Chapter 37

Chapter 37

After the previous incident, Wen Xing couldn't stay in East City Market anymore, it was too embarrassing. But his alchemy skills were still impressive and well-known among the Qi Refining Period.

So he would still be able to survive by selling pills to a merchant, though maybe at a lower price and with some loss. This was his deserved punishment.

With no news from Wen Xing for two consecutive months, they finally heard about him again through a bounty from Zhonghang Sect Nalan family.

"We were all deceived by Wen Xing, he's not as honest as he seems. He's in cahoots with Nalan family's Nalan Yan for the purpose of obtaining Nalan family's Five Elements Golden Fruit."

"Do you know about the Five Elements Golden Fruit? It's a treasure that can help people advance to the Nascent Soul stage."

"I know about the Five Elements Golden Fruit. A few years ago, during the Centennial Celebration in our Yunzhong City, there was one that appeared. It is said that someone offered one million spirit stones but refused to sell. It appeared in an auction for Nascent Soul level, and even the details of the transaction were kept secret."

"Can the Five Elements Golden Fruit be included in the Nascent Soul auction?"

"Of course! Which ancestor with a Nascent Soul hasn't had a few descendants? But not all of them have good potential. The Five Elements Golden Fruit can help cultivators in the Building Foundation Period have a 50% higher chance of forming a golden core. It's crazy, right?"

"Is the Nalan family going crazy?"

"The Nalan family is definitely going crazy. They're not only using the power of the Zhonghang Sect to search for Wen Xing, but they're also offering a reward of two hundred thousand spirit stones."

The vendors at the big market were discussing the matter, and Lin Jiang soon learned the whole story. The Zhonghang Sect and the Nalan family have a treasure called the Five Elements Golden Fruit tree. It takes two hundred years for the tree to bear a single fruit, which is the most important treasure of the Nalan family. With this treasure, the Nalan family can continuously produce cultivators with golden cores and maintain the prosperity of their clan.

And Wen Xing, he kidnapped Nalan Yan and encouraged her to steal the Five Elements Golden Fruit. Whether he had planned it a long time ago or if it was a spur of the moment decision, we don't know.

In any case, the Nalan family was furious. They used their relationship with the Zhonghang Sect to launch a comprehensive pursuit of Wen Xing, and they even issued a wanted notice in Yunzhong City. They offered a reward of two hundred thousand spirit stones for bounty hunters to hunt down Wen Xing.

This matter has become big news in Yunzhong City. Everyone is discussing it, and Wen Xing has become their target. Whether or not they will hand him over to the Nalan family remains uncertain. The Five Elements Golden Fruit is worth far more than two hundred thousand spirit stones, even more than a million.

"The guards are here."

"Why are there so many people?"

While everyone was discussing, suddenly someone saw the arrival of the guards from Yunzhong City. They stood on both sides and blocked everyone in the middle.

"Now, I invite the Taoist friend whose name I am about to read to come forward. We have some things to discuss with you."

"Good sir, may I inquire about the reason for such a grand presence?"

"This is concerning the matter of the independent cultivator Wen Xing. You don't need to worry, we just want to gather some information. We won't take you to prison. Please step forward, Lin Yu, when you hear your name."

Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao finished eating the meat, weighing about a kilogram, in just a few bites, but they wanted more and came closer to Lin Jiang.

"Alright, alright, I'll give you more. The meat for today is finished. I'll buy more tomorrow."

Lin Jiang said, the cost of raising the two Shadiao has increased a lot. The dried meat he gives them has also upgraded. Now it is made from first-grade premium monster meat. One piece of spirit stone can only buy about fifteen kilograms, which is almost enough for one day's food for a Shadiao. As a result, their annual cost of upbringing has reached seven to eight hundred spirit stones.

No wonder the Lin family didn't want to keep them as Building Foundation Period offerings, they were too expensive. Only Lin Jiang insisted on keeping them, even after all these years, he has developed an emotional attachment to them and can't bear to get rid of them.

After having fun with the two Shadiaos for a while, Lin Jiang entered the house and immediately felt energized. This is because Lin Jiang set up the latest Second Level Spirit Gathering Formation.

The Second Level Spirit Gathering Formation is much stronger than the first level. It can absorb more spiritual energy and greatly enhance the ability to refine spirit stones. Lin Jiang glanced at the formation, thirty spirit stones that were put in this morning have already turned gray. With just a light pinch, the spirit stones turned into powder.

"Thirty spirit stones a day, nine hundred a month, over ten thousand a year. It's too expensive for cultivation!"

Lin Jiang sighed, once again feeling his poverty. He normaly draws three first level premium spiritual talismans a day, and if he sells them all, he can earn twenty-five or twenty-six spirit stones. In a year, he can earn about nine thousand spirit stones, which is enough to pay rent and daily cultivation expenses, with a few hundred spirit stones left over.

But with the increased expenses of the Spirit Gathering Formation, Lin Jiang is starting to feel a bit stretched. So now he can only put ten spirit stones into the formation each day, which means he'll still be in deficit by the end of the year and will need to make up for it from elsewhere.

(Translated by Gravity Tales ????)

"Keeping spirit stones on me is just having spirit stones, but using them is where the real resource is. I need to concentrate my resources on things that showcase my strength."

Lin Jiang thought to himself, he is extremely lacking in a sense of security, especially since he hasn't found the real culprit behind Mo Lin. He is eager to improve his strength.

To improve his strength, it comes down to himself and external objects. Himself being his cultivation level, but Lin Jiang's talent is limited. Even if he invests a lot of resources, he can't immediately convert them into power. Lin Jiang leans more toward external objects.

Lin Jiang equipped himself with flying swords and armor. The quality was excellent, and his spiritual talisman reserves were back to normal. Lin Jiang slowly shifted his gaze to the playful Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao outside.

"I've been raising Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao for decades. They have already reached the peak of the first stage, equivalent to the perfect state of human's Qi Refining Period. They are close to breaking through to the second stage, but I wonder how many resources it would take to cultivate them to the early second stage."

Lin Jiang hesitated. The second-stage Aurora falcon had strong abilities and could definitely be one of Lin Jiang's hidden cards. It was rare to find a second-stage beast pet during the Qi Refining Period, unless they were bestowed by the elders of the family. Against ordinary enemies, all Lin Jiang needed to do was release Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao, and victory would be assured.

Even if they encountered someone in the Building Foundation Period, with the speed of Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao, escaping would be effortless. The previous second-stage Aurora falcon from the Lin family met its end at the hands of a few Building Foundation late-stage cultivators.

"I should inquire about the cost. If it's not too expensive, I will invest in Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao."

Lin Jiang made a final decision. As long as the investment was within his means, he was willing to invest in Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao to help them break through to the second stage as soon as possible.