Immortal Path Space

Upon hearing Wang Hong's question, the head of the Foreign Affairs Hall didn't hesitate and spoke up:

"It's okay if you haven't cultivated Spiritual Herbs before. Nobody is born with that knowledge. We can provide a complete set of planting techniques, guaranteeing that you'll learn it quickly.

Apart from the Spiritual Herbs required for forming a Golden Core, our Spiritual Herb Valley also has many rare Spiritual Herb seedlings for Fellow Daoists to choose from.

As you may know, various types of Spirit Wine are scarce nowadays, and their prices keep rising. Cultivating Spiritual Herbs is a highly profitable endeavor. Look at our Spiritual Herb Valley, with thousands of cultivators, and even a few Golden Core ancestors, all making a living through Spiritual Herb cultivation.

...

I believe in Fellow Daoist's wisdom; you must have already recognized this tremendous opportunity."

The head of the Foreign Affairs Hall had rehearsed this set of arguments thoroughly and had probably used the same words with many other cultivators.

After the relocation of the Spiritual Herb Valley, they had dug up some precious Spiritual Herbs from the original spirit fields. However, their current residence lacked suitable spirit fields for cultivation.

Finding Spirit Veins for cultivation was challenging, not to mention nurturing those delicate Spiritual Herbs. If they were planted here, most likely, they would wither.

But they couldn't keep these seedlings forever, as their vitality would gradually fade, rendering them unplantable. So, for now, they were convincing one cultivator after another, selling these rare Spiritual Herb seedlings to recover some costs.

During this time, quite a few cultivators were enticed by the bright prospects described by the head of the Foreign Affairs Hall and bought many seedlings to cultivate at home.

After listening to this persuasive introduction by the hall master (or rather, con artist), Wang Hong's eyes sparkled, his face flushed with excitement, as if he could already see a pile of Spirit Stones beckoning him.

The head of the Foreign Affairs Hall felt there was hope and quickly added, "Due to the increasing number of cultivators entering the Spiritual Herb cultivation industry, our supply of Spiritual Herb seedlings is running low. Fellow Daoist, if you're interested, please make your decision promptly."

The head of the Foreign Affairs Hall stopped speaking at this point, sipping his tea and waiting for the fish to bite the bait. It's best not to say too much when someone's enthusiasm is running high.

Seeing Wang Hong hesitating and struggling for a moment, he finally made up his mind and said resolutely, "I'll take all of them."

"Fellow Daoist truly possesses exceptional talent and courage. However, if you want all the seedlings, these two Five-Colored Spirit Jujubes you've offered are far from sufficient."

The head of the Foreign Affairs Hall seized the opportunity to praise Wang Hong. When someone's head was heated with excitement, they appreciated compliments the most.

At this point, Wang Hong had to admit, "Fellow Daoist, I've already spent most of my fortune to acquire these two Five-Colored Spirit Jujubes. Could I owe you some of the payment?"

The head of the Foreign Affairs Hall's expression turned serious as he said, "In business, the Spiritual Herb Valley does not extend credit."

With no other option, Wang Hong searched through his Storage Bag for a while and found a middle-grade Spirit Stone and a second-tier Ore.

The head of the Foreign Affairs Hall glanced at them and realized he couldn't squeeze much more out of him. He said with a gentle tone, "Fellow Daoist, don't be disheartened. These Spiritual Objects can also exchange for quite a few Spiritual Herb seedlings. Just be patient and cultivate them for a few decades, and your wealth will increase several times over."

"This is a catalog of various Spiritual Herbs. You can choose the ones you want," said the head of the Foreign Affairs Hall as he handed Wang Hong a Jade Scroll.

After receiving it, Wang Hong examined it closely. He realized that the Spiritual Herb Valley was indeed a professional force in cultivating Spiritual Herbs. The catalog contained a wide variety of Spiritual Herbs, including many rare species that Wang Hong didn't have.

The catalog also included over a dozen seedlings of third-tier Spiritual Herbs. Wang Hong chose one or two of each type and then selected one seedling for each of the twenty or so Spiritual Herbs required for refining a Golden Core. He calculated that the price should be approximately right.

Wang Hong handed over the selected items and their quantities to the head of the Foreign Affairs Hall.

The head of the Foreign Affairs Hall was fair in pricing, and the final calculated price was close to Wang Hong's estimation.

However, when they handed over the Spiritual Herb seedlings, Wang Hong noticed that each one looked feeble and on the brink of death.

As Wang Hong left the Spiritual Herb Valley, he felt exceptionally cheerful on his way back. He couldn't help but hum a tune.

His harvest this time was enormous. He not only obtained over twenty types of Spiritual Herbs required for forming a Golden Core but also secured more than a dozen third-tier Spiritual Herb seedlings. What's more, these were all things people had eagerly requested from him, and he had merely played along in this act.

If these Spiritual Herbs had fallen into someone else's hands, they would most likely have died. The higher the tier of the Spiritual Herb, the more challenging it was to cultivate. They required high-tier spirit fields, and each Spiritual Herb needed a specific growth environment to thrive.

Wang Hong glanced at the Jade Scroll given to him by the head of the Foreign Affairs Hall, which contained some planting methods, but they were all basic techniques and not particularly useful.

On his way, Wang Hong found a secluded spot, dug a mountain cave, and entered it. Then, he accessed his personal space and planted all the acquired Spiritual Herbs. He even designated a separate area for cultivating the Spiritual Herbs required for forming a Golden Core.

After planting the Spiritual Herbs, he went to gather some mulberry leaves for his spirit silkworms. By now, his spirit silkworms had grown to the size of chopsticks and were about to undergo their second skin shedding.

As Wang Hong returned to the Mountain Valley, Yin Ze immediately approached him with some good news. He reported that they had traded for fifty Foundation Establishment Pills from the Immortal Way Trading Company and had successfully negotiated a cooperation with Liu Changsheng. Wang Hong expressed surprise at the news and instructed him to add the Foundation Establishment Pills to the contribution points exchange list.

Within their organization, exchanging for Foundation Establishment Pills was very affordable. Any cultivator who had made contributions to the Mountain Valley or the trading company could easily accumulate enough contribution points to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills.

However, Wang Hong had set a rule that Foundation Building cultivators couldn't exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills, and Qi Cultivation cultivators could generally only exchange for one pill at a time. Those with poorer aptitudes who wanted to exchange for two pills at once required special approval.

This rule prevented internal members from obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills at a low cost and then selling them for a higher price outside. While his subordinates were loyal to him, they were not saints, and some degree of self-interest was inevitable.

Wang Hong believed that it was better to put preventive measures in place ahead of time rather than punishing them after they made mistakes.

Regarding Liu Changsheng's and Yin Ze's trade, Wang Hong had arranged it in advance. He had already planned to cultivate all the Qi Cultivation stage subordinates from the Inner Valley to the Foundation Building stage.

After the previous major battle, Wang Hong had been constantly reflecting on the fact that his Qi Cultivation stage subordinates had died unjustly. He believed that if he had been willing to invest Foundation Establishment Pills to cultivate them all to the Foundation Building stage, their deaths might have been avoided.

The reason he sent Yin Ze to make this trade was to shift the blame to the Immortal Way Trading Company. If the trading company couldn't handle it, he could simply dissolve it.

For now, he needed to strengthen these two forces under his command as much as possible to withstand greater pressure in the future.

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