Chapter 164 Nine-Bend Loess

The banquet lasted from noon until sunset. Du Huaiyuan got completely drunk, downing five jars of spirit wine, seemingly trying to make up for what he had missed throughout the year.

He stood up unsteadily and said slowly in a drawn-out voice:

"It's getting late. We've had a very enjoyable day. We'll treat you to a meal another day, Junior Brother."

Ji An smiled and said:

"Senior brother, you're a little drunk. Why don't you stay at Crimson Flame Peak tonight?"

The other party's speech is already slurred; at this moment, the most important thing is to circulate their cultivation technique to refine the spiritual wine in order to recover.

However, given the other party's love of alcohol, it is absolutely impossible to do so. The other party believes that drinking is about getting drunk and rarely uses cultivation techniques to refine the essence.

He gave Xia Yuhan a wink, and she immediately stepped forward to help him up.

"Where am I drunk? This is just a slight buzz! This state of being after drinking is just right."

Du Huaiyuan broke free from the maid's hand, took out the flying boat, and shouted:

"No need to help me, I'm not drunk."

"Junior brother, until we meet again."

Ji An grinned, thinking to himself how could he possibly tell a drunkard, "You're drunk"?

He stepped forward, grabbed the other person's arm, and said:

“Senior brother, you have to be careful of the surroundings when you are piloting the flying shuttle. You have lost some of the carefree spirit of the Immortal of Wine. I will let Flying Tiger help you pilot it.”

In the past, when they drank together, the other person would drink up to two jars at most. Today, however, he drank too much, and he was worried.

If an accident were to occur and the shuttle were to fall from the sky, who knows how badly it would be injured.

"Junior brother is right."

Du Huaiyuan chuckled, the words "Immortal of Wine" had hit a nerve.

Ji An handed over his flying shuttle and said:

"Feihu, be careful on the road. Take your Uncle Du to his cave before you leave. Don't be stingy with your spirit stones."

"Uncle-Master, you can rest assured that I can handle things well."

Huang Feihu smiled as he took the shuttle, activated it, and then used his object manipulation technique to grab it and put it inside, saying:

"Uncle-Master Du, please have a seat."

The two boarded the flying boat, spun around in the air, and then sped away.

...

Ji An only drank two jars of wine, which did not affect his movements at all.

He leaped to the edge of the icy pool and successively cast the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra and the Azure Wood Transformation Technique.

Cultivating more top-quality Jade Leaf Mulberry trees as soon as possible will not only enhance my influence within the sect but also win bets, achieving two goals at once.

The land glowed with a warm, pale yellow light, while emerald green specks of light scattered across the sky, sparkling like a galaxy, brighter than the afterglow of the setting sun.

Several top-grade Emerald Leaf Mulberry plants exhibited an extraordinary attraction, drawing more wood-elemental spiritual light to them, so much so that the surrounding plants could only receive a meager amount of spiritual light.

Before long, these plants will become noticeably shorter.

Ji An narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking that cultivation was the same, with more resources gathering around stronger cultivators, and the way of humanity is to take from the poor to give to the rich.

Because the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Spell covers a larger area, the time required to cast the spell in the spiritual field is slightly less.

Before long, Sangtian had finished casting the spell, and Ji An arrived at the Crimson Cloud Pine Forest, where he saw a large group of Fire Crystal Ants active near the second-tier spirit pine trees, many of which were at the second or third level of Qi Refining.

The Fire Crystal Ant colony has expanded considerably, currently numbering over 50,000, and the queen ant has reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.

In the past two years, most of the high-grade pine honey collected by the ant colony has been left to the queen.

Ji An is preparing to do everything he can to support the queen ant as she breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage, at which time the number of second-stage Red Cloud Pine should increase further.

...

Ten days later.

Wei Songnian controlled the flying boat to descend slowly and said:

"The trade fair is being held at Senior Brother Gao Qinggang's cave. He just broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage half a year ago. I wonder if he will be able to release late Foundation Establishment stage pills at this trade fair."

He was filled with anticipation; the transaction was not just a buying and selling, but also a communication.

If he can obtain a late-stage Foundation Establishment pill, he can use it as a springboard to access higher-level circles.

Ji An leaped off the flying boat and laughed:

"You have a wide network of connections now; you even know alchemists in the late Foundation Establishment stage."

The other party spends less than two months a year in the sect, yet has a much wider network of connections than him.

He only got to know some alchemists through selling spirit charcoal, and most of them were just casual acquaintances.

Wei Songnian grinned, gave a mysterious smile, and transmitted his voice:

"I built our friendship by helping Senior Brother Gao deal with some inferior pills."

Every time an alchemist refines a batch of pills, it is inevitable that some inferior pills with insufficient medicinal properties and high toxicity, as well as completely unusable waste pills, will be produced.

Alchemists wouldn't sell inferior pills within their sects, so they packaged them up and sold them to merchants to recoup some costs and increase profits.

As the two entered the cave, they found more than twenty cultivators already seated in twos and threes. More than half of them were in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and there were also a few in the late-Foundation Establishment stage, demonstrating the remarkable appeal of the trade fair's initiator.

Ji An didn't know anyone, but Wei Songnian could chat with most of the cultivators, so they obviously had some kind of relationship.

"Alright, everyone who wanted to come should be here. Let's begin."

A refined-looking cultivator stepped onto the stage, emanating the spiritual pressure of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He was none other than Gao Qinggang, the owner of the cave dwelling.

He took out several jade bottles and said with a smile:

"Currently, I have three types of pills: twelve each of the Blazing Sun Pill and the Red Lotus Pill, which are used by mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators, and three Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pills, which are used by late-Foundation Establishment cultivators."

As usual, it's used to exchange for medicinal herbs that are over three hundred years old, with fire-elemental herbs being the best.

Ji An nodded slightly. A spiritual herb with a medicinal age of three hundred years has always been the main ingredient in pills for the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

The Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill contains a rich divine intent of the Fire Element Law, making it extremely valuable to certain cultivators.

"It was worth it for me, Li, to make a special trip back from Mingfeng Mountain to attend Junior Brother Gao's trade fair. Let me ask you this: was the Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill refined by Junior Brother Gao?"

A robust cultivator with a faint reddish beard stood up and spoke in a strong, resonant voice.

Gao Qinggang cupped his hands and said:

"So it's Senior Brother Li. Thank you for your kind offer. These pills were made by me."

The crowd was abuzz with discussion. The Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill could accelerate a cultivator's comprehension of the divine intent of the Fire Element Technique. Its refining difficulty was among the highest of the late-stage Foundation Establishment pills.

The other party can refine it now, and in the future, they may very well refine pills for cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage.

Wei Songnian transmitted his voice:

"Senior Brother Ji, the one with the red beard is Senior Brother Li Yuangong. He is only eighty-seven years old, with the cultivation level of the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, and he works in the Enforcement Hall."

He was one of the most promising late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect, and many of his senior brothers believed he would definitely break through to the Chaoyuan stage.

He sighed inwardly, realizing that without a three-hundred-year-old medicinal herb, he was not qualified to exchange it for a high-grade pill.

Li Yuangong laughed loudly, his voice so loud it made everyone's eardrums buzz:

"I happen to have a few Dragon Blood Fruits that are about 350 years old, which are the main ingredient in the Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill. I can exchange them with Junior Brother Gao, but I have one condition."

He didn't speak, but communicated with Gao Qinggang telepathically.

After discussing for a while, Li Yuangong handed over a wooden box, and the two parties also signed a legal agreement.

After they completed the transaction, a cultivator at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment stepped forward, took out a fist-sized bright yellow pearl, and said:

"This is the Blazing Flame Pearl, a top-grade first-tier magic artifact that has been with me for many years."

Injecting mana can unleash an attack comparable to a perfect-level explosive fireball, which can explode three times in a row, after which mana needs to be recharged.

It charges very quickly, requiring only half a breath.

I'd like to exchange this for a Purple Heart Breakthrough Pill. I wonder if any senior brother would be willing to make the exchange?

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, and no one responded. The cultivator sighed softly, shook his head, and stepped off the stage.

As its name suggests, the Purple Heart Breakthrough Pill is a pill that increases the chances of a breakthrough, improving the probability of a cultivator breaking through to the late Foundation Establishment stage and saving the cultivator many years of effort in honing their magical power.

Historically, pills for breaking through cultivation levels have always been the most expensive, so it's normal that no one is willing to exchange them.

Ji An wasn't particularly interested in these kinds of pills. His magical power had been honed to a very high level at Crimson Flame Peak, so he probably wouldn't need such pills.

After a dozen or so people had passed by, Li Yuangong stepped onto the stage and said in a deep voice:

"Process three late-stage Foundation Establishment beast hides and demon beast essence blood in exchange for pills used by late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators and second-tier low-grade fire-elemental spiritual items."

Just as Ji An was about to speak, a short, thin, elderly cultivator at the next table stood up and called out:

"I have a dozen or so Flame Crystals. Let's see how many animal hides I can exchange for them."

Ji An grinned. The other party was at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, and looked old and frail. He should be a talisman maker.

It's a pity that I'm only forty years old and in the prime of my life, yet I'm not as quick-witted as the other person.

Old Xiu took out enough Flame Crystals to exchange for all the animal hides, and walked back to his seat with a beaming smile, his beard swaying.

People came up on stage one after another, during which Wei Songnian exchanged some Foundation Establishment mid-stage pills and a top-grade defensive magic weapon.

There was nothing that interested Ji An, so he gained nothing.

Seeing that no one else was going up on stage, he walked up and said:

"My name is Ji An, and I cultivate at Crimson Flame Peak."

I want to exchange for Tier 2 Low-grade Xuanhuang Soil and Tier 2 Mid-grade Jiuquhuang Soil. I can offer Tier 2 Low-grade Lieyan Crystal and Chiyan Iron for the trade.

I still have some low-grade second-tier Crimson Cloud Pine nuts, top-grade first-tier Jade Leaf Mulberry and Copper Pattern Mulberry leaves, top-grade first-tier spirit charcoal, and Earth Spirit Fruit, etc. I wonder if any senior brother would be willing to exchange them?

He rattled off a long list of items, while the other cultivators whispered amongst themselves.

Li Yuangong stood up and said:

"I have some loess from the Nine Bends region. How much do you want?"

Ji An was overjoyed and cupped his hands in greeting, saying:

"Half a pound is enough."

"I want to exchange for twenty catties of Crimson Flame Iron, and the remaining difference will be made up with two thousand catties of second-grade low-quality pine nuts. Are you willing?"

Ji An looked at Wei Songnian, who wasn't quite sure about the prices of these things on a regular basis.

Wei Songnian nodded slightly and transmitted his voice:

"That's fair enough."

Ji An cupped his hands and said:

"Senior brother, I have enough Crimson Flame Iron, but I can only give you 800 catties of pine nuts at the moment. I will have to wait a few months for the pine nuts to mature before I can give them to you."

"I can give you 2,400 catties of pine nuts over three years. Is that acceptable?"

Ji An said that he was testing whether the other party would agree to his "installment" application.

Li Yuangong raised an eyebrow and smiled:

"The second-tier Crimson Cloud Pine was actually planted by my junior brother?"

He carefully examined the cultivator opposite him, but had no recollection of him whatsoever.

Upon hearing that there was a chance, Ji An maintained a reserved smile:

"That's exactly right."

(End of this chapter)