Innate Immortal Seed

"The next lot is the Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Reishi. There are eighteen stalks in total, and the starting bid for each is twenty thousand Spirit Stones."

As Du the Twelfth Son finished speaking, a distinct clamor arose from the first-floor hall. The cultivators gathered there were mostly in the Late-Stage of Qi Refining, and they were clearly agitated.

As the primary ingredient for the Foundation Establishment Pill, anyone with a single stalk of Golden Crown Reishi could easily find partners for alchemy. Plenty of people would offer the supplementary ingredients and even help find a Tier Two Alchemist to refine the pills.

A single batch of Foundation Establishment Pills, depending on the Alchemist’s skill, would yield anywhere from four to six pills—more than enough for the collaborators to split.

Legend had it that a Tier Five Alchemist could break this limit and produce seven pills in a single batch.

However, even Tier Four Alchemists were a rare sight in the Cultivation Realm, let alone Tier Five masters. No one had heard of such a being for several thousand years.

’Eighteen stalks of Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Reishi... Before we left, the Sect Leader ordered us to secure at least two stalks. Bringing back three or four would be ideal.’

Now that the true objective of their trip had appeared, Jin Lu sat bolt upright. His previous image as a lazy, greasy slob vanished, making him look like a completely different person.

The Sect Leader he mentioned was, of course, not Wei Dao, but the current one, Gu Xisheng.

’I wonder what kind of Spirit Stone budget the Sect gave us for this trip?’

Liang Yu had made it clear in his letter that Bai Zichen was sent along just to earn some merit, which would help him get promoted quickly within the Law Enforcement Hall.

That was why Bai Zichen hadn’t interfered in any of the earlier affairs; Jin Lu was the lead envoy for this mission.

"A full thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!"

Jin Lu saw this mission as his chance to make a strong impression and get into the Alchemy Hall, so he was taking it very seriously. "Even though the second round is still a blind auction, there are only a dozen or so lots. It’s not hard to calculate a rough average sale price if you’ve done your homework. I’ve compiled the sale prices for Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Reishi from every auction over the past hundred years. The highest was forty-one thousand Spirit Stones, and the lowest was thirty-seven thousand. You could say the price is remarkably stable."

A single Foundation Establishment Pill is worth about fifteen thousand Spirit Stones. With an average yield of five pills per batch, that’s seventy-five thousand Spirit Stones.

Other than the Golden Crown Reishi, all the other supplementary ingredients in the Foundation Establishment Pill’s formula could be gathered for just a few thousand Spirit Stones. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

It was no wonder Alchemists were considered the most profitable of the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, standing at the very top of the pecking order.

A Tier Two Peak Alchemist like Tan Changkong, who had experience refining the Foundation Establishment Pill multiple times, would almost never fail. The only difference between a good and bad attempt would be the number of pills produced per batch.

"I’m planning to start with a bid of forty-one thousand Spirit Stones, then forty thousand, and then thirty-eight thousand, making three bids in total. What do you think, Junior Brother Bai?"

Jin Lu had already formulated a plan based on historical price trends over the past few days, but now that the time to bid had come, he hesitated and asked for a second opinion.

"Brother Jin, what do you think is the difference between us, as Sect Disciples, and the average Loose Cultivator?"

Bai Zichen didn’t answer directly, instead posing an abrupt question.

"Ah... I suppose it’s that we have a Sect backing us, so we have more reliable access to things like cultivation techniques and resources?"

Jin Lu didn’t understand what this junior brother of his meant and turned to look at him.

"Those Loose Cultivators or members of Cultivation Families have to pool their resources, or even bankrupt their entire clan, just to scrape together enough to buy a single Golden Crown Reishi. They can’t afford to bid recklessly; even a small price increase would put it beyond their means. But for a Sect... is a few thousand Spirit Stones really that much?"

Perhaps due to the influence of his innate wisdom, Bai Zichen’s perspective on spending Spirit Stones was different from that of an ordinary Cultivator.

"The Sect gave us one thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones in total, which converts to a mere one hundred and thirty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Even at the lowest price from past years, we couldn’t possibly afford four stalks of Golden Crown Reishi. So, what’s more important: saving the Sect a few thousand Spirit Stones, or ensuring that we bring three stalks back with us?"

"So, you mean to say...?"

Jin Lu asked, beginning to understand.

"Forty-three thousand Spirit Stones. Bid it three times in a row. I want to ensure three stalks of Golden Crown Reishi end up in our hands, with no room for error."

After the great harvest of Dragon Tooth Rice, Bai Zichen’s personal wealth had grown day by day. With a single, casual sentence, he had just increased their planned bid by ten thousand Spirit Stones.

"Do we really have to go that high? Bidding forty-one thousand Spirit Stones for all three should be enough."

Jin Lu had already come around to his junior brother’s way of thinking, but increasing the bid by so many Spirit Stones at once was still nerve-wracking for him.

Even for someone like him who oversaw a Market, this amount of Spirit Stones was equal to several years’ worth of tribute payments.

And it wasn’t even his to enjoy alone; he had to split the profits with several Elders from his faction.

"Has Brother Jin forgotten the lesson of the Golden Jade Green Heart Pill?"

Seeing Jin Lu still wavering as time was running out, Bai Zichen stepped forward and entered the three bids on the Water Mirror himself.

’In his view, the Qingfeng Sect was currently in a golden age of development. Immortal Seedlings were constantly emerging within its territory, and disciples who had reached Qi Refining Great Perfection were a dime a dozen within the Sect.’

’With enough Foundation Establishment Pills, the number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Sect could increase significantly.’

’But in reality, aside from the True Disciples, even Stewards who had gathered enough Sect Contribution had to wait five to ten years for their turn to receive a Foundation Establishment Pill.’

’That long of a wait meant they would very likely miss their optimal window for a breakthrough.’

’As for Steward Disciples, they couldn’t even dream of a Foundation Establishment Pill. Just getting a Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object would be a miracle, a blessing from their ancestors.’

’Spending a few extra Spirit Stones on the Golden Crown Reishi is absolutely worth it. We can just cut back on some other expense to balance the books later...’

However, Bai Zichen was also well aware that the Qingfeng Sect had only been enjoying these good days for a few years.

Before Ancestor Ge Cang achieved Core Formation, the Sect had endured nearly a century of sieges and incursions from the Ghost Spirit Sect. During that time, there was almost no income of Spirit Stones, and the Sect’s reserves were nearly squeezed dry.

It was said that at their most desperate, the Sect’s Secret Hall couldn’t even produce a single Top-Grade Spirit Stone.

It was Ancestor Yang who had to use his personal Spirit Stones just to keep the Duality Illusion Moon Array operational.

After Wei Dao took over as Sect Leader, he increased the benefits for all disciples under the pretext of boosting their loyalty and morale.

After all these measures, the total amount of Spirit Stones in the Qingfeng Sect’s treasury hadn’t increased by much.

When the time was up, the information on the Water Mirror changed, showing that all three of their bids had been successful.

Jin Lu let out a long sigh of relief, even though their bid had exceeded the highest sale price of the last century by a fair margin.

Until the dust had settled, he had still been worried.

When an auction house steward delivered the three stalks of Golden Crown Reishi to their private room and the transaction was complete, Bai Zichen took a moment to examine the famous Golden Crown Reishi.

It was palm-sized, its cap a brilliant golden-yellow.

Only upon closer inspection could one see that the top of the Lingzhi was composed of golden, hair-like filaments, and it was hollow inside.

As it sat on the tray, a rich fragrance drifted from it, making one want to take a bite and taste it.

’A Thousand-Year-Old Spirit Medicine is truly extraordinary...’

Bai Zichen shook off the distracting thought. Any Spirit Medicine that grew for a thousand years would develop miraculous properties and undergo a fundamental transformation.

The problem was that most Spirit Grasses, even when deliberately cultivated, would rot and decay after a few hundred years at most.

Others, like Yellow Spirit or Gastrodia, could grow for a thousand years, but the increase in their medicinal potency wasn’t significant enough to justify the effort and cost for a Cultivator to cultivate them specifically.

Space in the Medicine Garden Secret Realm was precious, and every inch of soil was designated for a purpose. Naturally, there was no room for such common Spirit Medicines.

Jin Lu carefully placed the Spirit Medicines into three specially made Jade Boxes. The exotic fragrance in the room vanished. The seals on the Jade Boxes were strong enough to prevent the Golden Crown Reishi from losing any Spiritual Qi for at least ten years.

"Excellent! We’ve finally completed the critical mission the Sect entrusted to us. Now we can relax and just be spectators."

Jin Lu’s expression relaxed. Securing three stalks of Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Reishi, even at a slightly higher price, was still a great accomplishment.

If three batches of Foundation Establishment Pills yielded fifteen pills, the Sect would see a boom in new Foundation Establishment Cultivators over the next twenty years.

Bai Zichen continued to stare at the Water Mirror. ’We’ve bought the Spirit Medicine the Sect needed, but my own shopping hasn’t even begun.’

’So far in this auction, all I’ve gotten are two vials of Sword Tempering Spirit Water.’

’I was hoping to acquire a powerful new Treasure at this auction.’

As the second round of lots drew to a close, Bai Zichen started to feel anxious.

The lots in the final round would almost all be Tier Three Treasures.

Leaving aside whether he could even use them, Bai Zichen certainly didn’t have the resources to compete with Core Formation True Men in a bidding war.

"Who was it?! Who made those ridiculous bids and snatched away three stalks of the Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Reishi!"

In private room A-4 on the third floor, a man with an ethereally handsome face and a vertical pupil between his brows flew into a rage, black Demon Flames erupting around him.

"Elder Tuu, I recall you saying the highest price for Golden Crown Reishi never exceeded forty-one thousand Spirit Stones! I bid forty-two thousand Spirit Stones eighteen times in a row. You said it was foolproof, so how did we end up three stalks short?!"

The interior of room A-4 was as spacious as a small hall. On a long table sat fifteen stalks of Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Reishi.

"Saint Heir, under normal circumstances, our bids should have been more than secure..."

Elder Tuu, clad entirely in black robes, lowered his head slightly, his posture extremely deferential.

Even though he was a respected Core Formation True Man and the youth before him was a full realm lower in cultivation, he was accustomed to being loudly berated.

The three-eyed youth was the Sect Leader’s direct disciple, born with a Bloodline Anomalous Spiritual Root that perfectly complemented the Sect’s Divine Skill.

He had reached Foundation Establishment Perfection in less than a 60-Year Cycle of cultivation. Once he completed the Refinement of the Blood Demon, achieving Core Formation would be as easy as breathing for him.

Elder Tuu had a bitter taste in his mouth. To the outside world, he was a terrifying old demon whose evil reputation soared to the heavens, but here, he could only bow and scrape. "Perhaps someone was in desperate need of the Golden Crown Reishi and paid a high price for them..."

"Who would be desperate enough to need three stalks of Golden Crown Reishi at the same time?"

The vertical pupil between the three-eyed youth’s brows pulsed with a bloody light as it opened and closed, an incredibly bizarre sight.

"The Golden Crown Reishi themselves are nothing special, but this was the celebratory gift I prepared for Martial Uncle Blood God! If I don’t acquire every single one at this auction, how can my martial uncle see my sincerity!"

"Elder Tuu, go find out the name and background of the cultivator who bought the Golden Crown Reishi. Do that, and I’ll consider your failure redeemed!"

"You mustn’t, Saint Heir! Trying to buy out the entire lot by bidding eighteen times has already slightly violated the Immortal City’s taboos. If we then try to investigate another guest’s information, we will surely anger the Du Family!"

Elder Tuu’s face paled, and he pleaded repeatedly.

"The prosperity of this Immortal City is tied to the Great Dao of the Du Family’s Ancestor. Anyone who dares to break the city’s rules meets the same end. Please, Saint Heir, reconsider."

"Hmph! In that case, when we return to the Sect, you can go to the Blood Pool and receive your punishment: three years of torment from the Blood Sea’s corrosion!"

As arrogant and spoiled as the three-eyed youth was, he didn’t dare to offend a Nascent Soul True Monarch who was on the same level as his own master.

But since his intended gift was now incomplete, he would just have to win another Treasure to offer to Blood God True Man alongside it.