Chapter 396: Chapter 307: Settling the Score (Part 2)
But nothing Jiang Kui said could sway Fang Qingyuan from his decision. He upped the ante, saying:
"A Tier Two top-grade Magical Artifact? Or Tier Three Spiritual Materials? Or perhaps a Barrier-Breaking Elixir, or a Dao Fruit to improve your Spirit Root talent? Just say the word. I’m willing to find it for you in exchange for Jiang Wanqin and Liu Xun’s freedom."
Hearing the terms Fang Qingyuan offered, Jiang Kui ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation. She had been stuck at the bottleneck between Early-stage and Mid-stage Foundation Establishment for a very long time. Breaking through required expensive Elixir Pills, but her current financial situation couldn’t support such an expenditure.
After some haggling, the two finally reached a consensus. Fang Qingyuan would find Jiang Kui a Miracle Elixir that would allow her to break through to Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. In addition, he needed to provide a top-grade water-attribute Magical Artifact. Only then would Jiang Kui release Jiang Wanqin and Liu Xun to him.
Fang Qingyuan had few objections to this condition. All told, the cost would be four or five hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones at most. ’It’s just the price for the lives of two Foundation Establishment Cultivators,’ he thought.
With the deal settled, Fang Qingyuan flew to Nine Stars Square, his face a cold mask. Once he arrived, he disguised himself and spent Spirit Stones to bid on a Barrier-Breaking Elixir and a top-grade water-attribute Magical Artifact.
He bought two bottles of Tier Two Upper Grade Water Marsh Pills, which could effectively increase the chances of a water-attribute Spirit Root Cultivator breaking through a bottleneck. This cost him one hundred and eighty Top-grade Spirit Stones. The Second-Order Top-Grade water-attribute Spiritual Artifact, meanwhile, cost him nearly three hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones.
The Water Shadow Spirit Sword was a Tier Two top-grade weapon that came with four abilities. Its main ability could summon up to three monsters at a time, chosen from ten different types of Tier Two water-attribute beasts, each equivalent in strength to an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator. This allowed for a flexible response tailored to the enemy.
Two bottles of Elixir Pills and a Magic Sword, exchanged for Jiang Wanqin—who should have belonged to the Qingyuan Sect in the first place—and a mere Qi Cultivation Cultivator. It seemed like a huge loss, but Fang Qingyuan knew this was about settling a karmic debt. ’From now on,’ he thought, ’whatever happens to Jiang Kui has nothing to do with me.’
Returning to Yuanling Mountain, Fang Qingyuan handed the items to Jiang Kui. Seeing the joyful look on her face, he didn’t want to stay a moment longer.
A moment later, Jiang Kui released them: Jiang Wanqin, who wore a look of shame; Liu Xun, whose face was etched with deep exhaustion; and Liu Xun’s entire clan, a group of four to five hundred relatives.
After counting them, Fang Qingyuan said nothing more. He simply turned and led the group away, not caring in the least how Jiang Kui might react.
Outside, Yinbao was waiting with its remaining three mates. Fang Qingyuan had brought the beast with him on his way back from Nine Stars Square, precisely in preparation for this moment.
He had Liu Xun’s kinsfolk spread out across Yinbao’s back. Standing atop the creature’s head, Fang Qingyuan watched Yuanling Mountain recede into a blur, and with it, the memories he once held of that place faded as well.
’Now I understand why Zhang Yuan chose to leave Jiang Kui,’ he thought. ’To go live with his wife’s family... he must have just been too exhausted by it all.’
Liu Xun now stood beside Fang Qingyuan. Though his face was still weary, his spirits were soaring. He gazed at the back of the man before him and, for a moment, felt an urge to choke back a sob.
Born with Upper Grade Spirit Root Talent, he was now in his sixties. He had been through it all: from being highly regarded by everyone, to being doubted, then mocked, and finally, to being completely ignored.
He had borne the title of a genius, yet had been stuck before the threshold of Foundation Establishment for twenty or thirty years. His spirit had been worn down to nothing. He never imagined that Fang Qingyuan would still remember him, still care about him.
Fang Qingyuan looked as young as he had all those years ago, while Liu Xun himself now had streaks of white in his hair. Remembering the years he had squandered, Liu Xun finally couldn’t hold back. He secretly shed a few tears, then, thinking no one was looking, quickly wiped them away.
But his actions did not escape Fang Qingyuan’s powerful Divine Sense. ’This Immortal Seedling I had such high hopes for...’ Fang Qingyuan thought with a sigh, ’...to think he’s fallen into such a state.’ He felt a pang of regret. Back then, however, he could barely protect himself. If he hadn’t gone to the Outer Sea, he would have been sent to die on some new frontier. By the time the Qingyuan Sect was established and Jiang Kui decided to send Jiang Wanqin over, Liu Xun had already been left to languish.
’Still, it’s not too late,’ Fang Qingyuan mused. ’He’s in his sixties, so he has a few years left before he’s past the optimal age for Foundation Establishment. Liu Xun’s cultivation level is high enough; his problems are a lack of resources and some issues with his state of mind. But I’m confident I can solve those for him. For now, though, I should let him keep his dignity.’
So, Fang Qingyuan pretended he hadn’t seen a thing and listened patiently as Jiang Wanqin explained everything that had happened after she arrived at Yuanling Mountain.
After she finished, Fang Qingyuan teased, "Di Yun, huh? I met him once. He seems like a decent young man. Are you sure you won’t consider it?"
Jiang Wanqin rolled her eyes at him and chose to ignore the jibe. Seeing that her mood had lightened a little, Fang Qingyuan dropped the subject.
Yinbao flew for three straight days, traveling from Yuanling Mountain, across the Death Swamp, through the Loose Cultivator Land, and over a portion of the Li Huo Alliance’s territory before finally reaching the Qingyuan Sect.
After summoning Mao Cheng to arrange for Liu Xun and his kinsfolk, Fang Qingyuan told Jiang Wanqin to go get some rest. He then went to the Sect Leader’s Quiet Chamber, closed his eyes, and entered his Immortal Mansion to take stock of his wealth.
In less than a year, he had already spent eight hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones. If Mao Cheng knew how fast he burned through money, he would probably faint on the spot.
Currently, the sect’s annual income, even with the newly opened Barbaric Trade Route, was less than fifty Top-grade Spirit Stones. Eight hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones was equivalent to nearly twenty years of the Qingyuan Sect’s net profit.
Although Fang Qingyuan had previously earned a huge fortune from Blood Life Pills, he had only been spending from his supply in recent years, not replenishing it. He had to cover all his various cultivation expenses from that stockpile. Now, twenty years later, his wealth had shrunk considerably compared to his time in the Outer Sea Iron Wind Islands.
After carefully taking stock of the materials and Elixir Pills stored in his Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan found that he had less than five thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones worth of assets remaining. The largest portion of this wealth was still the Blood Life Pills produced by the Bee Queen.
If he were to count only his liquid Spirit Stones, Fang Qingyuan had just over one thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones in reserve. A large portion of that came from converting the annual harvest of Spirit Rice from his Immortal Mansion into Spirit Stones.
The eight hundred mu of Spirit Rice Fields in his Immortal Mansion yielded one Top-grade Spirit Stone for every ten mu, amounting to an annual income of eighty Top-grade Spirit Stones. That might seem like a lot, but Jinbao was an expensive eater. Because of its "Swallow Gold, Chew Iron" Divine Technique, Fang Qingyuan had to periodically feed it high-quality Gold Attribute Spiritual Materials, which was a major expense.
Raising Spirit Beasts was expensive, and raising one like Jinbao, which literally devoured precious metals, was even more so. Jinbao alone cost Fang Qingyuan thirty Top-grade Spirit Stones a year, not to mention the Bee Queen’s upkeep.
Of course, the Bee Queen’s production now far exceeded her upkeep; as a high-quality working Spirit Beast, Fang Qingyuan was counting on her. Yinbao had also become self-sufficient and was no longer a freeloader.
Nanli, on the other hand, was small with a small appetite, making it easy to care for. Fang Qingyuan let it roam freely and didn’t pay much attention to it. For him, it was enough that Nanli was alive and well; he never expected it to fight or charge into battle for him.
After calculating his income and expenses, a sense of crisis washed over Fang Qingyuan. ’Less than five thousand... this might not be enough for Core Formation.’
’An ordinary Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator might only need a little over a thousand Top-grade Spirit Stones for Core Formation,’ he reasoned. ’But given the "Infinite Evolution Pill Theory" I’ve developed, the resulting pill will surely be of an extraordinary grade. A mere thousand Spirit Stones won’t be nearly enough to be safe.’
’Five thousand isn’t enough. Even a budget of ten thousand wouldn’t be excessive. When it comes to Spirit Stones, the more, the better.’
But if Fang Qingyuan wanted to earn Spirit Stones, his main method was still the Blood Life Pills produced by the Bee Queen. The problem was, producing Blood Life Pills required feeding them Demonic Qi. And unlike the Outer Sea, White Mountain was extremely strict in its inspections for Demon Artifacts and Demon Cultivators.
Even the Black Market didn’t dare to sell Demon Artifacts openly, making it difficult for Fang Qingyuan to find a source of Demonic Qi.
「A few days later.」
As Fang Qingyuan was cultivating and pondering how to acquire Demonic Qi, Mao Cheng came to report an incident. There had been an accident at the sect’s outpost in the Barbaric Wilderness. Apparently, several disciples had followed other Cultivators into the wilderness and hadn’t been seen for days.
As the Qingyuan Sect’s strongest combatant, everyone was counting on Fang Qingyuan to personally go and search for the missing disciples. If too much time passed, Mao Cheng worried their lives would be in grave danger.
Fang Qingyuan sighed. He had no choice. As the Sect Leader, it was his duty. Taking Jinbao with him, he hurried to the outpost on the Barbaric Border, preparing to clean up after his disciples.
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