Chapter 721 - 474: Return and Negotiation

Leaving aside the two women secretly competing back on the Qingyuan Sect’s mountain, Fang Qingyuan had been cultivating peacefully in the Earth Cave Fire Domain. He had benefited greatly from a nearby active volcano on the verge of eruption, as the deep magma surging in its undercurrents brought him many treasures.

Three months later, when Situ Jingyu found Fang Qingyuan again, she saw that for once, he was not cultivating but was instead stroking Nanli.

Seeing this, Situ Jingyu understood that Fang Qingyuan was preparing to leave.

So, she tucked her reluctance away and asked with a casual expression:

"Are you preparing to leave?"

Fang Qingyuan nodded, stroking Nanli, who had gotten a bit chubbier.

"I’ve been away for three months, and a lot of sect business has piled up. I’ve also had something of a breakthrough in my Fire Element Techniques, so I’m getting ready to head back."

"It’s good for you to go back. It’s just... once you leave, I don’t know when we’ll meet again."

Fang Qingyuan gave a carefree laugh. "The Great Dao is eternal. As long as we both continue on this path, we’re bound to meet again one day."

Fang Qingyuan was, of course, talking about the path of cultivation. They were both at the Golden Core realm and had several hundred years of life ahead of them. Of course they would meet again. Her words had simply been the product of a momentarily troubled heart.

His words brought Situ Jingyu back to her senses, her reluctance giving way to reason. She regained her composure and took out a dozen or so of the most precious Tier Three Middle Grade Fire-Attribute Mineral Deposits from her storage bag, offering them to Fang Qingyuan.

"This is your share of the harvest from your time here. I had the sect sell the lower-quality ones and only kept these superior-grade ones for you. You just broke through with your Fire Element Technique and need to stabilize your cultivation, so please, take them."

Looking at the pile of fire-attribute mineral resources in Situ Jingyu’s hands, Fang Qingyuan was moved. ’Her sect’s finances are in such bad shape, yet she’s still so considerate of me. What else is there to say?’

So, Fang Qingyuan took just one of the minerals from her hand. It was a piece of Star Meteor Flame Marrow that resembled a fire diamond. This spiritual material was formed when an otherworldly meteorite fell into magma, and it contained the dual energies of Star Power and Fire Spiritual Power. It was a rather rare Tier Three Middle Grade item.

When she saw him take only one piece, Situ Jingyu felt a pang of guilt. The mineral resources Fang Qingyuan had extracted for her sect over the past three months were equivalent to ten years of its total revenue.

Before Situ Jingyu could protest, Fang Qingyuan added:

"I’ll just take this one. You keep the rest. Didn’t we agree from the start? I’m just borrowing your Spiritual Land to cultivate, so everything produced belongs to you."

Hearing this, Situ Jingyu was reminded of her sect’s financial situation. She laughed heartily and put the spiritual materials away. She wasn’t one for pretense, and she knew there was no point in arguing with Fang Qingyuan.

Fang Qingyuan stored the Star Meteor Flame Marrow away, then said with a mysterious air:

"Since I accepted a gift from you, I have one for you in return. Here, please accept these Spirit Fish, Senior Sister."

He presented her with ten Purple Crystal Spirit Fish, each encased in Amber Jade Marrow. Every fish was about a foot long. At an auction, a single one would sell for several hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones at the very least.

"These are Purple Crystal Spirit Fish?"

Situ Jingyu clearly knew a valuable item when she saw one. Even though she had never personally consumed one, she had heard of this new spiritual material that had appeared in recent years—one that could help cultivators break through their bottlenecks.

"That’s right. I raise a few of them myself. The yield is low—only about a hundred per year—but if giving you some can help you break through to the Fourth-Layer Golden Core, Senior Sister, then these Spirit Fish will have served their purpose."

Fang Qingyuan had been thinking about how to repay Situ Jingyu even before he arrived. As a friend who had been with him through hardship as he rose to prominence, Situ Jingyu held a high place in his heart. The current number of Purple Crystal Spirit Fish in his Immortal Mansion—those that had survived the Purple Extreme Divine Thunder incident—was only around four thousand.

Fang Qingyuan needed to keep the majority of the Spirit Fish for breeding. He couldn’t just catch and sell them all at once; he had to think about sustainable development.

Currently, the Qingyuan Sect’s annual output was at most a hundred or so Spirit Fish, and that number was continuing to decrease. Initially, he had supplied a larger quantity to build the fish’s reputation, but now that the market acknowledged the efficacy of the Purple Crystal Spirit Fish, he naturally had to restrict the supply.

This was partly to drive up the price—scarcity marketing.

On the other hand, production capacity was genuinely insufficient. There would never be enough Spirit Fish to satisfy everyone.

For Fang Qingyuan to take out ten at once was, in the eyes of any outsider, an incredible expense. Situ Jingyu herself thought the same.

"Junior Brother, why are you so good to me?"

This was a loaded question, the kind that could get a man killed. Fang Qingyuan wasn’t lusting after Situ Jingyu’s body; in his heart, she was truly a good friend.

Fang Qingyuan could guess what she was thinking. ’After such a grand gesture, anyone would assume that I’m after her... and Situ Jingyu is probably thinking that, too.’

But that truly wasn’t his intention. He simply didn’t want to see Situ Jingyu get stuck at the Third-Layer Golden Core bottleneck for too long.

’Shouldn’t good friends look out for each other?’

"Don’t read too much into it, Senior Sister," Fang Qingyuan teased. "It’s just ten Spirit Fish. That’s hardly enough to warrant you promising yourself to me in marriage, is it?"

As a Beast Taming Sect Member, Situ Jingyu didn’t bat an eye at Fang Qingyuan’s teasing remark. Had she been a Female Cultivator from the Qi Yun Mainland, she would likely be glaring daggers at him by now.