Chapter 767: Chapter 767

"Dad, I told you this stuff wasn’t wild ginseng, but you insisted on digging it up and bringing it to the market to sell... Look, no one wants it, right? All that time and effort for nothing!"

As the morning market was coming to an almost end and people began to disperse, the son in the father-son duo picked up the few remaining plant-like-but-not-ginseng specimens from their stall and murmured his complaint to his father beside him.

His father chuckled naively, scratched his head, and said, "I’ve been digging up wild ginseng in the mountains for decades. This is the first time I’ve come across something . I thought it might be some kind of rare treasure, so I dug it up hoping to get a good price for it and take your mom to the big city to find a specialist for her illness... "

As his father mentioned his mother, who was sick, the son felt a pang in his heart, his eyes reddened, and he sighed, "Let’s not talk about that, Dad. Let’s go home."

"Alright, let’s pack up and head home!"

The father and son had made a few thousand yuan from their trip to the early market. It sounded like a lot, but it was only enough for one doctor’s visit for the ill family member at home. After resting for a day, they would have to venture into the primeval forest first thing the next morning to continue hunting and digging for ginseng to maintain their day-to-day livelihood.

As the father and son were bending down to pack up their stall, ready to go home, a young man dressed in a black down jacket approached their stall.

"I’ll take these few plants, name your price!"

The young man picked up one of the plant-like-but-not-ginseng specimens from the stall and sensed a faint trace of Earth Element Qi emanating from it. His eyes brightened and he asked with a smile.

That young man was Fang Bai, who, after leaving Shigong Village, had traveled and trained, arriving at this market built on the edge of a primeval forest.

He roamed through the market, and suddenly he sensed a few traces of Earth Element Qi. He followed the Qi to this father and son’s stall.

These plant-like substances, which someone ignorant might disdain and even the average martial artist wouldn’t notice, were in fact a rare kind of Spiritual Medicine for a martial artist like Fang Bai.

In Fang Bai’s previous life, this Spiritual Medicine was known as "Earth Immortal Ginseng," the main ingredient for refining Earth Element Pills.

The few "Earth Immortal Ginseng" plants before him were only a little over a hundred years old, which classified them as low-grade Spiritual Medicine.

While "Earth Immortal Ginseng" wasn’t of high grade, Fang Bai was pleasantly surprised to discover it in this world.

Up to now, aside from the "Swiftwind Flower" for refining wind element elixirs, Fang Bai had found the main ingredients for elixirs of gold, wood, water, fire, earth, and thunder in this world—some of which were already stored in his Spatial Ring.

Fang Bai believed that in the ancient times of this world, Spiritual Medicine must have been abundant, Spiritual Energy rich, with numerous Cultivation Resources available. It was likely that a major catastrophe had caused the scarcity of Spiritual Medicine and the thin Essence Energy, turning Cultivation Resources into luxury items.

As for what caused such great changes in this world, Fang Bai was unclear but thought that perhaps there would be an opportunity to find out in the future.

"Young man, you thought this was wild ginseng, didn’t you?"

The father and son looked at Fang Bai, exchanged glances with each other, and the father with the naïve face grinned and said, "I just dug these up in the mountains casually. I don’t really know what they are. They’re definitely not ginseng, not worth much..."

The son nodded and added, "Yeah, if you want wild ginseng, come back in a couple of days. Our morning market here is every two days, if you come early next time, you might just catch the wild ginseng!"

Both the father and son thought that Fang Bai was probably misinformed, thinking the four plant-like-but-not-ginseng specimens were wild ginseng and wanting to buy them.

If they were dishonest merchants, they would definitely take this opportunity to sell the four worthless plants at a high price as wild ginseng to Fang Bai, but the father and son were honest, good-natured people, not wanting to swindle Fang Bai.

Fang Bai laughed and said, "I know these aren’t wild ginseng, but to me, they’re worth much more than ginseng... Alright, name your price!"

The son, a generous person, could tell Fang Bai really liked the four plant-like specimens, so he bagged them and handed them to Fang Bai, saying, "Brother, these aren’t worth much. If you like them, I’ll just give them to you!"

Fang Bai took the bag and pulled out several stacks of crisp hundred-yuan notes from his backpack behind him, placing them on the father and son’s stall and saying, "These may not be valuable in your eyes, but to me, they’re priceless treasures! I won’t take them for free, here’s forty thousand yuan for them, please take it!"

The father and son looked at each other in disbelief.

Four plants that seemed worthless to others were being offered forty thousand yuan by this young man—could these truly be more precious than wild ginseng?

However, they immediately dismissed the idea.

If they were really treasures, wouldn’t the many knowledgeable customers at the market have bought them?

The father and son speculated that the young man came from a wealthy family and liked to collect peculiar items. He set his sights on the four plant-like specimens and was willing to pay a high price for them.

After exchanging a glance, the father took four hundred-yuan notes from one stack and pushed the rest of the money back to Fang Bai, saying, "Originally, they’re worthless things, but since you want them, we’ll just take four hundred yuan from you. That’ll be our fee for going up the mountain!"

Fang Bai, seeing the father and son’s good nature, nodded in approval. However, "Earth Immortal Ginseng" held significant importance to him, and to say it was worth a fortune was no exaggeration. Giving the father and son only four hundred yuan wouldn’t sit well with him.

After thinking for a bit, Fang Bai pushed the money back and said with gravity, "Keep the money for now. I have another favor to ask of you two..."

The son slapped his chest and said, "Just say the word, brother! As long as it’s nothing illegal, and we can help, we’ll do it!"

Pointing to the "Earth Immortal Ginseng" in the bag, Fang Bai spoke, "I want you to take me to the place where these grow. If we can dig up more of these, I’ll pay the same price of ten thousand yuan per plant. How’s that?"

"Young man, are you... are you serious?"

The father’s excited voice trembled as he looked at Fang Bai and asked.

He remembered when he initially dug up these plants, there were thousands surrounding them. Based on what the young man said, they would be rich—their ailing wife could afford to go to big city hospitals and seek specialist treatment.

"Of course, I’m serious!"

Fang Bai nodded with a smile, and once again pulled out several stacks of banknotes from his backpack to hand to the father, saying, "This is a deposit I’m giving you now! Once we find it, depending on the amount dug up, I’ll give you another part!"