Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

Noon, in the shantytown.

Chen Yuan squatted in the field of edelweiss, his fingers gently brushing against the leaves of a grass that was exceptionally red.

This one was different—its leaves were thick and velvety, with deep red to almost black serrated edges; in the sunlight, the whole plant seemed to glow faintly. He stared intently at it, and information surfaced in his mind:

[Name]: Edelweiss (Slight Mutation)

[Entry]: Faint Fire Spiritual Energy (Extractable)

[Status]: Mature stage, containing fire elemental energy; harvest with care.

[WARNING]: Forcibly extracting may damage the essence of the spiritual plant.

Chen Yuan held his breath.

Five months ago, he discovered the first golden thread grass with an entry in the weeds.

Now, he has personally cultivated one—although the description is weak, it is a genuine mutated spiritual plant.

He pulled up a common edelweiss plant next to him for comparison.

The ordinary one has thin, light red leaves that feel only slightly warm to the touch. The mutated one, however, is heavy, and when you touch its leaves with your fingertips, you can feel the spiritual energy flowing slowly through its veins.

"Brother Chen."

Widow Li came over carrying a bamboo basket containing two cornbread buns and a dish of pickled vegetables. Her eyes lit up when she saw the grass in Chen Yuan's hand: "This one... looks different."

"Hmm." Chen Yuan carefully placed the mutated edelweiss on the edge of the field. "It might be worth some money."

The two squatted by the edge of the field and ate lunch.

Chen Yuan ate a cornbread while calculating: three mu of edelweiss, only about two hundred plants in total, most of which were ordinary. Two mu of perilla, only about twenty golden-veined plants. Three mu of Qingyang rice, with little spiritual energy, wouldn't fetch a good price.

Adding everything up, I estimate I can sell it for around two thousand spirit stones, which is much better than the one thousand spirit stones I originally imagined.

But with this mutated Edelweiss...

"Aunt Li," Chen Yuan swallowed the last bite of his cornbread, "I want to discuss something with you."

Widow Li looked up at him.

"Do you still have the two hundred and forty spirit stones I gave you last time?"

"Yes." Widow Li pulled a cloth bag from her bosom. "Not a single coin has been touched."

"I want you to open a shop in the market," Chen Yuan said. "It doesn't need to be big, just a small shop will do. Specialize in selling mid-to-high-end spiritual plants—golden-veined perilla, top-grade fire edelweiss, and high-quality spiritual rice. We'll grow them ourselves and sell them ourselves."

Widow Li was stunned.

"I...I don't know anything about doing business..."

"You don't need to know too much," Chen Yuan said, pointing to the mutated Edelweiss. "We're selling good stuff. Good stuff speaks for itself. All you need to do is run the shop, collect money, and make sure you don't get ripped off."

He paused for a moment, then said, "You might not make any money at first, and you might even lose money. After I sell this batch of Firefly Grass, I'll give you another three hundred spirit stones. That should be enough for you to last a year. If it still doesn't work after a year, we'll think of another way."

Widow Li looked at the spirit stone, then at Chen Yuan, her lips moved, but she didn't say anything.

Little Bean ran out of the house and stared wide-eyed at the spirit stone.

"Mom, so much money..."

"This isn't money," Chen Yuan patted the child's head, "it's a seed. Plant it, and it will grow into more money."

He stood up: "Let's sell this batch of goods first. Come with me to Baicaotang and see how Manager Liao does business."

---

At 2:45 PM, at Baicaotang.

Manager Liao was looking through the account books behind the counter when he heard the doorbell ring. He looked up and saw Chen Yuan carrying a sack, followed by a reserved woman.

"Fellow Daoist Chen?" Manager Liao put down his account book. "And this gentleman is?"

"Sister Li, please look after the spirit field for me." Chen Yuan placed the sack on the counter. "I'm selling some things."

He first took out a few common edelweiss plants, a handful of perilla leaves, and a small bag of rice from the sack.

Shopkeeper Liao inspected each item and quoted prices: "Ordinary quality edelweiss, two yuan per stalk. Perilla, three yuan, rice, eight mao. These... total around one thousand eight hundred."

Chen Yuan did not respond.

He took a wooden box out of his pocket and carefully opened it.

The box was lined with a soft cloth, and on top of that lay the mutated Edelweiss.

Manager Liao's eyes narrowed.

He picked up the grass, but before looking at it, he closed the shop and hung up a "Closed for Now" sign. Then he went back to the counter, took out a jade plate from the drawer, and placed the edelweiss on it.

The jade plate glowed faintly, and the red light flowed and condensed into a line of small characters: [Fire Spirit Purity: 12%].

"A mutant." Manager Liao looked up at Chen Yuan. "You grew it?"

"Good luck."

"Luck?" Manager Liao laughed. "Fellow Daoist Chen, we've been doing business together for quite some time now. Your 'luck' is a bit too good."

He examined the edelweiss carefully: "The leaves are intact, the fire energy is contained within, and the essence has not been damaged... It's of good quality. Alchemists love this kind of mutated edelweiss with spiritual energy—they use it to make fire-attribute pills, which can purify the medicinal properties."

"How much is it worth?" Chen Yuan asked.

Manager Liao pondered for a moment.

"Two pieces of common edelweiss, three pieces of superior edelweiss. And this kind with spiritual energy..." He held up five fingers, "...five pieces."

Widow Li gasped.

One herb, five spirit stones? Enough for an ordinary family to live on for two months.

Chen Yuan shook his head: "Manager Liao, you just said it yourself, alchemists like it best. Would an alchemist care about a few extra spirit stones when buying something?"

Manager Liao narrowed his eyes: "Then how much do you want?"

"Eight pieces," Chen Yuan said. "And from now on, whenever I grow something similar, I'll bring it to you first."

"Eight yuan..." Manager Liao stroked the edelweiss leaves, and after a while, nodded, "Okay. Eight yuan. But you have to promise to give me at least five more of this quality within three months."

I will try my best.

The transaction continues.

Two hundred and three common edelweiss plants, two yuan each, four hundred and six yuan.

There are 520 perilla plants, including 27 golden-patterned ones, which cost 5 yuan each, totaling 135 yuan; and 493 ordinary ones, which cost 3 yuan each, totaling 1479 yuan.

Nine hundred catties of Qingyang rice. Manager Liao, considering the mutated fireweed, gave it one yuan per catty, totaling nine hundred yuan.

Finally, there's that mutated Edelweiss: eight pieces.

Total: 2,928 low-grade spirit stones.

Shopkeeper Liao took out an abacus from under the counter and quickly typed: "Two thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight. I'll round it up to three thousand. One hundred low-grade spirit stones can be exchanged for one mid-grade spirit stone. Here you go."

He counted out twenty mid-grade spirit stones and one thousand low-grade spirit stones from the money box. He put them in a cloth bag and handed it to Chen Yuan.

"Fellow Daoist Chen," Shopkeeper Liao lowered his voice, "I plan to sell this mutated Firefly Grass to Elder Liu in the alchemy room. He's currently refining a batch of 'Crimson Sun Pills' and is short of fire-attribute auxiliary materials. If it works out, you can send any good things you grow directly to Elder Liu in the future—he's very generous."

Chen Yuan took the cloth bag: "Thank you, Manager Liao."

"No need to thank me," Manager Liao waved his hand. "It's a mutually beneficial deal. But... don't flaunt your wealth, be careful."

---

As she walked out of Baicaotang, Widow Li still felt lightheaded.

Three thousand spirit stones.

She had never seen so much money in her life.

Chen Yuan stuffed the cloth bag into his arms and whispered, "Aunt Li, did you understand what I just saw?"

Widow Li nodded blankly, then shook her head: "I did see it, but..."

"There are only two things to do in business," Chen Yuan said as he walked. "First, the products must be good. Second, you must know why the products are good and explain it to those who need them."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Why was Manager Liao willing to pay eight yuan for that herb? Because he knew alchemists needed it and knew he could sell it for a higher price. We should do the same when we open our shop—not wait for people to come to us, but know who needs what and deliver it to them."

"Then... how many people would that require to know..."

"Take it slow," Chen Yuan said. "Let's start with the shantytowns. If someone in a family is injured, we'll give them some herbal medicine to stop the bleeding. If a child is about to take a major exam, we'll sell them some nourishing rice. Once we build a reputation, people will naturally come to us."

The two returned to the shantytown.

Chen Yuan didn't rush home; he first went to the market to take a stroll.

Qingyang Market is divided into inner and outer sections. The outer section is filled with general merchandise stalls, low-level magical artifact shops, and ordinary pharmacies, bustling with people and quite noisy. The inner section is quieter, with a few shops specializing in spiritual plants. The storefronts are small, but the items displayed in the windows all exude spiritual energy.

Chen Yuan stopped in front of a shop called "Lingcaoxuan".

Three edelweisses were displayed in the shop window, their appearance similar to the one he was selling today, priced at twelve spirit stones.

"Look, Manager Liao can make four yuan just by reselling it," Chen Yuan said to Widow Li. "When we open our shop in the future, we won't be greedy. We'll just sell it for ten yuan—cheaper than them, but the quality will be just as good."

Widow Li looked at the price tag and did the math in her head: two yuan profit per plant, twenty yuan for ten plants, two hundred yuan for one hundred plants...

"It seems...it might work."

"It's not just a possibility, it's certain." Chen Yuan turned around. "Let's go home and discuss opening a shop."

---

Evening, in the main room of Chen Yuan's house.

Paper and pen were spread out on the table, and Chen Yuan was drawing a sketch.

"The shop doesn't need to be big, ten feet square will do. Put shelves in the front, and partition off a small room in the back where you can live. Location... choose the street where the outer and inner districts meet, the rent is cheap and there are lots of people."

Widow Li listened attentively, while Little Bean lay on the edge of the table, his eyes sparkling.

"Initially, we'll sell three things: golden perilla, top-grade edelweiss, and refined spirit rice. The goods will come from our eight acres of land; you just need to focus on selling them. The prices will be 10% lower than those in the inner district, but we will never use inferior products."

Chen Yuan counted out a thousand spirit stones from his cloth bag and pushed them to Widow Li: "This is the start-up capital. Use this for renting a shop, setting up shelves, and purchasing goods. You can use the rest of the spirit stones as you see fit."

Widow Li's hands trembled again as she looked at the spirit stone.

"Brother Chen, I...I'm afraid I won't do it well."

"If you can't do it well, then learn." Chen Yuan looked at her. "Aunt Li, do you remember what Old Zhao said before he left?"

Widow Li's eyes reddened: "He said... people like us either accept our fate or fight to the death."

"Yes," Chen Yuan said. "Before, we had no choice but to accept our fate. Now we have a chance, let's give it our all. If we lose, the worst that can happen is we'll be back to where we are now. If we win..."

He didn't go on.

But Widow Li understood.

They won. Little Bean no longer has to live in the shantytown, no longer has to eat moldy rice, and no longer has to be called a "bastard".

She took a deep breath and gathered the spirit stones in front of her: "I'll do it."

"Alright." Chen Yuan smiled. "Go to the market tomorrow and find a shop. Remember a few key points: first, it must be on a main street; second, it must be well-ventilated; and third, it must be able to be partitioned off to allow for living quarters. The rent should not exceed twenty spirit stones per month, and the deposit should not exceed fifty."

He stood up: "I have to go back to Medicine Valley, I can't delay. You're in charge of the shop. If you encounter any difficulties, go to Hundred Herbs Hall and find Manager Liao—I've already spoken to him."

Widow Li escorted him to the gate of the courtyard.

Chen Yuan slung his bag over his shoulder, took a few steps, then turned back and called out, "Sister Li."

"Um?"

"I've decided on the name for the shop," Chen Yuan said. "It's called 'Yuancaotang.' The source of the water is the life of the grass. We grow from the bottom up, inch by inch, until we reach the sky."

Widow Li nodded vigorously.

Chen Yuan turned and disappeared into the twilight.

Meanwhile, in the distance, deep within an alley in the market area.

Two disciples dressed in the outer sect robes of the Flying Feather Sect were talking in hushed tones.

"Did you see that clearly? That kid sold a mutated Edelweiss at Baicaotang today."

"How much is it worth?"

"Eight spirit stones. Shopkeeper Liao personally inspected the goods."

"Eight pieces...that's not much."

"It's not many. But for a disciple at the fourth level of Qi Refining to cultivate a mutated spiritual plant... do you think that's normal?"

The two exchanged a glance.

"Should we tell Senior Brother Wang?"

"Speak. A disciple who is only registered in the sect is illegally cultivating high-level spiritual plants, violating the sect rules. He's in for a lot of trouble."

Night was falling.

In plot number seventy-three of Medicine Valley, Chen Yuan sat cross-legged, holding the mid-grade spirit stones he had earned that day in his hand.

He circulated his cultivation technique, and spiritual energy slowly entered his body.

At the same time.

The mutated Flamegrass that had been sold was now lying in Old Liu's jade box in the alchemy room. The old man picked up a blade of grass, examined it closely under the lamplight, and murmured to himself:

"The fire element is pure, and the spiritual energy is abundant... This quality doesn't seem to be from a novice."

He put down the blade of grass, picked up a pen, and wrote a note.

"Investigate this Chen Yuan. If he truly has the talent for spiritual plants, find a way to bring him into the alchemy room."

The paper strip was rolled up and stuffed into the bamboo tube.

A carrier pigeon fluttered towards the depths of the medicine valley.