Chapter 317 - 292: Another Trade

Chapter 317: Chapter 292: Another Trade

The voice was rushed, clearly anxious.

After listening to the message, Chu Mu looked at the Sound Transmission Talisman again. The messages had come in quick succession—one every day, starting from three days ago until now.

And the content of these messages...

Chu Mu’s eyes narrowed, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent a reply via Sound Transmission Talisman, then stepped into Jingmen City.

In the half-year he’d been away, Jingmen City didn’t seem to have changed much.

The grueling battle on the front lines continued, day after day, with no end in sight.

After making a brief appearance at the city’s Artifact Hall, he headed directly to the Contribution Hall.

Just like always, as soon as he entered the hall, a Maid approached and led him to a seat in a side chamber.

The Maid stood respectfully to one side while Chu Mu browsed the projected screen before him. The densely packed list of exchangeable items in the Contribution Treasure Vault filled his vision.

For him, every visit to the Contribution Hall was like a treasure hunt. If any Spirit Materials and Spirit Medicine, or even some Artifact Books and Pill Books, caught his eye and he had enough Contribution Points, he would almost always exchange for them.

Here on the Jingmen front lines, as a member of the Artifact Entrance Hall, he received a substantial amount of Contribution Points each month. Furthermore, as an Artifact Refiner, every time he refined an Artifact for someone, he received a handsome sum of Contribution Points as payment in addition to the required Spiritual Materials.

Contribution Points, much like Spirit Stones, were something he no longer lacked.

What he lacked were redeemable resources.

Although the treasures available for exchange in the Contribution Treasure Vault were dazzling, the vast majority were just common, basic items.

The few items that were rare in the outside world were no longer particularly scarce for him, now that he had established his own network of contacts.

The entire Contribution Treasure Vault was filled with a dazzling array of treasures, but very few were truly useful to him.

And on top of that, countless other Foundation Establishment Cultivators were vying to exchange for those few useful items.

"Exchange for the items on this list."

After picking for a while, he handed his Token and a list to the Maid beside him.

In just a moment, the Maid reappeared and respectfully placed the Token and a Storage Talisman in front of Chu Mu.

He picked them up, gave them a quick glance, tucked them away, and walked out of the side chamber.

The main hall was bustling and extremely noisy.

But he could still spot a figure pacing anxiously just outside the side chamber’s door with a single glance.

Seeing Chu Mu emerge, the woman’s face lit up with joy, but she quickly suppressed it.

The woman had an unfamiliar face, and her anxiety was plain to see.

Chu Mu raised an eyebrow, slightly curious.

This woman was undoubtedly Zhao Shuang.

’But this disguise...’

He knew that between the tempering from the Divine Soul Saber—or rather, the Sword Intent—and the dual nourishment of his Divine Soul from the Great Sun Scripture’s Dharma and Body Cultivation, his Divine Sense was now no weaker than that of a veteran Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Even so, he could only detect that her cultivation was at the Qi Cultivation Perfection level. He couldn’t discern her true appearance or aura.

He was a little curious, but he was even more curious about why Zhao Shuang had contacted him this time.

’Looking at the situation... is she asking me for a favor this time?’

He recalled their agreement in the Secret Realm back then, and that Alchemy Inheritance...

A thought flickered in Chu Mu’s mind. He sent a message via Telepathy and then walked out of the hall as if he hadn’t seen her.

Seeing this, Zhao Shuang followed close behind, matching his every step.

"Miss Zhao, you contacted me so urgently. What is the matter?"

Chu Mu’s voice was level, his tone composed.

"Senior, how about we make another deal?"

Zhao Shuang got straight to the point.

Chu Mu had expected this and nodded. "Tell me about it."

"An Ancient Cultivator’s Alchemy Inheritance, spanning from Tier One Lower Grade to Tier Three Lower Grade."

"It includes fifty-two Pill Recipes, detailed explanations for one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one types of Spirit Medicine, and five hundred examples of medicinal property combinations and fusions..."

Chu Mu stopped in his tracks, unable to hide his astonishment. "Are you serious?"

Zhao Shuang’s tone was firm. "Absolutely not!"

"Name your price. As long as it’s within my ability, I will not refuse."

Chu Mu took a deep breath, his tone decisive and without a hint of hesitation.

Among the Hundred Skills of Cultivation Immortal, any single skill was as vast as a sea of smoke.

This was true for Artifact Refining, and naturally, it was also true for Alchemy.

What he had obtained from Elder Li was merely a recipe for the Grain Avoidance Pill, which could also be considered a type of Alchemy Inheritance.

The two inheritances he got from Ji Ming, though claimed to be complete, were clearly only complete in a relative sense; they couldn’t possibly be complete in the truest meaning of the word.

Even the Artifact Refining General Outline he had acquired was the same.

After all, for Artifact Refining to be truly complete, it would have to clearly record the properties of all Spirit Materials and Spirit Ores, as well as the entire Array Prohibition Rune System. Only then could it be considered complete in the truest sense.

The same was true for Alchemy.

How many types of Spirit Medicine existed in the Cultivation Immortal Realm? How many Tier One ones? How many Tier Two?

To have every single one clearly recorded, every possible medicinal fusion fully documented...

That was clearly impossible.

No single inheritance could achieve true completeness.

It was even more impossible in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, where knowledge was monopolized and practitioners guarded their secrets jealously.

For every Alchemist, Artifact Refiner, and practitioner of the other Hundred Skills of Cultivation Immortal, besides honing their craft, the most important task was to complete their own system of skills bit by bit, like assembling a jigsaw puzzle.

He, of course, was no exception.

And the offer Zhao Shuang had just made was, to him, incredibly tempting.

Compared to the tiny puzzle pieces he usually collected, this offer was a massive piece that would fill in a huge chunk of the blank space!

As his mind raced, Zhao Shuang, beside him, had lost all her usual composure, her voice urgent as she explained.

Soon, he had a general understanding of the proposed deal.

It seemed what had once happened to him was now replaying itself with Zhao Shuang.

According to Zhao Shuang, she and her sister, who was an Alchemist, had been staying around the East Lake area ever since their deal for the Secret Realm inheritance was concluded.

When the great war broke out in recent years, they settled in Jingmen, using their Alchemy Skill to gather resources.

With the skills of an Alchemist, it was natural for them to open a path to wealth and earn resources, just as he had done back in Jade Emperor Valley.

And the result was also the same as his back then.

Alchemists held a lofty status.

Alchemy Skill was a source of endless wealth.

But... a Qi Cultivation Realm cultivation was the original sin.

A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is his crime.

Recently, Zhao Shuang had been ambushed and had fled after being injured. When she returned to her residence, she found it occupied and her Alchemist sister nowhere to be seen, gone without a trace.

According to Zhao Shuang’s own investigation, the one who had targeted the two sisters was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Jingmen Law Enforcement Hall of the Righteous Alliance.

Being targeted by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Righteous Alliance’s Law Enforcement Hall, right in the Righteous Alliance’s own territory...

Her plight seemed even more miserable than his had been.

Chu Mu couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy.

"So? Can you rescue her?"

Zhao Shuang asked anxiously as soon as she finished her story.

Chu Mu didn’t answer, instead asking a question of his own. "Where is the inheritance?"

"Don’t worry, Senior. I have the inheritance. As long as you rescue my sister, I will keep my word."

"Alright. Wait for my news."

Chu Mu tossed her a Sound Transmission Order. "I’ll give you an answer within three days."

Hearing this, Zhao Shuang was overjoyed and wanted to say more, but Chu Mu had already turned and walked away.

To him, Zhao Shuang’s situation was tragic, but it was also quite normal.

After all, having a low cultivation was the greatest original sin.

Back when he was in the Qi Cultivation Realm, he was forced to flee Jade Emperor Valley and had been a wanted man for so many years.

Now that he was in the Foundation Establishment Realm, he was an Alchemy Master and an Artifact Refining Master that people sought to befriend.

As he amassed great wealth, he was only met with attempts to win him over, never with any hostility.

Even if they failed to win him over, it was always a case of "even if the business deal falls through, goodwill remains." No one was foolish enough to tear off all pretenses and start a fight.

As for this deal...

To Zhao Shuang, it was perhaps a situation of utter, helpless desperation.

But to him...

Chu Mu recalled the name Zhao Shuang had mentioned.

’A Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Law Enforcement Hall... I think I... know him?’

He took out his Sound Transmission Order. Sure enough, one of the message Seals belonged to the "great enemy" Zhao Shuang had spoken of.

He stopped in the street, scanned his surroundings, and his gaze finally settled on a nearby restaurant. After a moment’s thought, he sent out a sound transmission.

He stepped into the restaurant, tossed out several hundred Lower Spirit, and soon, various Spirit Wines and Spiritual Foods were placed on the table.

About fifteen minutes later, led by a restaurant attendant, a pale-faced, middle-aged man appeared in Chu Mu’s sight.

Li Shang, a disciple from a side branch of the Nanshan Li Family, held the position of a squad captain in the Jingmen Law Enforcement Hall. His cultivation was at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, and it was said he had been at the Foundation Establishment Realm for decades, suggesting his aptitude wasn’t very good.

After Chu Mu arrived in Jingmen, this man had once asked him to refine an Artifact. It was only a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, though.

A string of memories about the man surfaced in his mind. Chu Mu greeted him with a smile. After they were seated and had exchanged some pleasantries, Chu Mu got to the point. "I’ve invited you today, fellow Daoist, because I have a somewhat presumptuous favor to ask."

Hearing this, Li Shang’s eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Fellow Daoist, rest assured. As long as it is within my ability, I will not refuse."

Chu Mu chuckled softly, took a sip of Spirit Wine, and stated his purpose nonchalantly. "I have a friend of an old acquaintance who has lived in Jingmen for many years but recently disappeared. It seems her residence is in the area under your jurisdiction, fellow Daoist..."

"The old acquaintance who knows this woman once did me a great favor, so I hope you can help me look for her..."

As he spoke, Chu Mu handed over a Jade Scroll.

Recorded within the Jade Scroll was an image and information about Zhao Shuang’s sister.

Li Shang took the Jade Scroll. The moment he probed it with his Divine Sense, his pupils contracted, and the smile on his face froze.

Chu Mu acted as if he didn’t notice this change in expression, maintaining his smiling demeanor without a hint of change.

Even after Li Shang put down the Jade Scroll, Chu Mu maintained his pleading expression, proactively offering him a way out. "If you can help me with this, fellow Daoist, I will reward you generously."

Hearing Chu Mu’s words, Li Shang seemed to snap back to his senses. He forced a smile. "Since you’ve asked, fellow Daoist, such a small matter is nothing to speak of."

"How about this: I’ll go back and check. I’ll contact you when I have news."

"Then I’ll have to trouble you with this matter, fellow Daoist."

...