We agreed to farm, but you're planting a divine tree in the eternal night?

"You're a spirit plant master?" Qian Cheng's pupils dilated. "Then why are you setting up a stall? You could easily earn more by growing some high-level spirit plants and selling them in those alchemy gardens than by selling level 1 spirit seeds here. Are you kidding me?"

"Not all spirit plant growers like to cultivate a plot of land for their entire lives, and I don't only sell level 1 spirit seeds." The black-robed stall owner spoke with the composure of an old man sitting calmly on a fishing platform, revealing a weathered and experienced air about him.

With a snap, he flicked a flame from his fingertip, and the candlestick lit up, its orange-yellow light illuminating the entire stall in shadow. The words embroidered on the spirit seed bag's face became clear: [Wood Edge Flower], [Water Flower], [Fire Radiance Flower], [Earth Cocoon Flower], [Golden Edge Flower]...

Aside from the most common Level 1 spirit seeds, there are some rarer species, and even a few bags with clustered patterns, resembling higher-level spirit seed bags.

Qian Cheng was stunned. Although he was not yet an apprentice spirit plant master and had not learned any cultivation methods, his ability to perceive various spiritual energies was barely enough to distinguish the real from the fake spirit seeds in the bag that he had never seen before.

However, he had handled the rare level 2 spirit seed bag that his father had bought through connections. The design and pattern could not be counterfeited. The spiritual energy flowed on the surface, and it was immediately clear whether there were level 2 spirit seeds stored inside that were being preserved.

Besides, these are all cultivators who can start fires at will, why would they deliberately deceive an ordinary person like me? This stall owner might actually have something good!

Realizing this, Qian Cheng's heart raced. He looked around to make sure no one was in the alley, then hunched over and asked, "Boss, what did you mean when you said you were skilled in grafting?"

"No need to ask any more questions. Just understand that if you buy the level 1 spirit seeds I cultivate, you are guaranteed to get at least one medium-grade fruit. I can seamlessly graft them onto any mother plant of the same type, making them look like a natural result. Even if your headmaster personally examines them, he might not be able to spot the difference."

Thump, thump, Qian Cheng's chest trembled violently: "Guaranteed yield of mid-grade fruit... how much does this bag of Wood Edge Flower seeds cost?"

"200 per pill."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

It's only twice the price of inferior fruit.

It was cheaper than I expected.

A single medium-grade fruit can sell for five or six hundred.

Even if you manage to pass the assessment, there's still room to make a profit.

But... Qian Cheng wasn't in a hurry to buy. He looked solemnly at the stall owner in the black robe, as if making a decision: "How much would it cost to have you graft?"

"It's a quantity-based fee. 500 for one medium-grade fruit. Let's see if you have the guts to become a repeat customer." The other party said calmly.

Qian Cheng was startled, but quickly calmed down: "It's equivalent to 500 yuan increasing my yield by 1 medium-grade fruit. With 1500 yuan, I can rival Brother Wang's first-generation achievement. If I graft 5 or 6 medium-grade fruits, Director Wu will probably look at me differently."

"That's enough to suppress Jiang Qiu's momentum."

"Damn it, we've already taken out loans of hundreds of thousands to secure a spot in the trainee spirit plant master program, do we really think we'll be short a few thousand more?!"

He slammed his hand on the table, his eyes resolute: "Give me five seeds of the Wood Edge Flower first. Boss, when are you going to set up a stall here?"

"I come here every night. Once you've cultivated them properly, bring the potted plants and fruits that need grafting here, and you'll see me. Welcome to my stall." The black-robed stall owner took out the spirit seed from his bag and handed it over.

"Okay!" Qian Cheng gripped the spirit seed tightly.

Watching his departing figure, the black-robed stall owner revealed a mysterious smile. Whoosh, the wind blew out the newly lit candlestick, and the stall returned to shadows.

It was as if darkness had torn open a hole in a corner of the county town.

No one noticed.

.......

Slum area.

Jiang Qiu had already returned from the underground market with the raw materials for the nutrient soil, but at this moment, the interns' discussion about him on WeChat Moments had just begun, with everyone gathering in Zhang San's comment section—

[Zhang San: Yidan Garden opened a fruit-buying shop in the underground market today, with even higher standards than usual. Someone even brought some lower-grade fruit cultivated by Wang Baisheng to join the fun, but due to inadequate preservation, it didn't meet the standards!]

[Zhang San: He even felt like they were targeting him.]

[Zhang San: Turns out, one of our interns passed the test right away and even got to leave his contact information! (Blurred fruit image.ipg)]

The picture does not show Jiang Qiu's face, but only the fruits in the mid-to-far distance. Due to camera shake and poor resolution, the picture is blurry.

But as Jiang Qiu stepped out from the front row and onto the counter, she was in the same frame as Qian Cheng, who was turning away from the crowd. In their hands, one bag contained small, spotted fruit, while the other bag contained round, plump fruit, reflecting the lights in the store.

It instantly attracted the attention of a large number of interns in the class.

Everyone was discussing it enthusiastically.

Everyone's guessing who it is.

[Yang Zhilan: Jiang Qiu?]

[Li Si: You were there too?]

[Yang Zhilan: No, you had all left by the time I got to the store.]

[Zhang San: So how did you guess?]

[Yang Zhilan: Last time when Director Wu taught everyone about hair growth, I saw that his spiritual plants had already developed very well.]

[Lu Renjia: Wow, it's true! Back then, Jiang Qiu couldn't extract spiritual energy for half a day, just like the rest of us. I thought he didn't have much talent, but it turns out he's a hidden talent, and his results matured faster than everyone else's!]

[Zhang San: Absolutely! Jiang Qiu is probably the first person besides Wang Baisheng and Jiang Qiao to have successfully cultivated a first-generation fruit, and its quality is top-notch. Its potential is clearly superior to someone else's. Truly capable!]

[......]

After observing for a while, Jiang Qiu quietly exited the WeChat Moments and sighed, "Actually, I was just throwing out an idea to get the ball rolling. Many other plantation workers who were observing later brought out their substandard fruits, but the people in the internship class kept comparing me to Qian Cheng. Oh well, I'll just prepare some new potting soil first."

Composing himself, he poured the freshly purchased ingredients into the rubber pot where he had previously grown the chives. These ingredients had already been processed and did not require further treatment; they could be used directly for preparation.

With a splash, he poured in specific spring water, stirred it, and finally shook his wrist, carefully sprinkling on the most expensive spirit stone powder, then let it sit.

Soon, the optimization panel popped up.

The correct choice would have been to shorten the growth cycle.

Produce spiritual fruits as soon as possible to earn money and expand planting.

But one of the options surprised Jiang Qiu.

He rubbed his eyes.

[Completed Level 1 nutrient soil preparation]

[Choose an optimization direction:]

[1. The growth cycle of Level 1 Spirit Seeds is reduced by 10%]

[2. Increase the yield of level 1 spirit seed fruits by 10%]

[3. Level 1 Spirit Seed production reduced to zero (deterioration)]

"Got spoiled?" Jiang Qiu asked hesitantly.

Logically, the optimization direction should always be positive gain.

With a thought, a more detailed panel unfolded.

[Deterioration Option: An optimization option that is highly likely to appear during the preparation of nutrient soil. It will weaken a certain attribute of the spirit plant, thereby greatly increasing other attributes. For example, the yield of a level 1 wood-type spirit plant will be reduced to zero, but its spiritual energy metabolism rate will be tripled.]