Jaya pondered briefly before bringing out the pendant around his neck, which had a golden eyepiece.
“I looked at him through my 2nd-order artifact. His Spirit Root Aptitude is decent, but not enough to consider him a prodigy. Plus, he is the co-owner of Emerald Cove and has signed a neutrality contract with Haan Di.
I can annul the contract or make changes to it, but it would upset the Big Five sects and other forces active in the Dadangar Archipelago,” Jaya explained before putting the necklace back around his neck.
“But he managed to achieve a breakthrough in his early 40s. And he did it all by himself. Doesn’t that make him more qualified than some of our subordinates?” Sirina asked while folding her hands, her gaze conveying her reluctance to accept Jaya’s decision.
“So what if he managed to achieve a breakthrough a bit earlier? He barely managed to establish his foundation,” Jaya spoke and sighed. He looked at Sirina as if the latter was still too immature before speaking further.
“Aksai Everwood is an average Spirit cultivator among the Foundation Building Experts who can only stand tall among Spirit Refiners. Not to mention his record is too clean. Spirit cultivators like this are often someone else’s secret pawns who have been groomed from a very young age or are very cunning in hiding their abilities.
I’m not questioning your assessment that he could be a valuable addition to our faction, but the troubles we would face to bring him into our fold aren’t worth it.
To be honest, I would have considered allowing him to become a fellow brother disciple had he simply accepted your invitation. But he dares to ask for a bigger reward from us? Why would I bend over backward for a nobody like that?”
Jaya spoke, narrowing his eyes in Aksai’s direction, his tone cold and full of the pride of being one of Lord Moyun’s top disciples.
“Senior brother Jaya, you are a smart man, but sometimes you can be as dense as they come,” Sirina scrunched her nose in annoyance as she looked at Jaya.
“Sometimes you look too far ahead and forget to see what’s right in front of you. Not everything needs to be complicated to make sense. Sometimes simplicity is the best policy.
Your assumptions about Aksai Everwood being someone’s secret pawn are just plain wrong.
You’re thinking about that one particular incident, aren’t you? Do you think any of the Core Formation Lords are stupid enough to pull off another stunt like the last time when our master was in seclusion? I don’t think so.
Don’t think you’re smarter than the Core Formation Lords. If they want to fool you, you won’t see it coming,” Sirina spoke, fully confident in her self-assessment.
Jaya was tongue-tied by his junior sister’s response for a short while. He then took a careful look at Sirina, scratched the back of his ear, and coughed before speaking further.
“Be that as it may, the guy is just too selfish. You already offered him 20,000 spirit stones annually to become part of White Mountain City’s reserved forces. Plus, he’d get the usual benefits of being our master’s in-name disciple. Why should we offer him any more than the standard sum that we offer all Foundation Building Experts?”
Sirina sighed and looked at Jaya with a tired expressions before speaking in a defeated tone.
“It’s because he is not a regular Foundation Building Expert. Aksai Everwood is already a co-owner of Emerald Cove, which generates quite a sum annually.
Its revenues are distributed in five ways, of which Aksai also gets his share of income. Why would he let go of his ownership and accept our proposal when he earns more than 30,000 spirit stones every year?” Sirina asked, looking at Jaya as if demanding an answer from him.
Jaya pondered a bit but kept his silence for the time being. In the end, Sirina was forced to give up. “Forget it, senior brother. It seems you are too focused on the cons of hiring Aksai to see his actual worth. I… I have a feeling that you might come to regret this decision later,” she added in the end, shrugging her shoulders.
Jaya smiled wryly at her last comment. He had to admit that Sirina’s words were sometimes a bit too heavy for him to handle, despite being way older than her in discipleship.
“In any case, it’s not like we are turning Aksai into our enemy,” Jaya added as he looked at the shelves of neatly arranged cultivation techniques around him.
“You have given him a suitable cultivation technique. That should be enough to form a cooperative business relationship with him. The Big Five sects also can’t object to the exchange of cultivation resources between Emerald Cove and Haan Di, as it is part of the initial agreement anyway.
What’s more? It seems Emerald Cove has started producing a peculiar brand of wine called Bacchus’s Blessing. You might not know this, but our master liked that wine and asked me to gather some more of it in stock.
Did he ask for anything that he might need our help with? We can help him a little from the outside in exchange for securing a fixed annual supply of Bacchus’s Blessing. How about it?” he asked while looking at his junior sister.
“Well, Aksai did ask for something from us,” Sirina said while thinking. The two disciple siblings discussed for a few minutes before leaving the second floor together.
***
White Mountain City was the city of auction events.
Aksai was seen approaching yet another opulent structure in the inner zone of the White Mountain City.
There was yet another auction event arranged a few days after Aksai acquired the Sun-Moon Duality. It was an invitation-only event that Aksai couldn’t normally have access to. Thankfully, he had Sirina.
“This auction is a special event,” Sirina explained, her violet eyes glinting with interest. “Only the elites of the five kingdoms are invited. You’ll find rare treasures and unique items here that you won’t see anywhere else.”
Aksai nodded, intrigued. ‘I hope I find a solution to my problem here. Another world is waiting for me on my farm,’ he thought to himself.
Aksai had obviously asked Sirina to look for ways that could let him break past a special 2nd-order isolation barrier that was immune to the Barrier-bypass talismans of the same rank. After discussing things with Jaya, Sirina had brought Aksai into this special auction event.
Aksai had attended many auctions before, but the atmosphere here felt different—more intense, more exclusive. As they entered the auction hall, he was struck by the opulence of the surroundings.
They found their seats near the front, and Aksai scanned the room, noting the presence of several familiar faces from the Big Five sects and other prominent clans. The auctioneer, a middle-aged man with a commanding presence, took the stage and began the proceedings.
Item after item was presented, each one more impressive than the last. Aksai watched with interest but remained relatively detached until a familiar name caught his attention.
“Our next item is a true rarity,” the auctioneer announced, his voice carrying a note of excitement.
“A batch of Bacchus’ Blessing wine, a unique concoction from Emerald Cove, known for its exquisite taste and mild spirit essence enhancement properties. Starting bid at 700 spirit stones for a set of 5 bottles.”
Aksai’s eyes widened in surprise as the wine he had concocted was brought out. The bottles were elegantly presented, each one glowing with a faint, enticing aura. Someone had also made the effort to create a brand insignia in the form of Emerald Cove’s shape.
The bidding started fiercely, with prices quickly escalating.
“I guess you were unaware of the wave Bacchus’ Blessing is creating in the city market recently because of your seclusion. Impressive, isn’t it?” Sirina whispered, noticing Aksai’s reaction. “Your wine… well… it has made quite a name for itself. It’s being sold at such high prices because of its rarity and quality.”
Aksai nodded, a smile spreading across his face.
‘Quality, huh? It’ll soon be seen as a rare Foundation Building item when I go back to Emerald Cove and make some corrections,’ Aksai thought to himself, considering what he could do with his new cultivation base as a Foundation Building Expert.
Aksai already knew that Bacchus’ Blessing would one day be one of the star products in auction events across Haan Di.
But he could never have guessed that it would happen so soon or that he’d witness it in such a coincidental manner.
It was like suddenly seeing your child performing well in a random sporting event you previously had no idea about.
===
AN: Bacchus’ Blessing was first introduced in chapter 164. Aksai and Nuya plan to produce the wine on a large scale in chapter 165.