Ji An considered the matter for a moment before asking,
"How effective are superior-grade Earth-Spirit Fruits for restoring the Gold-Spotted Spider's vitality?"
Liu Suyun shook her head lightly.
"The Gold-Spotted Spider I raise is already a seventh-layer Foundation Establishment beast. Superior-grade fruits are nothing more than delicious snacks to it. They can slightly increase their silk production, but as for replenishing their vitality, the effect is negligible."
As she spoke, she summoned her beast from the pouch.
A spider the size of a millstone appeared on the ground, its entire body covered in coarse, earth-yellow bristles, with several gold coin-sized markings gleaming on its back.
Late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic qi spread through the cavern. Startled, the spirit-seeking mouse's fur exploded, and it instantly burrowed into the earth with its Earth-Movement Technique, reappearing trembling at Ji An's feet.
Even Ji An felt pressured by the powerful demonic qi and hurriedly circulated his spiritual power to resist.
The Gold-Spotted Spider's six dark-red eyes spun rapidly. When it spotted the Earth-Spirit Fruits, it let out several excited hisses and shot toward them in a blur.
After devouring the fruits Goldenfur had collected earlier, it crawled beside the spirit tree and stayed perfectly still.
Whether cultivators or demonic beasts, if circumstances permitted, they would always wait for spirit fruits to fully mature and fall naturally before picking them.
The higher the grade of the fruit, the more important this became. Even harvesting it a few hours early would affect its efficacy.
It was said that perfectly ripened spirit fruits carried a unique spiritual resonance, a resonance particularly beneficial to high-level cultivators and demonic beasts.
"My Gold-Spotted Spider has been completely tamed. It only looks fierce. Its temperament is actually gentle; it rarely attacks on its own."
Liu Suyun returned the beast to her pouch, then added,
"I would like to stay here until the supreme-grade fruits fully ripen before leaving. Would that be a problem?"
She could sense the spider's joy. The fruits here were far more potent than the ones she cultivated herself.
As she spoke, another fruit fell from the tree.
Seeing that the danger had passed, Goldenfur activated its innate Earth-Movement Technique, darted to the base of the tree, caught the fruit, then stood on its hind legs and presented it to Ji An with both paws.
It lifted the fruit high above its head, squeaking ingratiatingly:
"Zhi zhi!"
Liu Suyun watched this display in surprise.
"Junior Brother, your spirit-seeking mouse is one of the most intelligent I've ever seen. Its bloodline must be quite pure."
Demonic beasts valued bloodline purity above all. Mixed or diluted bloodlines could result in sturdier bodies, but such beasts were often dull-witted, vicious, and lacked spiritual intelligence.
"Obtaining Goldenfur was my good fortune."
Ji An replied casually. He knew well that most of Goldenfur's current aptitude came from the beast-taming secret method his father had left behind.
He had never studied pill refinement, but because planting required extensive knowledge of herbs, he was familiar with medicinal properties.
The Spirit-Nurturing Pellets he crafted for Goldenfur worked along a different path; they purified the bloodline instead of increasing demonic power.
He used his control spell to bring a ripened fruit into his palm and offered it to Liu Suyun.
"Senior Sister may stay as long as you wish. You're very welcome here.
"Let's return to the surface. Goldenfur can stay here and keep watch. Whenever a supreme-grade fruit ripens, it will notify me."
The two of them left the cavern and returned to the stone house by the icy pond, where the Xia sisters brought out various specialty foods for tasting.
After tasting the supreme-grade pine nuts, Liu Suyun repeatedly praised:
"Excellent. Not only are they more delicious, but they also contain far richer spiritual energy.
"For cultivators of fire-attribute techniques, long-term consumption might even bring unexpected benefits."
After a pause, she added,
"Junior Brother, according to our agreement, each fruit tree requires you to hand over thirty fruits. Based on that, I've taken an extra twenty-one supreme-grade fruits.
"The price of a supreme-grade Earth-Spirit Fruit fluctuates around eighty spirit stones, and superior-grade fruits fluctuate around fifty.
"Let's calculate the numbers using these prices. Would that be acceptable?"
"I have no objections," Ji An replied with a smile. A fluctuation of one or two stones wasn't worth fussing over.
He paused, then added,
"But I need to keep ten of the superior-grade fruits. You saw it yourself, my spirit-seeking mouse is practically drooling over them."
"Of course. That's entirely up to you.
"According to our agreement, for every fruit tree that advances to superior grade, you are rewarded with half a jin of first-grade peak spider silk. For each tree that advances to supreme grade, you are rewarded with two jin of supreme-grade spider silk.
"These rewards will take about two years before I can provide them."
For Liu Suyun, obtaining the supreme-grade fruits was what truly mattered; the superior-grade ones were merely extras.
"Senior Sister, I don't have any use for supreme-grade spider silk right now. Convert all of it into second-rank low-grade silk instead. The profit from the fruits doesn't pay me in spirit stones; convert that into second-rank silk as well. How does that sound?"
Liu Suyun thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"All right, that's fine.
"Five jin of supreme-grade spider silk plus 2,480 spirit stones can be exchanged for one jin and two liang of second-rank low-grade spider silk."
Under normal circumstances, she used second-rank silk to trade for other rare materials. But since Ji An could cultivate supreme-grade spirit trees this quickly, she was willing to extend him this courtesy.
"If I weave the banner surface for the Apricot-Yellow Banner, is one jin of spider silk enough?"
"It will be short by roughly three liang."
"Senior Sister, once the Gold-Spotted Spider resumes producing silk, how long will it take to accumulate one and a half jin of second-rank silk?"
Ji An asked again. He needed to plan the timeline properly and gather all remaining materials before weaving began.
"About a year. If the supreme-grade fruits ripening in my cave residence are enough to restore the spider, then the earliest you can receive the banner surface is two years from now.
"Once I have the materials, I need just over a month to weave it."
Ji An nodded. Two years was more than enough.
"Senior Sister, how much is the remaining cost? I will pay it all at once."
Better to pay upfront and avoid unexpected issues later.
"Three liang of second-rank silk costs 900 spirit stones. The weaving fee is another 1,000. Total: 1,900 spirit stones."
Ji An could not help but click his tongue inwardly. He wondered how many more spirit stones he would need once the banner was actually refined.
He counted out the required spirit stones and pushed them toward her.
"Senior Sister, please check."
Yeh Changqing overlooked the rolling green waves of mulberry fields by the cold pool and said:
"If every Foundation Establishment spirit farmer had Junior Brother Ji's ability, our sect would surpass Falling Maple Valley in no time."
In just a few months, the Feiye mulberry trees had grown even more vigorously.
Wei Songnian shook his head with a laugh.
"Senior Brother, your standards are too high. I think that's harder than producing an extra Dawn-Stage cultivator."
He had witnessed Ji An's growth from beginning to end. Over the years, he had interacted with at least four to five thousand spirit farmers, yet only one Ji An existed.
"Ai…" Yeh Changqing sighed deeply. He did not argue; he understood that reality all too well.
The flying boat descended slowly. Ji An was slightly surprised when two people disembarked; in his memory, these two hardly interacted at all.
Yeh Changqing grinned.
"Junior Brother, your good fortune has arrived. The sect has issued an urgent mission. If you complete it on time, not only will you earn contribution points, but you will also earn ten minor merits. Normally, such opportunities don't fall from the sky."
"Thank you, Senior Brother, for thinking of me whenever there is something good."
Yeh Changqing waved his hand and said seriously:
"We are all working for the sect. You are one of the most suitable candidates, so naturally I thought of you."
He judged people by ability first, friendships second. If Ji An did not have the capability, he would not have come here personally.
Ji An invited them with a gesture. "Please, both of you, let's talk inside."
The three entered the stone house. Yeh Changqing blinked in surprise.
"Junior Sister Liu is here too?"
He squeezed one eye mischievously and joked,
"Junior Brother, when did your social circle become so broad?"
Given Ji An's reputation as a reclusive 'stone-turtle cultivator', he genuinely could not imagine how the two had crossed paths.
"What does Senior Brother mean by that? Am I not allowed to be here?"
"Of course you are. But knowing Junior Brother's temperament, who rarely leaves his mountain and seeing you two together, I simply couldn't picture how you met."
"I needed a spirit artifact refined by Senior Brother Zhao Lei, and it required a certain type of spider silk. That's how I met Senior Sister Liu."
Ji An invited everyone to sit and briefly explained the matter.
Yeh Changqing clapped softly and sighed in admiration.
"For production-type spirit beasts, the importance of a high-grade spirit farmer is even greater."
After some small talk, Ji An asked,
"Senior Brother, what exactly is this urgent mission?"
"The sect needs a large quantity of Blood-Devouring Vine seeds. The more the better, and the higher the quality, the better. They will be needed in about half a year.
"Junior Brother's spiritual field here is not suitable for growing them, so the sect has requisitioned the valley under Junior Brother Wei's stewardship. But large-scale cultivation still requires a high-grade spirit farmer; hence, we came to find you."
Blood-Devouring Vines had thumb-thick tendrils covered in backward-facing barbs. Any creature of flesh that passed through would be tightly constricted and drained dry before being released.
The vines were exceptionally tough, able to withstand multiple strikes from ordinary artifacts. Their sap contained a special oil, making them resistant to fire, though cold temperatures could weaken their activity.
If their seeds were not soaked in fresh blood, they would lose vitality within a few months; thus, they were only cultivated intensively right before large needs arose.
Ji An nodded. Blood-Devouring Vines could be used to refine qi- and blood supplements commonly used by body-refinement cultivators. He pondered:
"Senior Brother, to grow these spirit plants well, planting techniques alone are not enough. They must be watered with fresh blood and fertilized using meat mulch."
Blood-Devouring Vines were not pure wood-attribute plants. Techniques such as the Thick Earth Returning Chant or Verdant Wood Vitalization Art had limited effect unless paired with monster flesh and blood.
What he could do was maximize the plants' vitality and enhance the soil's ability to break down remains into nourishment.
"Junior Brother need not worry about acquiring monster flesh and blood; that is the sect's responsibility. You simply need to cast a round of planting spells every two or three days to ensure the vines can consume more blood and flesh."
Ji An felt relieved. He hated troublesome logistics. This arrangement was ideal. The valley was only five to six hundred mu, not large enough to delay him significantly.
"In that case, I have no issues. When will planting begin?"
Wei Songnian answered:
"In about four or five days. Once the spirit grain and talisman grass in my valley finish maturing and are harvested, I will notify Senior Brother."
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