AST 0059 – Qing Shui’s l.u.s.t
Qing Shui would always stay in the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal till the last second, before he was forcibly ejected by it. With such a rare treasure, he did not want to even waste a single iota of time!
For the past few days, there were no movement from the younger generations of Hundred Miles City. Qing Shui was pleasantly surprised, although he found it somewhat bizarre, but he was not going to waste his time contemplating the reason behind it. He spent his time fully focused on cultivating and brus.h.i.+ng up on his knowledge on the various spiritual herbs he had transplanted into the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.
Now, in his spatial realm, there was already a large patch of vegetation. Greens, yellows, reds, different colors wove together forming a pretty sight, akin to a tourist attraction in the once barren land of the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal.
The spiritual herbs were no longer mere seedlings, with the spatial realm’s time dilation effect aiding their growth, they were exhibiting a vigorous sense of vitality. From Qing Shui’s estimation, other than the time dilation effect, he strongly believed that the mystical water from the crystal pond which seemed to be saturated with boundless spiritual qi, also had something to do with it.
From the experience he gained within Hundred Medicinal Garden, he learned that there would always be spiritual herbs that withered and died off. However, much to his surprise he judged that the vigorous sense of vitality being emitted seemed to indicate that the herbs he transplanted here into the spatial realm wouldn’t wither and die off.
Looking at the huge patch of greenery, Qing Shui could feel a calmness in his heart. It was as if he had been emboldened by the growth of the herbs, and confidence in his knowledge. He had something to depend on, comparable to those rich youths from the large clans.
Actually, this huge source of wealth, would need at least 10 years before they fully matured. 10 years on the outside meant 1,000 years in the spatial realm. A huge patch of spiritual herbs that have aged 1,000 years, how would anyone be able to produce such a large volume of herbs? Just thinking about it caused Qing Shui to be filled with endless yearning and excitement.
He shouldn’t count chickens before they hatch. Shaking his head to clear his mind of his yearning, Qing Shui went over to inspect the black-colored tree branch which he had planted in the soil earlier. He discovered that other than the branch’s surface becoming more sleek and moist, there were no other changes. Furrowing his brows, he decided to continue leaving it in the soil and watering it. Qing Shui was unsure if this black-colored tree branch or tree root would be able to even germinate or bear flowers or fruits.
The business of the Qing Clan’s Medicinal Store was relatively slow-paced, not very busy. The majority of their clients were mainly the pharmacies and spiritual herbs store owners of Hundred Miles City, who would come over to purchase ingredients.
Other than the store owners, there were also citizens from Hundred Miles City who were sick and sought medical aid. Besides these two types of customers, they also had customers who wanted to purchase rarer herbs that could not be found in other spiritual herb stores or pharmacies.
Other than selling spiritual herbs, the Qing Clan’s Medicinal Store also built up their supply by planting their own herbs and buying them from others as well. A part of their supply also came from people who went up the mountains to gather herbs, or those who had cultivated the herbs themselves. Of course, the prices for buying the herbs were substantially lower than their selling price, as the Qing Clan would still need to further process the herbs before it became a refined product which would then be sold off.
Other that that, the Qing Clan’s Medicinal Store also had a trading agreement with Heavenly River City. They would usually cart over rare and valuable herbs that Heavenly River City was lacking in exchange for rare and valuable herbs that Hundred Miles City was lacking. It was a win-win situation!
Speaking of the Heavenly River City, Qing Shui had been involuntarily reminded of Lan Yan`er, the woman that his cousin Qing Hu had incessantly yearned for. Although Lan Yan`er had completed her p.u.b.erty, having the figure of a full-grown woman and was indeed charming, he could not help but feel that she still nothing but a child.
Qing Shui had always felt that this woman was nothing but trouble.
The reason why the Qing Clan could have a trading agreement with Heavenly River City, a city that was even larger and more prosperous than Hundred Miles City by many times, was because the Qing Clan had an extremely close relations.h.i.+p with the Hua Clan from Heavenly River City!
The clan leader for the Hua Clan once had his life saved by Qing Luo. The relations.h.i.+p between him and Qing Luo was extremely close, and as they hit it off, they decided to become sworn brothers. Back then, they did not inquire too much about each other’s background, they only knew that one was from Heavenly River City, and the other was from Qing Village.
Only much later, when they had visited each other during festive occasions, did Qing Luo discover that his sworn brother Hua Sui Yun was from the Hua Clan, which was one of the most wealthy clans in Heavenly River City, and was now the current clan leader of the Hua Clan.
Although the Hua Clan could be considered a powerful clan in Heavenly River City, there were still plenty of other clans which exceeded them in status and power. After all, the likes of Heavenly River City was not something Hundred Miles City could be compared to.
Qing Shui heard Qing Yi say that recently the Hua Clan’s Clan Leader, Hua Sui Yun, had managed to break through to the fabled realm of Xiantian, further cementing the Hua Clan’s status in Heavenly River City. To think that back then, his strength was equivalent to Qing Luo, but now there was a world of difference between them.
Xiantian and Houtian, one was the heavens and the other was earth. Qing Luo was at the peak of Houtian, at the 10th grade of the Martial Commander Realm. As long as he could manage to take just that tiny step forward, stepping into the doorway of the Xiantian realm, he would instantly transform from a sparrow to a phoenix. Although it was such a pity, after all in the World of the Nine Continents there were plenty of those with the same cultivation level as Qing Luo. How could it be so easy to take that final step? The estimated probability of being able to step into the Xiantian realm, was not even 1 out of 10,000!
Ever since Hua Sui Yun had broken through to the Xiantian realm, he had left all handling of the clan’s matters to his son. He repeatedly reiterated that in the future, regardless how trivial the matter that the Qing Clan needed help with, the Hua Clan must do their utmost to help. As a result, the trade agreement came about, and most of the money made flowed into the coffers of the Qing Clan.
The relations between both clans were extremely close. Hua Sui Yun had long treated Qing Yi as his very own daughter. Thus, the business dealings between the Qing Clan and the Hua Clan were both handled by Qing Yi.
“Mother, in the future when you visit Heavenly River City, could you bring me along? I want to see the sights of Heavenly River City!” Qing Shui excitedly exclaimed after learning the details of the connections that existed between their two families.
“Okay, I shall introduce Grandpa Yun to you!” Qing Yi smilingly replied.
“Right, by the way, this spiritual herb was in the recent batch that they sent over from Heavenly River City. What kind of spiritual herb is this?” Qing Shui was trembling with excitement. Although he roughly knew the answer to his question, he still decided to inquire about it for confirmation.
“This is the Four-Leaf Flower. This spiritual herb only grows in the Heavenly River Valley of Heavenly River City. Although it looks ordinary, the effects and benefits contained within are tremendous. This is one of the crucial ingredients when concocting a panacea medicine for serious illnesses, and in all of Hundred Miles City, only the Qing Clan possess this herb.”
“As expected, it was the Four-Leaf Flower. Qing Shui was very excited, as though he was meeting an old friend. He had finally found something familiar in this world!” Qing Shui, held the Four-Leaf Flower in his hands, and inspected it closely.
“Four-Leaf Flower, this was one of the most trashy spiritual herbs when Qing Shui was playing [Western Fantasy], back in his previous world. To think that it was considered a valuable resource here in Hundred Miles City. Despite this, he was unsure of which grade the Four-Leaf Flower fell under. All he knew was that for spiritual herbs ranked 3rd grade and above only alchemists were able to concoct pills from them.”
Qing Yi would visit Heavenly River City twice a year. Every journey would take at least a month. The first visit was at the beginning of the year, and the second was during the autumn season. Qing Yi had only recently returned from her visit to Heavenly River City, and the time until the next trip was about a half a year.
“Mother, do you know which are the strongest clans residing here in Hundred Miles City?” Qing Shui asked while helping Qing Yi to store the batch of spiritual herbs from Heavenly River City.
“On the surface, the strongest clans here are: s.h.i.+ Clan, Situ Clan, Yu Clan, Ding Clan. But as for those legendary cultivators from the Xiantian realm, no one knows how many are there. But how many of those Xiantian cultivators would willingly remain here at such a small city? The larger and more powerful cities are all offering unimaginable wealth and benefits to attract the Xiantian cultivators to join them.” Qing Yi slowly explained.
“That boss of Yu He Inn, whom you met earlier is someone who belongs to the Yu Clan!” Qing Yi, with laughter apparent on her face, continued saying, while memories of Yu He pinching Qing Shui’s cheek floated up in her mind.
“Oh!” Thoughts unexpectedly rose of that cheeky young lady that was slightly older than him, the one who kept teasing him earlier. Her figure was perfectly proportioned, with well rounded b.r.e.a.s.t.s that were not overly huge. Her slender frame had just the right amount of flesh which would be best for hugging close during sleep at night. That slightly matured face, which had a hint of mischievousness in those charming eyes that was greatly arousing. Such flavor, of course he had to sample it.
Qing s.h.i.+ Zhuang was cold and aloof, while Yu He had a touch more grace and flirtatious manner. One was a ice princess while the other could only be described as a naughty kitten.
It takes a 100 years of karma and fate to be able to meet on the same boat, while a 1,000 years of karma and fate is needed to share the same pillow. Hehehe, meeting me is equivalent to a 1,000 years of karma and fate, both of them should not think of running away. Qing Shui rubbed his nose as he fantasized about hugging these two perfect specimens of woman to sleep every night, making his heart itch with antic.i.p.ation as if he couldn’t wait to rush over to push them down.
Qing Yi, who was standing beside him was bewildered by the sudden change in expression of Qing Shui, while she suddenly felt a strong urge rising to kick her son.