Chapter 45

"How many spirit stones could a Spirit-Washing Pill sell for?"

Since the four of them couldn't get it, she, Su Jiu, would claim that Spirit-Washing Pill for herself.

Shu Bai clearly hadn't expected Su Jiu to ask such a question. Then he remembered her circumstances and understood somewhat. With a single Ice Spiritual Root, she truly seemed to have no need for a Spirit-Washing Pill. Still, given her rate of growth and combat prowess, taking first place in the competition wasn't beyond her reach.

Zhou Xing hadn't thought that deeply about it. He simply assumed Su Jiu wanted to know the market price of a Spirit-Washing Pill. "A Spirit-Washing Pill is a Tier Five Pill. Usually, only the Auction House and the Black Market sell them."

"Of course, what I know about the Black Market came from other seniors. A Tier Five Pill sells for around two hundred thousand spirit stones there. As for the Auction House, I was fortunate enough to see one auctioned off for two hundred and forty thousand. But even with a price attached, there's rarely one available. They aren't common."

Su Jiu could understand that. After all, apart from rogue cultivators, hardly any cultivator at the Golden Core Stage or above relied on selling pills to make a living. Yet how many rogue cultivators could afford the medicinal ingredients required for a Tier Five Pill? Even the Tier Five Pills that found their way into the Black Market and the Auction House were most likely the work of some sect's foolish, wasteful scion.

To Su Jiu, taking first place seemed no different from getting rich overnight.

"Which of you has two hundred thousand spirit stones?" Su Jiu asked very seriously. If she took first place, she could give them priority when selling the pill.

Shu Bai and Mo Yan both understood what Su Jiu meant. The corner of Lie Changfeng's mouth twitched.

"Are you kidding? Forget Qi Refining-even in the Foundation Establishment Realm, how many people have more than two hundred thousand spirit stones? Besides, the lineages behind us aren't major clans in the Azure Realm. Whose household could produce two hundred thousand spirit stones all at once? Do you even know how much that is?" Lie Changfeng rolled his eyes as he spoke.

What Su Jiu didn't know was that this wasn't just true of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Even rogue cultivators at the Golden Core Stage might not be able to produce two hundred thousand spirit stones.

"And taking first place in the Azure Tide Sect's Outer Gate Grand Competition isn't that easy either." Shu Bai patted Su Jiu on the shoulder.

After a long silence, Mo Yan spoke first. "If you take first place, I'll buy your Spirit-Washing Pill."

Shu Bai gave Mo Yan a surprised look. Mo Yan had always been the quietest among them, and even when he spoke, he rarely mentioned his family affairs. Since he had spent so much time with them without displaying anything unusual, the other three had all assumed his circumstances were much like theirs.

Mo Yan even cultivated harder than they did and seldom took pills, giving them the mistaken impression that perhaps he simply didn't have many spirit stones.

Yet now, he spoke of a pill worth two hundred thousand spirit stones without so much as a furrow of his brow. Shu Bai finally realized that even he could misjudge someone.

Zhou Xing was stunned for a moment, then clapped Mo Yan on the shoulder. "Well, well! Mo Yan, you really kept your riches hidden deep!"

Lie Changfeng caught on as well. "Damn! Two hundred thousand spirit stones! There's been a moneybags hiding right beside me, and I never knew!"

Shu Bai, meanwhile, silently considered the aristocratic clans surnamed Mo. He even began to wonder whether Mo Yan had given them his real name. He sifted through the surnames of the great aristocratic clans in his mind and confirmed that none bore the name "Mo."

Just as he concluded that it was a false name, a sudden flash of inspiration brought to mind a secluded lineage from a thousand years ago.

Shu Bai was secretly startled. Surely not...

He showed no sign of anything amiss.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. If the front slopes of Golden Guard Peak, with their dense trees and lush green grass, were a place for spring outings, then the verdant bamboo groves on Back Mountain were an elegant retreat where poets and scholars could recite verse and drink wine.

It truly was beautiful here. A gentle breeze occasionally brushed through the grove, and now and then, bamboo leaves drifted among the green stalks.

The sight stirred Shu Bai's interest. He waved the folding fan in his hand. "Did you know that bamboo comes in male and female varieties?"

The others all looked at him. Dropping his mysterious air, Shu Bai smiled and walked over to a stalk of bamboo, then crouched down. He closed his fan and used it to point at a node bearing leaves. "Look. There's only one branch at the first node where leaves grow, so this is male bamboo."

Then he pointed at another stalk nearby. "That one has two branches at its first leaf-bearing node, so it's female bamboo."

Shu Bai stood up, flicked his fan open, and continued, "This female bamboo will suffer damage as it grows in its second year, while this male bamboo lives for only this one season."

Almost as soon as Shu Bai finished speaking, a young boy's voice came from nearby.

"Do people on patrol duty have this much time to spare nowadays?"

Startled, they turned toward the voice. It belonged to a boy of about ten. An enormous sword hung on his back, and he wore white robes with gold embroidery at the collar and cuffs. The emblem on his chest was a small sword representing Golden Guard Peak.

Almost immediately, they guessed who the newcomer was. Su Jiu, however, smiled. Even without those robes, she would have recognized the boy before her.

He was Jin Chen, her close friend from her previous life.

When Jin Chen noticed a little girl in the group who looked even younger than he was, he couldn't help taking a few extra looks. Younger than him, with a higher cultivation, and not that wild girl Su Mianmian-he could already make a fair guess as to who she was.

The boy drew his heavy sword and pointed it at her. "You're Su Jiu, aren't you?"

Su Jiu raised an eyebrow. With all that hostility, his master had probably said something to him again. The thought of Jin Chen's master left her inwardly speechless. The Golden Guard Peak Master appeared upright and impartial, above quibbling with anyone, but beneath that exterior, he kept a more exact tally of every grievance than anyone else. Otherwise, he and Hong Ling wouldn't have fought over their disciples every day until feathers flew everywhere.

In her previous life, she too had been a participant on that main battlefield. Even her master, the Sect Leader, who never contended with the world, had been quite helpless when it came to Long Aotian. Fortunately, she had done him proud. After watching her for a while and realizing that his disciple had no hope of surpassing her, Long Aotian had turned his attention to Su Mianmian instead. Thus, in her previous life, Long Aotian and Hong Ling had been at each other's throats for practically their entire lives.

Now, looking at the heavy sword before her, Su Jiu suspected that the old bastard had set his sights on her again.

Su Jiu cupped her fist and bowed. "I am Su Jiu, an Outer Gate disciple."

Jin Chen snorted. "So it really is you! Fight me!"

Jin Chen was impatient too. The moment he declared a fight, he attacked, leaving his opponent no time whatsoever to prepare.

Fortunately, Su Jiu reacted quickly. She instantly drew her Flying Sword and caught Jin Chen's heavy blade. His fundamentals truly were solid. At the very least, his sheer strength was beyond what most people could match. Had Su Mianmian been facing him, she might already have suffered a setback.

Seeing Su Jiu block his heavy sword, Jin Chen was secretly surprised as well. "You caught my heavy sword. Not bad."

Even so, he still didn't believe Su Jiu could defeat him.

"We'll compete in swordsmanship alone. Nothing else is allowed." Jin Chen said this because he had focused on practicing the sword over the past year. He wasn't confident that his spells could match Su Jiu's.

Besides, his master had also told him to spar with Su Jiu using swordsmanship alone.

Su Jiu nodded, then instructed the four behind her, "Move farther back." She was worried her Sword Qi might accidentally injure them.

At that moment, none of these young Qi Refining cultivators noticed the two tall, elegant figures standing nearby, watching the fight.