Chapter 112 Entering Crimson Flame Peak
The shuttle-shaped design resembles a sampan with two pointed prows, and is about ten feet long.
Ji An purchased the best model of the Spirit Shuttle, which, when activated, is several levels faster than a flying boat, and its top speed is said to be comparable to that of a mid-Foundation Establishment sword cultivator flying on a sword.
Of course, high-speed flight consumes a lot of spirit stones. Each time the spirit shuttle is activated, ten spirit stones need to be loaded, but it cannot be sustained for too long.
However, this amount of exertion is nothing to Ji An right now.
In the three years following his exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill, Ji An accumulated over six thousand spirit stones as he no longer needed to take pills and had no other expenses.
Looking at the wealth we have now, it's truly laughable that we were almost driven to desperation by a few spirit stones back then.
Everything is based on having exquisite planting techniques, which is also the main reason why he chose to continue to cultivate the spirit field.
Many needs during the Foundation Establishment stage can be met with spirit stones. Although using spirit stones always incurs a premium, the speed at which one can earn spirit stones is undeniable.
After leaving the sect's weapon-refining shop, Ji An threw away the gray cloth bag containing the spirit-seeking rat and put the two tamed beasts into the spirit beast bag respectively.
The bag did not obstruct any detection; any Foundation Establishment cultivator could sense the level of the demonic beasts he kept.
Ji An patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist with satisfaction and laughed:
"Senior sister, once I buy another batch of Qingling Pills, my business will be done. Is there anything else you haven't done? You can take care of it on the way."
The feeling of buying Flower Spirit Stones is so comfortable, and what's even more comfortable is that I was able to buy all the things I wanted that were of good quality.
Li Lingyu felt a sharp pain in her teeth and wanted to transform into a cultivator and rob the wealthy man in front of her.
At the sect's weapon-refining shop alone, this junior brother spent over nine hundred spirit stones, choosing the largest storage bag and the most expensive spirit shuttle. Only the two spirit beast bags were cheaper.
Lingon was not wealthy, but this Lingon was rolling in money.
When others mention buying pills, they buy them by the pill, and those with a lot of money buy them by the bottle or two. But this person is different; he buys a whole batch!
This is enough to make anyone envious! With the pills provided by the sect, she only takes seven or eight Qingling Pills each month.
If she weren't an alchemist, she couldn't even guarantee that quantity.
Li Lingyu took a deep breath and calmed herself down:
"If you have enough spirit stones, could you lend me some?"
Alchemists need to practice a lot to improve their skills, but since I have only been at the Foundation Establishment stage for a few years, my success rate in refining Qingling Pills is not high, and sometimes I can't even deliver the full amount of pills to the sect.
Even though the sect's alchemy tasks are plentiful, I don't get many tasks assigned to me, so my progress is even slower.
A bitter feeling welled up in her heart. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, she had spent a lot of spirit stones to practice in order to improve her proficiency in refining the Azure Spirit Pill.
If the success rate is too low, she won't be able to accept any alchemy tasks from the sect.
Ji An was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said:
“No problem, let’s go to the Zhendanfang first. I have no use for the remaining spirit stones, so I’ll lend them to my senior sister as a deposit for the pills I’m buying.”
However, the pills my senior sister gives me must at least be of genuine quality.
He found it inexplicably funny. He used to be the one borrowing spirit stones from others, but today he was going to be the creditor. How interesting.
Yesterday, he accompanied his senior sister to the herbal medicine shop and realized how difficult it was for an alchemist; if their skills weren't up to par, they would definitely lose spirit stones.
Although alchemy experience can be accumulated over time, when trying to refine new pills, the first few batches are unlikely to be successful.
Only by consistently achieving pill formation can one gradually earn spirit stones; otherwise, one will continue to incur losses.
Taking the Azure Spirit Pill as an example, it would cost about 120 spirit stones to gather enough medicinal materials for one batch of pills. Without a success rate of about 40%, it would be impossible to sustain the business.
Even with exceptional talent in alchemy, insufficient practice is essential.
"Don't worry, junior brother. The alchemists would never sell inferior pills within the sect for the sake of their reputation."
Li Lingyu laughed and said, "In the sect, you'll see each other all the time. Selling fake medicine will easily make people resent you. I'll just sell the inferior pills to various small markets."
Upon arriving at the Zhendanfang, the two sensed their spiritual pressure, and a Foundation Establishment stage deacon came out to greet them.
After exchanging a few pleasantries in the private room on the second floor, Ji An got straight to the point:
"What is the price of Qingling Pills in your shop?"
The price of Qingling Pill fluctuates around twenty-seven or twenty-eight spirit stones, but the price at Zhendanfang is always a little more expensive than other pill shops.
Because of its reliable quality, it enjoys a brand premium.
"Thirty spirit stones each."
The steward smiled. The main ingredient in Foundation Establishment stage pills often requires a hundred years of medicinal age, making them quite expensive.
What discounts are available for bulk purchases?
"Then it depends on how much you're ordering, fellow Daoist. If it's over fifty, I can agree to charge twenty-nine spirit stones per stone."
If you can buy more than one hundred, I'll give you twenty-eight spirit stones.
The steward stroked his goatee. He sensed that the two people opposite him were both at the first level of Foundation Establishment, and he didn't think they had the financial resources to buy so many pills at once.
However, doing business requires being considerate in all aspects, and he did not reveal his thoughts at all.
These two disciples of the Golden Spirit Sect don't have money right now, but they might in the future. He has the best performance in the shop because he is easy to work with and can retain customers for a long time.
Ji An pondered how to lend his senior sister spirit stones, and said thoughtfully:
"Then let's buy eighty."
Ji An manipulated a magic spell to take out several mid-grade spirit stones and a pile of low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, and said:
"Fellow Daoist, please click here."
Eighty? If I buy that much, do you still have spirit stones to lend me?
Li Lingyu thought to herself, her willow-leaf eyebrows furrowing slightly for a moment before relaxing.
Eighty? I didn't realize he was such a wealthy and powerful person!
The steward instructed the maid to fetch eight bottles of Qingling Pills and personally counted them.
He took out a jade tablet depicting maple leaf patterns, manipulated it on the spirit plate for a moment, and then handed it over:
"I have a record of the transaction just now. If you spend more than 10,000 spirit stones in this store, you can enjoy a 2% discount."
"Good idea," Ji An said, taking the sign and putting it into his storage bag, feeling quite like he was getting a membership card.
A maid brought over the pills, and after Ji An and Li Lingyu examined them together, they took their leave. The steward warmly escorted them to the door.
After the two walked in silence for a while, Ji An said:
"Senior sister, I can lend you another 1,500 spirit stones."
After lending out these spirit stones, he still had more than two hundred left for emergencies.
Li Lingyu was surprised and carefully scrutinized him with a meaningful look:
"Thank you, junior brother."
The next day, the two returned to their sect by flying boat.
Ji An found Huang Feihu and gave him one hundred spirit stones to keep for future purchases of various supplies.
From then on, apart from going to the courtyard by the Azure Lake once a day to cast spells on the spiritual plants, he spent the rest of his time cultivating at the Emerald Cliff.
A month or two passed in the blink of an eye. Ji An hid in the bamboo house to practice his magic, and specks of golden light flowed around his fingertips like fine sand.
The communication talisman sword, gleaming with silver light, descended from the sky and stopped outside the magical barrier.
He dispelled the spell, opened the barrier, and summoned the talisman sword to read the message within.
The message came from Ye Changqing, who informed him that the Chen family had moved out of Chiyan Peak and asked when he would move in, saying that they would go with him to complete the handover.
Ji An took out a new communication talisman sword, entered the information, and said that he would go to Lingxiao Mountain the next day.
"Time to leave, a new beginning!"
Ji An clenched his fist and raised it, focusing his mind on his dantian.
[Spell: Sharp Metal Technique (Perfect 86%)]
Golden Armor Technique (Minor Success Rate 64%)
Flame Spell (27%)
[Explosive Flame (Minor Success 72%)]
Since his falling out with Chen Xingyun, Ji An has been reflecting on his trump cards and realized that he has revealed too many spells to the outside world.
With just a little investigation, the other party would know that he is skilled in the Gengjin Finger and Water Curtain Technique.
If the other party intends to target him, they can take targeted measures, which would be very disadvantageous to him.
Based on his current cultivation method, he decided to only reveal his ability to use wood-elemental and fire-elemental spells to outsiders. These two types of spells are also the preferred spells for Foundation Establishment cultivators who normally practice wood-elemental techniques.
One should not have the heart to harm others, but one must be wary of others. Ji An felt that he had been so focused on earning spirit stones in the past that he had lost his caution and forgotten to keep a backup plan, which was not good.
The following day, Ji An took a flying shuttle to Lingxiao Mountain.
He tested the magic weapon's high-speed flight mode, and it was indeed exceptionally fast, more than twice as fast as riding a beast.
The consumption of spirit stones is also staggering. Unless it's an emergency, it's best to maintain a steady flight or ride a beast.
Upon arriving at Lingxiao Mountain, Ye Changqing released a flying boat, took several disciples, and invited Ji An to join him.
"The spiritual veins of Crimson Flame Peak are quite special. The spiritual fields are all at the foot of the mountain. Only the thirty-odd acres of land near that cold pool can be used to grow spiritual herbs. It's all your private spiritual field."
Because of the fierce nature of the spirit, low-grade spiritual herbs cannot survive, and high-grade spiritual herbs do not grow well either. In other regions, only planting spirit trees can yield decent profits.
This is one of the reasons why, although that spiritual vein reached the second-tier low-grade level, no one wanted to rent it out.
The junior brother chose to rent the entire mountain peak, and he needed to pay the full amount of spirit fish and spirit charcoal every year, and the full amount of spirit materials every five years.
"You need to be skilled in planting, otherwise all your hard work will only earn you a meager amount of contribution points and spirit stones."
Ye Changqing took out a jade slip:
"This is the information I've compiled. Starting next year, we will be following these rules."
Upon arriving at Crimson Flame Peak, Ji An discovered that all the valuables inside had been removed, leaving only an empty mountain that needed to be rearranged before he could move in.
The cave dwelling is located halfway up the mountain, and only here and a small area near the cold pool can reach the second level of spiritual energy concentration.
The spiritual energy concentration in other regions can only reach the first-grade high-quality or top-quality level.
Crimson Flame Peak is not large; the spiritual fields at its foot only amount to a little over three thousand acres.
Ye Changqing led Ji An on a rapid flight around Crimson Flame Peak, introducing the spirit trees planted in each area. After completing the handover procedures, both parties signed a rental agreement.
The two then arrived near the cold pool. Ye Changqing took out a uniquely shaped jade bottle and smiled, saying:
"I'll go to the bottom of the pool to fetch some spiritual spring water."
He made a hand seal and stepped into the water, and the water flowed away from him automatically.
After a while, Ye Changqing calmly walked ashore, cupped his hands, and said:
"The atmosphere here is too unsettling. I'll take my leave first. Junior brother, come to Lingxiao Mountain when you have time, and we can brew tea and discuss the Dao."
(End of this chapter)
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