Chapter 37: Five Elements Golden Fruit
After the previous incident, Wen Xing couldn't stay in East City Market anymore, it was too embarrassing. But his alchemy skills were still impressive and well-known among the Qi Refining Period.
So he would still be able to survive by selling pills to a merchant, though maybe at a lower price and with some loss. This was his deserved punishment.
With no news from Wen Xing for two consecutive months, they finally heard about him again through a bounty from Zhonghang Sect Nalan family.
"We were all deceived by Wen Xing, he's not as honest as he seems. He's in cahoots with Nalan family's Nalan Yan for the purpose of obtaining Nalan family's Five Elements Golden Fruit."
"Do you know about the Five Elements Golden Fruit? It's a treasure that can help people advance to the Nascent Soul stage."
"I know about the Five Elements Golden Fruit. A few years ago, during the Centennial Celebration in our Yunzhong City, there was one that appeared. It is said that someone offered one million spirit stones but refused to sell. It appeared in an auction for Nascent Soul level, and even the details of the transaction were kept secret."
"Can the Five Elements Golden Fruit be included in the Nascent Soul auction?"
"Of course! Which ancestor with a Nascent Soul hasn't had a few descendants? But not all of them have good potential. The Five Elements Golden Fruit can help cultivators in the Building Foundation Period have a 50% higher chance of forming a golden core. It's crazy, right?"
"Is the Nalan family going crazy?"
"The Nalan family is definitely going crazy. They're not only using the power of the Zhonghang Sect to search for Wen Xing, but they're also offering a reward of two hundred thousand spirit stones."
The vendors at the big market were discussing the matter, and Lin Jiang soon learned the whole story. The Zhonghang Sect and the Nalan family have a treasure called the Five Elements Golden Fruit tree. It takes two hundred years for the tree to bear a single fruit, which is the most important treasure of the Nalan family. With this treasure, the Nalan family can continuously produce cultivators with golden cores and maintain the prosperity of their clan.
And Wen Xing, he kidnapped Nalan Yan and encouraged her to steal the Five Elements Golden Fruit. Whether he had planned it a long time ago or if it was a spur of the moment decision, we don't know.
In any case, the Nalan family was furious. They used their relationship with the Zhonghang Sect to launch a comprehensive pursuit of Wen Xing, and they even issued a wanted notice in Yunzhong City. They offered a reward of two hundred thousand spirit stones for bounty hunters to hunt down Wen Xing.
This matter has become big news in Yunzhong City. Everyone is discussing it, and Wen Xing has become their target. Whether or not they will hand him over to the Nalan family remains uncertain. The Five Elements Golden Fruit is worth far more than two hundred thousand spirit stones, even more than a million.
"The guards are here."
"Why are there so many people?"
While everyone was discussing, suddenly someone saw the arrival of the guards from Yunzhong City. They stood on both sides and blocked everyone in the middle.
"Now, I invite the Taoist friend whose name I am about to read to come forward. We have some things to discuss with you."
"Good sir, may I inquire about the reason for such a grand presence?"
"This is concerning the matter of the independent cultivator Wen Xing. You don't need to worry, we just want to gather some information. We won't take you to prison. Please step forward, Lin Yu, when you hear your name."
The captain of the guard team held a list and said, "The first name on the list is Lin Jiang." Lin Jiang walked forward. Even the lowest-ranked member of the guard team in Yunzhong City was at the Qi Refining Late Stage, while Lin Jiang, as an independent cultivator at the Qi Refining Period, couldn't escape even if he wanted to.
More than ten people were called out. They were all independent cultivators and vendors who had some connection with Wen Xing. Lin Jiang cooperated fully and followed one person to the side.
The person asked about Lin Jiang's relationship with Wen Xing, and Lin Jiang honestly told them that they weren't very familiar. They had just treated each other with a bit more kindness. Lin Jiang had helped Wen Xing with some small favors, so they had a good rapport. It was a matter of mutual respect.
"Do you happen to know when Wen Xing left Yunzhong City and how he left?"
"I don't know. For the past few months, I have been in the city, selling my goods during the day and practicing and drawing talismans at night. I rarely leave."
Lin Jiang said again, but this time he didn't say the previous conversation.
Wen Xing seemed to trust him a lot. Last time, he even asked Lin Jiang to help him escape, but Lin Jiang firmly refused. Now Lin Jiang doesn't know how he managed to escape.
Wen Xing offended many people. In Yunzhong City, no one dares to do anything to him. If he leaves the city, he will surely die. So he must have used special means to leave, but Lin Jiang really doesn't know.
The guards asked a few more questions, but since Lin Jiang couldn't provide any useful information, they let him go. Most of the other vendors were treated the same way. The guards returned empty-handed.
After the guards left, people started discussing among themselves about what was wrong with this situation. According to reason, the crimes Wen Xing committed were not worth the guards putting so much effort. After all, one Nalan family is nothing to the Zhonghang Sect. But the people there are just the lower class of the Zhonghang Sect, and they don't know much about secrets. They were just making random guesses.
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The Yunzhong City guards searched for Wen Xing for over a month, but still there was no news. It seemed as if he never existed in this world. Slowly, people started forgetting about him.
After all, Yunzhong City with a population of millions never lacks fresh happenings. People have already shifted their attention to other things, and Lin Jiang has long stopped caring about this matter.
Now Lin Jiang's main focus is on cultivation and saving money. He has set a small goal for himself, which is to reach the foundation building stage before he turns two hundred.
Cultivation starts from easy to difficult. Lin Jiang spent more than ten years to reach the eighth level of Qi Refining. He estimated that it would take him more than twenty years to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining. Only then can he enter seclusion to build his foundation.
Lin Jiang is not worried about the Building Foundation Pills. After selling the Green Rock Pills, he still has over fifty thousand spirit stones. After killing Mo Lin and Jiang Feng, as well as a group of people including He Yunwei, the spoils they obtained were very valuable. They have tens of thousands of spirit stones and a large amount of resources that they haven't sold yet. Their total assets are estimated to be no less than a hundred thousand.
The price of Building Foundation Pills in Yunzhong City ranges from twenty to thirty thousand. However, Lin Jiang knows his own aptitude. He plans to buy two or three Building Foundation Pills for preparation to ensure his breakthrough to the Building Foundation Period.
In addition to the cost of a breakthrough and finding a cave with abundant spiritual energy, Lin Jiang is still short on money. But he has time. His income and expenses are balanced, and he can save a little money each year. Accumulating for several decades should be enough.
After four hours of setting up a stall, Lin Jiang returned home. As soon as he entered the house, two Shadiao came running towards him, wagging their tails, trying to please him. Lin Jiang took out two pieces of dried meat from his storage bag and threw them to the Shadiao.
After what happened with He Yunwei, Lin Jiang's affection for Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao increased even more. After all, they were comrades who had fought together and shared life and death experiences. So, at home, Lin Jiang would let them out. Although he couldn't let them spread their wings and fly, it was better than keeping them in the Spirit Beast Bag.
Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao finished eating the meat, weighing about a kilogram, in just a few bites, but they wanted more and came closer to Lin Jiang.
"Alright, alright, I'll give you more. The meat for today is finished. I'll buy more tomorrow."
Lin Jiang said, the cost of raising the two Shadiao has increased a lot. The dried meat he gives them has also upgraded. Now it is made from first-grade premium monster meat. One piece of spirit stone can only buy about fifteen kilograms, which is almost enough for one day's food for a Shadiao. As a result, their annual cost of upbringing has reached seven to eight hundred spirit stones.
No wonder the Lin family didn't want to keep them as Building Foundation Period offerings, they were too expensive. Only Lin Jiang insisted on keeping them, even after all these years, he has developed an emotional attachment to them and can't bear to get rid of them.
After having fun with the two Shadiaos for a while, Lin Jiang entered the house and immediately felt energized. This is because Lin Jiang set up the latest Second Level Spirit Gathering Formation.
The Second Level Spirit Gathering Formation is much stronger than the first level. It can absorb more spiritual energy and greatly enhance the ability to refine spirit stones. Lin Jiang glanced at the formation, thirty spirit stones that were put in this morning have already turned gray. With just a light pinch, the spirit stones turned into powder.
"Thirty spirit stones a day, nine hundred a month, over ten thousand a year. It's too expensive for cultivation!"
Lin Jiang sighed, once again feeling his poverty. He normaly draws three first level premium spiritual talismans a day, and if he sells them all, he can earn twenty-five or twenty-six spirit stones. In a year, he can earn about nine thousand spirit stones, which is enough to pay rent and daily cultivation expenses, with a few hundred spirit stones left over.
But with the increased expenses of the Spirit Gathering Formation, Lin Jiang is starting to feel a bit stretched. So now he can only put ten spirit stones into the formation each day, which means he'll still be in deficit by the end of the year and will need to make up for it from elsewhere.
"Keeping spirit stones on me is just having spirit stones, but using them is where the real resource is. I need to concentrate my resources on things that showcase my strength."
Lin Jiang thought to himself, he is extremely lacking in a sense of security, especially since he hasn't found the real culprit behind Mo Lin. He is eager to improve his strength.
To improve his strength, it comes down to himself and external objects. Himself being his cultivation level, but Lin Jiang's talent is limited. Even if he invests a lot of resources, he can't immediately convert them into power. Lin Jiang leans more toward external objects.
Lin Jiang equipped himself with flying swords and armor. The quality was excellent, and his spiritual talisman reserves were back to normal. Lin Jiang slowly shifted his gaze to the playful Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao outside.
"I've been raising Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao for decades. They have already reached the peak of the first stage, equivalent to the perfect state of human's Qi Refining Period. They are close to breaking through to the second stage, but I wonder how many resources it would take to cultivate them to the early second stage."
Lin Jiang hesitated. The second-stage Aurora falcon had strong abilities and could definitely be one of Lin Jiang's hidden cards. It was rare to find a second-stage beast pet during the Qi Refining Period, unless they were bestowed by the elders of the family. Against ordinary enemies, all Lin Jiang needed to do was release Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao, and victory would be assured.
Even if they encountered someone in the Building Foundation Period, with the speed of Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao, escaping would be effortless. The previous second-stage Aurora falcon from the Lin family met its end at the hands of a few Building Foundation late-stage cultivators.
"I should inquire about the cost. If it's not too expensive, I will invest in Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao."
Lin Jiang made a final decision. As long as the investment was within his means, he was willing to invest in Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao to help them break through to the second stage as soon as possible.
