Chapter 1811: Chapter 1796: The Spirit Void Fruit Turmoil
In fact, the Divine Soul Oath was very popular in the True Profound Continent, regarded as swearing to the Heavenly Dao, and anyone who dared to slightly betray the Divine Soul Oath would see it fulfilled.
However, in the True Profound Continent, as Ye Zhen’s cultivation grew higher and his knowledge expanded, he gradually realized that the Divine Soul Oath was not as effective as the legends suggested.
The stronger the being, the less they believed in the Divine Soul Oath.
Of course, this is not to say the Divine Soul Oath is useless, but its role is very limited below the Dao Realm.
At most, it affects psychological factors, and during cultivation can lead to an unstable mind, allowing heart demons to invade.
Therefore, in the Primordial Continent, the Divine Soul Oath is rarely used.
When serious commitments are needed, usually some powerful talisman scrolls crafted by mighty beings, such as the Golden Mouth Soul-Cutting Talisman, are used.
But once cultivation breaks through to the Dao Realm, the Divine Soul Oath becomes different.
Because Dao Realm experts can truly invoke the Heavenly Dao Laws, using their Divine Soul Origin power to draw upon the Heaven and Earth Laws they have comprehended, and then issue a Divine Soul Oath.
If they dare to betray it later, it will be mysteriously fulfilled.
Thus, in the Primordial Continent, if you ask a Dao Realm expert to make a Divine Soul Oath, they will be very cautious.
Master Xuanzhi offered a base price of seven Spirit Void Fruits, but Ye Zhen directly offered the price of ten Spirit Void Fruits as tributor to Master Xuanzhi, also requesting a simple Divine Soul Oath from him.
Ye Zhen showed sincerity, and the ten Spirit Void Fruits were a powerful attraction for Master Xuanzhi, so Master Xuanzhi wanted to hear what Ye Zhen meant by a simple Divine Soul Oath.
In Ye Zhen’s view, having a Dao Realm expert as a tributor is indeed what North Sea County and the Market of Dulong Island currently need.
But it must be a trustworthy Dao Realm expert who is diligent and reliable.
It is not required for this Dao Realm expert to sacrifice their life for North Sea County, but circumstances like previously fleeing with the seal when troubles arise is not what Ye Zhen wants to see.
"Master Xuanzhi, the content of my Divine Soul Oath is very simple; it’s just a straightforward constraint.
As long as the master enjoys the tribute of my North Sea County, he must wholeheartedly protect my North Sea County, and diligently work for me, Ye Zhen, and must not do anything detrimental to me, Ye Zhen, North Sea County, or the Second Route Wind Patrol Envoy.
Unless he encounters something that threatens his life or puts him in a hopeless situation, only then can he retreat or stay out of it."
Upon hearing this, Master Xuanzhi’s old face flushed; he understood that Ye Zhen likely saw his previous act of fleeing with the seal, which led to this simple Divine Soul Oath.
This Divine Soul Oath, although simple, does give him some leeway, yet it still made Master Xuanzhi somewhat hesitant.
Only when life is at risk or in hopeless situations can he choose to stand aside.
In other words, if he had made a similar oath when accepting the tribute from the Marquis of Haiyuan Kingdom, today he would have to obey Marquis Guo’s orders and oppose the Heavenly Patrol Department.
"Fifteen!"
Seeing Master Xuanzhi hesitate, Ye Zhen once again increased the offer, "As long as the master makes this Divine Soul Oath, the annual tribute of Spirit Void Fruits can be increased to fifteen pieces. I just want a slightly more solid guarantee."
This caused Master Xuanzhi’s expression to change slightly, somewhat surprised at Ye Zhen’s substantial increase.
It must be known that the price of Spirit Void Fruits in the past two or three years has been extraordinarily high.
Three years ago, the auction price of Spirit Void Fruits was about fifty to seventy thousand High Grade Spiritual Stones per piece, and with those stones on hand, it was always possible to obtain them.
However, two years ago, the number of Spirit Void Fruits released by Four Seas Market auction houses significantly decreased by half or directly disappeared, leading to a substantial surge in the auction prices that year. At the annual auction conference on Five Immortals Island in North Sea, thanks to the hundred Spirit Void Fruits provided by Ye Zhen, prices soared from fifty to seventy thousand to around one hundred thousand.
But due to insufficient preparation, the South Sea market’s auction house only managed to procure less than fifty Spirit Void Fruits, driving the price per ten items to an astonishing one hundred fifty thousand High Grade Spiritual Stones.
However, that was only the beginning.
The following year’s annual auction conference left those who had not bid high enough for Spirit Void Fruits the previous year with deep regrets.
The available quantity of Spirit Void Fruits continued to tighten this year, with drastic reductions not only in auction houses but also across all channels.
Even with a year of preparation, major auction houses managed to procure only dozens or a little over a hundred pieces.
Though the quantity was similar to the previous year, the auction prices were remarkably fierce.
On Five Immortals Island, a set of Spirit Void Fruits reached a price of 2.3 million High Grade Spiritual Stones.
While South Sea Market split the original set of ten Spirit Void Fruits into sets of five for auction.
Even so, the price for a set of five reached a staggering 1.4 million High Grade Spiritual Stones.
This auction price was already close to thirty thousand High Grade Spiritual Stones per piece.
Moreover, this was last year’s price.
According to industry estimates, the price of Spirit Void Fruits this year would see a considerable increase, and the transaction price would absolutely be higher than thirty thousand High Grade Spiritual Stones.
The reason is simple.
The purchasing price for Spirit Void Fruits, listed by major markets, already exceeds thirty thousand High Grade Spiritual Stones each, and those are unlimited purchases.
If the quantity reaches ten or more, the price can even increase by 5%.
Given the current purchasing price, the expected transaction price is predictable.
And judging by the current trend, the price of Spirit Void Fruits is likely to keep rising until it reaches its peak value.
This was the fundamental reason why Master Xuanzhi initially set the base price at seven Spirit Void Fruits.
Seven Spirit Void Fruits, based on last year’s transaction prices, already exceeded two million High Grade Spiritual Stones, whereas this year’s auction prices might exceed thirty-five thousand or even forty thousand.
The most critical issue is that Spirit Void Fruits are becoming increasingly scarce, and even if you have Spiritual Stones, you cannot buy them.
The Spirit Void Fruits are almost irreplaceable as an auxiliary for Dao Realm experts’ cultivation.
Now, with Ye Zhen offering an astronomical fifteen Spirit Void Fruits, Master Xuanzhi had no reason or courage to refuse.
Since the beginning of last year, over the course of nearly two years, Master Xuanzhi had not managed to acquire even a single Spirit Void Fruit.
However, speaking of the culprit in this matter, it was actually Ye Zhen.
Before Ye Zhen completely emptied the Three-eyed Demon Clan’s Spirit Void Orchard, the Spirit Void Fruit supply was always tight, but still within an acceptable range.
It was like dining; top-level wealthy could afford delicacies, wealthy could eat well, middle class could be full, the poor barely had enough, and a small portion of the extremely poor couldn’t afford to eat and would starve.
But most people were within reach of food, so the grain price remained stable, with little fluctuation.
Yet after Ye Zhen emptied the Spirit Void Orchard of the Three-eyed Demon Clan, their output accounted for one-third of the Spirit Void Fruit supply.
That’s equivalent to the world’s grain suddenly decreasing by one-third.
Don’t underestimate this one-third.
This decrement could cause the food prices to soar, doubling up, requiring not just money but also channels to buy.
Previously struggling on the edge of indigence are starved, while the middle class bankrupts themselves to barely fill up, the wealthy spend all to barely sustain, whereas top-tier wealthy expenses remain unchanged.
Currently, Spirit Void Fruits are in such a state.
Meaning that Master Xuanzhi, who previously could buy cultivation Spirit Void Fruits with Spiritual Stones, could now not buy them despite holding vast amounts of Spiritual Stones.
Fifteen Spirit Void Fruits naturally left Master Xuanzhi with no reason to refuse.
In the current situation, it was a golden opportunity hard to come by.
So at the moment, Master Xuanzhi, in Ye Zhen’s presence, used the power of the Divine Soul Origin to invoke the Heaven and Earth Laws he comprehended and made the not-so-strong but not trivial Divine Soul Oath as Ye Zhen requested.
Thus becoming the first Dao Realm Tributor under Ye Zhen’s command.
At the same time, the news of the Heavenly Patrol Department’s Western Patrol Second Route Wind Patrol Envoy’s massive arrest of high-ranking officials of the Marquis Haiyuan Kingdom in Haiyuan City quickly reached the Marquis Haiyuan Kingdom’s palace!
