Chapter 97: Wei State Turmoil

Gu Qingzhao raised her wine cup and smiled gracefully.

"Since Fellow Daoist Qin has spoken, there is naturally no problem; I will send people to gather as much as possible on my end."

"Then many thanks! At that time, I will purchase all of it, however much there is." Qin Ming raised his cup to toast Gu Qingzhao, then tilted his head back and drank it down.

As for Qin Ming's Foundation Establishment pill formula.

It had been sent back not long ago by Su Yuqing through the Mirror Jing Xue Ge; in the letter, she first thanked Qin Ming for the five top-grade Divine Spirit Fruits he had given her.

She praised him lavishly without any stinginess.

Afterwards, she briefly mentioned her recent situation within the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty.

And informed Qin Ming that she had successfully established her foundation and broken through to become a second-tier Alchemy Grandmaster.

At the end of the letter, she included her insights on refining Foundation Establishment Pills, along with a mainstream formula.

Besides that, there were also two formulas for refining pills to increase cultivation during the Foundation Establishment period.

"Could it be... Fellow Daoist Qin intends to refine Foundation Establishment Pills himself?" the Shopkeeper Liao beside him exclaimed in shock.

Qin Ming could only smile bitterly and say: "There is no other way; for a destitute rogue cultivator like me, it is impossible to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills through other means."

"I can only try refining some myself."

"I do not have much confidence either."

Gu Qingzhao was also deeply impressed by this bold idea of his.

"Fellow Daoist Qin must think this over carefully; the materials and spirit stones consumed in refining Foundation Establishment Pills will absolutely amount to a terrifying sum."

"However, I believe that with Fellow Daoist Qin's alchemical talent, it is not an impossible feat."

Ever since Gu Qingzhao met Qin Ming, he had repeatedly overturned her understanding of things.

Therefore, she also felt that Qin Ming might truly have a chance of succeeding.

If Qin Ming broke through to become a second-tier alchemist, and moreover an Alchemy Grandmaster capable of refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

The benefits to the Mirror Jing Xue Ge would be obvious to all.

Gu Qingzhao took another light sip of spirit wine, her beautiful eyes shifting as she said: "By the way, I heard from Aunt Long that Fellow Daoist Qin purchased Gathering Spirit Tea and young Purple Gold Bamboo shoots from her?"

Hearing this, Qin Ming was slightly stunned.

So the female Shopkeeper from the Mirror Jing Xue Ge in the Tianhe Market was called Aunt Long.

"That is correct; next, I plan to cultivate these two types of spiritual plants." Qin Ming nodded.

"Then in the future, if the spiritual plants mature, could you sell a portion to me?"

"Yes, no problem."

Gu Qingzhao's expression brightened with joy, but then she seemed to remember something and said regretfully: "I have also heard about Fellow Daoist Qin's request to purchase Spirit-Perching Rice, but this rice has indeed become very hard to find."

"It does not matter; I have already obtained some clues from Fellow Daoist Wu." Qin Ming said carelessly.

"Oh? That is excellent!" Gu Qingzhao was also somewhat surprised and smiled gently.

Qin Ming's plan was.

Besides asking Gu Qingzhao to help gather the spiritual materials for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

Qin Ming also prepared to search himself; as the saying goes, walking on two legs is always faster.

Because he must prepare multiple sets of spiritual materials at once.

After all, no one can guarantee success on the first attempt.

Qin Ming's cooperative relationship with the Mirror Jing Xue Ge could be described as extremely tight and reliable.

Therefore, he was very reassured entrusting the gathering to Gu Qingzhao.

"By the way, I have another important piece of news to share with Fellow Daoist Qin." Gu Qingzhao suddenly said.

Hearing this, Qin Ming perked up; he knew the other party was about to reveal the latest situation among the upper echelons of the Immortal Realm.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, please speak."

"The current situation is that the next round of contention between the Spirit Feather Sect and Lei Yuanzong has already begun; currently, three of the seven major powers' prominent families, along with many third-rate forces, have completely defected to the Spirit Feather Sect."

"Ah? Aren't the seven major powers Lei Yuanzong's vanguard? How could they switch sides at the critical moment?" Qin Ming was also extremely surprised upon hearing this news.

Gu Qingzhao's delicate eyebrows knitted slightly as she said: "This is related to Yuwen Hong, the newly advanced Jin Dan of the Spirit Feather Sect."

"Forming a core with a Heavenly Spirit Root is naturally no small matter; if my prediction is correct, Yuwen Hong's Jin Dan quality and strength far surpass those of cultivators of the same realm."

"It is even said that Yuwen Hong has already fought a battle with that old Jin Dan ancestor of Lei Yuanzong who formed his core long ago, and the outcome was inconclusive."

"In the Wei State Immortal Realm, between two hegemonic powers, only one can dominate; sooner or later, a winner and loser must be determined."

"There is another matter; the Zhao family, one of the seven major powers, has also chosen to side with the Spirit Feather Sect." Qin Ming listened in great astonishment.

He had not expected the situation to develop in such an unexpected direction.

When Jin Dan-level sects collide, small fries like them who get caught up in it will soon be reduced to flying ash.

Fortunately, he fled in time! Gu Qingzhao continued speaking:

"There is another piece of news; after the ancient ruin in the Cloud Desolate Great Marsh opened, its inheritance was seized by the demonic cultivator Lin Zixiao."

"And within a short time, he broke through all the way to the late stage of the Foundation Establishment realm."

"Not only has his cultivation advanced greatly, but his demonic arts are also incredibly powerful, making him rarely matched among Foundation Establishment cultivators."

"Currently, there are signs that he is trending towards becoming a demonic warlord."

"However... I heard that before Lin Zixiao broke through, he seemed to be pursuing and killing two Foundation Establishment elders from the Spirit Feather Sect and the Shennong Sect."

"Those two Foundation Establishment elders also died without intact corpses in that battle."

"Later, Lin Zixiao was also heavily injured and remained in seclusion for quite some time; when he appeared again, he had already reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment."

When Qin Ming heard this, his face did not redden and his heart did not race.

He put on an appearance of listening carefully, just as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

However, hearing that Lin Zixiao had actually broken through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, he was indeed somewhat surprised.

It was likely that Lin Zi, in the end, had opened the final black luminous shield within the relic's medicinal garden.

It must be some sort of extremely powerful demonic inheritance.

After Qin Ming and Gu Qingzhao exchanged views for half a day and confirmed their future cooperation.

Gu Qingzhao bid farewell to Shopkeeper Liao and departed.

……

Subsequently.

Qin Ming summoned Wu Jiang again, similarly instructing him to help search for some auxiliary materials needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.

Because refining a Foundation Establishment Pill requires over thirty kinds of auxiliary materials; aside from a few scarce ones, some of the remaining materials are interchangeable with those for other second-tier pills.

They might also appear on the market, so Qin Ming directly instructed him to send a message notification as soon as he discovered any.

Wu Jiang took the list Qin Ming handed him, scratched his head, unable to figure out what the other party wanted to gather these medicinal herbs for.

He then promptly went out to get to work.

Next.

Qin Ming took out the Spirit-Gathering Tea and the seedlings of the Purple-Gold Bamboo.

Following the key points recorded in spiritual plant cultivation books.

He planted them one by one beneath the main peak, a location possessing a second-tier mid-grade spiritual vein environment.

Cultivating spiritual plants there would yield twice the results with half the effort.

The seedlings purchased this time numbered only a dozen or so for each type of spiritual plant; second-tier spiritual plant seeds were not only rare but also exorbitantly priced.

These were all painstakingly transferred directly from superior shops by Aunt Long of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge.

Nevertheless, it was enough.

Once the 【Accelerated Growth】 attribute refreshed, Qin Ming could expand these few dozen spiritual plants into a vast expanse.

Finally.

He released the Black Vine, his innate spiritual plant coiled around his arm, and found an open patch of ground to plant it.

The Withered Blood Poison Vine seemed to sense the change in environment.

With a plentiful supply of spiritual energy, the vines danced, emitting a joyful response.

It then took root in the spiritual soil, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy from the spiritual vein.

Strand by strand, the essence of vegetation flowed continuously into Qin Ming's body.

Qin Ming felt an unprecedented sense of comfort.

A thought stirred in his heart: if he fed it the "Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees" obtained from the plant illusion realm, what effect would it produce? No sooner said than done.

Qin Ming formed a hand seal, extracted a strand of the Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees, and directed it toward the Black Vine.

(End of Chapter)