Fire Spirit Grass.
When it grows, it emits a faint flash of fire each time it advances a grade.
A Fire Spirit Grass reaches maturity at the third grade, with a limit of five grades.
A mature Fire Spirit Grass possesses a fairly potent Fire Attribute and can be used as a primary ingredient in Alchemy.
But to Jiang Zuo, the Fire Spirit Grass was one of the Five Elements Attributes. He happened to need to collect the Five Elements Power, making this Fire Spirit Grass an excellent choice.
Furthermore, this Fire Spirit Grass had already flashed once, meaning it would mature after two more stages.
If nurtured properly, it could reach maturity in just one month.
The man stood there in a daze, looking somewhat helpless.
"How much are you selling this grass for?" Jiang Zuo asked.
The middle-aged man was taken aback. "You... you want to buy it?"
Jiang Zuo nodded. "Name your price. I suggest you aim a little high."
The man held up two fingers. "Two... two thousand."
Jiang Zuo frowned.
"How about... fifteen hundred? Fifteen hundred is fine too. Or even a thousand, if that doesn't work." Seeing Jiang Zuo frown again, he lowered the price once more.
Jiang Zuo sighed. 'This is the drawback of ignorance. If he knew the grass's true value, he wouldn't be so timid.'
"I'll transfer the money to you."
The man's face lit up. "I don't have any of those mobile payment apps. Is a bank card okay?"
He knew that people these days rarely carry cash.
Jiang Zuo nodded.
The man then took out his bank card and gave it to Jiang Zuo.
Jiang Zuo then transferred a sum of money without hesitation.
"Alright, give me the grass."
"Thank you, thank you." The man handed the grass to Jiang Zuo without any hesitation.
Jiang Zuo inspected it. The roots were well-preserved, so he could plant it when he got back.
After taking the Fire Spirit Grass, Jiang Zuo went to buy his other medicinal herbs.
At that moment, the man was holding his phone, waiting for a notification. He would receive a message as soon as the money arrived in his account.
Sure enough, the money arrived a short while later.
But one look at the amount left him completely stunned.
He stood there dumbfounded for a long time. By the time he came to his senses, the person who had bought his grass was already gone.
He stared at the message on his phone, still in a daze.
He could read words, and he could certainly read numbers.
The man hadn't transferred one thousand to him, but two hundred thousand.
A full two hundred thousand.
His daughter was saved. She was saved!
Coming back to his senses, he dropped to his knees.
He muttered to himself, "Thank you, thank you."
******
Two hundred thousand. Jiang Zuo hadn't made a mistake, nor was he pitying the man.
It was because the Fire Spirit Grass was worth two hundred thousand. Whether the man's daughter was truly sick was unimportant, and it didn't matter if he was a scammer.
Because he hadn't lost out on the deal.
But if the man's story was true, then he could consider it a small favor.
He couldn't be bothered to skimp on this kind of money.
Jiang Zuo bought a planter on his way back. He had to plant the Fire Spirit Grass properly; it would be a loss if it died.
Just as he returned and finished planting the Fire Spirit Grass, he felt his phone vibrate.
He took it out and saw that someone had tagged him again.
Liu Yiyi: "@Boss Po Xiao, you're about to become famous."
Chi Xue Child immediately asked: "What happened? Did word already get out that you solved Elder Chen's problem?"
Liuyue Xue posted a shocked emoji: "What? It's already solved? Didn't he just leave a little while ago? What about Demon Cultivator Mo Yan?"
Demon Cultivator Mo Yan has joined the group chat
Liuyue Xue: "..."
Chen Yi: "..."
Xiao Xiaomo: "..."
Blade Master Hai Bian: "..."
Demon Cultivator Mo Yan: "What's with the reaction? Lookin' down on Demon Cultivators?"
Liuyue Xue @Chi Xue Child: "Don't tell me you got captured?"
Chi Xue Child posted a helpless emoji: "She insisted on coming along. She doesn't know the way and insisted on dragging me with her."
Liuyue Xue posted a petrified emoji: "'She?' Are you sure you didn't type that wrong?"
Chi Xue Child: "Nope."
Demon Cultivator Mo Yan posted a playful emoji: "What? Can't I be a girl?"
Liuyue Xue (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻: "Then why does all the intel I have say Mo Yan is a man?"
Po Xiao: "Probably changed gender halfway. I've encountered that kind of Secret Technique before."
Demon Cultivator Mo Yan: "... I was born this way."
Liu Yiyi posted a pause emoji: "Can you please let a person finish speaking?"
Blade Master Hai Bian: "Right. Yiyi Fairy just said Fellow Daoist Po Xiao was about to be famous. Wasn't it because he completed the commission?"
Xiao Xiaomo: "No, we heard a legend at the company."
Liuyue Xue: "A legend? What happened at the company?"
Liu Yiyi: "I just heard that someone took the Cultivation assessment this morning. The 1.1 Cultivation assessment."
Liuyue Xue: "And then?"
Liu Yiyi: "And then that 1.1-level fellow daoist completely dominated the 1.5-level instructor. They say the instructor still hasn't recovered. His eyes are still filled with terror."
Chi Xue Child posted a surprised emoji: "That's got to be fake, right? The gap between 1.5 and 1.1 is huge. Dominating him is one thing, but traumatizing him so badly that he can't recover? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
Blade Master Hai Bian: "Who is this person Yiyi Fairy is talking about? It couldn't be…"
Liu Yiyi: "That's right, it's Boss Po Xiao. Someone saw it with their own eyes."
Chi Xue Child was shocked: "Now that you put it that way, I suddenly feel like it's possible."
Demon Cultivator Mo Yan: "More than possible. Why else would he be so arrogant?"
Liu Yu: "It's perfectly normal for a 1.3 like me to get thrashed by him."
Xiao Xiaomo: "Get back in your hole and stop embarrassing yourself. @Boss Po Xiao Was it really you?"
Watching them discuss it, Jiang Zuo couldn't help but frown. 'Just a 1.5. Was it really that big of a deal?'
Then Jiang Zuo replied: "Just 1.5. Isn't that pretty weak?"
Blade Master Hai Bian: "If I may ask, Fellow Daoist, what is your true power level…?"
Po Xiao: "1.1."
Then the entire group fell silent.
Jiang Zuo shrugged. He didn't have time to deal with these people. He set his phone aside and got busy with his own affairs.
This time, he had spent almost all of the remaining seven hundred thousand-plus he had.
He might be able to advance to 1.2 tonight.
Thinking about it, Cultivation was truly expensive. He had spent a million in two days.
Without taking commissions, it would take forever to earn this much money.
******
「Tianhe Group」
"Boss, isn't Brother Zuo a little too heaven-defying?" Liu Yu asked Xiao Xiaomo.
Xiao Xiaomo retorted irritably, "If he weren't heaven-defying, could he have annihilated you in one move?"
Chen Yi: "Boss, interested in being his mistress?"
WHAM—
Chen Yi was promptly brained with a baseball bat.
Xiao Xiaomo said, "The news is spreading too fast in the logistics department. I'm just worried someone will try to knock him down a peg."
Chen Yi said dismissively, "Boss, Brother Zuo is no ordinary person. You can tell just from what he's done these past two days. If someone tries to knock him down a peg, they'll be the ones getting knocked down. But the people at the company aren't idiots. They wouldn't go looking for trouble with Brother Zuo, right?"
"A 1.1 defeating a 1.5. Do you think anyone would believe there wasn't something fishy going on?"
"Boss, you think Brother Zuo has a Magical Treasure? And maybe not just any ordinary Magical Treasure? A legendary golden finger?"
Xiao Xiaomo shook his head. "It's not what I think; it's what a lot of people are going to think. Sooner or later, someone will make a move on him in the shadows. Right now, not many people know that Jiang Zuo is Po Xiao. In short, keep it a secret. Don't let his appearance get out either. Don't reveal anything unless he lets people know himself."
"Understood."