Eternal Tale
chapter-24

Later on Chen Xun heard that there were also medium grade spirit stones, and the widely spread exchange ratio was 1:100 with low-grade spirit stones. But it’s generally hard to find a medium-grade spirit stone for that price. People usually go with the ratio of 1:120.

The man and ox hid in an empty corner in the valley, their eyes constantly scanning in all directions.

Chen Xun held the mountain-opening axe tightly in one hand and whispered with excitement, "Old ox, we're getting rich."

"Moo~" The big black ox mooed softly, its head nuzzling against Chen Xun's chest, with its eyes full of joy.

Lower-grade spirit stones were mainly used for cultivation. The pure spiritual energy they contained was much better suited for cultivation than their natural spiritual energy counterpart. Although, ordinary cultivators usually traded them for pills, as those were considered better, but pills had a fatal problem, continued consumption of a pill would lead to medical resistance in which the effect of the pill is greatly reduced until it has no effect whatsoever.

However, achieving the level of consuming pills to the point of developing resistance was a practice of the super wealthy cultivators, and these concerns are not things that ordinary cultivators had to muse over.

…

The next day, they continued to promote their booklets. They gradually earned a hundred lower-grade spirit stones, and Chen Xun was trembling with excitement. The black ox kept mooing and circling around him.

"Old Ox, we have to lay low." Chen Xun said in a hushed voice, feeling like everyone was going to come and snatch their spirit stones.

"Moo! Moo!" The big black ox responded, understanding the situation.

On the third day, they didn't sell booklets anymore and instead wandered around the various stalls.

Suddenly, Chen Xun's eyes lit up as he saw an “old acquaintance.”

"Miss, it's you!"

The young girl looked the same as he had seen her before. She had a few medical herbs and a number of pill bottles that she displayed on her stall.

She was startled and quickly recognized the familiar legs and the four black hooves. She couldn’t help but think, "Why is that bandit and his black ox back again?"

"_Hehe_. It's you." The girl forced a smile. His creepy get-up was still deeply ingrained in her memory. It was really hard to forget.

"We're here to buy a few things. We have spirit stones, don’t worry."

"Sure, what do you want to buy?" The girl's eyes lit up with enthusiasm. As long as he wasn’t here to mess around, then it was all good.

"Could you introduce me to these three medical herbs…." Chen Xun crouched down near the rake and awkwardly smiled.

To the astonishment of the girl, Chen Xun reached into his pockets and pulled out a few spirit stones to show that he really had them.

"Alright..." The girl hesitated then pointed to one of the medicinal herbs and said, "This is Water Cloud Grass. Twenty years old. Used as an ingredient for Qi Gathering pills; This is Frost Maple Grass. But it's only ten years old, and it’s used as an ingredient for Heavy Feather Pills; This is Spirit Gathering Grass. Thirty years old. Also an ingredient for Heavy Feather Pills."

The girl introduced them one by one. It was not easy for a vagabond cultivator to collect so many spiritual herbs even if their ages weren’t worth mentioning. If they were a bit older, they would have attracted fierce competition among the spirit beasts of the mountains.

"Miss, how many spirit stones for all of them? I'll take them all." Chen Xun licked his lips and stared at the herbs. His own judgment turned out to be not so far off.

"Twenty." The girl thought for a moment before blurting.

"What?!" Chen Xun exclaimed as he stood up, and his shrieking voice made the girl squint.

She decided to give leeway and said with a sweet voice, "Then how much are you offering?"

"Eight pieces." Chen Xun hesitated for a moment before saying.

The girl returned a disbelieving yelp, "Why don't you just rob me?"

Chen Xun's face twisted into an awkward look and he reached into his pockets, his hands kept moving around as if he was fishing for any other spirit stones he had.

"Ten spirit stones, that's all I have."

The girl's chest heaved slightly as she observed Chen Xun with anger. She couldn’t read anything off of his expression since only his nose, eyes, and mouth were exposed.

"Fine. Deal." The girl nodded firmly.

"I also want those three cases you have at the back for free. One for each herb." Chen Xun looked at the boxes behind her, drooling.

The girl's eyes widened in anger. This person was truly a bandit, and his face was as thick as a steel plate! He even dares to ask for a bonus!

In the end, she agreed to his request with gritted teeth.

"Just like that, old ox. Don’t pay any more than you have to if you can haggle your way through."

"Moo, moo!" The big black ox nudged Chen Xun, dissatisfied with his nagging. After spending a lof years in the mortal world, they knew this principal all too well.

Next ,Chen Xun walked up to a stall selling spells and said, "Big brother, how much does the Fireball Spell cost?"

A middle-aged man glanced at Chen Xun and his pupils slightly widened, "Four pieces of lower-grade spirit stones."

Chen Xun looked a bit troubled hearing that number. The big black ox tugged at him, indicating to walk away.

"Wait a moment, friend." The middle-aged man looked at Chen Xun and then at the ox, "Do you really want it?"

"Yes, quite a bit." Chen Xun nodded.

"You can have it for two spirit stones!"

"Big brother is straightforward." Chen Xun praised as he took out two spirit stones from his pocket and grabbed the spell then left in a hurry.

The middle-aged man shook his head slightly and pulled out another copy of the “Fireball Spell” from under the stall. This spell was common, and one could buy it for cheap anywhere. He had countless copies of those, in fact.

Chen Xun and the big black ox bought a spell from each stall, but they paid attention not to buy too many.

"Beast Taming Technique," "Basic Alchemy Technique," "Comprehensive Guide to Spiritual Herbs," "Spiritual Clarity Technique," and others. They also spent a lot of spirit stones to buy a bag of spiritual herb seeds, causing their hundred spirit stones to quickly vanish.

Walking in the valley, Chen Xun's heart raced. They felt that their wealth was so abundant that countless wandering cultivators might want to rob them.

"Old Ox."

"Moo~"

The man and the ox exchanged a deep glance and their footsteps gradually quickened. They rushed out of the valley and disappeared, having escaped before the Ten Great Sects even made their appearances.

...

On the outskirts of the Ningyun Mountain Range, they occupied a beast's den. A massive stone blocked the entrance and a dense tangle of vines covered it. Without close attention, one would never realize there was a cave beyond the stone.

**_Crack!_**

A burst of flames erupted and it illuminated the entire cave. Chen Xun's face could be seen flushed and the big black ox spun and dashed around like crazy.

"Anyone who looks at you can tell you have struck it rich, old ox" Chen Xun chuckled, "Look at you, when will you ever be like me?"

"Moo~~"

The big black ox continued to nudge Chen Xun, incredibly joyous.

"Moo, moo!"

"We each have 15 points of Essence of All Things, which adds up to 30. We can accelerate the growth of spiritual herbs by over two years each day."

Chen Xun grew more excited as he spoke "Old Ox, can you do math? How many years can we add to a herb in a month?"

"Moo, moo?" The big black ox mooed twice and placed a stone in its mouth before scribbling around on the ground.

"75 years!" Chen Xun exclaimed in excitement. "One plant of a hundred-year spiritual herb a month, my goodness!"

"Moo moo moo!"

The big black ox suddenly leapt into the air, dropping the stone in the process.

They had asked around before and it turned out that a hundred-year spiritual herb would cost from a hundred to two hundred spirit stones.

They had spiritual herb seeds now. They could grow these and start selling. In the world of cultivation, who could have more spirit stones than them?

"Still, don’t get your hopes up too much, we don't have the strength to manage a large-scale business yet."

Looking at the big black ox's expression, Chen Xun knew what it was thinking, "It’s just a little change in the plans so we don’t attract attention. We still need to refine pills anyway."

"Moo, moo!"

The big black ox kept nodding in a trance, probably imagining a pile of spirit stones.

"Let's first cultivate the three spiritual herbs in medicine boxes for a hundred years. As for those spiritual herb seeds, we'll plant them one by one." Chen Xun said calmly, "The scent of hundred-year spiritual herbs outside can easily attract many spiritual beasts and animals. These medicine boxes not only preserve the essence but also block the scent. We'll need more of these in the future."