Chapter 189 - 134: 2 Years, the Generous Gift Gao Peiyao Left for Xiaoniu

Chapter 189: Chapter 134: 2 Years, the Generous Gift Gao Peiyao Left for Xiaoniu

This was a personal message, asking Chen Jianghe if he was the one who had put the Youthful Pill up for auction. If not, she wanted to know if he had an extra Youthful Pill in his possession. Simply put, Jiang Ruxu wanted to buy his Youthful Pill, but since she lacked the Spirit Stones right now, she was asking if he could hold onto it for her for ten years.

He did have a Youthful Pill, but he couldn’t openly sell it. It could only be traded privately. It was fine if Jiang Ruxu wanted it, but waiting ten years was out of the question. He could only promise that if he failed to find a suitable buyer within ten years, he would save it for her. If he did find a buyer, he would definitely prioritize secretly exchanging it for Spirit Stones. Therefore, he chose to ignore Jiang Ruxu’s letter. When they met in the future, if she brought it up, he would subtly explain his stance. If she didn’t mention it, he would pretend he had never seen the message.

Next, he opened Ruan Tieniu’s letter. The contents brought him great joy. It turned out that Boss Wang had warned Duan Ming to stay away from Qinghe Marketplace for the next few years. However, Duan Ming had ignored Boss Wang, causing him to lose face. In response, Boss Wang had allied with dozens of Demon Hunting Team captains to issue a banishment order around the Youxian Mountain Range against Duan Ming’s Tribulation Cultivator gang. If Duan Ming dared to show his face near the Youxian Mountain Range, he would be besieged by Demon Hunters.

It was one thing for a Tribulation Cultivator gang to bully Loose Cultivators. But Demon Hunters? They truly didn’t dare to clash with them. Tribulation Cultivators knew very well that Demon Hunters were far more ruthless and brutal. Tribulation Cultivators waited for opportunities to rob isolated Loose Cultivators. Demon Hunters, on the other hand, truly put their lives on the line every day; their line of work was a constant gamble with death. Most importantly, Demon Hunters didn’t just hunt Demon Beasts; in their spare time, they also hunted Cultivators. In other words, Demon Hunters could easily become Tribulation Cultivators, but Tribulation Cultivators didn’t dare to moonlight as Demon Hunters. This was the stark difference between the two professions.

Chen Jianghe thought, "It seems Boss Wang stands to earn quite a few Spirit Stones from those twelve Late-Stage Tier One Demon Beasts."

Demon Hunters valued Spirit Stones above all else. Even a single grain of Spiritual Sand was incredibly important to them, because they earned it with their blood and sweat. Now that Chen Jianghe had given him such a massive profit margin, Boss Wang naturally wanted to protect him.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the end of the year arrived. Chen Jianghe took down the "In Seclusion" sign from his courtyard door, waiting for Zhou Miaoyun’s nephew to arrive.

Right around New Year’s Eve, Zhou Miaoyun’s nephew came knocking. He brought a basket of Middle-Grade Spirit Fruits worth three Spirit Stones as a gift. Afterward, Chen Jianghe took him to Hundred Treasures Tower, found Chen Ping, and secured a discounted price of fifty-five Spirit Stones for a Misfortune-Breaking Pill. He then spent one Spirit Stone to rent a Training Room in the Southeast District for three hours, allowing Zhou Miaoyun’s nephew to attempt his breakthrough. After successfully breaking through to Late-Stage Qi Refining, the young man left Qinghe Marketplace.

By seeking out Chen Jianghe, he had saved exactly one Spirit Stone. Of course, Zhou Miaoyun hadn’t sent her nephew to Chen Jianghe just to save a single Spirit Stone, but rather to familiarize him with Chen Jianghe. Chen Jianghe naturally understood Zhou Miaoyun’s intentions, but there was no need to reject them. After all, getting on his good side was useless; he had no influential backing, possessed mediocre skills, and never went out.

A few days later, it was the beginning of the year, five days ago. This year, Chen Jianghe had consumed one hundred and twelve pieces of Spirit Blood Pig Hide to draw fifty-five Middle-Grade Five Elements Escape Talismans. His Talisman Dao Skills seemed to have reached a bottleneck. Without a Tier One High-Grade Talisman Dao Inheritance, it would be very difficult to improve further. His Talisman Success Rate for drawing Middle-Grade Five Elements Escape Talismans remained at fifty percent.

On this very day, Mazi came over to trade. He brought twelve Late-Stage Tier One Demon Beasts, all exclusively possessing a Second-Grade High-Class Bloodline. Their quality was top-notch, and he still sold them to Chen Jianghe at the agreed price of thirty-five Spirit Stones each. Fifty-five Middle-Grade Five Elements Escape Talismans came out to four hundred and forty-five Spirit Stones and fifty grains of Spiritual Sand. Deducting the four hundred and twenty Spirit Stones for the Demon Beasts, Mazi handed Chen Jianghe twenty-six Spirit Stones. As Boss Wang had instructed, Chen Jianghe was a major client, so they could round up any fractions in his favor.

After Mazi left, Chen Jianghe had Little Black and Fur Ball enter the Spirit Beast Space. He then packed up the Demon Beast parts and headed to the Demon Beast Workshop. Making four trips back and forth, he finally managed to deliver all the parts from his house to the Demon Beast Workshop. The recycling price was decent enough. Excluding the primary parts of the three Demon Beasts that Fur Ball had eaten, the remaining Demon Beast parts sold for an average of twelve Spirit Stones per beast. Nine beasts amounted to one hundred and eight Spirit Stones. Adding the seventeen Spirit Stones and sixty grains of Spiritual Sand from selling the hide, fur, and Spirit Blood of the other three beasts, he recouped one hundred and twenty-five Spirit Stones and sixty grains of Spiritual Sand from his initial expenditure of four hundred and twenty Spirit Stones. This meant a Spirit Core essentially cost him twenty-three Spirit Stones, which was quite close to his estimate of twenty-two.

Calculating the total, Little Black had eaten through two hundred and seventy-six Spirit Stones this year. Fur Ball had consumed eighteen Spirit Stones and thirty grains of Spiritual Sand. Fur Ball’s Cultivation Resources had been reduced, but it couldn’t be helped. He had to prioritize raising Little Black into a Tier Two Spirit Beast. As for Fur Ball, any further nurturing would have to wait until after he achieved Foundation Establishment.

Currently, he still had one thousand six hundred and sixty-five Spirit Stones and ten grains of Spiritual Sand on hand. His Cultivation Resources were enough to last him four years. His annual income from drawing Spirit Talismans was just enough to offset Little Black’s resources, with a tiny bit left over.

However, he didn’t dare spend these sixteen hundred-plus Spirit Stones recklessly. When he had met with Chen Ping a few days prior, he had asked him to keep an eye out for news regarding the Nourishing Spirit Pill and Tier One High-Grade Spirit-Enriching Spirit Liquid. If either appeared at an auction, Chen Ping was to notify him immediately. In four years at most, his Cultivation would reach Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Perfection, so he had to start planning for the Nourishing Spirit Pill and Tier One Spirit-Enriching Spirit Liquid in advance.

Although he could go directly to the Immortal Sect Marketplace to buy them, he didn’t dare leave Qinghe Marketplace lightly. While there were Flying Ships traveling between the two Marketplaces, which was generally safe, it wasn’t unheard of for them to be hijacked. He had offended Qingfong Village; once he left Qinghe Marketplace, even taking a Flying Ship wouldn’t be safe. No Foundation Establishment, no leaving Qinghe Marketplace. This was his absolute bottom line.

Since the Nourishing Spirit Pill and Tier One High-Grade Spirit-Enriching Spirit Liquid couldn’t be purchased through proxies from the Immortal Sect Marketplace, his only way to obtain them was through an auction. It would definitely be a bit more expensive, but the advantage lay in the safety. Spending a few extra Spirit Stones was no big deal; he could always earn them back later. Besides, this was money well spent, so it wouldn’t feel like a waste.

In the blink of an eye, over seven months passed.

Yu Daniu sent Chen Jianghe a letter. The contents mentioned the Spiritual Object inside the Storage Pouch that Gao Peiyao had given Yun Xiaoniu when they parted ways at their last gathering. It left Chen Jianghe surprised, yet it was also entirely expected.

He thought, "It really is a Spiritual Object related to Foundation Establishment!"