Chapter 120: Side-swiping

On the plaza in front of Taiyuan Hall, groups of cultivators were bustling about just like people at a folk market.

Everywhere were people carrying waist pouches and Storage Bags, walking back and forth and shouting loudly.

Among them, quite a few were even carrying large cloth sacks like common merchants, which was an eye-opening sight for Xu Chen.

In reality, it seemed the Great Song Immortal World had not seen so many immortals and rogue cultivators from different sects gather together for such a lively exchange in decades or even a century.

As a large number of Soul Beads were exchanged for Spirit Stones, Spirit Pills, and Magic Treasures, every cultivator suddenly felt like an upstart, wealthy and overbearing; many simply set up stalls right there on the plaza, taking out various Spirit Materials, Spirit Medicines, and strange items they had collected in the past to trade.

Because of this, the entire Soul Bead exchange scene became even more bustling, with an incredibly heated atmosphere.

Of course, because a large amount of Spirit Stones flowed into the hands of cultivators so quickly, prices were also rising rapidly, and inflation was a complete mess.

Many Spirit Materials and Spirit Medicines that were usually not too expensive had risen by several tens of percent today, and some sought-after goods had even doubled in price; one would ask the price, leave, and when they returned a moment later, the price had risen significantly again.

All the cultivators felt as if they were celebrating the New Year in the mortal world, excitedly scurrying about, and transactions naturally rose with the tide, with the sounds of hawking, bargaining, and Spirit Stones clattering into bags heard everywhere.

And the places with the most people were undoubtedly the two great immortal sects: Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain.

After all, these two veteran immortal sects had the most abundant reserves of all kinds of Immortal Treasures.

Moreover, the two great immortal sects seemed to have reached an agreement to take this opportunity to improve the overall cultivation level and strength of the Great Song Immortal World; therefore, they sold off large reserves of Spirit Pills, Magic Treasures, and various supplies, and the prices were not too expensive, even bringing out special items that would not normally be traded in the mortal world, such as some cultivation techniques, Magic Spells, and Spirit Talismans made by experts in the Zhenyuan Realm and Danyuan Realm.

Especially Yuqing Hall, which announced this time that it would release one hundred Guiyuan Pills, making almost all the cultivators from small and medium-sized immortal sects and rogue cultivator families who came to participate in the extermination of the Soul Beasts extremely excited, scrambling to take the Spirit Stones they had exchanged for Soul Beads to snap them up.

According to the statistics of the several Danyuan Realm cultivators presiding over the pill exchange, in just half a day, nearly one hundred thousand Spirit Stones had already been exchanged, and of course, several thousand Soul Beads had been collected, accounting for nearly sixty percent of the Soul Beads harvested in this operation.

As for the rest, most were obtained by the internal cultivators of each immortal sect and did not need to be exchanged for Spirit Stones; they were all exchanged for various Spirit Pills and Magic Treasures within their own sects.

And these internal exchange prices were much higher; these sect Disciples took these exchanged items and resold them to rogue cultivators at high prices, earning the difference in the blink of an eye.

Of course, there were also many Soul Beads still in the hands of cultivators; some wanted to keep them to study slowly, and some wanted to hold onto them to sell later when the price was right.

But overall, this Soul Bead exchange drove a surge in wealth for cultivators across the entire Great Song Immortal World, directly escalating this exchange activity into an unprecedented trade fair.

Although the Taiyuan Sect's strength was far inferior to Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain, and its foundation was not even comparable, it still stole the spotlight this time; the Third Elder, representing the Danyuan of the Taiyuan Sect, brought out thirty Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pills for sale, and the price was incredibly high.

Just as Xu Chen said, it was completely like robbery; if all thirty of these Spirit Pills were sold, it would directly put more than half of all the Spirit Stones exchanged today into their pockets.

However, this was obviously impossible; such a high price made even Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain feel the pinch, so in half a day, less than twenty were exchanged, but this was already the largest single income of Spirit Stones since the founding of the Taiyuan Sect.

With these Spirit Stones, the Danyuan took the opportunity to purchase a large amount of various Spirit Medicines, Spirit Grass, and Spirit Materials; in this exchange, the Taiyuan Sect's foundation also increased significantly.

Xu Chen was originally the only Disciple of the Danyuan.

However, his status was special now; after returning from Black Wind Ridge, he returned to his residence and rarely appeared, so naturally, these laborious tasks fell to Zhao Xuan and a group of senior brothers and sisters; even the Ninth Senior Sister and Seventh Senior Sister, who were preparing to attempt Foundation Establishment, had to interrupt their cultivation and were dragged out by the three Elders to run errands.

Seeing Xu Chen appear, the group of exhausted senior brothers and sisters rudely tortured him by tucking him under their arms before continuing their work in a state of extreme excitement.

The five True Monarchs naturally would not personally participate in this noisy trading activity; they had been sitting in the main hall drinking tea and discussing the Dao, exchanging views on the changes and consequences brought about by this leakage of Nether Qi, naturally speaking of the great trends of the world, not limited to the corner of the Great Song.

After all, according to the huge changes in the surrounding countries and the Eastern Wasteland, the range of this Black Wind appearance was very wide, and the points and areas of leakage were also very numerous; it was feared that they had appeared throughout the entire Shenzhou territory.

And how big Shenzhou was, even the highest-cultivation Chixia Zhenjun did not know.

Because apart from the areas where large numbers of human nations lived, there were the Four Seas and Eight Desolations in between; even if they could travel ten thousand miles a day, because there were too many unpredictable things and dangers when going out, no one dared to run around aimlessly; if one accidentally fell into a dead end, it would be completely over.

Therefore, on ordinary days, these True Monarch-level great cultivators mostly remained in their sects for closed-door cultivation; occasionally going out was only to find some cultivation resources, and of course, sometimes they would drink tea and discuss the Dao with great cultivators of similar cultivation from neighboring countries to exchange cultivation insights and broaden their horizons, or go together to dangerous places and some ancient ruins to explore for treasures.

Overall, great cultivators rarely appeared in front of mortals and low-level cultivators.

Even for the Disciples of Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain, apart from some Danyuan Realm Elders, other low-level Disciples could not see the Supreme Elder's figure for years.

When Xu Chen first entered the Taiyuan Sect five years ago, he had only seen the Great Elder Danchenzi three times, which showed that these powerhouses were not people one could see just by wanting to.

However, this Black Wind leakage incident not only united the cultivators of the Shenzhou territory, but the five great cultivators and a group of Danyuan Realm experts all appeared together, and for several days in a row.

Apart from the five True Monarchs not participating in the Soul Pill exchange and open trading, they did make an exception to meet several cultivators who had made great contributions this time.

Hearing that Xu Chen had appeared at Zhaoyang Peak, it was not long before a summons from the several True Monarchs came from Taiyuan Hall, asking Xu Chen to go to Taiyuan Hall to receive his reward.

Xu Chen immediately dropped the work he was busy with and trotted off to Taiyuan Hall.

The five True Monarchs were sitting in the center of the main hall drinking tea and chatting; seeing Xu Chen enter, they all showed satisfied smiles on their faces.

"Come, little friend Xu, sit by this old man!" Chixia Zhenjun beckoned with a kind face.

"Many thanks, Senior Chixia!" Xu Chen bowed respectfully and then sat down properly on the meditation cushion next to Chixia Zhenjun.

Jade Dragon True Monarch raised his hand, and a jade cup and a jade pot flew up, pouring him a cup of Spirit Tea.

As the tea, green as Spirit Liquid, was poured from the jade pot into the jade cup, a white, hazy spiritual light instantly rose from the rim of the cup, transforming into the shadows of green grass and fresh flowers, while at the same time, an intoxicating, strange fragrance that stimulated the Soul came rushing towards him, penetrating straight into his Soul, making Xu Chen's eyes widen while he instantly felt his mind clear up significantly.

"This is the Moon Laurel Rebirth Tea unique to Yuqing Hall, a Fourth-Rank spirit wood, rare in the world; don't you thank Senior Yuyang yet!" Xuanchen Zhenjun reminded with a smile.

Xu Chen was flattered and hurriedly held the floating jade cup with both hands, placed it on the stone table, and then bowed, saying: "Many thanks to Senior for the tea!"

Yuyang Zhenjun laughed and waved his hand, saying: "Little friend, there is no need for such worldly etiquette; I heard just now that You'er went to look for you?"

Xu Chen was stunned and hurriedly nodded, saying: "Yes, Daoist Friend Lan said she would return to Yuqing Hall tomorrow and went to thank and bid farewell before leaving."

Chixia Zhenjun nodded with a smile, stroking his beard: "Little friend Xu is good, and You'er is also good; a life-saving grace should indeed be thanked properly in person. This time, little friend, you made a great contribution to stabilizing the array, especially in preventing that Black Spider Soul Beast from breaking the Array Eye when in danger, which was the primary merit. Additionally, you saved three important Disciples of my sect. Such kindness cannot be ignored by my Yuqing Hall, so the three of us old fellows discussed it and specially invited you to come here. The reward is just incidental; the main thing is to see if we can provide any help and guidance for your cultivation, hoping that you can walk more steadily on your future path of the Dao."

Upon hearing this, Xu Chen was very grateful and hurriedly bowed: "Many thanks to all the Seniors. Protecting the array was originally the duty of the junior; it was just that the junior happened to be near the Array Eye at the time. If it were someone else, they would have done the same, so I dare not claim the credit. As for cultivation, the junior's cultivation is currently shallow, just at the Kaiyuan Realm Late Stage, and with the guidance of my sect elders, there is no need to trouble you Seniors. If I am fortunate enough to reach Golden Core or Spirit Transformation in the future, I will inevitably go to ask for your advice, and at that time, I hope you Seniors will not hesitate to teach me."

"Haha, well said, worthy of being a Disciple of my Taiyuan Sect!"

Xu Chen's humble yet confident reply made Xuanchen Zhenjun feel deeply comforted, and he laughed while stroking his beard, praising him heavily.

The several True Monarchs meeting Xu Chen together naturally meant there were still many doubts that had not been resolved.

Originally, the fact that Xu Chen could consecutively injure True Person Yulong and Qingyun True Person with his Kaiyuan Realm Initial Stage cultivation had already left the four True Monarchs of the two great sects astonished, feeling like an eighty-year-old mother trying to swaddle a child, failing to show off and ending up with a face full of blood, until Danchenzi reached Spirit Transformation did they suddenly realize that Xu Chen must have some extraordinary treasure on him.

Of course, Xuanchen Zhenjun later barely explained it away, saying he had bestowed upon Xu Chen a powerful Soul Magic Treasure for protection.

But for the four True Monarchs, this explanation was completely meaningless; only those low-level cultivators would think so, but at their level, how could they believe it.

At the time, Danchenzi was only at the Danyuan Realm Late Stage; how could he have a Soul Magic Treasure powerful enough to knock a Danyuan Realm Mid-Stage cultivator unconscious, and if he did, how could he give it to Xu Chen, the weakest and youngest disciple?

Furthermore, Xu Chen was not even his Personal Disciple; if he were to give it away, he should have given it to his own disciple, Zhao Xuan.

In addition, the fact that Xu Chen and Lan You were trapped in the Black Wind Ridge cave for nearly a month and were still able to escape alive, and not only that, but they also encountered Wuyazi, a senior of the Taiyuan Sect who had achieved Void Breaking and become a True Immortal more than three thousand years ago, and most incredibly, they brought back news about the Ancient Fierce Beast and the imminent leakage of Nether Qi.

Not to mention how dangerous the depths of the Black Wind Ridge rift were; just by the movement of opening the array this time, one knew that it was a place dangerous to the extreme.

But two little trash cultivators who were only in the Kaiyuan Realm and Zhenyuan Realm were actually able to see a True Immortal and an Ancient Fierce Beast and escape unscathed; is this something a human can do? It is not; this is something only an Immortal could do.

Even if it were replaced by their group of old fellows, no one would dare say they could come out alive.

Not only was Xu Chen's explanation of this matter unconvincing, but Lan You, who had returned with him, also refused from start to finish to disclose anything about what happened after they entered; even when the three Spirit Realm Supreme Elders asked, she would not speak, which made people even more suspicious.

Furthermore, this time Xu Chen once again used an extremely bizarre ability to stop the attack of that Black Spider Soul Beast capable of burrowing through a fifth-rank Magic Treasure Array Eye, not only protecting the Array Eye but also helping Yuqing rescue three important disciples: Huayang Zhenren, Xu Wen, and Lan You.

What was even more terrifying was that if the Array Eye had been destroyed and the Spirit Qi of the great formation had exploded out of control, it would have been the end of the entire Great Song Immortal World; hundreds of cultivators would have been killed or injured, the Nether Qi would have completely spiraled out of control, and perhaps the entire Song would soon have been covered by the Black Wind, causing both the immortal and mortal realms to suffer an unprecedented catastrophe just like the Eastern Wasteland.

However, even though they knew Xu Chen was full of oddities, they could not get any answers out of him, or rather, hindered by the current strength and status of Xuanchen Zhenjun, they could not use force.

Therefore, several True Monarchs took the opportunity of drinking tea and discussing the Dao to summon Xu Chen for a face-to-face inquiry, or perhaps to use some methods to probe him indirectly.

(End of this chapter)