Chapter 694: Congratulatory Gift

Chapter 694: Chapter 464: Congratulatory Gift

Zhuge Zhan’s eyes filled with astonishment. He never imagined that the Qingyuan Sect, a merely regional power, would possess such a coveted Spiritual Object.

A Longevity Spirit Object, a Tier Four Spiritual Material effective even for Golden Core Cultivators—this was not something that just any power could possess. The principle that possessing a treasure invites disaster was universal in this world.

For the Qingyuan Sect to be able to present it meant they were showing him their foundation. It proved two things: first, that the Qingyuan Sect had the power to protect this Longevity Spirit Object, and second, that they had a stable channel to supply it.

Either of these points indicated that the Qingyuan Sect was even stronger than it appeared.

Zhuge Zhan had to admit he was tempted. At over three hundred years old, he had been stuck at the bottleneck of the Mid-stage Golden Core for decades, unable to break through to the Late-stage. This had driven him to venture out in search of opportunities. Later, he heard that a type of Purple Crystal Spirit Fish had been appearing in Northern White Mountain in recent years. This fish was said to be effective at helping even Golden Core Realm Cultivators break through their bottlenecks, so he had made a special trip here.

However, as wonderful as the Purple Crystal Spirit Fish were, their price was exorbitant. According to his calculations, Zhuge Zhan would need at least twenty of them to have a chance at breaking through his bottleneck.

Furthermore, the fish would need to be of a quality comparable to the final Spirit Fish from the auction earlier. At a price of five hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones each, that would be an expenditure of ten thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones.

Although Zhuge Zhan was a Golden Core Cultivator, he didn’t have that many Spirit Stones. Not everyone was as wealthy as Fang Qingyuan.

According to his original plan, Zhuge Zhan was preparing to take on a few lucrative missions to earn enough Spirit Stones to cover the ten thousand top-grade sum. But now that the Qingyuan Sect had come to him, he realized he might not have to go around looking for work after all.

However, the Qingyuan Sect’s eagerness made Zhuge Zhan a little uneasy. He glanced over the exchange list Qi Wenchu had presented and spoke nonchalantly.

“Does your Qingyuan Sect accept just anyone? Why not investigate their backgrounds beforehand? What if you accidentally recruit a criminal wanted by the Great Zhou Academy? Wouldn’t that bring trouble upon you?”

In response to Zhuge Zhan’s question, Qi Wenchu explained with a smile:

“Once a Cultivator reaches the Golden Core Realm, truly unknown faces are rare. No matter where someone comes from, rumors and their reputation tend to spread in their local area. Take you, for example. Although you come from the Land of the Far West, over two hundred thousand li away from our White Mountain, we could find out the general details of your life within half a month if we wanted to.”

Thanks to the great invention of the Teleportation Array in the Cultivation Realm, a journey of over two hundred thousand li doesn’t require a slow flight on a Spiritual Boat, provided one is willing to spend the Spirit Stones. One could travel from the Qingyuan Sect to Qinan City in Qi Yun within a few days, then take a long-range Teleportation Array directly to the Land of the Far West.

Allowing ten days to gather information and another two or three days for the return trip, a half-month round trip is more than enough time.

Of course, there is an even easier method: buying intelligence from the Black Hand. Their business spans the entire Cultivation Realm. Purchasing this kind of information from them is not only inexpensive but also yields relatively detailed results. It’s far more efficient than the Qingyuan Sect sending a few of its own Cultivators to an unfamiliar place to rashly investigate a Golden Core Cultivator.

Given the Black Hand’s efficiency, a report on Zhuge Zhan’s life could be on Fang Qingyuan’s desk within three days. Naturally, this intelligence wouldn’t be exhaustive; it would only provide a general understanding of Zhuge Zhan’s character. But for the Qingyuan Sect, that was sufficient.

It wasn’t as if they were recruiting a son-in-law; there was no need to dig up his entire past. This was just a temporary employment. Once the pioneering war was over, they would owe each other nothing.

To put it bluntly, Zhuge Zhan was just a tool the Qingyuan Sect was temporarily hiring to farm points. All he had to do was transfer all his merit points to the Qingyuan Sect during the next pioneering war. Even if he had enemies everywhere, as long as he wasn’t officially wanted by the Great Zhou Academy, the Qingyuan Sect didn’t care.

Besides, if his enemies came knocking, the Qingyuan Sect wouldn’t blindly protect him. The current terms for a Guest Minister were extremely lenient. He would simply be operating under the Qingyuan Sect’s name to ensure the Great Zhou Academy would recognize the arrangement later.

Zhuge Zhan couldn’t deny Qi Wenchu’s point. In the unified Cultivation Realm, information truly traveled without obstruction. With the Great Zhou Academy enforcing standardization, wasn’t he—a Golden Core Cultivator from the Land of the Far West—speaking a language everyone in White Mountain understood and using a currency of Spirit Stones that everyone accepted?

Seeing that Qi Wenchu had laid everything out in the open, Zhuge Zhan began to seriously consider the offer. A bottleneck was something best broken through as soon as possible, and the Qingyuan Sect was willing to pay him in advance. What did he have to fear?

Zhuge Zhan thus pulled a contract from the pile of documents, pointed to a specific clause, and began a preliminary discussion with Qi Wenchu.

…

On the mountain of the Qingyuan Sect, Liu Xun stood before Fang Qingyuan with a look of resignation. He held a gift list and, mustering his courage, said:

“Sect Leader, isn’t this congratulatory gift for the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect’s Lechuan Ancestor a bit too extravagant? I know about your relationship with Elder Le, but we have now parted ways with the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect. To send such a lavish gift again… it seems hard to justify.”

“In previous years, when our relationship was good, it didn’t matter how much we sent. But now, the White Mountain Beast Taming Sect no longer protects us. Furthermore, we have all these Bear Beasts to raise. The White Mountain war has stopped, so our smuggling business has plummeted. The next pioneering war will be immensely costly, and the sect’s finances are already strained.”