CHAPTER 311: CHAPTER 311 CAREFREE LOTUS

Hu Zhile pursed her lips and spoke gently, "That may be true, but the cultivation realm is becoming increasingly chaotic, and your father’s words may not be entirely reliable. You’re still young, so it’s best to contact him quickly and ask him to come get you; otherwise..."

The little girl, who was only three or four years old with a weak breath, spoke in a cute, childish voice, yet she was guarding such a precious treasure.

Fortunately, the Venerable Family brought Senior Bai and me here today.

The Venerable Family always disdains bullying the weak, and Senior Bai is not someone who kills the innocent. After I joined them, they certainly wouldn’t directly snatch it. If it were someone else, they might have taken her along with it!

"You’ve been sending distress signals by striking that big bell, so we teleported here to check out the situation." Jiang Yuan guessed that accepting the task would cost money when he heard the other party wanted to trade. He could only redeem a few Immortal Jade from his account as backup and patiently explained, "I’ll collect that bell and then set you free. How do you want to proceed with the trade?"

Bell?

Oh! It must be the heavy, broken thing trapping me!

Qingniao tried hard to recall, but her mind was still blank, unable to remember anything about a bell, which meant it wasn’t important.

She simply waved her little hand and spoke crisply, "What the little brother said just now makes sense. You moved away the damn bell that was almost suffocating me, so I should indeed thank you for saving my life.

Although I don’t remember any bell, I imagine it was made from top-notch artifact refining materials, perfect for you to use in weapon crafting. As for the trade..."

She stroked the soft petals with her small hand, looked at Bai Yunqi, and smiled lightly: "Don’t be fooled by the Carefree Lotus’s closeness; forcefully taking it is absolutely impossible. Once it formally recognizes a master and is planted, it can’t be moved again. Moreover, the Carefree Lotus has specialized care methods, and without the true legacy, it can’t be kept alive.

If you manage to keep one Carefree Lotus alive, whether it’s the leaves, petals, or roots, it can be used to refine top-grade elixirs. Even if you do nothing, just selling the leaves of a Carefree Lotus can earn you a fortune.

There are even more benefits..."

Qingniao paused, unable to remember other benefits, and could only say vaguely, "You’ll understand once you successfully grow it. The Carefree Lotus is a priceless treasure, and if it weren’t for the spiritual energy dissipating now, I wouldn’t have considered using it for exchange. Just twenty Immortal Jade, and I can give you a Carefree Lotus seed and teach you how to plant and care for it!"

When she said these words, she felt very unsure.

Without spiritual energy, mana, or anyone to support her, she was weak, helpless, and incredibly poor. What else could she do but pretend to be calm?

If she really encountered someone with bad intentions, the reborn Carefree Lotus indeed doesn’t serve two masters and would rather break than bend, but the problem was that she couldn’t break free from Hua Rui and would wither away and die along with it!

Frightened out of her wits, Qingniao could only pin her hopes on the other party being proper cultivators who pursued the path. Otherwise, she’d have to either risk heavy injury and stay here to die or perish outright.

"Twenty Immortal Jade?!" Jiang Yuan felt a bit pained.

But thinking of the shattered Divine Artifact awaiting repair, the awakening of his disciple’s bloodline inheritance with a Heavenly Level cultivation technique, and the Carefree Lotus capable of refining supreme elixirs as verified by the system, spending twenty thousand Spirit Stones seemed acceptable.

"Isn’t this too expensive?!" Bai Yunqi rolled his eyes, "You little girl, do you really think Immortal Jade is easily obtainable? It’s one thing not to repay the favor, but you’re asking an exorbitant price."

Hu Zhile, however, vaguely sensed that the Carefree Lotus was extraordinary and considered contributing the Immortal Jade given to her by the Venerable Family. The journey of cultivation often brought many opportunities, and missing them could lead to lifelong regret.

Although it was indeed expensive, given that the Venerable Family excels in planting techniques and alchemy, acquiring such a Carefree Lotus to grow in the Spirit Pool would surely prove useful in the future.

"Immortal Jade hard to come by?" Qingniao was taken aback, thinking Immortal Jade wasn’t the common currency used in cultivator transactions? Could it be... that she slept too long and the cultivation realm has fallen to the point where even Immortal Jade has become rare?

It’s terrible! The era of spiritual energy dissipation and small world collapse!

Without enough spiritual energy, how could one cultivate for ascension?

Although she didn’t remember the plans, could failure be linked to the sudden onset of the spiritual energy dissipating era causing it?

So maybe there’s really no one to support her now, what to do?

The more she thought, the more sad she became, her face turning slightly pale as she looked at her tender little hands and arms, suddenly feeling like she wanted to cry.

"Immortal Jade is indeed rare, but I have some." Jiang Yuan had intended to haggle, but wasn’t expecting Little Bai to say just that one sentence, causing the other party to nearly cry.

Realizing she was the reborn senior but unable to help feeling the frailty and cuteness of her appearance tugs at one’s heartstrings, he exchanged twenty Immortal Jade and handed them over.

Thinking the reborn senior would use her past memories to assess the current situation, cultivators close to ascension certainly wouldn’t lack Immortal Jade; twenty pieces couldn’t be considered asking an exorbitant price.

Just unsure how long she would take after acquiring the Immortal Jade before she could break away from the reborn Carefree Lotus, he still wanted to quickly get the blueprint to upgrade the Chaotic Heaven Bell.

"Wonderful!" Seeing the other party indeed take out twenty Immortal Jade brimming with spiritual energy, Qingniao’s smile brightened, and she handed over a lotus seed in return, "There, plant it according to the method I taught you, and in the future, you will understand its benefits and see that I truly haven’t shortchanged you!"

With a handover of money and goods, Jiang Yuan felt the cool touch of her little hand, and a system prompt popped up.

[Carefree Lotus Seed: Once planted, it can recognize a master. Once grown, besides being used medicinally throughout for refining supreme elixirs, it can serve as a refuge within its petals, concealed underground to completely hide its scent and evade capture; it can supply spiritual energy for cultivation in seclusion.]

[Qingniao has taught you the specific method of planting the Carefree Lotus; do you accept it?]

After accepting the planting method, he hadn’t had time to review it when Qingniao took the Immortal Jade and quickly thanked him before eagerly retreating into a petal tent, wrapped layer upon layer in petals, turning back into a tiny flower bud hidden amid bird-cage-like intertwining branches, settling into silence.

Jiang Yuan could only beckon to leave for now; after all, once the Teleportation Array was built, he could visit anytime, and he’d better return and study planting the Carefree Lotus.

Back at the small courtyard, following the animation instructions "planting guide," he first gave the lotus seed an incision then added blood to recognize a master, temporarily planting the lotus seed in the Level Two farmland, awaiting rooting and sprouting before transplanting into the Spirit Pool.

Just after finishing, he received a system prompt notifying Qingniao had successfully separated from the reborn Carefree Lotus.

[Side Quest: Qingniao. Task 1 completed, rewards for Chaotic Heaven Bell repair and upgrade blueprint have been issued.]

"Initial repair of the Broken Chaotic Heaven Bell will take six hours; crafting the Feathered Robe will need eight hours; completing the simplified Nine-Flavor Red Flame Pill refining requires four more hours..." Jiang Yuan felt the side quests accumulated recently were a bit overwhelming, and he needed to push them forward as soon as possible.

For instance, once the Chaotic Heaven Bell is repaired, he could take his disciple back to the Lin Family for seclusion tomorrow!

But first, he should deliver the elixir to the shop owner next door; meanwhile, he must seek out the Mermaid. Although trading with them isn’t a task, completing it early and consulting about Crescent Lake not appearing near the Deserted Island during the summer as usual would help determine what to do about reconnecting with them.

Developing a good relationship with the Mermaids will absolutely be beneficial for salvaging the Red Dragon shipwreck!