Afterward, Chen Xuan inspected Jiang Qiong's possessions.
He had originally assumed she would not have anything particularly good. After all, she was only a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator.
To his surprise, however, he found some materials suitable for crafting magical treasures, along with plenty of alchemy ingredients.
These materials were worth a considerable sum.
The alchemy ingredients were no surprise, since she was a disciple of Danxiao Peak. He simply had not expected artifact refining materials as well, especially ones suitable for crafting magical treasures.
"Senior Sister, how did you get so many materials for crafting magical treasures?"
Chen Xuan voiced his question.
Jiang Qiong explained, "I went to the Three Great Secret Realms, but couldn't find any Heavenly Dao Qi or spiritual objects. I couldn't come back empty-handed, could I? So I gathered plenty of other resources. A lot of these materials came from those secret realms.
"I can't use them yet, but once I reach the Purple Mansion level, I intend to learn some artifact refining and craft a lifebound magical treasure for myself.
"If anything catches your eye, Junior Brother, just take it. I can gather more later. I'm only at the Spirit Sea Realm right now, with a long way to go before Purple Mansion. There's no rush to worry about a lifebound magical treasure."
Chen Xuan nodded slightly.
If there's nothing else, I'll take these artifact refining materials to complete the trade.
Heavenly Dao Qi was certainly precious, but it was no longer of any use to him.
He could not even return to the secret realms to take that Heavenly Dao Qi.
Not to mention that it would take several more years to appear.
He was not even sure whether he would still be in the Azure Cloud Realm in a few years.
Moreover, according to the sect's rules concerning the Three Great Secret Realms, only cultivators below the Dao Foundation Realm could enter them.
Thus, information about Heavenly Dao Qi could only be sold to Spirit Sea Realm cultivators.
And selling only to Spirit Sea Realm cultivators meant he was never going to reap an enormous reward.
Obtaining a batch of materials for crafting magical treasures was already a good result.
Chen Xuan continued looking through her possessions.
Soon, he spotted a basketball-sized stone that looked rather extraordinary.
He picked it up and activated his Heaven-Observing Divine Eye to examine it closely.
Seeing him examining the stone, Jiang Qiong said, "I found that stone in the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm some time ago, too. It looked unusual, so I brought it back.
"Afterward, I asked the Treasure Pavilion and my master to appraise it. According to them, it seems to be some kind of demonic beast egg, but the beast inside is barely clinging to life.
"It seems completely dead, yet Master and the others detected a thread of vitality that keeps lingering.
"In any case, both Master and the Treasure Pavilion said this stone egg must have an extraordinary origin. The demonic beast inside might possess a truly remarkable bloodline.
"But with the stone egg in this half-dead state, no one can say when it might hatch. Most likely, it won't hatch at all without some outside help.
"It's still a treasure, after all, and who can say what the future holds? So I've kept it all this time instead of selling it.
"You can take it if you want, Junior Brother."
After hearing her explanation and examining it with his Heaven-Observing Divine Eye, Chen Xuan could also confirm that the demonic beast within the stone egg possessed an exceptional bloodline.
But just as Jiang Qiong had said, the stone egg was barely alive. Though that thread of vitality persisted, it would never hatch without outside help.
What form that help might take was difficult to say.
But perhaps I'll come across it someday?
A spirit pet with an exceptional bloodline would be a fine treasure indeed.
Through the Cloud Sea Heaven-Observing Technique and the Heaven-Observing Divine Eye, Chen Xuan determined that the demonic beast within the stone egg possessed, at the very least, a high-grade bloodline.
It might even possess a divine beast or sacred beast bloodline.
Like cultivators' physiques, demonic beast bloodlines were divided into five ranks.
Low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, divine beast, and sacred beast.
These five ranks corresponded to mortal bodies, spirit bodies, king bodies, god bodies, and saint bodies.
I'll take the gamble. Even if it never hatches, it won't matter.
After all, obtaining the information about Heavenly Dao Qi had not been much trouble.
Besides, acquiring Purple Qi Comes from the East from Li Junmo had already earned him a tremendous profit.
Whatever he received for the information on the other two strands of Heavenly Dao Qi would be pure profit.
"Senior Sister, I'll take this stone egg."
Chen Xuan looked at Jiang Qiong as he spoke.
Jiang Qiong nodded her agreement without hesitation.
She knew the stone egg was a treasure.
But there was no telling whether it would ever hatch.
Ever since obtaining it, she had tried all sorts of methods, and her master, Elder Xie, had helped her try plenty more.
Yet the stone egg had remained suspended by that single thread of vitality. That thread never faded, but the egg never hatched either, lingering between life and death.
So no matter how precious it was, it could not compare to Heavenly Dao Qi.
Chen Xuan then told Jiang Qiong where and when the Heavenly Dao Qi would appear in the Green Spirit Secret Realm.
Delighted, Jiang Qiong said, "Junior Brother, take a few more things. If this egg never hatches, wouldn't I be getting the better end of the deal?"
"Senior Sister, I chose it myself. If it doesn't hatch, that's my problem."
"No, take these. You wanted these materials, didn't you? Have them."
Without another word, Jiang Qiong handed over all the artifact refining materials she had gathered.
Those materials were worth a considerable sum, too.
After all, they could be used to craft magical treasures.
Chen Xuan tried to decline, but Jiang Qiong insisted on pressing them into his hands. In the end, he accepted them.
As far as Chen Xuan was concerned, he had profited.
But was that not equally true for Jiang Qiong?
So long as she could obtain Heavenly Dao Qi, even giving up everything she owned would be worth it.
Chen Xuan soon left Danxiao Peak and returned to his residence.
He did not rush to sell the information on the third strand of Heavenly Dao Qi.
After all, he had sold the information to Jiang Qiong so quickly because they were close.
He truly felt no urgency to sell the final piece of information.
Besides, he had no other fellow disciples in the Spirit Sea Realm whom he knew well.
There was no need to hurry. Cultivation came first.
Back at his residence, Chen Xuan spent some time refining the Flowing Cloud Cold Light Sword.
Next, he took the materials he had received from Jiang Qiong and purchased some additional ones with contribution points.
He successfully crafted a dual-purpose furnace, a supreme-grade magical treasure. Borrowing the name of the Supreme Lord's furnace, he called it the Bagua Furnace.
After that, Chen Xuan did not rush to acquire more magical treasures.
Instead, he began cultivating.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
Early one morning, Chen Xuan sat cross-legged in his cave abode, a faint lavender radiance flowing around him.
It was a sign that his spirit body was on the verge of completion.
Drawn by an invisible force, another strand of purple qi slipped unimpeded into the crown of Chen Xuan's head. The instant it entered his body, it transformed into a gentle yet vast current of warmth that surged through every limb and bone.
Unlike his previous tempering sessions, this time, as the purple qi entered him, Chen Xuan distinctly sensed a faint crack within his body, as though a barrier had shattered.
The purple qi essence that had accumulated over so long in his limbs, bones, meridians, and acupoints was fully stirred at that moment, erupting with thunderous force!
Purple light shone out from within him, bathing the entire meditation chamber in majestic splendor.
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