Chapter 119 - 120: Harvest (Subscribe please!)

After looking them over, Li Zhirui couldn’t help but reveal a hint of disappointment in his eyes. While the devil beasts’ grades weren’t low, none of them met his requirements. "What kind of devil beast would the friend like to acquire?" asked the Foundation Establishment cultivator behind the display stand, his inquiry brimming with enthusiasm, yet a faint trace of imperceptible dark light flickered in his eyes. For some reason, Li Zhirui always felt a slight discomfort, but before he could ponder it further, he was interrupted by the other’s enthusiastic greeting. "I can’t guarantee anything else, but in the realm of devil beasts, my Rare Beast Pavilion holds some authority in this region," said the proud Foundation Establishment cultivator. Li Zhirui thought for a moment, and then stated his requirements, "I need a beast egg from a large, offensive flying spirit beast with either water or wood affinity. The higher the grade, the better, and it must be no less than third-grade." His demands were indeed substantial. If he were to search on his own or issue a task in Yunping State, it might take years without yielding any results. Years ago when his family publicly sought a third-grade spirit beast egg of the water attribute, there had been no news for several years, and in the end, they had to purchase a water spirit turtle at an auction. It was also a coincidence that Li Zhiyue’s water spirit turtle, just as Li Zhirui had guessed, turned out to be a female. When it grew up, it could mate with his Da Qing, attempting to breed mixed-blood third-grade spirit turtles, adding to the family’s foundation. But back to the point! The man’s face stiffened upon hearing Li Zhirui’s lengthy list of requirements. If only Li Zhirui could lessen one or two conditions, the Rare Beast Pavilion would be able to present an egg that met his satisfaction. Had he not been familiar with the Li family’s situation in advance, he might have thought that Li Zhirui was deliberately making things difficult for them. "Haha..." Seeing his expression, Li Zhirui chuckled dryly and quickly added, "If you don’t have it now, it’s no problem. I’d appreciate if my friend could keep an eye out for me in future." "If your esteemed store truly finds the spirit beast egg I’m looking for, I am willing to purchase it at a price 10% above market rate." Left with no choice, the man asked, "Then how shall I contact my friend when the time comes?" "You can find Cloudtop Pavilion and Li Family’s Grocery Store in the marketplace," Li Zhirui said, and then he politely took his leave. As he walked away, Li Zhirui’s mind was still thinking about those third-grade spirit beasts in the display case; the fire-earth attribute Rock Blast Monkey, the wood-fire attribute Golden Winged Crow, the wood-earth attribute Giant Tusk Mammoth... All of these were precious spirit beasts. If the family could acquire these spirit beasts, their foundation would surge instantly, and the clan members could choose from third-grade spirit beasts, rather than the few second-grade ones they were currently limited to. Unfortunately, the prices of the Rare Beast Pavilion were high, and the family didn’t have many spirit stones on hand, with other places in greater need of them. It wasn’t just about not buying them all – they might not even buy a single one. Therefore, Li Zhirui could only note them down and take the information back, letting Li Zhizhun and the others make the decision. Passing the Rare Beast Pavilion, he came to the central area of the display section, where every exhibitor was a much stronger force, like the Wood Spirit Sect, for example. It was here that Li Zhirui witnessed even more rare third-grade spiritual objects, and on the Wood Spirit Sect’s display stand, he saw a fourth-grade Green Heaven Spirit Wood that greatly expanded his horizons. But these treasures were out of Li Zhirui’s reach. Suppressing the greed in his heart, he walked up to the front of Hundred Instruments Tower and asked, "Do you have any second-grade high-quality alchemy furnaces?" "Yes," replied the tall and burly Foundation Establishment cultivator who looked like an artifact refiner, swiftly pulling out six jade boxes and saying, "These are all second-grade high-quality alchemy furnaces." Li Zhirui’s divine sense probed each one. Not that these furnaces were poor, but not a single one satisfied him. Yet, he knew that these six magic artifacts were probably the best alchemy furnaces currently available. "My friend, I also have two second-grade top-quality alchemy furnaces in my possession. Would you care to take a look?" said the burly man when he saw Li Zhirui furrowing his brow, immediately making the offer. What was called second-grade top-quality, was actually a failed attempt at creating a third-grade magical treasure. Since the creation was unsuccessful, the spirit materials lost some of their spirit charm and were no longer third-grade items, yet they were better than second-grade. Not to waste them, some artifact refiners would take these items and repurpose them into new magic artifacts, which then became known as second-grade top-quality artifacts. However, among all types of artifacts, alchemy furnaces were the least likely to reach this top-level tier, as compared to more commonly used artifacts, there were fewer cultivators using alchemy furnaces. "Oh?" Li Zhirui retracted his divine sense, expressing interest as he said, "Please bother my friend to take it out for me to see." The burly man, without showing any embarrassment, pulled out two noticeably better jade boxes from his storage bag. As he handed them over to Li Zhirui, he introduced, "This alchemy furnace on the left is called the Redflame Spirit Furnace, made from third-grade spirit materials like the Flame Pearl. It can stimulate red flames and contain spiritual energy. Experiments have shown that it can increase the pill condensation rate by 10%." "The furnace on the right is called the Taiyi Green Jade Furnace, made from third-grade Jiamu Green Jade, which can enhance the efficacy of spirit pills and reduce pill toxins." This burly man was not a local cultivator from Yunping, but had come from Myriad Thunder State’s Hundred Instruments Tower to assist, thus he didn’t recognize Li Zhirui. He also didn’t know that Li Zhirui practiced Water Method Alchemy, which is why he emphasized the Redflame Furnace and only briefly mentioned the Green Jade Furnace. "My friend may not know, but I practice Water Method Alchemy," Li Zhirui said with a light laugh, "Please show me the Taiyi Green Jade Furnace." The burly man, surprised but not appearing awkward, opened the jade box with an even expression, presenting the green jade furnace, and continued to elaborate, "The Green Jade Furnace has a feature that may be useful to you." "Using this furnace to refine Wood-attribute Spirit Pills can further enhance their medicinal effects, and there’s even a chance to refine Spirit Pills with Pill Patterns." Li Zhirui was startled upon hearing this. As an Alchemist, how could he not know the significance of Pill Patterns? Any Spirit Pill bearing Pill Patterns was an exceptional Spirit Pill without the slightest pill poison! He had been studying Alchemy for so many years, and even though he had now increased the success rate of the Jade Spirit Pill to a full ten out of ten, he had never refined a single Jade Spirit Pill with Pill Patterns. "May I inquire as to the value of this Pill Furnace?" Li Zhirui didn’t hide his fondness. After all, of the two top-quality Pill Furnaces, this was the only choice available to him, and it also caught his eye. He could settle for a second choice, buying a second-tier, top-quality Alchemy Furnace, but after seeing the Taiyi Green Jade Furnace, Li Zhirui no longer had the thought of making do. "Eight thousand five hundred Spirit Stones, and that’s my final offer!" Even though he had anticipated a high price, when he heard this figure, Li Zhirui still felt a twinge of pain. After all, when he had purchased the Corrosive Water Gourd and the Water Cloud Spirit Bead, which were both second-tier top-quality Magic Artifacts, it had only cost him eleven thousand Spirit Stones—now, a single Taiyi Green Jade Furnace was priced at eight thousand five hundred Spirit Stones! "Can’t it be just a bit cheaper?" Li Zhirui asked in a slightly embarrassed whisper. "Fellow Daoist, this is an artifact refined from third-tier Spiritual Objects. Moreover, if you break through to Golden Core in the future, you can seek out third-tier Wood-attribute Spiritual Objects to upgrade this treasure." In other words, not a single Spirit Stone less! Upon hearing this, Li Zhirui just smiled and didn’t reply. Although he was confident in his ability to reach Core Formation, that might be decades, or even a century away, and there was no need to think about such a distant future for now. "Very well, here are eight thousand five hundred Spirit Stones, please count them," Li Zhirui finally said, taking out almost all the Spirit Stones he carried to purchase the Pill Furnace. After acquiring the Taiyi Green Jade Furnace, Li Zhirui continued to wander in front of the display stands from the various forces, looking over the Spiritual Objects displayed on them. He only stopped in front of the Evergreen Sect, famous for their expertise in Spirit Plants. Li Zhirui purchased several types of second-tier Spirit Medicine Spirit Seeds that he did not have. These Spirit Seeds were not considered precious and were also available in the Marketplace. Otherwise, the Evergreen Sect would not have put them up for sale. For instance, something like the Sky Spirit Fruit, which is used to refine breakthrough Spirit Pills, would certainly not be sold by any force. Less powerful forces dared not to sell such items, while those with enough power no longer cared for the mere Spirit Stones gained from selling the Spirit Medicine on its own. They could use the Spirit Medicine to refine Spirit Pills, thereby controlling their vassal forces. "Dang dang dang—" Just as Li Zhirui was preparing to head to the outer part of the exhibition area, hoping to find some overlooked treasures, a series of bell chimes suddenly rang out from the central hall. "Is it already noon?" Li Zhirui was somewhat taken aback. He had merely strolled through the central area, and several hours had already passed. After a moment’s thought, Li Zhirui made his way towards the great hall. Although he didn’t have many Spirit Stones left, he still wanted to witness what treasures the Yuanming Sect had to offer that had attracted all the major powers from tens of thousands of miles around. "Eh?" When Li Zhirui arrived in front of the great hall, he saw Li Shilian, Li Shiren, Li Zhizhun, and Li Zhiyue. After exchanging greetings with the four, he said with a smile, "Uncle Ren, have you all been waiting for me?" The Li family had a total of six Foundation Establishment cultivators present, with four of them here. Li Shiqing was in closed-door cultivation attempting a breakthrough, while Li Shiting was stationed on Da Rong Island to prevent any petty thieves from intruding. The trade fair was open for seven days. Except for Li Zhizhun, the Clan Leader who must attend daily and sell Spiritual Objects with Li Shiqi and several Elders, the other four had initially planned to have one person remain to oversee the family’s affairs each day. However, as Li Shiting preferred quiet and didn’t have anything she wished to purchase, she volunteered to stay on Da Rong Island, eliminating the need for rotation. "Indeed, we’ve been waiting for you," Li Shiren said with a smile. "Let’s go inside." "My four seniors, attending today’s auction requires a fee of thirty Spirit Stones each," said the Qi Cultivation cultivator welcoming guests at the door with great respect. Li Zhirui raised an eyebrow. Thirty Spirit Stones per person were required, and that was just the entrance fee for today’s auction. And now, there must be at least four to five thousand cultivators in the trading venue. Even if the auction house couldn’t accommodate all the cultivators, there would be no problem fitting at least three thousand. That meant they could make eighty to ninety thousand Spirit Stones a day just from the entrance fees. Over seven days, that amounted to at least half a million Spirit Stones. One must know that the annual income of the Li family was only fifty to sixty thousand Spirit Stones, which was already leagues ahead of any other Foundation Establishment family in Yunping State! But in just seven days, Yunping State would have earned half a million Spirit Stones—ten years’ worth of accumulation for the Li family! ’Indeed, once one’s strength increases, Spirit Stones are simply not an issue,’ Li Zhirui thought to himself. Li Zhirui and his group paid the Qi Cultivation cultivator a total of one hundred and fifty Spirit Stones before ascending to the second floor, which was exclusive to Foundation Establishment cultivators. As they were about to enter a private room, they experienced a significant pressure from above, and without much thought, they knew that a Golden Core master had arrived. Explore hidden tales at novelhall.Côm A Golden Core cultivator arriving right at the opening of the auction? It seemed that the treasures held by the Yuanming Sect were indeed extraordinary—to attract them so early. Li Zhirui mused quietly.