Chapter 166 Mo Shan's Visit

A gentle breeze blows, the green waves ripple, and the leaves rustle, creating a melodious symphony.

For the Lingnong, this was heavenly music.

"Senior brother, there are two hundred and fifty-six plants in total. Is the number correct?"

Ji An spoke softly, trying to keep his tone emotionless so as not to upset the other person.

If you win the bet, the other person has already lost badly; there's no need to act like a villain.

According to their original agreement, they would provide the raw materials and venue, while the other party would provide the technology. After the deal was completed, the profits would be split 60/40.

Of course, he couldn't possibly give nothing at all.

Du Huaiyuan grinned and gave a wry smile:

"I lost, and I admit defeat wholeheartedly."

However, he quickly cheered up and laughed loudly:

"It's not appropriate to make this kind of bet with you again in the future. It would be too much of a loss for me to give up the agreed benefits."

Previously, most of his brewing materials were first-grade high-quality spiritual fruits and herbs, and he rarely used a single top-grade material in large quantities.

In the future, there will be more and more top-quality Jade Leaf Mulberry trees here, and he will be able to obtain more benefits.

More importantly, brewing high-grade spiritual wine brings him joy, even more so than improving his cultivation.

Du Huaiyuan reached out and patted Ji An on the shoulder, asking:

"How did you do that? I already assessed it when we made the bet; theoretically, it's impossible for so many top-grade spirit mulberries to appear."

Of course, if it involves your secret techniques, you don't need to answer.

He must have been confident when he made the bet, otherwise why would he bet on a game he was sure to lose?

Ji An smiled, revealing eight pearly white teeth. He stomped his foot hard and asked:

"Senior brother, have you noticed that the soil here is slightly different from before?"

Du Huaiyuan's attention was drawn to his feet. He squatted down to examine them closely and grinned, saying:

"Junior brother, I'm sorry to trouble you. I never paid attention to the soil quality here before."

His attention was focused on Ling Sang, and he never cared about the ground beneath his feet.

Ji An felt like he was putting on a show for a blind man. He manipulated the magic dig to release the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra, and a warm, spiritual light spread across his skin, bringing with it a profound sense of mystery.

"My secret method is quite simple: just take the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra to its extreme."

Du Huaiyuan felt an urge to punch someone, and gritted his teeth, saying:

"You're saying that pushing magic to its limit is simple? Speak plainly!"

Despite all that, he never pushed any spell to its limit.

Among the people he knew, only those veteran Qi Refining Ninth Level cultivators and veteran Foundation Establishment cultivators who had no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment possessed this ability.

Take his most proficient water control technique as an example. He uses this technique when refining elixirs and brewing wine. It can be said that it has been completely integrated into his life and cultivation.

But you can sense that it's still a little short of reaching its ultimate potential.

Du Huaiyuan felt the Dharma power slowly seeping into the soil, and sighed softly, "My pride has been hurt!"

The Thick Earth Returning to Origin Spell is a spell that only Foundation Establishment cultivators can learn. My junior brother has only been in Foundation Establishment for a little over ten years. Did he not feel any bottleneck in practicing the spell?

If this talent were to learn earth-based techniques, I wonder how powerful it would be.

He waved his hand and said:

"I'm not going to say anything more. I need to go back and prepare for the initial work of brewing wine. Send some people to pick fresh mulberries."

He paused for a moment, then said:

"We won't use the medium-grade mulberries to make wine."

If you have a good one, you won't want to use a bad one anymore.

Ji An nodded slightly:

"I'll send Flying Tiger out to recruit more people right now. As for the wine made from the finest mulberries, give 40% to Senior Brother."

"No need. A bet is a bet. I'll just make sure I can have a few more drinks when I come to Crimson Flame Peak in the future."

Du Huaiyuan did not agree. He had to keep the bet he had proposed, otherwise it would make him seem like a sore loser.

He gave a fawning smile, rubbed his hands together, and said:

"Junior brother, how many kilograms of second-grade pine nuts can be used to brew pine nut wine this year?"

"I estimate it to be at most 200 jin. I reached an agreement with a senior brother that 800 jin would be needed to purchase spiritual items for three consecutive years."

Ji An replied that after deducting Li Yuangong's share, he estimated that only three or four hundred catties would be left. After processing a batch of pine nuts for social occasions, there wouldn't be much left.

Du Huaiyuan said with great sorrow:

"What a pity!"

"Buzz"

A white jade bee flew past the two of them, and Du Huaiyuan's eyes lit up again. He laughed and said:

"This year's honey harvest is going to be bountiful. What grade has the queen bee reached now?"

Honey and royal jelly are both good things. Now that Crimson Flame Peak has a large amount of high-quality honey sources, it will continuously produce various high-grade spiritual items in the future.

"The queen bee is only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, and the expansion rate of the bee colony is much slower than that of the fire crystal ants."

When the two returned to the distillery, all the raw materials had already been moved down into the warehouse.

Du Huaiyuan laughed:

"Junior brother, we need to build an underground warehouse here to store the spirit wine. The cold pool simply can't hold it all."

Ji An nodded:

"arrange."

...

As the mulberries ripened in abundance, Du Huaiyuan became extremely busy, as did Huang Feihu and the others.

Crimson Flame Peak recruits a dozen or twenty disciples every day to help, but even so, the manpower is still insufficient.

By the cold pond, Mo Shan habitually reached out to grab some mulberries to eat, only to find that the plate was empty again.

He patted his belly and laughed:

"Haha, I ate a bit too much by accident, please forgive me, junior brother."

This was the third plate of premium mulberries he had finished. The Emerald Leaf Mulberry was a wood-elemental spiritual plant, while he cultivated fire-elemental techniques. It tasted exceptionally delicious, and the magical power within his body seemed to become more active.

Ji An said:

“What’s the point? I’ll have someone go and pick some more. Let my senior brother have his fill today.”

I haven't congratulated you yet on successfully breaking through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, senior brother. I'll take some more with me later.

Just over a month ago, the other party was still trying to buy the Purple Heart Breakthrough Pill, and now they have achieved their wish and broken through.

The two had just completed a significant transaction; Ji An sold copper-patterned mulberry leaves and received over seven hundred spirit stones in return.

Both parties agreed to supply goods once every six months, after which there would be a steady stream of profits.

The effects of the Great Perfection level Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra began to show clearly, with equally powerful effects on metal and earth elemental spirit trees. All four earth spirit fruit trees have been cultivated to the highest grade.

In the copper-patterned mulberry fields of Crimson Flame Peak, there are more than 120 top-quality mulberry trees, and their number is steadily increasing.

"Thank you, junior brother. I see you're still brewing wine. Never mind, remember to let your older brother know when you've brewed the finest mulberry wine."

I also really like this drink.

Ji An nodded slightly and smiled:

"Definitely. My senior brother said that mulberry wine tastes best after being aged in a cellar for three years after brewing. I will inform Senior Brother Mo at that time."

"good."

Mo Yuan laughed heartily. The sect's top-grade spirit wines were simply not enough to satisfy the many drunkards in the Weapon Refining Hall.

Now that he has a new way of making money, how could he not be happy?

He coughed lightly and then said:

"My junior brother was trying to acquire Xuanhuang soil a few days ago. I wonder if he got what he wanted?"

If not, I recently bought a pound of it, you can take it.

Ji An was overjoyed and said:

"We're still short half a jin. Senior brother, you're truly a timely help. Do you want spirit stones or other spiritual items?"

After obtaining the Xuanhuang soil, the only material missing for the Xinghuang Banner was the banner itself.

Once Liu Suyun has collected enough golden-spotted spider silk, she can begin weaving.

He is now finally experiencing the benefits of having a wide network of connections, but all of this is based on his ability to meet the needs of others.

This spiritual field will continue to be cultivated, and we will move towards the high-end market.

Once he can stably supply a large quantity of second-tier low-grade spiritual items, he will have a place in the sect.

"I have plenty of spirit stones, but I wonder if you have any Crimson Flame Iron? Or any other refining materials would also be fine."

Mo Shan said that he was a weapon refiner and earned spirit stones very quickly, and that various weapon refining materials were what he needed.

"Yes, how do I redeem it?"

"We'll barter, and the two materials are of equal value. Half a pound of Xuanhuang Soil for half a pound of Crimson Flame Iron, how about it?"

“Okay, senior brother, please wait a moment, I will go to the cave to get it.”

After Ji An finished speaking, he launched a flying shuttle and sped towards the cave halfway up the mountain.

The setting sun reflected on the water, making it shimmer. Ji An squatted by the cold pool, practicing his water control technique, creating several small whirlpools at his fingertips.

Du Huaiyuan plopped down in a chair and let out a long sigh:

"I'm exhausted."

After more than a month of hard work, the mulberry wine is finally ready to be brewed and will be available for sale after a few years of fermentation.

Ji An turned his head and said:

"Brother, you've worked hard. I'll catch a red grouper for dinner."

The red grouper is the most expensive spirit fish in the Cold Pool, and also the one with the most delicious flesh and the most spiritual energy. A batch of them must be handed over to the sect every year.

"I'll come; catching fish is a good pastime."

Du Huaiyuan walked to the edge of the cold pool, squatted down, and began to perform the water control incantation.

Red grouper are deep-water fish that inhabit the lower layers of cold pools.

The instant the incantation was released, Du Huaiyuan sensed that everything seemed somewhat different.

Controlling the water flow felt like an extension of his own body; his consciousness merged with the water, allowing him to sense the subtle eddies created by fish flapping their tails in the deep water.

In a flash of inspiration, he controlled the water flow and pulled out a fish nearly three feet long, its bright red scales gleaming in the setting sun.

Ji An was surprised:

"So fast?"

Red grouper is very difficult to catch; it usually takes him at least fifteen minutes to catch one.

"Ha ha."

Du Huaiyuan laughed loudly, withdrew his magic, and released the red stone spot in his hand.

The fish splashed water on the surface, then quickly swam downwards and disappeared into the green waves.

Du Huaiyuan once again activated the water control technique, and a two-and-a-half-foot-long red rockfish was pulled out of the water.

Ji An was taken aback and asked:

"Senior brother, how did you do that? Did you master some secret technique? Teach me!"

Du Huaiyuan smiled reservedly and said:

"My secret technique is quite simple: just take the water control technique to its extreme."

He looked at Ji An with great interest, anticipating the other's expression the next moment.

That's it?

Ji An didn't voice his true feelings, but his eyes showed horror. After a moment, he cupped his hands and said:

"Congratulations, senior! I wonder when I'll reach your level."

He sighed again, his eyes turning to envy.

The other party has worked so hard to brew wine for so long without receiving any payment, so they deserve emotional value.

"Haha, let's eat this tonight!"

Du Huaiyuan felt relieved. Although the Water Control Technique was only a basic spell, without sufficient understanding of water-related spells, he would never have reached his current level.

(End of this chapter)