Chapter 95: Lord of Moon-Gazing Island

"Huh? This..."

"Why did he suddenly forfeit?"

"What is Zhao Chanzhen up to?"

The cultivators present were all utterly stunned.

After speaking, Zhao Chanzhen, with a gloomy face, walked off the field without looking back.

Two Foundation Establishment elders from the Zhao family approached, frowning as they asked, "Chanzhen, what exactly is going on?"

"Damn it! That kid has Yin Thunder Pellets!"

Upon hearing Zhao Chanzhen's words, the two Foundation Establishment elders could no longer maintain their composure.

Not to mention him; even they, at the Foundation Establishment stage, would either die or lose a layer of skin if confronted with such an item. Consequently, the look in their eyes as they gazed at Qin Ming revealed a trace of imperceptible dread.

"How could he have Yin Thunder Pellets? Isn't that item a restricted resource of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge?" The two elders displayed expressions of confusion.

"It's too late; before the duel began, no one said this item couldn't be used."

Having said this, Zhao Chanzhen turned back to cast a deep glance at Qin Ming, then swiftly departed with the members of the Zhao family.

Li Yuanqing also wore an expression of surprise; he stepped forward with a smile and said to Qin Ming, "Congratulations, Qin Xiaoyou, on your victory and on obtaining ownership of the spirit island!"

He had not expected that this affair would also serve to dampen the Zhao family's prestige.

After all, the other party's conduct had been somewhat too overbearing.

Subsequently.

Qin Ming paid fifteen thousand spirit stones, signed his name on the spirit contract produced by Li Yuanqing, which bore the joint magic power seals of the Seventy-Two San Alliance and the Zhao family.

This signified that from this moment on, this spirit island belonged entirely to Qin Ming.

After the people from the San Alliance completed the registration, they asked Qin Ming:

"Fellow Daoist Qin, now that this spirit island belongs to you, you may give it a name."

Hearing this, Qin Ming pondered briefly before replying, "Since it lies on Moon-Gazing Lake, let us call it 'Moon-Gazing Island'."

The person responsible for registration smiled and recorded the island's name.

With the spirit island now having an owner, the auction event drew to a close.

The spectators who had come to watch the excitement were greatly disappointed and soon departed one after another.

There were also quite a few rogue cultivators who came over to curry favor and converse with Qin Ming.

Qin Ming also engaged in some perfunctory small talk before seeing them off.

Once everyone had left.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Qin, on becoming the Lord of Moon-Gazing Island!" Wu Jiang walked over with a grin, bowed his fists to him, and offered his heartfelt congratulations.

He had never expected that a passing cultivator he had met on the Dharma Boat would leap upward to become the lord of a region.

Moreover, the spiritual pulse environment of the spirit island was far superior to that of his own family's location.

Qin Ming was in a good mood and smiled freely, saying, "I owe much to the information provided by Fellow Daoist Wu."

"Hehe, it was nothing; I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Qin's strength to be so formidable that even that Zhao Chanzhen had to admit defeat," Wu Jiang said with great admiration.

Immediately, his eyes darted around as he thought of something.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Qin, now that you have secured Moon-Gazing Island, I wonder what your plans are next?"

"For instance... including constructing a cave dwelling and opening up spiritual fields..."

Qin Ming guessed his intention and went along with it, saying, "I wonder if Fellow Daoist Wu has time? I wish to find someone to construct a cave dwelling on the island; if you know anyone, could you help me arrange it?"

"Of course, Fellow Daoist Wu's labor fees will not be neglected."

Hearing this, Wu Jiang's eyes lit up with great joy; he patted his chest and said, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Qin, leave everything to me."

"I know many skilled craftsmen in this area; I guarantee Fellow Daoist Qin will be satisfied!"

"However, purchasing construction materials upfront will require some spirit stones, I wonder..." Wu Jiang scratched his head, speaking with some embarrassment.

Qin Ming replied upon hearing this, "How many spirit stones are needed?"

"Approximately five hundred spirit stones; I will refund any surplus or make up any shortfall!" Wu Jiang said, holding up five fingers.

Qin Ming immediately took five hundred spirit stones from his storage bag and handed them to him.

After taking on the job.

Wu Jiang immediately set off without stopping to get busy recruiting manpower. Qin Ming had also thought deeply about this; since he intended to farm here long-term, planting his innate spiritual plants and cultivating the "Ancient Tree Longevity Art."

He might as well properly renovate the cave dwellings on the island.

After all.

Qin Ming had other matters to prepare for.

The most urgent task was to purchase a set of protective great arrays.

Secondly, he needed to purchase the spiritual seeds of the spiritual herbs and spiritual rice he intended to plant next, as well as spiritual plant seedlings.

Qin Ming conducted an overall inspection of the spirit island's environment.

He had already decided which types of spiritual plants to cultivate.

Furthermore, he needed to find a way to obtain a secret method for refining Heavenly Earth Spiritual Fire, in order to subdue and refine the blue flame he had obtained from the ancient ruins.

After all, he no longer had access to earth fire or an alchemy room.

How Qin Ming would refine pills in the future remained a difficult problem.

If he could subdue and refine that second-rank Heavenly Earth Spiritual Fire, not only would he make significant progress in the path of alchemy.

He might even break through to become a second-rank Alchemy Master.

After cultivating to the peak of the Qi Condensation stage, if he could not purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill.

As a last resort, he could also attempt to gather materials to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill himself.

The formula for Foundation Establishment Pills was not difficult to obtain.

Moreover, as far as he knew, there was more than one formula for Foundation Establishment Pills.

The difficulty lay in the fact that the required main materials and scarce auxiliary materials were hard to find, monopolized by major sect forces.

It was very difficult for rogue cultivators to gather them all.

Foundation Establishment Pills, being such a strategic resource, would never be easily allowed to leak out by sects and aristocratic families.

Within Yunze Xiancheng, Foundation Establishment Pills could only occasionally be auctioned off at large auctions, and facing contention from various major forces, it was very difficult to win the bid.

Even if one successfully bid, doing so under the watchful eyes of the crowd was truly too high-profile.

Whether one could safely escape remained a major problem.

A year ago, Qin Ming had also discussed the issue of Foundation Establishment Pills with Gu Qingzhao and learned that he could not obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill from her either.

The Foundation Establishment Pill she had used for her own foundation establishment back then was directly bestowed by the headquarters of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge.

One hour later.

Qin Ming piloted the Spirit Light Shuttle and arrived once again at the Chu Tianhe Market.

This market also housed a branch of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge.

He strode into a shop decorated in a rather ancient and simple style.

It was likewise a nine-story building.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist; welcome to our shop. Are you here to dine or to purchase cultivation resources?" A middle-aged female cultivator, plump in figure and steady in demeanor, seeing a customer enter, displayed a professional smile and welcomed Qin Ming into the store.

Qin Ming nodded and got straight to the point: "I wish to purchase a set of second-tier protective arrays, and additionally, I need to procure a batch of spirit seeds for second-tier spiritual plants."

"Specifically, Spirit-Perching Rice, Purple-Gold Bamboo, and Shen Shen Cha."

Hearing this, the middle-aged woman was first startled, then calmed down; since the visitor was inquiring about second-tier spirit seeds, he was undoubtedly a second-tier spiritual planter.

She hastily and respectfully ushered Qin Ming into a private room on the fourth floor, then asked, "May I ask your honored surname, fellow Daoist? Do you possess a VIP status with our Pavilion?"

"My surname is Qin."

"It is like this, Fellow Daoist Qin; for cultivation resources above the second tier, I also need to apply for approval from the upper levels."

Hearing this, Qin Ming directly took out the honorary guest elder token that Gu Qingzhao had given him and handed it to her.

The middle-aged woman took the jade token and looked at it; a trace of grave expression flashed across her face, and she hurriedly said, "So you are Guest Elder Qin; my apologies for my disrespect!"

"Since you are an honorary guest elder of our Pavilion, there is naturally no problem; all resources will be supplied with priority."

"However..."

"As for the spirit seed seedlings of Shen Shen Cha and Purple-Gold Bamboo, our Pavilion can arrange to procure them."

"But regarding the spirit seeds of Spirit-Perching Rice, the upper levels have had no stock for a very long time..."

(End of Chapter)