BXBX NOVEL Chapter 70: Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng i
However, though four thousand Qian Gold might sound substantial, it is in fact the total output over a span of ten years.
Also, the amount consumed in the process is massive.
Just the Spirit Gathering Array alone requires a replacement of Spirit Stones every five years, with each replacement costing five Spirit Stones. That averages out to an expenditure of one Spirit Stone per year.
In addition, maintaining the vitality of the Spirit Field is a tremendous issue. A Spirit Field without vitality is akin to a human body lacking various vitamins; it is very easy for the Spirit Medicines to grow poorly, even die.
The best source of vitality comes from the fermented materials imbued with spirituality, such as rice straw from the harvested Spirit Rice, leftover purple leaves from the Purple Leaf, and residuals from Spirit Fish and Spirit Meat.
The primary source of vitality, however, comes from the feces of the nurtured Spirit Beasts.
For instance, the Imperial Family raised many Spirit Horned Yaks, producing a great quantity of feces each year. After reserving a portion for their own Spirit Fields, they sold the rest externally, mitigating the costs of raising the Spirit Beasts.
Given the expensive cost of Spirit Horned Yak’s meat, it only makes sense – the cultivation cost is exorbitant. They’re required to plant a vast amount of Spirit Grass in the Spirit Fields and occasionally purchase residuals of Spirit Beans that have been pressed for oil or rice bran left from Spirit Rice threshing, and so on.
Even the Prominent Celestial Family would need to budget carefully to ensure continuous profits.
Similarly, maintaining a Spirit Field can be extraordinarily troublesome, dealing with the gathering of spiritual energy, replacing the Spirit Stones in the Spirit Gathering Array, the construction and maintenance of the Spiritual Spring irrigation system, supplementing the Spirit Field’s vitality, and managing pests and diseases are all costly affairs.
But, if the Spirit Field is cultivated well, not only does it produce high value, it also forms the foundation of a clan.
Wang Shouzhe dismisses his wandering thoughts, asking, “These trades of Purple Leaf aren’t reflected in the clan’s account books, right?”
He had carefully studied the structure of the clan’s accounts and found no record of the output or expenditure of these two acres of Spirit Field.
“You can rest assured about this,” Wang Xiaohan quickly explains, “The income and expenses of these two acres of middle-grade Spirit Fields are accounted by myself. The other Elders and the Clan Leader can check the accounts at any time. When I return to the cottage later, I’ll show them to you.”
“Part of the output is used to offset the costs of these two acres of middle-grade Spirit Fields. Some are traded for Little Pei Yuan Dan and some Spirit Beast meat, gradually incorporated into the clan’s accounts and inventory through the repayment of old debts from other clans, transforming into long-term consumption for the clan.”
Wang Shouzhe suddenly realized that indeed in the clan’s accounts, there were some cryptic entries about income which mentioned that certain clans had owed us money decades ago and had been paying it back in installments, and so on.
At the time it seemed rather strange, but looking back now, it must have been related to the output of this secret Spirit Field. The aim was probably to keep these two acres of middle-grade Spirit Fields hidden.
“Nevertheless, I do trust Grand Elder.” Wang Shouzhe waved his hand, laughing. “But, Grand Elder should start grooming someone to inherit the Spirit Field related tasks. Otherwise, it won’t be proper for you, as a future Old Ancestor of the Spirit Platform Realm, to be tending the fields every day.” “Finding a successor is indeed a matter that needs early attention, but…” Wang Xiaohan furrowed his eyebrows slightly, “Among the youth who have just reached maturity in the family, there is only Zongwei!”
Wang Zongwei!
Despite the glory of the Wang Family and their strictness toward males, they produced an individual like him. Recently, he seemed to have mellowed down quite a bit after being beaten up and having recovered from his injuries.
But how could someone of Wang Xiaohan’s character ever trust a gambler?
Even if he seemed reformed, the Spirit Fields of the clan are of paramount importance. What if that bastard sold them?
“We’re in no rush, we can first pick out a few from the younger generation and have them try it out, to see who has more talent,” said Wang Shouzhe, “Shu Yong, Shu Lian, and Shou Ye can also give it a go. For something like Spirit Fields, they can’t just put in ten or eight years.”
To get Wang Zongwei to manage Spirit Fields, it was not just Wang Xiaohan who would disapprove, but even Wang Shouzhe would not allow it.
Wang Xiaohan opened his mouth, intending to ask what would happen if he couldn’t reach the Spirit Platform Realm?
But on second thought, if he doesn’t reach the Spirit Platform Realm, the clan would most likely be in danger…
If that happens, they could only think of other ways to save the clan, save Wang Shouzhe. But many clan assets, including the Spirit Fields, could probably not be saved, there is no point in thinking too much about it at this point.
“Shouzhe, the majority of the profits generated from the Purple Leaf has been poured into this acre of middle-grade Spirit Field.” Wang Xiaohan pointed to another middle-grade Spirit Field.
The other Spirit Field was also divided into different sections. The smallest was barely ten square meters, the largest took up around a third of the entire field and was over two hundred square meters.
In it, there was only one Spirit Medicine planted, with its massive leaves greedily absorbing both sunlight and spiritual energy within the Spirit Field.
Wang Shouzhe, having been schooled from a young age to learn the Beast Atlas and the medicinal herb charts, instantly recognized it as a Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng. Given the size of its leaves, this ginseng must have quite some age to it.
A regular hundred-year-old ginseng could cost tens of Qian Gold.
But a Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng was the epitome of ginseng, even a hundred-year-old Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng could cost up to thousands of Qian Gold because it was an ingredient for various Level Three Spirit Medicines.
Just like the Sacred Healing Medicine, Creation Pill, which Old Ancestor Longyan used to recover from his injuries, it also required a two hundred-year- old Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng, thus resulting in an exorbitantly high price. However, its effects of healing injuries and replenishing stamina were extremely powerful!
Even a high-ranking commoner, on the brink of death, could make a comeback with a Creation Pill. However, wealthy ordinary people rarely could afford to buy a Creation Pill.
The more Wang Shouzhe looked, the more his heart trembled. There was something odd about this Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng.
“When our old ancestor first discovered this Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng in foreign territories, it was already almost 500 years old,” explained Wang Xiaohan. “So, he decided to plant it in our Spirit Field to nurture it.”
Five hundred years old?
Wang Shouzhe was shocked by the depth and richness of his family’s resources. Indeed, this is the family’s cherished treasure. He had a rough understanding that one of the main ingredients in the legendary Heavenly Spirit Pills was a 500-year old Nine-Leaf Spirit Ginseng.
The value of it must be worth more than 50,000 Qian Gold. Indeed, if the ancestors were remarkable individuals, the foundation they left for the clan was not something ordinary families could compare to.
“It’s just a pity, a Middle-Grade Spirit Field provides very little aid to it,” Wang Xiaohan said with regret. “Its growth is extremely slow now. It’s been growing here for 70 years, and it has yet to transform into a 500-year-old spiritual medicine.”
Er…
Approaching 500 years old 70 years prior and still having not undergone transformation 70 years later, that was indeed slow. Wang Shouzhe was speechless. High-grade spiritual medicines were indeed extraordinary, not something average families could afford to cultivate.
It occupies more than a third of the land. If the past 70 years were spent cultivating Purple Flower Spirit, the profit would have been at least a few thousand Qian Gold. But it only grew a small bit.
The age of spiritual medicine is not as simple as how many years it’s been cultivated. Can the same spirit medicine grown in a Lower-grade Spirit Field and a High-grade Spirit Field be the same?
The so-called 100-year spiritual medicine means that the spirit medicine has transformed at that stage, and both its essence of life and medicinal properties have greatly progressed to the next stage.
This is somewhat similar to humans transitioning from the Vital Energy Refining Realm to the Spirit Platform Realm.
The value increases by multiples.
The higher the medicinal age, the more difficult it is to cultivate, as its demand for spiritual energy and nutrients becomes greater. Impoverished Spirit Fields simply lack the power to nourish it thoroughly.
In some superior Spirit Fields, the growth speed of spiritual medicine is much faster. However, when planting spiritual medicine, it’s best not to let it grow too fast beyond its normal growth rate.
For example, enhancing spiritual energy concentration and fertility to produce a hundred-year-old spiritual medicine in fifty years.
This type of spiritual medicine is called Rapid Growth Spirit Medicine in the market, and its actual medicinal usage and value will be significantly reduced.
Aside from factors like spiritual energy and fertility, the actual age of the growth of spiritual medicine is also important. Some experienced spiritual medicine merchants, owners of pill-making shops, alchemists, and other professionals can instantly identify whether a medicine is a Rapid Growth Spirit Medicine.
“Based on my estimate, after 70 years of cultivation, its age should have increased by about seven years. But it’s quick, I predict that in another twenty years, it will transform into a 500-year-old spiritual medicine.” Wang Xiaohan said both excitedly and regretfully, “It’s a pity our family does not have a High-grade Spirit Field, otherwise, it could grow normally.”
A High-grade Spirit Field?
Wang Shouzhe looked at Wang Xiaohan, our Sixth Grandfather dares to dream bigger than me.
We’re already struggling to manage our Middle-Grade Spirit Field, dare we wish for a High-Grade Spirit Field?
“Shouzhe, this was originally intended to be preserved for you just in case,” Wang Xiaohan said reluctantly. “The family invested a lot of resources and effort in it. Selling it now before it transforms would result in substantial losses. If the family were not in crisis, I would absolutely not sell it to get Heavenly Spirit Pills. I truly feel sorry for you.”
“Indeed, selling it now would be a great loss,” Wang Shouzhe said with a smile. “However, Sixth Grandfather, don’t use it for now. I’ll think of a solution to the Heavenly Spirit Pills issue.”
“What?”
Wang Xiaohan was astonished, “Shouzhe, where would you get so much money to buy Heavenly Spirit Pills?”
A Rank 9 clan that’s on the decline, using decades of accumulated wealth to trade for a single Heavenly Spirit Pill, it’s already considered extraordinary.
Clans that can achieve this level are often able to maintain and prolong the clan’s life indefinitely.
As for independent cultivators, unless they come across a significant opportunity, they would not be able to afford a Heavenly Spirit Pill in their lifetime. Moreover, general Academic Palaces, Sects, and other powers, are rather cautious towards rootless independent cultivators.
Even if the talent of these cultivators is exceptionally good, far surpassing Wang Shouzhe, the academies would carefully consider and investigate before making a decision. If there is any suspicion, they would rather miss out.
Having no background means one can fabricate a background, and lethal problems could arise in the future. Who knows if they are spies sent by enemy forces or carry heavy grudges that could involve innocents?
This is why Wang Xiaohan was so shocked, resources are difficult to acquire.
“Sixth Grandfather, you should focus on recuperating your body with the Cultivation Pill and quickly recover to prepare for breaking through into the Spirit Platform Realm,” Wang Shouzhe did not directly answer, but merely cautioned. “As for me, I’ll just test my chances. If we get lucky, hehe~”
From Wang Shouzhe’s point of view, the Liu Clan and Zhao Clan achieved their current status from the spoils of war won by the Wang ancestors through their lives. Since he knew that they held the ‘fruit’ of accumulated wealth of decades on hand.
Given his temperament, why wouldn’t he consider trying his luck?
Even if he didn’t strike it lucky, Wang Shouzhe didn’t want to make it easy for them to digest the fruit of wealth.