After the meeting ended, everyone dispersed.
"Nie Zhi, stay a moment."
Chen Nianzhi had just been about to leave when the Third Elder called him back.
Chen Qinghao looked him over, a trace of satisfaction in his eyes."In just one year, your cultivation has advanced very quickly. Even I can't quite see through you anymore."
"At this rate, I'm afraid in three to five years you'll be touching the threshold of Foundation Establishment."
"I've only made a little progress, that's all. How could I compare to Uncle's profound cultivation?" Chen Nianzhi replied modestly, then paused and added, "I don't know why Uncle has asked me to stay?"
"I came to you for a serious matter."
The Third Elder's expression turned solemn. He glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby, then lowered his voice.
"This time, I want you to make a trip to Tianxu Mountain."
"…"
A short while later, Chen Nianzhi understood Chen Qinghao's plan.
The reason he was being sent to Tianxu Mountain was this: the Second Elder had finished selling the batch of Qi-Drawing Pills refined last year and brought the spirit stones back.
Together with this year's various income, the clan treasury now held more than two thousand spirit stones.
As early as a year ago, the Third Elder had proposed going to Tianxu Mountain to purchase a Meridian-Nourishing Pill to treat the clan head's injuries. Now that the clan finally had enough spirit stones, it was time to see this done.
This was a matter of great importance. Originally, the most suitable person to buy the pill would have been the Sixth Elder, but since the Sixth Elder had passed away in seated meditation, the only suitable candidate left was Chen Nianzhi.
"The spring plowing—I'll have someone else take it over from you," the Third Elder said.
"Although Patriarch Jiang is a loose cultivator, he's known to be fair and upright. If the price is right, I believe he'll be willing to sell us a Meridian-Nourishing Pill."
"But Tianxu Mountain is a mix of dragons and snakes—good and bad all tangled together. You'll have to be extremely careful and make sure no one takes advantage of you."
As he spoke, his gaze grew even more serious.
Chen Nianzhi nodded, took the pouch of spirit stones, and put it away."I will go to Tianxu Mountain and will not fail the clan."
A few days later, right after the New Year, Chen Nianzhi set out from Qingyuan Mountain alone.
Tianxu Mountain lay far away on the Chu Kingdom's border, over a hundred thousand li from Qingyuan Mountain. Chen Nianzhi climbed mountains and forded rivers, and only after three full months of travel did he finally arrive within Tianxu Mountain's territory.
"What dense spiritual qi."
"So this is Tianxu Mountain?"
Looking at the vast range of mountains ahead, Chen Nianzhi's eyes flickered with a hint of envy, and he recalled what he knew of Tianxu Mountain's origin.
Tianxu Mountain sat on the edge of Chu, bordering the boundless Great Marsh. It was Chu's first line of defense against the demon race.
It was said that many years ago, Tianxu Mountain had been ruled by spirit beasts—the Qing Sky Eagle clan held dominion here, and there had even been a Purple Mansion great demon in residence, so troublesome that the great sect of Chu, the Qingyang Sect, had felt a constant headache over it.
Two hundred years ago, a loose cultivator named Daoist Jiang came from the shores of the Eastern Sea. He slew the Purple Mansion great demon that ruled Tianxu Mountain and seized the third-grade spirit vein here, renaming the place Tianxu Mountain.
Because of its proximity to the monster-occupied Great Marsh, Tianxu Mountain later drew large numbers of itinerant cultivators, gradually turning into a famed haven for loose cultivators in Chu.
After entering the Tianxu Mountain area, Chen Nianzhi straightened his clothes, making himself look a bit older and steadier, then walked into the Tianxu Mountain market.
This was a market purely for cultivators. Ordinary mortals were rare here.
The environment around Tianxu Mountain was simply too harsh—venomous insects and fierce beasts were everywhere. Mortal folk could hardly survive, much less thrive.
For that reason, even though Daoist Jiang had controlled Tianxu Mountain for two hundred years, he had never founded a cultivation clan. He remained a lone cultivator, taking only a few disciples under his name.
After reaching the Tianxu Mountain market, Chen Nianzhi did not immediately seek out Daoist Jiang to buy the pill. Daoist Jiang was the number-one Purple Mansion cultivator in Chu; he wasn't someone you just asked to meet and expected to be granted an audience.
This was the first time in his life he had truly left the Chen clan behind. With more than two thousand spirit stones on him, he was naturally extra cautious.
That same day he found an inn to stay at, then quietly began gathering information. In just four or five days, he'd pieced together a rough picture of Tianxu Mountain.
The Tianxu range stretched over eight thousand li. Besides the main peak's high-grade third-rank spirit vein, there were more than a dozen second-rank spirit veins scattered throughout.
All of these veins belonged to Daoist Jiang. Over the past two centuries he had gradually opened up a large number of caves and spirit fields there.
Some of those fields and caves were reserved for his disciples and followers, but the majority were rented out to loose cultivators who lived in the area long-term.
In addition, the largest business in the Yuyang Market—Tianxu Pavilion—was also under Daoist Jiang's control.
Daoist Jiang was a prodigy of heaven, a man of many talents in the Dao of cultivation—pill, formation, artifact, talisman—he had mastered every art, and each to at least the third rank.
His disciples might not be his equal, but each inherited part of his skill. It was no exaggeration to say they controlled ninety percent of the material supply in Tianxu Mountain. Even from the various counties of Chu there were people who had heard of him, traveling thousands of li to buy pills and magic tools.
"Tianxu Pavilion…"
Chen Nianzhi's gaze shifted slightly, a hint of hesitation in his heart.
Since he had no way to see Daoist Jiang in person, the only option left to buy a Meridian-Nourishing Pill was to go through Tianxu Pavilion.
But as the saying went: never flaunt your wealth.
Two thousand spirit stones were enough to buy a mid-grade second-rank magic tool. Carrying that kind of fortune on him, in many people's eyes he was a walking slab of fat meat—irresistible. If word got out, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator might not be able to keep his hands off.
Even if Daoist Jiang himself was upright and Tianxu Pavilion had built a solid reputation over two hundred years, unlikely to covet such a small amount of spirit stones… no one could ever be completely certain.
In this world, as long as the benefits were large enough, killing for treasure was one of the most common events of all.
A few years ago, Clan Head Chen Changxuan—already late-stage Foundation Establishment—had almost lost his life over a single Foundation Establishment Pill. How much more dangerous would it be for him, a mere ninth-layer Qi-Refining cultivator?
"I need to be even more careful. Watch a while longer before I decide."
"Let's go take a look at the gathering first."
With that thought, Chen Nianzhi stepped out of the inn.
The so-called gathering was a cultivator's market that opened in the Tianxu Mountain market once every month, and only for a single day.
Although Tianxu Mountain had several thousand loose cultivators, most of them spent their time either shut away cultivating in caves or roaming the desolate wilderness hunting demon beasts. As a result, the regular market usually looked rather deserted.
That bustling, shoulder-to-shoulder liveliness you read about in cultivation novels—markets packed day and night, endlessly noisy and crowded—was in reality almost impossible to see.
In truth, even at Tianxu Pavilion, the busiest shop in Tianxu Mountain, they saw at most a dozen customers in a day. It could only be described as quiet and sparse.
Only on the monthly gathering day would the cultivators come flocking here, selling the piles of monster materials they'd accumulated, and buying whatever they needed in return.
When Chen Nianzhi arrived at the gathering, he found that there were a few hundred cultivators present. Many had laid out stalls before them; monster materials, pills, magic tools, spirit herbs—everything you could think of was there.
He walked a circuit around the stalls and quickly discovered that the price of spirit herbs here was noticeably lower than in Pingyang Market.