Xiao Fei had set up his stall in the market all day, selling sixty jin of his spirit rice for sixty spirit stones.
With these sixty spirit stones, his pockets could finally be a little more comfortable.
There were still thirty jin left in his spatial artifact for himself, which, at one jin per day, would last him a month.
His spiritual root aptitude was too poor; simply meditating and cultivating was almost hopeless. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed to have a vendetta against him.
In the future, if he wanted to improve his cultivation, he could only rely on external aids: spirit stones, spirit rice, various spirit herbs, the more the better.
Today was the day he was scheduled to communicate with his second sister, and Xiao Fei, with spirit stones in his embrace, headed towards Lingquan Mountain again.
He now contacted his second sister once a month, paying Lin Dagou five spirit stones each time to grease the wheels of various connections.
Arriving at the entrance of the Lin family estate, as usual, he handed Lin Dagou five spirit stones and a letter, and in turn, received a letter from his second sister.
He only opened the letter after returning to the inn. The first thing that greeted his eyes was his second sister's familiar elegant handwriting.
The content of the letter was much the same as usual, mostly casual chatter about family matters.
Now that his second sister was his only remaining relative in the world, even just idle talk made Xiao Fei feel a sense of warmth.
"Hmm?"
Just then, he noticed some indentations on the letter paper, which seemed to be writing.
Bringing it closer to examine carefully, he found that there were indeed some blurry characters.
"Help!"
After deciphering the indentations, Xiao Fei broke out in a cold sweat.
Could this be a signal his second sister was sending him? Or did it get imprinted accidentally somewhere?
However, this concerned his second sister's life, and it was better to believe it than not.
But how could he save her?
Charge in?
With his cultivation at the fourth level of Qi Condensation and his mastery of a single fire ball technique, he couldn't even defeat Lin Dagou, who guarded the Lin family's gate. It would be a futile sacrifice of his life.
For now, he could only try to gather spirit stones to redeem his second sister.
With this thought, he found Lin Dagou again.
"Brother Dagou, if I want to request an audience with Young Master Lin Xiang, do you have a way?"
As Xiao Fei spoke, he handed over another five spirit stones.
Lin Dagou had received dozens of spirit stones from Xiao Fei, and his attitude towards Xiao Fei had improved somewhat.
"With your cultivation and status, you have no chance of visiting directly. You can wait until Young Master Xiang goes out and then approach him."
"As for when Young Master Xiang will go out..."
Lin Dagou stopped speaking here. As the gatekeeper, he was naturally the most aware.
Xiao Fei understood and quickly offered another five spirit stones.
"You can go back and wait for news. If there's any news, I'll have someone notify you."
Xiao Fei immediately left his inn address and returned. The sixty spirit stones he had just acquired were reduced by ten.
Upon returning to the inn, Xiao Fei first entered his spatial artifact to check.
The two mu of spirit grain he had newly planted had sprouted and would be ready for harvest in about five to six months.
Based on previous yields, he should be able to harvest four to five hundred jin of spirit grain then, worth several hundred spirit stones.
Additionally, those four-leaf purple grass would also take about half a year to mature, which would be another substantial harvest.
As for the ginseng seeds he had planted, they were all still seedlings and could not be harvested in the short term.
This meant that in the coming months, he had nothing to sell for spirit stones.
Five days later, Lin Dagou sent word that the Young Master Xiang had gone out with friends to a restaurant in Xingyue City.
The Wangxian Tower in Xingyue City was a relatively famous restaurant that catered specifically to cultivators; ordinary people were not allowed entry.
Wangxian Tower had recently purchased the carcass of a first-tier ninth-grade bull demon from monster-hunting cultivators outside the city, making various delicacies from it, attracting many wealthy cultivators from the city to patronize it.
Lin Xiang had invited several friends to Wangxian Tower today to drink, taste bull demon meat, and brag about the bull demon.
Just as Lin Xiang was boasting enthusiastically, a waiter knocked and entered.
"Young Master Lin, someone is looking for you."
"Someone is looking for me?"
Lin Xiang was a little puzzled.
"Let him in."
A moment later, Xiao Fei walked into the private room and first bowed.
"I am Xiao Fei, greetings, Young Master Lin!"
Lin Xiang glanced at Xiao Fei, seeing his shabby attire, and knew he was not from any prominent family. His demeanor naturally became a little more arrogant.
"What business do you have with me?"
"I have come to redeem a woman..."
Xiao Fei knew the other party was impatient and wouldn't listen to him beat around the bush, so he immediately stated the specific situation and his purpose.
"This matter is a bit difficult. I bought the person with my own money, and now I've given her to my elder brother. It's a bit inappropriate to ask for her back.
Besides, how many spirit stones can you offer for her redemption?
A mere few dozen spirit stones might seem precious to you rogue cultivators, something you cherish like your life.
But our family disciples truly don't put a few dozen spirit stones in their eyes."
As Lin Xiang spoke, the others at the table nodded in agreement.
Ordinary rogue cultivators had nothing. Any cultivation resources had to be fought for and snatched. They would often risk their lives for one or two wild spirit herbs.
However, immortal cultivating families were different; they had various assets passed down from their ancestors.
For example, spirit fields, where spirit grains or spirit herbs were planted, yielding regular harvests. For example, shops, which could be used for business or rented out. Some families even possessed spirit veins, spirit mines, spirit springs, and other assets.
In short, there was a vast chasm between family cultivators and ordinary rogue cultivators.
"Look, this plate of braised bull demon meat on our table alone costs ten spirit stones. You rogue cultivators might not be able to afford to eat it in a lifetime."
Lin Xiang said, picking up a piece of beef with his chopsticks and eating it with relish.
At this moment, he found the beef even more fragrant. Indeed, happiness was only felt through comparison.
"And look at this pot of spirit wine; it's only one jin but costs eighteen spirit stones. Even just smelling its aroma can increase cultivation for you low-level cultivators."
Lin Xiang said, then took another hearty sip of spirit wine.
"So fragrant!"
Xiao Fei's face was full of fawning smiles.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Young Master Lin speaks the truth. For us rogue cultivators, being able to smell the fragrance of such spirit wine in this lifetime is also a blessing."
Xiao Fei was bowing and scraping, his posture as low as it could be.
"It's just that familial bonds are hard to sever. I implore Young Master Lin to grant my request."
In front of everyone, Xiao Fei lowered his posture even further. Lin Xiang didn't want to go too far, so he immediately said:
"I am not an unreasonable person. How about this: as long as you can produce two hundred spirit stones, I will bring the person out and hand her over to you. From then on, we will be quits."
In retrospect, this was still a profit for him.
The women he bought from the mortal world, the most expensive ones didn't exceed a thousand taels of silver, which was less than one spirit stone. Now it had increased more than two hundredfold.
"Thank you, Young Master Xiang, for granting my request!"
Xiao Fei bowed again.
"I have fifty spirit stones on me. I will give them to you first as a deposit. I will gather the remaining spirit stones as soon as possible."