robbed resources outright.
Ji An, however, had a vague guess about the sect's true intentions. He smiled faintly:
"The sect must have its reasons. No one willingly lifts a stone just to smash their own foot."
"That's true. Without stepping into Foundation Establishment, we're not really on the immortal path. As little Qi Refiners, we've no right to know so much."
Wei had already done his sums and said:
"Junior Brother, your talisman paper and ink together come to six thousand five hundred and fifty spirit crystals."
He scratched his head. This income surpassed what most Qi Refiners risked their lives beast-hunting for, and it was safe, without danger.
When Ji An had told him he was planting fifteen mu of fields, Wei had roughly estimated the profits. But seeing the actual figure, his heart still pounded uncontrollably.
He remembered once, back when he was only at Qi Refining's seventh layer, he'd earned thirteen spirit stones in a month. He'd been so excited he couldn't sleep half the night.
"How many Shen Yuan Pills do you have on hand, Senior Brother?"
Ji An's eyes lit up with excitement. For the past three months of cultivation, his spiritual power had always felt hollow, and he hadn't managed to open even half an inch of new spiritual meridian branches.
Earning spirit crystals was important, but opening meridians to improve his aptitude was even more crucial.
"Twenty pills! But the price of medicine has gone up lately; each one costs ten extra spirit crystals."
"I'll take them all. And add twenty more sets of talisman ink materials."
Wei Songnian beamed. He'd kept these many pills aside on purpose. If he'd had more spirit crystals at hand, he would have stocked up even further. When it came to spending, Ji An had never once let him down.
"The price of talisman ink materials has dropped recently. I'll give them to you at fifty-five spirit crystals per set. That leaves you with twelve spirit stones."
Ji An nodded slightly.
"Ten stones to repay my debt, and the other two as a deposit.
Senior Brother, I want a formation set to protect my courtyard. I've planted spirit fruit trees, and a batch of Firecloud Ginseng carelessness isn't an option.
I don't need a powerful formation, just one that can seal the courtyard from inside and out."
Once again, not a single spirit stone was left in his hand after the deal.
Wei stroked his chin, agreeing.
"You're right not to be careless. A small beast could sneak in and eat everything.
Your yard isn't large, so a basic sealing formation is cheap; about twenty spirit stones should be enough.
Business has been good lately. I'll be going to Azure Cloud Immortal City in a month, and I'll buy you a set then."
"Can't the sect's formation masters do it?" Ji An asked, a bit anxious.
"They can, but learning formations is no simple thing. At the very least, one needs to reach late-stage Qi Refining.
The sect's formation masters are all Foundation Establishment cultivators. First, I don't have connections with them; second, they'd hardly bother with such a small job."
"Alright then, I'll wait."
The trade concluded, Ji An hurried off with his pills and talisman ink materials. Without a formation guarding his courtyard, he never felt at ease leaving it for long.
...
The next morning, Old Huang and his grandson helped Ji An transport his spirit grain to the Administrative Hall to pay his land tax.
After buying new seeds, he spent another ten spirit stones to exchange for two hundred contribution points and finally purchased the spell jade slip he'd long been dreaming of.
Back at his bamboo house, he immediately pressed the jade slip to his forehead, eager to learn.
After a long while, he set it down, pondering which spells to practice first.
The jade slip contained a wide range of techniques, offensive, defensive, and supportive, more than a dozen in total.
A cultivator's energy was limited; he had to focus on a few.
After careful thought, Ji An made his choice: Object Manipulation, Geng Metal Finger, Water Curtain, and Wind Riding Technique.
Object Manipulation was the foundation for controlling magical tools and was incredibly practical. It would help in farming, harvesting grain, and even in making talisman paper an absolute must.
Among the Five Elements spells, metal and fire excelled in offense. Since he already had deeper insights into metal qi, he chose Geng Metal Finger.
Water Curtain was a defensive technique. Water spells weren't the strongest shields, but with his abundance of water-aligned qi, even basic mastery would serve him well.
Wind Riding Technique enhanced speed and agility, useful even after reaching Foundation Establishment. If he couldn't beat a beast, at least he could outrun it.
This way, he would cover offense, defense, and support. Once these spells reached mastery and he advanced to Qi Refining's ninth layer, he could acquire a set of magical tools and finally join in on beast hunts.