Chapter 81 - 50: Huang Bamboo’s Invitation

Chapter 81: Chapter 50: Huang Bamboo’s Invitation

Qi Jiushan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "That’s fine too. I wonder how much you know about our Huang Bamboo Temple, Li?"

"I’m ashamed to say that I usually devote myself to cultivation and know little about the outside world," Li Yinsheng shook his head.

"Then I will start from the beginning." Qi Jiushan was not surprised and simply explained slowly. "You should know, Li, that the peaks of various Daoist Temples all have Spirit Veins allocated by the Dharma Vein. Although the quality of these Spirit Veins varies, they are ultimately intact and can be used to establish Daoist Temples and cultivate disciples.

"However, besides these intact Spirit Veins, there are other peaks within the Dharma Vein’s territory that also contain Spirit Veins, but they are difficult to utilize directly," Qi Jiushan continued. "On the edge of this Dharma Vein’s sphere of influence, there is a peak that contains a broken Spirit Vein.

"Because the Spirit Vein is broken, this peak doesn’t even have a moderately sized Spiritual Eye. Instead, it has fully tens of thousands of minuscule Spiritual Eyes."

"Tens of thousands?" Li Yinsheng was taken aback.

Qi Jiushan nodded and explained, "Indeed. These minuscule Spiritual Eyes are scattered across the entire mountain, and each one only emits a small amount of Spirit Charm. Therefore, constructing a Spirit Gathering Array would not be worth the cost, and a Daoist Temple cannot be established there.

"But it is, after all, a peak with a Spirit Vein. Leaving it vacant like that would be a reckless waste of natural resources.

"Fortunately, a patriarch of our Huang Bamboo Temple came up with a solution.

"Within the Huang Bamboo Temple, there is an eight-hundred-year-old Spiritual Bamboo. Its roots can produce several different types of bamboo shoots, and once these shoots grow into bamboo, their functions also vary.

"It just so happens that there is a variety called Cloud Bamboo, which can bear a fruit called Cultivation Fruit. Consuming it can cleanse the Soul and is quite beneficial for the growth of Divine Sense."

Li Yinsheng was somewhat surprised. "It’s that miraculous?"

"However, eating just one or two Cultivation Fruits will definitely not produce such effects. One must persevere and consume them year-round. Normally, it takes at least several hundred fruits to see results," Qi Jiushan shook his head and explained.

"May I ask if this Cultivation Fruit’s ability to cleanse the Soul and enhance Divine Sense is useful for True Cultivators?" Li Yinsheng asked casually.

Qi Jiushan’s expression grew a bit awkward. "Ha... You’re quite the joker, Li. True Cultivators have long transcended the mundane world. I’m afraid only Heavenly and Earthly Treasures would catch their eye."

"Pardon my presumption. Please continue, Qi," Li Yinsheng cupped his hands.

"Although it is of no great use to True Cultivators, for ordinary Cultivators, Divine Sense can only be slightly improved by increasing Magical Power. Since this Cultivation Fruit aids in the growth of Divine Sense, it is naturally quite valuable. A single piece can sell for over a hundred talismanic coins."

Hearing this, Li Yinsheng was genuinely surprised. One hundred talismanic coins wasn’t a lot, but if one had to eat several hundred fruits for them to be effective... wouldn’t that cost tens of thousands of talismanic coins?

"However, as precious as the Cultivation Fruit is, it is also extremely rare. A single Cloud Bamboo needs to be cultivated for twenty or thirty years before it blossoms and bears fruit, and it only yields a meager twenty or thirty Cultivation Fruits at a time." Here, a trace of reverence for his own patriarch appeared on Qi Jiushan’s face. "But several generations ago, a Daoist patriarch invented a method to assist the growth of the Cloud Bamboo using Spirit Charm!"

Hearing this, Li Yinsheng finally understood. "So, that peak with the broken Spirit Vein is perfect for planting Cloud Bamboo to produce Cultivation Fruits?"

"You are smart, Li. More accurately, they have already been planted there for a long time," Qi Jiushan nodded. "That peak is densely packed with tens of thousands of Spiritual Eyes. Although they are too scattered to be utilized by a Spirit Gathering Array, this is not a problem for the Cloud Bamboo.

"All that’s needed is to plant a Cloud Bamboo at every small Spiritual Eye, and the slight Spirit Charm overflowing from them can be perfectly absorbed by the plants.

"With the enhancement of the Spirit Charm, the time it takes for the Cloud Bamboo to blossom and bear fruit is immediately shortened to ten years, and the number of Cultivation Fruits produced by each plant more than doubles."

Qi Jiushan paused after finishing, seemingly to give Li Yinsheng time to digest the information.

"Ten years, tens of thousands of Cloud Bamboo, with each yielding dozens of Cultivation Fruits... and one Cultivation Fruit goes for over a hundred talismanic coins. Doesn’t that mean..." Li Yinsheng clicked his tongue as he calculated the sum.

"Exactly. The Cultivation Fruits harvested by the Huang Bamboo Temple every ten years are worth tens of millions of talismanic coins," Qi Jiushan admitted frankly.

Li Yinsheng felt that, as a Daoist, he shouldn’t lose his composure over talismanic coins. However, hearing the figure "tens of millions of talismanic coins" pop out of Qi Jiushan’s mouth, he still couldn’t help but twitch his lips. Let alone tens of millions of talismanic coins, he hadn’t even seen tens of millions in cash in his past life.

"Of course, that is only the gross revenue in talismanic coins. For these Cultivation Fruits, the Huang Bamboo Temple has to lease a mountain—or rather, the Spirit Vein within the mountain—from the Dharma Vein." Qi Jiushan added, "The value of the Huang Bamboo Temple’s Cultivation Fruits in talismanic coins is no secret, but as for the cost of leasing the Spirit Vein from the Dharma Vein, please forgive me for not disclosing it."

"I understand, I understand," Li Yinsheng nodded. It truly wasn’t appropriate to tell an outsider about such things, but he reckoned that since the Dharma Vein was leasing out the Spirit Vein and not running a charity, they definitely wouldn’t set a rent that resulted in a loss for themselves.

"Furthermore, aside from the cost of leasing the Spirit Vein, the Cloud Bamboo takes ten years to blossom and bear fruit. The expenses during this period are not a small amount either. Money must be spent on every aspect and at every stage."

Here, Qi Jiushan finally revealed his true purpose.

"Take right now, for example. The Cultivation Fruits are about to ripen. However, not only are they highly beneficial to Cultivators, but they also hold an immense attraction for demons. They will draw in demons from dozens of peaks across a radius of hundreds of miles. ℴℴ𝘮

"If we cannot fend off those attracted demons during the ripening season, the number of harvested Cultivation Fruits will naturally be greatly reduced."