The Eternal Farmer: I Trade My Harvest for Immortality

Chapter 241: The Four Seasons Fruit Tree

A heavy silence stretched between the two men.

Shen Peng’s eyes flickered with a nervous tension he couldn’t quite mask. Opposite him, Jiang Chen remained a statue of indifference, his face an unreadable mask of calm.

Finally, Jiang Chen broke the silence. “I’ll need to consider this. I have to discuss the matter with my friend—the one who actually refines the pills.”

Shen Peng let out a breath he seemed to have been holding and slumped back into his chair. He managed a quick, appreciative nod. “Of course, that’s only reasonable.”

“As for these two… top-grade pills?” Jiang Chen prompted, arching a suggestive eyebrow.

“For the Vitality Pills, no more than fifty,” Shen Peng said quickly, leaning forward to show his earnestness. “And for the Foundation Spirit Pills, twenty. I can purchase those immediately on behalf of the Shen family. If you have a larger stock, we can move them through the Evergreen Wine Shop, selling them alongside the liquor.”

Jiang Chen feigned a moment of calculation. “Let’s say sixty Top-quality Vitality Pills and thirty Top-quality Foundation Spirit Pills.”

In reality, his storage held a staggering 120 Vitality Pills and 70 Foundation Spirit Pills. He had refined them all during his downtime, treats of alchemy produced simply to stave off boredom.

Shen Peng produced fourteen Mid-grade Spirit Stones and placed them on the table. “As I mentioned, the Shen family can only absorb fifty and twenty respectively for our direct stock. The rest we’ll have to sell on commission at the shop.”

Jiang Chen swept the stones into his Jade Green Gourd with a fluid motion. “Fair enough. See what you can do with the rest.”

Shen Peng hesitated, then decided to push a bit further. “Fellow Daoist, I’ll say it again—this loose cultivator market is too small for a disciple of an Immortal Sect. If you truly want to expand, if you want to see real wealth, you need to set your sights on Mystic Heart City.”

“I’ll take it under advisement,” Jiang Chen replied noncommittally.

He demurred for a specific reason. He recalled that Senior Brother Chu was on good terms with the son of Mystic Heart City’s Lord. While the Long Clan was one of the five great families in that region, their influence paled in comparison to the City Lord’s lineage.

Jiang Chen intended to consult Senior Brother Chu and conduct his own scouting mission in Mystic Heart City before tethering himself to the Shen or Long families. A wise bird chose its branch carefully; he had no intention of hanging himself from the first tree he found. He had chosen the Shen family initially because they were easy to control, but he could already feel their ambitions beginning to swell.

The two parted ways shortly after.

With fresh stones in his pocket, Jiang Chen headed straight for the auction house. While the standard trading halls were good for bulk, the auction house dealt in the exotic, the high-quality, and the strange. Since he wasn’t due to head back until tomorrow, he figured a bit of window shopping—and perhaps a night of entertainment at the Fragrance Pavilion—was in order.

The auction house operated on two schedules: afternoon and evening. The afternoon sessions were high-volume but mundane, while the evening sessions drew the real power players with truly rare treasures.

“Our next item: the Affectionate Soft Sleeves!” the auctioneer announced, gesturing to a tray being brought onto the stage. “A six-pattern Spirit Weapon recovered from the dao dwelling of Huang Yuanhua. Though it sustained some damage, it remains a formidable tool for anyone willing to invest in its repair.”

Jiang Chen settled into his seat, watching the item. The sleeves were woven from thousand-year silkworm silk, thin and translucent as a cicada’s wing. A faint cyan light shimmered across the fabric, ending in elegant silver tassels at the cuffs.

The item possessed three primary functions:

Constriction: Entangling an enemy’s limbs to restrict movement.

Manipulation: Extending the silk to grab small objects within thirty feet.

Defense: Rapidly spinning the sleeves to create an atmospheric curtain capable of parrying low-level spells.

It was etched with two fundamental spirit patterns—Entangling Silk and Qi Defense. Since it was an attribute-less weapon, it was versatile enough for any cultivator between the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages.

In the world of cultivation, a weapon’s quality was dictated by its patterns. One to three patterns marked a low-grade tool, four to six were high-grade, and seven to nine were top-grade. Anything beyond nine was considered a “Super-grade” Spirit Weapon, capable of clashing with true low-tier Magical Artifacts.

Despite the pedigree, Jiang Chen didn’t bite. Most of the loose cultivators in the Chamber shared his sentiment; an attribute-less weapon was a jack of all trades but a master of none. Its utility was too average to justify a bidding war. Eventually, a veiled woman in the back took it home for 200 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

The next item, however, actually caught his eye.

“Presenting… the Four Seasons Fruit Tree!”

“In Spring, it yields the Wood Rain Fruit—vital for healing pills or crushed to revitalize the soil of ordinary spirit plants. In Summer, it bears the Fire Flame Fruit, which slowly bolsters the consumer’s fire-attribute spiritual power. Autumn brings the Gold Wind Fruit; its juice is a potent catalyst for forging weapons with a ‘keen’ edge, and its flesh tempers the bones. Finally, Winter produces the Water Frost Fruit, offering three hours of immunity to extreme cold or acting as a powerful numbing agent for wounds.”

The announcement rippled through the hall. Several spirit farmers in the audience leaned forward, their eyes gleaming.

“The starting bid is 200 Mid-grade Spirit Stones! Increments of no less than twenty!”

The hall went deathly silent.

After a long, stunned pause, an elderly spirit farmer stood up, his eyes wide. “How much did you say?”

The auctioneer smiled thinly. “Two hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones.”

“That attribute-less rag earlier went for two hundred!” the old man barked. “You’re trying to tell me a tree is worth the same as a six-pattern Spirit Weapon? My gods, do you people just print money in the back?”

“He’s right!” another shouted. “This isn’t an auction, it’s a daylight robbery!”

The crowd erupted into a chorus of curses and grumbles. Jiang Chen frowned as well, his interest cooling. A rare plant was worth a premium if it was world-changing, but based on the description, the Four Seasons tree was merely a high-end utility plant.

The auctioneer tried to hold his ground. “This is the price dictated by the seller!”

However, after enduring a solid minute of the crowd creatively insulting his ancestors and his personal character, the man finally cracked. He held up a hand and scurried backstage to “consult” the owner.

Technically, prices weren’t supposed to change mid-auction, but this was a loose cultivator market—practicality usually trumped protocol.

“I might as well stick around,” Jiang Chen muttered, easing back into his seat just as he had been about to leave for the Fragrance Pavilion.

A few moments later, the auctioneer returned, looking slightly frazzled but wearing a forced grin. “The seller has… reconsidered. We are adjusting the entry price.”

“To what?” the crowd demanded.

The auctioneer held up a single finger. “One hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones! Increments of ten!”