Cultivation begins with harvest.

Chen Guang was still wary.

He would only borrow a small cart from the office. If Lu Daxian was planning to hawk his wares on the street, he would set up a stall. Otherwise, he would push the cart around to sell his goods or find a shop to sell them, so as not to provoke Lu Daxian.

Lu Daxian agreed.

After all, borrowing a cart and paying one pound of spirit rice per hour was a reasonable price, but for Lu Daxian, who was trying to increase income and reduce expenditure, he still wanted to save as much as possible.

Lu Daxian mainly sold vegetables, so he chose to sell them from a pushcart. He didn't care about being polite anymore, because he was in a real hurry. After working for half a day, the sun was already high in the sky.

The price of vegetables varies between the morning and afternoon. Even though they are spiritual plants and don't wilt easily, the principle still applies.

When it comes to getting things done, it's always better to do it sooner rather than later. When there's such demand, the market will react accordingly.

Chen Guang planned to set up his stall for a while first, and if he couldn't get a good price, he would go to the shops to sell his wares as well. The shops were more stable and wouldn't offer particularly high prices.

Several cultivators came and went, inquired about the price, and finally bought the Linquan pumpkin for 89 catties of spirit rice. The Linquan pumpkin, which can heal injuries and restore magic power, still has a good market.

The cheapest Tier 1 healing pill, Spring Jade Pill, costs 160 catties of spirit rice per bottle, with three pills per bottle.

The cheapest first-tier mana-restoring pill, Golden Dew Pill, is priced at 230 catties of spirit rice per bottle, and each bottle contains three pills; this is the standard pill specification.

Many disciples of the Qi Hall need to heal themselves and restore their mana at the same time. The Linquan Pumpkin is about sixteen liters in size. The Qingheng Sect's standard of measurement for a liter is similar to that of modern times, only about thirty-four milliliters more. In terms of recovery speed, it is naturally not as good as pills, but it has the advantage of being able to drink a mouthful at any time. This saves the trouble of not being able to treat minor injuries, or wasting mana-restoring pills when encountering a powerful enemy with neither too much nor too little mana. Without taking the pills, there is a risk of making mistakes.

And it tastes sweet.

It's selling very well; some monks even want to pre-order from Chen Guang.

Chen Guang explained the reasons briefly, telling them what he could. First, he planned to keep two Linquan pumpkins, and second, he only had eight Linquan pumpkin seeds left, enough for one more planting next year.

The Linquan pumpkins have fruit but no seeds, making it impossible for Chen Guang to save them for future generations. Otherwise, he wouldn't mind continuing to discuss cooperation in more detail, since many cultivators in Linquan are Qi Hall cultivators, starting at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and they have connections there.

These cultivators weren't very interested in Chen Guang's Blood-He Shou Wu.

The Qingheng Sect is famous for its magic and formations. It goes without saying that alchemy and weapon crafting are compulsory courses. Other cultivation arts are not particularly outstanding. Not to mention that the Liyuan Sect in the north is a major sect for body refinement. Such medicines related to body refinement are indeed not popular in Xingfeng Market.

Chen Guang waited for about half an hour before selling the Blood He Shou Wu Vine. The seller was also a cultivator who raised boars and used the Blood He Shou Wu Vine as feed. He bargained hard, but offered a price that Chen Guang could hardly refuse—a five-foot-long meat sausage with plenty of filling. He cut a slice on the spot, cooked it with fire-attribute magic, and let Chen Guang taste it.

It was truly delicious.

Pigs have it tough too.

In the mortal world, domestic pigs end up in slaughterhouses, and wild boars are also coveted by hunters. In the cultivation world, in order to avoid being tainted by worldly affairs, pigs are the first tamable spirit beasts to be processed by beast tamers. After all, there are no wild demon beasts within a radius of nearly two thousand miles of the Qingheng Sect, and the disciples of the Qi Hall cannot meet the huge consumption needs of the cultivators by hunting and transporting them.

In response, Chen Guang said that if he had time, he would also like to raise pigs, because food with meat and oil would be more delicious.

"Go ask at the store."

Seeing that the blood-shou-wu was not popular, Chen Guang put it away and headed to the nearest shop.

Fang Lintang.

As Chen Guang entered the shop, he saw a comfortable space, roughly fifteen zhang long and wide, with many cultivators inside without feeling crowded. There were counters in the middle and along the edges of the walls, displaying a dazzling array of medicinal herbs, seeds, spiritual tools, demon beast pelts, as well as some silks, satins, and exquisite porcelain. These items were quite simple; every year, low-level cultivators would go to the mortal world to exchange some spiritual tools and other odds and ends for a large amount of these items, or find a high-ranking official or wealthy person in the mortal world to treat their illnesses and improve their health, and that would be it.

They may not be able to afford other luxuries, but 70% of the food, clothing, shelter, and daily necessities they consume are of top-tier quality in the mortal world, even if cultivators do not produce these things.

A pound of spirit rice can be exchanged for a lot of money. Low-level cultivators can only earn a meager living through hard work, or they can simply give up on the path of immortality and enjoy the good food and comforts of the mortal world. They can use these things to exchange for spirit rice and other items with most cultivators who aspire to the path of immortality to maintain their cultivation level and survive.

The shopkeeper followed behind Chen Guang, nodding and greeting him with curiosity before continuing on his way without disturbing him.

"Manager" is the more respectable way to address these cultivators who are like shop assistants in the market.

"They also sell magical artifacts and talismans?" Chen Guang looked at a huge counter that separated the ordinary area from the main area. There were several cultivators in the area, and on the counter in that area were magical artifacts and the like, which were not allowed to be touched by customers like other ordinary items.

The shopkeeper behind Chen Guang replied, "Yes, it depends on what the customer needs. However, the prices of our spells are sold by the book, which is not as convenient as the Scripture Pavilion, and the quantity is also smaller. The average price is about 300 catties of spirit rice; there are a total of eighteen types of first-tier spirit artifacts..."

The shopkeeper explained the items on the special counter in just a few words, giving Chen Guang a general idea of ​​what was available.

"Do you buy medicinal herbs? I have some fresh He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum)." Chen Guang was quite tempted and got straight to the point.

The shopkeeper didn't hesitate and answered fluently: "Regarding Blood Polygonum multiflorum, please be careful, because the market here in Xingfeng Market doesn't value this kind of body-refining medicine. For a qualified quality one tael, we are willing to pay fifty catties of spirit rice. Depending on the quality, if it is high quality, we can pay a few more catties of spirit rice per tael, but usually it will not exceed fifty-five catties of spirit rice per tael. After all, as you know, Blood Polygonum multiflorum is mostly used to refine [Blood Power Pill] and [Red Pattern Pill]."

The price is reasonable.

In fact, Chen Guang knew that He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) could be used to refine Blood Qi Pill, Blood Power Pill, and Red Pattern Pill, the last of which was used to enhance male virility.

Blood Qi Pill, replenishes blood and qi, is the first choice for body-refining cultivators.

Blood Power Pills are used to replenish essence and blood, thereby prolonging life.

Theoretically, a cultivator who has reached the third level of Qi Refining should have a lifespan of one hundred years without any hidden dangers or illnesses. However, in reality, due to various reasons, they may suffer some injuries or make mistakes in their cultivation that damage their body. Although their lifespan may still be enough in theory, their blood and qi will begin to decline, which will inevitably affect their actual lifespan.

Blood Power Pills can replenish this loss, allowing cultivators to prevent the decline of their blood and energy to a certain extent, while restoring some of the blood and energy lost. This strengthens the foundation and nourishes the vital energy, thereby prolonging life.

It should be noted that spiritual objects that directly increase lifespan are rare and expensive; most methods of extending lifespan work by compensating for "loopholes" that appear after lifespan is insufficient.

If your blood and qi are weak, you should replenish them.

If your mind and soul are confused, then strengthen and nourish your soul.

This is the norm. Blood Power Pills have this effect. After all, there's not much of a market for body-refining items in the Qingheng Sect. Instead, there's more demand for alternative life-extending pills like Blood Power Pills. Although it might only extend one's life by three to five years, at least Blood Power Pills are something that people can afford.

It is worth mentioning that Blood Power Pills are potent medicines for the [Dragon Tiger Qianhe] combination.

If a person is about to die with only the last cup of tea left, elixirs that directly extend lifespan are mostly ineffective in saving them. These elixirs are all of the "Embrace Simplicity and Harmony" type, with no side effects and gentle medicinal properties, but they take effect slowly, requiring a gradual and nurturing process.

A dying person probably won't be able to wait for the medicine to take effect.

It still has to be the potent medicine of [Dragon Tiger Qianhe] to revive the body while it's still warm. However, since it's not a proper life-extending medicine, it only allows the body to jump around for a bit before exhausting its effects and uttering its last words. If it's meant to die, it will die anyway.

The proper way to prolong life and increase vitality is to directly increase lifespan. Other methods can only help a person get as close as possible to the theoretical upper limit of lifespan, rather than increase it.

"A bottle of Blood Power Pill requires more than 500 catties of spirit rice, and five taels of Blood Polygonum multiflorum is enough to start a batch." Chen Guang still wanted to give it a try.

The shopkeeper remained polite: "As you know, even a first-level alchemist only has a 30% success rate. It's not a matter of opening one furnace. Most people will choose to refine Red Pattern Pills, which are much cheaper and simpler. If you feel that our Lin Tang is being unfair, you can ask other shops first. At least once Lin Tang has quoted a price, we won't easily change it."

Chen Guang certainly knew.

Alchemists are not assessed on the difficulty of refining pills, but rather on their success rate and level of skill.

A success rate of 30% is considered acceptable, qualifying one as a first-tier alchemist. Each subsequent tier requires a 10% higher success rate than the previous tier, and this is only one of the conditions for an alchemist to advance.

Another important condition is that the alchemist must be a second-tier alchemist with Foundation Establishment cultivation. Otherwise, many of the materials in a second-tier alchemy recipe will not be pure enough, making them difficult to process and deal with.

Trying to master something of a higher level when you're at a lower level is often suicidal.

This is true for most alchemists and weapon refiners. The higher their rank and the more experience they have, the higher their success rate will be. Ordinary alchemists and weapon refiners might pray to gods and Buddhas before starting their furnace, but the most outstanding ones would rather have a god sit on top of the furnace before they start refining. They have all sorts of ways to increase the success rate, so the success rate naturally keeps rising.

Spirit plant masters are a bit special, since many spirit plants don't harm people, and ordinary people can cultivate them. The standards for evaluating their quality are separate.

A first-level alchemist is not incapable of refining second-level pills, but since they are only first-level, they only have the cultivation level of Qi Refining. The success rate of forcibly refining second-level pills will be very low, and once they fail, they may be injured or even lose their lives.

After tentatively inquiring about the price, Chen Guang decided to sell it at Fanglintang.

The shops in Xingfeng Market were all pretty much the same, and the prices they charged were similar; the main difference was that each shop sold unique items.