“Two seeds?” Qi Ping’s heart leaped with joy upon hearing this.
After running around for so long, was he finally about to get something?
“Yes, senior! Second-grade spiritual herbs are way too sought-after right now—no way to buy any. All that’s left are second-grade spiritual herb seeds,” the steward across from Qi Ping answered respectfully.
Even in larger cities, the status of Foundation Establishment cultivators remained undiminished.
“What kind of seeds are they?”
“Senior, please wait a moment. May I go get them for you to see?”
“Of course!” Qi Ping nodded.
A short while later, the steward of this trading house returned with two delicate jade boxes.
Opening them one by one, one jade box contained a fruit core radiating wood-attribute spiritual energy, while the other held a grass seed exuding the essence of a cold pool.
“Senior, these two seeds are a second-grade low-level Green Moon Fruit and a second-grade low-level Cold Pool Grass seed.”
Just as the steward was introducing them, Qi Ping spotted the second-grade Green Moon Fruit core and felt a surge of joy inside.
Green Moon Fruit—excellent!
Though it wasn’t a fire-attribute spiritual herb, it was at least wood-attribute. If there was one type among the five elements, other than fire, best suited for a fire-type cultivator, it would be wood. Having trained in both wood and fire techniques, Qi Ping found it even easier to adapt in this regard.
And this was a fruit tree! As long as he kept cultivating it, Qi Ping had no worries about propagation—the Green Moon Fruit tree would bear fruit harvest after harvest!
But on the surface, Qi Ping remained calm and unreadable. This person wasn’t his trusted Boss Gao. If he appeared too eager, he’d be easily taken advantage of, and then the price would be hard to negotiate!
What followed was fairly smooth. Qi Ping showed only a bit of interest, not too much, and successfully exchanged some Moon Essence for the two seeds.
This Moon Essence had been produced when his Moonlit Tree reached first-grade perfection, so its quality wasn’t particularly high—it just barely touched the level of second-grade spiritual items.
For Qi Ping, this was an absolute steal!
The steward was also quite excited to receive Qi Ping’s Moon Essence.
For Foundation Establishment cultivators, the value of a rare spiritual substance like Moon Essence went without saying. In the steward’s hands, it could sell for a better price than the seeds themselves.
He’d make a nice profit too.
Thus, the transaction went quite smoothly and pleasantly.
After leaving Chiyang City with the seeds, Qi Ping finally stopped holding back his smile.
With the Green Moon Fruit seed in hand, the breakthroughs for himself and Crow Crow were basically secured. He could also start ramping up production of second-grade bee species.
“Now that I’ve got the seeds, even if none are fire-attribute, I’ll call it good for now.”
Qi Ping thought back on his actions over the past two days and realized there had been some risk involved.
Though he had used his [Nature’s Perception] to seek good fortune and avoid disaster for every move, he still believed it was better to be safe than sorry.
If he were truly lacking spiritual seeds for his path to immortality, he would take necessary risks—he’d never expected a journey without any danger. That was why he always prepared everything within his control.
But now that he had the Green Moon Fruit, there was no need to take risks for a fire-attribute spiritual herb that might not even be able to reproduce on its own.
Having made that decision, Qi Ping resolved to return to his territory.
However, he hadn’t gone far when a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator blocked his path.
Qi Ping looked uneasily at the elderly man wielding a blood-colored long sword in front of him—clearly, the man meant trouble.
Yet [Nature’s Perception] had given him no warning at all!
That left two possibilities. One: the opponent posed no real threat to Qi Ping and carried no great fortune, so from Qi Ping’s perspective, there was no fortune or disaster to speak of—it didn’t meet the threshold for his perception to trigger.
In that case, Qi Ping would be safe.
Two: the opponent’s strength exceeded the scope of his Nature’s Perception, or they carried something that could shield them from it.
That would be Qi Ping’s biggest worry.
Either way, Qi Ping didn’t like this at all—something unexpected, something whose fortune or disaster he couldn’t predict.
Thus, suppressing his unease, Qi Ping asked politely:
“Senior, may I ask why you’ve stopped me? I’m in a hurry to be on my way…”
The mid-Foundation Establishment elder grinned darkly and said:
“Until you honestly answer my questions, the evil sword in my hand won’t let you leave. So you’d better cooperate!”
“Someone told me you’ve been searching for second-grade spiritual herbs for two days, not even sparing seeds. So I got to thinking—is it possible you know about a hidden second-grade spiritual vein?”
“If you come clean, we can cooperate. If not… you’ll have to ask my evil sword.”
But just as the elder was speaking, Qi Ping stopped wasting words. He immediately began simulating fortune and disaster in multiple combat scenarios.
Since he’d already confirmed this old bastard meant him harm, there was nothing left to say. And what was this about a second-grade spiritual vein? No way this guy was some hidden powerhouse.
The path before Qi Ping was clear—kill!
So without letting the old man finish, Qi Ping struck directly!
Soul Art – Hundred-Pupil Demon Realm!
Armor Control Art – Black Gold Killing Array!
Crow Crow!
Earth Armor Bee Battle Formation!
Flame Burst!
In just an instant, Qi Ping went all out.
In this situation, the safest move was to kill the enemy as fast as possible, giving him no chance to breathe, then transform into a bee and flee!
But Qi Ping’s zero-delay opening move sent a deadly crisis straight into the elder’s heart!
Just as he tried to defend, his soul suddenly screamed in agony—a terrifying illusion slammed into him!
Thankfully, his combat experience was solid. He quickly activated his Mind Clarity Art and barely broke free.
Still, Qi Ping’s illusion art left his soul wounded!
But before he could recover and teach this junior a lesson—to show him that a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator was not to be provoked by an early-Foundation one—a sight that made his guts churn appeared.
Countless black scales radiating an extraordinary aura surrounded him in an instant, and a terrifying formation began to rapidly take shape!
And it wasn’t over yet. A mid-second-grade Solar Crow, whose aura was in no way inferior to his own, charged straight at him, wielding the power of a terrifying blazing sun!
On top of that, a swarm of second-grade bees followed closely, surrounding him!
“F***!”
In just a single moment, the mid-Foundation Establishment elder was completely dumbfounded.
But Qi Ping didn’t care what this old bastard was thinking. Since he meant harm—time to die.
Black Gold Killing Array—Activate!
