Wuji Sect.

It was one of the top-tier Golden Core sects in the entire Flowing Cloud Prefecture. It owned five market towns, and the Wuji Market, located at the westernmost edge, was one of them.

This time, the Wuji Sect’s Spirit Rice shipments had been robbed, resulting in one Foundation Establishment cultivator from the sect dead and another severely injured. While the sect was furious, this incident also plunged the Wuji Market into a food crisis.

Li Qingdu, the stationed Immortal Master, reacted quite swiftly. He immediately organized four Foundation Establishment cultivators to seek grain from nearby market towns while he alone remained to guard the Wuji Market.

The shortage of Spirit Rice caused widespread anxiety among the many low-level Loose Cultivators.

As time passed, many Loose Cultivators began venturing out to search for food. Constant cries of ordinary animals could be heard from the surrounding forests.

Low-level Loose Cultivators only dared to hunt ordinary animals.

Moreover, they didn’t dare to venture too far. After all, various demon beasts and sinister creatures lurked outside the market. A moment’s inattention could lead to a miserable death in the wilderness.

Inside the estate.

Qin Lu sat quietly in the courtyard, looking at Steward Chen before him, and slowly asked, “How much Spirit Rice is left?”

“It can last for another two days,” Steward Chen replied.

“Only two days…”

Qin Lu frowned. The twenty-plus jin of Spirit Rice he had bought not long ago were almost finished in just a few days.

His current appetite was truly a bit large.

“Immortal Master, should I go check if there’s any food for sale at the market today?” Steward Chen suggested.

“No need. The entire market is scrambling for grain right now. As a mortal, you definitely can’t compete with cultivators. I’ll go out myself later.”

“Alright…”

Qin Lu lightly tapped the tabletop, his thoughts swirling. He hadn’t expected to find himself in such a predicament, failing to prepare sufficient food supplies.

“It seems I really need to keep a constant eye on changes in the market. Staying holed up indoors is never a solution…” Qin Lu sighed inwardly.

After resting briefly, he got up and headed toward the market.

After these past few days, there were no longer lines of Loose Cultivators outside the rice shops because everyone knew the Spirit Rice had long been sold out.

The place with the largest crowds now was the Scatter Cultivator Market because demon beast meat was sold there.

Even without Spirit Rice, everyone could still fill their bellies with meat to get by.

When Qin Lu arrived at the market, it was still bustling with people coming and going. Many crowds gathered around various beast meat stalls.

Using skillful maneuvering, Qin Lu squeezed into one of these crowds and reached the front of a stall.

The stall owner was a burly man with a face full of knife scars. He held a gleaming cleaver in his hand, raising and lowering it rhythmically.

Thwack!

With one chop, he cleaved a piece of beast meat, casually grabbed it, and handed it to an old cultivator before him, shouting loudly.

“This is ten jin of beast meat! Ten Spirit Stones!”

“This… Fellow Daoist… shouldn’t we weigh it? This meat looks like only five or six jin…” The old cultivator wore a troubled expression.

“You old fool! Do you want it or not? If not, get lost!” The scar-faced man roared angrily.

After much hesitation, the old cultivator tremblingly took out Spirit Stones from his robe and handed them over. “I want it… I want it…”

After pocketing the Spirit Stones, the scar-faced man waved his cleaver and looked around, shouting. “Who else wants demon beast meat? This is premium meat from a [Golden Chicken Beast]! One Spirit Stone per jin!”

The onlookers exchanged glances; no one immediately stepped forward to trade.

“Fellow Daoist… your price… isn’t it too expensive? Can you make it cheaper?”

“That’s right! In normal times, [Golden Chicken Beast] meat is one Spirit Stone for six jin! You’re charging ten Spirit Stones for just five or six jin—that’s ten times more expensive!”

“Exactly! Taking advantage of a crisis shouldn’t be done like this. We’re all just trying to make a living here in the market. This isn’t right, is it?”

Hearing the complaints from the surrounding Loose Cultivators, the scar-faced man’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He snorted coldly.

“I risked my life for this! It’s worth whatever price I set! This is today’s price—no bargaining!”

Seeing the fierce man’s twitching scarred face, many cultivators fell silent and looked at each other wordlessly.

But soon, some cultivators who were starving had no choice but to hand over Spirit Stones to buy meat.

With someone taking the lead to purchase, the scene became lively again.

Qin Lu did not step forward to buy because this price was utterly outrageous—completely fleecing others as if they were fools.

Spending such exorbitant money on this little bit of beast meat… he might as well go order a few dishes at a restaurant instead. Though expensive too, at least that would be more comfortable and less aggravating.

Lost in thought, Qin Lu slowly walked away from the stall, intending to visit an alchemy shop instead.

He planned to see if there were any [Fasting Pills] available now.

Compared to demon beast meat, alchemical pills usually wouldn’t attract large crowds of cultivators because pills were expensive—far beyond what most Loose Cultivators could afford regularly.

“Hmm… Maybe I should buy an alchemy furnace and try making some myself? If I could successfully refine [Fasting Pills] now… that would bring immense wealth…”

“Sigh… But alchemy requires buying a furnace, pill formulas, and materials… My current Spirit Stones might not even be enough…”

“And in this current situation… even if I wanted to buy a [Fasting Pill] formula… it would probably be very difficult.”

“Huh?”

Qin Lu paused mid-step and looked ahead.

Not far away, he spotted two familiar faces—a man and a woman—packing up their stall with broad smiles on their faces.

It was Cao Yunxi and his wife.

“Brother Cao!” Qin Lu quickly stepped forward to greet them.

“Oh! It’s Brother Qin! What a coincidence! Are you setting up your stall today, too?” Cao Yunxi responded with a smile.

“No, no,” Qin Lu said honestly. “I came out to buy some meat.”

“Buy meat?” Qi Xiaofeng chimed in with a smile. “What? Has Brother Qin run out of meat at home?”

“To be honest,” Qin Lu confessed, “my household is completely out of supplies now. We only have enough Spirit Rice left for two days.”

“Ah?” Qi Xiaofeng’s expression froze in surprise. “How did that happen? When rumors were flying everywhere recently and Spirit Rice prices soared… didn’t you stockpile any food?”

“Sigh… don’t mention it,” Qin Lu said with evident regret. “I’ve been staying indoors recently and didn’t catch wind of this news at all. By the time I thought about stockpiling grain… I found out it had already been snatched up by others.”

“This…”

Cao Yunxi and Qi Xiaofeng exchanged glances and smiled slightly awkwardly.

Actually, regarding this Spirit Rice crisis, they had prepared early on, buying quite a bit of Spirit Rice for storage at home when rumors first started circulating.

Usually, those without stored provisions were impoverished, down-and-out cultivators. They hadn’t expected someone as capable as Qin Lu would also lack stored supplies.

“Aiya, Brother Qin, why didn’t you say so earlier!” Cao Yunxi laughed heartily, stepping forward cheerfully. “If you want beast meat, that’s no trouble at all. Come on over to my place. I’ll give you some.”

“That would be wonderful!” Qin Lu immediately agreed.

After chatting briefly for a few more moments, the three began walking out of the market together.

On the way, Qin Lu inquired about their current profits from running their stall.

“Heh! While this Spirit Rice crisis is trouble for others, for us husband-and-wife, it’s actually a huge business opportunity!”

“Beast meat prices in the market have skyrocketed now, Brother Qin. Do you know how many Spirit Stones we can sell one [Black Ape Beast] for now?”

Curious, Qin Lu asked, “How much?”

Cao Yunxi extended three fingers. “Three hundred Spirit Stones!”

Hearing this, Qin Lu’s pupils instantly dilated, his heart stirring.

Hunting beasts now… was so profitable?