YM778.TV Chapter 86: 86: 30 Years Later
Zhou Yi woke up from his sleep, got dressed, washed his face, and chose vegetables without using any spells.
About half an hour later, the fragrance of the Spirit Ginseng meat porridge wafted through the air.
"No cooking in the morning, just some thinly sliced Spirit Ginseng mixed with Fishwort, and the Ginseng that was pickled a few days ago should be almost ready."
Zhou Yi, like a solitary old man with no family, ate his porridge with pickled vegetables, the food transforming into a rich Spiritual Energy as he swallowed.
After cultivating the Guiyuan Technique for two sixty-year cycles, he was even more familiar with it than its founder, cultivating while eating, his Mana from the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement steadily increasing.
"Another twenty years and I should be able to reach Qi Refinement Great Perfection!"
Resisting the urge to vomit after finishing his meal, Zhou Yi carefully sniffed his clothes, detecting a faint aroma of Spirit Ginseng.
"If I keep eating like this, will I one day turn into a Spirit Ginseng essence?"
In the center of the little herb field.
A ginseng as thick as a thigh already took the shape of a child, its skin golden, with a spiritual charm flowing throughout.
He had been hastening its maturity for twenty years; its age approached eight hundred years. Zhou Yi always hesitated to consume it, wanting to taste whether a thousand-year-old Spiritual Medicine would taste any better.
With a long and boundless lifespan, he could only seek amusement in such time-consuming pleasures!
Noontime.
Zhou Yi walked out with his hands clasped behind his back, greeting acquaintances he met along the way, exchanging pleasantries.
He moved neither hurriedly nor slowly, at an even pace.
He eventually arrived at Xianwei Zhai.
From afar, he could hear the boisterous and lively noises, many well-dressed young masters and gentlemen constantly urging the servers to bring the dishes promptly.
Once Zhou Yi entered, he found a corner seat and opened the menu for the day.
"Black Tiger Root, three hundred silver per slice! Tsk tsk, it\'s the tiger\'s heart that truly strengthens the body and bones, none of them know their goods. Let\'s start with ten slices to taste!"
He ordered five dishes in a row, totaling over five thousand silver, repeatedly reminding the server not to add any ginseng.
Silver had not inflated in the mortal world mainly because Xianwei Zhai\'s dishes were all made with Monster Beast Flesh.
Add some Ginseng, Lingzhi, Fleeceflower Root, and Angelica; selling it for a few hundred silver a plate was not considered expensive.
Ever since rumors spread that Monster Beast Flesh could solidify one\'s foundation and cultivate their Origin, its price had skyrocketed to over a thousand silver per pound.
Where once Monster Beasts descended from the mountains to devour humans, now martial artists would group together, enter the mountains to hunt monsters, and skinning them yielded a price that surpassed that of gold.
Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.
The fracturing of the Spirit Vein in Little Dan Mountain had by now affected the common people of Heng City on a societal level, with many tales of immortals circulating in the marketplace. The once separate realms of immortals and mortals began to blend in Xuzhou.
After tasting the Tiger Root, Zhou Yi planned to visit the Hundred Flowers Pavilion to listen to music.
At that moment.
An old farmer led a bull to the entrance of Xianwei Zhai, gesturing to a server.
"Young man, do you buy bulls here?"
The server looked at the emaciated yellow bull and shook his head, "We only take Monster Beasts, not ordinary cows."
"But this here is a Monster Beast," the old farmer replied, patting the yellow bull on its neck, saying, "Old Yellow, there\'s really no silver left at home, and the child\'s mother is sick again. I truly have no other choice."
Moo!
The yellow bull, upon hearing the talk, nuzzled the old farmer and knelt down to kowtow three times.
Then it broke free from its harness and strode into Xianwei Zhai by itself.
The affluent patrons who were in the midst of toasting and feasting watched the scene unfold, and the room fell suddenly quiet.
The server was the first to react, bowing and saying, "Esteemed sir, please come this way!"
The old farmer hurriedly followed the yellow bull, his dark face flushing with shame as he continuously fidgeted and twisted the hem of his clothes.
Before they even reached the kitchen, a patron stood up to stop the old farmer, saying, "Old brother, this bull understands human nature. It\'s a pity to kill and eat it. I offer ten thousand silver to buy it!"
Before he was finished, several other patrons spoke up.
"Old Hu, your heart is too dark. I\'ll give fifty thousand silver!"
"A hundred thousand silver, let\'s give the Xiang Family some face!"
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"..."
Bids echoed, quickly soaring to two hundred thousand taels.
The old farmer only knew his old yellow cow was valuable, but since he had never thought about selling it before, he hadn\'t inquired about the price. Now hearing the bids of one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, his heart swelled with both joy and worry.
Zhou Yi came up to the yellow cow, observed it carefully for a moment, and asked the old farmer.
"This cow is not young anymore, is it?"
The old man nodded and said, "It\'s been passed down through four generations, raised by my great-grandfather when he was a child."
Four generations, over a hundred years!
Zhou Yi\'s gaze became focused. The records of the true sages noted that monsters are naturally nurtured by the earth and have a deeper dependency on spiritual energy than cultivators.
In the mundane world, where spiritual energy is scarce, if a monster can develop intelligence, it must possess a heterogeneous bloodline.
"I\'ll take this cow at the highest bid, and I will also heal your family\'s illnesses."
Zhou Yi glanced at some wealthy merchants who seemed displeased. With a wave of his hand, he sent a burst of sword qi slicing off a table corner, instantly turning everyone into a picture of respect.
Innate Grandmaster!
In Xuzhou, the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth made it easier for martial artists to break through, yet the Innate Realm was still the realm of the unrivaled.
The old farmer pleaded cautiously, "Could I ask you for a favor?"
Zhou Yi nodded slightly, "Speak."
The old man said, "Could you not kill Old Yellow? It\'s very obedient and doesn\'t eat much. It saved my life from a pack of wolves when I was a kid herding cattle."
Zhou Yi promised, "Don\'t worry, I will not only not kill it but also feed it well."
Only if it\'s well-fed and plump can more essence blood be extracted, to sooner cultivate the ancient Guiyuan Technique of the Divine Bull Transformation.
The old farmer\'s family lived in the slums of South City, having fled there about twenty years ago. Due to the lack of farmland around Heng City, the family scraped by on odd jobs, like many other citizens.
Rich gentlemen, because of the appearance of monster beasts, were becoming increasingly healthy and long-lived.
The poor lost their lands and dared not even leave the city, fearing monsters would harm them.
Zhou Yi had lived in the rapidly changing Heng City for twenty years, only witnessing the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker, just like the celestial being who had heartlessly destroyed Little Dan Mountain for material to refine artifacts.
The old farmer\'s wife had caught a chill that had dragged on for a long time and had taken to her bed, critically ill.
Zhou Yi cleansed the old woman\'s viscera with mana, easily curing her serious illness and strengthening her body for longevity.
Before leaving.
The yellow cow looked at the old farmer\'s family, tears streaming from its eyes.
"Truly reluctant to part, but I won\'t force it, let\'s do a good deed today."
Zhou Yi said, "Once you are with me, it won\'t be as free as here. You\'ll need to recognize a master and establish both soul and blood covenants to prevent betrayal in the future."
After signing the soul covenant, Zhou Yi could sense the yellow cow\'s thoughts. If it harbored any unusual thoughts, he could shatter its soul in an instant. The blood covenant, also known as servitude mark, bound the yellow cow to Zhou Yi as a subordinate. It would not only be incapable of defying orders but would also perish should its master die.
Moo!
The yellow cow turned resolutely and left the old farmer\'s household without looking back.
...
Time flows like water, days and months fly by like a shuttle.
In the blink of an eye, ten years passed.
After revealing his Innate strength, Zhou Yi soon changed his identity and residence, dyed the yellow cow green, and disappeared once again.
On this clear morning.
"Niu\'er, eat quickly, it\'s time to draw blood again today!"
Zhou Yi plucked a hundred-year-old spirit ginseng from the medicinal field and fed it to the yellow cow.
The yellow cow had grown several sizes fatter than ten years ago, its body strong and muscles bulging, quite imposing. However, upon hearing Zhou Yi\'s words, the cow\'s face twisted into a "bitter" expression, reluctantly swallowing the spirit ginseng.
Moo!
Zhou Yi consoled, "Don\'t dislike the taste of the spirit ginseng; I\'ve been eating it for more than thirty years and am about to turn into a spirit ginseng child!"
Just then.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth suddenly began flowing towards the north. Due to the high speed, it created a howling wind sound.
Zhou Yi looked towards Cloud Mountain and muttered to himself,
"Little Dan Mountain\'s Spirit Gathering Array is activating again, is this calamity and opportunity for the people of Xuzhou finally coming to an end?"
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