Chapter 163: Blood Jade Coral
’When the opportunity arises, maybe I can sell one or two of my spare Core Formation Spiritual Objects to Second Senior Sister at a discount. But not now. My Cultivation is still too low; I can’t reveal too much,’ Zhang Chi thought to himself.
Afterward, the three of them paid their respects to Master Jian. Everyone chatted amiably for a while longer before exchanging contact information and going their separate ways.
’Three hundred years ago, I was fortunate enough to meet Celestial Star True Monarch. He divined my fate and told me I would never be able to reach the Nascent Soul realm in this lifetime. If I wanted to defy the heavens and change my destiny, there was only one way to break the deadlock.’
’That method was to take on a disciple with heaven-defying luck and aptitude. Once they matured, perhaps they could change my fate.’
’Unfortunately, I could never manage to recruit one with such heaven-defying aptitude. The ones I have now are the best I could find.’
’Moreover, I don’t have much Lifespan left, yet this turning point still hasn’t appeared. I don’t even know if his divination was accurate. But even if it wasn’t, this is all I can do!’
’At least these disciples are all of good character.’
In her empty cavern-residence, Master Jian thought to herself as she gazed in the direction her disciples had departed.
She had actually considered using Possession to extend her life, but she felt that was an act only Evil Demons and Outsiders would commit.
Besides, something like Possession came with high barriers and great risks.
Firstly, it was difficult for Low Tier Cultivators to master any Possession Skill, as their own Divine Souls weren’t strong enough. The Cultivation of a Possession Skill required a certain level of Cultivation as a foundation.
Furthermore, while there were many types of Possession Skills, they were all Demonic Cultivation Techniques, and their Cultivation was inherently risky.
Secondly, a Cultivator could normally only perform Possession once in their lifetime, and even then, there was a success rate. The greater the gap in Cultivation, the higher the chance of success.
But even for a Nascent Soul expert attempting Possession on a Low Tier Cultivator, the success rate was at most fifty percent. For a Golden Core cultivator, it was thirty percent at best.
Therefore, unless it was a last resort, not even Nascent Soul Cultivators would choose the path of Possession.
---
’This cavern-residence isn’t bad, but the Spiritual Qi is a bit lacking. It’s not even close to the Azure Dragon Ridge Medicinal Garden.’
At this moment, Zhang Chi had arrived at his new cavern-residence.
The cavern-residence was located in a quiet and beautiful valley at the foot of the mountain where Master Jian resided.
He was only here because he was Master Jian’s disciple; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been qualified at all.
After all, while the Spiritual Qi here couldn’t compare to the Medicinal Garden, it was already quite good for a Tier Two Low Grade location.
Zhang Chi estimated that the Spiritual Qi was equivalent to a standard Tier Two Low Grade Spiritual Vein being shared by three Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
For an ordinary Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator, this level of Spiritual Qi wouldn’t provide any extra boosts, but it wouldn’t hinder their Cultivation at all.
However, for him, with his higher Cultivation and superior Cultivation Technique, it was clearly insufficient.
Another benefit of this place was that it was safe, and it was very convenient for him to seek guidance from Master Jian.
As for Azure Dragon City, he had a cavern-residence there too, but that was just a temporary dwelling.
After all, he couldn’t stay there forever.
Even for this cavern-residence, once he revealed a higher Cultivation, he would move up toward the peak.
For instance, Li Ruohai’s residence was very close to the summit.
As for Shangguan Hui and Yan Tengfei, their cavern-residences were located higher up the mountainside and at the mid-level, respectively.
Of course, if they didn’t want to live here, they could also choose a cavern-residence elsewhere.
The Cangwu Sect’s territory was vast, and it had a great many Foundation Establishment Cultivators, so there were many cavern-residences to choose from.
They could even occupy an entire mountain peak for themselves and carve out a new cavern-residence.
However, that was completely unnecessary. Unless they had heaven-defying luck, they would certainly not find a place with more abundant Spiritual Qi than here.
SWISH!
After tidying up his cavern-residence, Zhang Chi flew from the mountain, stealthily left the Cangwu Sect, and soon arrived at a desolate mountain.
Before this, he had already placed the small gifts from the Song Family’s Golden Core cultivators and others into a dedicated Storage Bag and left it in his cavern-residence. This way, he wouldn’t have to worry about being tracked.
He then entered the Thousand Illusions Locking Array that he had set up here long ago and collected the Black Coffin and the Spirit Beast from within.
He took out the Storage Bags from Patriarch Xie and Song Youdao, quickly refined them, and took inventory of the contents.
And this time, the spoils of war were plentiful.
Among them, there were over 150,000 Spirit Stones alone.
This was despite the Xie Family’s recent financial struggles and Song Youdao constantly preparing for the Solidifying Pill stage.
The other miscellaneous items, such as Spirit Pills, Ores, and Magical Artifacts, could probably be sold for a combined total of 130,000 to 140,000 Low Grade Spirit Stones.
Next were two Tier Three Low Grade Spiritual Talismans, one for the Ice Dragon Technique and one Vajra Talisman, both from Song Youdao.
Finally, there were the Core Formation Spiritual Objects. This was the main prize, and what Zhang Chi had been anticipating the most.
There weren’t many Spiritual Objects, only four types in total, but each was incredibly valuable.
The first three were the main ingredients for the Dust Condensing Pill: Profound Light Grass, Demon Companion Flower, and Element Condensing Fruit.
It was unclear whether Song Youdao had planned on Refining the Dust Condensing Pill himself or exchanging the ingredients for a finished one at the Sect, but either way, he hadn’t gotten the chance to use them.
The fourth item was a stunningly beautiful Blood Jade Coral that pulsed with astonishing Spiritual Qi.
This item was also extremely precious, and it happened to be the fifth additional Spiritual Object that Zhang Chi was missing.
"This is great!"
Even though Zhang Chi already possessed quite a few Core Formation Spiritual Objects, he couldn’t help but be overjoyed at the sight of this Blood Jade Coral.
Without it, he could have tried trading other Spiritual Objects for it, but he would have needed very good luck to succeed.
Moreover, the process would surely involve risks, and even if he did manage to make a trade, he would most likely have had to throw in a considerable number of Spirit Stones.
As for buying it directly, that was practically impossible. Even the Sect didn’t often have such treasures, and it wouldn’t have been his turn to get one anyway.
But now that he had obtained it directly, it obviously saved him a lot of trouble.
Of course, there are only so many types of Core Formation Spiritual Objects. It wasn’t that surprising that Song Youdao happened to have one that Zhang Chi needed.
While it was certainly good luck for Zhang Chi, it couldn’t be considered heaven-defying.
Next, he immediately transferred all the materials from these two Storage Bags into his own Storage Ring, then destroyed the useless miscellaneous items and the Storage Bags themselves.
It was worth mentioning that Patriarch Xie’s corpse was also technically part of the spoils, but the Spirit Snake had already eaten it on the spot, and its soul had been devoured by the Demon Soul, so he didn’t need to deal with it.
After that, he cleaned up and hurried back to the Sect, heading straight for the Inheritance Hall.
"Junior Brother Zhang Chi? Congratulations on successfully reaching Foundation Establishment! You’re here to exchange for an Upper Grade Cultivation Technique, right? Please, follow me!"
Upon arriving, Zhang Chi was quickly greeted by a Steward who appeared to be middle-aged and was at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
Zhang Chi wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the man’s attitude wasn’t just good—his expression held a hint of humility, and even terror.
"Alright, Senior Brother, please lead the way," Zhang Chi said with a slight nod, not thinking too much of it.
"Junior Brother Zhang Chi, do you remember what happened back then? Whether you remember or not, I must apologize to you. Also, this is a small token of my apology. Please don’t refuse it, Junior Brother."
The two walked deeper into the hall. When they were sure no one was around, the Steward suddenly stopped, gave Zhang Chi a deep bow, and offered up a black Low Grade Storage Bag with both hands.
"Senior Brother, what is the meaning of this?"
Zhang Chi was completely baffled.
"Back then, Junior Brother, you were wronged by that Inheritance Steward from the Xie Family. You tried to protest to the Sect, but I ignored you and even threw you out..."
Left with no choice, the Steward, whose surname was Zong, began to recount a story from the past.