Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

At the entrance of the "Yuancaotang" shop at the eastern end of the shantytown, a crowd of people had gathered in three or four layers.

Widow Li stood inside the threshold, clutching a rag in her hand, her knuckles white from gripping it so tightly.

Three steps in front of her stood a middle-aged man wearing the brown robes of a deacon from the Lingzhi Hall. He had a goatee, triangular eyes, and held a scroll of documents stamped with a red seal in his hand.

"Manager Liu, aren't you...aren't you being a little too hasty?" Widow Li's voice trembled slightly. "This shop has only been open for less than two months, and the accounts aren't even settled yet."

"Madam Li, what you say is true." Steward Liu unfolded the document, the pages rustling. "The sect's rectification of the market is for everyone's benefit. Selling things individually, with prices fluctuating wildly, can easily lead to incidents like Wu Xiaoshuan's. Unifying the market under the Spirit Plant Hall, with clear pricing and guaranteed quality, is a good thing for both buyers and sellers of herbs."

"But this shop belongs to Chen—"

"Chen Yuan is a disciple of the Flying Feather Sect, so he should know the rules even more." Manager Liu interrupted her, his eyelids drooping. "The sect has an order that disciples are not allowed to own private property. We didn't interfere before because we were considerate of the difficulties faced by you independent cultivators. Now that we are going to rectify this, we will naturally treat everyone equally."

A buzzing sound came from the crowd.

Someone whispered, "I knew such cheap grass rings wouldn't last long..."

Another chimed in, "If Lingzhitang takes over, the price will probably double."

"We have to buy it even if it's doubled! Our son is counting on this spiritual energy to start his education..."

As Sister Li listened to the discussions, her lips pressed into a thin line. She turned her head to look inside the shop—on three rows of wooden shelves, hundreds of neatly woven golden thread grass rings were stacked, the grass leaves still gleaming with a fresh green hue.

Those were goods that were just received yesterday.

"Manager Liu," she took a breath, trying to keep her voice steady, "what should we do with all this inventory?"

"Inventory?" Manager Liu raised his chin. "Lingzhitang will buy it at 50% of the market price. Cash on delivery."

"Fifty percent?!" Widow Li almost cried out.

"Madam Li." Steward Liu closed the document, his tone turning colder. "You're selling these grass rings for three spirit stones each. What's the cost? The grass grew naturally in the shantytown, and the labor was provided by the neighbors. All told, the labor cost for one ring is only one spirit stone. The Spirit Plant Hall is paying 50%, which is already quite generous."

He paused, then added a sentence.

"Or do you think this business can still continue?"

The meaning behind the words is crystal clear.

The color drained from Sister Li's face. She opened her mouth, but before she could utter a sound, footsteps sounded behind her.

Chen Yuan walked out of the crowd, with Zhou Ming following behind.

"Manager Liu." Chen Yuan cupped his hands in greeting, his face expressionless.

"Junior Brother Chen is here." Steward Liu's face immediately lit up with a smile. "Perfect timing, you should know about this by now. The sect's reorganization order was just issued yesterday. From now on, all transactions related to spiritual plants in the market must be handled by the Spiritual Plant Hall. Your Golden Thread Grass ring business..."

He dragged out the last syllable.

"I heard it from Sister Li." Chen Yuan nodded. "The sect has given orders, and we will comply."

Manager Liu's smile deepened.

"Junior Brother Chen is sensible. As for these remaining stock..."

"Do as Manager Liu says." Chen Yuan turned and walked into the shop, picked up a straw ring from the shelf and looked at it. "Fifty percent, fifty percent. Zhou Ming, help Sister Li check the goods."

Zhou Ming was taken aback for a moment, then quickly replied, "Okay."

Widow Li suddenly turned her head to look at Chen Yuan, her eyes wide open.

Chen Yuan didn't look at her, but only said to Steward Liu, "Checking the goods will take time. Steward Liu, would you like to wait now, or should we check them and deliver them to the Spirit Plant Hall?"

"Send it over," Manager Liu waved his hand. "Just deliver it before 1 PM. Oh, and by the way—"

He took a wooden plaque out of his sleeve and handed it to Chen Yuan.

"This is the purchase receipt from Lingzhitang. From now on, when the golden thread grass you grow in the shantytown matures, you can send it directly to Lingzhitang's purchase point, and the price will be based on the grade. Lingzhitang will hire someone else to do the ring weaving work. At that time, the neighbors can also sign up, and the wages will be calculated per piece."

Chen Yuan took the wooden plaque and stuffed it into his pocket without even looking at it.

"Thank you for the arrangements, Manager Liu."

"Of course." Manager Liu stroked his goatee with satisfaction, then glanced at the crowd and raised his voice, "Everyone, disperse! The Lingzhi Hall's purchasing point opens tomorrow, right over at the old warehouse on the west side. Those with grass, bring it; those who want to make rings, come and register tomorrow!"

The crowd dispersed, buzzing with discussion.

Steward Liu also walked away with his hands behind his back. His brown steward's robe swayed in the dusty street and quickly disappeared around the corner.

The shop fell silent immediately.

Widow Li was still standing on the threshold, her hand gripping the rag clenching and unclenching repeatedly. After a long while, she suddenly turned around.

"Brother Chen!" The voice trembled. "Fifty percent! Those straw rings were woven by the neighbors over three nights! And they just take them away like that, and only give us fifty percent? Our shop..."

"The shop is closing down," Chen Yuan interrupted her.

Widow Li choked.

Chen Yuan walked behind the counter, opened a drawer, took out a thin ledger, and flipped through it.

"In forty-seven days since opening, we've sold a total of 2,130 grass rings. Costs..." He traced a line of numbers with his finger, "The grass was grown in the ground, so we didn't charge for it. The labor cost for weaving the rings was one spirit stone per ring, totaling 2,130 spirit stones. The selling price was three spirit stones each, so the total revenue was 6,390 spirit stones. The net profit was 4,260 spirit stones."

He closed the ledger and looked at Widow Li.

"Sister Li, of these four thousand spirit stones, you get 30%, which is 1278. Zhou Ming, who helped out, gets half, which is 213. The rest is mine. Is the account correct?"

Widow Li's lips moved, but she didn't make a sound.

"If that's right, let's split the money now." Chen Yuan took out a cloth bag from his pocket, poured out a pile of broken spirit stones, and divided them into three piles on the counter. "The Spirit Plant Hall will buy the remaining stock from the shop at 50%, which should bring back about a thousand broken spirit stones. Sister Li and Zhou Ming will split this money equally."

Zhou Ming quickly waved his hand: "I don't want my share, I don't want any of it—"

"Take what's yours." Chen Yuan pushed the money over. "Business is business."

Widow Li's eyes reddened as she looked at the pile of broken spirit stones on the counter.

"I don't care about the money..." her voice choked, "This shop..."

"Sister Li," Chen Yuan said calmly, "Lingzhitang wants to take it over, and we can't stop them."

"But you can go to Elder Mu! You're his last disciple; with just a word from him, would the Spirit Plant Hall dare to do this—"

"Elder Mu won't get involved in this kind of thing." Chen Yuan put Sister Li's share of spirit stones into a small cloth bag, tied it up, and stuffed it into her hand. "The sect's rectification of the market is perfectly legitimate. If he gets involved, it will only give others grounds for criticism."

Widow Li clutched the cloth bag, her knuckles turning white again.

"So... we're just going to accept it like this?"

"I accept it." Chen Yuan turned around and began to pack up the things on the counter—pens, ink, account books, and a few spare spirit stones. "Zhou Ming, help me pack those grass rings on the shelf into boxes. Sister Li, go to the field and cut down all the remaining golden thread grass, and send them to the Spirit Plant Hall together."

"Cut them all down?" Zhou Ming was taken aback. "Those plants in the field haven't matured yet. If you cut them down now, you won't even get a good price for fodder."

"Then sell it as waste grass." Chen Yuan didn't even look up. "I don't care about getting a single penny. The important thing is, don't keep a single one."

Zhou Ming and Widow Li exchanged a glance, but neither of them moved.

Chen Yuan stopped what he was doing and looked up at them.

"Go quickly."

The tone remained the same, but the two words struck the ground like stones.

Zhou Ming jumped in surprise and quickly went to move the shelves. Widow Li gritted her teeth, turned around and walked towards the backyard—the plot of land connected to the back door of the shop was where the golden thread grass was planted.

After Chen Yuan and the other two went out, he walked to the innermost part of the shop, squatted down, and pried open a loose floor tile in the corner.

Below is a hidden compartment, about one foot square.

The hidden compartment contained over thirty neatly stacked oil paper packages, each marked with a charcoal pencil. Some had a circle, some a cross, and others strange symbols.

Chen Yuan took out the paper packets and opened them one by one to check them.

The paper package contained seeds of the golden thread grass. But unlike ordinary seeds, these seeds had a faint, almost imperceptible five-colored glow on their surface—that was from the "seed heads" and "dyed seeds" that he had treated with the "laws of growth" and the "laws of life nourishment."

He rewrapped the paper packets, keeping only the three marked with double circles, and put the rest into his pocket. Then he took out a small iron stove from under the counter, lit a fire, and threw the three remaining paper packets into it.

The flames licked the oiled paper and quickly burst into flames. The seeds crackled in the fire, and the faint five-colored light struggled for a few moments before dissipating into the smoke.

Chen Yuan stared at the fire until the last paper package was burned to ashes. Then he used tongs to pull out the ashes, crushed them, and scattered them into the corner of the wall.

After doing all that, he stood up and dusted off his hands.

Zhou Ming carried in a wooden box full of straw rings, and paused for a moment when he saw the stove.

"What are you burning?"

"Useless stuff." Chen Yuan kicked the stove. "How much did you put in?"

"There are two more boxes." Zhou Ming put the boxes down, took a breath, and said, "Chen Yuan, is it really... all handed over?"

"Um."

"But this business clearly has the potential to grow..." Zhou Ming lowered his voice, "I heard that some senior brothers and sisters in the inner sect have started using these grass rings, saying that they're for new disciples to wear, and that they're even better at nourishing the meridians than Qi-Nourishing Pills. Once the Spirit Plant Hall takes over, they'll definitely raise the price, and then..."

"That won't be our business anymore," Chen Yuan interrupted him. "Zhou Ming, remember, from now on, the Golden Thread Grass Rings are Lingzhi Hall's business. We've never grown the grass, never woven the rings, and never run a shop."

Zhou Ming opened his mouth, but only managed to utter, "...I understand."

As the two men carried out the last two boxes of straw rings, Widow Li returned.

She was pushing a cart piled high with freshly cut golden thread grass, the leaves still glistening with dew, their green color almost blinding in the sunlight.

"All of it... from the field is here." Her voice was a little hoarse.

Chen Yuan walked over and rummaged through the haystack. Indeed, not a single blade of grass was left; even the newly sprouted shoots had been pulled up.

"Let's go," he said. "Take it to the cemetery."

The three men pushed the cart silently through the shantytown. Neighbors peered out from their doors and windows, no one speaking, their eyes filled with complex emotions.

The newly established purchasing point of Lingzhitang is located in the old warehouse at the west end. There was already a queue at the door, all of them were farmers from the shantytown, carrying various spiritual plants in their hands or pushing carts—Edelweiss, Perilla, Qingyang Rice, and most of them were Golden Thread Grass.

When it was Chen Yuan's turn, the person receiving the goods was a young steward. He took the note from Steward Liu, looked at it, and then glanced at the items on the cart.

"Five hundred grass rings, three hundred catties of golden thread grass?" He frowned. "The grass rings will be bought at 50%, one and a half spirit stones each. The golden thread grass..." He grabbed a handful and twirled it. "Since there are no elders yet, we'll calculate it as a second-grade product, one catty and five spirit stones."

Sister Li suddenly looked up.

Chen Yuan pressed down on her shoulder.

"Okay," he said.

The young deacon lowered his head to calculate: "Five hundred grass rings, each costing 1.5 spirit stones, totaling seven hundred and fifty spirit stones. Three hundred catties of golden thread grass, costing five spirit stones per catty, totaling one thousand five hundred spirit stones. The total is two thousand two hundred and fifty spirit stones."

He opened the drawer, counted out twenty-two low-grade spirit stones, grabbed fifty broken spirit stones, and shoved them onto the counter with a clatter.

"Make sure you count it clearly."

Chen Yuan didn't even look at it, and swept it into his cloth bag.

"I'm gone."

The three turned and left. As they walked out of the warehouse, they heard the young deacon muttering to someone beside him:

"...That's all the people in the shantytowns are capable of. Even if they come up with something new, they still have to hand it over, right?"

Zhou Ming clenched his fists.

Chen Yuan tugged at him.

"Back to Medicine Valley," he said.

No one spoke on the street.

It wasn't until they entered the Medicine Valley and reached the edge of plot number seventy-three that Zhou Ming couldn't hold back any longer.

"What does that kid mean? What do you mean by 'that's all he's capable of'? We created the grass ring! They, the Spirit Plant Hall, just took what was already there, and—"

"Zhou Ming." Chen Yuan stopped and turned to look at him. "The Golden Thread Grass Ring has nothing to do with us anymore."

"Can……"

"No buts." Chen Yuan said calmly, "From now on, that piece of land in the shantytown will be planted with Qingyang rice. When you have time, go and tell Sister Li to keep her share of the money safe, enough for her and Ping An to live a peaceful life for two years."

Zhou Ming stared at him, then suddenly asked, "Did you... anticipate this all along?"

Chen Yuan did not answer.

He walked to the Yin Soul Flower and sat down cross-legged. The silvery-white light of the array enveloped him, and the subtle spirit-seeking patterns silently operated, recording his steady, almost rigid, aura of the Long Breath Technique.

"Chen Yuan," Zhou Ming called out again.

Chen Yuan opened his eyes.

"Zhou Ming," he said, "why do you think Senior Brother Zhang would tamper with the formation?"

Zhou Ming was stunned.

"Because he's unwilling to accept losing the bet and wants to find something to use against me." Chen Yuan answered his own question, "Then why did Lingzhitang take away the grass ring business?"

"Because they're envious..."

"Envy is secondary," Chen Yuan shook his head. "The main problem is that this business is 'uncontrollable.' The independent cultivators in the shantytowns grow, weave, and sell their own produce, setting their own prices. Lingzhitang can't get involved and doesn't get a share. Now, with a single document, they can be legitimately brought under their wing, and they can decide the pricing, production volume, and profits."

He paused.

"So, there are two ways to make something completely safe. One is to hide it so that no one can find it, and the other is to hand it over and make it 'insignificant'."

Zhou Ming stared at him blankly.

"You... chose the second one?"

Chen Yuan closed his eyes again.

I'll choose both.

He said.

The array's light swirled.

The distant sound of bells from Medicine Valley startled a flock of gray sparrows perched in the spirit fields.

They fluttered across the sky.