Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points

Chapter 500: Chapter 492: Raising Blood Silkworms

Weapons are of great importance to any Cultivator.

The successful upgrade of the Ink Blade had resolved a significant issue for Qin Niu. The value of this success was certainly more than ten thousand pieces of Silver Money.

“Just give me the cost price! Consider it a good karma between Master Qin and myself.”

Master Ou only agreed to accept four thousand pieces of Silver Money, returning the rest, and then gracefully departed.

Craftsmen like him were known for their eccentric temperaments and straightforwardness.

As Qin Niu watched Master Ou depart, he suddenly remembered he hadn’t offered him a meal. Holding the Ink Blade, he returned to the courtyard and silently stimulated his Cultivation Power to channel into the blade.

Hisss!

A tangible Blade Qi emitted from the edge of the blade. Under Qin Niu’s Cultivation Power, the Blade Qi became more solid, showing signs of turning from Qi into a blade’s edge.

This was his home’s front courtyard, so he refrained from testing the blade wantonly.

If he damaged the ground, he would have to find someone to repair it.

By his estimate, the power of the Ink Blade had increased by at least fivefold.

Of course, this was also related to his own advancement in cultivation.

The difference between the Innate Realm and the Spirit Qi Realm was significant. Wielding this blade with Cultivation Power from the Spirit Qi Realm, its power could increase by at least threefold.

The blade itself had gained at least a twofold increase in power after the upgrade.

And this was just after the recent upgrade; as long as he continued to nurture it, the power of the Ink Blade would keep increasing.

“With a good blade, my chances of seizing a celestial fate at the Water and Land Dharma Assembly will increase substantially!”

Qin Niu had been diligently preparing for the chance to obtain a celestial fate in many ways.

Weapons, cultivation, pets—everything was continually improving.

At that moment, the sound of a carriage approached from outside.

Qin Niu quietly wondered if Master Ou had some other matter and had returned.

“Master Qin, may I visit you now?”

The voice that came from outside belonged to Steward Yan Qi.

“Please invite him in!”

Qin Niu signaled Xiao Qing to greet the visitor.

Xiao Qing’s status was rather special. With many servants now in the house, her position had been elevated.

She would personally receive only some important guests, as directed by Qin Niu.

If it were a regular villager, the task of opening the door was generally left to a common maidservant.

Steward Yan Qi had a certain relationship with Qin Niu. He had established a bond with Qin Niu even before Qin Niu’s rise to success.

Now, despite Qin Niu’s dauntingly high status, he still treated Yan Qi as a friend in his presence.

Before long, Yan Qi and the Yan Family’s eldest young master entered.

“Greetings, Master Qin!”

Nowadays, when the Yan Family’s eldest young master met Qin Niu, he was no longer as casual as before but instead greeted him with great respect.

Yan Qi followed behind, bending at the waist to offer a respectful bow.

This was considered a grand salute.

“There’s no need for such formalities, please rise! We are all old acquaintances. Please have a seat!”

Qin Niu gestured with his hands for them to sit down, and then the servants presented fragrant tea.

At last, the Qin Residence had taken on the look of nobility.

“Master Qin, I borrowed eight thousand pieces of Silver Money from you last time. Now that the end of the year is near, and you never came to press for the repayment. My father has somehow scraped together three thousand pieces of Silver Money, which I’ve brought over. As for the remaining five thousand, I will repay you after some time, along with the interest. Does that sound acceptable to you?”

Young Master Yan must have seldom begged for favors from others since his early years.

Now that he owes Qin Niu several thousand taels of silver, he has no choice but to bow his head and speak softly.

“Master Yan and Young Master Yan are truly men of their word! Nowadays, it’s hard to find debtors who keep their trust as you do. Every family has its tough times; this year disasters kept coming, and I deeply empathize with the Yan Family’s plight. I’m not in urgent need of money, so if your family needs to use these three thousand taels, there’s no need to repay me for now.

Young Master Yan can go back and tell Master Yan not to worry about these eight thousand taels of silver.

When you have the money, you can return it.”

This year’s gang war has caused many landlords who follow Black Tiger Gang to suffer great misfortune.

Aside from a few who saw the opportunity early and shifted the risk away, most are tightening their belts to get by.

The Yan Family faced large penalties for breached contracts because they couldn’t deliver silk on time due to a mass death of silkworms. Then, with no harvest from the fields, they still had to pay the workers’ wages and the land tax.

Under multiple adversities, their lives were particularly miserable.

Being able to gather these three thousand taels of silver was already incredibly difficult.

“Thank you for your kindness, Master Qin. Our family has kept a bit of silver on hand, so please accept these three thousand taels for now. Currently, Black Tiger Gang and Nine Insect Gang have signed a peace agreement. The merchants in Black Tiger City have regained confidence; they proactively approached the Yan Family to renew their store leases and paid next year’s rent in advance. As long as there are no major wars again, I believe the Yan Family can repay the silver by next year’s Mid-Autumn Festival at the latest.”

Young Master Yan unwittingly revealed a crucial piece of information.

Black Tiger Gang and Nine Insect Gang have actually agreed to a truce.

No wonder he hasn’t seen any warriors suffering from poison seeking Qin Niu’s treatment recently.

A truce is a good thing.

War always results in death, and ultimately, it is the common people who suffer.

Black Tiger Gang’s territory has nearly doubled in size, making them the biggest winner of this war. Although Nine Insect Gang lost the original territories of Seven-Star Sect, they managed to invade some of Shennong Sect’s land, making their losses somewhat acceptable.

After seeing off Young Master Yan, Qin Niu was finally able to have dinner with his wives and concubines.

After dinner, he went to his study and carefully opened a box on the desk. Inside lay two blood cocoon, lying still.

Some time ago, after Black Tiger Gang rewarded him with a Blood Silkworm, Qin Niu finally managed to gather a pair.

He then took out the Blood Silkworm he had snatched from the He Family and began hatching them together.

Lacking experience in breeding Blood Silkworms, the hatching of the two was very slow.

Given the great reputation of Blood Silkworms, he believed they definitely could bring him immense benefits. Thus, he looked forward to the silkworms emerging from their cocoons soon.

To prevent the Blood Silkworms from hatching, the He Family even placed them in a Cold Jade Insect Coffin, effectively freezing them.

He had thought that simply removing the Blood Silkworm cocoons from the Cold Jade Insect Coffin would allow them to hatch quickly.

Days passed, and the two Blood Silkworm cocoons showed no sign of activity, still leaving him uncertain about when they would hatch.

…

Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, four months passed.

Qin Niu’s cultivation was progressing at an astonishing pace.

His Medicine King Technique had now reached the mid-stage of the Spirit Qi Realm, still a considerable distance from the late Spirit Qi Realm. This was despite cultivating under the Ancient Banyan Tree with an abundant supply of medicinal energy to absorb.

The cold, dark energy that fell from the Ancient Banyan Tree at night also greatly aided the advancement of Qin Niu’s cultivation.

Even so, his Medicine King Sutra’s power had only reached the mid-stage of the Spirit Qi Realm.

This showed that after reaching the Spirit Qi Realm, advancing even one minor realm required ten times more time and accumulation.

The Everlasting Spring Technique successfully broke through to the early stage of the Spirit Qi Realm not long ago.

Qin Niu was a contented person.

He had originally thought that with the help of the Ancient Banyan Tree, and maybe one or two elixirs to break through levels, he could easily promote his cultivation to the peak of the Spirit Qi Realm. But in reality, reaching the peak of the Spirit Qi Realm proved much more difficult than anticipated.

However, that makes sense; every Spirit Qi Realm Expert who reached that level had cultivated for a hundred years, or even two to three hundred years, hadn’t they?

Qin Niu, not even seventeen yet, had already achieved a mid-stage Spirit Qi Realm cultivation level. Wherever he went, he would be considered an exceptional genius.