Chapter 53: The Immortal Cloud Carriage to Yixiantian

After looking at Qin Haoxuan, Elder Chu turned his gaze to Xu Yu and Murong Chao, his face beaming as he praised them. “To grow Grade-1 corn on your first try, very good, very good indeed!”

He then looked at the 12,000 jin of corn in the two fields, his expression turning troubled. “However, selling this corn will be a bit difficult. If it were ordinary corn, you could trade it with the senior brothers in the Spirit Field Valley for some spirit beast manure to fertilize your land, or for better seeds. But no one in the Spirit Field Valley can afford such a large quantity of Grade-1 corn. How about this, I have a suggestion.”

“Please enlighten us, Elder!” The trio, still immersed in the joy of their bountiful harvest, hadn’t even considered the problem of sales. At his reminder, they realized they had no idea what to do with so much high-quality corn. They couldn’t possibly eat it all themselves.

“One hundred li to the west of Emperor Peak, there is a gorge called Yixiantian. It is the largest trading market in our Taichu Sect. You can take the corn there to trade for more advanced seeds, or for other things you might want.”

His guidance was a delightful surprise. So, the sect had its own trading market. Now they didn’t have to worry about selling their 12,000 jin of corn. With tens of thousands of disciples in the sect, there were surely many who raised spirit beasts and would need it as feed.

However, Qin Haoxuan quickly identified a problem. The Spirit Field Valley was to the east of Emperor Peak. To haul 12,000 jin of corn around the mountain and then another 100 li to Yixiantian, over steep and difficult mountain roads… even with enough manpower, it would take three to five days.

“Elder Chu, wouldn’t it take several days to transport the corn that far?” To waste three to five precious days of their initial training period on selling corn felt like a grave sin to Qin Haoxuan. Xu Yu and Murong Chao were special seed disciples, and every disciple with a strong seed was in a desperate race against the others. How could they afford to waste so much time?

An immortal master behind Elder Chu smiled faintly. “Have you forgotten how you came to the Spirit Field Valley? As long as you can pay the fee, you can also rent an Immortal Cloud Carriage to take you to Yixiantian.”

“I see! Thank you, elders, for your guidance.”

Xu Yu wasted no time. After thanking them, she immediately organized everyone to start harvesting. As a Purple Seed, her call was answered by many. While other new disciples had to toil alone for a whole day, the corn in their two fields was completely harvested in less than an hour with the help of numerous disciples.

But 12,000 jin of corn… even with the trio and the nearly 20 new followers Murong Chao had recruited for Xu Yu, it was more than they could carry.

At this moment, Li Jing, sensing an opportunity to win over Xu Yu, offered his help. With the 20 followers he brought over, they were finally able to transport all 12,000 jin.

Just as they were about to depart, a Seventh-Leaf Spirit Sprout Realm senior brother, who had been squatting in their field studying the corn stalks, suddenly spoke up. “Junior Sister Xu, Junior Brother Murong, may I have the leftover stalks from your field? I am willing to trade 100 jin of spirit beast manure for them!”

His offer shocked everyone. A few of the more knowledgeable menial disciples immediately jumped into the field to examine the stalks. One of them, his face lighting up, shouted, “I’ll give you 110 jin!”

“Damn, the spiritual energy in these stalks is even denser than in ordinary Grade-9 corn! This is excellent feed for spirit beasts! I’ll give 150 jin for the lot!”

Those in the know could tell at a glance that these corn stalks were better than ordinary Grade-9 corn. A bidding war erupted.

Normally, the stalks of Grade-8 or Grade-9 corn would be left to rot in the field as fertilizer. No one had expected that the stalks from their fields could be traded for precious spirit beast manure.

In the end, the stalks were sold for 200 jin of spirit beast manure. Considering that 100 jin of manure was worth 500 jin of Grade-9 corn, this was another unexpected windfall.

At a large grassy area at the entrance to the Spirit Field Valley, several of the same Immortal Cloud Carriages that had brought them there were parked. Seeing them again, Qin Haoxuan couldn’t help but marvel at their wondrous construction.

Each carriage was three meters high, six meters long, and three meters wide. They looked like giant, crouching beasts, their surfaces covered in multi-colored, mysterious patterns that were somehow related to the Art of the Eight Trigrams, but infinitely more profound.

As they approached, an elder in charge of the carriages stopped them. He had a sharp nose and monkey-like cheeks, and his eyes glinted shrewdly. He was clearly not an easy person to deal with. Seeing that they were not wearing sect uniforms, he knew they were new disciples and tried to shoo them away. “This is a restricted area of the sect! Unauthorized personnel, leave at once!”

Qin Haoxuan bowed. “Elder, we disciples have just harvested some corn and would like to rent a carriage to take it to the Yixiantian trading market.”

Hearing this, the elder sneered. “Corn? Do you have any idea what it costs to use a carriage? With the low-grade corn you’ve grown, even with the newcomer’s discount, the harvest from one acre isn’t enough to pay for a single trip.”

“May I ask, Elder, how many jin of Grade-1 corn is the rental fee? Please, give us the newcomer’s discount.”

Qin Haoxuan took an ear of corn from his shoulder pole and handed it over. This elder had been dealing with all sorts of grains for years and could tell with one glance that this was Grade-1 corn. He stared at Qin Haoxuan with shock and astonishment.

Since they had the fee, the elder did not make things difficult. “According to the regulations, the fee for Grade-1 corn is 2,000 jin. But with the 50% discount for new disciples, you only need to pay 1,000 jin.”

1,000 jin of Grade-1 corn! The disciples, including Qin Haoxuan, looked at the monkey-faced elder and felt he was more like a lion with his mouth wide open, ready to eat them alive.

Swallowing the painful cost, they paid the fee. The elder accepted the corn and then boarded one of the carriages, telling them to hurry up and load their goods.

Just as the trio was about to board, Hao Shuai came over. “Leave the selling to me,” he said. “I’m more familiar with Yixiantian. You three are the future hope of the Taichu Sect; you shouldn’t waste your cultivation time on this.”

Qin Haoxuan thought it made sense. Although Xu Yu had already sprouted her seedling, she needed to cultivate diligently, or the gap between her and Zhang Kuang would widen, and Li Jing would catch up. And he and Murong Chao had yet to even sprout. They needed every moment they could get.

Hao Shuai’s suggestion was accepted by all three. Looking at his sincere smile, they figured he wouldn’t dare to offend two special seeds over a bit of corn.

“Alright, we’ll leave this to you,” Qin Haoxuan said.

“Don’t worry,” Hao Shuai said with a brilliant smile. “I guarantee I will complete the mission and get the highest price.”

After sending him off, the trio returned to the lecture hall.

However, not long after the lesson began, Qin Haoxuan felt the familiar searing heat rise within him. The damned One-Leaf Golden Lotus was acting up again.

He had no choice but to sit cross-legged and begin to cultivate. This only made Elder Chu shake his head and sigh. This kid has such good luck, finding a Spirit Spring in a worthless piece of land, and his Dao Heart is excellent. Why is he so stubborn and unable to see the bigger picture? He either sleeps or meditates in class. He doesn’t listen to the fundamentals of cultivation. How will he ever walk the path in the future?

As late winter approached, the nights grew long. Elder Chu dismissed the class, and at that moment, Qin Haoxuan also awoke from his meditation. As he, Xu Yu, and Murong Chao were leaving the lecture hall, they saw Hao Shuai and the others who had gone to sell the corn waiting for them.

Seeing their grim and ugly expressions, a bad feeling rose in Qin Haoxuan’s heart. “How did it go?”

The moment Hao Shuai saw them, his face turned the color of a pig’s liver. He stammered, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I messed up the first task you gave me. I’m so useless… I will compensate you for your losses.”

“Tell me what happened,” Qin Haoxuan said, his sharp gaze fixed on Hao Shuai, making the Sixth-Leaf expert tremble.

“We took the 11,000 jin of Grade-1 corn to Yixiantian. The moment we started selling, a huge crowd gathered, including many high-level disciples. They all wanted to buy it for their spirit beast cubs. We let them bid, and the price was driven up to 30 low-grade spirit stones. But just as we were about to close the deal, someone came…”