Zhu Yu returned to his rented courtyard with a somewhat dejected air. He couldn't understand why, despite possessing so many virtues, people only focused on his appearance.
"What's wrong? You look like you were dragged into an alley and violated just now!"
Xiao Fei, just back from outside, couldn't resist a jab upon seeing Zhu Yu's dispirited state.
Zhu Yu was too weary to speak.
Seeing this, Xiao Fei didn't push his luck and went into his own room.
He had spent the day spreading gossip, his lips worn thin, but the effect wasn't very ideal.
To ordinary cultivators in the Qin Kingdom, a faraway place called Eagle Mountain Kingdom, colluding with some demons, perhaps opening an otherworldly passage…
These matters sounded serious, but what did they have to do with him?
If the sky were to fall, the tall ones would bear the brunt; ordinary cultivators had no need to worry.
Many people weren't even very interested when the topic came up during casual conversation. Discussing faraway matters was less engaging than talking about why the couple next door always fought at night…
Whether cultivators or ordinary people, most were more concerned with matters close to them, especially those directly related to their interests.
No one liked to bring it up, making rapid dissemination difficult.
To get the Qin Kingdom's higher-ups to notice through this bottom-up approach, who knew how long it would take.
By then, the Lu Kingdom would have long been annexed by the Eagle Mountain Kingdom, and the Dan Xin Sect would no longer exist, rendering it meaningless to him.
In the following days, Xiao Fei spread the gossip far and wide, but his listeners were all drowsy.
It was like telling someone, "Very, very far away, two dogs you don't know are fighting." What business is it of mine?
While he made no progress, Huang Feifei also saw no significant developments. The major intelligence agencies had indeed received his information but couldn't sell it.
Who would spend spirit stones to buy such intelligence when they had nothing better to do?
As for Zhu Yu, after visiting the government offices once, he refused to go a second time.
Xiao Fei could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.
Fortunately, he went to the market every day to sell spiritual items, earning a considerable amount of spirit stones.
He had accumulated wealth over many years. Apart from using some to feed the ants and flying fish, he couldn't consume much of the spiritual items in his spatial dimension.
There were still large quantities of unused resources piled up in his dimension. Selling too much at once could easily attract trouble, so he had to take them out and sell them little by little, like an ant moving house.
One day, Xiao Fei's divine sense entered his dimension to tally his recent gains.
He had quietly amassed one million spirit stones, making him an absolute tycoon among cultivators of the same level.
After all, most ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Lu Kingdom only had tens of thousands of spirit stones.
Wealthier Foundation Establishment cultivators might have at most one hundred to two hundred thousand spirit stones.
When Fei Xin had taken him on missions, they had only earned a mere ten to twenty thousand spirit stones for their troubles, and they were envied by their peers.
Even if Qin Kingdom cultivators were wealthier than those in Lu Kingdom, the disparity between cultivators of the same level wouldn't be too vast.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator with a net worth of up to a million was undoubtedly rare.
However, at this point, only about one-fifth of the accumulated resources in his dimension had been processed.
Unknowingly, he had become a major player in the cultivation world, the very type of person he used to detest.
But the feeling was quite exhilarating!
As Xiao Fei walked through his dimension, the Divine Infusion Tea tree he had planted had grown taller than a person over the years, and its spiritual tea yield had significantly increased.
The fruits on the Wood Spirit Fruit tree had finally ripened, and Xiao Fei picked them, preparing to refine them into Wood Element Marrow Cleansing Pills to improve his cultivation aptitude.
In a corner of the dimension, some demonic plants with dense demonic energy were also growing.
The last time he entered the Demon Sealing Cave, he had seen many plants there containing rich demonic energy, different from those in the cultivation world.
He had tried to dig some up and transplant them into his dimension, and to his surprise, these demonic plants could grow healthily there.
Seeing these demonic plants, Xiao Fei suddenly had an idea; it might be worth a try.
Immediately, he dug out two demonic plants and packed them into exquisite jade boxes.
He then went to the ginseng patch and unearthed a thousand-year-old ginseng, also packing it into a jade box!
After preparing these, he left the small courtyard alone and, in a secluded place, changed his appearance.
Concurrently, a faint trace of corpse qi emanated from his body, his eyes turned sinister, and he fixated on vital points.
He entered a shop that wasn't particularly large and presented a plant with dense demonic energy.
"Shopkeeper, do you purchase this type of medicinal material?"
As Xiao Fei spoke, he placed a pitch-black demonic plant on the shop counter.
His action immediately drew the attention of the other customers in the shop.
They all curiously examined the demonic plant on the counter.
"Huh! This is actually a demonic plant!"
"A demonic plant with such pure demonic energy is extremely rare; it can only grow in places possessing true demonic qi."
"This type of demonic plant is a priceless treasure for cultivators practicing demonic arts."
Several customers, seeing it, felt their hearts stir. Such a rare item, even if they couldn't use it themselves, could fetch a good price.
"Of course, we purchase it! But how much do you have, fellow cultivator?"
Normally, such a transaction should be discussed in a private room. Seeing that Xiao Fei was unconcerned, the shopkeeper naturally became even less so.
"I have some on hand currently. If your shop can take it, I can quickly procure more of these demonic plants. You can name your price first."
The shopkeeper carefully identified the demonic plant before speaking.
"5,000 spirit stones."
"Deal!"
Xiao Fei readily agreed. Value is determined by rarity, and this was already a very high price, many times more valuable than spiritual herbs that were decades old.
He then took out another demonic plant from his storage bag. Together, the two plants sold for ten thousand spirit stones.