Chapter 165 The Auspicious Time Has Arrived

"Junior brother, you have a good method. I can agree to your deal, but I need to see a second-tier Crimson Cloud Pine first."

Li Yuangong said that he would only feel at ease if he went to the other party's cave to see the spirit wood with his own eyes. It was the first time the two had dealt with each other, and there was no trust between them yet.

Ji An cupped his hands in greeting again, his warm smile making everyone feel like they were basking in a spring breeze.

"I was just about to invite my senior brother to Crimson Flame Peak. Shall we go today or tomorrow?"

In his estimation, the second-tier mid-grade Nine-Bend Yellow Soil was the most difficult to obtain, and now that there was a possibility of a deal, he was overjoyed.

He directly stated the date and let the other party choose, reducing the possibility of them changing their mind.

Li Yuangong pondered for a moment and said:

"I have other things to do these next two days. I will arrive at Crimson Flame Peak three days from now, before 11 PM."

He also needed to commission a weapon refiner to forge a spiritual weapon. Besides, he knew absolutely nothing about the other party's background, and didn't even know where Crimson Flame Peak was.

I should at least go to the Hall of Diligent Work to inquire, as they have information on all Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Ji An smiled gently:

"I will be waiting for you with a cleared bed. Senior brother, please don't break your promise."

“I, Li Yuangong, never break my promises.”

"Alright! But it's too late to arrive at 1-3 PM, so it would be better for you to arrive before noon."

"Junior brother, I've contracted several thousand acres of spirit fields within the sect to grow various spirit trees, some of which are unique products. There's plenty of wine and meat."

Li Yuangong readily agreed:

"Junior brother is so kind as to accept my invitation. I shall gladly accept."

He enjoys fine wine, but he cannot drink while on duty and can only drink freely during his rest periods.

After the two made their agreement, Ji An continued:

"Is there any senior brother willing to lend me the Xuanhuang Soil?"

His gaze fell upon the cultivators who appeared to be weapon refiners, as these people were most likely to possess Xuanhuang Soil.

After waiting for a moment without any response, Ji An decided to escalate the situation and said:

"I have considerable experience in cultivating spirit trees. I have cultivated top-grade spirit trees by planting Jade Leaf Mulberry and Copper Pattern Mulberry on Crimson Flame Peak in just two years."

I exchanged several Xuan Ye Sword Bamboos at the sect, and one of them has now reached the superior grade.

"Leaving aside the boast of cultivating second-tier spirit bamboo, cultivating top-grade spirit bamboo is definitely not a problem. I can supply top-grade bamboo leaves for a long time to come."

He saw some people showing interest, but ultimately no cultivator stepped forward to make a deal.

Ji An shook his head slightly and walked down.

...

The group began exchanging their cultivation experiences, and the trade fair ended half an hour later.

As Ji An and his companion emerged from the cave, the cultivator who sold the Blazing Flame Pearls blocked their path, laughing as he said:

"Junior brother, how many top-grade bronze-patterned mulberry trees do you have? Can you supply them consistently?"

He kept a metal-elemental demon beast that liked to devour all kinds of ores, and usually needed to eat copper-patterned mulberry leaves with it.

However, most of the mulberry leaves of the highest quality or above are used by beast tamers to feed spirit silkworms, and he has not been able to find a stable supply channel, so his beast taming and breeding is relatively slow.

Ji An gave an awkward laugh and said:

"Currently, we only have a few top-grade copper-patterned mulberry trees, which is not enough to ensure a stable supply of mulberry leaves, since I have only planted them for two years."

"How about this, we'll leave a magical imprint, and if I have more top-grade spirit mulberry leaves in the future, I'll inform my senior brother."

“Okay, my name is Mo Shan, and I cultivate in a cave on Mount Chitong.”

The two exchanged magical imprints and then went their separate ways.

Ji An returned to Crimson Flame Peak and sent out a communication talisman sword.

...

The next day, at the end of the 9-11 AM.

Jiang Wanrong arrived at the edge of the cold pool on Crimson Flame Peak and said:

"Yesterday, Senior Brother Ji invited me to come with a talisman sword, but I didn't know why. He was being mysterious and didn't explain it clearly."

"Yulian, where is your Uncle Ji?"

"Please sit down and wait a moment. Uncle Ji is making talismans and should be finished soon."

Xia Yulian greeted them warmly, offering pine nuts, dried meat, and pickled bamboo shoots to her guests.

Jiang Wanrong chatted and ate with great enjoyment, marveling at how she could never get tired of the various foods here.

Seeing Ji An walk out of the stone house, Xia Yulian stood up and said:

"My uncle is out. I'll go help Senior Brother Liang prepare lunch."

Ji An strode over to the stone table, sat down, and said with a smile:

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Junior Sister. I discovered several top-grade Jade Leaf Mulberry trees in the spirit field, and the first person I thought of was you, Junior Sister."

Jiang Wanrong swallowed the dried meat with force, then ate a pickled bamboo shoot to clear her throat, and said with delight:

How many plants are there?

"We only have about seven or eight plants right now, but we should be able to supply them stably in another month or two."

"Senior brother is truly my lucky star!"

Two of my raised spirit silkworms have just broken through to a higher level, and they need to be fed with top-grade mulberry leaves.

Jiang Wanrong's eyes were like crescent moons as she prepared to observe the scale of the top-grade Emerald Leaf Mulberry here.

If she can reach two or three hundred plants this year, she will begin cultivating higher-level spirit silkworms.

"Come on, I'll take you to pick some mulberry leaves. I won't charge you any spirit stones for the mulberry leaves we pick today."

However, we can only harvest about 30-40% of the leaves; we also need to harvest mulberries this year to make wine.

"Thank you, senior brother."

Jiang Wanrong stood up cheerfully and urged:

"Hurry, hurry!"

...

Li Yuangong landed on the flying shuttle and channeled his magic power into the spirit pine, causing the pine needles to glow with a brilliant orange-red spiritual light.

He sensed the surging fire elemental energy within the trunk of the spirit pine tree, nodded in satisfaction, and smiled:

“Good, let’s sign the agreement and make the deal. I’ll come back in a few months to collect this year’s 800-jin share.”

Yesterday, he went to the Qin Gong Hall to inquire about Ji An's whereabouts. After Ye Changqing learned the reason for the matter, he praised him and said that there was no need to worry.

After hearing the specific details from Ye Changqing, he felt reassured about the deal.

I took a stroll around Chiyan Peak today, and it made me feel even more at ease.

Ji Anji launched the shuttle and laughed:

"We'll finish the transaction when we get back to the cold pool. Lunch will be ready soon."

The two flew to the edge of the cold pool. Ji An handed over the prepared Crimson Flame Iron and received the Nine-Bend Yellow Soil from the other party.

This magical object is golden, like metallic powder, and extremely fine.

After weighing it, Ji An used his water control technique to draw out a little clear water from the cold pool and drip it into the yellow soil.

Clear water immediately seeped in, and the winding loess soil turned into clay, which he could knead and shape at will.

He made a hand seal and released a fire spell, and the moisture in the spiritual object was quickly evaporated, turning back into fine powder.

Ji An carefully put away the Nine-Bend Yellow Soil, took out the agreement to leave his magical imprint, and handed over the jade slip containing the agreement, saying:

"Senior brother, can you check if there are any problems?"

Li Yuangong probed into his consciousness, reading it word by word, leaving his own magical imprint.

"no problem."

Ji An raised his wine glass and smiled:

"Now that we've finished discussing business, it's time for drinks, senior brother, please!"

"Please, junior brother."

After several rounds of drinks, Li Yuangong said:

"If you can cultivate a second-tier Xuan Ye Sword Bamboo, you must let me know. This thing is indispensable for refining metal-elemental spiritual weapons."

Many of the disciples in the Enforcement Hall had to use massive amounts of metal elemental essence as a substitute when forging spiritual weapons because they didn't have enough Xuan Ye Sword Bamboo spiritual liquid, which delayed them and wasted spirit stones.

"must!"

"If the number of second-tier Crimson Cloud Pines here increases, let me know."

Ji An nodded slightly and said:

"No problem, but Senior Brother is already in the late Foundation Establishment stage, what use do you have for these pine nuts?"

Pine nuts were used by mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators to refine and comprehend cultivation techniques, but they were of little use to late-Foundation Establishment cultivators. He didn't think they were meant to be eaten.

Li Yuangong sighed softly, put down his chopsticks, and said:

"The various resources in the sect's secret vault used to improve cultivation are all exchanged out shortly after they are put into storage. There is never any guarantee that they will last until the next batch of resources is put into storage."

"Once my junior brother breaks through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, he will have a deeper understanding."

Ji An scratched his head and said:

"Can I go to the secret vault now to exchange for spiritual items for cultivation?"

Store a batch now, so you won't run out later.

Li Yuangong grinned and said:

“Cultivators in the early stages of Foundation Establishment can exchange for spiritual artifacts, high-level refining materials, etc., but they cannot exchange for various spiritual items related to cultivation techniques, nor can they exchange for pills across realms. You can ask a familiar high-level cultivator to help you exchange them.”

After having eaten and drunk his fill, Li Yuangong took his leave.

Ji An activated the communication talisman sword to inquire with his master about exchanging spiritual items that could aid in cultivation techniques.

The next day, he received a reply from his master:

"Don't worry, we have transaction records of handing over second-tier top-grade resources. If we inform the sect in advance, they will prioritize reserving a sufficient share for us."

Ji An felt relieved.

...

Two weeks later.

During this period, Ji An followed Wei Songnian to three trade fairs and exchanged for two catties of Xuanhuang soil, but he was still one catty short.

At dawn, Ji An finished his cultivation. His eyes shone with spiritual light, and he felt relaxed all over. His cultivation had made some progress.

He discovered that the wood element energy he obtained from the nearby spirit mulberry tree when he released the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra before cultivation had a stronger and more vigorous aura.

Ji Anji launched his shuttle and inspected the experimental field. After carefully counting, he found that there were now a total of sixty-seven top-grade Emerald Leaf Mulberry trees.

"Senior brother, it looks like I'm going to win for sure, haha."

He muttered to himself and burst into wild laughter deep within the mulberry fields.

There are still one month and three days left until the bet expires, and given the current trend, I have no choice but to win.

He squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and squinted slightly.

The soil here was originally slightly reddish, but now it's turning black.

The Great Perfection level of the Thick Earth Returning Mantra already has the function of improving the soil, not just increasing the concentration of spiritual energy in the soil.

Ji An felt a sense of anticipation. He wondered what a magnificent sight it would be if all the soil on Crimson Flame Peak were transformed into better black soil.

One month later.

Du Huaiyuan piloted the spirit boat down and laughed loudly:

"Junior brother, the auspicious time has arrived! How many top-grade Emerald Leaf Mulberry trees do you have here?"

He leaped off the flying boat and said:

"You guys, help carry these brewing herbs downstairs."

He carried three storage bags, and his flying boat, which was over four zhang long, was piled high with all sorts of spiritual herbs and fruits.

Ji An feigned grief and said:

"Senior brother, let's go to Sangtian and count the number of top-grade spirit mulberry trees."

Du Huaiyuan said magnanimously:

"No, just tell me how many plants there are, why do I have to count them!"

Don't worry, I promise I won't laugh at you.

He estimated there would be at most fifty or sixty plants, enough to brew a dozen or so jars of spirit wine.

Ji An didn't speak, but gestured with his hand.

"Twenty-five plants? That's so few?"

Ji An made another gesture and said:

"There are 256 plants."

Du Huaiyuan's expression stiffened:

"Come on, let's go and take stock together!"

(End of this chapter)