That Thousand-Year Jade Lingzhi had been something he acquired himself, purchased at a considerable price; selling it meant he made no profit. He had originally bought it because the collector who showed it to him claimed it was a thousand-year-old medicinal herb, and moreover, it had caught his eye—the more he looked, the more unusual it seemed—so on a sudden impulse, he spent a fortune to secure it.

When he first acquired the Thousand-Year Jade Lingzhi, he priced it at three hundred thousand.

Buying it for eighty thousand and selling it for three hundred thousand meant a substantial profit margin. If his shop weren't so small, he might have even considered marking it up to a million; he felt he had snagged an incredible bargain at the time.

Ideals and reality often clash. What he considered a treasure, others did not recognize; upon hearing the thirty thousand price tag, people would turn around and walk away instantly, refusing to listen to his explanations.

He then lowered the price to two hundred thousand, but still, no one showed interest.

From two hundred thousand, he dropped it further to one hundred and fifty thousand, but that didn't work either. Only then did he start to panic, hoping just to sell it without taking a loss. His shop investment hadn't been very large, but having eight thousand dollars tied up in a single item was certainly too much.

What truly shocked him was that no one wanted it even for over eighty thousand—at that price, he wasn't making any money at all, let alone accounting for interest or the costs of running errands.

Lowering the price further was out of the question, so he could only set it aside, hoping that one day it would finally sell.

That day truly did come. Selling that item, even without making a profit, made him happy; at least his principal capital was recovered.

"Bosses, would you like to look at anything else?"

Seeing the three of them talking, the shopkeeper hesitated to interrupt. Once they quieted down, he immediately asked again.

Selling the Thousand-Year Jade Lingzhi earlier had only recouped his investment, not earned him profit. He hoped to sell some other things and manage to earn a little something.

"Zhang Yang, see if there’s anything you want?"

Long Cheng glanced at Zhang Yang. When it came to buying things, he deferred entirely to Zhang Yang’s judgment; Zhang Yang was the expert in this area.

"Alright!"

Zhang Yang smiled and nodded, then began examining the shop’s inventory carefully.

If there were truly good items, buying some for them wouldn't be an issue. In his heart, Zhang Yang was even happier than the shop owner; running errands had led them to rare medicinal ingredients, and of excellent grade too. At this moment, Zhang Yang genuinely felt as if pie had fallen from the sky.

It was like finding a massive unexpected bargain when purchasing antiques—buying a priceless treasure for a small sum. The feeling he had now surpassed even that experience. This wasn't just any bargain; it was the kind of monumental find that only appears once in a lifetime.

Before long, Zhang Yang selected several more items for Long Cheng. For things that other shops carried, if this shop had them, Zhang Yang basically picked them out for him. After all, they had just stumbled upon a huge windfall here.

Soon, Long Cheng had amassed a large pile of fine goods, and the shop owner’s mouth was stretched so wide in a smile it nearly wouldn't close.

After organizing and checking out, the total for these items came to over one hundred thousand. Once paid for, everything now belonged to Long Cheng.

For over a hundred thousand in sales, the shop owner stood to profit several tens of thousands. Coupled with the prior sale of the Thousand-Year Jade Lingzhi, his turnover reached two hundred thousand, earning the envy of many neighboring shops.

It was worth noting that when the three of them had been in other stores earlier, the largest single purchase they made was only around thirty or forty thousand.

After finishing their purchases at this shop, the time neared five in the evening. The three of them discussed it and decided they had bought enough; they might as well head back.

This left the proprietors of the subsequent few shops deeply disappointed. Only the owner of the very last shop remained cheerfully smiling, even helping Long Cheng and the others carry their purchases back.

In the span of one afternoon, Long Cheng had purchased six or seven hundred thousand worth of fine goods here, accumulating two massive bags in total. Their vehicle could barely hold them, making further roadside purchases practically impossible. Long Cheng even considered buying another car specifically for hauling cargo.

Returning to the Long Family headquarters, bringing back too many gifts was never an issue; he didn't care how much money was spent, as long as it made the people at the Long Family headquarters happy.

In truth, all these items combined were worth less than one of his cars.

"Jee jee jee!"

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

As soon as they returned to the hotel, the two little creatures sprang up. They were well aware that Zhang Yang had acquired wonderful things, and now their appetites were stirring again.

"These are just raw materials; you can't eat them yet. They need to be processed with medicine first. Hold on a little longer!"

Zhang Yang chuckled, patting the heads of the two little ones. Today’s haul was immense; just this one find made the entire trip worthwhile for Zhang Yang.

Except for the first Thousand-Year Ginseng he obtained, which was retrieved using memories from his past life, all the spirit medicine materials Zhang Yang had acquired since then demanded hard work and perilous journeys.

Even that Tri-Colored Fruit was obtained through sheer luck, on the very brink of death.

Only the Thousand-Year Jade Lingzhi had been acquired so easily, so conveniently, bought for just over eighty thousand dollars without any complications.

"Jee jee jee!"

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

The two little ones cried out again. They knew the raw material was inedible and now demanded something else.

Zhang Yang smiled, shaking his head, and finally brought out two drops of Essence Blood Pills to give to them.

Wuying deserved a reward today, a significant one, as he had performed well. The Jade Lingzhi certainly couldn't be fed to them directly, but other spirit medicines could serve as compensation.

Fortunately, Zhang Yang still had plenty of Essence Blood Pills, and the previous ones given to the little ones had almost been fully digested.

"I really didn't expect this thing to be genuine!"

Long Feng walked over, eyeing the box in Zhang Yang’s hand with clear envy.

Zhang Yang paused for a moment, then nodded firmly. He strongly agreed with Long Feng’s statement; it echoed exactly what he felt.

In fact, when Zhang Yang first saw that box, he hadn't considered for a moment that it could be a real Thousand-Year Jade Lingzhi. Previously, shopkeepers had exaggerated the age of their herbs so much that it instilled a feeling in Zhang Yang: the ages of the medicinal materials here were probably all fake.

He wouldn't even believe something a hundred years old, let alone one thousand years old.

He just assumed it was a tactic by the shop owner to attract attention. If not for Wuying’s reaction, Zhang Yang might not have paid any attention to the item at all.

Yet, this very thing they doubted turned out to be authentic.

Who would have thought that in a place like this shopping plaza, one could buy a thousand-year-old spirit medicine? Never mind others, Zhang Yang himself still found the reality hard to believe.

This incident was purely accidental. To experience something like this once in a lifetime would be great fortune; he felt completely satisfied right now.

Long Feng was well aware of the value of spirit medicine. He envied Zhang Yang but felt no jealousy.

He was also genuinely happy because he knew Zhang Yang would never forget him when he found good things. While he used to be Zhang Yang’s bodyguard, now they were as close as brothers.

Of course, if Zhang Yang were in danger again, Long Feng would still choose to trade his own life for Zhang Yang’s safety—that was a bond forged in the face of death.

In just half a year, Long Feng had transitioned from an outsider to a friend who shared a life-and-death connection, a fact he himself found rather miraculous.

This half-year period held extraordinary significance for him and had completely changed him.

That evening, they ate dinner at the hotel. The food there was excellent, certainly no worse than the place in Xizhou. The three ate their fill, and the very next morning, they set off again immediately.

In the morning, Long Cheng finally learned what exactly Zhang Yang had purchased.

Upon learning, his mouth dropped wide open and remained agape for a long time. He was acutely aware of the value of spirit medicine; it was something he had never even considered before.

Then, Long Feng informed him that the pills Zhang Yang had given him and Qu Meilan also contained spirit medicine components, but because their physiques were insufficient, Zhang Yang had diluted them and formulated pills suitable for their absorption.

Now that Zhang Yang had the raw materials, he could concoct more similar pills for them in the future. Long Feng instructed Long Cheng that this matter must be kept absolutely confidential; not a word should be spoken to anyone, not even the Long Family. Hearing this, Long Cheng’s slight lingering jealousy vanished completely, leaving only gratitude. He now understood how extraordinary those pills they had taken before truly were—it explained why he had managed to break through so quickly to the intermediate stage of the first layer.

“We’ll reach Yizhou by noon. We’ll board a ship from Yizhou this evening, head up the Changjiang River, enter Chuan-Yu Province directly, and then disembark near Lezhou before driving the rest of the way!”

In the car, Long Feng studied the map and made the latest decision. Plans often failed to keep pace with reality. The driving over the past few days had been tiring; it would be better to take a boat. They could find a large vessel that could accommodate their car, and it would only take about two days to reach their destination.

The main purpose of this trip was to accompany Long Feng on his journey of experience, to appreciate the local customs and interact more with the secular world. They naturally wouldn't object to Long Feng’s decisions.

Furthermore, Long Feng rarely traveled by boat, and he too wished to experience the feeling of sailing upon the river.

Yizhou was an important prefecture-level city in Ebei Province, not far from Jingxiang City; the two cities were adjacent.

Taking the highway would be faster, but without it, it would take only one morning to arrive.

Their luck in Yizhou was quite good; a luxurious cruise ship was preparing to depart. After boarding, they booked three suites. All the standard rooms and berths on this large ship had already been sold, leaving only these high-priced luxury suites untouched.

This suited them perfectly. Zhang Yang wasn't unfamiliar with hardship, but when he didn't have to endure it, he naturally wouldn't choose to mistreat himself; comfort was preferable.

Meanwhile, on a train traveling from Xizhou to Yizhou sat an old man muttering curses. Anger furrowed his face, and he grumbled incessantly. He had only arrived in Xizhou the previous night and only found the lodging Zhang Yang and the others had stayed in this morning. By the time he located it, Zhang Yang had already departed.

Confirming the direction of their departure, he could only take the train to pursue them; traveling on foot for several hundred miles would certainly exhaust the old man.

A heavy rain had caused him to lose track of Zhang Yang, and since then, he had been forced to chase from behind, which greatly displeased the old man, who couldn't help muttering more curses, his expression extremely sour.

Around five in the afternoon, the old man finally appeared at the Yizhou dock.

Standing on the pier, the old man pointed to the sky and roared curses at the heavens, calling out the 'thieving heavens' and so forth. Zhang Yang and his group's cruise ship had already departed several hours ago, traveling upstream. Trying to catch up now was impossible. Frustrated, he could only wait for the next scheduled boat to continue his pursuit by water.

At that very moment, Zhang Yang and Long Feng, the three of them, were standing on the deck, watching the sunset over the river.