Chapter 84

After mastering the art of flying with a sword, Luo Li returned to the market and first bought a spirit storage bag. Then he went back and put the horse spider into the bag, which became his first spirit pet.

The spirit storage bag, when filled with spirit stones, allows the spirit pet to cultivate, rest, and sleep inside without feeling suffocated or cramped.

After the horse spider was placed in the spirit storage bag, it entered a peculiar state, silent and motionless, beginning to form a cocoon. Luo Li was taken aback; this was likely a sign of impending evolution.

He never thought he would be so lucky. The evolved flying horse spider was a spirit pet used by cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage. He wondered if it was due to the affection technique of the Primordial Unity Sect. The Primordial Unity Sect was truly formidable, and it would be great to join this sect!

Luo Li then returned to the market, flew up on his sword, and searched over the spirit fields cultivated by various market stalls, looking for the one he wanted.

"This is spirit grain, no, no!"

"This is spirit cabbage, no way!"

"This is immortal rice, no!"

After flying around for a while, Luo Li finally found what he was looking for in a spirit field. Below him, there were about three acres of spirit fields planted with a type of large-leaf immortal grass called Da Ye Qin. This grass matured every three months, and its roots had a spiritual nature, making it a raw material for making spirit pet food.

Luo Li nodded in approval. This was it. He slowly descended into the spirit field, immediately triggering a restriction. The spirit stone at the center of the field began to beep in warning!

Luo Li stood still. Soon, three cultivators rushed over: an old man and two middle-aged men, all at the second or third level of the Qi Condensation stage. They were the owners of this spirit field. When the restriction was triggered, they immediately knew someone had intruded and rushed over to see who it was.

Seeing Luo Li, they were taken aback. He didn't look like a thief.

Luo Li spoke, "Fellow Daoists, I recently acquired a spirit pet and need some Da Ye Qin to make special spirit pet food. The quality of Da Ye Qin sold in the market is too poor. I want to buy some unripe Da Ye Qin and prepare it myself. I would like to lease these three acres of spirit fields along with the Da Ye Qin in them!"

Standing on his flying sword, Luo Li spoke confidently, his white robe fluttering. This was the demeanor he had cultivated from studying the Ten Thousand Questions of Kunlun. The cultivators, intimidated by Luo Li, did not dare to question his intrusion.

One of the elders mustered the courage to ask, "Fellow Daoist, how many spirit stones do you want to lease for?"

Luo Li replied, "One acre of spirit field can produce sixty pounds of Da Ye Qin, which is worth about twenty spirit stones. It can produce four seasons a year, so one acre of spirit field can produce eighty spirit stones a year. How about this: I'll give you one hundred spirit stones per acre per year as rent. What do you think?"

The quality of this spirit field was not good, which was why they planted Da Ye Qin. They wouldn't earn eighty spirit stones a year. With Luo Li offering one hundred spirit stones per acre per year, they would make an extra twenty to thirty spirit stones per acre. They immediately showed signs of joy, and the elder quickly responded, "Good, good, good, we'll lease it! Let's go sign the contract!"

Luo Li nodded and said, "Good. Also, I need a few workers to help me. I'll pay one spirit stone every three days. If you're willing, come and work for me!"

The three cultivators were even more delighted. One spirit stone every three days was a good deal. They were only second or third-level cultivators, and in the Spirit Butterfly Sect, they earned only two or three spirit stones a month. They were overjoyed.

Thus, Luo Li signed a contract with them at the market of the Heavenly Spider Sect. After the contract was signed, the three cultivators treated Luo Li with great respect, calling him "boss" and becoming his long-term workers.

These three were from a cultivation family, surnamed Jin. The elder was the father, and the two middle-aged men were his sons, Jin Chengdong and Jin Chenggang. They all had five-element spirit roots and had only reached the second or third level of the Qi Condensation stage after many years of cultivation.

They had no future in cultivation, but Jin Chengdong had a son, Jin Jiaxin, with three-element spirit roots, who had joined the outer sect of the Heavenly Spider Sect, with a bright future. This spirit field was rented by Jin Jiaxin, and the whole family cultivated it to earn spirit stones to support Jin Jiaxin's cultivation in the Heavenly Spider Sect.

With the help of the Jin family, Luo Li saved a lot of effort. He took the three to Maoyuan Hall, where he had already contacted Zhu Minghua after settling in Dust Tower.

Seeing Luo Li, Zhu Minghua said, "Brother Luo Li, you're here? I've bought all the goods you asked for, but the quantity is a bit large. I can only deliver one thousand a day."

Luo Li replied, "That's fine! These are my hired workers. They'll come to collect the goods every day."

Zhu Minghua looked at the Jin family and said, "Alright, follow me. I'll take you to collect the goods."

He led them to the chamber of commerce's warehouse, where a row of spider corpses was piled up. These were first-stage spirit beasts called Red Copper Spiders, a specialty of the Heavenly Spider Sect. They were extremely weak, feeding on red copper ore, and matured in a month. They were often raised to fatten up and then killed to serve as feed for other spirit beasts.

Luo Li had commissioned Zhu Minghua to order a batch of spirit beasts for him, one hundred mature Red Copper Spiders, which were worth only three spirit stones, making them very cheap. Luo Li bought ten thousand at once, leaving him with two hundred spirit stones.

The Jin family, seeing these Red Copper Spiders, were taken aback. Jin Chengdong said, "Boss, why are you buying these? There are plenty in the mines, and they just eat copper ore. They're useless. If you want them, we can catch them for you."

Luo Li shook his head and said, "Can you catch one thousand a day?"

Jin Chengdong replied, "That's impossible. We can catch twenty or thirty a day, but over a hundred would require specialized breeding."

Luo Li said, "Alright, bring them all to my shop, and there's more work to do."

The Jin family began moving the Red Copper Spiders for Luo Li. When they arrived at Dust Tower, they were envious and even more respectful of Luo Li. He was a shop owner, and they had encountered a benefactor!

Looking at the shop, Jin Chengdong whispered, "Father, do you think we can work here as assistants if we do a good job?"

Jin's father nodded and said, "I think so. If we work hard, we can earn more spirit stones, and it will be better for Xiaoxin."

Jin Chenggang also said, "Yes, this is an opportunity given by heaven. We must seize it!"

Jin Chengdong added, "Yes, if we work hard and earn more spirit stones, when Xiaoxin succeeds in his cultivation, we won't have lived in vain."

The Jin family were scattered cultivators, too old to be hired by any shop. If not for their son joining the outer sect of the Heavenly Spider Sect, they wouldn't even be able to enter the market, as scattered cultivators living in the market had to pay spirit stones. So, they were all very happy with this opportunity.

At the shop, Luo Li ordered the Jin family to start processing the Red Copper Spiders, first cutting off the legs and then sending them to the array.

In the place where the refining furnace used to be, Luo Li set up an array, the Slaughter Platform Array of the Ten Thousand Beasts Incarnation Sect.

This array was precisely carved on the ground, about ten feet in diameter, with high and low patterns forming a strange shape. Eighteen spirit stones served as the bones, completing the structure.

Luo Li slowly activated the spirit stones, and the eighteen stones began to glow, making the entire array come to life. The patterns wriggled and glowed, and the ground seemed to turn into a bloody flesh, emitting a bloody smell.

Seeing the array, the Jin family were somewhat afraid. They trembled and carried a Red Copper Spider to the array, while Luo Li prepared to dissect it.

Luo Li took off his robe and wore only a simple short shirt. The Red Copper Spider was placed in front of him. Instead of dissecting it, he squeezed it!

Using the technique from the Yang Gathering Art and the array beneath him, Luo Li pressed down on the Red Copper Spider on the platform. With a "puff," the Red Copper Spider burst, spewing a jet of fresh blood, and its entire body turned gray, to be carried away by the Jin family.

The blood, the essence of the Red Copper Spider, automatically flowed along the patterns into a jade bottle outside the array.

A Red Copper Spider yielded only one or two drops of blood essence. Ten spiders could produce about one gram of blood essence. Luo Li dissected one thousand spiders a day, and it took ten days to process ten thousand spiders, yielding ten pounds of blood essence.

After finishing the dissection that day, Luo Li paid the Jin family their wages. After they left, he secretly took the blood essence to the Da Ye Qin spirit field.

For ten days, every night, Luo Li activated an array in the spirit field and used the blood essence collected during the day to water the Da Ye Qin.

This array was set up by Luo Li according to the Immortal Planting Technique of the Immortal Farmer Sect, which could cause the Da Ye Qin to mutate, absorbing the array's spiritual energy and the blood essence, integrating them into the large leaves.

After such careful cultivation, the spiritual energy of the Da Ye Qin no longer gathered in the roots but was integrated into the leaves.

Seeing the slowly changing spirit field, Luo Li smiled. These carefully cultivated Da Ye Qin had extremely tough leaves with absorption properties, making them the paper for his talismans. Only such paper could withstand the Blood Talisman Technique, Fusion Talisman Technique, and Transformation Talisman Technique.

On March 1st, after consuming four pounds of blood essence, the Da Ye Qin finally met Luo Li's requirements. He directed the Jin family to harvest all the Da Ye Qin. About one in thirty leaves produced a mutated leaf, and after their hard work, Luo Li obtained three hundred mutated leaves.

After collecting them, Luo Li instructed the Jin family to replant the Da Ye Qin. For the Jin family, this was their old profession, and the three worked hard to replant the Da Ye Qin.

Luo Li took the three hundred mutated leaves back to the shop and began making talisman paper according to the instructions in the Ten Thousand Questions of Kunlun.

Drying, grinding, lifting the pulp, filtering water, pressing, dehydrating, drying in a kiln, and baking, he finally obtained two hundred sheets of talisman paper.

Looking at the talisman paper, Luo Li smiled. "To do a job well, one must first sharpen one's tools." Finally, he could make talismans.