Chapter 471 - 342: Spiritual Materials Complete
"Why don’t we wait until we’ve lost a total of three Elders to make our move? Attacking now, over a single death, isn’t in the Black Ghost Cave’s best interests."
"Alright, that works."
They didn’t meet often, and each discussion was brief.
...
In the blink of an eye, five years had passed.
The responses of the Evil Dao Core Formation influences—the Demon Spirit Sect and the Black Ghost Cave—to the Celestial Cloud Sect’s actions were, on the whole, in line with the expectations of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s leadership.
Since everything was going as expected, Fang Yun’s plan proceeded smoothly.
Whether they were Demons or Ghost Cultivators, they were all growing more and more accustomed to the Celestial Cloud Sect’s activities.
Today, a guest arrived at the Celestial Cloud Sect.
Shi Yaoyang, the Vice Valley Master of Star Moon Valley.
Supreme Elder Song Qiaoqiao of the Celestial Cloud Sect was responsible for receiving him.
The two exchanged a few pleasantries upon meeting.
"Fellow Daoist Song," Shi Yaoyang began, stating the purpose of his visit, "I’ve come to your esteemed sect regarding the matter of refining Golden Core Pills."
Since he had gotten straight to the point, Song Qiaoqiao asked directly, "How many Golden Core Pills do you need refined?"
"Three."
"Fellow Daoist Shi, please let me see the Spirit Medicines for refining the Golden Core Pills."
"Alright."
Shi Yaoyang enveloped a Storage Pouch containing the Spirit Medicines with his Spiritual Power and sent it floating before Song Qiaoqiao.
Acting on Fang Yun’s behalf, Song Qiaoqiao began to inspect the quality of the Spirit Medicines.
As she inspected them, Song Qiaoqiao’s brow furrowed slightly.
"Fellow Daoist Shi, forgive my bluntness, but the quality of one of the sets of Spirit Medicines for the Golden Core Pills is somewhat low."
One of the primary ingredients, a Profound Spirit Vine, was of such poor quality it would be considered defective even among the lowest grade of Spirit Medicines.
This meant the quality of the ingredients was truly terrible.
"Hahaha, Fellow Daoist Song." Shi Yaoyang gave a somewhat awkward laugh before explaining, "The primary Spirit Medicines for Golden Core Pills are notoriously difficult to cultivate. Our Spirit Plant Masters at Star Moon Valley are already doing their utmost to care for them."
Seeing Song Qiaoqiao’s continued silence,
Shi Yaoyang asked the question that concerned him most.
"Can your sect’s Fellow Daoist Fang Yun refine a Golden Core Pill from this set of Spirit Medicines?"
’A deal is a deal,’ he thought. ’Even the lowest-quality Spirit Medicines are usable. If the Celestial Cloud Sect can’t turn these three sets of ingredients into three Golden Core Pills, then the deal is off. I would have to personally visit the Purple Mist Sect and ask their Core Formation Stage Elder of Alchemy to do the refining.’
"You need not worry about that, Fellow Daoist Shi. Our agreement stands. As long as you provide the agreed-upon payment for the refining, you will receive three Golden Core Pills in the end."
"Excellent, excellent." Shi Yaoyang nodded again and again.
"One set of Spirit Medicines is poor, but another is of rather good quality. If it’s used in the last refinement, there’s a chance it could produce a Middle-grade Golden Core Pill. I wonder, Fellow Daoist Shi, have you begun preparing the additional payment required in that event?"
"I have. The list is right here."
With that, Shi Yaoyang produced a list.
The terms of payment for refining the Golden Core Pills had been negotiated very clearly.
If a Middle-grade Golden Core Pill was produced, they would have to provide an additional payment.
This extra payment couldn’t be in Spirit Stones, but had to be other Spiritual Objects, such as Third Tier or higher Spiritual Materials.
This required them to provide a list of items their sect possessed and was willing to offer as the additional payment for a Middle-grade Golden Core Pill.
Naturally, any exceedingly precious Spiritual Materials would not be included on such a list.
The Celestial Cloud Sect would do the same in their position, never offering their most valuable treasures.
Song Qiaoqiao took the list and glanced over it.
Her eyes quickly fell upon a certain Third-Tier Spiritual Material.
Hidden Silk!
This was a Third-Tier Spiritual Material her husband needed—one of the primary ingredients for refining his Lifebound Magical Treasure.
The list also specified the available quantity of Hidden Silk.
This quantity wasn’t necessarily Star Moon Valley’s entire stock, but it was certainly all the Hidden Silk they were willing to trade.
"If a Middle-grade Golden Core Pill is produced, the additional payment will be all of the Hidden Silk, plus one Wind-floating Stone."
"No problem."
Shi Yaoyang agreed instantly.
The value of the Spiritual Materials to be paid as a bonus had been determined long ago.
As long as the total value of the Spiritual Materials Song Qiaoqiao selected didn’t excessively exceed the agreed-upon amount, Star Moon Valley would accept it.
Moreover, the combined value of all the Hidden Silk and the single Wind-floating Stone she had chosen didn’t even exceed the agreed-upon limit.
Song Qiaoqiao had said there was a possibility of Fang Yun producing a Middle-grade Golden Core Pill, but the chance wasn’t high.
Still, Shi Yaoyang hoped that this possibility would materialize. For Star Moon Valley, obtaining a single Middle-grade Golden Core Pill would be a net gain even if they had to pay an extra fifty percent in Spiritual Materials.
Shortly after concluding the deal for refining the Golden Core Pills, Shi Yaoyang left the Celestial Cloud Sect to await further news.
The Celestial Cloud Sect had given Star Moon Valley a timeframe of three to six months for the results.
It would take half a year at the absolute latest, but could be finished in as few as three months.
In any case, they would be as quick as possible.
Their Supreme Elder, Fang Yun, would arrange his schedule accordingly.
「Cloud Summit.」
Inside the largest cave residence.
The cave residence where Fang Yun and Song Qiaoqiao lived had been expanded to accommodate two people. In terms of sheer size, it was now the largest in the Celestial Cloud Sect.
After handling the negotiations on her own, Song Qiaoqiao returned to their cave residence and soon found Fang Yun.
She brought good news.
Fang Yun was, as usual, in the middle of his daily cultivation.
In the main hall of the cave residence.
Song Qiaoqiao handed the Spirit Medicines for the Golden Core Pills to Fang Yun and relayed her good news.
"Among the items Star Moon Valley is offering as a bonus, there’s a full seven zhang of Hidden Silk."
The value of thread-like Spiritual Materials is generally determined by their length.
Seven zhang of Hidden Silk was excellent news for Fang Yun.
Once he obtained this Hidden Silk, he would have all the Spiritual Materials needed to refine his footwear-type Lifebound Magical Treasure.
For his footwear-type Lifebound Magical Treasure, he planned to refine the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots. Their combination of stealth and speed was perfect for him and would facilitate his future plans.
"Excellent. Once I have those seven zhang of Hidden Silk, I can begin refining my Lifebound Magical Treasure."
’The additional payment required a Middle-grade Golden Core Pill, which was no longer a challenge for him. The talent he displayed to the public in Alchemy and Artifact Refining was one thing; his true capabilities were another matter entirely. If he produced a Middle-grade Golden Core Pill too easily, they might feel they’d overpaid on the bonus and should have offered less.’
Since he was the one refining the Golden Core Pills, he had priority in choosing from the Spiritual Materials offered as bonus payments by other sects.
Any Spiritual Materials he required would be collected for him as a priority.
After Star Moon Valley handed over the Hidden Silk as payment, it wouldn’t go directly to him; it still had to go through the sect’s official channels.
The Sect Contribution Points he would earn from refining the Golden Core Pills were more than enough to "purchase" the Hidden Silk.
Song Qiaoqiao then told Fang Yun more about the condition of the Spirit Medicines.
Fang Yun also inspected the Spirit Medicines himself.
’With the worst-quality set of Spirit Medicines, at my current skill level, it’s still very possible to produce a Low-grade Golden Core Pill. However, refining a Middle-grade Golden Core Pill from it is impossible. Not unless my skill has reached the point of perfectly refining Golden Core Pills, or is at least close to that level.’
Fang Yun quickly decided on the refining order for the Spirit Medicines.
He would refine the worst set of ingredients last, and the best set first.
He didn’t have a great deal of experience refining Golden Core Pills yet. After all, these three batches would only be his fourth, fifth, and sixth attempts.
Refining them in this order would allow him to produce two Middle-grade Golden Core Pills and one Low-grade Golden Core Pill.
’I can start refining the Golden Core Pills tomorrow,’ Fang Yun thought.
He couldn’t start today because his carrier avatar was in the process of refining an Upper-grade Spiritual Artifact.
At present, the carrier avatar still required a small amount of his mental energy to manage while it was refining an Upper-grade Spiritual Artifact, and he couldn’t afford any distractions while refining the Golden Core Pills.
Tomorrow, after the avatar finished refining the Upper-grade Spiritual Artifact, he would assign it a simpler task. That way, he wouldn’t need to divert even a sliver of his concentration.