Chapter 121 - Chapter 121: Chapter 116 The Value of Special Abilities 1

Chapter 121: Chapter 116 The Value of Special Abilities 1

Translator: 549690339                  —

Xiao Qing had been brought back for some days now.

Only twice with no particular matters in hand had she taken the initiative to ask Qin Niu to accompany her into the mountains to search for herbs.

But at home, she never cultivated.

He had initially thought she disliked cultivating, only now did he realize that this young girl was too considerate.

Afraid of harming his herbs.

“To cultivate the ‘Medicine King Sutra,’ one must absorb the essence of herbs, essentially taking away the essence contained within them. This can cause great harm to them. When my grandfather and I used to pick herbs and we found good ones, we’d immediately cultivate in the mountains. Moreover, we deliberately left some essence so as not to hurt their vitality.”

Xiao Qing explained.

“The herbs you sold last time, they were all wilted, was it because you had absorbed their essence before selling them?”

Qin Niu asked her.

“Hehe… It’s what my grandfather taught me. However, all those herbs had their essence absorbed by my grandfather, not by me. Sadly, they were still too poor in quality, containing very little essence, and ultimately didn’t help my grandfather.”

Mentioning her grandfather, even though many days had passed, she still felt very sad.

Her mood had clearly become downcast.

Qin Niu had initially planned to scold her for being a little swindler, but seeing her like this, he didn’t have the heart to joke with her anymore.

Instead, he gently said, “Xiao Qing, from now on, you can absorb the essence of these herbs for your cultivation, without worrying about harming them. As long as they don’t die on the spot, I have ways to revive them.”

Although Qin Niu was currently an Insect Master, his true expertise lay in cultivation.

Whether as an Insect Master or later becoming a Beast Tamer, those were just to support his cultivation, to strengthen himself.

His strongest expertise, ultimately, would surely be cultivation.

Having witnessed some herbs and elixirs at Miaodan Pavilion, his plans for the future had become even clearer.

Initially, raising termites was meant to help crops by weeding and then to obtain an Insect Master’s license as far as possible.

At that time, he never thought of becoming an Insect Master.

But to become a provisional Insect Master was relatively easy.

Because the Ant Queen had a characteristic: as long as it laid eggs, it would automatically promote to a Grade Two Termite.

The standard for the Insect Master Association certifying a provisional Insect Master was having a commandable Grade Two insect. However, because termites were too weak, there could be some difficulties during the certification process.

Now, with the Insect Master status secured, he had various methods to make money, his food and clothing issue was resolved, and the funds for purchasing general cultivation materials were largely taken care of.

This provided him a much better foundation.

The corn planted in the fields was about to yield a rich harvest, and by the time the second batch was sown, his farmer level should be able to rise to mid-tier. Having saved up so many labor points, all was in preparation for enhancing his planting skills in the future.

Planting crops was to resolve food and clothing needs, but planting herbs, even Spiritual Medicine, that was the real endgame. It could directly serve to enhance one’s cultivation level.

“So, the master has a special ability to revive herbs. No wonder those herbs you planted were alive the next day! Master, your ability can make a lot of money, you know?”

Xiao Qing was very clever, grasping the concept immediately.

“Oh? Let’s hear it, how does it make money?”

Qin Niu asked with interest.

Firstly, at the Cultivation Market, herb pickers or hunters, even lumberjacks often dig up various precious herbs. These herbs are too young and not very valuable. But if they could be revived, they’d become valuable. Many wealthy people in the city, even large families, would pay to buy them back, with specialized gardeners to cultivate them. They treat them like heirlooms.

As far as 1 know, any prominent family in the city with some heritage has several precious herbs of over a hundred years old.

The most impressive ones even possess precious herbs that are over a thousand years old.”

When the family is facing difficulties, they can use it for gift-giving. If there’s a disciple with outstanding talent among the family disciples, when they hit a crucial bottleneck, if there’s a suitable herb, they can dig it out and ask a Pharmacist to prepare the medicine, and then ask an Elixir Master to refine it into an elixir. If there really isn’t a suitable herb available, they can also seek to exchange with other families, as these precious herbs are nearly impossible to buy with any amount of money.”

Qin Niu had never heard of such things that Xiao Qing was talking about.

Considering your young age, I didn’t expect you to know so much! Truly a case of ‘small body, big smarts’!”

Qin Niu complimented her with a smile.

Qin Niu actually knew that herbs that were over a century old were very valuable.

At times, a single plant like that could trigger a bloody battle, with experts from major forces and families vying for it.

“Hehe, I’ve traveled all over the place with Grandpa, so I’ve seen a lot!”

She said proudly.

It’s true that she was much more mature than the average child.

After she was brought home, she immediately started calling him master, and she was determined to serve as Qin Niu’s maid. To make such a choice required rich life experience, high intelligence, and insight into human nature; otherwise, no little girl would foolishly volunteer to become someone’s maid.

Her choice was indeed very astute.

At least, she was now getting along very well with Qin Niu.

‘ 1 ell me about other ways I can make money with my special ability.”

Qin Niu’s swift worker ants and Grade Two Lightning Worker Ants both had a special ability to heal the wounds of plants.

Added to that, his own practice of the Everlasting Spring Technique enabled plants to grow rapidly and recover their vitality, which should prove to be quite advantageous if utilized correctly.

“The second way involves the fact that the medicinal herbs cultivated by those great families and powers often encounter problems. The more precious the herb and the older it is, the more delicate and prone to disease it is. Sometimes, in the competition between great families, they resort to shady tactics to harin’ each other. For instance, bribing a servant from the rival family to sabotage the precious herbs they are cultivating.

Generally, to avoid detection, they use sneaky and despicable methods to damage those herbs.

For example, releasing an insect to nibble on them or other such means.

You know, those herbs with over a century’s worth of growth represent the rise and prosperity of a great family. If there’s an issue with the herbs, they become so anxious that you can almost see them breathe fire. In such a scenario, if you can help them revive their herbs, not only can you build a relationship with that great family, but you can also earn a considerable reward.

Beyond these two methods, there are many other ways to make money, but it depends on finding the right opportunities.”

Despite her young age, she spoke about the competition among the big families with authority.

And it wasn’t a superficial discussion either.

It was truly extraordinary.

“Don’t worry, once we get through this busy period, we’ll definitely go to the

city to look for ways to make money.”

Qin Niu, after hearing about the various money-making strategies she analyzed, was quite tempted.

However, he would have to plan the use his special abilities wisely and couldn’t simply reveal everything like an idiot.

Especially when working for those great families, he needed to be extra cautious.

Besides, he must also focus on improving his own strength as soon as possible. Only when his cultivation was strong could he ensure that others would always speak with him calmly and rationally.

Now that he could practice daily under the Ancient Banyan Tree, it shouldn’t take too long for his cultivation to reach the Tenfold level of mortal men.

He also had to focus on cultivating termites and bees.

With his current lack of personal strength, having a few formidable insects for defense would give him much more confidence.

The Puppet Ant among the termites could easily use psychic waves to incapacitate a jumping spider, which was awesome. If he encountered other Insect Masters in the future, as long as they weren’t too freakishly strong, Qin Niu was confident he could defeat them instantly.

Even after killing an opponent’s insects, he could feed them to the Ant Queen through the worker ants.

To make it even stronger.