Chapter 121: Transaction and News of Gu Qingzhao

"Ahem!"

Qin Ming covered his mouth and gave a soft cough.

'Is this woman here to test my Dao heart?'

'Good thing my Dao heart is still fairly solid — I won't be easily bewitched by beauty.'

As for the additional condition Mo Lingwei had just proposed, to Qin Ming's ears it was nothing more than gaining an extra burden.

Under his hand, having Wu Jiang to run errands for him was already enough.

Thinking of this.

Qin Ming opened his mouth and said: "Fellow Daoist Mo, you really needn't do this. To speak plainly, those two items in your hands are indeed of great use to me."

"How about this — I truly don't have any more Foundation Establishment Pills on hand."

"However, I do happen to have one Youth-Preserving Pill."

"Furthermore, I can agree to one more condition for you: I will, free of charge, make one move and refine for you one furnace of Foundation Establishment Pills."

"But the materials needed for the refinement, you'll have to gather yourself. If you feel that gathering the materials for Foundation Establishment Pills is too difficult, you may also follow the example of Yunze Xiancheng, where loose cultivators pool resources to commission pill refinement."

Hearing this, Mo Lingwei's brows knit slightly; she hadn't expected Qin Ming to refuse her final condition.

Almost without the slightest hesitation, he had turned her down.

But when she heard the words "Youth-Preserving Pill," her beautiful eyes lit up as well, a ripple stirring within her heart — no female cultivator could resist the lure of eternal youth.

This point, Qin Ming had grasped quite well.

"Then may I ask Fellow Daoist Qin, roughly what is the success rate for refining Foundation Establishment Pills?" Mo Lingwei deliberated for a moment, then asked outright.

Qin Ming paused to consider, then answered, holding something back: "Roughly around forty percent."

In truth, after the last bout of high-intensity pill refinement, his success rate for refining Foundation Establishment Pills had already reached seventy to eighty percent.

And the odds of producing a premium-grade pill were not small either.

But for an ordinary alchemist, a forty percent rate was already very high.

Hearing this, Mo Lingwei fell into thought once more.

After a long while.

She decisively made up her mind, and said with a firm gaze: "Deal! Then I'll go with what Fellow Daoist Qin has said."

Mo Lingwei still chose to trust Qin Ming's alchemy.

Seeing that she had agreed, Qin Ming's expression brightened as well.

He immediately took out a delicate jade vial from his storage pouch and handed it to Mo Lingwei.

She took the jade vial, popped the stopper, and looked inside — a snow-white pill exuded a bewitching medicinal fragrance.

This was precisely the wondrous elixir that countless female cultivators dreamed of night and day.

The transaction was concluded.

Qin Ming happily tucked away the two items on the table.

Afterwards.

Mo Lingwei also took her leave of him, preparing to depart.

"Fellow Daoist Mo, let me see you off."

Saying so, Qin Ming ushered Mo Lingwei outward.

Just then.

Not far off, Wu Jiang was leading two people along with a respectful expression, walking toward Qin Ming's side.

It turned out to be Gu Qingzhao and Shopkeeper Liao.

Once they drew near.

A smile spread across Qin Ming's face. "Fellow Daoist Gu, Shopkeeper Liao, you've come — please, come in and sit."

Gu Qingzhao, in a flowing white robe, glanced at Mo Lingwei beside Qin Ming and asked with a slightly odd expression: "Fellow Daoist Qin, who is this fellow Daoist?"

Qin Ming was briefly taken aback, then promptly introduced her to the two: "This is Mo Lingwei, Island Master of Qingxia — Fellow Daoist Mo."

Then, turning to Mo Lingwei, he introduced: "This is Gu Qingzhao, Gu Gezhu of Jingsxue — Fellow Daoist Gu."

The two women exchanged a smile and greeted each other.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, since you have honored guests come to visit, there's no need to see me off any further."

"Once I've made the proper preparations on my end, I'll come trouble you again." Mo Lingwei bade Qin Ming farewell, then mounted her flying magic artifact and departed.

"It seems that after Fellow Daoist Qin's Foundation Establishment, he's quite popular with the fair ladies?" Gu Qingzhao teased, a rare occurrence.

Qin Ming gave a wry smile. "Fellow Daoist Gu, don't tease me. Fellow Daoist Mo merely came by for a brief visit."

Hearing these words, Gu Qingzhao's expression gradually returned to normal.

Afterwards.

Qin Ming ushered the two into the guest hall.

Then, with practiced ease, he brewed a pot of Shen Shen Cha for them.

After they were seated.

Gu Qingzhao gave Shopkeeper Liao a slight nod.

Shopkeeper Liao nodded in return, then a broad smile spread across his face as he drew a deep-green alchemy furnace from his storage pouch — it looked to be of a rather extraordinary grade.

"This alchemy furnace is called the Mysterious Jade Furnace. It is a second-grade, top-quality alchemy furnace."

"It is a congratulatory gift from our Gu Gezhu to Fellow Daoist Qin."

"Congratulations to Fellow Daoist Qin on achieving Foundation Establishment, and on advancing further upon the immortal path."

Qin Ming took the Mysterious Jade Furnace and could hardly put it down.

He had been in need of exactly such a high-grade alchemy furnace — he hadn't expected Gu Qingzhao to have already prepared one for him.

"Then I must thank you, Daoist Friend Gu."

Qin Ming put away the alchemy furnace and poured Gathering Spirit Tea for the two of them.

"It's only here at Daoist Friend Qin's place that one can drink such spirit tea; outside, this stuff is extremely precious. A single tael can fetch quite a few spirit stones." Shopkeeper Liao said, savoring the tea with boundless aftertaste as he spoke.

Qin Ming smiled at the words. "I have plenty here. I'll set some aside for the two of you to take back later."

The few exchanged pleasantries for a while.

Qin Ming thought of something, then turned to Gu Qingzhao and asked, "I wonder, Daoist Friend Gu, is there any way to obtain the essence blood of high-tier demon beasts?"

"Mm, Daoist Friend Qin may not know this, but although Yunze Xiancheng has the Beast Roar Mountain Range at its back, and demon beast resources are quite abundant, Foundation Establishment great demons of the second tier and above are often several times stronger than human cultivators of the same rank."

"Therefore, unless Foundation Establishment cultivators team up to go, it's extremely difficult to hunt them. Moreover, the Beast Roar Mountain Range is fraught with peril, and ordinary cultivators dare not venture deep on a whim."

"High-tier demon beast essence blood has many uses; once it appears within Yunze Xiancheng, it's usually snapped up immediately."

"Low-tier demon beast essence blood is easy to get, but high-tier demon beasts…"

"Daoist Friend Qin can only try his luck at the auction. I'll keep an eye out and inquire on your behalf as well." Gu Qingzhao answered.

Qin Ming's brow furrowed. He hadn't expected high-tier demon beast essence blood to be so hard to obtain, let alone essence blood from a specific high-tier ape-type demon beast.

Having him venture deep into the Beast Roar Mountain Range to hunt Foundation Establishment great demons wasn't very realistic either.

He had the Word Entries in hand; he just needed to farm steadily and honestly—no need to take risks in such a dangerous place.

Although his current strength was already worlds apart from before.

But the Beast Roar Mountain Range even harbored third-tier Demon Kings; if something went wrong, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

Of course, Qin Ming wouldn't give up just like that.

The Hundred Treasures Glazed Sutra had always been a powerful protective trump card for his Dao. No matter what, he would find a way to obtain high-tier demon beast essence blood.

"Right, if my guess isn't wrong, Daoist Friend Qin should have successfully refined a Foundation Establishment Pill, yes?" Gu Qingzhao suddenly asked with a smile.

Qin Ming gave a wry smile; he naturally knew he couldn't hide it from her.

Besides, there was no need to conceal things from Gu Qingzhao as one would from an outsider.

Qin Ming said nothing, simply took out an exquisite porcelain vial from his storage bag and placed it before Gu Qingzhao and the other.

Shopkeeper Liao's gaze fixed dead on the porcelain vial before him, and even his breathing involuntarily began to quicken.

What was inside was surely the Foundation Establishment Pill that drove countless low-tier cultivators to chase it like moths to a flame.

Although Gu Qingzhao had already taken one before, her heart still stirred at this moment.

Her fair, slender hand picked up the vial, opened it for a look—a deep blue spirit pill, wreathed in a layer of pill halo, exuding a captivating pill fragrance, lay quietly within.

"It really is a Foundation Establishment Pill!"

Joy appeared on Gu Qingzhao's face as she asked Qin Ming, "I wonder how Daoist Friend Qin plans to dispose of this Foundation Establishment Pill?"

Qin Ming smiled slightly. "I'll leave it to Daoist Friend Gu to handle."

Hearing this, Gu Qingzhao was immediately overjoyed.

If a Foundation Establishment Pill were auctioned at the Mirror Snow Pavilion's auction house, she didn't know what a sensation it would cause in Yunze Xiancheng.

Thinking of this.

Her expression turned serious as she said to Qin Ming, "If that's the case, the high-tier demon beast essence blood Daoist Friend Qin seeks isn't entirely without a chance."

"When the time comes, we'll use the auction of the Foundation Establishment Pill as a gimmick and organize an unprecedented auction in Yunze Xiancheng."

"We might just be able to gather high-tier demon beast essence blood."

Qin Ming also felt there was hope, and immediately nodded. "Then when does Daoist Friend Gu plan to hold the auction?"

"At least three months from now. We'll need preparation beforehand, as well as building momentum and publicity." Gu Qingzhao answered after only a brief moment of thought.

"Alright, then I'll come attend as well when the time comes."

"I'll have someone notify Daoist Friend Qin in advance when the time comes."

Qin Ming said to Gu Qingzhao again, "Besides that, I also need a spiritual artifact flying sword."

A spiritual artifact was a second-tier magic weapon used by Foundation Establishment cultivators; only upon reaching the Condensed Liquid stage of magic power could one activate the immensely powerful spiritual artifact.

In refining a second-tier spiritual artifact, the prohibitions within were also called law prohibitions. One to eighteen law prohibitions made a lower-grade second-tier spiritual artifact; eighteen to thirty-six law prohibitions made a mid-grade second-tier spiritual artifact; above thirty-six made an upper-grade second-tier spiritual artifact.

It was said there were also supreme-grade spiritual artifacts with seventy-two law prohibitions.

How many law prohibitions could be borne depended on the artifact-refining materials and the artifact master's skill level.

The depth of Qin Ming's current magic power was comparable to mid-Foundation Establishment. For him, the higher the grade of the spiritual artifact, the better, naturally.

"That's no problem. Does Daoist Friend Qin have any specific requirements?" Gu Qingzhao asked.

Shortly after.

Qin Ming listed some requirements, and Gu Qingzhao had Shopkeeper Liao beside her note them down carefully.

"Right, I also have some news to share with Daoist Friend Qin." Gu Qingzhao said.

"The spiritual energy Islands probably won't be very peaceful for some time to come."

"Our Mirror Snow Pavilion received intelligence that the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance is very likely going to wage war against the Zhao Clan, one of the Seven Great Powers."

Qin Ming was taken aback at the words and asked in confusion, "With the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance's strength, would they dare strike first against the Zhao Clan?"

"You must know that behind the Zhao Clan now is the Lingyu Gate, which is very much in the ascendant."

Gu Qingzhao took a sip of spirit tea and continued, "With just those few Foundation Establishment cultivators of the San Alliance, of course they wouldn't dare. But now they also have someone standing behind them."

"Does Daoist Friend Gu mean that behind the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance is Lei Yuanzong supporting them?" At this, things made a bit more sense to Qin Ming.

After all, the Zhao Clan also had a False Core Laozu presiding over them.

Relying solely on Huo Qianqiu and those few Foundation Establishment cultivators, they certainly wouldn't dare clash head-on with them.

Gu Qingzhao nodded slightly.

Qin Ming savored Gu Qingzhao's words and felt a creeping dread. He hadn't expected that the contest between these two great sects in the Wei Kingdom's Immortal Realm had been brewing for a long time and had already begun to affect this place.

'Looks like I'll have to step up the farming.'

"Foundation Establishment early stage is still not quite stable—I need to quickly advance to Foundation Establishment late stage."

Qin Ming had a plan in mind.

(End of chapter)