The First Immortal of Destiny

For Shen Mo, the more top-notch spiritual materials, the merrier. He didn’t have to worry about being unable to consume them all.

Take the materials needed for Alchemy as an example.

Raw materials worth 10,000 low-grade Spirit Stones, when refined by other Alchemists with relatively high attainments in the Alchemy Path, would yield Elixirs worth around 30,000 Spirit Stones.

Conversely, Shen Mo, when refining a certain type of Elixir he had mastered, far surpassed ordinary Alchemy Grandmasters in terms of success rate and the yield of Perfect and higher quality Elixirs. He was capable of refining Elixirs worth 50,000 Spirit Stones or even more!

Apart from replenishing spiritual medicinal materials, the rest could be used for his own consumption, sold for profit, or exchanged for other cultivation resources.

The same principle applied to crafting talismans and forging magic artifacts, though their liquidation capacity was slightly lower than that of Elixirs.

Therefore, Shen Mo was not picky about high-class spiritual materials; he collected as much as he could!

After he sold all the spiritual items he wouldn’t use, the variety of precious medicinal materials, spirit gold ores, high-class demonic beast skins and furs, spiritual blood, celestial spring Spiritual Liquid, and the like in his Universe Bag reached nearly a thousand types, totaling more than 10,000 units.

Not counting Shen Mo’s time, after all these spiritual materials were refined into finished Elixirs, talismans, and magic artifacts, it was estimated that he could earn 40,000 to 50,000 middle-grade Spirit Stones. Of course, this was only calculated in Spirit Stones to facilitate value measurement; most actual transactions involved trading spiritual items of the same tier.

In addition to raw materials, Shen Mo had also received two Earthly Fire-grade spirit flames, about ten elixir recipe talisman scrolls, several incomplete magic cultivation methods, and even a guzheng magic treasure that had an Artifact Spirit and could play Celestial Music on its own.

Shen Mo felt quite satisfied with this.

”Lady Scarlet, I’ve sold most of my surplus spiritual items,” Shen Mo said to Lady Scarlet beside him, after taking the remaining two tainted spirit gold pieces. ”There are only two pieces of spirit gold tainted by Filthy Qi left, and no one has shown any interest in them. If I continue waiting, I’m afraid they won’t sell. I plan to feed them to my Centipede Spirit Pet in the future and won’t wait any longer.”

”I also need to make a trip to the Ancient Vine Sect, so I’ll take my leave now!”

Lady Scarlet nodded slightly, smiling charmingly. ”Alright. Let me take this opportunity to wish Senior Brother Qingyun success in becoming the Alien Minister Elder of the Ancient Vine Sect, as you desire!”

Just as Shen Mo was about to depart on a streak of light, his expression shifted, and he sat back down on the stone seat.

Lady Scarlet was slightly taken aback and followed his gaze.

A new Golden Core Realm cultivator, recently arrived in Tianyin Valley, had placed a cage made entirely of ice on a cloud.

Inside the Ice Cage, a Gold Man over ten feet tall, seemingly forged from pure gold, was imprisoned. It trembled from the pervasive cold, its movements extremely stiff and sluggish as it paced back and forth.

”Senior Brother Qingyun, have you taken a liking to this Outer Zone creature? Are you planning to keep it as a Spirit Pet or use it for other purposes?” Lady Scarlet asked, her face alight with curiosity.

Shen Mo grunted in affirmation but didn’t elaborate further.

This ten-foot tall Gold Man is indeed an Outer Zone creature, more precisely, a member of the alien Gold Man tribe, Shen Mo thought. However, according to my knowledge, the Gold Man tribe has only one forbidden land, located within the Zhong State of the Red Flame Zone, and they have never set foot in the Heaven Patrolling Zone.

Considering the time, the envoys from the Heaven Patrolling Temple who visited the Red Flame Zone should have already returned to this domain. So, this Gold Man being sold here was very likely captured in the Red Flame Zone by one of the visiting envoys and brought back to the Heaven Patrolling Zone.

Looking at the Golden Core Realm cultivator selling this Gold Man, although he used various means to conceal his true identity, his origins were still exposed under the scrutiny of my ’Insight into All Beings’ Destiny. This person is from Thousand Cranes Mountain, a large immortal sect. He only recently formed his Golden Core, so it’s unlikely he was one of the visiting envoys.

It’s more probable that a veteran Golden Core cultivator from Thousand Cranes Mountain, serving as one of the Daoist temple’s envoys, visited the Red Flame Zone, captured this late-stage Class III Gold Man, and brought it to this domain. Later, for some unknown reason, he gifted it to this newly advanced Golden Core member of his sect.

Regardless, the Gold Man tribe, as a benevolent Outer Zone force, once fought alongside me and other native cultivators of the Red Flame Zone against evil cultivators and Outer Zone Demons. Given this past camaraderie, I can’t just stand by and let this Gold Man be bought by other Golden Core experts! Besides, I might be able to learn more about the ’visiting matters’ from it.

I have a few bottles of Grade V Elixirs on hand. As long as that Thousand Cranes Mountain cultivator’s asking price isn’t too outrageous, I should be able to purchase it.

Previously, when that acquaintance of Lady Scarlet was selling an early-stage Class IV Fox Demon, the asking price was only thirty Grade V Elixirs, and the final transaction price was even lower. A late-stage Class III Outer Zone creature, no matter how rare, should at most sell for the price of ten Grade V Elixirs!

With this in mind, Shen Mo extended his sense and contacted the owner, the Thousand Cranes Mountain cultivator.

”Fellow Daoist, may your fortune and longevity be boundless,” came the reply from the Thousand Cranes Mountain cultivator, who made a very high initial offer. ”If you’re truly interested in this Outer Zone creature, you can trade 600 middle-grade Spirit Stones or fifteen Grade V Elixirs for it with me.”

Shen Mo had bought and sold many spiritual items in Tianyin Valley and was well aware of the prices for various tiers of ”goods.” He quickly negotiated the price down to 400 middle-grade Spirit Stones.

It’s excellent that this man is willing to accept Spirit Stones, Shen Mo thought. Even if the price is somewhat inflated, I’m happy to pay it. After all, I have quite a few Spirit Stones in my Universe Bag right now, but my supply of high-grade Elixirs is dwindling.

The Thousand Cranes Mountain cultivator readily agreed, a satisfied smile on his face. He waved his sleeve, sending the cloud bearing the Ice Cage over to Shen Mo, and didn’t forget to add a warm reminder, ”This Outer Zone creature is quite temperamental and only becomes somewhat docile in extremely cold environments. If you wish to tame it, Fellow Daoist, it’s best to use some Ice-type magic to discipline it a little...”

Just as Shen Mo was preparing to transfer the ten-foot Gold Man into the Golden Flowery Realm, the Thousand Cranes Mountain cultivator’s expression suddenly stiffened. A look of trouble and hesitation crossed his face, and he did not, as agreed, remove the soul mark he had placed on the cloud.

”Apologies, I’ve changed my mind—I’m not selling this Outer Zone creature!” the man suddenly transmitted via Divine Sense, simultaneously placing the middle-grade Spirit Stones he had already received back onto the cloud-top and sending them back to Shen Mo.

BUZZ!

Shen Mo made a grasping motion with his five fingers, using magic to firmly hold the cloud and the Ice Cage upon it in place. An icy glint flickered in his eyes as he said, ”Since the deal was concluded, why have you gone back on your word, Fellow Daoist?”

”If the price isn’t to your liking, I can add another 100 middle-grade Spirit Stones. However, if you intend to take back an item already sold, I absolutely cannot agree to that!”

The Thousand Cranes Mountain cultivator stammered, unable to offer a reasonable explanation, only repeatedly emphasizing that it wasn’t a matter of price.

At this moment, a figure stood up on a hill to Shen Mo’s right, rebuking impatiently, ”Enough of your indecisiveness, it’s sickening! You, Fellow Daoist over there, listen up! I am Elder Yan Dacheng of the True Martial Hall. I’ve taken a liking to this Outer Zone creature and intend to buy it to refine a treasure.”

”If you know what’s good for you, obediently take back your Spirit Stones. Otherwise, things are about to get ugly!”