"Sounds good!" Li Meirong agreed joyously. "Let's do that. I have to properly scrub your fur anyway."

She had recently cleaned herself in her dimension after progressing with her cultivation, but she certainly didn't mind bathing again. She was used to cleanliness from her previous life.

Bai Qingyue's previously grumpy mood was immediately forgotten as he became giddy in anticipation for their 'evening activities'.

Li Meirong took a small package from her wide sleeve, containing green herbs resembling common wild grass, and bartered with the herbalist at his stall.

"I have some medium-grade Spirit Grass for trade. Could I exchange it for some Sticklewort, Sacred Lotus, Boswellia Carterii, and Lesser Reedmace?"

The salesman's brow arched in surprise at the inexperienced-looking beauty's question. As an inner sect disciple, well-versed in his trade subject, he did not expect an outer sect disciple from outside his division to be able to specify the herbs they required so easily. The only explanation that came to his mind was that she was from the Healer's Peak and specialized in the concoction of herbal medicines.

Despite his pleasant surprise at finding a fellow disciple who knew a bit about herbs, he harboured doubt about the grade of the Spirit Grass the girl was offering in exchange. 

After all, medium-grade spirit herbs were quite rare…

"Let me see a sample of the grass first," he said, making the request solely out of disbelief.

Li Meirong had rarely made exchanges with the herbal stand, since she had Jo Ming to provide her with any seeds or plants she requested. Planting them in her garden made her more or less self-sufficient.

Her knowledge was not derived from learning medicine. In truth, it was all thanks to Chou's information network among the plants in the sect. He helped her learn about medicinal practices through his talkative personality and his gossiping with various plant spirits.

As for the Spirit Grass… Li Meirong held no hard feelings towards the salesman for his suspicion of her. Herbs had three grades of growth quality: low, medium, and (the rarest) high.

For high-grade herbs, a cultivator had to supply the plants with the richest soil and spiritual water, which made it nearly impossible for many to cultivate high-grade herbs. Medium-grade required constant, tender care, rich soil, and attentiveness, and the more communication there was with the plants, the better their growth was. Low-grade Spirit Grass was the most abundant and the easiest to grow, though, in comparison to common non-spiritual herbs, it was ten times harder for the grass to reach its mature state and be ready for harvest.

Because of the difficulties surrounding the Herb Caretakers' division and the scarcity of disciples with the required Earth element needed to care for the herbs, a Herb Caretaker was highly sought-after in the cultivation world.

For Li Meirong to be able to produce medium-grade Spirit Grass was already considered an incredible feat, and it was again all thanks to Chou's hard work in assisting her with her garden.

Snowball contentedly sprawled in Li Meirong's arms during the exchange, admiring his wife's capabilities. His besotted thoughts about her only intensified.

So what if his wife was not a good fighter? He could fight well, so why would she need to?

So what if his wife's foundation was not excellent? His golden core would suffice for the two of them!

So what if his wife was a little lazy? He would just work harder to compensate.

His silly little wife had her own special skills, and whatever she lacked, he would cover for it!

After examining the Spirit Grass, the herbalist gave Li Meirong her sample back and complimented her on the quality.

"Well done! I did not expect to find an outer sect disciple capable of raising Spirit Grass beyond a low grade, especially not of a different division. I am willing to exchange ten stalks of Spirit Grass for each of the herbs you requested," the herbalist said. Dealing with an outer sect disciple gave him the arrogance to demand a much larger count than what was usually the agreed-upon price.

Li Meirong's face fell. The seller may have been polite, but he was very obviously trying to rip her off! 

She hated bartering, but she had no other option to wiggle around the prices, and she wasn't very good at it, either.

In the end, she only managed to reduce the price from ten to eight stalks. It was really unfair!

Li Meirong made a mental note to request a fresh batch to plant in her garden from Mo Jing next time she saw him.

Witnessing his wife's features take a turn towards crestfallen, Bai Qingyue made sure to carefully memorize the herbalist's facial structure. How dare the vermin scam his wife? He would burn all this lowly human's crops in retribution!

With her parcel finally purchased, Li Meirong headed out of the marketplace with Snowball still in her arms.

Suddenly a gruff, strident voice called out to her, just as she was about to leave the crowded street.

"The young miss with the fox spirit, come over here! I've got something for you!"

Li Meirong glanced back, only to notice an elderly man waving an arm in her direction, just inside the nearest pet shop.

"Come over here, I have a fine deal for you!" the shop owner said, his eyes greedily fixed on Snowball.