Free Web NovelChapter 468: Chapter 397: Secret Talk (Part 2)
He had hosted five consecutive trading sessions and could finally lay aside these trivial matters to focus on enhancing his cultivation.
This auction released five Gold Core Pills, achieving a sale price thirty percent higher than before, bringing a smile to his face.
After the havoc of the Demon Calamity, two Golden Core Cultivators from the Western Continent fell, and with several cultivators nearing the end of their lifespan, every sect urgently needed to nurture new Golden Core Daoist Masters.
In the past, the sects of the Western Continent were in harmony, and there was no fierce competition for Gold Core Pills, but this time, that harmony has vanished.
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist."
Daoist Master Zhengyang was the last to stay but did not leave, sending a voice transmission:
"Fellow Daoist, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you."
Cangwu Zhenren nodded slightly, leading him to the chamber of the auction house.
The two sat down, and Daoist Master Zhengyang got straight to the point:
"Fellow Daoist, I wish to purchase two more Gold Core Pills from your business alliance, to be delivered in thirty years, can it be done?"
Normally, the business alliance of the Central Continent releases eight to ten Gold Core Pills every two hundred years, and if they come next time, there’s a high chance there won’t be any pills reserved for them.
Because normally, there aren’t so many cultivators in the Western Continent reaching the level of impacting the Golden Core Stage.
Cangwu Zhenren raised an eyebrow, smiling:
"Congratulations, it seems your sect is flourishing."
He immediately understood the other’s intention, which was to stock more pills.
This time, the Golden Spirit Sect obtained two Gold Core Pills, but in the coming decades, the sect will likely have more seeds ready to break through to the Golden Core.
Daoist Master Zhengyang lightly shook his head, saying:
"I just want to save them for a rainy day."
"I will truthfully report your request, but the price cannot be lower than the average price of this auction."
Daoist Master Zhengyang nodded, saying:
"I agree to these terms, as long as your business alliance can ensure the delivery of two Gold Core Pills, we can sign the agreement now."
At this moment, despite his distress, he was helpless. If not buying from the business alliance, they would have to send a cultivator to the Central Continent.
Sending a Chao Origin Stage cultivator there would test human nature; given the high value of Gold Core Pills, it’s uncertain if the disciple would return.
Or he could go himself, but the round trip would take over a decade, and the cost of the journey wouldn’t be worth it.
Cangwu Zhenren waved his hand with a troubled smile, saying:
"I can’t guarantee that, even in Central Continent, Gold Core Pills are very scarce."
In the end, Cangwu Zhenren only gave a verbal promise.
Daoist Master Zhengyang, though helpless, still cupped his hands in thanks, chatted a bit more, and then left, worried.
The verbal promise did not reassure him, feeling that unforeseen events might occur.
Once he saw the guest off, Cangwu Zhenren returned to the chamber and sat in deep thought.
Before the Western Continent was developed, the Demon Beast territory reached the Lianyun Mountain Range, only separated by a barren desert of the Land of Absolute Spiritlessness from the Central Continent.
Demon Calamities erupted on a small scale every few hundred years and on a large scale approximately every three thousand years, greatly troubling the western forces of the Central Continent.
Later, a mid-stage Nascent Soul Daoist Monarch managed to convince other Nascent Soul sects and spearheaded a great migration plan.
Initially, the forces of the Western Continent purely served as a resource warehouse for the Central Continent, providing vast amounts of cheap resources.
As cultivators took root in the Western Continent and grew stronger, they unexpectedly managed to withstand the Demon Beast invasion during this outbreak, surpassing the expectations of the Central Continent.
A powerful Western Continent, although ensuring the safety of the western Central Continent, was not what the business alliance wanted, as acquiring high-tier resources at low prices was gradually becoming impossible.
Cangwu Zhenren’s gaze deepened, taking out a blank Jade Slip and placing it on his forehead to record the information he gathered.
Whether or not to continue releasing Gold Core Pills, let the Daoist Monarchs consider it.
...
Half a month later, in Rongman Immortal City.
Ji An stayed in his grotto mansion practicing the Silk Thread Spell. These days, he roamed the city’s shops during the day, increasing his knowledge, and practiced magic techniques in his grotto mansion at night to enhance his cultivation.
Here, he encountered various Gu worm ingredients, such as scorpions, toads, venomous snakes, and centipedes. Using these poisonous insects for Gu refining, most Gu worms were not suitable for combat, merely means to control people.
Besides the Vajra Bodhi, he did not encounter any other spirit seeds that caught his eye, leaving him with little gain.
When Ji An felt a sense of fatigue in his Spirit Soul, he stopped practicing magic techniques.
He immersed his mind into his Dantian, connecting with the Stone Turtle.
[Magic Technique: Spirit Roar (Mastery 37%)
Silk Thread Spell (Minor Achievement 5%)]
It was one of the few achievements in recent days, Ji An sighed softly.
Releasing Spirit Roar consumed too much Divine Sense, and the Silk Thread Spell, due to being explored and practiced, showed little improvement.
Rongman Immortal City only had a Tier Two Middle Grade spiritual vein. Usually, the Stone Turtle could draw Spiritual Mechanisms only from the Gen Spirit, Kun Spirit, and a small amount of Qian Spirit and Gui Spirit.
And the yield was far inferior compared to Red Flame Peak, and there was no ideal place for Qi Eating nearby, stirring his desire to leave.
After the conflict between the Earth Evil Sect and the Shadowless Sect, the area around Rongman Immortal City also became unstable, with rumors of Tribulation Cultivators appearing frequently.
Ji An walked out of the grotto mansion, went next door, and said:
"Senior Sister, the cultivators from the two Nascent Soul sects have withdrawn from Lantao Mountain for several days. We’ve stayed long enough; shall we leave tomorrow?"
She had been frequently refining pills recently, usually holed up in the grotto mansion.
Han Yan nodded slightly, putting away her pill furnace, and said:
"I’ve refined a few furnaces of late-stage Foundation Establishment pills, and after dealing with them tomorrow, we can leave. Do you have a plan for Qi Eating next?"
A few days ago, while wandering the Immortal City, she learned about a few very in-demand pills, and since she happened to have the materials, she started refining them immediately and made a small profit.
Ji An said softly:
"I plan to go to the Zangyin Mountain Range over a thousand miles southwest. There are many peaks and deep valleys, perfect for Qi Eating."
Moreover, that mountain range has many Hidden Pools and deep lakes, satisfying his need for Water Eating and Qi Walking.
Water Element Qi, like Wood Element Qi and Metal Qi, can be directly absorbed by the core of his Divine Mansion, saving him much trouble.
Han Yan took out a Map Jade Slip and placed it on her forehead, finding the location of the mountain range, frowning slightly.
"Junior Brother, this mountain range is specifically marked by the ancestor; it is filled with many Demon Beasts and poisonous insects, more dangerous and advising caution."
"Senior Sister, it’s precisely because it’s more dangerous that it can accumulate more Earth Element Qi.
In the Western Continent and Southern Continent, so many Chao Origin Stage cultivators, due to Qi Eating, the relatively safe areas don’t have much Five Elements Qi."
Ji An paused and continued, "Qi Eating Earth Element Qi is the most time-consuming. How many years does Senior Sister plan to spend enhancing the Divine Mansion? Perhaps forty to fifty years, or even longer?
We don’t have so much time to waste. Besides, with our combat capabilities, we can defeat any foe as long as they are not at the Golden Core Level.
The Zangyin Mountain Range is a Tier Two Upper Grade spiritual vein; it won’t have any Golden Core Great Demons in seclusion."
The majority of Demon Beasts lack the ability to concentrate Spiritual Qi from a vein into a single place, so to cultivate, they can only seek higher-tier spiritual veins.
Moreover, he knew this senior sister also aspired to break through to the Golden Core.
Han Yan pursed her lips, "Alright, let’s go to the Zangyin Mountain Range."
...
As evening fell, the blood-red sunset coldly gazed upon the land.
In the sky, black clouds churned, carrying a thick stench of corpses.
Feeling the toxin spreading through his body, Azaron desperately released a flying sword.
The Tier Two Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact left white marks on the black corpse-refined body, with sparks flying everywhere.
Even deeper wounds only went an inch deep and caused no substantial harm.
For such corpse refinements, only beheading would work.
Surrounding him on the east, north, and south, were such corpse refinements.
From the ground, a pair of black corpse hands emerged, unexpectedly grabbing his ankle. This momentary delay allowed the corpse refinement to seize the chance, rushing forward to claw open his chest and pulled out the crimson heart, immediately swallowing it.
Azaron’s eyes glazed over, and his consciousness faded away.
The corpse refinement continued to extract the green liver and yellow spleen from the cultivator’s body, chewing on them voraciously, leaving crimson, green, and bright yellow stains on its lips.
The black clouds parted, revealing four cultivators clothed in yellow.
Sangji sneered coldly:
"Is this what the Chao Origin Stage third-layer cultivators outside the sect are like? I heard he was a Magical Combat expert, but this?"
