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Chapter 369: Chapter 19 The Dispute over Spirit Food_1

"Xuli Sect?"

Wang Ba couldn't help but frown.

For the past six months, the three major sects hadn't given him any trouble. On the contrary, the cultivators he came across, even those from the Golden Core realm, treated him with great respect.

Although their inner thoughts might not genuinely reflect this, at least outwardly, Wang Ba's status in Yong'an City was no less than that of a Golden Core cultivator.

The Xuli Sect was no different.

Only occasionaly Wang Tang from Xuli Sect would come over and attempt to persuade Wang Ba to secretly join the Xuli Sect.

Wang Ba always shrugged it off, and the other party didn't seem to mind.

So when Wang Ba saw the message from Wen Yong, he was puzzled.

However, Wen Yong didn't say much in the Sound Transmission Talisman, just mentioned two words.

Spirit food.

"Spirit food…"

Wang Ba thought for a moment as if he had come to a sudden realization.

But he didn't rush off to confirm his hunch, instead he made breakfast and brought it to the bedside, making Bu Chan blush.

Despite being together for so long, Bu Chan was still as bashful as she was twenty years ago.

After tidying up and feeding the spirit beasts, Wang Ba watched these Spirit Beasts quickly devour several piles of food the size of small hills with a gratified feeling, despite the sting of seeing so much food eaten.

Then he opened one corner of the formation and walked out.

"Master Shen!"

"It's Master Shen who came out!"

"Master Shen, could you give me a chance to enter the Changyi Society?"

As soon as Wang Ba stepped out, he heard the surprised voices of the cultivators.

He saw the streets were already teeming with people.

The flags in front of the shops opposite him were fluttering in the wind, charmed with a small spell.

And the Rogue Cultivators who had met Wang Ba before were looking at him with faces full of surprise and joy.

Realizing he was being watched by so many people, Wang Ba felt a little awkward at first, but he quickly adapted.

This kind of situation happened almost every time he went out.

But no one dared to approach him too closely due to the cultivators from three major sects stationed outside his home.

The cultivation bases of these few were all at the middle-stage Foundation Establishment. They might not match up to Wen Yong, but when they worked together, they would be hard to rival for most late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Even though the relationship between sect cultivators and Rogue Cultivators seemed to have eased a lot recently, facing these people, Rogue Cultivators still couldn't help but feel intimidated.

Wang Ba, on the other hand, had no plans to get too close to these rogue cultivators.

If he did so, the three major sects might start having ideas.

He gave a polite nod and a smile, and then calmly walked away from his mansion.

A few of the cultivators stationed at his mansion immediately split up, followed closely behind Wang Ba, ready to protect him at all times.

Of course, Wang Ba also knew in his heart, it would be more accurate to say they were watching him than protecting him.

He didn't mind this, considering it a justifiable act.

As he walked along, despite his best efforts to avoid too much contact with the Rogue Cultivators, wherever Wang Ba went, he still aroused a lot of attention.

Things were quite different compared to half a year ago.

Because of Wang Ba's exposure and the courtesy he received, coupled with Shanli's Changyi Society moving to Yong'an City, and the three major sects continuously operating in the city.

Over the past six months, a lot of Yan's Rogue Cultivators had been attracted to settle here.

The originally small Yong'an City soon became crowded.

The three major sects took advantage of the situation and made a killing from the rent and transactions taxes they collected.

Wang Ba often wondered why the success of Yong'an City didn't come sooner. The three major sects clearly had capable people, so why hadn't they done this before?

Instead, they suppressed the Rogue Cultivators at every turn.

It seemed they were determined not to give the rogue cultivators a chance to rise, acting as if they'd rather lose three hundred of their own while killing one thousand enemies.

If they had built a similar city to Yong'an early on, collecting land rents and taxes might have taken the three major sects even further.

Of course, there might also be things he didn't know about.

He didn't think about it too much, and with a wave of his hand, he obscured his features with a spell.

Soon, he stopped in front of a spirit food shop.

The shop was in a good location, right at the intersection of two streets with the highest foot traffic.

However, strangely enough, compared to the bustling shops nearby, this shop was completely deserted.

Wang Ba looked at the shop's sign and the flag outside.

'Xuli Spirit Rice Shop'.

He looked surprised.

"Strange, why are there so few customers… Isn't the Spirit Rice Shop the pillar industry of the Xuli Sect?"

The four major sects in Yan each had their own industries.

For example, due to its superior strength and having a Nascent Soul cultivator at helm, Zhenling Palace monopolized about sixty percent of the entire Yan's spirit stone mines, as well as several other spirit mines and medicine fields.

With so many resources, the tool refiners and alchemists within the Zhenling palace were able to get ample practice opportunities.

The magic tools and elixirs produced were of course much better than those of the other three major sects.

They exported their products to neighboring countries, and the resources they acquired in return were used to further feed the Zhenling Palace.

The cultivators of Zhenling Palace improved their strength and expanded outward, encroaching upon the resources of the other three sects.

The resources obtained were used to expand and improve their industries.

This created a positive cycle.

You could say that the most profitable industries were almost all controlled by Zhenling Palace.

If things continue in this manner, in at most a hundred years, Zhenling Palace will be able to accomplish the absorption of the other three sects, thereby monopolizing the territory of an entire country.

This is also the fundamental reason why the Three Great Sects became so impatient once they noticed that Zhang Daobai of Zhenling Palace was possibly in peril.

Let's put aside these matters for now.

As one of the three sects, the Xuli Sect doesn't have such great resources as the Danlong School where they have top-notch Cinnabar Spirit Mines and various Spirit Plants used for creating talismans. nor do they have vast experience in crafting disposable magic tools like Huifeng Valley.

Xuli Sect relies on farming.

Due to the crisscrossing spiritual lineages within its jurisdiction, they have many spirit fields and have nurtured numerous Spirit Plant Masters who specialize in growing various kinds of Spirit Plants.

Among them, Spirit Rice, being the most widely-used Spirit Plant, has gradually become the pillar of Xuli Sect's income.

Every year there are many cultivators who, unable to afford elixirs and relying on Spirit Rice as cultivation resources, contribute their final strength to the rise of Xuli Sect.

Later on, in order to expand the audience for Spirit Rice, Xuli Sect purposely spent a huge amount of Spirit Stones to obtain the inheritance of refining Spirit Plant essence from a Spirit Cook skilled in dealing with Spirit Plants in the Chu Dynasty.

They concentrated a large amount of Spirit Rice to make it into Spirit Rice Essence and then sold it to the public, following the boutique route, similar to the Spirit Chicken Essence.

Of course, Wang Ba's Spirit Chicken Essence, compared to Spirit Rice Essence, was released much later.

This move indeed brought significant profits to Xuli Sect.

Xuli Sect, originally quite ordinary within the three sects, relied on this to gradually rise, until the emergence of Tianmen Cult, Xuli Sect boldly opened a market, refined 'Human Pouches', and secretly captured Rogue Cultivators to sell to Tianmen Cult.

With nearly sixty-seventy years of development, today it is arguably the most powerful leader among the three sects.

All of this, Wang Ba learned from Wen Yong.

Being the descendant of a Golden Core real person, one has to say, Wen Yong indeed knows more than the average cultivator.

And if it were according to Zhao Feng's words, Xuli Sect seized its own opportunity to rise.

Exactly because he understands all these, Wang Ba finds it even more incredible.

Spirit Rice is Xuli Sect's foundation, but almost no one enters the store to buy it now. How serious is this situation?

While Wang Ba frowned, he suddenly heard a commotion coming from the Spirit Rice store:

"Ten jin of Class II purple flower Spirit Rice cost seven middle-grade Spirit Stones, are they robbing us?!"

"Oh, they still sell Spirit Rice Essence… A jar of Class I Spirit Rice Essence costs thirty middle-grade Spirit Stones?! Who can afford that?"

"Hmph… If you can't afford it, don't buy it. Who cares! I'd rather save some spirit stones and seize the chance to grab a bottle of Spirit Chicken Essence! It's not much more expensive overall, and the effect is much stronger than Spirit Rice!"

"What's up? Want to fight? I'm not scared!"

As the cultivator spoke, he angrily stormed out of the house pushing the door.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He couldn't help but turn back to yell, but then he noticed the word 'Xuli' written on the signboard of the store, his pupils instantly contracted, and cold sweat poured down his face.

Immediately, he didn't dare to say another word, he turned around and slipped into the crowd.

Seeing this, Wang Ba was silent for a moment, and it suddenly became clear what Wen Yong meant.

Clearly, the Spirit Chicken Essence being sold by Changyi Society is now subtly affecting the spirit food business of the Xuli Sect.

Unlike mortals who can't survive without food, cultivators in the Qi Refining stage can survive without food as they have spiritual lineages and the Fasting Pill.

So they can entirely cut down their purchase of Spirit Rice, save up Spirit Stones, and scramble for Spirit Chicken Essence when the Changyi Society operates.

Of course, ordinary Qi Refining Rogue Cultivators may not have the financial resources to do this, but then again, the Qi Refining Cultivators who can afford Xuli Sect's Spirit Rice probably aren't many among the Rogue Cultivators.

You can only say, there are a large degree of overlaps in their target groups.

"It seems that it's time to moderately reduce the production of Class I Spirit Chicken Essence…."

After contemplating for a while, Wang Ba secretly made up his mind.

Over the past half year, he has been wholeheartedly refining Spirit Chicken Essence, both to supply the Changyi Society and to demonstrate his abilities to the Three Great Sects.

This indirectly solidified his position.

So he produced quite a lot of Spirit Chicken Essence.

And if a bottle of Spirit Chicken Essence were used sparingly, it would be enough for a Qi Refining Cultivator to use for several years.

Some cultivators gathered spirit stones to buy it.

In addition to the cultivators who save spirit stones to buy it, looking at the situation, it seems that Xuli Sect's Spirit Rice store has indeed suffered recently.

If it were for short term, it would be okay. But being cut off from its source of money for a long time, even if Xuli Sect initially had no intentions, they might have to think of ways to deal with him.

Fortunately, he realized this thanks to Wen Yong's reminder.

Wang Ba didn't feel regretful:

"Just so, it's time to bring the focus back to my own cultivation."

He has now achieved part of his goals as he wished.

He barely established his position in Yong'an City. Whether it's a rogue cultivator or a sect cultivator, not to mention the whole range of Yan State, at least within Baiyun Prairie and the Three Great Sects, almost everyone knows him.

In the short term, he doesn't have to worry about safety issues.

And as the Changyi Society grows stronger, the dividends can bring him continuous income. As long as he ensures the supply of a portion of Spirit Chicken Essence every month, it would be enough.

The rest of the matters, let Wen Yong worry about it.

Then he took another round.

He wanted to see if there were any spirit materials he needed.

Not only the materials for Jia 15's Bloodline Breakthrough, but he also spent some time contemplating the Wu Monkey King, and came up with a recipe.

However, he doesn't know enough about Class III materials after all, so a lot of it is all conjecture, he can't guarantee that this recipe will be effective for the Wu Monkey King.

But one can only know the result through trials and experiments.

Unfortunately, the stalls and stores in Yong'an City almost all sell Class I and Class II treasures. Once it involves Class III, it becomes a blank space, as if someone is deliberately controlling it, and it's easy to guess who the controller is.

Compared to that, the Linglong Ghost Market is better.

"Adding it up, the opening day of the second floor of Linglong Ghost Market is also approaching."

"Tang Ji should be back, and my senior brother…"

Wang Ba contemplated for a while.

Although he felt a bit disappointed that he couldn't buy Class III spirit materials, he still returned to his mansion and began to focus on cultivating.

However, just as he entered meditation, he suddenly heard a loud voice from outside the formation:

"Shen, open the door quickly, I have brought you the things you wanted!"

Hearing this voice, Wang Ba, who was in the middle of cultivating, his eyes lit up immediately.

Chapter 370: Chapter 20 No Ordinary People in Communication_1

Without taking more time to think, Wang Ba quickly left the meditation room.

With a swift flick of his sleeve, he collected nearly all of the spirit beasts in the grass and the entire chicken farm.

After confirming that nothing was overlooked, he opened the formation and the main gate, his face showing a sheepish smile.

At the door stood an grey-haired old man.

"Master Kang, I apologize. I was in the middle of my cultivation…"

"Ah, Shen my friend, no need for apologies. I was the one who intruded without giving you advanced notice," the grey-haired old man interrupted with laughter.

"Not at all, not at all, please come in!"

Wang Ba quickly ushered him in.

Master Kang didn't hesitate. Amid the gaze of several Cultivators from the three major sects that seemed to hold their tongues, he strode in.

The formation quickly closed, and the gate was promptly shut.

Several Cultivators from the three major sects looked at each other, then took out their Sound Transmission Talisman.

…

"Shen my friend, these spirit beasts you've raised are superb!"

Stepping into Wang Ba's residence, Master Kang's eyes casually swept over about ten Class II middle-grade spirit beasts left in the yard, and he complimented with a clap of his hands.

"Master Kang, you're too kind. These are just ordinary spirit beasts. They're only used for training. In the path of spiritual cooking, there are no shortcuts, it's all about practice." Wang Ba casually exchanged pleasantries in reply.

With the exposure of his identity and the rise of his status,

He interacted with increasingly higher-ranked Cultivators and gradually discovered that these individuals loved to beat around the bush in their speeches and never directly stated their intentions.

Seemingly, they did so to indicate their status and rank.

Although Wang Ba did not like this method of communication, he had to strive to adapt to it.

Thankfully, he had already interacted with several Golden Core cultivators, and dealing with them was becoming second nature.

After some idle chatting, and when Wang Ba's impatience started to show, Master Kang finally said with a smile:

"Last time, my friend, as you put it, if I could bring you any of the several Class III spirit materials you specified, you would give me thirty portions of Class II Spirit Chicken Essence. Hehe, I guess I lived up to the task…"

Saying this, he took out a box from his storage ring.

When Wang Ba heard this, his gaze swept over the box. Although he showed no significant expression on his face, his heart couldn't help but fill with a sense of delight!

The three major sects had extremely tight control over the Class III spirit materials, almost to an infuriating extent.

Even when he had previously attempted to use Class II Spirit Chicken Essence as a bargaining chip to trade with the Golden Core Cultivators of the three major sects, he was directly rejected by their Golden Core Cultivators.

The Golden Core of Xuli Sect even stated outright that unless Wang Ba joined Xuli Sect, the possibility of obtaining Class III spirit materials within the Yan State would be almost impossible.

After weighing his options, Wang Ba eventually gave up on that idea.

The fact that he could survive independently by playing both ends in the three major sects was because he didn't show preference to any of them.

The reason why he had allowed Wen Yong to take all the quotas for purchasing Spirit Chicken Essence was to avoid any misunderstandings with any of the three major sects.

If he were to join Xuli Sect, considering the sect's reputation for stripping rogue cultivators to the bone, once he went in, there would be no chance of getting out.

This could be inferred from those rogue cultivators who completely vanished after being included in the Human Pouch.

Inevitably, Wang Ba had no choice but to make a deal with the rogue Golden Core cultivators who came to buy Spirit Chicken Essence.

Compared to Wang Ba, these Cultivators had a much easier time obtaining Class III spirit materials.

Even if it was difficult to obtain these materials in Yan State, they could be acquired from an area outside of it.

Indeed, in less than two months, Master Kang had already found one such item.

Master Kang handed the box directly to Wang Ba.

Without any hesitation, Wang Ba immediately opened the wooden box.

"This is the 'Emerald Feather Bone'!"

In the box, a few bones covered with tiny emerald feather scales quietly lay on brocade fabric, their emerald light flowing like a trance-inducing dazzle.

"The Emerald Feather Bone can only be found in Huifeng Valley in Yan State. They refused to give it to me even after I begged for a long time. I had to go to the Chu Dynasty, spent over a month and paid a considerable price to personally slay a 'Green-eyed Red Myna' before I got it," Master Kang sighed about the difficulties involved in obtaining it.

Wang Ba understood the other party's meaning – he was urging him to bring out the Class II Spirit Chicken Essence.

However, Wang Ba was already too excited to care about that. He couldn't resist looking at Master Kang excitedly and asked, "So, does Master Kang also have a Class III Spirit Beast Inner Core here?"

Green-eyed Red Mynas were Class III lower-grade spirit beasts that usually had Inner Cores.

"That's correct. Does Shen require it?"

Master Kang immediately noticed Wang Ba's intentions and said: "I'm more than happy to give the Inner Core to you, my friend, but it's rarely found in the market, and it's even more expensive than the Emerald Feather Bone…"

"I am willing to offer another fifty potions."

Wang Ba did not hesitate at all.

"Deal! It's settled then!"

Master Kang was instantly overjoyed.

A total of eighty portions of Class II Spirit Chicken Essence was comparable to some lower middle-grade Class III elixirs.

For him, a rogue cultivator without much power, obtaining an elixir that could improve a Golden Core Cultivator was much more difficult than during the Foundation Establishment stage.

It was because the higher the level, the scarcer the resources were.

Class III resources and above were either monopolized by local sect or controlled by the royal family of Chu Dynasty.

For rogue cultivators to make a name for themselves they had to serve as beasts of burden for these two groups.

Otherwise, they had to go to Qi, Yan, or Jin and try their luck there.