Chapter 160: Nurturing the Spirit

A discount then.

Eighty taels a gram.

A sudden sense of déjà vu washed over Shen Changqing, and he immediately recalled Huang Yan uttering similar words when he purchased pills earlier. He then understood from Tang Hong just how exorbitant the markups were.

It was quite clear.

Eighty taels a gram meant that the other party was making at least forty taels profit, possibly even more.

Profiteer!

He cursed inwardly, but outwardly, Shen Changqing betrayed little.

"How do the Five Treasure Tea and Qi Nourishing Tea compare to Ice Spirit Tea in terms of effectiveness?"

He asked earnestly.

If they were effective enough, spending a bit of money to buy them from the Treasure Pavilion would be better than exchanging merit points for them at the Demon Suppression Division.

Merit points were precious.

If Ji Qu could quote a ratio of one to two hundred, the black market exchange rate might be even higher.

At that moment.

A slightly embarrassed look appeared on Huang Yan’s face.

"Lord Shen is joking. Ice Spirit Tea is a high-level spiritual tea; how can the Five Treasure Tea and Qi Nourishing Tea compare? Their efficacy is only about fifty to sixty percent of Ice Spirit Tea.

Unfortunately, Ice Spirit Tea is quite rare, and it’s available for a price but not available for purchase in the Jianghu.

Even if it were available, the price wouldn’t be lower than two hundred taels."

No lower than two hundred taels.

Shen Changqing recalled that within the Demon Suppression Division, one merit point could be exchanged for two grams of Ice Spirit Tea among Earth-Rank Demon Slayers, which showed that the Demon Suppression Division was indeed offering a discount to Earth-Rank Demon Slayers.

Fifty to sixty percent efficacy seemed like a small difference.

But if converted to time…

It was not short at all.

To use a simple analogy, the effects that Ice Spirit Tea could achieve in a year would take two years with other spiritual teas.

In other words.

It saved half the time.

Often, time was life, and saving twice the time made Shen Changqing feel like he was living a hundred years longer than others.

"Then, how does Soul Nourishing Tea compare to Enlightenment Tea?"

"—Uh, the efficacy of Soul Nourishing Tea is only about twenty to thirty percent of Enlightenment Tea."

Immediately.

Shen Changqing extinguished his thoughts of purchasing spiritual tea.

Compared to what was available at the Demon Suppression Division, the spiritual teas sold at the Treasure Pavilion were all defective products, not only expensive but also less effective.

Frankly speaking.

He would rather spend more money to buy spiritual tea with better effects.

Huang Yan had also given up on the idea of promoting spiritual tea.

There was no way around it.

Although spiritual tea was precious, it was also expensive. The spiritual tea in the Treasure Pavilion hadn’t been sold for some years. It was rare to see someone with the capital to buy spiritual tea, so he naturally wanted to try to promote it a little.

Unfortunately.

The other party was too rich and simply looked down on those spiritual teas.

"Lord Shen, please sit for a moment while I bring the items you requested for you to examine."

"No problem."

Leaving the Treasure Pavilion, Shen Changqing carried a long bundle on his back.

Returning to his room.

He opened the bundle, revealing a thick brocade box.

Opening the brocade box further revealed a set of white jade tea tray and tea set.

Completely white jade.

It was made of superior materials.

Such a tea set cost him twelve thousand taels of silver.

In the past, Shen Changqing would not have spent twelve thousand taels of silver to buy such a fancy but impractical item.

But now.

He didn’t even frown much when purchasing it.

Twelve thousand taels was a lot, but he would be using spiritual tea for a long time in the future, and the average daily consumption was within an acceptable range.

"It’s just a pity that the thirty thousand taels of silver I got in Lin’an City is now less than ten thousand taels."

Shen Changqing sighed.

Thirty thousand taels of silver had been squandered to almost nothing.

It seemed that he had to find a time to find a way to earn some more money. If he relied solely on the Demon Suppression Division’s salary, he simply couldn’t support this consumption.

Even for an Earth-Rank Demon Slayer.

A month’s salary was only a mere fifteen taels of silver.

Brewing spiritual tea.

There were requirements for the tea set, but there were no mandatory requirements for water quality.

Therefore.

Shen Changqing simply drew water from the water well in the courtyard and started brewing directly.

The process was not complicated.

In fact, it was very simple.

When the spiritual tea was brewed, he sat in the courtyard, with a wooden table placed in front of him, on which was placed the white jade tea tray he had purchased.

Under the sun’s rays, the inside of the white jade tea tray seemed to have flowing clouds, which was eye-catching.

"I need to build a pavilion when I have time."

Shen Changqing thought of the pavilion in Jiang Zuo. The layout there was very good. Looking at his courtyard, apart from the wooden stake and the water well, there seemed to be nothing else.

He didn’t have time to do it before.

But now, he felt that he could pursue a better quality of life.

Wisps of misty clouds floated from the teapot, and a refreshing fragrance made Shen Changqing feel relaxed and happy. The stabbing pain in his mind seemed to have weakened a little.

The spiritual tea was brewed.

On the light green tea water, there were also faint clouds of mist condensing and not dispersing, as if spiritual energy was gathering.

Opening his mouth.

Shen Changqing swallowed all the clouds of mist condensed on the teacup, as well as the spiritual tea in the cup.

The warm tea flowed down his throat and into his belly, and immediately a surging energy exploded.

Instantly.

A stream of pure energy rose from his belly and rushed directly into his mind.

Under the impact of this stream of pure energy, Shen Changqing’s hand holding the teacup paused, and he closed his eyes, silently feeling the changes in his body.

After a long time.

He reopened his eyes.

"The consumption has recovered a little, but it won’t be so fast to fully recover."

Estimating secretly.

Shen Changqing felt that his consumption had recovered about three percent.

One cup of spiritual tea, three percent of the consumption recovered.

Thirty cups of spiritual tea would be enough to offset the previous consumption.

"This time, I used about three grams of tea, but I don’t know how many times a pot of spiritual tea can be brewed."

Thinking in his heart, Shen Changqing’s movements didn’t stop, and he began to pour out the spiritual tea in the pot.

Every time he drank it.

He needed to pause for about a quarter of an hour to let his body consume this energy.

After nine cups of spiritual tea were poured out, the tea in the pot was exhausted. Then Shen Changqing added new water and activated the Heavenly Martial True Qi, turning the cold water directly into boiling water.

Repeated in this way.

By the fifth brewing, the effect of Enlightenment Tea had weakened a lot.

Originally, one cup could replenish about three percent of the consumption, but now it had become one cup that could only replenish one percent.

However.

Even so, Shen Changqing felt that his spirit had become more abundant.

"Three grams of spiritual tea is just enough to balance my daily consumption. Calculating it this way, one hundred grams of spiritual tea can only support me for about a month."

"The spiritual tea exchanged for one hundred merit points can only supply my cultivation consumption for one month. The follow-up improvement of a Grandmaster is too great!"

He didn’t know until he calculated it, and he was startled when he did the calculation.

Converted into silver, he would have to eat two to thirty thousand taels of silver a month.

Immediately.

Shen Changqing felt a bit of a toothache.

Such an improvement consumption was obviously not something that a small Earth-Rank Demon Slayer like him could bear.

But.

He had no other choice.

After all, he still had to cultivate, and how could he improve without cultivating?

Moreover, according to Dongfang Zhao’s statement, to become a Town Guardian, one must at least have the mental system enter the stage of True Intent manifestation.

Without reaching that level.

There was simply no way to become a Town Guardian.

Even if they reached that level, it was only possible to become a Town Guardian, not one hundred percent.

"Whether it is to improve my own strength or to become a Town Guardian in the future, the mental system must be broken through, otherwise, if I encounter a strong person who has truly achieved something in True Intent manifestation, I am still at a disadvantage.

Demons are almost all based on mental attacks. If I make a breakthrough in the mental system, then I can have a certain advantage in dealing with demons."

Shen Changqing felt that the main enemies he would face now should be demons.

The main responsibility of the Demon Suppression Division was also to deal with demons.

Although Heavenly Martial True Qi had the characteristics of Pure Yang True Qi, and had a certain restraint against demons, if the mental system made another breakthrough, it would undoubtedly have a greater advantage.

"I wonder how strong powerful demons are!"

So far.

He had only fought against Grievance Rank and lower demons. He hadn’t even seen those above Grievance Rank, let alone fought them.

That’s not right.

The Demon Prison contained demons of this level.

It’s just.

There was a seal in the Demon Prison. Even if there were demons there, their power was sealed, and it was impossible to detect them at all.

Fortunately, the auras of those demons were sealed, otherwise, with the strength of those patrolling Apprentice Demon Slaying Envoys, one would die, and two would die together.

Thinking of the Demon Prison.

Shen Changqing thought of the slaughter points he had obtained in the Demon Prison.

But.

Not everyone could enter the Demon Prison. Apprentice Demon Slaying Envoys could enter because they had taken on tasks. Now that he was an Earth-Rank Demon Slayer, it was not easy to enter.

Moreover.

Shen Changqing had walked through all five levels of the Demon Prison.

The first two levels were fine, and there were some demon’s limbs from which he could get slaughter points. The last two levels were all living demons, and there was no way to plunder any slaughter points.

To this day.

He didn’t understand what the Demon Suppression Division was doing by imprisoning those things.

Looking at the sky.

Shen Changqing didn’t waste time. Since the spirit nurturing was completed, he simply tried to comprehend the Martial Arts True Intent again to see if he could gain a few more harvests.

The same blood-colored world.

The same blood-colored iron cavalry.

The difference was that when Shen Changqing appeared this time, he found that he had transformed into a blood-colored iron cavalry. Unlike the first time he entered, he would watch as an outsider.

The iron cavalry roamed the world, seemingly existing only for destruction.

Unfortunately, the world was decaying, and all living beings seemed to have been extinct. No matter how the iron cavalry ran, it didn’t kill the beasts like last time.

And when he transformed into a blood-colored iron cavalry, his mind gradually became compatible with it.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

His spirit was exhausted again. Along with a burst of stabbing pain, Shen Changqing withdrew from his Sea of Consciousness.

End of Chapter