A Wealth of Resources

On the market, a single Foundation Establishment Pill cost more than thirteen thousand Spirit Stones, close to fourteen thousand.

Six Foundation Establishment Pills came to eighty-four thousand Spirit Stones, plus another hundred thousand Spirit Stones and Spirit Items worth the same amount.

In other words, Jin Lianri had offered a price of two hundred and eighty-four thousand Spirit Stones for the Dragon Valley Hall.

The Yang Household had only around fifty thousand Spirit Stones in liquid assets in its Clan Treasury. Even that had been accumulated by the Lineage over many years, to help its members attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Yet now, the Dragon Valley Hall alone was worth two hundred and eighty-four thousand Spirit Stones. Even if the two households split it equally, the Yang Household would receive one hundred and forty-two thousand Spirit Stones.

But faced with such a vast sum, Yang Dangmo and Zhao Zongkun did not react with delight. Instead, their hearts skipped a beat.

As a Grotto-Heaven Law Treasure, the Dragon Valley Hall was valuable enough to rival a Third-Tier Middle-Grade Law Treasure. But neither man was inexperienced.

Normally, a Third-Tier Lower-Grade Law Treasure should have been worth fifty or sixty thousand Spirit Stones. That was already an extremely high price, generally five or six times that of a Second-Tier Upper-Grade Law Artifact.

The market price of a Third-Tier Middle-Grade Law Treasure was generally three or four times that of a Third-Tier Lower-Grade one. Of course, these were all rough estimates. Prices often fluctuated greatly because of differences in personal needs and the quality of Law Treasures.

Even so, the price Jin Lianri had offered was enough to buy a very fine Third-Tier Middle-Grade Law Treasure.

Was the Dragon Valley Hall really worth that much? Or was there some treasure inside it that they had failed to discover?

Of course, either of those possibilities would be manageable. What they feared most was that the Middle Golden Core cultivator before them had other ideas. That could cost them their lives.

At that thought, Yang Dangmo asked cautiously, "Senior, isn't that price a little high? The Dragon Valley Hall is only a Third-Tier Lower-Grade Law Treasure."

At first hearing, it seemed rather incredible for a seller to complain that the price for his own goods was too high.

But that was reality. The brutal reality of the Cultivation World dictated that the weak had to be humble and cautious.

Jin Lianri, who had lived for more than two hundred years, naturally saw through Yang Dangmo's thoughts at a glance.

He was not surprised. If he had encountered such a situation himself, he would not have dared to agree rashly either.

Jin Lianri waved a hand and assumed a stern expression. "The Gold and Silver Alliance means what it says. We would never cheat you. If I say the Dragon Valley Hall is worth this much, then it is worth this much. There is no need to discuss it further."

His tone was severe, but it finally put Yang Dangmo and Zhao Zongkun at ease. Broad smiles appeared on their faces, and they bowed. "We leave everything to you, Senior!"

"Mm! Here are the hundred thousand Spirit Stones and six Foundation Establishment Pills. Take them and divide them between yourselves. There are also some Spirit Items in this Storage Ring. Choose what you want."

As he spoke, Jin Lianri took out a Storage Bag and a Storage Ring and handed them to the two men.

A hint of surprise flashed in their eyes. They had not expected this senior to carry so many low-grade Spirit Items with him.

They had thought they would have to wait until they returned to Yellowstone Market for him to gather everything and settle the payment. They had not expected to receive it now.

Although they were puzzled, it was naturally best to receive the benefits immediately.

The two men took the Storage Bag and Storage Ring and first divided the contents of the former equally, giving each household fifty thousand Spirit Stones and three Foundation Establishment Pills.

Next, they carefully examined the Storage Ring, choosing the treasures their respective Lineages needed.

Yang Dangmo swept the Storage Ring with his Spiritual Awareness, and the many Spirit Items inside appeared in his mind.

Yellow Ginseng Fruit, Flame Sparrow Flower, Black Ming Grass, Yellow Phosphorus Copper, Crimson Flame Iron...

There were Spirit Items of every kind and attribute. Yang Dangmo reckoned that even after the two of them took Spirit Items worth a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, what remained inside would still be worth several hundred thousand.

Such an immense quantity of low-grade resources inevitably gave rise to much speculation in Yang Dangmo's mind.

Could the Chamber of Commerce coming this time be the Gold and Silver Alliance?

As he pondered, his hands did not stop moving. Yang Dangmo did his best to choose the various Spirit Items his Lineage lacked, most of them Spirit Mines.

Of the four arts of Pill, Formation, Artifact, and Talisman, the Yang Household had achieved the most in the Artifact Refining Dao. Old Ancestor Yang Haoyu was a Second-Tier Upper-Grade Artifact Refining Master, while he himself was a Second-Tier Middle-Grade Artifact Refining Master. As a result, they consumed an enormous quantity of various Spirit Mines and Spirit Gold.

Besides them, the Yang Household's other Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Yang Qiongqing, was a Second-Rank Low-Grade alchemist.

He had advanced only recently and needed large quantities of spirit medicine to practice with. Thus, apart from Spirit Mines and Spirit Gold, the things Yang Dangmo took most were various spirit medicines.

He also took some of the remaining resources, such as Spirit Water, Spirit Soil, and Spirit Flame Seeds, to enrich the Lineage's stores.

The selection took a long time. After the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators had calculated everything carefully, a full four hours passed before they returned the Storage Ring to Jin Lianri, fully satisfied.

Jin Lianri did not check it. After putting on the Storage Ring, he released his Flying Boat again.

"Are you coming with me, or leaving on your own?"

Yang Dangmo and Zhao Zongkun exchanged a glance and answered respectfully, "We will leave on our own. We won't trouble you, Senior."

"In that case, until we meet again. If you have any high-grade Spirit Items in the future, you can come to the Golden Moon Pavilion and find me. The price will surely satisfy you."

"Certainly, certainly. We respectfully see you off, Senior!"

The scarlet Flying Boat turned into a streak of red light and vanished into the vast horizon in a flash.

Only when Jin Lianri's figure had completely disappeared did the two men straighten up. Then, as if by prior agreement, they both began to laugh.

This time, the Yang Household had obtained Cultivation Resources worth a full two to three hundred thousand Spirit Stones. At the thought, Yang Dangmo felt dizzy and was too excited to speak.

An older member of the Lineage like him, who had lived through its lowest point, understood the significance of these Spirit Stones and supplies all the more.

They meant that the Yang Household could nurture at least three more Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Not only could it return to its peak, it could also take another step toward becoming a Golden Core Household.

Zhao Zongkun was no different. He trembled all over with excitement.

Unlike the Yang Household, the Zhao Household had been developing rapidly over the past several decades. The Zhao Household Ancestor, Zhao Leicong, had even cultivated to the Ninth Layer of Foundation Establishment. His next step was to break through to Golden Core.

Originally, the Zhao Household had not held out much hope. Given Zhao Leicong's age and aptitude, he was still far from what was needed to break through to Golden Core.

Leaving aside the Three-Nine Tribulation, Zhao Leicong did not even have a ten percent chance of overcoming the difficulty of breaking through to Golden Core itself.

But things were different now. With these resources, combined with the reserves the Lineage had accumulated over decades, the Zhao Household could now afford to buy a Golden Core Formation Pill for its Old Ancestor.

A Golden Core Formation Pill would increase his chance of breaking through by twenty to thirty percentage points. If they then spent heavily on some auxiliary Spirit Items, such as Third-Tier Wound-Healing Pills, Qi-Replenishing Pills, and defensive Formations, Zhao Leicong's chance could rise by another ten percentage points.

Then there were the gains from the Dragon Valley Sect's Scripture Repository. It was certain to contain accounts of experience breaking through to Golden Core. By absorbing that experience, with the aid of various resources and Zhao Leicong's own efforts, his chance of breaking through to Golden Core would be close to fifty percent.

That chance might not seem safe, but it was actually quite high.

Some Foundation Establishment Cultivators dared to attempt a breakthrough with only a twenty percent chance. Although ninety percent of them failed, Zhao Leicong did not lack that kind of courage in the least.

Once Zhao Leicong broke through to the Golden Core Stage, the Zhao Household could become a Golden Core Household. When its power expanded, he, Zhao Zongkun, could also share in the benefits. Perhaps he might even have hope of reaching Golden Core in this lifetime.