Chapter 105: Xiao Yunzhi
Chapter 105: Chapter 105: Xiao Yunzhi
Inside the Heart Refining Furnace, a well-known establishment in the Upper City District.
Li Ping sat face-to-face with a tall, elderly man whose hair was white as snow but whose complexion was ruddy, carefully explaining his requirements for the Dharma Artifact he wanted refined.
The pair of fangs, taken from a Tier Two Middle Grade Flower-Scaled Python, lay on the stone table between them.
Standing beside the old man was a dark-skinned young man with a somewhat wooden expression, his hands hanging at his sides. Judging by his respectful demeanor, he appeared to be the old man’s disciple.
After a long while, once Li Ping had finished detailing all his needs, the old man stroked the long beard beneath his chin and fell into deep thought.
A moment later, he nodded slowly, his voice steady and strong. "Fellow Daoist Yan, this old man understands your requirements. Using the pair of fangs you’ve provided as the primary material, I can refine a set of nine Flying Needles for you. Are you satisfied with this arrangement, Fellow Daoist?"
"Nine Flying Needles? That works." Li Ping nodded. "Let’s draw up the contract."
...
Since he was planning to attend the Foundation Establishment Cultivator exchange meet in the Upper City District next month, Li Ping settled the Artifact Refining matter and then, under the guidance of the white-haired cultivator who had led him there, found an inn to stay at.
Arriving at the inn’s entrance, Li Ping flicked a Spirit Stone into the Elder Cultivator’s hand and said coolly, "Alright, you don’t need to follow me anymore. This is your payment."
"Thank you for your generous gift, Senior!" The Elder Cultivator accepted the Spirit Stone and hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
Only then did he take his leave respectfully, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Watching him go, Li Ping couldn’t help but fall into thought.
’This is why they say big cities are full of opportunities. That old cultivator earned a Spirit Stone just for guiding me around for a day.’
In places like the Jiang Kingdom, even an Early-stage Qi Refining Cultivator might not be able to save more than a dozen Spirit Stones after a whole year of toiling away.
’Back when I first started on the path of cultivation, I didn’t even use Spirit Stones most of the time, but Spirit Crystals instead.’
The exchange rate between Spirit Crystals and Spirit Stones was about one hundred Spirit Crystals to one Spirit Stone.
Shaking his head, Li Ping walked into the inn.
For the next few days, all he had to do was wait patiently for the Artifact Refiner from the Heart Refining Furnace to finish forging the nine Flying Needles, and for the exchange meet to begin.
...
「About a month later.」
Li Ping left the inn alone, following the main thoroughfare to a gray-white palace in the Upper City District.
This was the location of the exchange meet that Fellow Daoist Gongsun had told him about.
Although he had already altered his appearance and build, Li Ping still put on a mask and cloak that blocked Divine Sense as a precaution before striding toward the palace entrance.
Two black-robed cultivators stood guard at the palace entrance. When Li Ping swept his Divine Sense over them, his expression immediately grew serious. The two guards were both Foundation Establishment Cultivators, just like him.
As Li Ping approached, the two cultivators also swept their Divine Sense over him. After confirming his cultivation level, they stepped aside slightly, clearing the path into the palace and gesturing for him to enter.
Witnessing the strength of the exchange meet’s organizers, Li Ping’s anticipation for the event grew.
Taking a deep breath, he strode into the palace.
What greeted him was a massive, oval-shaped hall, its layout somewhat resembling an auction house.
The hall was filled with rows of over a thousand seats. Opposite them stood a stone stage raised three feet off the ground, upon which sat a single, solitary wooden table.
At this moment, nearly a hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators were already scattered among the thousand-plus seats.
Like Li Ping, most of them wore conical hats or masks, clearly unwilling to reveal their true identities.
Li Ping couldn’t help but marvel. Jixia Immortal City truly lived up to its name as the number one cultivation holy land in the Western Wilderness. The sheer number of High-tier Cultivators was far beyond what any other place could compare to.
The exchange meet hadn’t even started, yet so many Foundation Establishment Cultivators had already arrived. It was a testament to the city’s profound depth.
Following the example of the other cultivators, Li Ping scanned the hall, silently found a secluded corner, and sat down to wait for the exchange meet to begin.
...
After waiting another two or three hours, more Foundation Establishment Cultivators continued to trickle in.
Before long, nearly a third of the hall’s thousand-plus seats were filled.
Just then, the palace’s stone doors slowly swung shut. A cultivator who looked like a young maiden of sixteen or seventeen, dressed in a long red skirt, walked in from outside, flanked by the two black-robed guards. She went directly to the stone stage.
The young maiden surveyed the hall and began with a smile, "It seems we have many new Fellow Daoists at this exchange meet. As the initiator of this event, allow me to first introduce the rules. This is a free-trade exchange. Any Fellow Daoist who wishes to trade, sell, or purchase an item may come up on stage to conduct their own transaction."
"I will get the ball rolling and be the first to trade!" The young maiden’s expression turned serious as she began to state her needs.
As the young woman spoke on stage, Li Ping learned more from the hushed discussions of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators around him.
This young maiden was named Xiao Yunzhi. She was said to be a descendant of the number one cultivator in the Western Wilderness, the leader of the Daoist Guardian Alliance.
Not only did she have a profound background, but she also possessed a Celestial Spiritual Root. She had successfully reached Foundation Establishment before the age of twenty and was now, at not yet thirty, already at the Mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. She could truly be called a favored child of the heavens.
’A Celestial Spiritual Root...’ Li Ping couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.
...
On stage, Xiao Yunzhi continued, "I am in need of a Spiritual Object that can help a Tier Two Spirit Beast break through its bottleneck. If any Fellow Daoist possesses such an item and is willing to trade, you may choose any one of these items in exchange."
With that, she waved her hand.
Seven or eight items appeared on the table: several High-tier Dharma Artifacts shimmering with a faint glow, a few Spirit Talismans exuding a frightening pressure, and two bottles of Pills.
Among them, a Spirit Talisman inscribed with a small golden sword drew the most attention from the cultivators present.
"That’s a Talisman Treasure."
"It really is a Talisman Treasure."
"This Fairy Xiao is so generous, offering a Talisman Treasure in a trade!"
...
Listening to the discussions of the other cultivators, Li Ping’s eyes widened in surprise.
He was, of course, well aware of the famed Talisman Treasures. A typical Talisman Treasure could unleash about twenty percent of a Magical Treasure’s power, making it far more formidable than any Upper Grade Dharma Artifact.
Besides the Talisman Treasure, the other Dharma Artifacts and Spirit Talismans were all top-grade Tier Two treasures.
Every item Xiao Yunzhi had presented was exceptionally precious.
Li Ping guessed that her Spirit Beast must have an extraordinary bloodline; otherwise, she wouldn’t be willing to spend so extravagantly.
However, a Spiritual Object capable of helping a Tier Two Demon Beast break through its bottleneck was incredibly rare. In terms of value, it was second only to the Talisman Treasure among the items she had offered.
Therefore, after Xiao Yunzhi finished speaking, no one came forward to make a trade.
Seeing this, a trace of disappointment appeared on her beautiful face.
But just as she was about to put her items away and make room for others—
A hoarse voice suddenly reached her via voice transmission, "Heh heh... Fairy Xiao, I wonder if a Golden Bloodline Fruit would meet your requirements."
"A Golden Bloodline Fruit!" Xiao Yunzhi’s expression first froze, then lit up with ecstatic joy. She also replied via voice transmission, "If it’s such a wondrous object, it will naturally satisfy my needs."
A Golden Bloodline Fruit was a wondrous object that grew on a thousand-year-old Spirit Grass. It was even beneficial to Tier Three Demon Beasts.
Li Ping had offered the Bloodline Fruit knowing full well how attractive it would be to Xiao Yunzhi.
The problem was, he wasn’t interested in any of the seven or eight items Xiao Yunzhi had presented. The Talisman Treasure was good, but it wasn’t something he urgently needed.
Hearing Xiao Yunzhi’s transmission, his lips moved slightly, and his voice sounded in her ear again, "Heh heh... However, the items Fairy Xiao has shown are not what I need. I require a Tier Three Spiritual Fire or a thousand-year-old Spirit Medicine. If Fairy Xiao can produce such an item, I wouldn’t mind making a trade."
"I can." Xiao Yunzhi agreed readily after a moment’s thought. "I have a thousand-year-old Wuling Grass. Fellow Daoist, why don’t you take a look?"
With that, she took a Jade Box, over a foot long, from her Storage Bag and placed it on the table. Then, she looked at Li Ping with gleaming eyes.
Marveling inwardly at Fairy Xiao’s wealth, Li Ping walked onto the stage, placed the Jade Box containing the Golden Bloodline Fruit on the table, and pushed it toward her.
Seeing Li Ping’s action, Xiao Yunzhi’s eyes lit up.
She likewise pushed the foot-long Jade Box toward Li Ping, indicating for him to inspect it.
Li Ping didn’t stand on ceremony. He peeled off the Sealing Spirit Talisman on the Jade Box and began to carefully inspect the age of the Wuling Grass.
The conditions for the Tree of Legacy were too strict; even being a single year short would disqualify it.
After a thorough inspection, Li Ping nodded in satisfaction. The Wuling Grass Xiao Yunzhi had presented was indeed over a thousand years old!
With this, he had finally collected all three of the thousand-year-old Spirit Medicines required for the Tier Three Pill Master legacy.
As long as he could get his hands on a Tier Three Spiritual Fire, he could use the Tree of Legacy to become a Tier Three Pill Master in a single leap!
’The status of a Tier Three Pill Master should be at least comparable to that of a Core Formation Cultivator!’ Li Ping thought to himself.
However, while Li Ping’s inspection of the thousand-year-old Spirit Medicine went smoothly, Xiao Yunzhi’s face revealed a hint of disappointment as she looked at the Golden Bloodline Fruit in her hand.
She sighed softly. "This Bloodline Fruit was probably only a few decades away from being fully mature. It’s a pity it was picked prematurely, causing it to lose nearly half of its efficacy."
Li Ping smiled. Even with nearly half its efficacy lost, the Golden Bloodline Fruit was more than enough to purify the bloodline of a Tier Two Demon Beast.
He was certain that Fairy Xiao would ultimately agree to the trade. At worst, he could just compensate her with some Spirit Stones.
Thinking this, he was about to offer her some Spirit Stones to make up for the difference in value.
But Xiao Yunzhi spoke again, "Although the Golden Bloodline Fruit you’ve offered is slightly less valuable than the thousand-year-old Wuling Grass, I am in urgent need of this kind of Spiritual Object. You have solved a pressing problem for me, Fellow Daoist, so I agree to this exchange."
Li Ping nodded, put the thousand-year-old Wuling Grass into his Storage Bag, and returned to his seat without a word.
He couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration. ’Although Xiao Yunzhi is a woman, she conducts herself with the grace of a true noble. She’s worthy of being a descendant of the Western Wilderness’s number one cultivator and a possessor of a Celestial Spiritual Root.’
’Compared to her, that wretched Sword Cultivator was simply inhuman.’
Having obtained the Golden Bloodline Fruit, Xiao Yunzhi had achieved her goal. She gracefully walked off the stage, leaving it for the other cultivators.