Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Inside News
"You guys are well-informed. I did just register, and I happen to have a batch of Spirit-Storage Pills right here, two hundred in total. If you want them, they’re yours for one hundred eighty Spirit Stones," Zhang Chi said with a slight smile.
"Really? That’s wonderful! Thank you, Senior Brother Zhang." Qin Susu and the others were overjoyed.
When they bought Spirit-Storage Pills from shops or the Sect, it cost at least one Spirit Stone per pill, and the price would sometimes even rise slightly.
But Zhang Chi was giving them a straight 10% discount, which was an absolutely fair price.
They had assumed that besides the pills he needed for his own cultivation, Zhang Chi wouldn’t have much of a surplus. It now seemed they had severely underestimated him.
’Thank goodness we met Zhang Chi early on and have stayed on good terms with him. Otherwise, we’d never be able to buy such cheap Elixirs!’
At the same time, they couldn’t help but feel secretly glad.
They then inspected the Spirit-Storage Pills from Zhang Chi and, finding no issues with their quality, were finally at ease and immediately completed the transaction.
"Haha, I should be thanking you. Selling to you is much better than having the shops or the Sect buy them back."
Zhang Chi was in a great mood as well, since he had also made a small profit.
After all, the buy-back price for Spirit-Storage Pills was only eighty Spirit Stones per hundred. He could sell them for more at a stall, but that was time-consuming and troublesome. After paying the stall management fee, he wouldn’t actually earn much more.
"Senior Brother Zhang, could we cooperate with you long-term? In the future, no matter how many Spirit-Storage Pills you have, as long as the price is the same as today, we’ll take them all."
Qin Susu continued.
The He Shi siblings didn’t speak, but they were also full of anticipation.
After all, if they established a long-term partnership, not only would they have a stable, cheap, and reliable source of Elixirs, but they could also increase their own influence and business scope.
When they set up their stall, they could also sell Elixirs to diversify their product line.
They could even work as purchasing agents for others.
Therefore, they weren’t afraid of having too many Elixirs; the more they had, the more beneficial it was for them.
"Alright."
This was exactly what Zhang Chi had hoped for, so he readily agreed with a nod.
This way, he would only need to periodically trade his Elixirs with Qin Susu and the other two.
Plus, he barely had to provide any of his own materials.
The Sect’s Alchemy missions only required producing two Elixirs from ten sets of materials.
Yet he could produce four, and would produce even more in the future. The extra ones were pure profit.
Getting both Contribution Points and Spirit Stones like this was killing multiple birds with one stone.
However, if his Alchemy skills improved too dramatically in the future, he would certainly end up with a massive number of Spirit-Storage Pills.
When that time came, he would have to hold some back.
Otherwise, if the speed at which his Alchemy level improved surpassed that of an alchemical genius, it would be far too shocking if it became public knowledge.
"Oh, right. These are some of our notes from the lectures. We’ll lend them to you, Senior Brother Zhang. They’ll definitely help speed up your cultivation."
Then, to show their gratitude, Qin Susu and the others gave Zhang Chi three Jade Scrolls.
It turned out that since there were several of them, they often split up to attend different lectures, took their own notes, and then shared them with each other.
This was far more efficient than one person trying to do it all.
After all, many of the public lectures were scheduled at the same time, making it impossible for one person to attend them all.
Before, however, Zhang Chi’s relationship with them hadn’t been close enough, so they hadn’t shared their notes.
"Then I thank you."
Zhang Chi wasn’t one for false modesty. He accepted the Jade Scrolls immediately.
These would indeed be a great help to him.
Especially after his Divine Thought had improved, his ability to absorb Cultivation Knowledge had grown much stronger. The lectures he could attend each day were nowhere near enough for him to digest.
But with these notes on Jade Scrolls, it was a different story. They could drastically increase his learning speed.
The group then started chatting idly as they headed toward the Inheritance Hall.
"Senior Brother Zhang, have you heard? Yu Fairy of the Cyan Cloud Sect just successfully reached Foundation Establishment at only sixteen years old!"
"Yu Wan?"
"Yes, what’s wrong?"
"It’s nothing!"
Qin Susu had unintentionally brought up a piece of news that somewhat surprised Zhang Chi.
Zhang Chi had thought Yu Wan would be affected by her Heart Demon, which would in turn affect her Foundation Establishment.
It seemed he had underestimated her.
Then again, a woman like Yu Wan, who could play his predecessor to death, was clearly no ordinary person.
When he thought about it, it wasn’t so strange that she could achieve this.
"They say this Yu Fairy had originally planned to attempt Foundation Establishment later. She only did it early for the sake of revenge. I also heard she made a grand vow to eradicate the Demon Sect."
"It’s not just her. I heard Xiao Yunhong, the Young Master of the Profound Yin Sect, has also reached Foundation Establishment. And he’s very young, too, only eighteen!"
Qin Susu and the others continued, their faces full of envy.
Across the entire Great Abyss, reaching Foundation Establishment wasn’t a major event; countless cultivators succeeded or failed at it every day.
It was the same even within the Cangwu Sect.
But Yu Wan was clearly different. She was incredibly famous, and she had reached Foundation Establishment far too early.
Xiao Yunhong, on the other hand, had garnered a lot of attention because of his "grudge" with Yu Wan.
Otherwise, the people in Yuan South wouldn’t have paid any mind to a cultivator from Yuan Bei, even if he was the Young Master of the Profound Yin Sect.
"Xiao Yunhong?"
Hearing this, Zhang Chi was even more surprised.
"That’s right. They say Xiao Yunhong reached the Qi Cultivation Peak long ago, but he had a stroke of bad luck. He was captured and sent to the Cyan Cloud Sect’s mines, and his cultivation level even dropped for a time."
"But he managed to escape later, and he rose from the ashes, becoming even more formidable."
"And because of that, the guy seems to have developed a hatred for our Ten Righteous Sects. I heard he’s even secretly sending people to gather intelligence on the Golden Sun Sect."
Unaware of Zhang Chi’s connection to Xiao Yunhong and Yu Wan, Qin Susu and the others chattered on with great enthusiasm.
When talking about Yu Wan, they were full of admiration, but they were utterly disgusted with Xiao Yunhong, who had annihilated an entire family.
’Brother Xiao, I guess you could call this a blessing in disguise. But are you gathering intel on the Golden Sun Sect because you’re looking for me? Too bad I’m in the Cangwu Sect now. You’re destined to never find me, haha!’ Zhang Chi laughed inwardly.
"Oh, by the way, Senior Brother Chen Bufan also reached Foundation Establishment a few days ago. Although he’s not on the level of Yu Wan and Xiao Yunhong, he’s still only twenty-five."
"And they say that as long as you reach Foundation Establishment before you’re thirty, you have a chance of reaching the Golden Core realm!"
"Of course, I heard the earlier the better. If you do it before you’re twenty, you might even have a chance of reaching the Nascent Soul realm in the future!"
"Oh, wait, it’s Master Chen Bufan now."
Qin Susu and the others mentioned Chen Bufan, their expressions instantly becoming animated.
Those other geniuses were too distant from their world, but Chen Bufan was right here among them.
They had all made a special trip to congratulate Chen Bufan during his Foundation Establishment celebration.
They hadn’t invited Zhang Chi, however, because they knew Chen Bufan didn’t particularly care for him.
Moreover, Zhang Chi certainly hadn’t achieved Minor Success in the Sword Control Technique, so they naturally didn’t dare bring him along without permission.
Even when they went, they were just minor figures on the fringe, only able to sit in a corner at the banquet, attended to by the servants of Chen Bufan’s household.
"Is that so? Master... Chen... is indeed impressive."
Zhang Chi wasn’t surprised by this. Instead, he was thinking that he should also try his best to reach Foundation Establishment before he turned thirty.
Although that wasn’t as good as reaching it before twenty, it didn’t mean he couldn’t catch up later.
He didn’t say this out loud, however.
Because whether it was thirty or twenty, neither was an age that an ordinary Qi Cultivation Cultivator could even dream of achieving it by.
Most cultivators would thank the heavens if they could just reach Foundation Establishment before they were sixty.
After that, their life force would begin to decline, and the success rate would drop dramatically.
Barring a few special circumstances, one could give up all hope after the age of eighty.
Otherwise, it was simply a death wish.
"By the way, Senior Brother Zhang, did you know? The content of the Sect’s assessment is going to change. There’s an inside scoop that says even new Entry Level disciples will have to participate in actual combat," Qin Susu added after a moment’s thought.
