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Chapter 228 - A Thousand Blooms, A Thousand Cures

[Zhao Huoyan]:Master Song, how many of these paper flowers can you make in a day?

As soon as Paper Vine Blossom passed the detailed examination and was registered as a key spiritual item, word spread quickly within the SEIU.

Mastering a handcrafted technique takes time. Right now, the lead artisans in the SEIU—whether at headquarters in the capital or at regional branches—are mostly over fifty. Before spiritual energy revived, that was retirement age, and many of them still carry lingering illnesses.

Even with spiritual energy sustaining them, terminal illnesses no longer threaten their lives, but the buildup of disease qi still drains their spiritual power. This hinders their cultivation and progress.

So, anything that could cure hidden ailments would be a tremendous breakthrough for all cultivators. The demand for these paper flowers was overwhelming.

Although Song Miaozhu had called back the little paper servants who had been stationed at the SEIU's headquarters to help with Spirit-Gathering Dolls, she still left one each with Zhao Huoyan and his father, the Director of the SEIU.

Because of that, she was well aware of the SEIU's current interest in Paper Vine Blossom and their ideal price range. The best thing about the spiritual-item version of Paper Vine Blossom was that once planted, it only needed a small amount of spiritual power or ambient qi to keep blooming.

Song Miaozhu had already tested it. Just one low-grade spirit stone could produce a new flower. A low-grade spirit stone cost one hundred hell coins—about two hundred yuan, or two contribution points.

And once sold, the flower didn't even need to be bound to a cultivator. Just consuming a petal activated its effects. The time and spiritual energy investment were minimal.

But it was a one-time sale. The kind of illness that required a Paper Vine Blossom was rare, and once cured, wouldn't come back. Which meant the price needed to reflect its value.

This was where keeping those little paper servants with the SEIU Director and Zhao Huoyan paid off. Zhao Huoyan was the only SEIU member she communicated directly with, and his father was the one person no one could bypass when it came to SEIU affairs.

She understood perfectly not only the current demand, but also the psychological price ceiling.

[Miaow Zhu]: Sixty thousand contribution points per petal. I can't promise high output—spiritual energy is still scarce, and I can't stop producing Spirit-Gathering Dolls either. Let those in need get their funds ready and queue up. I'll make them as fast as I can. But if no one in the SEIU needs them anymore, I might start listing them in the Spiritual Market Showcase.

She planned to grow a few more pots of the spiritual-item version, have her little paper servants harvest them daily, and use her spirit kite to deliver the orders. The supply would only increase from here.

[Zhao Huoyan]: Master Song, you're truly noble!

If she was already thinking about selling outside the SEIU, she clearly wasn't bluffing about "producing quickly."

He assumed she was doing this to help more people get cured sooner. After all, she clearly didn't lack for contribution points. Despite earning so many, she rarely redeemed anything from the SEIU. Most of it went to the underworld instead.

Other cultivators made and sold spiritual items because they lacked contribution points and needed to prioritize their own cultivation. There were now over ten elite masters in the SEIU, but the combined output of all their key spiritual items still couldn't match what Master Song produced on her own.

[Miaow Zhu]: I'm just in it for the money. Saving up in the underworld gives me peace of mind. If I fail in cultivation and die, at least I'll have something to fall back on.

Song Miaozhu calmly explained her motivations.

After finalizing the listing of Paper Vine Blossom in the SEIU's Key Spiritual Items Vault, headquarters posted the news in the elite masters' forum.

[SEIU HQ: Great news! Congratulations to Master Song Miaozhu for nurturing a new key spiritual item: Paper Vine Blossom! Cultivators suffering from illnesses untreatable by current medical methods should not miss this! [Image]]

That last line was added by a clever staffer who knew Master Song was interested in earning money. She was very pleased with it.

In the elite masters' group chat:

[He Zhen]:Oh my gosh! It can cure actual diseases? My pancreatic cancer, severe nearsightedness, lumbar disc herniation, frozen shoulder, tenosynovitis, chronic pharyngitis, and stomach issues—there's hope! Master Song, do you have any in stock? I'll take a whole flower!

[Yu Lichuan]:My lumbar and cervical discs are a mess. I've got arthritis, silicosis, corneal inflammation, and partial hearing loss. If I go two days without nourishing my body with spiritual power, the disease qi comes right back. I need a flower too!

[Yin Chunan]: Wow, we're all falling apart, huh? Count me in—I'll take one as well!

[Xie Wushuang]:Do these store well? Is there an expiration date? If not, I'd like to buy a few to keep on hand. I've been spending most of my time painting, and the strain on my body is too much. I don't have the spiritual energy to keep cleansing myself every day.

[Zhang Yunx]i:Can it cure depression? A friend's child has it, and I'd like to buy a petal for her. I'll take a full flower for myself too.

...

It turned out the elite masters were riddled with chronic conditions from their years of specialized work. Song Miaozhu answered each question one by one, accepted their orders, and gave them priority access to her current stock.

A few days ago, she had planted three pots of Paper Vine Blossom. With one low-grade spirit stone per pot, each would bloom a flower overnight. By now, she had harvested twenty-one flowers. But that wasn't enough to cover the masters' orders. Once they heard she had inventory, each one bought at least two flowers.

Though paper flowers could only be preserved long-term with Yin-wood boxes or Yin-wood shelves, that didn't stop them from buying for their loved ones. After sending out those flowers, Song Miaozhu checked the pre-order queue on the Key Spiritual Items Vault listing for Paper Vine Blossom.

In just a short time, over a thousand had been reserved, and the number was still climbing rapidly. So, she had her little paper servants place a bulk order online: one thousand small plastic flowerpots, each filled with soil.

Once the delivery arrived, her spirit kite made a few trips to bring them all back.

She spent several days straight crafting paper vine seeds. Once each seed was infused with spiritual energy, she buried it in a pot and arranged the pots along the lower right side of her cave dwelling, one by one.

One thousand pots filled up all the usable space on that side of the cave.

Any more, and there'd be no room left.

Thankfully, Paper Vine Blossom didn't need much space, nor did it require sunlight or water. As long as it had soil and ambient qi, it could bloom.

What once felt like a spacious cave was now packed. Between the Spirit-Gathering Dolls and the rows of flowerpots, only a single open space remained—just large enough for her to work on larger paper craft projects.

But that was fine.

Paper Vine Blossom was turning out to be very profitable.

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