Chapter 100: Chapter 95 Rootless Aquatic Plants i
Translator: 549690339 I
He quickly left with the birdcage in hand.
Only then did Qin Niu realize what use that doomed Jin Chan had.
It could serve as a beacon to attract predators, acting as bait.
This male Beast Tamer likely specialized in the domain of birds.
It wasn’t exactly blazing a new trail.
Beast Tamers and Insect Masters were much the same, each having their field of expertise. Some were adept at capturing and taming fierce beasts like lions and tigers, others specialized in taming birds, while some focused on raising horses.
This male Beast Tamer, who paid a high price for the unwanted doomed Jin Chan, probably intended to use it to set traps for capturing orioles.
The praying mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
But Qin Niu was thinking, didn’t he still have a female cicada left?
It had already mated with that male cicada and should soon lay eggs.
When the time came for the cicada larvae to hatch and mature, perhaps they could be used to trap praying mantises.
Ordinary praying mantises weren’t worth much, but those with special abilities were quite valuable.
Not to mention those rare species.
Catching just one could be enough for Qin Niu to buy land, build a mansion, purchase servants, and then live like a landlord lord.
The only trouble was that cicada eggs, from hatching to becoming adults, needed at least two to seven years.
For some special species, taking seventeen years to become an adult was also normal.
The cycle was too long.
Now, with ample Silver Money, Qin Niu could buy many Low-grade Contract Charms.
He sold three insects for a total of 163 taels of silver.
He certainly intended to make good use of this substantial amount of money.
He hadn’t expected the wasps cultivated with Banyan Tree Blood to be so valuable.
This was with just one-twentieth of the diluted dose, and already it was so valuable.
How much could he sell a Grade Two wasp for?
Probably at least four or five hundred taels.
The idea was tempting, but he wouldn’t do it for now.
If that Ancient Banyan Tree were one of a kind in the world, he would choose to monopolize it.
What does that mean?
It means maintaining ownership of any insects cultivated from Banyan Tree Blood that were Grade Two and above.
If he were to sell, it would only be those inferior insects he deemed unworthy.
Such as Swift Ants among the termites.
Compared to the Grade Two Lightning Worker Ant, it was like an incomplete product of evolution.
He would only sell such incomplete products.
As for high-level species like Grade Two Ironclad Battle Demon Ants or Grade Three Ironclad War Demon Ants, don’t even think about it.
What if a powerful Insect Master bought them and then bred even more formidable species? Wouldn’t they be able to pose a threat to Qin Niu?
Once he packed up, he headed straight for the Cultivation Market.
Now, donning the robe of an Insect Master, even with a basket on his back, no one dared to look down on him as he walked the city streets.
Moreover, he no longer had to pay a fee to enter the city.
The feeling of belonging to the privileged class was indeed nice.
Before long, he arrived at the Cultivation Market.
The first order of business was to purchase Tempering Elixirs for his neighbor Wang Wanyan.
The Cultivation Market was divided into several sections, some selling weapons, some selling Talismans, and others dedicated to selling Elixirs.
The layout wasn’t too different from the Beast Pet Market.
In the Cultivation Market, Elixirs were the most popular, firmly occupying the top spot.
Having been to this market multiple times, Qin Niu was quite familiar with it.
He headed straight for the street where elixirs were sold.
Any cultivation market had two forms of sales; one was to rent a proper shop for business, the other was to set up a street stall.
When it came to trust and reputation, shops certainly had much more to offer.
On both sides of the street, many vendors could be seen hawking various medicinal herbs and special fruits harvested from the mountains.
As for those spirit fruits and spiritual medicines that could greatly enhance one’s cultivation, they were exceedingly rare.
On the other hand, slightly more common special herbs and fruits were abundant.
The mountains were a treasure trove with countless precious materials and rarities.
Inexhaustible and endless in supply.
Some herb pickers, hunters, and woodcutters occasionally stumbled upon strange fruits or medicinal plants in the mountains and brought them back to sell.
Hunters and woodcutters typically had limited discernment and couldn’t identify too many herbs and special fruits.
They only possessed basic knowledge of identifying medicinal plants.
However, the herb pickers were professionals, capable of evaluating various drugs and fruits. While they might not identify everything in detail, they could generally tell at a glance whether a plant was valuable and what effects it might have, being quite accurate in their guesses.
“Ten-year-old ginseng, only one qian of silver money! Available in ample supply, choose as you please.”
“Blood Longevity Peach, that bears fruit only once every three years, five qian of silver money per catty, eating it can prolong life!”
“Water plant with no roots from the deep ravine, ten wen each.”
The vendors were making every effort to sell their products.
Most of them were medicinal herbs and fruits with some special effects.
The price of Blood Longevity Peach was astronomical. Its appearance was like a yellow persimmon, but the flesh inside was blood red.
It was said to nourish blood and vitality, but whether it could actually extend life had no academic basis.
Exaggerating the effects of their goods was a common practice among these traders, aiming to sell their products.
Everyone wanted to solidify and extend their lifespan, and the vendors were capitalizing on this mentality.
Qin Niu, with his Everlasting Spring Technique, had raised his cultivation by two minor realms and had already extended his life by fifteen years.
It was many times more effective than the Blood Longevity Peach.
Therefore, he had no interest in such gimmicky products.
“What’s the use of these rootless water plants?” Qin Niu asked the vendor out of curiosity.
By his age, which was around forty, he was robust and unkempt. His eyes were sharp and keen, and a faint murderous aura emanated from him.
He looked somewhat like a hunter who had spent a long time hunting in the mountains.
Killing too much would naturally form a murderous aura.
For example, a butcher would trigger incessant barking by domestic dogs wherever he went. The aura of death emanating from a butcher made the dogs, which were kept as protectors, feel uneasy, sensing danger, and compelled them to bark non-stop as a warning to their owners.
It was also a way for the dogs to embolden themselves.
“It can purify dirty water. If you have a fish tank or pond at home, planting a few of these can make the water crystal clear and help fish and shrimp grow better,” the man explained patiently to Qin Niu, seeing that he was a distinguished Insect Master.
“Can it grow new shoots after planting?”
“If you’re a high-level farmer, perhaps you could find a way to propagate it. Otherwise, you’ll only maintain the number of plants you have. If you’re worried it won’t be sufficient, you can buy a few more. I can only harvest this water plant once a year, and there aren’t many to begin with. If you miss this chance, you’ll have to wait until next year,” the man explained, despite the obvious attempt to make a sale, but he seemed to be telling the truth.
Such special water plants were either guarded by fierce beasts or grew slowly, only yielding a few each year.
For example, an orchid could only grow a single bulb in a year.
“I’ll take two plants,” Qin Niu decided.
Although Qin Niu now had money, he certainly wouldn’t spend it recklessly.
He planned to grow the two plants in that broken pot to improve the living environment for the little turtle.
He also had another idea.
He wanted to test whether the Everlasting Spring Technique could aid in the growth of these rootless water plants..