Chapter 2255: Chapter 2257: Information Feedback
Yi Jue and Feng Jun displayed great generosity, and Elder Qing Ji naturally didn’t intend to play the villain. She remained silent and only nodded.
However, True Immortal Jing Quan was not in agreement. When others give him face, he cannot take it for granted—respect is mutual.
He spoke in a deep voice, "Embarking on a void treasure hunt during the Out-of-World phase is simply reckless. They must bear the consequences accordingly. While you may not mind, the necessary punishment must be carried out... Alarming Mountain Master Feng and three True Immortals at once, we have so many matters to attend to daily."
"Let me say a fair word," Feng Jun spoke solemnly. "Their actions are certainly inappropriate, but it’s not easy for two Kun Cultivators to endure hardships in the void. Besides, the Thick Earth Cauldron continues to operate, consuming Spirit Stones. It’s somewhat reasonable for them to want to supplement their resources."
Actually, what he wanted to say was that if you weren’t overly worried about your disciples, how they would stir trouble in the void—whether they lived or died—was none of our concern. Now you’re trying to separate yourself from the issue completely.
"The Spirit Stones for the Thick Earth Cauldron are mine to bear," True Immortal Jing Quan shook his head, unmoved. "I’ve arranged things clearly, yet they act on their own... You don’t need to counsel me further."
Feng Jun heard this and sighed lightly, "There’s no need to be overly concerned, everyone comes from a place of weakness."
With these words spoken, even True Immortal Jing Quan found it difficult to respond openly. After a long silence, he offered, "Then I’ll cover the Spirit Stones, and for you three, would a hardship fee of one hundred high-level Spirit Stones each be acceptable?"
"That’s unnecessary!" Elder Qing Ji responded this time. She wouldn’t take these Spirit Stones to heart—the key is that if they accept this fee, Jing Quan is likely trying to use it to forge a closer relationship with Feng Jun, which would lead to entering the void treasure hunting field next.
Qing Ji did not anticipate their three elders monopolizing the void treasure hunt market for long. Even combined, they find it difficult to resist pressure from other major forces, but this process should open gradually, and she didn’t want to speed it up at all.
Feng Jun also shook his head with a smile, "There’s no need. You’re acting a bit distant now, True Immortal Jing Quan."
Jing Quan genuinely wanted to befriend Feng Jun, so he did not respond to Qing Ji’s words but looked at Feng Jun, speaking earnestly, "The last time I brought Moli in, I hadn’t yet paid the relevant costs. If you refuse the Spirit Stones again now... How could I have the face to request your help in the future?"
Feng Jun laughed at this, "The best favors are priceless; inevitably, there will be times when I’ll bother you... For now, let’s first take all three out. Otherwise, leaving the injured and retaining Moli and the other two will weaken resistance to risk."
This was necessary; due to the unforeseen incident, Moli’s healing process had to be interrupted momentarily.
Before this, Feng Jun announced, "Please wait here while I make some preparations to break open the void."
Though his energy points could still carry these people back to Tianqin, a more dangerous threshold of remaining energy points would be reached, which for him, with his alert nature about security, was intolerable.
Seeing him swipe at his mobile phone before disappearing, True Immortal Jing Quan hesitated and asked, "What’s he... replenishing for?"
The two elders remained silent until the aloof Yi Jue answered, "I don’t know; entering and exiting the void surely consumes resources."
Elder Qing Ji then spoke, "Should be approximately a day and a half... Shall we take a stroll around?"
Yi Jue coldly responded, "No need; unlikely to yield results, why bother unsettling the mind?"
Despite both being from Taixu Sect, Jing Quan always felt Yi Jue was somewhat more approachable and thus inquired, "Why do I feel you resist void treasure hunting?"
Yi Jue felt annoyed but couldn’t express it, so he replied gruffly, "This is not a good place for treasure hunting, just relatively safe. That’s why Moli can heal here. Brother Jing Quan, you’ll get a feel for it since you’re new to the void."
The two Out-of-World phase Kun Cultivators exchanged glances: For us, this place is indeed good for treasure hunting, whereas over at Broken Stone Zone, where there are indeed more treasures, isn’t somewhere we can easily venture into, okay?
Feng Jun reappeared after roughly three days. In theory, with half of his spiritual energy consumed, a day was enough, but he didn’t want others to accurately estimate his recharge time, so he lingered longer on Earth.
In the past twenty days or so while absent from Earth, his hometown prepared some goods, which he brought over.
Seeing his three-day reappearance, True Immortal Jing Quan greeted him, internally musing that Elder Qing Ji’s estimate was indeed almost accurate, indicating their coordination in the void was quite good.
Reflecting on this, he couldn’t help but feel some envy, yet it was clear now was not the time to let such emotions ferment, so he suggested again, "Mountain Master Feng, could we bring the three Moli to Yiyao, allowing me to arrange everything nearby?"
Feng Jun originally planned to take them to White Pebble Beach, letting True Immortal Jing Quan lead them away. Upon hearing this, he reconsidered, realizing bringing them to White Pebble Beach might have a larger impact, so it might be better to go to Yiyao. After all, not many Taixu experts were there.
He led the people outside East City of Yiyao and politely declined Jing Quan’s invitation, stating he wanted to take a look at the Ice Plate.
Yi Jue and Qing Ji also followed him as they were planning to inspect the situation at Jiu Tong’s gemstone market.
Master Jiu Tong’s market was doing quite well, especially in the "shopfront" cottage at the mouth of the small valley, gathering nearly a thousand people, mostly in the Outset Stage, but there were also eight or nine Golden Core Masters.
However, after some casual inquiries, Feng Jun found that most were from nearby plates, especially in this shopfront, where the majority of masters belonged to local clans. It appeared they had studied drop rates and rather than gambling stones, they were purchasing the stones that were uncovered on site.
In the shop Jiu Tong opened not far from the branch, there were many more Golden Core Masters, and even True Immortals. However, aside from the Xuanshui Sect and Taixu Sect, there were not many cultivators from other sects, which meant the influence hadn’t fully spread.
Elder Cang Jing had returned to Xuanshui Sect, while Master Jiu Tong greeted Feng Jun and his companions. She was also very interested in the Void Material market at White Pebble Beach and candidly admitted that she had less influence there than at White Pebble Beach.
Yet she was undeterred, stating that business could gradually grow and that opening the market was just a matter of time — if she wished, she could increase the promotional efforts immediately.
It’s important to note that few outsiders came, mainly because the surrounding clans and Taixu Sect were controlling the spread of information and inspecting the Transmission Array leading to the Ice Plate quite closely.
If Jiu Tong wasn’t serious about it, this situation could persist for a long time. But if she truly cared, the information could not be kept sealed.
Nonetheless, she felt that the current slow and steady state was pretty good, many materials could be prioritized for the sect, and once expanded, not only would the rhythm be hard to control, but it could also affect her cultivation.
Finally, half-jokingly and half-seriously, she said, "Who knows when we might next come across a Void Stone, so why rush?"
Feng Jun and his companions didn’t reply — too many people were eyeing this market, making it hard to provide an active response.
Then, Feng Jun went to visit the Spirit Stone Mine, where the returns were quite good. Now every month it could produce a million Spirit Stones and around ten thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones. He held a three percent equity stake, roughly thirty thousand Spirit Stones and three thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
The key was that the returns came every month, so even though Feng Jun was used to large sums, he couldn’t help nodding at such a return rate, realizing that joint development was indeed good. If he wanted to dine alone, the trouble brought by such returns would be unimaginable.
Now he didn’t need to pay much attention, just sat there watching Spirit Stones rush in like a torrent, truly quite satisfying.
However, simply "sitting and collecting money" was obviously just an ideal state.
Feng Jun initially planned to visit for one round and return the next day, but later that day, Master Jiu Tong conveyed a request from Taixu Sect: they hoped that he and Yi Jue could visit Taixu headquarters to discuss improvements regarding the Technique.
Yi Jue didn’t fear going to Taixu, but she understood Feng Jun’s feelings, so she expressed proactively that she was no longer a disciple of Taixu. To avoid some irresponsible speculation, she hoped the related discussions could take place at the Spirit Plant Stage... or even the Ice Plate would do.
Taixu Sect quickly responded, saying they agreed to send Elder Duan Liang, responsible for Cultivation Technique, who would arrive at the Ice Plate in two days, with some other matters to discuss.
Two days later, Elder Duan Liang the True Immortal hadn’t arrived yet, instead True Immortal Cang Jing arrived first, but the two groups came close together, Taixu also brought along True Immortals Jing Quan and Wu Xiu.
Elder Duan Liang spoke first, expressing his desire to talk privately with Feng Jun and Yi Jue — after all, it involved Taixu’s secrets, especially this "Binding Energy into Forces," which had been consistently suppressed by the Techniques from Yuangang Sect, making it unsuitable for outsiders to hear.
This request was granted, as Elder Duan Liang retrieved his Law Transmission Hall and invited Feng Jun and Yi Jue inside.
Unlike Yi Jue, he was a powerful elder, thus his Hall was different from others, known as "Law Transmission Hall," it was an exclusive True Artifact of Taixu elders, where speaking inside could block out Nascent Soul investigations.
In such a setting, Feng Jun felt a bit repelled, but Yi Jue intentionally or inadvertently glanced at him, her eyes conveying a message: don’t worry, I’m here.
It turned out that Feng Jun was indeed somewhat overthinking it, Elder Duan Liang, though young, not yet two thousand years old, had seen many Cultivation Techniques. While "Binding Energy into Forces" was indeed a good Technique, it wasn’t worth using any sly tricks.
Once inside, he frankly stated, "After extensive verification and testing, your modification of ’Binding Energy into Forces’ was very successful, with effects suppressing those of Yuangang Sect, except for the growth aspect which remains to be observed, there are no issues in safety and adaptability."
Feng Jun and Yi Jue didn’t speak, simply nodding in silent acknowledgment.
After analyzing, Elder Duan Liang went straight to the point, "I came this time to discuss with you both the rewards related to this and the manageable spread of the Technique..."
