Opening Up the Mountain

Three days later, Long San returned to the general store with his men. Without waiting for Huang Deyou to announce him, he hurried to the rear courtyard gate and waited.

"Master..."

Huang Deyou strode quickly to Jiang Ding and was about to speak when Jiang Ding waved a hand, rose with one hand on his sword, and called out clearly.

"Manager Long, please come in."

"I would not dare trouble Young Master Jiang to receive me."

Long San entered, more respectful and courteous than ever before. "I have come for two reasons. First, to deliver a batch of Blueglow Butterflies that have been collected. Second, I have already sent the detailed circumstances to the Yue Capital headquarters by Red-tailed Falcon. We expect a reply within two days, and at least a chief steward at the level of perfected inner force will come to take charge. Young Master, your important matter will certainly not be delayed."

He was extremely confident in this, certain that the headquarters would not waste even a moment.

"That is good... I have yet to congratulate Manager Long on breaking through to greater inner force. The innate realm is now within sight." Jiang Ding smiled and spoke politely.

"I would not dare entertain such hopes."

Long San cupped his hands. After receiving Jiang Ding's permission, he waved a hand, and several clerks behind him carried in a tightly woven bamboo cage as tall and wide as a person. Swarms of Blueglow Butterflies fluttered within, their scattered fluorescent lights clearly visible even in daylight.

"There are three thousand four hundred and twelve pairs of Blueglow Butterflies here. According to the chamber's rule for large live-goods deliveries, which allows for a ten percent loss, that counts as three thousand one hundred and five pairs. Young Master need only leave a receipt."

Jiang Ding frowned slightly.

At an average of a thousand pairs a day, it would take more than a year—nearly two—to gather the five hundred and fifty thousand pairs he needed.

By then, the day lilies would be cold.

"Rest assured, Young Master!"

Seeing Jiang Ding's obvious displeasure, Long San was startled. "This is only the output of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce's own herb gatherers. A great many mountain folk, independent herb gatherers, and gatherers from other forces are still being organized. Once the headquarters receives the news, they will certainly bring a group of capable hands from Yue Capital as well."

"Furthermore, the branches of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce around Eastspirit Prefecture, along with their affiliated organizations, will all send people here. With so much silver being thrown around, they have no reason to refuse."

"Besides, the herb gatherers before this were all small operators. Their experience varied, and they lacked butterfly-catching tools. Once the chamber supplies them and trains them, their efficiency will surely rise to another level."

"So long as Eastspirit Mountain has enough Blueglow Butterflies, we will certainly 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 one hundred and fifty thousand pairs of Blueglow Butterflies accumulated, I will deliver one Lesser Void-Breaking Pill. Once five hundred and fifty thousand 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 stakes had been raised again.

What earth-shattering use could these Blueglow Butterflies possibly have to warrant such an investment?

"That is only proper."

Long San could not voice any objection. Payment upon delivery was exceedingly fair to both sides.

He took his leave.

Jiang Ding closed his eyes to rest, inner force circulating through his meridians.

Two days had passed. He had already completed the nurturing and tempering of the ten principal meridians of the seventh regular channel, the Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian, and the eighth regular channel, the Foot Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian. He was currently opening the ninth regular channel, the Foot Taiyang Bladder Meridian.

In at most four more days, he would finish nurturing and tempering the ten principal meridians of the twelve regular channels, completing the "Minor Circulation."

At that point, the twelve regular channels would form an initial circuit, inner force would be born, and the speed of nurturing would undergo a minor qualitative transformation.

Spurred by enormous profits, all of Eastspirit Prefecture and the surrounding prefectures stirred into action.

Within days, the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce met separately with the leaders of every major and minor force aside from its competitor, the Brocade Dragon Chamber of Commerce. Vast sums of silver were scattered, forming an immense expedition.

Herb gatherers, martial guards, hired farmhands, hunters, and countless others—several thousand, even tens of thousands of people—carried supplies and entered Eastspirit Mountain in lines like columns of ants.

They were not limited to catching butterflies. Gathering herbs, hunting beasts, felling precious timber, and everything else were included. The profits were divided among all parties according to their strength, and the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce guaranteed compensation if there was no harvest.

Riding on the wave, the general store's specimen purchases surged sharply.

Many herb gatherers, farmers, and others were happy to collect a plant specimen, now raised to ten copper coins apiece, or catch an insect or small bird while they worked. It took hardly any effort, after all.

Outside the small courtyard.

Jiang Ding silently watched as the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce's clerks delivered another cartload of Blueglow Butterflies, contained in tightly woven bamboo cages.

Three more days had passed since the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce organized large numbers of people to enter the mountain. More and more Blueglow Butterflies were being caught each day. During daylight, carts carrying bamboo cages wrapped in wet, thick cloth arrived every two or three hours.

More than ten thousand pairs of Blueglow Butterflies were collected each day, and according to Long San, the number would continue to rise in the future until it reached a limit.

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

The explanation given to outsiders was that his cultivation method was unusual and required him to absorb the vital essence of all things in order to draw inferences from one thing to another.

[Library Points: 4327]

Glancing at the now-offline library app, Jiang Ding felt a flicker of joy.

If all went smoothly, he could save up ten thousand points within two months at most. Then, he could have the Central Array-Spirit Computer use his current cultivation methods as a foundation to deduce a custom-made technique capable of cultivating to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

As for which technique, he had originally leaned toward the Fledgling Eagle Takes Flight Sword Art. But he had already comprehended it to 92% of minor mastery and was not far from major mastery, so it would be too wasteful.

Moreover, Jiang Ding vaguely felt that it was better to comprehend one's fundamental cultivation method bit by bit oneself, even if that meant taking many detours.

After considering it carefully, he decided to use the ten thousand library points to deduce the Great Sun Seed-Sword Tempering Art.

This was a profound art derived from the highest-grade scripture-level technique, the Great Sun Sword Scripture. Even among the nine great immortal sects, only sect Dao heirs and saint sons were qualified to cultivate it. It could forge an unparalleled foundation and bring immense benefits to future cultivation.

If the Seven Profound Sect's supposedly stolen supreme treasure, the "Heavenly Sound Stone," turned out to be merely an ordinary stone that sang beneath the moon rather than the legendary Grand Pure Divine Iron, he still had a backup plan.

That was the Blue Gold 2431 Agent!

Through his research materials gathered over recent days, the documents he had read, and the Immortal Gate Library research department's study of new species, its value had continued to rise.

Among the various pills that improved aptitude, the Blue Gold Agent was considered among the very best. Using it to break through to the Fledgling Eagle innate realm could grant a martial artist the Fledgling Eagle special Dao body. Perhaps one's aptitude could even rival that of a three-spirit-root cultivator!

This held great appeal for the descendants of many Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators who either lacked spirit roots or had poor ones.

What was more, even when many children of great clans possessed excellent spirit roots, they would not begin by cultivating immortal techniques for refining qi. Instead, while still mortal, they cultivated the Young Eagle Takes Flight Formula. When they neared the innate realm, they used such treasures as inducements to condense the embryonic form of a special Dao body!

It was extraordinarily difficult. Even for the children of great clans, achieving the Fledgling Eagle innate realm was no easy feat. Only those with exceptional talent and comprehension could attain it.

But once they succeeded,

an excellent spirit root combined with the embryonic form of a special Dao body meant their starting line in the innate realm would be incomparably ahead of others.

Jiang Ding had checked. In exchange for Blue Gold 2431 Agent, he should be able to trade for two heavenly treasures on Banyan Tree Network, the Immortal Gate cultivator online shopping platform: Millennium Soul-Nourishing Wood and No. 21 Synthetic Geng Metal.

These were lower-tier substitutes for Law-Breaking Immortal Gold and Grand Pure Divine Iron.

They were hardly simple treasures either. In the former Great Sun Sword Pavilion, only the direct descendants of inner-sect Golden Core elders were qualified to cultivate with them, and they could forge an excellent foundation.

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