Chapter 26: I Understand, I Understand
In the rear hall, Fang Yuan noticed that the Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills had been exchanged all at once, and his eyes lit up.
He waited a short while, then quietly slipped back into the Exchange Room, took out two hundred Qi-Nurturing Pills, and chose to contribute them.
"Ding — 200 Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills detected. Exchange value: 90,000 Contribution Points. Confirm contribution?"
"Contribute!" Fang Yuan said.
In the next instant, the two hundred Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills before him vanished.
He then immediately converted the Contribution Points into 90,000 Spirit Stones.
The Spirit Stones in his pocket had surged to 180,000.
Satisfied, Fang Yuan returned to the rear hall and began observing the situation in the front hall.
Disciples streamed into the Treasure Hall one after another to exchange for items.
But after one hour, not a single one of the Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills had been exchanged.
"Strange — does nobody here need Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills?"
Fang Yuan thought it over. The news probably hadn't spread yet. Most disciples in the early-to-mid stages of Qi Refining were quite poor and couldn't afford pills priced at several hundred Contribution Points each. Those who could afford them simply didn't know about the stock yet.
After thinking for a short while, Fang Yuan took out his identity token and sent Yu Jin a message: "Get your Spirit Stones or Contribution Points ready and come to the Treasure Hall. I happened to notice that a large quantity of top-quality goods has appeared in the inventory catalog. I can't say more — go check it out yourself."
At Qiyun Peak.
Yu Jin was practicing Techniques rather than cultivating. It wasn't that he didn't want to cultivate, but his cultivation time had already been used up, and there were time restrictions on taking Pills, so he could only spend the time training his Techniques.
Suddenly he felt a vibration from his identity token. He picked it up and saw Fang Yuan's message.
"Oh? A message from Fang Yuan? Top-quality goods — what does that mean?"
Yu Jin looked puzzled.
Still, he gathered every Spirit Stone he had on him.
Then he made his way to the front hall of the Treasure Hall.
He did not enter the rear hall. Fang Yuan's meaning was clear — he shouldn't make contact with Fang Yuan directly. That sort of thing, he understood.
He went to the Selection Room and began searching through the available treasures.
"Top-quality goods that I can actually afford — it has to be low-tier Pills, Magic Artifacts, or Talismans!"
Yu Jin was sharp. He quickly zeroed in on a particular entry.
[Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pill: …… Exchange cost: 500 Contribution Points. Stock: 199]
"These are… Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills!" Yu Jin's eyes instantly blazed with excitement.
He had occasionally managed to buy a single Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pill from Fang Yuan before, and the supremely smooth cultivation experience it provided had left a lasting impression on him.
Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills had no Pill Toxin and no cooldown — that alone was remarkable — but more importantly, the pure Spiritual Energy they contained could be used to refine the Spiritual Power already within one's body, making it more concentrated and thereby lowering the threshold for a breakthrough.
In ordinary cultivation, whether one used Spirit Stones, Pills, or the natural energy of heaven and earth, all of it carried impurities that would blend into one's Spiritual Power.
Supreme-grade Pills, however, were free of impurities. Absorbing them into one's Spiritual Power could effectively raise its purity.
This effect was all the more valuable for disciples with lesser talent.
His own Spiritual Root was also mid-grade, so he too needed Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills to purify his Spiritual Power and solidify his foundation.
That was one of the reasons why supreme-grade Pills commanded such high prices.
"I don't have enough Spirit Stones or Contribution Points!" Yu Jin muttered with a sigh.
He immediately took out all the non-essential items from his Storage Bag, brought them to the Exchange Room to convert into Contribution Points, and exchanged all his Spirit Stones as well.
When he returned to the Selection Room, he found that the stock had already dropped by three.
He immediately purchased as many as he could afford — 142 in total.
The majority of those had come from resources his clan had invested in him.
"If I return some of these supreme-grade Pills to the clan, the support they give me will surely increase!"
An idea took shape in Yu Jin's mind.
The clan was funding his cultivation in hopes that he would one day give back to them. If he started giving back now, wouldn't that earn him even greater support?
The next time an opportunity like this came along, he could buy everything outright, instead of watching the Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pill stock dwindle bit by bit as others snatched them up.
He hurried to the Exchange Room, retrieved the Pills, and tucked them into his Storage Bag.
Then he strolled out of the Exchange Room as if nothing had happened.
Passing through the waiting area, he caught the excited chatter of several disciples.
"Bro, a huge batch of Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills just showed up in the Treasure Hall!"
"I saw it too! There were a full two hundred in stock just now! Too bad I didn't have enough Spirit Stones — I only managed to exchange for one."
"Something this good? I have to go exchange some right now!"
One disciple immediately rushed off toward the Selection Room.
Then came rushing back out.
"Hurry up and exchange! There are only 50 left!" someone called out urgently.
"That fast!"
One by one, they called their friends over and scrambled to exchange for the supreme-grade Pills.
Yu Jin lowered his head and slipped away quickly.
He had no desire to let anyone know he had exchanged 142 Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills. The market price for these was actually around 550 to 600 Spirit Stones each — he had made an enormous profit.
"Fang Yuan really is a true brother. He tipped me off in advance about something like this!" Yu Jin was deeply moved. This was what brotherhood meant!
He now held Fang Yuan in the highest regard, feeling that Fang Yuan was a genuine friend worth trusting with his heart.
Back in the rear hall, Fang Yuan watched the scene in the front hall and shook his head. "Yu Jin really let me down — he didn't exchange them all in one go."
Fortunately, there weren't many Supreme Qi-Nurturing Pills left.
The remaining few dozen were quickly exchanged by others.
Order in the front hall soon returned to normal.
"Looks like I'll need to wait a while before the next round."
Fang Yuan felt the commotion shouldn't be too large.
Before long, it was time to get off work.
When he arrived at the entrance to his Cave Dwelling, he found Yu Jin waiting there.
"Brother Fang! Thank you!" Yu Jin immediately clasped his hands in a respectful bow.
Fang Yuan waved it off. "It was nothing. I just happened to notice it and thought it might be useful to you, so I sent you a word. As for the specifics — I don't know anything about that."
"I understand! I understand!" Yu Jin nodded repeatedly.
"Here — take this as my thanks!"
Yu Jin held out a Storage Bag.
Fang Yuan's expression shifted, and he quickly pushed it away. "I'm not that kind of person. I don't accept bribes."
Yu Jin laughed awkwardly. "It's not a bribe — just some local specialties from my hometown."
Fang Yuan was speechless. He said, "I need a batch of herbs. Help me buy some."
Fang Yuan instead took out a Storage Bag of his own and handed it over.
Yu Jin laughed and accepted it. "Easy enough!"
He opened the Storage Bag and glanced inside. His smile froze.
"This is… 30,000 Spirit Stones?" Yu Jin's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Right. Help me buy some herbs — any kind will do, I need them all. But mainly the materials for three common cultivation Pills: Qi-Nurturing Pills, Qi-Gathering Pills, and Qi-Condensing Pills."
Yu Jin swallowed hard and said, "I can handle that. I'll do my best to buy as much as possible."
"No need to go overboard — just buy at market price. Whatever profit you make in the process is yours to keep, consider it your fee for the trouble."
Yu Jin took a deep breath. "Eighty-five percent of market price. I'll get you the herbs at eighty-five percent of market price, as quickly as I can. There's still a little something in it for me that way."
"Deal. I'm counting on you. And if I come across any important news in the future, I'll give you a heads-up." Fang Yuan said with a cheerful smile.
"I understand, I understand!" Yu Jin smiled back with a knowing look.