Chapter 298: Two Spiritual Objects

Chapter 298: Chapter 298: Two Spiritual Objects

"How about this, Senior? Besides the information on the Array and the ruins, we’ll add one more Nascent Soul Material. You give us five drops of Earth Milk Spirit Liquid and this claw. What do you say?"

Cai Qunfeng and Xiang Min privately conferred via voice transmission for a moment before gritting their teeth and making a new decision.

"Not good enough. Add another Nascent Soul Material, and we’ll be getting somewhere." Zhang Chi was secretly delighted, but his tone was one of clear dissatisfaction.

"Alright. But we have two conditions. First, we must sign a Spirit Contract before we go back to retrieve the items for the trade. Second, we want to team up with you, Senior, to explore those ruins together." Cai Qunfeng hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

"That’s right. Those ruins will emerge from the depths of the Desert Sea in a hundred years. And while very few people know about them, we aren’t the only two. When the time comes, other Cultivators will surely go to explore, and conflict will be unavoidable."

"Of course, if you’re unwilling to accept, Senior, we can certainly discuss a new arrangement," Xiang Min added.

"Alright. But when the time comes, you’ll have to follow my every command. If you hold me back, don’t blame me for leaving you behind."

Zhang Chi was quite satisfied, but he maintained a calm exterior and gave a stern reply.

’In truth, he didn’t really care about exploring some ruins. The Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects were what mattered most to him.’

"Good!"

"Then it’s settled!"

Xiang and Cai were overjoyed. They immediately produced a Spirit Contract, drafted the terms of their cooperation, and signed it with Zhang Chi right then and there.

Evidently, they were worried Zhang Chi might kill them and seize their treasures after the trade, or that he might kill them during their joint exploration. That’s why they had insisted on signing the Spirit Contract first.

What they didn’t know was that Zhang Chi could ignore the Spirit Contract, which was why he had agreed so readily. In truth, he had no intention of teaming up with them whatsoever, not even in a hundred years when he would likely be in the Nascent Soul Early Stage.

FLARE!

As the Spirit Contract flared and burned away on its own, a sliver of trust was instantly forged between them.

Afterward, Cai Qunfeng remained to chat with Zhang Chi while Xiang Min immediately left to retrieve the items.

’Of course, whether she was actually going back to get them, or if they were on her all along and her departure was just for show, Zhang Chi had no idea.’

Zhang Chi didn’t particularly care. Regardless, he wasn’t confident he could kill the two of them, so all that mattered was that the transaction went smoothly.

At the same time, however, Zhang Chi didn’t dare let his guard down. Cai Qunfeng’s idle chatter seemed friendly, but it could very well be a test.

A short while later, Xiang Min finally returned and, with a wave of her hand, produced two Nascent Soul Materials.

The first was entirely pitch-black, a foot long, and looked like a small snake, but it was actually a special kind of Snake Hide called the Black Snake’s Shedding.

The second was a mass of green Spiritual Liquid the size of a pigeon’s egg, emitting a peculiar, sweet fragrance. It was called Jade Water Spirit Blood.

Both items had effects similar to the Seven-leaf Golden Ganoderma. When used in conjunction with a Nascent Soul Pill, each could increase the probability of a successful breakthrough by five to ten percent.

From what Zhang Chi understood, there were a total of six supplementary Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects known to exist in the Endless Desert Sea.

The most important and mandatory of these was the Nascent Soul Pill.

Beyond that were six other supplementary Spiritual Objects, each used to help a Cultivator’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit undergo a metamorphosis.

And now, Zhang Chi possessed three of them: the Black Snake’s Shedding, the Seven-leaf Golden Ganoderma, and the Jade Water Spirit Blood.

SWOOSH!

With a grand wave of his hand, Zhang Chi pulled the two Spiritual Objects toward him. After a careful inspection confirmed they were authentic, he promptly stored them away.

Only then did he hand over the Earth Milk Spirit Liquid and the claw.

He also kept the remaining materials, along with the Array Flags and the Array Disc.

Cai and Xiang quickly accepted the Earth Milk and the claw, inspecting them both. They were quite satisfied with what they saw.

The quality of both items was excellent, even better than they had anticipated.

Next, as stipulated by the Spirit Contract, Cai Qunfeng took out a black Jade Scroll and used Magic to levitate it over to Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi accepted the Jade Scroll and swept his Divine Thought through it. He found that it not only marked the location and opening time of the Oasis Ruins, but even included a map of the Oasis.

All in all, this was a rather good opportunity.

The only catch was that the ruins were located in the northern part of the Endless Desert Sea, a region occupied by Demon Beasts. While not deep within their territory, it was still considerably dangerous.

Moreover, before the ruins surfaced, the entire area was nothing but rolling yellow sand teeming with Demon Beasts. Even a Nascent Soul Powerhouse would be unable to locate the Spatial Node to get in early.

Fortunately, the Cultivator who originally discovered the ruins had discerned its pattern and calculated the next time it would appear.

’What surprised Zhang Chi was that, according to the Jade Scroll, the place had supposedly never been explored before. He wondered if that was actually true.’

’If it was, then this Secret Realm was truly of immense value.’

"Until we meet again!"

Without another moment’s delay, Zhang Chi mounted his Golden Light Shuttle. It transformed into a dazzling streak of golden light and vanished over the horizon in an instant.

"Until we meet again!"

The two Nascent Soul cultivators cupped their hands in reply. Only when he had completely vanished from sight did they finally breathe a sigh of relief and head back to the Golden Wind Sect together.

As they flew, Xiang Min sent a voice transmission, "Husband, what do you make of him? Do you think he’s truly a Nascent Soul Late Stage expert, or is he just faking it with a Secret Technique?"

"I believe he’s genuine. He isn’t anyone we know, though, so he must be an outsider who’s just passing through."

"Besides, I made small talk with him for a bit. I found him to be incredibly knowledgeable, even more so than me in many areas. He is without a doubt a Nascent Soul Realm powerhouse."

"And look at this claw—it was clearly severed by a sharp blade, which suggests he’s likely a Sword Cultivator. With this, we can gather a few more materials, pay the price, and have someone refine it into an Upper Grade Magical Treasure for us," Cai Qunfeng replied with a smile via voice transmission.

"Yes. An extra Magical Treasure will give us another layer of security during the exploration a hundred years from now. Plus, this Earth Milk Spirit Liquid can help us advance our Cultivation."

Xiang Min’s spirits lifted at his words.

"Exactly. So even though we had to use two Spiritual Objects we were saving for the Sect’s juniors, this trade was definitely worth it. It’s a shame we have so few of them. Using any more would hinder the Sect’s growth, otherwise I would have insisted on trading for more items with him."

"Fortunately, this Senior seems to be a person of good character. He didn’t use his high Cultivation to bully us. We’ll surely have another opportunity to trade with him in the future!"

Cai Qunfeng nodded repeatedly.

—

’Whew, my plan actually worked, and the haul was incredible. If I could find Nascent Soul cultivators for this kind of deal another eight or ten times, I might be able to gather all the materials I need for my Nascent Soul Formation.’

’Too bad this kind of trade is so risky. Trying it too many times would be suicide, and I’d most likely attract the attention of the Desert Deep Palace.’

On the other side, Zhang Chi breathed a sigh of relief once he was a safe distance away. He felt both elated and wary.

After all, the two of them appearing together had posed a huge threat to him.

Everything had seemed to go smoothly, and they had even acted respectfully, but he knew they had been secretly observing him the entire time.

If he had revealed a single flaw and let them guess his true Cultivation, things would have gotten very troublesome, very quickly.

Besides, those two had rather conservative personalities. Had he run into more adventurous Nascent Soul cultivators, the outcome might have been completely different.

Furthermore, whether or not he could actually trade for the items he needed was purely a matter of luck. This time, he had undoubtedly been very lucky.

A transaction like this was something he could only pull off once in a blue moon.

SWOOSH!

Afterward, Zhang Chi altered his appearance and his Magical Power aura, then quietly returned to the outskirts of Golden Wind City. He collected the Arrays he had deployed beforehand and only then did he truly depart.