I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 577 Chongzheng Academy
Ginseng is always valuable no matter what era it is in, especially aged ginseng.

Even in this age of mystery, ginseng remains a precious commodity.

It just so happened that Zhang Chen mastered the power of time.

After returning to the inn, Zhang Chen found that his family was resting. He did not disturb them, but quietly returned to his room, took out the Ascension Pool, and threw the ginseng seeds into the Ascension Pool. Then Zhang Chen urged the wood attribute power: "Command, sprout and take root!"

With Zhang Chen's order, the seeds quickly broke out of the shell, grew roots and took root in the soil.

At this time, the innate energy was flowing, nourishing the ginseng seedlings, and actually made them grow at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Innate Qi has incredible benefits for acquired creatures." Zhang Chen looked at the seedlings that had mutated under the nourishment of the innate Qi, a gleam of light in his eyes. The next moment, he flicked his hand casually, and fifty years of time passed quickly. The seedlings of the seeds took root in the soil. Because there was enough innate Qi to nourish them, the seedlings showed no signs of malnutrition during their fifty years of growth. The ginseng began to take root in the soil, and became as long as a baby's arm and thicker than an adult's arm.

"Under the nourishment of the innate qi, fifty-year-old ginseng is better than hundreds-year-old ginseng. It seems that the medicinal properties of ginseng are not only determined by time, but also by many external factors." Zhang Chen said thoughtfully.

At this time, the ginseng flowers in the Ascension Pond bloomed and withered, and seeds fell. The seeds took root and sprouted within fifty years, and then produced countless seeds again. Looking around, the Ascension Pond was full of densely packed ginseng.

Zhang Chen dug out the ginseng casually, looked at it for a moment and threw it into the Bashe Space. Then he cleaned out all the dirt in the Ascension Pool and put the Ascension Pool into the Bashe Space.

The most important thing for him is to collect points. Points are the most important thing. Ginseng is just a skill he uses to make a living.

Zhang Chen was not in a hurry to sell the ginseng. Instead, he rested in the inn for a night. The next morning, he asked the shopkeeper about the most famous herbal medicine shop in Jinling. Then he bought a box, carefully placed the ginseng in the box, and then walked towards the herbal medicine shop.

It should be noted that the ginseng harvested by Zhang Chen were all complete and the roots of the ginseng were probably two meters long, which was considered to be top-quality stuff.

Zhang Chen walked through the crowd and came to the most famous herbal medicine shop in Jinling. He looked at the shop's sign: "Shangjia Medical Clinic."

"Yes, it's here!" Zhang Chen confirmed and looked around the clinic again. He saw that the clinic covered an area of ​​several hundred square meters. There were more than a dozen doctors sitting in the clinic. Countless patients came and went in a hurry.

Shangjia Clinic was founded by the former imperial physician of Kyoto Imperial Hospital in Jinling City after he retired and returned to his hometown. As soon as the clinic opened, it attracted countless dignitaries and wealthy people.

Zhang Chen looked at the ancient medical clinic, ignored the people in line, and walked in with the box in his arms. At this time, a pharmacy clerk stood in front of Zhang Chen and said, "Sir, please line up and take a number."

Zhang Chen patted his ginseng box and said, "Young man, I'm here to sell medicinal herbs, not to see a doctor."

The waiter glanced at Zhang Chen and pointed to the back door: "Go to the back door to sell medicinal herbs."

Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this, then turned and went to the back door, where he saw more than a dozen carriages lined up and a strong smell of medicinal herbs wafting out.

Zhang Chen also knew the rules, so he lined up behind the carriage. He saw a manager from the herbal medicine store checking the herbs in each carriage, marking them into four grades: A, B, C, and D, and then ordering people to weigh them and settle the bill.

When it was Zhang Chen's turn, the manager looked him up and down, his eyes fell on the box in Zhang Chen's arms: "Little brother, why are you queuing here...?"

"I want to sell medicinal herbs." Zhang Chen patted his box: "Newly dug ginseng."

The steward looked at the two-meter-long box and immediately became interested: "Can we open it and take a look?"

Naturally, there was no reason for Zhang Chen to refuse. He flicked the box open with his hand and displayed the ginseng grown with the innate energy to the manager.

When the steward saw the thick ginseng, his eyes widened and he said in astonishment: "Your ginseng... your ginseng... I'm afraid it must be hundreds of years old, right?"

"I don't know. I just dug it up randomly in the mountains. I don't know how many years it has been." Zhang Chen said with a smile.

"Please come in, little brother! I can't make the decision. I have to ask my steward to come forward." The steward smiled at Zhang Chen and made an invitation gesture.

The two walked towards the door, and the steward said to Zhang Chen: "My surname is Wang, and my given name is Chong. You can just call me Xiao Wang."

Little Wang? Zhang Chen looked at the man's face, which was full of traces of time. He must be at least 45 or 46 years old. He was very humble to call himself Little Wang in front of a teenager like him.

Come to think of it, collecting medicinal materials is a top priority. It is one thing for a pharmacy to have excellent medical skills, and it is another thing for the medicinal materials to be good. If there are no good medicinal materials, no matter how good your medical skills are, it will be useless. Without decades of polishing, I am afraid it will be difficult to be competent for this job.

Looking at the other person's weathered face, he couldn't call him "Little Wang". He just called him "Manager Wang" and then introduced himself: "My last name is Zhang."

“So it’s Mr. Zhang. Your ginseng is extraordinary. I have never seen ginseng of such quality since I came to Shangjia Medical Clinic. This ginseng is top-grade and can definitely be sold at a good price. Moreover, your ginseng comes at the right time. The dean of Chongzheng Academy is looking for top-grade ginseng. If your ginseng can be seen by the dean of Chongzheng Academy, you will be soaring to the sky.” Wang Chong said to Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen looked at Wang Chong in surprise, feeling somewhat puzzled, and secretly complained, "Is this guy mentally ill? Isn't he afraid that I will ask for an exorbitant price?"

As if he could see Zhang Chen's expression, Wang Chong smiled and said, "The dean of Chongzheng Academy has already issued a reward. If anyone can find a ginseng that is over 200 years old, he can buy it for 10,000 taels of silver."

“Ten thousand taels of silver? Even if the ginseng is two hundred years old, it shouldn’t be worth ten thousand taels of silver, right?” Zhang Chen said in astonishment.

"Of course not! But what if ginseng is used to keep people alive? I heard that Dean Zhou's son was hurt because of exposure to the mysterious, and he urgently needs high-quality ginseng to keep him alive. If the quality of your ginseng is good enough, we don't need to make money from you, and Dean Zhou will naturally give us a satisfactory reward. You can talk to Dean Zhou in person about the price of your ginseng. What I have to do now is to confirm whether the quality of the ginseng you have meets the requirements."

At this point, Wang Chong muttered, “Of course, if you can’t meet Dean Zhou’s needs, we will give you a satisfactory price for your ginseng.”

"Manager, there is a big deal going on. We'd like to trouble you to personally take a look at it." Manager Zhou shouted into the room.

Then an old voice was heard from inside the house: "Boy, what good stuff is there that you can't even see clearly, and you need me to come out in person?"

Although the voice was old, it was full of energy.

Then a figure with silver hair walked out of the house. Zhou Chong introduced him to Zhang Chen, "This is the master chef of our medicine shop: Wang Dan."

Then he turned to Wang Dan and said, "Steward, this guest has a ginseng of excellent quality in his hand. It is too small to be seen clearly. Please take a look at it yourself."

The silver-haired figure looked at Zhang Chen's box and bowed his head, "I am Wang Dan, may I see your ginseng?"

Zhang Chen handed the box over, and Wang Chong carefully took it from it, then took it to the stone table beside him and opened it. The moment the chief steward Wang Dan saw the medicinal materials, his eyes widened. He quickly came forward to observe carefully with the help of the sunlight. After examining it for a long time, he said, "I'm not sure about this ginseng. It doesn't look like ordinary ginseng."

Zhang Chen nodded secretly when he heard this. This ginseng contained innate energy. Although the innate energy in it quickly dissipated due to exposure to the acquired environment, it was still not an ordinary item.

The old man carefully broke off a centimeter-long piece from the root and put it into his mouth to taste. The next moment, his eyes lit up. He turned to Zhang Chen and said, "Young man, this ginseng is not an ordinary thing. We want it. Now there are two options. The first is that we send it to Chongzheng Academy and ask Dean Zhou to make an offer. The second is that we buy it for 13,000 taels of silver."

At this point, Wang Dan closed the box and said to Zhang Chen sincerely, "Our medicine shop is one of the most fair in Jinling City. We will never cheat you. There are so many eyes watching you in Chongzheng Academy. If you take this ginseng to sell, you can get a higher price, but I'm afraid you won't live to see it."

Zhang Chen glanced at the steward and said, "Just do as you say!"

He was not interested in being in the limelight. He just wanted to live a low-key life in Jinling City, practice in silence, and accumulate strength secretly.

"Go get the silver notes. Change them all into silver notes for 100 taels of silver, and get another 100 taels of change!"

Wang Dan nodded when he heard this. He saw that Zhang Chen was wearing coarse linen clothes and did not look like the son of a wealthy family, so he spoke up to persuade him to avoid him losing his life.

Zhang Chen is a person of great character, of course he can feel the other party's kindness, right?

Wang Chong hurried into the room, counted a stack of banknotes and a bag of small change, and handed them to Zhang Chen: "Master Zhang, please count them."

Zhang Chen took the banknotes upon hearing this. His soul knew everything after a brief induction. He stuffed the banknotes into his sleeves casually, and said nonchalantly, "No need to count them. I trust you! Now that we have settled the payment, the ginseng belongs to you."

Wang Dan and Wang Chong were stunned by Zhang Chen's actions and his carefree back that gradually disappeared from their sight. Wang Chong scratched his head and said, "We were wrong!"

(End of this chapter)