Chapter 89: Hope Rekindled

The two came before Xu Yan and first cupped their hands with a bow.

"Grand Uncle, this is Junior Brother Qing Mo from the Herb Garden."

Xu Yan waved his hand impatiently and said, "Cut the chatter, give me the materials, and if there's nothing else, be on your way!"

"Senior Xu Yan, how long will it take to complete?" Wei Yuning asked respectfully, but did not take out the materials.

Xu Yan looked up with some surprise, carefully sizing Wei Yuning up and down, then said, "Ten portions, right? Come back in half a month to collect them!"

"Alright, many thanks, Grand Uncle." Wei Yuning began taking the materials out from his storage ring, and after retrieving them, produced ten mid-grade spirit stones. "This is your compensation."

"Fine, just set them down. Compensation, no compensation—sigh, I don't really need it anyway. A man about to die, what use does he have for anything? I just want to craft more interesting things before I die!" Xu Yan's face was full of despondence.

"Senior, what happened to you? Why are you about to die?" Wei Yuning was greatly startled.

From his vigor alone, Xu Yan was a strapping fellow.

"Heh, why? My lifespan has run out, and I'm still stuck at the bottleneck—shouldn't I be dying?" Xu Yan said with self-mockery.

Hearing this, Wei Yuning fell silent.

Cultivation was inherently going against the heavens. Xu Yan was at the Illumination stage, with a maximum lifespan of two hundred years. Though he had lived over a hundred years longer than an ordinary mortal, for a cultivator, being stuck at a bottleneck and unable to advance was truly agonizing.

To have the hope of longevity yet be unable to attain it—that was the most painful thing of all.

"Is there really no other way?" Wei Yuning asked in a low voice.

Asking this was pointless; if there were a way, Xu Yan would surely have sought it out himself, and it would never be Wei Yuning's place to worry.

Xu Yan sighed and said nothing.

"There actually is a way, but the difficulty is far too great!" Qing Chou, standing to the side, chimed in.

"What way?" Wei Yuning asked.

In his eyes, these craftsmen of the artifact forging hall were all talents; it would be a true pity if they died.

"Wood Essence. As long as one has Wood Essence, any cultivator below the Nascent Soul stage can advance by one realm. For those stuck at a bottleneck, one realm is equivalent to an entire major realm. However, a realm gained through such forced advancement will make advancing at the next bottleneck far more difficult!" Qing Chou said.

"Survive first—who has the luxury to worry about the next realm?" Wei Yuning said.

Xu Yan, standing to the side, nodded silently in deep agreement and gave Wei Yuning a thumbs up.

Wei Yuning had once heard of Wood Essence from Senior Xu Ye; it belonged to the category of rare treasures, exceptionally scarce and precious. Its effect was very similar to that of a Living Spirit Body on a demon head, though a Living Spirit Body could raise a demon head's realm at any stage, making it far more powerful than Wood Essence.

"Does the sect have this item? Or can it be purchased?" Wei Yuning asked again.

"I've heard the sect does indeed have some, but the yield is extremely small. With tens of thousands of disciples, the sect leader only bestows it upon those with special contributions. Actually... I once asked my elders, and I'm afraid it's impossible!" Xu Yan took over the conversation. "Purchasing from outside is even harder. To a cultivator, this thing is no different from an immortal medicine—who would be willing to sell it? Even if someone who doesn't need it does sell it, the price is not something I could afford."

"Roughly how much would it cost?" Wei Yuning asked.

He suddenly thought of the Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild—perhaps he could purchase Wood Essence through them. Though he couldn't be called enormously wealthy now, he did have assets, and besides, he had the Moon Beast Jam as a money-making tool.

Xu Yan was a master artifact forger of the sect. If he could be brought under his command, future work like artifact forging would have a dedicated person. Moreover, Wei Yuning had many ideas waiting to be realized, and he needed exactly someone who understood artifact forging and was one of his own people.

Xu Yan and Qing Chou heard Wei Yuning's question and showed strange expressions.

After a moment, Qing Chou said uncertainly, "I'd guess roughly one jin of low-grade spirit marrow!"

In the spirit beast world, spirit marrow was one of the most valuable items. It was the core of a spirit stone vein—wherever it was present, a spirit stone mine would slowly grow. The use of spirit stone mines to cultivators was self-evident: they were the foundation of all cultivation.

And the finest spirit marrow in the spirit beast world was only low-grade spirit marrow.

Xu Yan shook his head, held up three fingers, and said, "Probably three jin, and even then there's a price but no supply. Ordinarily, you simply can't find a seller. Even if there is a seller, there are too many buyers—it would never be my turn!"

Wei Yuning and Qing Chou fell silent, not expecting this item to be so precious.

Wei Yuning thought even further: his Living Spirit Body, compared to Wood Essence, could only be more expensive, never cheaper. Carrying over a hundred jin of spirit marrow everywhere he ran, yet no one had noticed he was flaunting his wealth.

"Senior Xu Yan, I recently joined the Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild. Their information is quite well-connected—perhaps they might have news of Wood Essence!" To add credibility, Wei Yuning took out his Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild jade token and showed it to the two of them.

"As for the price, we can negotiate with the seller once we find a source—perhaps they won't even want spirit marrow! Of course, that's only a possibility. Perhaps no one is selling Wood Essence at all!" To prevent Xu Yan from holding too much hope, Wei Yuning added.

"It really is a dragon ship jade token! This is the cunning dragon, the Sea Mirage Dragon—it looks so lifelike, it must be a genuine Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild jade token. I remember Cloud Concealment Sect has no business dealings with the Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild?" To Wei Yuning's surprise, Qing Chou actually knew of the Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild, which made him look at the man in a new light.

"The Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild? If it's truly the Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild, perhaps they really can find Wood Essence!" The old man's spirits suddenly lifted—he actually knew of the Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild too. "Rest assured, whether or not there is Wood Essence, whether or not we can buy it, I will only thank you—how could I blame you!" Xu Yan said excitedly.

"Alright, then I'll do my best to look!" Wei Yuning said.

"Good, good, good! Good, good, good!" Xu Yan was so overjoyed he was incoherent.

They parted ways with Xu Yan.

Seeing Xu Yan walk far away, Qing Chou grabbed Wei Yuning's arm and said with emotion, "Junior Brother Qing Mo, from today on, I'm calling you Senior Brother. You absolutely must not refuse—if you refuse, I'll kneel down and not let you leave!"

"This... how can you say such a thing?" Wei Yuning said in surprise.

"Dao Ancestor above, you're actually an official member of the Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild! Given time, even on Bixi Island, you'll be one of the few great tycoons. I, Qing Chou, have limited talent and not much to hope for in cultivation. I have no other ambitions either—the one thing I want is to be a wealthy gentleman in the cultivation world. Now, I see hope. You—only you, my dear Senior Brother—can help me!"

"Enough with this Senior Brother talk—you're making me violate sect rules! Absolutely not," Wei Yuning refused flatly. "Rest assured, when it comes to making money, I'll definitely bring you along. If you really want to do something, from now on, I'll leave contacting the Hundred Alliance Commerce Guild to you!"

"Really?" Qing Chou danced with joy.