Chapter 239 The Future of Emerald Cliff

“These consumable items, such as talismans, were gifts I gave to my senior brother. How can you say they were borrowed?”

My senior colleague gave me tree seeds, and I accepted them without hesitation.

Ji An shook his head. As long as the other party could obtain a spirit seed of comparable value to the Youyue Cangyu Tree, it would be worth the vote.

This is a venture capital investment. It would be great if it yielded a return, but it's acceptable if it didn't. There's no such thing as a sure thing.

Liu Yu was silent for a moment, then chuckled and said:

"Junior brother's actions are 'forcing' me to risk my life."

I would feel guilty if I didn't do my best to find the relevant spiritual seeds or plants.

He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding; he who takes another's money is obligated to do his bidding.

"Hehe, senior brother, don't have that idea."

Ji An waved his hand. The talisman he gave was a first-grade high-quality talisman. After several years of nurturing, it had been upgraded to the level of a late-stage Foundation Establishment body cultivator.

Although it can only last for 15 minutes, it can definitely play a decisive role at crucial moments.

He didn't mention the power of the talisman soldiers, so as not to put his senior brother under any psychological burden, which would be undesirable. It wouldn't be too late to tell him when the other party went to the Canglan Secret Realm.

He paused, then continued:

"Finding the Heavenly Origin Ginseng is the most important thing; finding the Spirit Seed is just a side matter."

The secret realm opens once every sixty years, and it is an important source of Heavenly Origin Ginseng for sects.

Each time a secret realm opens, the various sects will start refining Qi-Nourishing Pills.

As his status rose, Ji An knew that with the cultivation in the sect's various medicinal gardens, the sect could refine at least two batches of Qi-Nourishing Pills every sixty years, with two to three pills produced in each batch.

Only with a stable supply of breakthrough pills can the number of cultivators in the sect's Central Origin stage steadily increase.

Liu Yu put away the talismans and magical artifacts, and solemnly said:

"Junior brother, wait for my good news. If we can teleport to the same location as Senior Sister Ge when we enter the secret realm, our gains will definitely be substantial."

He was confident that his combat skills were no weaker than those of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Level 9 cultivator. With the cooperation of a Foundation Establishment Level 8 sword cultivator, he did not feel much pressure when facing several Foundation Establishment Level 9 enemies.

The table in the living room was filled with various kinds of spiritual food.

The honey-baked fish uses red grouper that has been raised to the Foundation Establishment stage, paired with second-tier white jade honey, resulting in an irresistible aroma.

The roasted meat with pine honey is made from beef from a mid-Foundation Establishment stage wild boar sourced from Luoyan Mountain, and the pine honey is a second-tier Crimson Cloud Pine Honey that has been specially refined by Fire Crystal Ants.

Two bamboo sections were placed next to Liu Yu and Ge Luoying, each containing pine nut wine.

Ge Ying and the others were all practicing the Green Wood Everlasting Spring Technique, and the bamboo section next to them contained mulberry wine.

Two maids helped pour the spirit wine into the glasses; the mulberry wine shimmered with a green light, while the pine nut wine was as clear as fire.

Ji An picked up his wine cup and smiled:

"Master, fellow senior sisters and brothers, please try our special spiritual wine."

He only gave some of this bamboo-joint wine to his master; the others had never tasted it.

Everyone raised their glasses from afar and drank together.

Zhong Yuefei pursed her lips, savoring the mellow and lingering aroma of the wine, and smiled:

"Junior brother, you are really enjoying life here. If the alchemy task is urgent, I must take the Bigu Pill to speed up the process."

She modified the flavors in various ways, but still didn't like taking fasting pills.

Ge Ying put down her wine glass, a smile playing on her lips:

"With a daily intake of high-grade spiritual foods and a sufficient supply of pills, Ji An's cultivation level can still increase rapidly."

Zhong Yuefei shook her head slightly:

"I've only been able to guarantee a sufficient supply of Xuanmu Gathering Spirit Pills in the last few years; the quota I get from the sect is not enough to ensure a adequate supply."

Pills for the late Foundation Establishment stage often require two to three hundred years of aging, and the sect's medicinal garden cannot guarantee the supply of pills for so many cultivators.

The higher the grade of the elixir, the more pronounced this is.

Liu Yu gave a wry smile and said:

"The sect has the most cultivators practicing fire-based techniques, and the competition for related elixirs is the fiercest."

According to my Uncle-Master Jia Yu from the Treasure Pavilion, we disciples can't even exchange for a sufficient quantity of pills. I'm trying to find other channels to purchase pills.

Within the sect, there are the largest number of weapon refiners and beast tamers. All weapon refiners inevitably cultivate fire-based techniques, and more than half of the cultivators in the Enforcement Hall cultivate fire-based techniques. In addition, with some alchemists participating in the competition, the number of pills he can exchange for is pitifully small.

This year marks his first year of breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and he has been allocated a sufficient share of pills. However, starting next year, that may not be the case.

If he weren't a top-tier disciple, he could probably only guarantee a basic supply of twelve.

Ge Ying pondered for a moment and said:

"In the entire cultivation world, the number of cultivators practicing fire-based techniques is the largest."

Now that the sect's main spiritual vein has been upgraded to the lower third rank, and with more high-grade spiritual fields, this situation will change in a few decades.

Zhong Yuefei interjected:

"The number of high-level spirit farmers in the sect is still too small. If there were a group of spirit farmers like Junior Brother Ji who could master the three planting techniques to the extreme, it would greatly alleviate this predicament."

"If Junior Brother Ji could control several second-tier herb gardens, I think shortening the maturation time of spiritual herbs by one or two decades would be a very easy thing."

The Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra, the Green Wood Transformation Technique, and the Spring Breeze Transforming into Rain Technique—each of these spells has the effect of accelerating the accumulation of medicinal age.

Ge Ying nodded slightly:

“Ji An will inevitably take charge of a medicinal garden on a spiritual vein, and the management of Ningcui Cliff will be handed over to him in the future.”

As her life drew to a close, the sect's original plan was for Lin Mao to take over, but now that her disciple had broken through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, Ningcui Cliff should still be prioritized for their lineage to control.

Ji An grinned, a worried expression on his face:

"Master, is it really possible that this will happen?"

Based on the experience of planting herbs in the cave, high-grade spiritual herbs absorb spiritual energy very quickly. To accumulate medicinal age rapidly, one must persist in casting spells every day.

However, he could not give up on the stone tortoise absorbing spiritual energy at Crimson Flame Peak. If he rode the flying shuttle to Emerald Cliff every day, the time spent on the journey plus the time spent casting spells on the herb garden would take more than three hours.

He wasted too much time on useless work, which inevitably delayed his spiritual practice.

Ge Ying nodded and said in a deep voice:

"I don't want anyone else to control Ningcui Cliff. Handing it over to you is the best choice."

The sect will not reclaim Crimson Flame Peak; it will remain your training ground.

Several years ago, the Diligent Work Hall had discussed the ownership of Ningcui Cliff with her. If she did not have a high-level spiritual farmer disciple in the late Foundation Establishment stage before her death, Ningcui Cliff would have to be handed over to someone else to manage.

“Running back and forth between the two places will waste too much time.”

"If the sect truly decides that you will take over Ningcui Cliff, it will consider the actual situation and make relevant arrangements."

Ge Ying shook her head and chuckled. If the disciples were to sacrifice themselves in vain, the sect would not have any cohesion.

She turned and asked:

"Liu Yu, are you going back to Mingfeng Mountain this time when you return to the sect?"

Liu Yu immediately put down his wine glass:

"I will return to the sect on the spirit boat in half a month, and return to the sect a month before the secret realm opens."

"That's what Luo Ying arranged too. You two can find time to hunt demons together, so you can figure out how to cooperate."

Growing laughed:

"Grandmother, you don't need to worry about the battle."

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Master, we hunt demons all year round. After a few rehearsals, we can work together seamlessly."

Two days later.

As Ji An saw everyone off, maids brought out gifts one by one.

"This white jade jar contains second-grade honey, the bamboo section contains spirit wine, the small porcelain jar contains jade dew and golden bud tea, and the storage bag contains roasted pine nuts."

The rosewood gift box contains spirit peaches and spirit apricots. The second-tier Heavenly Origin Pear Tree is now bearing fruit, and I will send a few to everyone's caves to enjoy once the fruit is ripe.

All the gifts he gave out were second-tier spiritual items. Liu Yu received the most Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea, and Ge Luoying received two more catties of Sword Bamboo Golden Leaves than the others.

Zhong Yuefei took out a light blue jade bottle and smiled:

"I feel embarrassed to receive so many gifts on my first visit to Crimson Flame Peak."

Here are a few Mystic Wood Spirit Gathering Pills, please accept them, Junior Brother.

The gifts were very valuable and could be used as resources for exchange, so she was very generous; there were five pills in the jade bottle.

Ji An readily accepted the pills:

"Please accept this as a small token of my appreciation, Senior Sister."

As for the elixirs, I would be impolite to refuse them.

The primary purpose of interaction is to explore spiritual practice, and the secondary purpose is to exchange what each other needs.

He then transmitted his voice:

"When the Dragon Blood Fruit reaches four hundred years of medicinal age, I hope to exchange it for some Purple Ganoderma Lucidum Essence-Nourishing Pills from my senior sister."

Zhong Yuefei nodded almost imperceptibly, her smile widening.

The main ingredients in high-level pill formulas are rare. If she had more opportunities to refine them, her success rate in refining the Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill would increase again.

Gloying's cheeks flushed slightly; aside from the materials for refining the flying sword, she had no decent return gift to offer.

Although she felt slightly embarrassed, she accepted the gift and secretly decided to search for more seeds of high-level spiritual plants.

Ji An used his telekinesis to put the freshly made Huangya Dan into a jade bottle.

One hundred portions of medicinal herbs have all been refined, with a success rate of nearly 80%. On average, each batch yields six genuine pills.

If he were to go back to refining the Bigu Pill now, both the success rate and the pill-forming rate would be improved.

He left his cave and flew to the icy pool, asking:

How are the sales of the Bigu Pills going? At what price are you selling them?

He had given the pills to his disciples a month ago, and he hadn't asked about them once.

Now that there's a new elixir available, he wants to check out the market for it.

Huang Xuan looked embarrassed and scratched his head, saying:

"Uncle-Master, five Bigu Pills can be sold for one spirit stone, and four premium Bigu Pills are sold for one spirit stone."

Our circle of acquaintances is having some difficulty dealing with these kinds of pills; we currently have over a hundred left.

I contacted a disciple who was a traveling merchant. He said he would come in a few days to consume the remaining pills, and the purchase price was one spirit stone for six pills.

"Once all the pills have been sold, I will give the spirit stones to my martial uncle."

The demon-hunting disciples would prepare some fasting pills, but the spiritual farmers near Crimson Flame Peak had very little demand for them.

Ji An frowned slightly. Other alchemists who wanted to earn spirit stones would specialize in a few types of pills.

An apprentice like him, whose main goal is to improve his alchemy skills, would find it difficult to earn spirit stones by refining pills.

Because once a certain type of pill can generate a stable profit, he will stop refining it.

He took out his storage bag and said:

"These are 420 Huangya Dan pills. See what you think is the best way to sell them."

If retail is a waste of time, then leave it all to the traveling merchants.

Huang Xuan took the storage bag and smiled:

"Pills that can improve cultivation are in high demand and don't need to be handed over to merchants."

Ji An took out a pill formula, "This is the formula for the Ginseng Essence Pill. Gather the materials for one hundred doses tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)