Cultivation begins with harvest.

Chen Guang didn't insist and readily accepted.

Two portions it is. That's enough to cultivate the Fallen Butterfly Technique to a minor level. This level of minor mastery of the secret technique is sufficient. As for the Void Wing Butterfly Scale Powder later, we can take our time.

Various magical arts and techniques can be judged by their mastery level according to the stages of beginner, minor success, major success, and perfection. If they feel that a technique is too profound, some cultivators will add an "intermediate success" in the middle. This is just a general description; as long as the general meaning is understood, that's enough.

Chen Guang's straightforwardness greatly increased Cang Yunxian's goodwill towards him. This kind of cultivator who was decisive in paying money and did not make trouble was reassuring.

Cang Yunxian could understand. Only a cultivator could understand the difficulties of cultivators. Most cultivators did not have the wealth to ignore even a difference of a few coins. Their money was saved up slowly over a long period of time.

But after each painstaking test and counter-test, vying for profit until her throat was dry, she naturally understood the appeal of such straightforward customers. This was still Xingfeng Market, where no one dared to set up a scheme or sell counterfeit goods. The thought of having to guard against such tricks in the market of scattered cultivators made Cang Yunxian even more fond of customers like Chen Guang.

"I also need some of these materials. Could you please provide them for me?" Chen Guang then produced another list.

The materials for the Azure Flame Pill, the secret technique Falling Butterfly Guide, seeds or seedlings of various fire-attribute spiritual plants, some array materials, some raw materials for nourishing beast food and Ice Mouth Shrimp Oil, and materials for several Yin Fire Pills and Crimson Fusion Pills were densely packed and varied in quantity, totaling nearly fifty kinds of materials.

Cang Yunxian quickly glanced through the list. Chen Guang noticed that the jade bracelet on Cang Yunxian's wrist made a "clattering" sound like an abacus. In just over two breaths, Cang Yunxian smiled and said, "No problem, but it will take a little time to prepare. It should take about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. These materials will cost around 150,000 silver dollars. I'm giving a low estimate. To be precise, we might need to prepare an extra 10,000 or 20,000 silver dollars."

Seeing Chen Guang's gaze fixed on the bracelet, Cang Yunxian generously turned her wrist over, the fair skin of her arm contrasting sharply with the slightly ink-stained gray-black bracelet: "This is a mid-grade spiritual artifact, the [Wisdom Heart Bracelet]. It greatly helps in calculating and processing large amounts of text. It is only sold by the Purple Spirit Pavilion, and is not sold to non-disciples. I heard it is related to the 'Nine Calculations' technique."

"I see, thank you for clearing up my doubts, shopkeeper. But please prepare the items for me, I'll come back to pick them up in ten days." Chen Guang calculated that he would have to come to Yanmian Market again to buy some more things.

The bulk of the cost is the materials for cultivating the Fallen Butterfly Technique. Cultivating secret techniques always consumes resources and is never cheap. The scales and powder of the Skywing Butterfly are only enough to cultivate to the minor completion level, but Chen Guang purchases some materials that can be stored for a long time according to the level of major completion or even perfection, so they are naturally expensive.

We can continue selling cotton fire needles, but it's unrealistic to rely solely on them to make up for the shortfall of one or two thousand. If they don't sell well, that would be terrible.

Ideally, there would be some other source of income. So, after some calculations, I figured that in ten days, some of the Concentration Flower would be mature and the Blood Polygonum multiflorum would be fully mature. At that time, since the Concentration Flower wouldn't produce anything marketable, selling some Blood Polygonum multiflorum would be fine.

The previous jar contained one and a half jars of demon beast blood, but this time only two-thirds of the jar remains. While not all of them are top-grade, they are all of excellent quality, making it a considerable economic project.

If that doesn't work, I'll sell the two sets of second-tier materials, Flame Crystal and Heart-Burning Stone. I need a furnace to start refining pills.

Without further delay, Chen Guang immediately returned to his courtyard after leaving Fanglin Hall. He first took out the flowerpots and then began to tease the Thousand Needlewort.

"Lazybones, you're old enough to jump and hop around, yet you're still holed up in your nests."

Chen Guang thought this to himself, but the meaning he uttered through Tongyu Xieling was still gentle.

Wait, this one…

The eldest of the thousand-needle birds, the first one to hatch, has fully grown its feathers and now looks like a well-behaved baby, with its head buried in its feathers. At first glance, it looks like it's sick and not in good condition.

Chen Guang made a connection to something, used his Qi-gazing technique, and sure enough, he saw some thin golden mist seeping out of the Thousand Needle Wren's body and then gathering back into it.

This is a manifestation of comprehending the innate magic that exists in its bloodline. At present, it can only be seen that the Thousand Needle Wren is comprehending the magic of the metal element.

Of the four innate spells, two are of the metal element and two are of the cloud element, but it is unknown whether they are the Thousand Needle Technique for attack or the Golden Flight Technique that makes the body extremely hard and penetrating when flying.

The fact that it leans towards the metal element makes Chen Guang somewhat worried.

Metal energy resides in Yin.

Among the Five Elements, Metal and Wood are predominantly Yang, Metal and Water are predominantly Yin, and Earth occupies the middle position. It has no fixed nature and depends on the seasons.

Metal is associated with Lesser Yin, which is the opposite of Lesser Yang in Wood. Therefore, the bird's nest is built primarily with pure wood, such as the stems and leaves of the Golden Valley and the bitter wood. This is to mitigate the harm caused by the Thousand Needle Wren's understanding of the Metal element at such times. Although Metal belongs to Yin in Yin and Yang, it is the most Yang within Yin, possessing the nature of fire. It has a fierce and valiant side, as well as a ruthless and murderous side, which can easily harm the Thousand Needle Wren.

Under Liu Yige's care, every single one of the Thousand Needle Wrens that first comprehended the metal element died. This was because the Thousand Needle Wrens that first comprehended metal element magic were more talented in combat, naturally brave and strong, and therefore more valuable. However, the process of comprehending the metal element could easily cause irreparable damage to the still-naive Thousand Needle Wrens.

The Thousand Needle Wrens that first comprehend the Cloud Qi attribute have a higher survival rate, but their temperament is not strong. They are good at dealing with spirit insects, but they lack the fighting spirit and combat personality to break through, and their potential is generally lower.

This is also one of the difficulties in controlling beasts; while demonic beasts are relatively easy to manage, most are unruly and untamed.

Because of their "spirit" nature, the stereotypes about spirit beasts as a whole are true, but it is also true that they have a variety of personalities. Even within the same type of spirit beast, some unwanted traits may appear, such as a desire for comfort.

A team with a favorable wind is truly strong because its physical body can withstand the strain.

There are very few creatures that can fight against the odds. Being able to do more than just bully the weak is considered to have a talent for combat. As for creatures like demonic beasts that become more ferocious the more they fight, they are one in a hundred among spirit beasts, possessing unparalleled talent.

"Perhaps that's why Liu Yige chose to stimulate the Thousand Needle Wrens with metal energy, deliberately causing them to overexert themselves and then weaken. Most of the Thousand Needle Wrens, because they were stimulated to develop the affinity for metal-based magic, actually died even faster. Those that survived might not have been resilient, but rather those whose energy had overexerted themselves and had to first comprehend cloud-based magic, thus surviving."

This is somewhat similar to the sterilization of pets, using methods to prevent or reduce their aggressiveness.

After reading Liu Yige's reflections, Chen Guang immediately had a different understanding.

This is all from studying and comprehending the formations.

The formations emphasize the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, and the Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams.

Now Chen Guang finally understood what Wei Donglai meant when he said: special professions are not isolated, but rather mutually influential, with each other intertwined.

It's quite wonderful to no longer try to understand things in a single way.

On second thought, the eldest of the Thousand Needle Wrens was indeed the most domineering one, and perhaps that influence was real. The second brother bullied the weak, and the third and fourth brothers suffered all kinds of bullying. After all, Chen Guang was not a proper beast tamer and could not protect them at all times. After the Spirit Communication and Spirit Alignment, the second brother had become much more restrained, but the eldest brother would still do some excessive things when Chen Guang was not around, such as squeezing the other brothers out of the nest and wanting to monopolize the nest.

Raising a spirit beast is like raising a child. Although it is close to you, trusts you, and is willing to obey most commands, it is more reliable to use the law-based approach to forcibly enslave and erase the spirit beast's personality in order to achieve complete obedience and prevent it from doing anything extra.

Suddenly, the eldest of the Thousand Needle Wrens raised its head, opened its eyes, and all the golden energy on its body dissipated. It opened its mouth and began to cry out, expressing its hunger.

It's not lunchtime yet.

"Indeed, Liu Yige's insights are correct. Once a Thousand-Needled Wren begins to comprehend innate magic, it becomes prone to hunger. Without timely food replenishment, its vital energy is depleted, contributing to its premature death. This is also why young birds almost never leave the nest—it's an expression of their need for care. Leaving the nest, they cannot simultaneously cope with the harsh environment and meet the demands of magical growth. It's better to remain in the nest and enjoy the resources provided by their parents, thus excluding their siblings. For this reason, wild Thousand-Needled Wrens likely have fewer resources available, far less than what I provide. It's probably not just my eldest Thousand-Needled Wren who behaves this way; all Thousand-Needled Wrens exhibit this habit. However, using this solely as the basis for Thousand-Needled Wrens comprehending metal element first is biased."

Chen Guang fed the eldest of the thousand-needle wrens, and the other three, regardless of whether they were hungry or not, also started chirping. However, they didn't even finish sharing a single black beetle. The remaining portion was disdainfully kicked out of the nest by the second eldest, who lifted his rear end out of it.

"If you're going to eat, then you should eat it cleanly." Using Tongyu Tongling, Chen Guang's tone became stern as he commanded. Realizing that the Thousand Needle Wren had truly begun to grow and transform, he could no longer simply pamper it. This was raising a spirit beast, not having gained another father; it was time to establish rules and authority.

The three wrens shrank their necks, glanced at their eldest brother with his eyes closed, and could only fly out of the nest again to pick up the black beetle and return to the nest to share it.

Their eyes were slightly moist, and they looked aggrieved.

Chen Guang was slightly surprised that birds could shed tears. He found it amusing but offered no words of comfort and simply left.

He still needs to study the Crimson Heart Pill Scroll and several other pill formulas further to prepare for refining the Azure Flame Pill.