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Chapter 584: Chapter 590: Ingratiation
The price of the Azure Water Dragon soared, quickly surpassing the maximum amount of Spirit Stones the Li family could allocate, forcing them to give up and use the remaining Spirit Stones to purchase various other Spiritual Objects.
When all the clanspeople returned to the Spirit Boat that evening, Li Chenghuo summoned everyone to ask if they wanted to stay or return to Wanxian Island.
Though many clanspeople wished to stay in Xuanfa State, the majority still chose the latter option, as many days had passed and whether they wanted to buy or sell Spiritual Objects, all transactions had been completed; staying further seemed pointless.
"The minority will follow the majority. I’ve got everyone’s thoughts, and any news will be communicated to you all as soon as possible."
Li Chenghuo told Li Zhirui about this decision, who, after a moment’s thought, said, "Then give everyone three more days to rest up before we set off on our return journey."
"Yes!"
With a confirmed return date, the Li family cultivators hustled to finish their lingering affairs.
Meanwhile, Zhirui himself continued with Alchemy, seeking to earn a large sum of Spirit Stones to replenish his nearly depleted storage ring.
Because there were simply too many places where he had to spend Spirit Stones!
The normal growth cycle of those Spiritual Medicines would take several hundred years without exception, and even in a space rich with Spiritual Energy, they would require two to three hundred years.
Especially the Fifth-order Tongxin Snowgrass, with a growth cycle reaching a whopping five hundred years—half the lifespan of a Nascent Soul True Lord!
Therefore, Zhirui could only rely on Spirit Stones to stimulate their growth and speed up the process.
Fortunately, his reputation as a Fourth-order Alchemy Master was quite resounding; flaunting this title meant that even Third-order Spirit Pills could be sold at a price 50% higher than the market value. Those Golden Core Cultivators with rich heritages and noble origins still flocked to them, extremely eager to purchase!
It wasn’t that they were foolish, but rather that Zhirui’s crafted Spirit Pills were worth the price!
The advantage of Water Method Alchemy lies in producing fewer pill toxins. Not to mention Zhirui’s Alchemy was performed at a lower level, each step executed perfectly. If Zhirui was willing to put in a bit more effort, producing several top-quality Spirit Pills in a single batch would not be a problem.
During this process, the Li family also formed alliances with several Nascent Soul powers that weren’t very deep-rooted. Similar to the Li family, these powers had just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage not many years ago and vastly lacked various inheritances.
Among them, several faced a particularly serious problem—lack of successors!
They had managed to train numerous Golden Core Cultivators, but successors at the Nascent Soul stage were slow to emerge. If a couple of centuries passed and they drew near the end of their lives without the birth of a Nascent Soul, then their reputed powers would likely undergo significant upheaval.
Therefore, these powers were exceptionally enthusiastic about the Li family and Li Zhirui!
Their objective was also quite straightforward—to acquire a substantial and steady supply of high-grade Spirit Pills from him to accelerate the cultivation of their juniors, in hopes of birthing a second Nascent Soul before their demise to secure their power’s standing.
"Fellow Daoist, what do you think of this proposal?" an elderly Nascent Soul True Lord from one of the powers asked with a hint of eagerness.
"I can sense your sincerity, fellow Daoist, but given that our two families are quite distant from each other, wouldn’t it be too risky to entrust a large number of Third-order Spirit Pills to a Golden Core Cultivator?"
In fact, what did such matters have to do with Zhirui? As long as they paid enough Spirit Stones, once they left Wanxian Island, whatever happened would be of no concern to the Li family.
Moreover, the issue Zhirui raised could be easily solved by paying a sum of Spirit Stones to Xuanfa Pavilion, who would then safely deliver the Spirit Pills into the hands of the other party.
The reason he said this lay in his dissatisfaction with the terms offered by the other party.
One must understand that high-grade Spirit Pills were hotly coveted by all; he could sell to anyone, so why reserve a portion specifically for them?
Then a mutual exchange of interests is naturally needed!
The conditions offered by the other party were merely two fairly good fourth-tier Spiritual Medicines, plus twenty Spirit Seeds of each.
One of them was even something that Li Zhirui had purchased at a street stall.
"I, an old Daoist, had obtained a damaged Alchemy Scripture, but alas, with my limited talent, I struggled my whole life to no avail. I believe that with your talent, you could certainly perfect it and make it shine."
Regret flickered in the old Nascent Soul’s eyes. His own journey had come to an end, and he only hoped his family’s legacy could continue. Thus, he had no choice but to lower his stance further and said,
"The Pill Scripture contains nine Pill Recipes, among which six are fourth-order Precious Pills, one is a fifth-order Precious Pill; the remaining two are too damaged to discern. How do you feel about this offer?" 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
Indeed!
How could a Nascent Soul power that had been around for a few hundred years not have some treasured items hidden away? The moment pressure was applied, they readily brought them out.
Li Zhirui believed that the other party surely had even more precious Spiritual Objects or inheritances, for a damaged Alchemy Scripture might not even be that valuable.
However, he knew where to draw the line and did not probe further. He simply requested the true copy of the Alchemy Scripture rather than a replica in a Jade Slip.
The old Nascent Soul did not believe that his true copy, which he had studied for hundreds of years, contained any secrets, so he readily agreed.
"Then take a look, fellow Daoist, see if there’s anything in the contract that needs to be changed." Li Zhirui quickly drafted a contract and presented it to the old Nascent Soul.
After further discussion, the two eventually signed the contract.
The Li family received two types of Spiritual Medicines, as well as the true copy of the damaged Pill Scripture, while the other party secured a stable supply of high-quality third-tier Spirit Pills and some other minor clauses.
In conclusion, both parties were very satisfied with the arrangement.
Li Zhirui personally saw him off, not in a hurry to look through the damaged Pill Scripture, but instead, he waited for the next Nascent Soul cultivator to come seeking him.
After all, there were several families facing the issue of lacking successors.
True to expectations, in less than half an hour, Li Chenghuo knocked on the door, bringing with him an equally elderly Nascent Soul True Lord.
"I apologize for not being able to greet you from afar, please forgive me, Senior Zhongshan!" Upon seeing the visitor, Li Zhirui immediately expressed his apologies.
Zhongshan waved his hand indifferently and said, "It is I who was too anxious and entered directly."
Li Zhirui gave Li Chenghuo a look signaling him to leave, then personally poured a cup of third-order spiritual tea and asked, "Fellow Daoist, have you also come for the third-order Spirit Pills?"
"Indeed, I’m sure you’re aware that most high-quality Spirit Pills on the market are monopolized by the major powers, and very few are available to the public."
Zhongshan gave Li Zhirui a meaningful look and added, "It’s rare to see a fourth-order Alchemy Master like you who suddenly appears and does not belong to a major power."
"You’re right," Li Zhirui responded with a smile.
Zhongshan raised his eyebrows and said, "It seems that you have found yourself a backer."
