bookbashuk Chapter 2 The Beginning of Creation
Chapter 2 The Beginning of Creation
Spirit stone.
He lowered his eyes to look at the three low-grade spirit stones in his palm. They were about the size of a thumb, bluish-gray in color, and filled with spiritual energy, like a thin mist shrouding a deep pool.
Three.
This is all he has.
The system panel unfolded before my eyes, the light screen like water, the text clear and legible:
[Host: Zhang Lin]
[Cultivation Level: Early Stage of Qi Refining]
[Technique: Shangqing Qi-Guiding Technique (Crude)]
Available Spirit Stones: 3 (Low Grade)
[System: Creation System (Level 1)]
Below was a line of smaller print, which Zhang Lin read intently:
Note: Each item can only be enhanced once. Upgrading by accumulating 1 low-grade spirit stones will upgrade system permissions, unlock secondary enhancement, and unlock new functions.
"The number of spirit stones consumed for each enhancement is related to the item's grade and the enhancement level. The higher the quality of the raw materials, the higher the enhancement limit."
Zhang Lin silently pondered for a while, and the ecstasy in his heart gradually subsided, turning into a cold and clear-headed state.
The system is great, but it's a bottomless pit that eats up spirit stones.
He only had three low-grade spirit stones on hand.
"You need to have money first."
Zhang Lin stood up and paced around the room a few times, the blue brick floor creaking under his feet.
As dusk deepened outside the window, mountain mist seeped in through the cracks in the window, carrying the damp scent of grass and trees.
He stopped and his gaze fell on the half-person-high black pottery medicine jar in the corner.
Although Shangqing Temple is a small Taoist temple, it has one advantage that others do not have: the Taoists in the temple are quite knowledgeable about medicine. Every year they collect herbs and refine elixirs, which is enough to barely cover the temple's expenses.
Zhang Lin stayed at the temple for three months and learned some skills in identifying and collecting medicinal herbs.
Medicinal herbs.
This was the fastest way for him to make money.
He crouched down, pulled a bamboo box from under the bed, opened it, and found several dried-out herbs inside.
These were picked a few days ago when I went up the mountain with my fellow disciple. I originally planned to dry them and sell them to a pharmacy down the mountain to earn some pocket money.
A Bletilla striata plant, no more than three years old, with a thin rhizome and wrinkled skin.
The two orchid plants had yellowed leaves and almost no spiritual energy. Even the lowest-grade pharmacies wouldn't accept orchids of this quality.
There were also a few miscellaneous herbs whose names I didn't know, all of them ordinary.
Zhang Lin took out a spirit orchid, held it in his palm, and with a slight thought, summoned the system light screen.
"Spirit Orchid Grass, Quality: Inferior, Age: Two years. Can be enhanced, Consumes: Two Spirit Stones, Can Obtain Twenty-Year-Old Spirit Orchid Grass."
Two spirit stones.
He gritted his teeth and took out the three spirit stones from his pocket.
The spirit stone felt warm and smooth to the touch, about the size of a pigeon egg. It was a cloudy, milky white color, with a thin layer of spiritual energy inside, like looking at a lamp through frosted glass, making it hazy and indistinct.
This is the appearance of a low-grade spirit stone; its quality is mixed and its spiritual energy content is very low.
He placed two spirit stones in his palm, carefully put the other one back into his pocket, and took a deep breath.
"Strengthen the Spirit Orchid Grass".
The light screen flickered slightly, and a line of small text appeared: "Consuming two low-grade spirit stones, the quality of the Spirit Orchid Grass has been improved, and its age has doubled."
The orchid in my palm suddenly trembled, its leaves turning from yellow to green, then from green to emerald, as if an invisible hand had pulled it back from the brink of withering. Its roots stretched out on their own, and fine dewdrops seeped from its leaves, filling the air with a refreshing medicinal fragrance.
Change can happen in an instant.
Zhang Lin looked down and saw that the withered and drooping orchid was nowhere to be found in his palm.
The leaves were emerald green like jade, as thin as cicada wings, with a faint spiritual light flowing through their veins. The roots were as white as snow, and the entire herb emitted a faint fluorescent glow, as if it had just been scooped out of a spiritual spring.
"Linglan grass, quality: top grade, age: 20 years."
Twenty years!
Zhang Lin's pupils contracted slightly.
The medicinal efficacy of the Linglan grass doubles every ten years it ages, and it is also a panacea, used in the refining of any elixir.
Ten-year-old Linglan grass is already a hot commodity in pharmacies, and twenty-year-old Linglan grass is so rare that even with spirit stones, it may not be possible to buy it.
The Spirit Orchid grows extremely slowly and has very high requirements for spiritual energy environment. It cannot be grown in ordinary medicinal gardens and can only grow naturally near spiritual veins in deep mountains and old forests.
Although the mountains surrounding Shangqing Temple are not lacking in spiritual energy, even the old Taoist priests in the temple who have been collecting herbs for many years probably haven't seen many wild spiritual orchids that are twenty years old.
He used two spirit stones to create one plant.
Zhang Lin carefully placed the orchid into a wooden box, the fragrance of the herb still lingering on his fingertips.
He considered it for a while.
What price can a 20-year-old orchid sell for in the market down the mountain?
He had not been in the temple for long and only had a vague concept of prices in the spiritual world.
But he knew that Shangqing Temple would send people down the mountain to purchase supplies every six months. There was a small town thirty miles down the mountain with a small market that catered to independent cultivators and small sects.
Although the market town was not large, it was the only place within a radius of hundreds of miles where cultivators gathered.
Tomorrow is the day for shopping.
Having made up his mind, Zhang Lin stopped thinking about it, sat cross-legged back on the futon, and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
The next morning, as dawn broke, the mountain mist had not yet dissipated.
Zhang Lin changed into a clean gray Taoist robe, tied a blue cloth belt around his waist, put the wooden box in his bosom, carried a bamboo basket on his back, and went down the mountain with several fellow disciples from the temple.
The leader was Qi Yuntian, the eldest disciple of the abbot. He was over thirty years old, with a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation level. He had a square face and a calm temperament. He was one of the few people in Shangqing Temple that Zhang Lin took a liking to.
Qi Yuntian didn't say much. He simply nodded slightly to Zhang Lin and said calmly, "Junior Brother Zhang, stay close. The mountain path is slippery, don't fall."
Zhang Lin responded and mingled among the seven or eight Taoist priests, walking down the mountain path paved with bluestone.
The mountain road winds along, with ancient trees reaching for the sky on both sides. The morning light filters through the gaps in the branches and leaves, scattering golden fragments on the ground.
Occasionally, the clear chirping of mountain birds could be heard, mixed with the hushed conversations of the Taoist priests.
After walking for about half an hour, the mountain slopes gradually eased, and the view suddenly opened up, revealing the small town below.
The town is small, with a bluestone road running north to south, lined with low brick and wood houses. At the entrance of the town stands a stone archway with the three characters "Qingyun Town" engraved on it. The characters are mottled and show that it has been around for many years.
The town is mostly inhabited by ordinary people. Occasionally, a few cultivators pass through, but they don't show off and blend into the crowd, just like ordinary people.
The market is located at the east end of the town. It is an open-air market that is spontaneously formed by independent cultivators. It opens on the fifth day of every month, and today happens to be the fifteenth.
When Zhang Lin and his fellow disciples entered the market, it was already broad daylight.
The market was more bustling than he had expected.
Dozens of stalls lined up along a dirt road, selling all sorts of things.
Elixirs, magical implements, and talismans.
Most of the stall owners are independent cultivators, mostly in the early to mid-stages of Qi Refining. Occasionally, one or two people reach the late stage of Qi Refining, and they are already big shots in this market. They often occupy the best spots, sitting behind their stalls with their eyes closed, seemingly indifferent, waiting for others to come up and ask about prices.