The First Immortal of Destiny

Chapter 884: Chapter 884: Bargaining

”Calm down, Fellow Daoist Qingyun! Calm down!”

Immediately, an Immortal Master from the temple stepped forward to mediate. It was Qin Hu, the patriarch of the Profound Invisible Sect, in the Divine Bridge Realm.

He personally poured Shen Mo a cup of wine and said with a chipper smile, ”Sect Master Qin did not intentionally misuse your spiritual items. It’s merely the pressure of dire circumstances forcing her hand. Additionally, the Enlightenment Tea wasn’t solely consumed by the Ancient Vine Sect. Each year’s spiritual tea yield is handed over to the Heaven Patrolling Temple, where it is then distributed by the temple to the various sects. Other sects do the same...”

”Sect Master Qin was acting under our mandate, so I hope Fellow Daoist Qingyun won’t hold it against her.”

”Now, with our Heaven Patrolling Temple and its subordinates having been stable for over a decade, we can still gather some spiritual items. Using other spiritual items to substitute the Enlightenment Tea, to settle the old debt between the Ancient Vine Sect and yourself, what would your opinion be on this, Fellow Daoist?”

The Profound Invisible Sect and the Ancient Vine Sect have always maintained good relations.

Back then, after Lin Zhaozai escaped, to prevent this wicked Immortal Master from regaining strength and seeking revenge on the Ancient Vine Sect, Qin Wenzhen allocated over half of the cultivation resources earned during the appearance of the ancient battlefield of immortals and demons, along with the sect’s inventory, towards constructing the Mountain Protection Array.

And overseeing this was the Array Path Grandmaster of the Profound Invisible Sect, allowing that sect to make a hefty profit.

Add to this that most of the Enlightenment Tea produced by the Ancient Vine Sect was indeed handed over to the Heaven Patrolling Temple to compensate for massive deficits following the forbidden land’s appearance in other realms and the subsequent ascension battles in the Immortal Realm. Reason dictates that the Ancient Vine Sect should not bear Shen Mo’s fury alone.

Thus, Qin Hu, the patriarch of the Profound Invisible Sect, spoke up at this moment to support Qin Wenzhen.

”Then it would depend on what kind of spiritual item it is?” Shen Mo took a sip of spiritual wine from the cup and leisurely spoke, showing no trace of anger on his face.

In a very short time, Qin Hu and several temple Immortal Masters communicated via sense, then laughed and said, ”One pound of Enlightenment Tea is roughly worth a thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones in the market. Over the decades, the Ancient Vine Sect has accumulated about two hundred pounds of spiritual tea owed to you. Including interest, we will repay you a total of 250,000 middle-grade Spirit Stones. Is Fellow Daoist satisfied with that?”

Shen Mo furrowed his brow, set down the cup, and said with displeasure, ”Is Fellow Daoist Qin making a joke with me? Not to mention that Enlightenment Tea, such a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, is priceless and cannot be measured by Spirit Stones. Do you think I am lacking Spirit Stones?”

”Then... how about elixirs of equivalent value?” Qin Hu hesitated for a moment and continued.

Lady Scarlet at the table curled her lips, showing a hint of displeasure.

If this debt were to be repaid with elixirs, the Li Mountain Elixir Sect where she belongs would undoubtedly be busy, yet she did not verbally oppose Qin Hu’s suggestion.

”I possess a cave paradise and command an entire immortal mountain, with countless mineral deposits and spiritual plants. The Herb Hall in the sect boasts tens of thousands of alchemists of all grades, including no shortage of Grade V and VI alchemists. If I want elixirs, why seek them outside?”

”As for other cultivation resources, unless they are spiritual items on the same level as the Enlightenment Tea, do not even mention them!”

Shen Mo waved his hand with a demeanor completely uninterested.

”What should be done?”

Qin Hu and the five temple Immortal Masters were suddenly in a dilemma, secretly transmitting messages to Lady Scarlet to ask her to speak favorably.

However, Lady Scarlet’s heart had long been tied to Shen Mo. Not only did she ignore their request, she instead seemed objectively, but actually biased, when speaking on behalf of Shen Mo, once again telling the temple Immortal Masters of Shen Mo’s impressive feats in slaying the Class VI Thousands Insects Evil Corpse Roc, embellishing the might of her ”fellow townsman” Immortal Master to the fullest!

Besides Lady Scarlet, the ”traitor,” Qin Hu and the temple Immortal Masters discussed for a long time, unable to come to a unified plan.

Shen Mo, having grown impatient, suddenly spoke up, interrupting their private communications, ”It’s not such a big deal, why be bothersome about it?”

”I offer you two strategies...”

”Firstly, the Enlightenment Tea Tree produces six pounds of new tea each year, which can be repaid over forty or fifty years, slowly. But to prevent a repeat of prior incidents, I will take the thousand-year-old tea tree away, planting it within my cave paradise, and when the time comes, you can come to collect.”

”Secondly, I have no interest in ordinary spiritual items. But the elixir recipes from the Li Mountain Elixir Sect, the array diagrams from the Profound Invisible Sect, and similar knowledge, I’m quite intrigued. You can repay the debt by exchanging these technical inheritances or other secret techniques for Spirit Stones.”

”...”

These words left Qin Hu and other temple Immortal Masters momentarily stunned, staring at each other.

Elixir recipes and array diagrams are core inheritances of their respective sects; how could they easily teach them to outsiders? It seems like two choices, but in reality, there’s no choice at all!

And even the first ”strategy” is ”ill-intentioned”;

Claiming to retrieve the Enlightenment Tea Tree after forty or fifty years, yet except for someone like Shen Mo with vast abilities, who present among the Divine Bridge Immortal Masters could easily cross two immortal continents?

Shen Mo’s words clearly indicated that he had his eyes on the Enlightenment Tea Tree!

...

In the end, Qin Hu and the temple Immortal Masters agreed to Shen Mo’s request to take the thousand-year-old spiritual tea tree.

While Sect Master Qin Wenzhen and Elder Ge Qing of the Ancient Vine Sect, upon hearing the agreement reached by the Immortal Masters, displayed a look of being utterly lost in despair!

From their perspective, the Enlightenment Tea was indeed handed over to the Heaven Patrolling Temple, leading the Ancient Vine Sect to benefit greatly, yet the ultimate cost had to be borne by the Ancient Vine Sect, losing this tea tree that was considered the sect’s greatest foundation.

However, Qin Wenzhen and Ge Qing, despite their dissatisfaction, dared not complain to Shen Mo and the temple Immortal Masters, and could only swallow their resentment.

Shen Mo, understanding their sentiments, stated frankly that after harvesting enough Enlightenment Tea, he would return the thousand-year-old spiritual tea tree. Even if they could not personally collect it from Yuquan Mountain in Phoenix Continent, he would bring the tea tree back to Dayu Mountain when he had the leisure.

Meanwhile, Qin Hu and the temple Immortal Masters also pledged to compensate the Ancient Vine Sect for their loss.

This eased Qin Wenzhen and Ge Qing’s mood considerably, and they then led Flower Fairy Ami away from the temple’s immortal city, returning to the Ancient Vine Sect’s current mountain gate to transplant the thousand-year-old spiritual tea tree.

Two hours later, Ami returned to the feast.

In her hand, within the Golden Flowery Realm, now stood an ancient, robust tea tree full of immortal charm, planted beside the branches of the Mother Tree Flower Fairy.

”Planting this spiritual tea tree in the Jade Pool Zone would roughly yield three pounds of Enlightenment Tea each month, enough for use!” Shen Mo put away the Golden Flowery Realm, pondering silently to himself.

He indeed spoke truthfully about returning the tree in forty or fifty years, planning to take its branches and tea tree seeds for careful cultivation upon returning to Green Cloud Cave.

Nonetheless, even with the Jade Pool Zone expediting the tea tree’s growth, it would still take thousands of years to nurture tea of equivalent potency!

”Perhaps if I exchange God-killing exploits for Guan Ling’s hand, this process could be accelerated.”