Chapter 296 Luxury

Lingxiao Mountain, the rear hall of Qin Gong Hall.

The room was filled with the gentle fragrance of incense, a subtle and pleasant aroma that soothed the soul.

The aroma, when inhaled, invigorates the spirit.

Ge Ying's eyes were filled with pride as she softly said:

“Uncle-Master, we originally agreed to build a teleportation array between Crimson Flame Peak and Emerald Cliff. We request that construction begin now.”

Within sects, there are very few examples of Foundation Establishment cultivators teaching disciples at the Chaoyuan stage; perhaps only one such example occurs every hundred years.

"The materials for the teleportation array have been prepared, but Junior Brother Chu Huaige currently has a mission to complete, and construction is expected to begin in about a month."

Zhang Zizhao smiled and turned to look at Ji An, whose eyes were calm and deep, and nodded inwardly.

The other party is under seventy years old and cultivates the Green Wood Everlasting Spring Technique, which has the ability to prolong life. He has now become a cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage. At this age, he can be called a teenager.

He is young and promising but not arrogant; he is capable of shouldering great responsibilities in the future, and his path to achieving the Golden Elixir is promising.

He once thought it would be difficult for the other party to break through to the Chaoyuan stage, after all, their aptitude was only at the middle grade.

To his surprise, the other party achieved a breakthrough smoothly simply by understanding the cultivation technique, which greatly exceeded his expectations.

It turns out that once you understand the cultivation method to a certain extent, it can greatly compensate for a lack of talent, thus reducing the obstacles when breaking through.

"As long as my uncle keeps this matter in mind, that's good."

Ge Ying smiled and said that Chu Huaige was a Chaoyuan-stage array master in the sect and was usually very busy.

The materials are now ready, and once the other party has some free time, the teleportation array can be built in just two or three days.

Ji An replied:

"Palace Master, there is another matter I have come to inform you of. I will be holding a celebration at Crimson Flame Peak on the Jiazi day of next month at Chenshi. I would be honored to have the honor of attending."

He originally wanted to address the other party as "senior brother," but it was somewhat inappropriate to address the master as "senior brother" here; it would be better to address him by his title.

"Haha, I'll definitely go. It's been a long time since we've had anything so lively."

Zhang Zizhao burst into laughter. Over the next ten days or so, he would be attending three celebrations in a row.

In his memory, the sect had not seen such a grand occasion in nearly a hundred years.

After chatting for half an hour, Ji An and his companion took their leave.

As Ji An walked out of the main hall, he said:

"Master, I'm going to talk to Fellow Daoist Ye next. Would you like to come along?"

These past few years, with the constant calamities and reconstruction efforts, Ye Changqing hasn't visited Crimson Flame Peak in person for many years.

The last time he went to the Transmission Hall to exchange for cultivation techniques, he left in a hurry.

Now that we're here at the Hall of Diligent Work, we must have a good chat.

"I won't go; I'll go straight back to Ningcui Cliff."

Ge Ying summoned a flying shuttle and drifted away.

Ji An entered the front hall and was flipping through account books. Ye Changqing glanced at him and smiled faintly:

"Uncle-Master Ji, what brings you here?"

Ji An laughed and scolded:

"That's too formal, Fellow Daoist Ye, you're embarrassing me!"

The two met after he established his foundation and have been friends for nearly forty years. Addressing each other by seniority seems too distant.

He felt a deep sense of melancholy. After not seeing him for several years, the other person's hair had turned as white as snow, and wrinkles had covered his face, especially on his forehead and around his eyes.

Perhaps because he practiced the Evergreen Spring Technique, he was able to faintly sense a decaying, deathly aura emanating from the other party.

If I'm not mistaken, the other party's time will probably come within the next ten years or so.

Ye Changqing grinned and said:

"Hehe, it's been almost a month since Martial Uncle broke through to the Chaoyuan stage, right? I only found out when I was chatting with the Palace Master."

In his view, the fact that the other party did not share such good news immediately implied a sense of alienation.

Many people who are on the same level call each other brothers, but once their status changes, they naturally become estranged. He has seen this kind of thing many times.

Ji An shook his head slightly and explained:

"My initial plan was to inform my friends when the celebration was held, by which time the dragon blood fruit had turned completely red and reached two hundred years of medicinal age."

The seeds of this spiritual tree were a gift from you, fellow Daoist. We promised to reciprocate with spiritual fruits!

"What's wrong, fellow Daoist? You've lost your appetite?"

"Dragon Blood Fruit!"

Ye Changqing sighed softly, a look of reminiscence in his eyes.

When he handed the seeds to the other party, he had some expectations of tasting the dragon blood fruit, but he didn't have high hopes.

More than thirty years have passed, and his life is nearing its end. Unexpectedly, he still has time to taste the spiritual fruit.

"Good, fellow Daoist, you still remember your promise from back then. I, this old man, will shamelessly attend the celebration."

However, let me make this clear beforehand: don't expect any gifts or anything like that. I don't have any spiritual items that a cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage would find useful.

A sly glint flashed in Ye Changqing's eyes.

Ji An shook his head and waved his hand, saying:

"That won't do! You should at least send some spirit stones!"

Haha, no!

The jokes eased the subtle distance between them, and the two sat down to talk.

Most of the time, Ye Changqing was the one talking, reminiscing about the past, recounting the sect's development over the past two hundred years, and the turmoil caused by these demonic and monster calamities.

Before we knew it, more than half an hour had passed.

Ye Changqing said quietly:

"I have already applied to the Palace Master for retirement. Once my junior brother takes over, I will spend the rest of my life with strong tea and light wine."

There was a sense of desolation in his words.

Ji An remained silent. A cultivator's lifespan is much longer than that of a mortal, but if they cannot maintain their momentum of continuous improvement, they will one day be swallowed up by the dust of time.

On the road to immortality, many white bones lie buried beneath the sand.

After informing Ji An of the time of the celebration, Ji An took his leave.

After leaving the main hall, he said to Ye Changqing, who had come out to see him off:

"Fellow Daoist, if you have any free time in the future, you are welcome to visit me at Crimson Flame Peak. There will be plenty of second-tier spirit wine and you can eat as much spirit fruit as you like."

Putting aside other things, the warehouse at Crimson Flame Peak still has two cases of low-grade pine nut wine, totaling six or seven thousand catties.

Second-tier spirit fruits cannot be guaranteed, but there are plenty of first-tier top-grade spirit fruits.

"Haha, I'm very happy to hear you say that, fellow Daoist."

After leaving the Hall of Diligent Work, Ji An went to the second floor of the Hall of Transmission of Skills to inform Mo Feiyu of the time of the celebration.

"Okay, I'll definitely be there!"

Mo Feiyu smiled brightly as he inquired from Jia Yu about the cultivators who had broken through to the Chaoyuan stage in recent months.

Upon learning that a second-tier mid-grade Crimson Cloud Pine and Cloud Top Jade Tree had been cultivated in Crimson Flame Peak, he was overjoyed. Tea and wine were both his favorites.

From now on, there will be new channels to buy your favorite items.

As for "absenteeism," it's not a problem.

Guarding the second floor of the Transmission Hall is the easiest task. Unless a disciple breaks through to the Chaoyuan stage, it's normal to not see a single person for a year.

The sect only has a few dozen cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage, and there aren't many cultivation techniques stored here. They've already copied all their cultivation insights at once, so there's no need for them to come here.

After being kept chatting for half an hour, Ji An stood up and said:

"Senior brother, I will be waiting for your arrival."

It's getting late, so I must take my leave now.

Studying cultivation techniques, opening up liver meridian patterns, and attending banquets, Ji An's life was busy and fulfilling.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the celebration to be held at Crimson Flame Peak.

Wei Songtao hired ten young and beautiful female disciples as maids, and also hired five spirit farmers to do chores.

With Wei Songnian's assistance, the two brothers managed everything in an orderly manner.

Liang Qiu, Xia Yuhan, and Xia Yulian all came to the kitchen to help, while Liu Yu and his fellow apprentices came to greet the guests. This was not a hard job; it was a good opportunity to expand their network.

Ji An had originally arranged for his master to sit with the other cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage, but they declined, saying they would feel uncomfortable and it would affect their appetite.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. The topic of cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage is not on the same level as that of disciples in the Foundation Establishment stage, so he did not insist.

The maids, dressed in light blue silk skirts, moved like blooming flowers or flitting butterflies.

Before the banquet even began, the Yunding Silver Needle Tea emitted a delicate fragrance, and servings of spiritual fruits, second-grade mid-level roasted pine nuts, and dried mulberries were brought out.

Each cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage can enjoy one mid-grade second-tier spiritual fruit and two low-grade second-tier spiritual fruits: spiritual peach, heavenly pear, and spiritual apricot.

The radiant glow of the spirit peach ignited Jia Yu's eyes. He picked up the fruit and took a big bite, the fragrant juice of the spirit fruit spreading between his lips and teeth.

The spiritual fruit has very little residue. As soon as the pulp and juice enter the stomach, a warm current rises from the stomach, and wisps of fire-elemental spiritual energy flow along the immortal meridians to the heart.

The surface of his heart was surrounded by pale golden flame patterns, which now shimmered faintly.

After finishing the spirit peach, he gently patted his belly and said to Zhu Xiangrong beside him:

"That kid Ji is up to no good! The mid-grade spirit fruit is too filling; I'm afraid we won't be able to eat much later!"

Zhu Xiangrong chuckled and said:

"Yes, Junior Brother is right. These spiritual fruits should be given as gifts after the banquet."

"Indeed!"

"But can the gift you're offering compare to the value of the food at today's banquet? We can't let our new junior brother suffer a loss!"

On the other side, Han Yan took small bites of the spirit peach, covering her mouth with her sleeve as she chewed, and then whispered:

"What a waste! It would be so much better to refine mid-grade spiritual fruits into pills!"

As the sect's only alchemist at the Chaoyuan stage, she prefers to refine all kinds of spiritual fruits that can be used as medicine into pills.

On average, cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage obtain far fewer pills per year than those in the Foundation Establishment stage, making each high-grade spiritual fruit extremely precious.

Jia Yu wiped her mouth and interjected:

"Hehe, I think Junior Sister should be more worried about the cultivation of spiritual herbs."

Crimson Flame Peak is planted with a large number of spirit fruit trees. Junior Brother Ji has now cultivated planting techniques at the Origin Stage, so the number of mid-grade second-tier spirit trees will increase significantly in the future, and the production of spirit herbs will likely be unable to keep up.

When refining pills, even if the main ingredient is a spiritual fruit, it must be supplemented with other spiritual herbs.

The higher the grade of the pill, the more types of spiritual herbs and the longer the medicinal period are required. Although this is not absolute, it is true for most pills.

Zhang Zizhao replied with a smile:

"The gap won't be too big. Junior Brother Ji will be taking over Ningcui Cliff. With a Spirit Farmer in the Chaoyuan stage helping out, the growth rate of the spiritual herbs will definitely be several levels faster."

Han Yan's eyes brightened slightly, but she quickly frowned again and said:

"I don't know how effective the spells of the Chaoyuan stage are. Even if the effects are extremely strong, it will still take time to raise the spell level to the level of rapidly accumulating medicinal age."

"It would take at least a decade or more of accumulation, right?"

The others nodded slightly upon hearing this. The levels of magic are divided into beginner, proficient, minor mastery, major mastery, and perfection, but for a magic effect to truly achieve a qualitative leap, it needs to reach the perfection level.

Time is the fairest thing; each person has only twelve two-hour periods a day.

Cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage need to open up their divine palace, nourish the core of their divine palace with qi, and cultivate techniques to improve their cultivation. After such a busy period, how much time is left each day?

To master all the planting spells to the point of perfection, it would probably take at least a decade.

Another point is that sometimes hard work doesn't necessarily bring results, and sometimes practicing spells for a long time doesn't yield any new insights. This is when people are most disheartened.

Jia Yu's gaze turned serious, and she realized that her thinking was still too optimistic.

Even if he looks at Junior Brother Ji again, the other party still has to follow the basic rules of things.

At another table, Li Yuangong and Yue Yunlong looked at each other with gritted teeth, their eyes filled with shock.

Before the banquet even started, there were mid-grade second-tier spirit fruits and pine nuts, things that they couldn't possibly bring out for their celebrations.

Yue Yunlong thought to himself, this is too extravagant, it's something a cultivator who has just entered the Chaoyuan stage could not do.

The cultivation pill requires 50,000 units, which is a huge burden for disciples who still need to maintain their cultivation.

I don't know about others, but in order to exchange for the pills, he sold off all his possessions except for his own beasts.

Li Yuangong scratched his head; his impression of Crimson Flame Peak was still limited to the few second-tier low-grade Crimson Cloud Pines it possessed.

After a while, Wei Songtao came over and transmitted his voice:

"Grandmaster, all the invited guests have arrived. There are also some uninvited guests who have come to give gifts, but they do not wish to stay for the banquet."

I copied down the names of these people and the gift list.

Ji An nodded slightly. "Serve the dishes and begin the banquet."

He stood up, gathered his magic power in his throat, and his gentle voice echoed in every corner:

"Thank you, senior brothers and sisters, and fellow Daoists, for gracing us with your presence."

After saying a few polite words, he announced the start of the banquet.

Each cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage was given a small pot of second-grade mid-level pine nut wine and two jars of low-grade spirit wine. The main dish was late-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast meat, and the pickled second-grade spirit bamboo shoots were very appetizing.

Freshly grilled red grouper was served. Jia Yu frowned slightly and joked:

"Junior Brother Ji, is it because there are too many people coming and there aren't enough spirit fish in the cold pool to go around? That's too stingy."

The grilled fish was only half a fish, and it wasn't very big.

"Exactly, that's incredibly stingy!"

The crowd chuckled good-naturedly; in fact, the scale of the celebration was much larger than that of the celebrations they had attended a few days earlier.

Ji An cupped his hands and explained:

"Please forgive us, fellow senior brothers and sisters. Crimson Flame Peak has only recently cultivated second-tier mid-grade Jade Leaf Mulberry, so the stock of mid-grade honey is not large."

"To let everyone taste this honey-baked fish, we had no choice but to resort to this tactic."

Jia Yu raised his eyebrows and smiled憨憨地:

"Grilled fish made with second-grade mid-level honey? Ah, never mind, I take back what I said."

Ladies and gentlemen, let's eat first!

The second-grade mid-level honey produced in the sect's medicine garden is all used to refine various pills, so how could it possibly be used to grill fish?

What a waste!

Han Yan was heartbroken. Second-grade mid-level honey could not only be used to make pills that enhance cultivation, but also to make beauty pills.

Among female cultivators, beauty-enhancing pills can be used as a form of hard currency.

She chewed on a piece of grilled fish with resentment, and the bitter and resentful expression on her face immediately softened.

'It's so delicious! The taste is completely different from other honey-baked fish!'

(End of this chapter)