How could late-stage Spirit Refiners be willing to give up 2nd-order cultivation resources so easily? That too in exchange for something that was of the 1st order level?
It could be argued that the 1st-order inheritance was worth the price it was getting exchanged for because it was related to the field of Array Formations.
But one had to consider that the potential benefits of owning such an inheritance could only be obtained if one decided to study it for years on end and achieved a semblance of success in the field.
Whereas 2nd-order cultivation resources that the owner had asked for could be used right away to concoct some rare elixirs out of them. They could at least hire some experts and outsource the concoction process.
However, nobody could hire someone to grasp the knowledge related to a certain field for them. There was no outsourcing when it came to comprehending a subject matter.
Most Spirit cultivators who had come to attend this private exchange meet were drifting cultivators.
And those who had some form of economic power needed to consider the unrest in the two counties before they gave up on 2nd-order resources they might have in their possessions.
Who would give up profits in the present and bet on their future? Especially during a difficult time.
However, Aksai did just that.
He produced five stalks of 2nd-order Moonlit Lily Spirit grass and handed them to the owner for verification.
The owner of the Array Formation inheritance was pleasantly surprised to find out that the stalks of 2nd-order herbs that Aksai had provided were all either mid-grade or top-grade in quality.
There were no low-grade herbs in his offerings. She immediately sealed the deal and offered Aksai the 1st-order Array Formation inheritance.
The inheritance owner also offered Aksai some spirit stones in exchange along with the original deal. After all, the quality of the 2nd-order cultivation resources that Aksai had produced was much higher than she could have asked for. As such, she compensated him with 80 spirit stones.
And yet, the other Spirit cultivators thought that Aksai had been duped into making a lossful transaction. Aksai just lets these spectators think like this without explaining anything.
Aksai didn’t tell these late-stage Spirit cultivators that the cultivation resources he had revealed in his possessions were only the tip of the iceberg. He had many such resources that were greater in quality and quantity, saved inside his Everwood farm and kept in the best condition.
The 2nd-order Moonlit Lily Spirit Seed grass and 1st-order Twilight Spirit Fern were especially the type of cultivation resources that Aksai had in abundance.
These peculiar resources grew like wild mushrooms on rainy days inside his Everwood farm, which was always in the state of the twilight zone. As such, he had no shortage of these Spirit herbs.
What Aksai had offered the Spirit cultivators were only the subpar items he had in the Everwood farm when compared to the kind of quality and quantity he had in his possession. The majority of top-grade and even heaven-grade cultivation resources he had were not taken out in the transaction because they were not for sale. He had produced them with his blood and sweat for his own use.
Aksai considered the transaction a huge success for himself. However, the other Spirit cultivators started looking at him as if he were a newbie late-stage Spirit Refiner and had a lot to learn.
“Fellow cultivator Aksai, have you attained the late-stage breakthrough in the 1st realm only recently?” one of the Spirit cultivators sitting beside couldn’t help asking Aksai with curiosity. The latter smiled wryly before answering.
“It has been quite a long time, to be honest. But I didn’t get to learn anything about the late-stage Spirit Refining from anyone because of the unrest.” Aksai chose to speak the half-truth as always—the best kind of truth according to him.
“In that case–” Zen chimed in on the discussion between Aksai and the Spirit cultivator sitting beside him from the opposite side of the roundtable. He smiled cunningly at Aksai before speaking to him.
“How about I offer you the core information related to the late-stage Spirit Refining as well as steps one required to follow before they even attempted a breakthrough into the 2nd realm?” he asked.
Zen then looked around before putting forward his demand. “I want a better cultivation technique than Basic Greenwood Tantra in exchange. Plus, I will only accept it when the cultivation technique is complete and allows me to break into the 2nd realm.”
The other late-stage Spirit cultivators who heard Zen’s proposal were not interested in exchanging resources with him when they heard what he had to offer. It seemed that all of them were already aware of the core information related to the Spirit Refining Perfection realm. It was only Aksai who was still a newbie even after he had technically broken into the late-stage Spirit cultivation more than 2 years ago.
‘Hmm? How does this guy know I might have a better cultivation technique than Basic Greenwood Tantra?’ Aksai thought to himself as he looked at Zen Pewlu with narrowed eyes. He had escaped to the Everwood farm by the time Zen was set on his trail two years ago right after killing Nesha. As such, Aksai had never seen Zen’s face. He couldn’t know what conclusions the guy had drawn in his head and how many of them landed in the right direction.
However, Aksai couldn’t completely ignore Zen’s offer either. He needed the core information required for the Spirit Refining Perfection realm. Without this information, his cultivation journey was bound to stagnate for a long time while making minuscule progress.
As such, Aksai took out a copy of Advanced Greenwood Tantra from his storage ring and copied some of its contents onto a blank jade slip using his Spirit Sense before handing the sample jade slip to Zen, which was a standard protocol set by Nuya for an instance of information exchange.
Zen caught the sample jade slip in his hand. At the same time, he delivered a sample jade slip to Aksai as well. This was so that both sides could authenticate the potential information exchange from their ends.
‘He really has a complete Advanced Greenwood Tantra! All nine of the chapters!’ Zen felt that the guess he had made in his head about Aksai was correct. He couldn’t help getting excited in his mind.
“Fellow cultivator Aksai, this is indeed a complete cultivation technique. However, I was wondering if you have a Stellar Greenwood Tantra in your possession,” Zen asked Aksai with some curiosity.
“I don’t,” Aksai refused flatly. He didn’t want to complicate matters by revealing all his cards.
‘Damn. He is either telling the truth or is a damn good liar,’ Zen thought to himself as he looked at Aksai and observed his expressions. ‘Either way, I will find out soon enough,’ he decided internally before speaking out loud.
“I see. Never mind then. Let’s initiate the exchange, shall we?” he said before producing a jade slip containing the complete core information related to the Spirit Refining Perfection realm.
Aksai also gave Zen a complete copy of the Advanced Greenwood Tantra at the same time, completing his transaction with him.
What he didn’t know at the time was that Zen had already decided to confront Aksai privately after the exchange meeting was over.
Meanwhile, Aksai briefly checked out the contents of the jade slip. He couldn’t contain his smile as he realized he finally had the information he had been looking for for almost two years.
‘Spirit Refining Trifecta,’ Aksai mumbled the title of Zen’s jade slip in his head before storing it away in his storage ring.
The lone Spirit farmer had decided to continue his retreat into the Martial World Sharang after obtaining various inheritances and information related to the Spirit Refining Perfection realm.
Progressing in his two cultivation paths and… being looked after by his beautiful maids was all Aksai could think about at this point.
===
AN: Aksai obtains Stellar Greenwood Tantra in chapter 55 and Advanced Greenwood Tantra in chapter 58.
