Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Resources Secured, Tieniu's Return
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"You got it?"
Chen Jianghe looked at Ji Wujin in surprise. Hooking so many ninth-level Qi Refining cultivators should have caused quite a stir.
Yet, he hadn't heard any news about it in Qinghe Market City.
"Let's go. Qinghe Restaurant."
Chen Jianghe didn't care whether those cultivators who took the bait were dead or alive, as long as Ji Wujin brought him the Spirit Nurturing Pills or the Spirit Nourishing Liquid.
That was all that mattered.
What he wanted were cultivation resources.
After arriving at Qinghe Restaurant, Chen Jianghe spent one spirit stone to book a private room.
But he didn't order anything.
Ji Wujin looked surprised when Chen Jianghe actually brought him to Qinghe Restaurant, finding it somewhat unbelievable.
In his eyes, Chen Jianghe was the type of cultivator who was an extreme cheapskate.
For a craftsman to be hanging around Qingping Teahouse was truly a disgrace to the profession.
"Are we just going to sit in a private room and do nothing?" Ji Wujin saw Chen Jianghe wave away the attendant outside.
It was clear he had no intention of ordering any spirit food, and Ji Wujin was instantly displeased.
"Don't worry, I won't let you go hungry."
Chen Jianghe said with a chuckle, then asked, "Where are the goods you brought, fellow Daoist?"
"Right here."
Ji Wujin waved his hand, and ten bottles of spirit liquid flew out from his storage bag. It was precisely the first-tier, high-grade Spirit Nourishing Liquid.
"Is that all?"
Chen Jianghe asked doubtfully.
He remembered that at the auction, not only did the Spirit Nourishing Liquid fetch a high price, but even the Spirit Nurturing Pills sold for much more than usual.
Clearly, there were two big fish.
"Don't even mention it. For some reason, that guy never showed up. How infuriating."
"Without the perseverance to see things through, he'll never amount to anything."
Ji Wujin grumbled.
The other party must have sensed something was wrong, which is why he didn't join the other cultivators to ambush Ji Wujin.
"That's truly a pity. You've missed out on a lot of spirit stones, fellow Daoist."
Chen Jianghe said regretfully.
He wasn't feeling sorry for Ji Wujin, but for himself. Otherwise, he could have gotten his hands on ten Spirit Nurturing Pills.
Because the Spirit Nurturing Pills and Spirit Nourishing Liquid Ji Wujin obtained could only be traded privately; they couldn't be listed at the Treasure Pavilion.
Nor could they be sold openly.
"Enough talk. How many spirit stones are you prepared to offer for these ten bottles of Spirit Nourishing Liquid?" Ji Wujin gestured towards Chen Jianghe with his chin.
"Since when does the buyer name the price? It's always the seller. Why don't you name your price first, fellow Daoist?"
"Alright then. Sixteen hundred spirit stones."
"Farewell!"
Chen Jianghe stood up to leave.
"Wait, didn't you ask me to name a price? This Spirit Nourishing Liquid sold for over fifteen hundred spirit stones at the auction. Plus, I had to go out and run the errand. I have to add something for my trouble, right?"
"Sixteen hundred spirit stones isn't much."
Seeing Chen Jianghe get up to leave, Ji Wujin quickly blocked the doorway, speaking with a serious expression.
"Forget sixteen hundred spirit stones. Considering the trouble you went through, fellow Daoist, even two thousand wouldn't be too much. But I don't have that many spirit stones, so I'll be taking my leave."
Chen Jianghe replied just as seriously.
He made a gesture as if to leave.
"How many spirit stones do you have?" Ji Wujin asked.
"Five hundred spirit stones."
Chen Jianghe thought for a moment, then held up five fingers.
"Come on, why don't you go get the goods and sell them to me instead?" Ji Wujin glared at Chen Jianghe, so angry he nearly jumped up.
He'd seen people cut prices in half, but never to the bone like this.
"But I really don't have many spirit stones," Chen Jianghe said with a shrug and a helpless look.
"If you really want to buy, then make a proper counteroffer. If not, then forget it," Ji Wujin said, exasperated.
"All my worldly possessions combined, I can scrape together seven hundred and ninety-seven spirit stones at most, and, uh, forty grains of spirit sand."
Hearing Chen Jianghe's words, Ji Wujin's brow furrowed deeply.
"As you can see, fellow Daoist, I'm still in the body tempering stage. On top of that, I'm just a mid-grade Talisman Master. It's already quite an achievement for me to have saved up nearly eight hundred spirit stones."
Chen Jianghe spread his hands, his face a picture of helplessness.
The Spirit Nourishing Liquid sold for one hundred spirit stones a bottle in the Immortal Sect Market City, but it had to be consumed there and couldn't be taken out.
Therefore, the cultivators bidding at the auction were all people who couldn't go to the Immortal Sect Market City.
Even so, ten bottles of Spirit Nourishing Liquid usually sold for around twelve hundred spirit stones at auction.
The Spirit Nourishing Liquid in Ji Wujin's possession couldn't be consigned for auction, nor could it be sold openly. He could only find an acquaintance to dispose of it privately.
"You've really opened my eyes, fellow Daoist. Seven hundred and ninety-seven spirit stones and forty grains of spirit sand it is. Deal."
Ji Wujin reluctantly pushed the Spirit Nourishing Liquid towards Chen Jianghe, then held out his hand for the spirit stones.
"Hold on a moment, fellow Daoist. Let me gather it up."
Chen Jianghe first took the Spirit Nourishing Liquid, then took out his storage bag and began to count seriously.
"Here's five hundred and twenty-six spirit stones. You can take these first."
Chen Jianghe handed five hundred and twenty-six spirit stones to Ji Wujin and continued to rummage.
"Here are three high-grade protection talismans, worth thirty-six spirit stones."
"These three high-grade Five Elements Escape Talismans are worth forty-five spirit stones."
As Ji Wujin watched Chen Jianghe pull out talismans from his storage bag, his expression began to change.
"These are twenty-one mid-grade Five Elements Escape Talismans, worth one hundred and eighty-nine spirit stones."
"That brings the total to seven hundred and ninety-six spirit stones. This 'Fairy's First-Hand' talisman brush of mine must be worth at least two spirit stones. You can keep the extra sixty grains of spirit sand."
Seeing Chen Jianghe's deadpan expression, Ji Wujin was dumbfounded.
He finally understood the true meaning of shamelessness.
The brush had few bristles, its peach wood tip was blackened, and it had cracks from obvious rough use.
This was really a "Fairy's First-Hand" brush?
And the prices for those talismans—Chen Jianghe had stated their value with a straight face.
That was the goddamn *retail price*.
Could he really use them to substitute for spirit stones like this?
"Hmph, you've really shown me something, fellow Daoist. You can keep that 'Fairy's First-Hand' brush for sentimental value."
Ji Wujin resentfully accepted the spirit stones and talismans, but as for the brush, he didn't even touch it.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist."
Chen Jianghe put his used "Fairy's First-Hand" brush back into his storage bag.
"Now can you order some spirit food? You got such a good deal off me," Ji Wujin urged irritably.
"Uh... about that."
Chen Jianghe looked at Ji Wujin awkwardly and said, a little embarrassed, "I gave all my spirit stones to you. How can I possibly pay the bill?"
"Besides, I'm a big customer of yours now. How about you treat me this once?"
"I..."
Ji Wujin almost lost his composure and started cursing.
"You're ruthless."
Ji Wujin said hatefully before turning and leaving the private room.
After Ji Wujin left, Chen Jianghe also walked out of Qinghe Restaurant a short while later. However, instead of going home, he went to Fushou Lane.
Ten bottles of Spirit Nourishing Liquid were worth about a thousand spirit stones.
But for Spirit Nourishing Liquid that couldn't be sold openly, Chen Jianghe's offer of nearly eight hundred spirit stones wasn't a low price.
As for treating Ji Wujin to a meal...
That was impossible.
Not even with the spirit food he had packed to go.
Their friendship wasn't deep enough to waste resources.
This spirit food was worth ten spirit stones, and that pot of immortal spirit wine was worth one spirit stone.
Chen Jianghe was planning to go back and share it with Xiao Hei. He couldn't let Ji Wujin get it for free.
He arrived at the entrance of Fuju Residence, number 136, and knocked on the door ring.
Alchemist Zhuang opened the door.
Chen Jianghe didn't go inside. Instead, he asked Alchemist Zhuang to help him check if there was anything wrong with the Spirit Nourishing Liquid.
After confirming it was normal Spirit Nourishing Liquid, Chen Jianghe expressed his thanks and took his leave.
After Chen Jianghe left Fushou Lane.
Ji Wujin walked out of his courtyard gate. Watching the direction where Chen Jianghe disappeared, he curled his lip and said disdainfully, "I'm not as devious as you. At the very least, I have a sense of transactional integrity."
"To think you'd find someone to verify it. The trust between cultivators is ruined by people like you."
Ji Wujin spat on the ground and then entered his courtyard.
—-
Early in the new year, on the fifth day.
Mazi came to trade with twelve demon beasts.
These twelve demon beasts were all late first-tier, with second-grade, high-quality bloodlines, and their appearances were also quite good.
The price was the same, thirty-five spirit stones each.
A total of four hundred and twenty spirit stones.
However, Chen Jianghe only had thirty-three mid-grade Five Elements Escape Talismans on hand, so he still needed to give Mazi more spirit stones to cover the cost of the demon beasts.
It couldn't be helped; he had sold twenty-one mid-grade Five Elements Escape Talismans to Ji Wujin at market price.
He gave Mazi an additional one hundred and fifty-two spirit stones and seventy grains of spirit sand.
After sending Mazi off, Chen Jianghe returned to his courtyard and took stock of his assets.
He now had seven hundred and thirty-two spirit stones and twenty grains of spirit sand, enough to buy a high-grade spiritual cultivation art.
Spiritual cultivation arts were similar to body tempering techniques: the higher the price, the fewer and more common the required resources, and the easier they were to obtain.
He still had four True Spirit Pills.
Six pieces of Tidal Essence, and six each of Meridian Unblocking Pills, Blood Qi Pills, and Body Forging Pills, enough for the next three years.
One inferior Foundation Establishment Pill.
One Youth Retaining Pill.
Two Life Extension Pills.
He didn't have a single talisman on him anymore; he had even sold the high-grade ones to Ji Wujin at market price.
These six high-grade talismans had been in his possession for nearly twenty years. If he kept them any longer, their spiritual energy would start to fade.
It was good that he sold them to Ji Wujin. He often went out, so he could make good use of them.
If he needed them in the future, he could always buy new ones.
All in all, his assets had grown considerably.
The inferior Foundation Establishment Pill was worth twenty-five hundred spirit stones, the Youth Retaining Pill fifteen hundred, and the Life Extension Pills five hundred each at market price.
If he converted all his assets into spirit stones now, he would have close to seven thousand.
Of course, there was also a piece of Profound Ice Marrow, but that belonged to Yun Xiaoniu, so it couldn't be counted among his own assets.
Thinking about this, Chen Jianghe was overjoyed, feeling quite pleased with himself.
He let out Xiao Hei and Maoqiu.
"Come on, time for a feast."
Chen Jianghe took out the spirit food he had packed from Qinghe Restaurant and poured two cups of immortal spirit wine for Xiao Hei and Maoqiu.
"After we eat, it's back to work. I hope you two will become more and more diligent, so our lives can get better and better."
"Come, cheers!"
"Hiss~ So fragrant. The two-leggers really know how to live. Maoqiu always eats his food raw."
Xiao Hei raised his cup with his short little claw and clinked it against Chen Jianghe's, making a complaint.
Maoqiu, on the other hand, picked up its cup but timidly held back, only daring to toast from a distance before downing it in one gulp.
Looking at the sumptuous spirit food.
Maoqiu's eyes gleamed, but it didn't dare to move.
"If you're hungry, come here."
Xiao Hei beckoned Maoqiu over and said to it in a serious tone, "See this?"
"These are all made from the parts of spirit beasts. If you don't cultivate properly, and you get caught by the two-leggers in the future, you'll be turned into delicious dishes like these too."
Xiao Hei lectured Maoqiu while stuffing his face, his mouth glistening with grease.
"Squeak squeak~"
Maoqiu's gaze towards the spirit food changed. Fear arose in its heart, and it couldn't help but take a step back, its large, clear eyes filled with terror.
It was just like how Xiao Hei had looked when he first saw the braised green-scaled fish and roasted whole egret.
Except, back then, it was Chen Jianghe lecturing Xiao Hei.
Now, it was Xiao Hei lecturing Maoqiu.
"Do you know why Master cultivates so hard?"
"Squeak squeak~" Maoqiu shook its head.
"If he doesn't cultivate hard, he'll be eaten by demon beasts in the future. Of course, he won't have to suffer being cooked, but he will have to endure the process of being chewed by a demon beast's teeth."
"Ahem~ If you say another word, Maoqiu won't be able to eat a single bite," Chen Jianghe shot Xiao Hei a look.
"Then why are you still feasting?"
"Uh... fine, you two eat."
Chen Jianghe stood up from the ground, habitually dusted off his clothes, glanced at the leftovers, and turned to go into his room.
"See that? Grandpa Turtle is looking out for you, getting you all this good food. Don't just stand there gawking, come and eat."
Xiao Hei, holding a roasted deer leg, let out a burp and kindly called Maoqiu over.
"Squeak squeak~" (Can I really eat this?)
—-
Time flowed on, and ten months passed.
After circulating the Myriad Waters True Scripture for three major cycles, he slowly withdrew his power, feeling the pure black magical power within his Qi sea dantian.
It had shrunk a little more, becoming even darker and more translucent.
"It seems I'll reach the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining much faster than I expected. I still have two True Spirit Pills left, so I probably won't need them."
A little less than half the medicinal power of a True Spirit Pill was still accumulated in his Shenque acupoint.
In three months at most, his cultivation would break through to the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining, and he wouldn't need the True Spirit Pills then.
He could sell these two True Spirit Pills in his hand for spirit stones.
His physical cultivation had reached the late stage of body tempering a month ago, but to reach the peak...
was incredibly difficult.
He either needed a spiritual item to enhance his physical body, or he would have to spend a long time polishing it, slowly grinding his way to the peak.
He didn't plan on buying any spiritual items to enhance his physical cultivation, and he hadn't started a spiritual cultivation art either.
This would take a very long time.
Therefore, he could perfectly polish his physical cultivation to its peak while enhancing his soul essence, which would save him the spirit stones needed for spiritual enhancement items.
He put these thoughts aside.
Chen Jianghe walked out of his room. Taking advantage of a break in Xiao Hei and Maoqiu's cultivation, he brought them into the spirit beast space.
Then he took all the processed demon beast parts to the Demon Beast Market to sell.
In total, he sold them for one hundred and twenty-four spirit stones and ninety grains of spirit sand.
The spirit stones in his hand now amounted to eight hundred and fifty-seven, plus ten grains of spirit sand.
But as he walked out of the Demon Beast Market and passed by the Treasure Pavilion's scenic area, he overheard some news.
"The rogue cultivators are getting too bold! They actually dared to target the flying vessel from Qinghe Market City to the Immortal Sect Market City!"
"I wonder if it was the Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators from Qingfeng Stronghold. I heard that some time ago, Boss Wang and Boss Ruan of the Demon Hunting Squad set a trap and killed more than twenty rogue cultivators from Qingfeng Stronghold."
"Who knows?"
"I don't think so. I've never heard of that Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator from Qingfeng Stronghold raising a spirit pet."
"Yeah, according to the cultivators who escaped from the flying vessel, this Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator has a second-tier spirit beast."
"I heard the Second Master of the Qing Clan was also on the vessel. He was killed and his storage bag was stolen. It supposedly contained the Spirit Nourishing Liquid he bought for a huge price."
"..."
Chen Jianghe paused for a brief moment, then quickly walked away.
That so-called Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator was probably Ji Wujin's puppet, and the second-tier spirit beast was the one whose powerful aura Xiao Hei had sensed.
Looked at this way, Ji Wujin had also become one of the victims on the flying vessel.
He didn't need to show up at all to rob the flying vessel.
The puppet and the spirit beast took care of everything.
However, his puppet and spirit beast could no longer appear in Qinghe Market City from now on.
So the one who bought the Spirit Nourishing Liquid was someone from the Qing Clan.
The Qing Clan and the He Clan were the two major families backing Qinghe Market City.
They weren't the descendants of the Core Formation expert, Perfected Qinghe, but rather the families of his two disciples.
The two families were close, and basically every generation had intermarried.
They had reached a point where they were inextricably intertwined.
The legacy left by Perfected Qinghe was too vast. If they fought over it, they would only end up mutually wounded and gain nothing.
But if they united, both families could prosper.
After all, that third-tier spirit beast could protect both of their families.
Ji Wujin even dared to bait someone from the Qing Clan. His guts were too big; he wasn't the least bit afraid of the Qing Clan finding out and retaliating.
After returning home, Chen Jianghe let out Xiao Hei and Maoqiu.
Then he continued to cultivate and draw talismans.
When early in the twelfth month arrived.
Xiao Hei and Maoqiu both finished their cultivation, so he put them into the spirit beast space and took down the 'In Seclusion' sign from his courtyard gate.
By rights, Ruan Tieniu should have returned by now.
But since he still wasn't back, Chen Jianghe couldn't help but think the worst.
Ruan Tieniu didn't have much time.
He was basically at the optimal window for Foundation Establishment. If he didn't achieve it this year, Ruan Tieniu might never be able to in this lifetime.
Chen Jianghe wasn't worried about whether Ruan Tieniu lived or died.
He cared about the Youth Retaining Grass.
Only with the Youth Retaining Grass could he refine the Youth Retaining Pill.
After obtaining the Youth Retaining Pill, he would have a chance to trade it with that cold and aloof female artifact refiner for the Purple Glow Vermilion Fruit.
This was directly related to whether he could obtain a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill.
As long as he gathered enough materials, he would definitely be able to get a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill.
Even Xiaoniu would have a good chance of getting a genuine Foundation Establishment Pill.
Furthermore, he could even end up with an extra Foundation Establishment Pill.
After all, a successful refinement of Foundation Establishment Pills would yield three pills per batch.
Therefore, whether or not Ruan Tieniu could bring back the Youth Retaining Grass was extremely important to Chen Jianghe.
The person whose safety truly worried Chen Jianghe was Yu Daniu.
In the past year, Yu Daniu hadn't sent him a single letter.
This inevitably made Chen Jianghe worry about the attitude of the Yun Clan's ancestor after he came out of seclusion. If he sided with the clan head, Yun Xiaotian...
then Yu Daniu would be in real danger.
Just as Chen Jianghe was pondering the Yun Clan's affairs, the door ring on his courtyard gate was knocked.
He opened the gate to see.
It was Ruan Tieniu.
But Ruan Tieniu was in extremely poor condition.
There was a three-inch-long claw mark on his face, running across both cheeks, and a fang puncture on his forehead.
His left sleeve was empty.
Clearly, Ruan Tieniu's arm was gone.
It was unclear whether it was bitten off by a demon beast or if it was the price for using the Blood Escape Art.
Ruan Tieniu had killed Lan Tianxiang and obtained his puppet inheritance and demonic cultivation secret arts. He must have cultivated the demonic secret arts as well.
So he would naturally know Lan Tianxiang's specialty, the Blood Escape Art.
"Brother Ruan, what happened to you?" Chen Jianghe asked in astonishment.
Ruan Tieniu's eyes were resolute. He looked at Chen Jianghe and said solemnly, "Brother Chen, I got the Youth Retaining Grass."