Chapter 91 New Acquaintance (Request for Votes, Request for Favorites)
The monster was slain by the sword light and fell upon the rocks.
"Who is there?" Li Shiming did not look at the monster's corpse but turned to look over the sea.
Although he was in battle, his five senses were like the IBMz15's receiving device, constantly sensing everything around him.
At the moment he finally killed the monster, the IBMz15 detected a trace of cultivator's aura in the sea breeze, and there was also an abnormal air flow within the breeze.
A gust of wind blew, and its direction changed with the airflow, a change that the IBMz15 could predict through calculation.
The abnormal airflow indicated that something was affecting the wind, and coupled with a trace of cultivator's aura, Li Shiming was certain a cultivator was hiding nearby.
"Don't misunderstand, I am Qiu Tan from Changming Island, here is my Identity Jade Disc!" The figure that Li Shiming was looking at appeared, it was a cultivator riding a white bird, displaying his Identity Jade Disc while speaking.
Li Shiming dared not take the matter lightly, for he sensed that the other's strength had reached the Qi Refining Middle Stage.
"Is Eagle Beak Island where your cave dwelling is located?" Seeing Li Shiming's nervousness, Qiu Tan gave a helpless smile, and closed the distance with some banter.
He was passing by and came to check upon sensing the battle's Spiritual Power Pattern fluctuations.
This was the territory of the sect; who would dare to attack a fellow sect member here? If discovered, death was the inevitable outcome.
Would one really take such a huge risk for a sea beast? That would be too unworthy.
As for why he was invisible, that was not his fault. Having experienced so much in the Cultivation World, he had long become accustomed to being cautious, and preparing immediately upon detecting a battle was a normal response.
"Yes, my name is Li Shiming, and I live on Eagle Beak Island." Through the micro-expression analysis of the IBMz15, Li Shiming knew that Qiu Tan harbored no ill intentions, so he relaxed a bit and replied.
"I remember Eagle Beak Island has spirit fields, you wouldn't happen to be a Junior Spirit Plant Cultivator, would you?" Qiu Tan, curious, asked.
Mainly, Li Shiming's sword light in slaying the sea beast had led him to really not expect Li Shiming to be a Junior Spirit Plant Cultivator.
But to be able to rent a cave dwelling with spirit fields, one must either be a cultivator of considerable means or a Junior Spirit Plant Cultivator.
Cultivators of considerable means need spirit fields to cultivate some Spirit Plants, water them with purchased spirit water, or hire Junior Spirit Plant Cultivators to manage them. Such wealth only belongs to a few late-stage Qi Refining cultivators within the sect or well-known part-time cultivators.
From Li Shiming's cultivation level, the lowest grade sect-free robe he wore, and the Low Grade Magical Artifact, the Fiery Flame Sword, it could be deduced that he did not belong to either category.
"I am a Junior Spirit Plant Cultivator." Li Shiming also thought of what Changming Island was, which was a relatively large island in the nearby sea area, once recommended by a Senior Brother from the mission pavilion.
"Have you heard of Changming Island Market?" Qiu Tan asked with a smile when he heard Li Shiming was a Junior Spirit Plant Cultivator.
Li Shiming was startled. Senior Brother Ji had mentioned that inside the sect, one needed to exchange good deeds for items at the sect.
He had never heard of a market outside the nine peaks of the sect.
Seeing his expression, Qiu Tan confirmed that he was a cultivator who had newly joined the sect.
"Changming Island Market is a trading market among cultivators. The sect does not encourage but also does not forbid transactions among cultivators. Changming Island Market is backed by Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the sect, where you don't need good deeds, only spirit stones to trade for the items you want." Qiu Tan explained with a smile.
"I have nothing else to trade except for Spirit Rice!" Li Shiming didn't understand why Qiu Tan was so enthusiastic in introducing these to him.
He knew that the sect supplied Spirit Rice, and during his newbie period he had Spirit Rice at every meal.
In his view, Spirit Rice did not hold much value within the sect; to sell it, one would likely have to leave the sect.
"You are a Junior Spirit Plant Cultivator, you probably have never purchased Spirit Rice yourself, have you?" Qiu Tan asked in surprise, not waiting for Li Shiming's response, he continued, "The sect's Spirit Rice is indeed cheap, ten good deeds for ten pounds of Spirit Rice, but good deeds are not easy to come by, and no cultivator would spend good deeds on buying Spirit Rice, so there's a huge demand for buying Spirit Rice with Spirit Stones."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Xie!" Li Shiming slightly bowed in gratitude.
If it were not for Qiu Tan telling him this, he wouldn't know how long it would have taken him to find out.
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"If you want to thank me, how about selling me half of that sea pig beast, it's been a long time since I've tasted sea pig meat!" Qiu Tan said with a smile, pointing at the sea beast's corpse on the rocks.
"No problem, I'll share half with Senior Brother Qiu!" Li Shiming did not hesitate; had it not been for Qiu Tan naming the sea beast and informing him it was edible, he would have thrown the sea pig beast's corpse back into the sea.
Giving half of the sea pig beast was his way of repaying Qiu Tan's help.
Li Shiming's mind stirred slightly, and the Fiery Flame Sword turned into a beam of light, ready to fly towards the sea pig beast's corpse.
"Wait!" Qiu Tan saw this and hurriedly called out.
The sword light stopped above the corpse of the sea pig beast; had it not been for Li Shiming's "Sword Manipulation Technique" reaching a certain level of proficiency, this one stroke would have split the sea pig beast in two.
Qiu Tan flew beside the sea pig beast, took a small knife from his storage bag, and skilfully swung it over the body of the sea pig beast.
"This hide is a bit damaged, but it's still worth ten Spirit Stones!" Qiu Tan said as he processed the body.
Previously, the sword light had pierced the sea pig beast's head, and with another wound on its body, the hide that he peeled off, aside from these two wounds, was a complete hide.
It was only then that Li Shiming thought of sea beasts as a resource, having no relevant information, naturally he didn't consider this aspect.
Qiu Tan was already dividing the sea pig meat, and soon it was split into two piles, with nothing going to waste, not even the innards.
"This sea pig meat can be sold for fifty Spirit Stones on Changming Island Market, I'll give you that amount!" Qiu Tan packed up half of the sea pig meat and then threw fifty Spirit Stones over to him.
"Many thanks, had Senior Brother Qiu not informed me, I really wouldn't have known the value of the sea pig beast!" Li Shiming received the Spirit Stones and thanked him again.
"I have a sea beast catalogue here, valued at fifty Spirit Stones, I wonder if Junior Li might be interested?" Qiu Tan's slight smile gave an air of inevitability.
Li Shiming shook his head with a wry smile, helplessly tossing the fifty Spirit Stones back.
Cultivators all knew that the value of knowledge was most important; lacking information about sea beasts, spending fifty Spirit Stones to buy a sea beast catalogue was not a loss.
"Let's add contact information as well, anytime you come to Changming Island, I can assist you in procuring whatever you need!" Qiu Tan took back the fifty Spirit Stones, threw out a Jade Scroll again, and then took out an Identity Jade Disc.
The Identity Jade Disc not only symbolized identity but also served as a communication tool; as long as both parties added each other's Identity Jade Disc information, they could communicate remotely within a certain range at any time.