Chapter 98 The Second World Rune

Zhu Cai nodded quickly and pulled out a strange alien. The appearance of this creature was quite peculiar. Its body was like a giant mushroom, but it had incredibly short white limbs and a pair of large eyes of exaggerated proportions.

He can't speak, he can only make "yayaya" sounds over and over.

"This is the plant elf among the elves," Zhu Cai introduced, with a hint of pride in his tone.
"They are strange creatures born from Jianmu and enjoy a high status among the long-eared tribe. These plant spirits are born with the ability to perform a special magic that can promote the rapid growth of plants and enable crops and herbs to be harvested three times in one season."

"Jianmu Yunyu?"

Zhou Qingshan now only believed 10% of Zhu Cai's words. His eyes were as sharp as a torch, as if he wanted to see through Zhu Cai's thoughts. He asked carefully:

"If this magic is really so magical that it can make medicinal herbs grow quickly, then why have such elves been preserved until now? It must have some flaws, right?"

Facing Zhou Qingshan's questioning, Zhu Cai seemed a little hesitant, and his voice was no longer so confident: "This... to perform this kind of magic, you need to consume spirit stone fragments. Of course, spirit spring water can also be used."

"Spiritual stones? Spiritual spring water?" Zhou Qingshan pressed on. "How many spiritual stones or spiritual spring water are needed to perform a magic? How does the cost compare to the benefit?"

Zhu Cai felt the pressure doubled, and the sweat on his forehead became more and more obvious. He knew that the lord in front of him was not an easy person to deal with and he could not get away with it easily.

"A piece of spirit stone fragment is enough to perform special magic ten times. As for spirit spring water, a bottle can support it once." Zhu Cai answered cautiously.

Zhou Qingshan quickly calculated in his mind, and his speech slowed down, seeming to be thinking about something:
"In other words, if one hundred treasure coins are used to exchange for ten opportunities to perform a special skill, then the cost of performing it once is ten treasure coins. If it is used to cultivate high-quality spirit seeds, such an expense is worth it."

A gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he immediately asked the next question without giving Zhu Cai any chance to breathe: "Does this magic also work on spiritual seeds? Or does it only work on ordinary plants?"

Zhu Cai's expression turned a little ugly at this time. He realized that he couldn't avoid this question, so he had to bite the bullet and answer: "This magic is ineffective against spirit seeds and first-level spirit medicines, Lord."

Zhou Qingshan smiled slightly, with a hint of amusement and scrutiny in his smile: "If that's the case, then what is the use of this elf's magic?"

"Do you think I am a lord who can squander money at will and use such strange skills?"

Zhu Cai quickly added:
"Please understand, Lord. Although the plant elves do not have spiritual stones and cannot perform those strange arts, they are unique in caring for spiritual herbs and seeds. They are born with an extremely keen sense of plants and can accurately detect the growth status of spiritual herbs and seeds and provide the most appropriate care."

Zhou Qingshan seemed to be somewhat interested in Zhu Cai's words. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "You mean, with these plant spirits, we don't have to worry about the growth of spiritual medicines and spiritual seeds?"

Seeing this, Zhu Cai knew that his words had attracted Zhou Qingshan's attention, so he quickly struck while the iron was hot: "That's right, sir. Their existence is a rare help to any lord's medicine garden."

Zhou Qingshan was silent for a moment, as if he was weighing the pros and cons of the deal in his mind, and then he asked, "How much treasure do you need for this plant spirit?"

Zhu Cai nervously wiped the sweat from his forehead and carefully quoted the price: "One hundred treasure yuan, Lord. Please believe me, this is definitely worth it for the long-term benefits they can bring."

He knew that every spiritual realm lord owned a spiritual field, the size of which ranged from half an acre to ten acres, and the output of these spiritual fields was an important source of income for the territory.

Therefore, the maintenance ability of the plant elves is still of some use, although not much. At least the spiritual medicines in the spiritual fields will not die for no reason.

Well, you clearly know that the spiritual medicines and spiritual seeds are getting sick and withering, but you can do nothing about it.

Zhou Qingshan did not intend to easily accept Zhu Cai's offer. He responded calmly:
"One hundred treasure yuan is too expensive for a plant elf. They are definitely not as good as a professional spiritual plant master. So, twenty treasure yuan, this is my offer."

Zhu Cai smiled bitterly: "Lord, this price is too low. We can't bargain like this."

Zhou Qingshan was unmoved, but at the same time made some concessions: "Thirty treasure yuan, this is the highest price I can offer."

“This…” Zhu Cai hesitated for a long time, his expression changed several times, and finally he gritted his teeth and seemed to have made a difficult decision: “Thirty treasure yuan is thirty treasure yuan.”

Zhou Qingshan took out thirty treasure coins from his bosom and handed them to Zhu Cai, smiling slightly: "In the City Lord's Mansion, under Jianmu, such plant spirits are probably not rare. Why do you have to pretend here?"

Zhu Cai took the treasure and paused, with an awkward smile on his face. Zhou Qingshan's words hit the nail on the head. With Jianmu, ordinary plant spirits were not rare, and the price was naturally low.

Only those high-level plant elves that can catalyze the "spiritual seeds" become extremely expensive due to their rarity. Like the black iron of Black Cloud City, they are the city's specialties and are unique.

Every year, spiritual weapon families from other cities would come here and compete to buy them.

Zhu Cai made at least half of the profit from this transaction with tears in his eyes, but the money he pocketed would not be returned.

Seeing that Zhou Qingshan had no intention of returning the goods, knowing that he had gotten a bargain, he put away his awkward smile, turned it into a full smile, and his attitude became more enthusiastic:

"My Lord, what else do you need?"

Zhou Qingshan nodded slightly, glanced around, and asked: "I heard that the weapon-making skills of the dwarf goat tribe are extraordinary, comparable to our human weapon-making masters. Do you have any craftsmen from the dwarf goat tribe here?"

Zhu Cai thought for a moment and replied, "The dwarf goat tribe is indeed highly skilled. The powerful dwarf goats can even create mysterious weapons. However, due to their small numbers, they are now hard to see. But I can tell you a piece of news. There is a shop at the end of this street with a dwarf goat. If you are interested, you can go there by yourself." "Thank you." Zhou Qingshan nodded.

At this time, an apprentice took out a beast skin scroll, a piece of wood and the mushroom and grass elf and handed them to Gao Feixue next to him.

"This is the foundation of the plant spirit's body. It was cut in half at birth. It only has animal instincts and essentially has no intelligence. It will not leave this foundation." One of the apprentices explained.

Zhou Qingshan nodded and looked at other strange races, but most of them failed to arouse his interest. In his opinion, they were the same as the "mountain spirits" he had seen before, and did not seem to be of much use. He signaled Zhu Cai to continue introducing these strange races.

Finally, it came to the last little guy who caused the Yunding chessboard to shake.

The little man was very thin, with loose blonde hair, his head lowered, and there was a slight mark on his exposed arms.

Zhu Cai said with a hint of helplessness: "This girl is actually a member of the Long-Eared Tribe. However, she has human bloodline, and her blonde hair is a result of a mutation. I don't know why she ended up here, and was sold to Changsheng Street."

Zhou Qingshan was curious and asked softly, "What's her name?"

Zhu Cai shook his head, revealing the cruel reality of the slave trade: "As a slave, she has no name of her own. If you are willing to buy her, you can give her a new name at will."

Zhu Cai saw that Zhou Qingshan was somewhat interested, so he quoted a price: "My Lord, she can be yours for only ten treasure yuan."

Zhou Qingshan was quite surprised by the price. He raised his eyebrows slightly and expressed his opinion:

"Why is her price so low? Isn't it said that the women of the Long-Eared Tribe are beautiful? If they are trained properly and become dancers when they grow up, wouldn't they be worth a higher price?"

Zhu Cai was about to open his mouth to explain, but Mo Yanqiu got there first. Her voice was calm and intellectual:
"The life span of the Long-Eared Tribe is much longer than that of ordinary people. They can live to be over 300 years old. Five years of this period is spent as a child, followed by a 70-year-old teenage period, during which they will not grow taller. This is followed by a 200-year-long youth and middle-aged period, as well as an old age period. Judging from the age of this little girl, it will take at least another 50 years for her to grow up."

Zhu Cai smiled awkwardly. He was not a warrior and could not live that long.

This little guy is just a bonus in the transaction. He doesn't want Baoyuan to give it to him. He'll sell as much as he can.

Zhou Qingshan nodded slightly, his voice carrying a hint of gentle inquiry: "What will you do?"

Hearing this, the blond raised his head slightly, and his dark eyes glanced at Zhu Cai cautiously before answering in a low voice: "I can do a lot of work and eat very little."

Zhou Qingshan frowned slightly and continued to ask: "Then can you read?"

The small blond shook his head slightly.

Zhu Cai observed from the side and thought that Zhou Qingshan might not buy this little guy with few skills.

However, to Zhu Cai's surprise, Zhou Qingshan turned to look at Mo Yanqiu and said, "Yanqiu, Xiaoxiao still needs another person. I think we should choose her."

Mo Yanqiu was stunned for a moment, then she sensed the information coming from Zhou Qingshan's mind, and she responded: "Husband, I will do as you say."

Zhu Cai was delighted and quickly took out the contract. He happily accepted the Baoyuan and sent the three people out.

The three of them took the blond, black-eyed little guy and the plant elf to visit the slave shops on Changsheng Street. After fierce bargaining, they bought a dwarf goat named Lava for two hundred treasure yuan.

Then the sky darkened, and they chose a hotel that looked clean and comfortable as their place to stay for the night. Zhou Qingshan told Gao Feixue to take the short girl with blonde hair and black eyes to wash up, and to prepare a set of clean clothes for her to change into.

It was then that Zhou Qingshan discovered that the one who caused the Cloud Top chessboard to vibrate was not the little girl with blond hair and black eyes, but the seemingly ordinary little stone hanging around her neck. There was a strange gourd-shaped mark engraved on the stone, with rough lines, as if it were a child's graffiti.

Zhou Qingshan gently stroked the small stone, and a strange warmth came from his fingertips.

Suddenly, a faint but brilliant colorful light shone through from inside the stone, dyeing the surrounding air with a layer of dreamy color.

The small stone turned into a wisp of smoke in an instant and disappeared without a trace.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Qingshan felt a stream of information pouring into his mind.

【Golden World Rune】

Seven-colored gourd: Planting the innate spiritual roots in the spiritual realm can nurture supreme magical powers.

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple.

(End of this chapter)