Chapter 345: Chapter 279: Making His Own Decisions (Part 2)
"So that’s how it is." Elder Wen of Star Moon Valley said no more.
On the Wind Ling Sect’s side, whether it was Li Mingyi, Lin Caixuan, or the third elder, the way they looked at Fang Yun had changed.
Two sets of Spirit Medicines for refining ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills were quite valuable, and Fang Yun had obtained that Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill through his own skill. Normally, he had no reason to feel grateful to their Wind Ling Sect.
Since Fang Yun had made the offer, they wouldn’t stand on ceremony. After all, the Spirit Medicines for refining Foundation Establishment Pills were a crucial resource.
They would accept, of course, but it was important to be gracious about it.
"I didn’t expect Fellow Daoist Fang to take this matter to heart. You obtained that Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill through your own strength, and you even broke the Four-Sect Trial record at the time. We were completely convinced."
"In that case, we’ll have to trouble Fellow Daoist Fang to prepare an extra Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill for us next time."
Li Mingyi made the decision on the spot. The next time they went to the Celestial Cloud Sect to trade, they would directly offer six sets of Spirit Medicines for ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills.
Calculating the time, the next time their Wind Ling Sect planned to refine Foundation Establishment Pills would be in six years.
"Alright, I’ll do my best."
While Fang Yun was discussing the matter of refining Foundation Establishment Pills, Bai Qinying remained silent, letting him make all the decisions.
’The sect would definitely approve of Fang Yun’s actions.’
’Even if the sect did have an opinion on the matter, Fang Yun was fully capable of making the decision himself.’
’Of course, if he acted entirely on his own, he wouldn’t have the sect to back him up.’
’But of course, opposition from the sect’s upper echelons was impossible. Bai Qinying was well aware of the influence Fang Yun now wielded within the sect.’
’It seemed that even the Supreme Elder’s influence in the sect couldn’t compare to his now.’
’Besides, when Fang Yun made a decision, he had their support. To say nothing of the elders from other places, the elders of their Battle Peak would certainly support him with all their might—especially her. And she could always bring her master in for extra support.’
After the details of the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill trade were all settled, the moods of the elders from the other three sects clearly improved.
Although Fang Yun wasn’t an elder of their sects, striking this deal was equivalent to them having commissioned his services.
After the discussion, however, the happiest person was Fang Yun himself.
’Refining a single Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill would grant him 18,000 basic Talent Points.’
’More importantly, their Celestial Cloud Sect now had more sources for the Spirit Medicines needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills. This meant the sect would have more Foundation Establishment Pills, which would ultimately affect the number of Foundation Establishment Elders in their Celestial Cloud Sect.’
As the number of Foundation Establishment Elders increased and the sect’s strength grew, they would have more power in the future to eliminate Evil Sects like the Celestial Demon Sect and the Demon Spirit Sect.
’Everything he was accumulating now was for the sake of better action later.’
However, he wouldn’t be able to acquire a huge amount of Spirit Medicine from the three great Core Formation Sects just by trading Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills.
They would probably store three Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills at most; it was unlikely they would stockpile too many.
For Cultivators with Dual Spirit Roots or better, using a Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill was a bit of a waste. A Middle-grade Foundation Establishment Pill was more than enough for them to reach Foundation Establishment.
If they traded for too many Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills and caused a shortage of regular ones, the loss would outweigh the gain.
「As time went on.」
A day and a half had passed since the start of the Four-Sect Trial.
The first disciple was eliminated.
A disciple from the Wind Ling Sect at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.
Seeing this, Li Mingyi’s expression changed slightly.
Just a moment ago, they had been laughing and joking, wondering which sect’s disciple would be the first to be eliminated. As it turned out, it was a disciple from their Wind Ling Sect.
"E-El...der."
"Go over there and rest."
After acknowledging, the Wind Ling Sect disciple immediately went to the designated open area to sit and meditate.
"Hahaha, Fellow Daoist Li, it’s a good thing you didn’t agree to our bet just now, or you’d be the one losing," Elder Wen Zhongyun of Star Moon Valley said with a laugh.
After Luo Yiyang had returned to his sect for the Spirit Medicines to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, the most senior elders left here were Wen Zhongyun and Li Mingyi.
And over the past day, the two of them had talked the most.
"Vast Sea Sect and Celestial Cloud Sect didn’t participate. What’s the fun in just us two old guys making a bet?" Li Mingyi also felt fortunate that he hadn’t bet.
The bet between the two of them would naturally have been about the disciples of their two great sects.
Their bet would have allowed for a draw; if the first disciple to be eliminated was not from the Wind Ling Sect or Star Moon Valley, neither of them would have had to pay up.
"It’s only no fun if you lose. It’s plenty of fun if you win," Wen Zhongyun said with a small smile.
Just then, a streak of light appeared in the distance.
It was Luo Yiyang, returning from the Vast Sea Sect.
As he landed, Luo Yiyang looked at Fang Yun with a somewhat awkward expression.
His grandson had spoken too definitively. Upon returning to the sect, he discovered that he couldn’t gather four complete sets of Spirit Medicines for refining ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills.
This was awkward.
He had brought the Spirit Medicines with him, hoping to complete the trade with Fang Yun.
"Grandfather, what’s wrong?" Xiao Lefan, who was the first to notice something was off, asked immediately.
"Ahem... Elder Fang, our Vast Sea Sect currently only has three complete sets of Spirit Medicines for ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills. For the last set, one of the main ingredients, the Mingqing Xuan Grass, is only available in inferior quality."
Luo Yiyang had already thought about what to say on his way here.
"How about I make up for it with three hundred Lower-grade Spirit Stones? Can we complete the trade then?"
Luo Yiyang didn’t look like he was lying. He wasn’t the elder in charge of the sect’s Spirit Medicines, so it was normal for him not to know the exact situation before the trade.
Just as Fang Yun was about to agree, Li Mingyi spoke up first.
"I say, Fellow Daoist Luo, if you’re going to compensate, make it three Middle-grade Spirit Stones. Does Fellow Daoist Fang look like someone who’s short three hundred Lower-grade Spirit Stones?"
"That’s right, Fellow Daoist Luo," Wen Zhongyun chimed in.
Middle-grade Spirit Stones had far more uses than Lower-grade ones. For example, some Spirit Arrays required Middle-grade Spirit Stones to operate. If you placed a Lower-grade Spirit Stone in the slot, you couldn’t even perform the initial activation.
Therefore, although the exchange rate between Middle-grade and Lower-grade Spirit Stones was one to one hundred, it was often very difficult to trade one hundred Lower-grade Spirit Stones for a single Middle-grade one.
Luo Yiyang was a bit surprised to hear this.
He wasn’t surprised that Li Mingyi was speaking up for Fang Yun, but that he had done so with such speed.
Fang Yun had been on the verge of answering him, but Li Mingyi had cut in.
At that moment, Luo Yiyang glanced at his grandson, whose eyes told him that he should indeed do as they suggested.
’Something must have happened in the day and a half I was gone...’
The thought quickly occurred to Luo Yiyang.
It was true that Fang Yun possessed high Alchemy and Artifact Refining talent, but no matter how you looked at it, he wasn’t a Cultivator from the Wind Ling Sect or Star Moon Valley.
There had to be a reason for the subtle change in their attitude toward Fang Yun.
He could just ask his grandson for the reason later.
"I spoke too hastily and was careless. Elder Fang, would adding three Middle-grade Spirit Stones be acceptable?"
"No problem," Fang Yun said, finally giving the answer he had been about to give earlier.
"Here are the Spirit Medicines for refining the Foundation Establishment Pills. Please take a look."
Fang Yun took the Storage Pouch and scanned it with his senses; the quality of the Spirit Medicines inside was clear at a glance.
After accepting Luo Yiyang’s three Middle-grade Spirit Stones, he quickly took out a Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill and completed the trade with the Vast Sea Sect.
Before returning, Fang Yun had already set a goal for his Foundation Establishment Pill refining.
Three Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, plus one Middle-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.
With his current skill in refining Foundation Establishment Pills, he was fifty percent confident he could achieve this goal.
He was ninety percent confident he could refine just two Top-grade pills, because refining two more batches of Foundation Establishment Pills would definitely increase his experience.
His Seven-Star Alchemy Talent allowed him to improve at an astonishing rate when refining Second Tier pills.
The trade was complete.
The Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill was in hand.
After Luo Yiyang handed the Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill to his grandson, he immediately sent him a voice transmission to ask if something had happened, as everyone’s attitude toward Fang Yun seemed a little different.
Xiao Lefan briefly explained what had happened earlier.
Luo Yiyang understood immediately.
The change in everyone’s attitude toward Fang Yun was perfectly normal.
From Fang Yun’s words, it was clear that he was someone who understood how to repay favors.
As long as he had the ability in the future, he would likely repay even the smallest kindness.
A talented, good-natured Alchemy Master who knew how to repay favors—anyone would take a liking to someone like that.
After hearing his grandson’s explanation, his own attitude toward Fang Yun also changed slightly.
