LoserQueen

Chapter 59 Great Harvest

Dugu Muyou took a square box made of black stone and pushed it forward. She said expressionlessly, "Look at it first. If you can't spot anything wrong, go and fetch an Elder to have a look."

Mr. Yuan glanced at the black stone box suspiciously. However, when he saw how confident Dugu Muyou was, he doubted himself. No one could guarantee to be always right. Was there really something wrong with what was in the box?

He reached out for the box. The black stone was cool, and the lid was heavy. Then he opened the box with a lot of strength.

There was a lotus-shaped plant in the box, which was somewhat ugly. It was all black and only the core of it was of transparent green. The "lotus" was named Black Lotus with a Green Core.

The young man looked at it back and forth but found nothing wrong.

Dugu Muyou realized that the young man couldn't spot the differences and said, "Go and fetch the Elder. He will dare to identify whether it is real or not, won't he?"

The young man hesitated, for the Elder was always busy. If he bothered the Elder, the Elder might have a bad impression on him and then it would be hard for him to be promoted. However, the girl seemed quite sure. If he could make the deal, he would also benefit a lot from it, for he could get the commission by the percentage of the total sales.

Thinking about it, he no longer hesitated. So he took the box on the table and went upstairs to see the Elder.

Dugu Muyou lifted the teacup and tasted it. The tea provided in the shop was undeniably good which tasted sweet after the bitterness. Before long, she heard someone rushing downstairs.

An old man of fifties with a gray beard walked in, who must be the Elder of the spiritual material shop. The young man followed him, holding the large wooden box in his hands.

The old man with a grey beard smiled at Dugu Muyou and told the young man to put down the box and leave.

The young man left. Then Dugu Muyou looked at the old man and asked, "The Black Lotus isn't real, is it?"

The old man nodded while smiling. He sat across from Dugu Muyou and took the black stone box out of the large wooden box and opened it.

"Please allow me to introduce myself. My surname is Guan and my first name is Changzai, and I'm in charge of the shop. This Black Lotus is indeed fake, but the fame of our Zhengnan Spiritual Material Shop is real. We never sell fake materials. In fact, I'm the one who replaced the real Black Lotus with the fake one."

Dugu Muyou was surprised, for she couldn't understand the purpose of the old man. Why would he replace the authentic one with a fake one? He must have some explanations.

As expected, the old man with a grey beard went on speaking.

"Black Lotus with a Green Core is black, and only the core is green. Normally, you can distinguish Black Lotus by these two features. However, few people know that the stamen at the center should also be green. Otherwise, the Black Lotus won't be useful at all. The one I'm holding has black stamens, and therefore it is fake. You are very wise to spot it."

"What do you want to do on earth? Please be frank."

"Well, I'll say it directly then. Do you want to cultivate Pill of Remediation?"

Dugu Muyou's hands, which were holding the teacup, went motionless for a while. She was shocked, but she didn't show it. The formula for Pill of Remediation was very precious and few people knew about it. However, the grey-bearded man told it to her so directly and she wondered what he wanted from her.

Dugu Muyou pretended to be puzzled, "Pill of Remediation? Why did you ask about it? I bought all the materials for someone else, but I don't know what they are for."

The old man with a grey beard was glad.

"Yes, as I have expected. However, the person who asked you to buy the materials must want to cultivate Pill of Remediation. To be honest, I was very lucky to get a formula for it, and therefore I know what's needed for the cultivation of it. All the twenty-two materials on your list are for the cultivation of Pill of Remediation and that's why I asked about it. I replaced the real Black Lotus with a fake one so that I can know whether you are able to distinguish the real from the fake. If you can't, you won't be able to cultivate Pill of Remediation."

"Even if what you said is true, so what? Give me the real Black Lotus with a Green Core if you've really got it. I will purchase all the fifteen materials."

"Wait a moment. I want to ask you a favor." The old man took out a box of the size of his palm from his sleeve, "In fact, I also have the sixteenth material."

Dugu Muyou was not interested at first, but then she was intrigued. The materials for cultivating Pill of Remediation were various and hard to collect so it would be so lucky to get one more.

Inside the box was something like a dead branch with a wrinkled surface. One would think that it was really just a dead branch if it had not been full of pure essence.

Dugu Muyou put the "dead branch" in front of her nose and sniffed. Strangely, the smell was pungent but a little sweet.

"It's... Root of Imperial Ganoderma."

The old man was satisfied with the answer, "You are very knowledgeable. Indeed, it is Root of Imperial Ganoderma, which is very rare. It's another material for the cultivation of Pill of Remediation."

Dugu Muyou put Root of Imperial Ganoderma back into the box and asked with a smile on her face, "What deal do you want to make with me?"

She wouldn't believe that the Root of Imperial Ganoderma was for sale. Otherwise, the old man wouldn't have said "ask you a favor".

The old man looked depressed.

"I have been stuck in the Three-color stage of Heaven rank for ten years sharp. If it lasts, I won't be able to make any breakthrough all my life. That's why I want you to introduce me to the master who can cultivate Pill of Remediation and exchange Root of Imperial Ganoderma for three Pills of Remediation."

"Three of them?"

"Well, I'm not being greedy. You know, Root of Imperial Ganoderma is extremely rare. You can hardly find another one in the whole Jinnan. If the cultivator is masterful enough, he can cultivate ten pills with this Root of Imperial Ganoderma."

The old man stroked his beard calmly and confidently.

Dugu Muyou spoke after thinking for a while, "I can't give you three, but two will be my final offer. Root of Imperial Ganoderma isn't the only rare material for the cultivation of Pill of Remediation."

The old man looked at the box in his hand, thinking for a long time while stroking his beard. And finally, he made up his mind.

"Two will be fine. However." He looked at Dugu Muyou suspiciously, "Are you allowed to make the final offer? What if the cultivator doesn't agree?"

Dugu Muyou smiled and blinked at the old man, "Don't worry, because I am the cultivator."

"What?"

The grey-bearded man was so shocked that he jumped out of his seat. The chair fell to the ground because of his action. He had been slow in both speaking and doing things since he went old, and even his emotions had been much calmer. It had been a long time since he failed to behave himself.

However, Elder Guan didn't have time to think about this. He pointed at Dugu Muyou, his fingers trembling, "So you. you've been cheating me!"

His face turned red out of anger.

Dugu Muyou didn't dare to treat him casually, because she was afraid that the old man would be too angry to make the deal with her, and then she could no longer find the material. So she explained.

"I was indeed preparing to cultivate Pill of Remediation and I wasn't cheating you." Dugu Muyou pondered a while and continued, "I will be a cultivator of Level Seven within a month. When I have all the materials ready, I will start the cultivation of it."

Elder Guan put the chair back silently and sat down again. He kept on staring at Dugu Muyou, not trusting her. How did a girl of such a young age dare to cultivate Pill of Remediation? Was there something wrong with her mind?

Dugu Muyou knew she couldn't make the old man trust her, so she stopped explaining.

"Please don't sell this Root of Imperial Ganoderma recently and please wait for me for a month. If I still can't cultivate Pill of Remediation one month later, you can sell it to others then."

The old man stopped staring after a long time.

"I'll give you one month. After all, I'm not short of money recently. Just think I am mad and I'll believe you this time."

The old man said sadly. It was obvious that he didn't trust her,

Dugu Muyou didn't mind it. She pointed at the materials on the desk and said, "I want all of these. Please sum them up."

Elder Guan called the young man in and calculated the prices of all the materials. Dugu Muyou checked again to ensure that all the materials were authentic including the Black Lotus with a Green Core and then paid the bill."

Before she left, Dugu Muyou told Elder Guan, "My Surname is Dugu and my first name is Muyou. I'm the ninth child of my family. I will come to you within a month. Please see me then when you have my name."

"Okay." The old man responded without really paying attention. Suddenly, he was shocked with his eyes bulging, "Are you the 'Miss Muyou'?"

"Yes."

The old man seemed overwhelmed and he was even more desperate about getting Pills of Remediation. At last, he waved his hand and went back to the third floor.

Dugu Muyou wasn't going back home after she left Zhengnan Spiritual Material Shop. She went to another shop nearby to see if there were other materials she needed.

This time, she learned her lesson and became more careful. She didn't hand out the list of materials directly. Instead, she bought some common materials first and wrote the materials she really needed intermittently so that others wouldn't notice the formula. Although she found Root of Imperial Ganoderma, she didn't want to meet yet another Elder Guan. Otherwise, everyone in the city would know that she was to cultivate Pill of Remediation, which she didn't dare to imagine.

Dugu Muyou visited every single material shop in Magical Treasures Lane despite their scale and then she finally found two other materials. Zhengnan Spiritual Material Shop was indeed the largest shop. No other shops had as many rare materials as they did.

After that, Dugu Muyou had seventeen materials gathered in total. Besides, the old man had Root of Imperial Ganoderma and she was also determined to get the Tianfeng Holy Fruit, which was the prize for the trial. Then there would be nineteen in total. And Dugu Muyou became more confident about cultivating Pill of Remediation.

It was nightfall before she was aware of it and the sky was suffused with rosy clouds. She was on her way back home, relaxed and delighted because of what she had gathered.

There were more pedestrians on the street than at the time when she came there. Most of them came out for fun. Some were with their family, and others with friends. They forgot about the tiredness of the day and enjoyed their leisure time in the evening.

"What is it? It smells so good."

Dugu Muyou felt hungry when she smelled the aroma of food. She looked around and found the source of it.

There was a high-rise restaurant with a gate wide enough for ten people to enter and exit at the same time. Above the gate was a gilded plaque with the words "Zhenzhuan Restaurant" carved on it.