First achieve immortality, then cultivate immortality.

Once home, Xu Mu felt completely relaxed.

The incident in Five Thunder City had kept him on edge until he entered the comfort zone of the mortal realm, where he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He sat down with the two sisters and shared the story with them, both to tell them a tale and to offer them some comfort.

"This cultivation world is really dangerous..." Li Zhiyuan frowned, worried about Xu Mu.

"Yes, they're fighting for resources every day. Sects fight with each other, fellow disciples fight with each other, aristocratic families fight with rogue cultivators. No one can escape it." Xu Mu sighed helplessly.

"The mortal realm is the same; this world is truly full of endless strife."

"That's why people admire immortals and yearn for a carefree life. They never imagined that cultivators are no different from ordinary people."

"No, I feel the cultivation world is even more chaotic than the mortal realm..."

The three of them complained and grumbled together.

That's how it is when you're with someone close to you. There's no professional advice; you just sit together, chat about nothing, and complain together.

In the evening, we can pour out our hearts to each other, comforting each other's hearts and minds, and that will be enough.

……

one year later.

Xu Mu took the Spirit Gathering Fruit and Spirit Fertilizer and headed to Five Thunder City again.

As he approached Wulei City, he was cautious, fearing that he might be surrounded and attacked.

Fortunately, as long as he doesn't have the Spirit Gathering Fruit as a signature item, he can simply disguise himself and conceal his aura so that no one will recognize him.

This time he went straight to Riyuexuan.

When Hongling saw him, she said calmly, "Did you bring the things?"

"Here."

Xu Mu took out the box, placed it on the counter, and pushed it over.

Hongling opened the box and examined it. She wrinkled her nose and smelled a pungent odor.

After the feces are turned into fertilizer, they don't smell so bad anymore and become like black soil.

"Hold on."

As she spoke, she took the box and walked back into the shadows.

After a while, she returned to stand behind the counter and stood there calmly without saying anything.

Xu Mu guessed that she must have given the item to her master, so he patiently waited for the mysterious female master's reaction.

At this moment, the mysterious female master's voice rang out: "What are the ingredients of your spiritual fertilizer? They seem a bit unfamiliar."

Xu Mu smiled and said, "That's a material from the mortal realm, so it's normal that you find it unfamiliar, senior."

As for what the material is, he didn't want to say directly, nor did he dare to.

I'm afraid the other person will be disgusted if I say it out loud, just like how Senior Sister Mo Yao reacted back then.

The female master chuckled and said, "That's interesting. Besides incense, there are actually cultivation resources like this in the mortal realm."

"I want your recipe for this spiritual fertilizer. Name your price," she said bluntly.

"...I'm sorry, senior, it's not that I'm unwilling to sell, but that I'm not capable of summarizing a method that others can learn from." Xu Mu shrugged.

This "fertilization technique" is not a simple fertilization process, but a variation of an alchemical method involving burying fertilizer in the ground.

Elixirs are for humans to eat, while fertilizers are for plants to eat.

To learn alchemy, one needs to comprehend the essence of alchemy; similarly, the art of composting fertilizer also requires the essence of alchemy, or fertilizer essence.

Without this "rich essence", it is impossible to refine spiritual fertilizer.

"Pure talent... there's nothing we can do about it then." The female master's tone was full of regret.

Xu Mu was a pioneer in researching from scratch, mastering it naturally through intuition.

However, turning it into a Daoist method that people can learn is extremely difficult, and he simply doesn't have that ability right now.

If he can really do that, it will be incredible; it will be a revolutionary technology, and he will be on par with those who founded their own schools of thought.

"Please forgive me, senior," Xu Mu said, bowing.

"It's alright, I won't force you."

"Thank you for your understanding, senior." He said solemnly.

Having witnessed far too many bullies and those who use their cultivation level to intimidate others in the cultivation world, it is truly rare to encounter a great cultivator who is easy to talk to.

This shows that this association of like-minded people is indeed valuable.

"Hongling, pay the bill," the female master said.

After Hongling agreed, she took out the materials for the Golden Saint Pill that Xu Mu needed.

Xu Mu breathed a sigh of relief, then cupped his hands and said, "I wonder if Senior is interested in this spirit fertilizer?"

"What?" The female master asked with interest.

Xu Mu felt that she seemed to have guessed what he was going to say, or even deliberately waited for him to speak first?

He's an extremely shrewd businessman.

He could only take the initiative and say, "Although I cannot sell the method for making spirit fertilizer, I can sell the spirit fertilizer itself. I wonder if you would be interested in buying it?"

"Hmm..." the other person pondered.

"Your spiritual fertilizer can only nourish second-grade spiritual herbs at most?"

"Yes, this is a level two spiritual fertilizer, which nourishes a second-grade spiritual herb. A level one spiritual fertilizer nourishes a first-grade spiritual herb."

"Then can you make level three or four spirit fertilizer?" the other party asked with a faint smile.

"Well...maybe in the future."

"Hehehe, alright then, I'll invest in your future." The female master said with a smile.

She looked down on level two spirit fertilizers, but if they were level four, five, or even level six or seven, anyone would know their value.

"Then let's talk about a deal. Let's draw up a contract in the name of the [Tao]."

Upon hearing this, Xu Mu was somewhat surprised.

A contract signed in the name of the Dao is called a "Dao Contract," which has absolute binding force and is usually used only for important transactions between various forces.

Once the covenant is violated, divine retribution is not merely a curse, but an inevitable punishment.

No one can even be sure what form divine retribution will take. It could be a lightning tribulation, or it could be that during cultivation, one suddenly suffers a qi deviation, resulting in death and the dissipation of one's cultivation.

Therefore, the Dao Contract is a groundbreaking invention that guarantees fair trade between the cultivation world and even between various races. It evolved from the Tongtian Talisman Technique and is used to report to the Heavenly Dao.

At this moment, the other party holds an absolute advantage and is actually willing to sign a contract, which is naturally something Xu Mu couldn't ask for.

However, the other party was certainly not acting out of kindness.

"My requirement is that you must prioritize trading with me for the highest-grade fertilizers you can produce in the future," the female master said.

"Priority, not the only priority? Priority to you personally, senior, and not to Riyuexuan?" Xu Mu asked seriously.

In such an important contract, not a single word can be wrong.

"Hehehe, not bad, I'm not greedy, I just want priority, is that too much to ask?"

Xu Mu nodded.

This is indeed a reasonable request.

So the two sides carefully discussed the contents of the contract, and it took them three days to finally establish the Daoist agreement.

It's clear that this mysterious female master truly sees potential in him and also possesses the integrity of a businesswoman.

From then on, Xu Mu went from selling Spirit Gathering Fruits to selling Spirit Fertilizers. He no longer needed to show his face; he could just sell directly to Riyuexuan, who would then resell them through their own channels.

From the current perspective, this is a safe and reliable deal, and hopefully no further problems will arise.

He really didn't want to keep running around trying to make a living doing small business.

"From now on, I must try my best to stay behind the scenes and not expose myself in the spotlight. I need to let others do things for me."

This can be said to be the conclusion he reached after much painful reflection.

However, he is still too weak, just an unknown soldier who can only stand at the front, without his own vanguard. So all he can do is seek cooperation with some reliable forces.

Riyuexuan should be considered reliable.

There may still be some risks that need to be mitigated.

However, for now, we should just wait until we reach the Foundation Establishment stage. The Qi Refining stage is too weak; we can't do anything at all.