Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Chapter 3418: Worth of a Silkworm

Alex checked for the Silkworms in his Soul Space.

The Heavenly Silkworms were placed in a giant wooden structure with many flat boards where they cocooned themselves. It took multiple years for these cocoons to be ready to be harvested for silk. At the end of the cocoon stage, the worm came out as a moth, almost always becoming a regular silk moth that could pass for any other beast.

Only rarely did they become Heavenly Silkmoths, which could then lay nearly a hundred eggs in their lifetime. Even that wasn’t guaranteed to produce Heavenly Silkworms, however, as the chances of the eggs hatching were low as well.

Still, with good care and maintenance, the eggs usually outnumbered the Silkworms turning into regular moths, which meant there was a steady increase of Silkworms since the day Alex had gotten them.

By now, they had reached over 800 that kept feeding on the mulberry leaves, with another 300 cocooned off, and nearly 20 Heavenly Silk Moths that would hopefully lay enough eggs to get at least 100 more Heavenly Silkworms.

Alex himself was quite surprised by the number, mostly because he wasn’t the one who took care of them and hadn’t taken a closer look for a long time. It was all Whisker’s doing now.

A single cocoon produced nearly 400 meters of thin silk threads, which would then have to be woven together with nearly a dozen other such threads to make a single piece of usable string. So 400 meters of silk threads made only around 30 to 40 meters of usable string.

For a single person, that was more than enough, but Alex wanted more. He had always thought of wearing clothes that were entirely made of Heavenly Silk threads but never had the time to make it happen. It would also require an unimaginably high amount of threads, which he wasn’t sure he had.

“Whisker, how many spools of Heavenly Silk Threads do we have?” Alex asked through their bond.

“Silk thread spools? I have six and am nearly done with the seventh one. I think I will have it ready within the next few years,” Whisker replied.

“How much is there in a single spool?”

“Around 7 kilometers of woven threads in a single spool,” Whisker said. “We’re nearing 50 kilometers soon.”

“That’s what I wanted to know. Thanks.”

While 50 kilometers of thread was a lot when one looked at the threads by themselves, one would easily need double that, maybe even triple that, if he really wanted to make clothes with them.

Those clothes likely wouldn’t be strong either, so he would need some way to reinforce them, but that was something for him to think about later on.

For now, the man before him waited for him to speak.

“How much do you want to purchase?” Alex asked. “Is there any specific number you have in mind?”

A servant walked in with some tea and placed the cups on the table before them. Rockcrust grabbed the teacup and rapped his fingers on its porcelain lip. “We can purchase any amount you have,” the man said. “It’s up to you how many you wish to sell.”

Alex nodded and took a sip of his tea. A moment later, he spoke.

“Well, then let me ask what the going rate is for the Silkworms. How much do you buy them for?”

Rockcrust waited for a second before speaking. “We don’t have a fixed rate, if that is what you’re asking. Instead, we exchange treasures for them. For 10 Heavenly Silkworms, we provide an Immortal treasure of your choice. For 100, we offer a Divine treasure.”

“What sort of treasure?” Alex asked with some curiosity.

“We have them on display in the treasure room. You may look through them afterward,” the man said.

Alex held a doubtful look. “That amount sounds a little too low, doesn’t it? I mean, Heavenly Silk Threads are easily one of the most useful items out there. Why would something that can create 400 meters of it be traded so cheaply?”

“Do you think it’s too low?” Rockcrust asked.

“I do,” Alex said. “I won’t do you the disrespect of thinking that you’re trying to deceive me, so I’ll ask instead for you to explain what I’m missing.”

Rockcrust narrowed his eyes, seemingly confused himself. “Why do you think they’re worth a lot?”

Alex was taken aback. “Well, because they can block Spiritual Senses, can’t they?”

“Depending on how much there is,” the man explained.

“Depending? Isn’t just a piece of it enough?”

“Of course not. The stronger the Spiritual Sense, the thicker the threads that are required,” the man said. “Were you not aware?”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t. Is that really the case?”

“Yes,” Rockcrust said. “A single tiny piece of thread is enough for a Saint Realm cultivator, but you’ll need a much larger, thickly woven piece for an Immortal. Above that, you would need a large cloth made out of the Heavenly Silk to block Divine Sense.”

Alex had never realized that at all. He had thought all of the Silk Threads did the same. So having a larger amount actually mattered in the end. Maybe his idea of making a robe out of it wasn’t all that bad after all.

“Thank you for explaining that to me, senior,” he said. “I had a completely wrong idea about them.”

“Well, you’re only an Immortal, so it will be hard to recognize the difference. It becomes really apparent when your Spiritual Sense turns into Divine Sense.”

Alex took another sip of his tea. “I see. No wonder the Silkworms aren’t worth as much as I thought they were.”

“Well…” the man began speaking, pausing for a moment. “The Heavenly Silk Threads are only used in certain situations, such as veils and cloaks by strong cultivators to hide their faces, or by auction houses to conceal their items. Aside from that, the Heavenly Silk Threads’ main use case is actually in items that can hide you not from people, but rather from Heaven.”