Chapter 174 Refining the Purple Fire Gourd
In the underground cave, a warm, yellow aura illuminated the darkness.
Ji An saw that on the branches of the two Earth Spirit Fruit trees to the north, several crystal-clear little flowers were about to bloom.
On the two spirit trees to the south, some flower buds have also sprouted.
Ji An made a fire-controlling gesture, and flames ignited above his fingertips, the light of which was much brighter than that of the luminous pearl.
He leaned closer and counted them carefully; there were 168 flowers in total. He wondered if there would be a few more in the future.
This sacred tree bears one flower and one fruit. According to the agreement with Liu Suyun, he will be able to obtain more than 40 fruits.
"I can keep 18 fruits and feed you one every two months."
Ji An said that judging from the fruiting cycle of the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree this time, there will be new fruits to eat before these dozen or so fruits are finished.
After the Spirit-Seeking Rat achieved Foundation Establishment, its intelligence increased significantly, and it became able to understand his words.
"Squeak squeak".
The golden retriever barked a few times ingratiatingly; it was very satisfied, exceeding expectations.
It's still a bit naive and doesn't know how to bargain.
Ji An squatted down and stroked the beast's fluffy fur.
He extended his divine sense into the crack in the rock to sense the decay of the Xuan Yang Wood.
Every few days, Huang Xuan and his companion would fill the cracks in the rocks with pieces of wood. Ji An would come every two days to cast a spell, the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Spell, which could greatly accelerate the decay of the wood.
Ji An stood up and shook his head in disappointment.
After a year of comparative experiments, this method was found to be ineffective, and additional methods need to be devised to cultivate the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree.
"Take good care of her."
Ji An gave his instructions and left the underground cave.
The shuttle landed near the fire crystal ant's nest, and the fourteen purple fire gourds on the wooden frame had a bright red sheen on their skin.
Compared to the failure of cultivating the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree, the cultivation of the Purple Fire Gourd using Xuan Yang Wood powder and red sand as fertilizer seems to have been successful.
Two of the three gourd vines that received additional fertilizer produced top-quality gourds, while the other four vines only produced one top-quality gourd.
However, the sample size is too small now, so this situation can only be used as a reference. A true comparison can only be made after the next round of planting.
The gourd vines had begun to wither, so Ji An picked all the gourds and put them into his storage bag.
"That's not difficult at all! Why haven't the other spirit farmers cultivated top-grade gourds?"
Ji An laughed arrogantly twice, making no mention of his advantages.
Few spirit farmers occupy second-tier spirit veins, and even if they do, they wouldn't place the Purple Fire Gourd in the core area of the spirit vein.
In addition, those people's fire spells are probably no match for his.
In addition, he often used fire element essence to nourish spiritual plants, so this gain, while unexpected, was also reasonable.
Ji An strolled to the anthill and extended his divine sense to communicate with the queen ant.
It would be very easy for a large number of top-quality Crimson Cloud Pine trees to raise this group of Fire Crystal Ants, not to mention that there are also second-tier Crimson Cloud Pine trees.
After a year of careful cultivation, six more second-stage pine trees have been added, bringing the total to twelve, which is better than expected.
Under the nurturing of the second-tier pine honey, the queen ant's demonic power reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, and it is estimated that she will break through to the Foundation Establishment stage in two or three years.
The Fire Crystal Ant Queen lived a life of luxury, like a lustrous piece of jade.
Ji An left the ant nest and came to the copper-patterned mulberry field.
In the spirit field where wind-milled copper ore powder was added, the mulberry trees appeared thicker, and the iron wire grass grew significantly better.
The Xuan Ye Jian Zhu is already as thick as an arm, all the old bamboo has reached the top grade, and there are four more new bamboo shoots.
Now, weapon refiners have come seeking to purchase bamboo leaves.
Having obtained the right materials, one should naturally refine them into magical artifacts as soon as possible.
Ji An piloted the flying shuttle and flew to Mount Chitong.
Zhao Lei happened to have some free time and was happily sipping his wine.
"My senior brother is living a really comfortable life."
Ji An cupped his hands in a smile and placed two jars of premium pine nut wine on the table.
Zhao Lei widened his eyes and held up two fingers, saying:
"Junior brother, you didn't see how busy I was. The sect placed an urgent order, and I had to take fasting pills for two months to finish it."
Ji An smiled and said:
"Is the sect's weapon-refining shop doing too well?"
More and more independent cultivators and families settled in Mingfeng Mountain, making it a great immortal city on par with Qingyun Immortal City.
Zhao Lei shook his head slightly and said:
"Things have changed somewhat. Two months ago, a small gathering place of cultivators around Mingfeng Mountain was quietly destroyed, and several sects are conducting a thorough investigation."
The magical artifacts I made were part of a bounty offered by my sect for clues; other sects also offered bounties.
"Any results yet?"
Ji An frowned slightly. There were at least a hundred cultivators at this gathering point.
Such a heinous incident must be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise it will cause the independent cultivators to worry about safety, which will be detrimental to the overall situation in the future.
Zhao Lei's expression turned serious:
"There are still no results. I've received news that things are strange. There are no signs of battle at the destroyed gathering point, and the cultivators seem to have vanished into thin air."
Ji An's brows furrowed even more. It was not difficult for a powerful cultivator to slaughter a small gathering point, but to do it silently was something that no ordinary cultivator could do.
Ghost cultivators and demonic beasts skilled in illusions are both suspects.
Neither of them is easy to deal with.
"Let's not think about these things anymore. The matters of Mingfeng Mountain are being handled by our senior uncle who is in charge. What brings you here today, junior brother?"
Zhao Lei asked, "Crimson Flame Peak is quite a distance from here, so the other party couldn't possibly be here just for a casual chat."
"I recently acquired a few top-quality gourds and would like to ask my senior brother to refine them into suitable magical artifacts."
Ji An took out three purple fire gourds and said:
"I don't know how to prepare these gourds. I just picked them from the vines today and rushed to bring them to my senior brother."
Zhao Lei took the gourd, played with it for a while, and then laughed:
"Top-grade Purple Flame Gourds are rare. Judging from your words, it seems that Junior Brother cultivated it himself?"
It's already difficult to grow top-grade Purple Fire Gourds, so he was even more surprised to see three of them produced at once.
Ji An nodded slightly and said:
"I obtained a few seeds three years ago. The environment of Crimson Flame Peak is also suitable for this type of fire-elemental spiritual plant, so I planted them here and carefully cultivated them."
"Junior brother, are you confident that you can reliably cultivate a top-grade fire gourd?"
Zhao Lei leaned forward slightly, looking at the person opposite him with anticipation.
Few Foundation Establishment cultivators possess the financial resources to forge spiritual artifacts; using top-grade magical artifacts is the norm.
"I'm about 50 or 60% sure."
"Junior brother, I can refine a gourd magic artifact that nurtures flames. A top-grade fire gourd can generate fire clouds comparable to the attacks of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator."
I'd like to purchase your top-quality gourds on a long-term basis. What do you think?
"These plants are meant to be sold. I wonder what price you'd offer, senior brother?"
Ji An calmly said, waiting for the other party to make an offer.
Zhao Lei quickly calculated in his mind that the price of a top-grade spiritual weapon was between 1,500 and 2,000 spirit stones, and the Purple Fire Gourd could easily sell for 1,800 spirit stones, making it suitable for all Foundation Establishment cultivators who practice fire-based techniques.
The most important thing in refining the Purple Fire Gourd is to find a top-grade gourd, which can be obtained with just two hundred spirit stones.
There are a large number of potential customers within the sect, and dozens can be sold in the Enforcement Hall.
"Six hundred spirit stones for a top-grade gourd, what do you think, junior brother?"
"Senior brother, you have been refining artifacts for many years, so you should know that top-grade gourds are very rare."
It will take me three years to grow gourds, and I also need to nourish the spiritual plant with fire element essence every day.
Putting aside everything else, the cultivation of these three top-grade gourds consumed seven or eight hundred spirit stones of fire element essence.
"It only sells for six hundred spirit stones, what's in it for me? Senior brother, you can't just think about your own profit."
Ji An was not lying; the essence consumed in cultivating the seven gourds over the past three years was indeed worth seven hundred spirit stones.
Zhao Lei grinned; his price wasn't high or low.
“Junior brother has costs for planting, and I also have costs for refining magic weapons. The price of top-grade magic weapons is what it is. If I make a mistake during the refining process and the magic weapon does not reach the top grade, it will not sell for a good price.”
Besides these top-grade gourds, my junior brother must also have a batch of high-grade gourds that he can sell.
Add another fifty spirit stones, that's the most I can offer.
Ji An pondered for a moment and said:
"Seven hundred spirit stones, and I guarantee a stable supply of top-grade gourds from now on."
He knew that if he persisted a little longer, he could probably get more spirit stones, but he was too lazy to waste any more words.
In the future, the production of top-quality gourds will increase further, and the cost will decrease.
Zhao Lei nodded with a smile:
"make a deal!
"How many of these three gourds are you planning to sell to me, junior brother?"
"I plan to use these three myself."
"Huh? Why did you keep so many? At least sell me one!"
"I'm afraid one won't be enough, so I'll prepare three. Senior brother, please tell me the refining cost."
Ji An did not budge. For him, he was certain that he could nurture the flames in the gourd to a point where they could threaten the lives of demonic beasts at the Foundation Establishment stage.
A powerful tool can be left unused, but it's better to have it when it's no longer needed.
"Given our friendship, I'll offer my junior brother the best deal: three top-grade magic artifacts and a crafting fee of two thousand spirit stones."
Zhao Lei shook his head slightly, muttering to himself.
'It's a waste for a mere spirit farmer to carry around several magical artifacts for combat.'
Ji An handed over twenty mid-grade spirit stones and said:
"Senior brother, I still need the seeds in these gourds, remember to save some for me."
Zhao Lei did not accept the spirit stones, and said:
"I'll take out the seeds in a bit. By the way, does Junior Brother sell the top-grade gourd he has?"
"Hehe, I bought it so my disciple can practice."
"At what price did you buy it, senior brother?"
“I’ll offer 120 spirit stones each, all in one go.”
Ji An took out the remaining eleven high-grade gourds and said:
"Senior brother, could you refine a magical artifact to store spirit wine?"
He thought it would be perfect to use this to store fire-attribute spirit wine; Senior Brother Du would probably like it very much.
"Of course! I wanted to make two for myself, and I'm also asking if my junior brother wants some?"
"Make me two wine gourds, and also give me the seeds of a top-grade gourd."
"No problem. It's equivalent to selling nine gourds for 1080 spirit stones, and charging my junior brother 200 spirit stones for crafting the wine gourd."
In that case, junior brother, 1100 spirit stones will suffice.
Zhao Lei received the spirit stone and said:
"I'll go deal with the gourd and take out the seeds. Junior brother, please wait a moment."
A moment later, Ji An received the seeds, stood up, and cupped his hands in greeting:
"Senior brother, I must take my leave now. When will I be able to come and retrieve the magic weapon?"
"My spiritual energy was severely depleted a few days ago, and I need to rest for a while."
It will take about a month to refine; I will then send a message to my junior brother.
I had some things to do today, so the next chapter will be updated quite late.
(End of this chapter)
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