Chapter 156: Moon Spirit Hundred Immortals Brew!

After assessing the true strength of Master Huoqian, Shen Lian's divine sense swept over the Foundation Establishment cultivators present.

Though these cultivators had all concealed their appearances, they were exposed entirely under the coverage of his divine sense.

Soon, all eight ninth-tier Foundation Establishment cultivators arrived, and Gong Zhongze, who claimed to be Master Huoqian's servant, stationed himself at the entrance.

Among the eight ninth-tier Foundation Establishment cultivators were two female cultivators. Each exuded a pleasant fragrance and looked quite young, yet fine wrinkles hung at the corners of their eyes—clearly old cucumbers painted green, putting on airs of youthfulness.

Aside from them, there was another cultivator dressed in mature garments whose true appearance was remarkably young, which caught Shen Lian's attention for an extra moment or two.

He also sensed that this person, much like himself, was scanning around with his divine sense while managing to remain undetected by Master Huoqian.

After sensing carefully, he discovered that this cultivator's divine sense intensity also exceeded a thousand zhang, accompanied by a technique capable of compressing divine sense into a fine needle-like shape to reinforce its power.

This person possessed a cultivation method specifically for divine sense, and its quality was likely quite high.

"Since everyone has arrived, let us begin."

Master Huoqian did not drag things out.

Shen Lian cast another look at the Starry Tree; he actually desired it.

Yet currently, this item was exuding an aura of death, and if bought back, it might require searching for a high-grade spirit plant master to concoct certain medicinal herbs for treatment.

The trading process was conducted through divine sense communication. One could see the cultivators seated shaking their heads, frowning, or beaming with joy.

"The truth is, this old man wishes to invite fellow Daoists to lend a hand."

Before the heavens, everyone was a thief; once a thief, did one still need to bother with methods?

"Ahem... Well, since everyone has finished displaying their items, the exchanges may now begin. Of course, with the Daoist's permission, spiritual stones may also be used for purchase."

Xue Zishou pulled out the gourd stopper once more and took a fierce gulp of spiritual wine. The drifting fragrance of the spirit wine caused the other cultivators in the hall to twitch their noses.

Regarding such a method of draining the pond to catch the fish, none of the cultivators said much; if placed in their position, they would have done the same.

Utilizing the sale of various spiritual materials to entice external cultivators into developing favorable impressions of the Saint Spirit Palace's female cultivators—such a taboo could be significant or trivial depending on the cultivator, and someone might even be eager to get their hands on a couple of female cultivators from the Saint Spirit Palace.

The final cultivator produced a long jade box. Once opened, a rich spiritual qi immediately filled the room, interspersed with faint specks of starlight shimmering within the mist.

"Second-tier mid-grade fire wolf armor, second-tier upper-grade fire cloud mirror, second-tier upper-grade crimson fire wolf cloak..."

...

It was not that he regretted plucking the tree from its roots, but rather that he lamented earning too little.

"Lu Shan."

Some items possessed attributes, such as the spiritual veins near the Red Crystal Ore City, which leaned toward the fire element.

"The Starry Tree!"

As of now, he was no longer lacking in fierce beast blood.

This was a pure elemental bead born within spiritual veins, which could be considered a hundred times more refined than regular spiritual stones. For fire-attribute cultivators, it could be used both to assist in cultivation and as a spiritual stone, with effects no less potent than pills of the same tier meant for enhancing strength.

The Fire Spirit Bead was one of the Five Elements Spirit Beads. The vast majority of spiritual veins in the Great Wilderness were attribute-less, allowing cultivators of any spiritual root to absorb them for cultivation.

"Fellow Daoist, I'll take this drop of fragrant essence."

Xue Zishou cared not a whit, tilting his wine gourd back and gulping down gulp after gulp.

Even Shen Lian was dumbfounded. He had purchased this item for a hundred and seventy thousand spiritual stones, and before a price could even be discussed, this fellow had poured it directly into his wine gourd.

The incident stemmed from the recent beast tide, during which Master Huoqian, while resisting the fierce beasts, discovered a vein of Heavenly Fire Gold Ore deep within a rift valley northeast of the Red Crystal Ore City.

Shen Lian cast his gaze toward the heavenly thief-cultivator; a perfectly fine Starry Tree had its head and tail clipped off, leaving it drooping miserably—he wondered if it could even be saved.

When it was the turn of the cultivator who played with needles, this person fished a bead out from his embrace.

Xue Zishou's sudden action drew the gazes of the cultivators present. Lunar Essence worth sixty to seventy thousand spiritual stones per portion was just poured straight into a wine gourd?

As everyone prepared to leave, Master Huoqian spoke up with a chuckle.

After inspecting the site, Master Huoqian found that a group of Golden-Scaled Black-Horned Lizards inhabited the rift valley, led by a third-tier lizard king.

Having encountered a third-tier spiritual tree, would he not cut it down just to leave it to grow? If he did that, perhaps in the future there wouldn't even be a single spiritual stone to show for it.

"Hehe, I am Xue Zishou. May I ask the Daoist's esteemed name?"

Everyone had come aiming for the magic tools refined by Master Huoqian, and among them, the hawk's egg had quite a few contenders competing for it.

Furthermore, after plugging the stopper back in, he vigorously shook the gourd using spiritual power.

"Fellow Daoists, the matter is thus."

"Mmm... That's right, the Moon Spirit Hundred Immortals Brew finally has a bit of feminine charm, making it worth drinking."

Xue Zishou groped inside his robes and tossed a crimson-red bead to Shen Lian.

"Ninety thousand."

When his turn came, he produced the Lunar Spirit Essence from his storage magic tool and briefly introduced it in two sentences.

His divine sense swept across Xue Zishou several times consecutively, discovering that this person's realm was indeed comparable to his own, both at the ninth tier of Foundation Establishment with little difference.

The favor Master Huoqian sought was not difficult.

Facing the gazes cast upon him by the crowd, this yellow-robed cultivator maintained a calm expression.

This Fire Spirit Bead was quite high in grade, falling somewhere between the second-tier upper grade and the third tier; it was more than enough to exchange for the Lunar Essence.

Xue Zishou spoke with utter nonchalance.

The crux was that treatment didn't even guarantee survival.

Spirit pets grew slowly enough as it was; why raise another turtle just to have it guard the graves of one's descendants?

Shen Lian also cast a few extra glances at these two eggs, but he already possessed the Black Phoenix, and the Black Phoenix's bloodline—even without his enhancements—surpassed these two fellows before him.

"Second-tier upper-grade fire cloud..."

No matter how good an item was, it only truly belonged to oneself once it was in one's own hands.

"Hehe... Fellow Daoist, do not take offense. Seeing something fine made me unable to restrain myself."

Shen Lian transmitted his voice to Xue Zishou once more, articulating each word very slowly.

As for the damage caused to the spiritual tree by destroying its roots, what did that have to do with him?

After receiving the bead, Shen Lian narrowed his eyes and re-examined Xue Zishou. This man looked uninhibited and dissolute, yet he certainly possessed a few tricks up his sleeve.

After Master Huoqian finished speaking, he wasted no time. With a wave of his hand, a pile of brilliantly glowing objects appeared on the stone table before him.

Subsequently, the cultivators began taking turns producing spiritual materials. Being ninth-tier Foundation Establishment cultivators, the items they brought out were naturally far from ordinary, with the lowest being second-tier mid-grade ores.

"For this private trade meeting, I am delighted to have invited eight fellow travelers. Without further ado, fellow Daoists may bring out the spiritual materials you have prepared and place them upon the tables before you."

"I have brought two fierce beast eggs: one from a third-tier volcanic turtle, and one from a third-tier Crimson-Feathered Soaring Hawk."

"Tsk tsk... What a pity."

Seeing that Shen Lian offered no reply and noticing that the other cultivators present showed no interest, the thief-cultivator appeared somewhat bashful.

If one was going to fleece someone, it had to be done transparently; he was a male cultivator with a sense of responsibility and immortal virtue.

"The Crimson-Feathered Soaring Hawk is not bad."

"Daoist Lu, I'll use this to offset your Lunar Essence. Do you find this acceptable?"

After dropping his bid, Shen Lian glanced at the items displayed by the other Daoists. Everyone had reaped considerable harvests during the beast tide; simply second-tier upper-grade beast cores numbered several, and none of lower grades had even been brought out.

"During the last beast tide, this old man was pursued by a second-tier grand perfection pangolin-python. In a panic and having lost my way, I stumbled into a misty valley and dug this out from within."

"Ah, this is the scent."

Everyone exchanged glances, looking somewhat as if they hadn't quite understood. A False Dan master inviting Foundation Establishment cultivators to lend assistance—wasn't something slightly amiss here?

"So what if I've been stained with their powder and taken a fancy to those wenches of the Saint Spirit Palace? If these women dare to cling to me, I'll make sure to thoroughly chastise every last one of them."

"No, no, this wine is not for sale."

As soon as Master Huoqian made his move, he produced seven or eight fire-attribute magic tools ranging from offense and defense to flight, forming a complete set.

The needle-wielding cultivator gently shook his head.

Had it been an intact Starry Tree, even a million spiritual stones would have found buyers; taking it home to plant atop a third-tier spiritual vein was equivalent to acquiring a continuous, inexhaustible cash cow.

Mineral veins were extremely laborious to excavate and could not be completed within a short period; given Master Huoqian's strength, he naturally could not handle such an undertaking alone.

Recalling many years ago back in the Myriad Star Seas, trying to purchase a bit of spiritual ink had been as exhausting as being someone's grandson.

Even a perverted person like him felt this fellow was a pervert.

"Fellow Daoist, inside here..."

"Fire Spirit Bead."

Why else was it said that fine spiritual items above the second-tier mid-grade were scarce in external chambers of commerce? They were all digested internally within the circles gathered by cultivators.

Hanging on the tree were two withered, ball-like star fruits.

Once Master Huoqian finished his introduction, he did not rush to initiate transactions, instead casting his gaze upon the middle-aged cultivator seated closest to him.

"Fellow Daoist, might the Starry Tree be sold for one hundred thousand spiritual stones?"

He also noticed that the needle-wielding Daoist from earlier was putting on an act as well.

After glancing at everyone, Shen Lian also assumed an expression of interest.

Seeing that everyone was staring at his spirit wine, Xue Zishou abruptly pulled the gourd into his embrace, wearing a gaze as guarded as if facing a thief.

At that moment, Xue Zishou suddenly raised his head and spoke to Shen Lian.

This type of ore possessed three attributes—fire, earth, and metal—rendering its value exceptionally high, and the scale of the vein was not small.

Xue Zishou's response aligned quite closely with Shen Lian's own thoughts. To say the Saint Spirit Palace was simply out to harm people was inaccurate; if that group of women truly operated solely in such a manner, they would have long since become targets of public outrage.

As for the yellow-robed cultivator's actions, he had nothing to criticize; a crow standing on a black pig shouldn't point out another's blackness while forgetting its own.

Master Huoqian drew the attention of the crowd back to himself.

"The methods of these wenches are useful to others, but to me, they serve rather as a potent tonic. It's just that this stuff is far too scarce; those women take decades to nurture even a single portion."

Yet none of those present possessed a third-tier spiritual vein to supply as a growing ground for the Starry Tree. Besides, in its current state, whether it could even be saved remained a question.

All gazes landed upon the Soaring Hawk, while the volcanic turtle was largely ignored.

The spiritual materials appearing on the stone table succeeded in stirring the emotional fluctuations of the cultivators present.

"I wonder what other matters the True Man has?"

"Fellow Daoist, shall we share a drink together once the gathering disperses?"

Additionally, he produced a few ores to ensure he wouldn't stand out too drastically from the rest.

He claimed it was purchased from an auction of the Saint Spirit Palace. Originally intended to find a grand alchemy master to refine into Lunar Round-Consummating Pills, he had later coincidentally acquired the Consummating Pills through serendipity, rendering this portion of Lunar Spirit Essence unnecessary.

Cultivators gasped in astonishment, but upon closer inspection, expressions of disappointment surfaced in their eyes.

"Daoist Xue, aren't you afraid of the effects within the Lunar Essence..."

Within the sea of Shen Lian's divine sense, the voice of the needle-wielding Foundation Establishment cultivator rang out.

The middle-aged cultivator nodded, a flash of fire shimmering around his hand.

At this juncture, Shen Lian glanced at Master Huoqian, finally understanding that this needle-wielding cultivator was tailoring his approach to the person at hand, specifically targeting Master Huoqian.

Well then, let us play along.

Shen Lian furrowed his brows. "Mm, mm, mm...?"

"Is the Daoist an alchemist? It seems you've been duped by the wenches of the Saint Spirit Palace." Xue Zishou blinked at Shen Lian.

"Pulse-Stabilizing Bead, capable of helping stabilize spiritual veins."

The star fruits borne by this tree served as the primary ingredient for refining the lesser 'Golden Elixir-Forming' Star Fall Secret Pill, but the Starry Tree before them was merely a foot long, with both its roots and upper branches snapped off.

Shen Lian refused to yield, directly barking out a lower bid.

Two crimson-red beast eggs, one large and one small bearing distinct patterns, were laid upon the stone table, alongside a pile of ores.

Once this Starry Tree was sold, gathering enough spiritual stones to purchase the Star Fall Secret Pill elsewhere would suffice.

The crowd resettled onto their stone chairs, casting their gazes toward Master Huoqian.

Even Shen Lian himself had taken a fancy to several second-tier upper-grade ores.

"Fellow Daoist, you..."

"Two hundred thousand spiritual stones," the thief-cultivator declared coldly.

A cultivator spoke up; in the mining region, many cultivators kept spirit pets, and even those without would eventually raise one after lingering here long enough.

Seeing the atmosphere cool down, Master Huoqian reclaimed his seat.

Xue Zishou looked somewhat displeased. As he spoke, a blue-skinned gourd materialized in his hand, and pulling the stopper, he poured the Lunar Spirit Essence straight into it.

"This fire wolf armor was refined from the complete hide of a second-tier grand perfection golden-fire wolf. Unfortunately, while subduing the fire, this old man failed to control it properly, causing its tier to drop. However, the foundation remains, and its quality surpasses ordinary second-tier mid-grade gear."

Master Huoqian unhurriedly introduced his magic tools, eliciting stirring expressions from most of the cultivators present.

Though slightly drooping, storing it away might prove useful in the future.

Shen Lian transmitted his voice across, realizing that this needle-wielding cultivator must be well aware of the powder's properties.

"Forget it, Lu is not fond of drinking."

An hour later, everyone concluded their transactions.

Master Huoqian cupped his hands in a salute.

The needle-wielding Foundation Establishment cultivator was seen drawing the jade box into his grasp, giving it a vigorous sniff with his nose.

"Fellow Daoists, please stay."

Apart from bearing star fruits, the Starry Tree also possessed the ability to stabilize spiritual veins and accelerate their elevation; if properly nurtured, it could become a sect-镇宗 (foundational treasure of a sect).

Naturally, it would be exchanged at a normal price; in short, Shen Lian was taking a loss on this portion of Lunar Essence.

"Is the True Man asking us to jointly subjugate the Golden-Scaled Black-Horned Lizards?"

The crowd finally understood; so this trade meeting harbored such an objective after all.

As for why Master Huoqian had summoned them, the reason was equally obvious—because they were all at the ninth tier of Foundation Establishment.