Great Open Mountain

Three days later, Long San brought his men to the general store again. Without waiting for Huang Deyou to announce him, he hurried to the entrance of the back courtyard and waited.

"Boss..."

Huang Deyou hurried over to Jiang Ding and was about to say something when Jiang Ding waved a hand, rose while pressing his hand to his sword, and called out clearly.

"Shopkeeper Long, please."

"I wouldn't dare trouble Young Master Jiang to come out and greet me."

Long San entered, more respectful and courteous than ever before. "I have come this time for two reasons. First, to deliver a batch of collected Blue Fluorescent Butterflies. Second, I have already sent the detailed information to the Yuejing main guild by Red-tailed Falcon. A reply is estimated to arrive within two days, and at least a manager at Inner Qi Perfection will come to preside over the overall situation. Young Master's great matter will certainly not be delayed."

He was very confident in this, certain that the main guild would not waste even a moment.

"That is good... I have yet to congratulate Shopkeeper Long on breaking through to Inner Qi Great Accomplishment. The innate realm is now within sight." Jiang Ding smiled and spoke politely.

"I would not dare harbor such extravagant hopes."

Long San cupped his hands. After obtaining Jiang Ding's agreement, he waved a hand. Several attendants behind him carried in a finely woven bamboo cage as tall and wide as a person. Swarms of Blue Fluorescent Butterflies danced within it, their specks of fluorescence clearly visible even beneath the daylight.

"There are 3,412 pairs of Blue Fluorescent Butterflies here. According to the merchant guild's rule for bulk live-goods transactions, which allows for a ten percent loss in transit, that comes to 3,105 pairs. Young Master need only leave a receipt."

Jiang Ding frowned slightly.

At an average of a thousand pairs a day, it would take over a year—nearly two years—to gather 550,000.

By then, the daylilies would have gone cold.

"Rest assured, Young Master!"

Seeing Jiang Ding's obvious displeasure, Long San was startled. "This is only the output of the Four Seas Merchant Guild's directly employed herb gatherers. A great many mountain folk, freelance herb gatherers, herb gatherers from other forces, and the like are still being organized. Once the main guild receives the news, they will certainly bring a group of capable hands from Yuejing as well."

"Furthermore, personnel from the Four Seas Merchant Guild branches around East Spirit Prefecture, as well as organizations friendly to those branches, will all come. With silver scattered by the fistful, there is no reason for them to refuse."

"Besides, the herb gatherers before this were all from small households, with uneven experience and a lack of butterfly-catching tools. Once the merchant guild provides equipment and training, their efficiency will certainly rise to another level."

"As long as there are enough Blue Fluorescent Butterflies in East Spirit Mountain, we will certainly be able to catch the number Young Master requires!"

Long San spoke with absolute certainty.

"Of course I trust Steward Long."

Jiang Ding smiled faintly. "How about this? For every 150,000 pairs of Blue Fluorescent Butterflies accumulated, I can deliver one Minor Void Breaking Pill. Once 550,000 pairs have been accumulated, I will deliver one Void Breaking Pill."

"This..."

Long San's mouth went dry. Counting the advance payment and the pill he had already consumed, the offer had been raised again.

What heaven-shaking use could these Blue Fluorescent Butterflies possibly have, for Jiang Ding to spend so lavishly?

"It shall be so."

Long San could not voice any objection. Goods delivered, payment received—this was exceedingly fair to both sides.

He took his leave.

Jiang Ding closed his eyes and rested, his inner force coursing through his meridians.

Two days had passed. He had already completed the nurturing and tempering of the ten main channels of the seventh regular meridian, the Foot Greater Yang Stomach Meridian, and the eighth regular meridian, the Foot Lesser Yang Gallbladder Meridian. What he was currently opening was the ninth regular meridian, the Foot Greater Yang Bladder Meridian.

In at most four more days, he would complete the nurturing and tempering of the ten main channels among the Twelve Meridians, completing the Minor Heavenly Cycle.

At that time, the Twelve Meridians would form an initial circulation, inner qi would be born, and the speed of nurturing would undergo a small qualitative transformation.

Stimulated by enormous profits, all of East Spirit Prefecture and the surrounding commanderies stirred into agitation.

Over the course of several days, the Four Seas Merchant Guild met separately with the leaders of every force large and small apart from its rival, the Brocade Dragon Merchant Guild. Vast amounts of silver were scattered, forming an enormous force.

Herb gatherers in great numbers, martial artists serving as guards, farmers and hunters hired as odd-job hands, and more—numbering in the thousands and tens of thousands—carried supplies and filed into East Spirit Mountain in lines like ants.

They were not limited to catching butterflies, gathering herbs, hunting beasts, or felling precious timber; everything was included. The profits gained would be divided equally among all parties according to their strength, while the Four Seas Merchant Guild would cover the losses if there were no gains.

Riding along with this tide, the number of specimens purchased by the general store rose sharply.

Many herb gatherers, farmers, and the like were quite willing to casually collect a plant specimen, now raised to ten copper coins apiece, or catch an insect or small bird while working. It took no effort anyway.

Outside the small courtyard.

Jiang Ding silently watched as the Four Seas Merchant Guild's attendants delivered another cart of Blue Fluorescent Butterflies, kept within finely woven bamboo cages.

Another three days had passed since the Four Seas Merchant Guild organized a large number of people to open Great Open Mountain. The number of Blue Fluorescent Butterflies caught each day had been increasing. During the day, every two or three hours, carts carrying bamboo cages wrapped in thick wet cloth would arrive.

More than ten thousand pairs of Blue Fluorescent Butterflies were obtained each day, and according to Long San, that number would continue to increase in the future until it reached a limit.

Now, Jiang Ding no longer dared to carry the bamboo cages and specimen boxes directly into his home. Instead, he bought a large pile of foldable specimen boxes that could be assembled, along with heaps of silk mesh.

Every day, he had to spend over half an hour transferring the specimens into the foldable specimen boxes, leaving behind piles of collected wooden boxes for reuse.

His public explanation was that his cultivation method was special and required him to absorb the essence of all things, drawing parallels from one thing to another.

[Library Points: 4327]

Glancing at the Library app, which was already offline, Jiang Ding felt a flicker of joy in his heart.

If all went smoothly, he would accumulate ten thousand points in at most two months. At that time, he could have the Central Array Spirit Computer use his existing cultivation method as a basis to deduce a method tailored specifically to him, one that could be cultivated up to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

As for which cultivation technique to choose, he had originally leaned toward the Eagle's Takeoff Sword Art. But he had already comprehended it to 92% minor mastery and was not far from major mastery, so it would be too much of a waste.

As for a fundamental cultivation technique, Jiang Ding vaguely felt it was better to comprehend it bit by bit himself, even if that meant taking many detours.

After considering it carefully, he decided to use these ten thousand Library Points to deduce the Great Sun Seed Sword Refining Technique.

This was a profound art derived from the highest-tier scripture-grade cultivation technique, the Great Sun Sword Scripture. Even among the Nine Great Immortal Sects, only sect Dao Sons and Holy Sons were qualified to cultivate it. It could lay down an unsurpassable foundation and bring enormous benefits to future cultivation.

If his guess proved true—that the Seven Profound Sect's stolen supreme treasure, the "Heavenly Sound Stone," was merely an ordinary stone that sang beneath the moon rather than the legendary Supreme Clarity Divine Iron—he still had a backup plan.

That was the Blue Gold 2431 Potion!

After all these days of gathering information, reading literature, and the Immortal Sect Library research department's studies into new species, its value had continued to rise.

Among all elixirs capable of improving aptitude, the Blue Gold Potion was also among the very finest. Using it to break through to Young Eagle Innate could grant a martial artist the special Young Eagle Dao Body, perhaps with aptitude comparable to Three Spirit Roots!

This held tremendous appeal for the Golden Core and Nascent Soul descendants who lacked spirit roots or had inferior ones.

What was more, even if many scions of great families possessed excellent spirit roots, they would not begin by cultivating immortal Qi Refining Cultivation Techniques. Instead, they would cultivate the Fledgling Eagle Takes Flight Art as mortals. When they neared the Innate realm, they would use treasures of this kind to guide the process and condense a special Dao Body Prototype!

It was exceedingly difficult. Even for the descendants of great families, reaching Young Eagle Innate was a formidable task, impossible without exceptional talent and comprehension.

But once they succeeded, excellent spirit roots combined with a special Dao Body Prototype would put them immeasurably ahead of others from the very starting line of the Innate realm.

Jiang Ding had checked. Blue Gold 2431 Potion should be enough to trade for two heavenly treasures—the Thousand-Year Soul Nurturing Wood and Synthetic Geng Metal No. 21—on Banyan Tree Net, the online shopping platform for Immortal Sect Cultivators.

These were lower-tier substitutes for Law-Breaking Immortal Gold and Supreme Clarity Divine Iron.

They were far from ordinary. Even in the Great Sun Sword Pavilion of old, only the direct descendants of Inner Core Golden Core elders were qualified to cultivate with them, and they could forge an excellent foundation.