Chapter 163

"Haven't thought of any for now."

Li Youyi took out the talisman robe the Zuoqiu Sect had given him when he entered the Thirty-Three Li Mountains and handed it back.

"Keep it yourself; it has defensive runes left by our clan's ancestor, which can block one fatal calamity."

Immediately after, Zuoqiu Ting said: "The things you want can be delivered tomorrow. What about the things I want?"

"Young Master Zuoqiu should understand that immortal soil is extremely precious and hard to dig, but I have dug quite a lot of spirit soil; I wonder if the Zuoqiu Sect accepts it?" Li Youyi said.

Zuoqiu Ting's thoughts turned, his gaze scrutinizing him: "We accept it! But ugly words first: you were only able to enter the Thirty-Three Li Mountains by relying on the Zuoqiu Sect's talisman robe. Whether it's immortal soil or spirit soil, I can only give you thirty percent of the market price."

"Of course, you can also sell it to others, but how much can their financial resources handle? For those who can handle it on a scale, aren't you afraid they will eat you up too?"

"Besides helping you keep secrets, the Zuoqiu Sect can also help you get cultivation resources that others cannot. For example, thousand-year essence medicine. Or, for example, the precious medicines on your medicinal herb list."

When Li Youyi decided to lure someone from the Zuoqiu Sect to appear, he had already prepared himself to make concessions.

He said: "I am a person who values sincerity; I won't go back on what I promised before entering the mountains. Moreover, although your Zuoqiu Sect buys it back at thirty percent of the price, you also said you would owe me a favor. A favor from a major sect cannot be bought with silver."

"Good at calculating!"

Zuoqiu Ting said: "The market price of spirit soil is one thousand silver coins per jin; the Zuoqiu Sect can only give you three hundred silver coins. How much can you take out?"

Li Youyi said: "One tael of immortal soil is a million silver, and one jin of spirit soil is only one thousand silver? This price is a ten-thousand-fold difference!"

"Otherwise? Immortal soil is the main ingredient for refining Longevity Pills, while spirit soil can only be used to cultivate medicinal herbs; the price is naturally worlds apart. The former is a treasure, the latter is just a byproduct that accompanies the treasure." Zuoqiu Ting spoke very straightforwardly.

Li Youyi feigned a look of pain, helplessness, and struggle, but in reality, he was overjoyed.

By the Blood Moon Lake, he had dug countless thousands of jin of spirit soil; who knew the price would be so exaggerated?

But only major sects could buy on a large scale to create spirit soil medicine fields.

As for other forces, who would be willing to spend so much money to buy it? They probably prefer to do business without capital, directly killing and robbing.

Besides Zuoqiu Ting, he could also try the Cangli side.

"What price do you offer for a thousand-year essence medicine?" Li Youyi asked.

Zuoqiu Ting secretly pondered how many chips this guy had, saying: "Let's have mutual courtesy; you took the initiative to find the Zuoqiu Sect to fulfill the promise of the Thirty-Three Li Mountains, which counts as showing sincerity. For a thousand-year essence medicine, I will give you a twenty percent discount; if you use spirit soil to exchange, you need twenty-six thousand jin."

"If you add the alchemy furnace and the huge amount of precious medicines on this list, if you can take out fifty thousand jin of spirit soil, I will settle it all for you!"

Zuoqiu Ting didn't believe at all that Li Youyi could take out so much spirit soil, even if he had really robbed all four major sects, he definitely couldn't gather enough. After all, he only entered the mountains for three days; how much could he dig in three days?

His essential goal was still to want immortal soil.

After all, spirit soil is a byproduct of immortal soil.

Through the amount of spirit soil, one could reverse-calculate the amount of immortal soil Li Youyi possessed.

"Fine, it's a deal! We will still meet at the Heaven Pavilion tomorrow to exchange goods." Li Youyi secretly calculated whether he should buy another thousand-year essence medicine.

He finally resisted.

The amount was too large; it might provoke the Zuoqiu Sect to have thoughts of doing business without capital.

Zuoqiu Ting was stunned, then confirmed again: "You can take out fifty thousand jin of spirit soil?"

"You must not tell anyone about this matter; I can make concessions on the price, but confidentiality is very important," Li Youyi said.

Zuoqiu Ting had an idea, but didn't immediately mention immortal soil. He opened his folding fan and shook it lightly, chest puffed out proudly, eyes narrowed: "At the door of the Mirror Moon Studio, it was I who saved you, so the Zuoqiu Sect no longer owes you a favor!"

What Li Youyi valued most was the Zuoqiu Sect's favor: "Isn't Young Master Zuoqiu underestimating my strength too much? Do you really think I couldn't get away? Besides, I didn't ask you to intervene; favors aren't repaid like that."

Zuoqiu Ting laughed: "You are overestimating yourself, aren't you? That's right, your cultivation and combat power surprised me; you have initially possessed the strength to fight with ordinary Fifth Realm Five Seas Realm martial cultivators, which is remarkable! But, not to mention the owner of the Mirror Moon Studio, either of the left or right attendants could have kept you."

"Not necessarily," Li Youyi said.

Zuoqiu Ting said: "Fine, just for those three words you just said, this young master will remember you; I hope you can continue to surprise me next time."

Li Youyi liked Zuoqiu Ting's open-minded and frank personality, which had no airs at all; he didn't seem like a successor of a major sect, but more like an old friend with great personal charm. He asked: "Who exactly are they? Hiding their heads and showing their tails like this, what is their purpose?"

Zuoqiu Ting's expression became grave: "To be precise, they are not human. At a time when the Zuoqiu Sect and the Due Temple are gathering young martial cultivators from all over the world to cross the Shangyuan, they have killed countless people, peeled their skin to hide, and sneaked into Qiu Province; naturally, they didn't come to celebrate the festival."

Li Youyi said: "They want to destroy the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival? Then, are they trying to hunt the young geniuses of the Lingxiao Life Realm, or are they targeting your Zuoqiu Sect and the Due Temple?"

Zuoqiu Ting looked at Li Youyi with new respect: "A bit of insight! It seems you have some understanding and are not just a reckless martial artist."

"Do you think my intervention to seize that black metal box was a reckless act?" Li Youyi said.

Zuoqiu Ting smiled without a word and asked: "Who exactly is inside that black metal box?"

Li Youyi didn't hide it from him and told him about Zhuang Yue's situation, wanting to test the Zuoqiu Sect's attitude on this matter.

Currently, they haven't rebelled yet, but the Zuoqiu Sect, which is already building momentum, has a very subtle relationship with the Lingxiao Palace.

Zuoqiu Ting fell into deep thought, and after a long while: "If Jiang Ning dies in Qiu Province, it definitely won't be a simple death, but a tragic one. By then, the relationship between the Zuoqiu Sect and the Lingxiao Palace will instantly become extremely tense. They want to use this to lure the Second Palace Master of the Lingxiao Palace to Qiu Province. By then, the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival will be hard to hold!"

Li Youyi said: "The Zuoqiu Sect wants to build momentum, but before it has formed, it's already a mess. Will the Due Temple still think so highly of you? Will they turn to support the massive Longmen? That Longmen successor is very close to them and must be the party that benefits from the situation."

Zuoqiu Ting stared deeply at Li Youyi: "Solving the crisis and cleaning up those Cinder Spirits and the creators of the chaos—isn't that an opportunity to prove one's own ability? By doing so, let the whole world see that those who dare to go against the Zuoqiu Sect will definitely have no good end."

Li Youyi nodded and said: "Actually, I am very curious why a group of young juniors dares to run rampant in Qiu Province. Aren't they afraid of being cleaned up by the older generation of the Zuoqiu Sect? Or rather, at this stage, it can only be soldier against soldier, general against general?"

Zuoqiu Ting said: "The struggle of the world has some rules that all parties tacitly agree upon; lines have been drawn, and circles have been drawn. Those who start breaking the rules, can they escape the consequences?"

"Just like the collision between major forces, existences surpassing the Longevity Realm cannot easily kill in all directions as they please. If they intervene outside the rules, the consequence might be a collective attack."

Li Youyi understood a little; just like on Earth, even in wars between countries, the most terrifying weapons are also restrained.

The struggle before the real war has many potential rules. Just like how everyone only wants to fight a local proxy war, and unless it's a last resort, no one dares to personally enter the field unless they have absolute certainty of victory.

The confrontation of the younger generation in Qiu Province today is undoubtedly this local proxy war.

Everyone is testing each other, and the confrontation is controllable. But it is also entirely possible that at some critical point, it will evolve into a full-scale war.

There must be an invisible top-level game behind it.

Li Youyi thought of something: "You tracked me to discover the Young Venerable hidden in the Mirror Moon Studio; in that case, it is you who owes me a favor?"

"..." Zuoqiu Ting said.

Li Youyi added: "You and that Young Venerable have already fought, how is its strength?"

Zuoqiu Ting didn't want to mention this, his gaze turned to the gate of the Cloud Pavilion, seeing Li Ling walking out, and whispered: "Help me contact the Divine Hidden Ones of your Nine Li Hidden Sect, and also, have Li Ling bring her brother. Before the end of the year, I want to have a fight with this group of people!"

Li Youyi looked at Li Ling under the lantern and said: "So, will you intervene on Jiang Ning's side or not? Your Zuoqiu Sect is currently with the Lingxiao Palace... is..."

Li Youyi turned his head to look, but Zuoqiu Ting had already disappeared, leaving silently.

"Am I annoying?"

He shook his head and sighed, walking toward the gate of the Cloud Pavilion.

Li Ling said: "Was that person just now Zuoqiu Ting?"

Li Youyi nodded: "You should know him very well, right? I remember in the immortal realm space of Burial Immortal Town, you two were a pair and very close. Is he really that ugly? Really big ears, flat nose, protruding teeth, and crooked mouth?"

"Anyway, you'd better not see his true face, otherwise your impression of him will definitely undergo a subversive change."

Li Ling asked again: "Are you hiding something from me tonight?"

"Why would I hide anything from you?" Li Youyi laughed.

Li Ling said: "What's going on with that Miss Qin Li?"

"You're getting more and more controlling; if it really doesn't work, you can go into the Blood Mud Space to cultivate and draw a few more runes to protect yourself."

Li Youyi felt Li Ling's gaze was fierce, like a little hen. She had finally become normal, unlike before, when she always wore a fake, acted-out smile on her face.

(End of chapter)