"Qin Chu, you must be careful. You are the future of the Vermilion Bird Holy Clan!" Qin Longxuan called out as he watched Qin Chu leave.
Qin Chu turned around and waved his hand. He understood that Qin Longxuan was genuinely worried about him, and it was also because of his appearance that Qin Longxuan's attitude towards life had changed; he had become much more positive.
Upon returning to Heavenly Sword City, Qin Chu headed towards the Demon Castle. Since he had made up his mind, he didn't plan to delay. The sooner the matter was resolved, the less pain Qin Longxuan would suffer.
Qin Chu entered the Demon Castle. The castle's gate closed, which Qin Chu was already used to, and he waited for the Silver Cloaked Man to appear.
"You've arrived!" Qin Chu didn't have to wait long; within moments, the Silver Cloaked Man appeared.
"I have!" Qin Chu nodded. He recognized Elder Guan's voice. "Are you here to accept a mission or post one? Actually, this Elder was also going to summon you. Please, have a seat!" Elder Guan led Qin Chu into a room. The lighting in the room wasn't great, but Qin Chu was accustomed to it; this was the atmosphere of the Demon Castle.
"I'm here to post a mission, and I'll accept a suitable one too. May I ask what Elder Guan wanted to see Qin Chu about?" Qin Chu asked, looking at the Silver Cloaked Man.
"Let's discuss your matter first! What mission do you wish to post?" Elder Guan asked, looking at Qin Chu.
"I want to know about a Rank 6 King-level Flesh Ganoderma. What would be the cost for this information?" Qin Chu inquired.
The Silver Cloaked Man, who was Elder Guan, paused for a moment. "Just information, not the item itself?"
"I probably can't afford the cost of the item itself!" Qin Chu didn't hide anything and directly stated his situation. He knew how powerful the Demon Castle was and how well-informed they were; his financial status couldn't be concealed.
"If you only want information, the information on a Rank 6 King-level Material costs twenty Spirit Stones. Do you need it? If so, this Elder will go and check for you now!" Elder Guan asked, looking at Qin Chu.
Qin Chu nodded and placed twenty Spirit Stones in front of him. He hadn't expected Qin Longxuan's estimate to be so accurate; just for information, it was twenty Spirit Stones. "Please wait a moment. I need to check if we have any records about Flesh Ganoderma in our castle. If there are records, the information is readily available. If not, we'll have to post a mission." Elder Guan left to go check.
After two quarters of an hour, Elder Guan returned. "There are two pieces of information about Flesh Ganoderma: one appeared thirty years ago, and the other is from a year ago."
"I'll take that information!" Qin Chu said. He felt that Qin Longfeng's failure to come to the Demon Castle was a mistake; using a powerful force like the Demon Castle to handle matters would be much easier and more efficient.
"This Elder will remind you of something: just getting the information isn't very cost-effective. The information alone is twenty Spirit Stones. If you want the Flesh Ganoderma, it's fifty Spirit Stones. What do you think?" Elder Guan said, looking at Qin Chu.
Qin Chu was stunned for a moment. He had initially thought that if the information alone was twenty Spirit Stones, then the cost to obtain the Flesh Ganoderma would be prohibitively high. But fifty Spirit Stones? This price was not far from what he could accept. He still had ten Spirit Stones himself, meaning he was only short twenty.
"You find it strange, thinking the price difference between the information and the Flesh Ganoderma itself isn't large? There's a reason for that. We actually have a stalk of Flesh Ganoderma right here in our Demon Castle! Flesh Ganoderma is a primary Material for refining Muscle Regeneration Pills. Actually, targeting the Flame Thunder energy damage of the Flame Thunder Holy Clan, someone came to the Demon Castle thirty years ago to post a mission. The mission reward was paid, but the person never came to collect it; he died. So, you understand." Elder Guan explained the reason.
"Can I reserve it? Because even fifty Spirit Stones is something I can't afford right now." Qin Chu gave a wry smile. His financial foundation was too thin. What he didn't know was that, compared to Cultivators of the same Rank, his financial foundation was already quite substantial; Spirit Stones themselves were extremely rare.
"Yes, you can. A fifty percent deposit, and the mission item can be reserved for you for one year!" Elder Guan said to Qin Chu.
Without any hesitation, Qin Chu took out another five Spirit Stones. These were the Spirit Stones he had accumulated himself, but after taking out these five, he would only have a few left.
Elder Guan collected the twenty-five Spirit Stones in front of Qin Chu, then looked at Qin Chu. "Do you still want to accept a mission? What kind of mission?"
"A mission to earn Spirit Stones. I'm short on Spirit Stones right now; the remaining twenty-five Spirit Stones are still unaccounted for," Qin Chu said.
"When you arrived, this Elder mentioned that I was going to summon you anyway. It's actually a mission I wanted to discuss with you: an Alchemy mission!" Elder Guan said to Qin Chu.
"Can I earn Spirit Stones?" Qin Chu's mind was completely focused on Spirit Stones now.
Elder Guan paused for a moment. "Alchemy missions usually reward Medicinal Pills and Materials. If you want Spirit Stones, this Elder cannot make the decision; I'll need to apply to my superiors."
"Then I'll come back a bit later," Qin Chu said after thinking it over.
Elder Guan nodded, then escorted Qin Chu out of the Demon Castle.
Returning to the Alchemist Guild, and then to his pavilion, Qin Chu fell into thought. Having news of the Flesh Ganoderma, or rather, having a lead on it, was good. The next step was to figure out how to get Spirit Stones. However, Spirit Stones were incredibly difficult to acquire. No one would use Spirit Stones to buy Medicinal Pills. For example, when Elder Chu gave him Spirit Stones, it was because the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Pill was too valuable, and the situation at the time was special. When Lin Qing gave him Spirit Stones, it was actually due to personal connections.
After some thought, Qin Chu realized that the only resource he had that could be exchanged for Spirit Stones was Heavenly Fragrance Grass. However, taking out Heavenly Fragrance Grass now would be too much of a loss; at present, it only held the value of a Material. If he reached the Rank 5 Alchemist level, he could refine Rank 5 High-grade Heavenly Origin Pills, and their value would multiply many times over.
He let out a breath. Qin Chu felt he could stabilize himself first. He had a year's time, and perhaps there would be a better method.
After steadying his emotions, Qin Chu began to Cultivate.
With the support of High-grade Spirit Yuan Pills, coupled with Cultivating by absorbing the energy of the Vermilion Bird Stone, Qin Chu's cultivation improved rapidly. He had now reached the Late Stage of Spirit Yuan Realm Rank 5, and his Sword Body was also at this level, not far from a Breakthrough.
After a night's rest, Qin Chu took Qian Xun to Chu Shan's pill chamber and began Alchemy.
Time slipped away little by little. Chen Yue, who had been Cultivating in Heavenly Sword Mountain for a period, felt somewhat fatigued and exited the Sword Intent impact area.
Just as Chen Yue was about to rest, she overheard a conversation between two Sword Cultivators.
"Excuse me, did you say a very powerful young Sword Cultivator named Qin Chu appeared in Heavenly Sword City?" Chen Yue approached the two conversing Sword Cultivators.
"Yes, he appeared over three months ago. He's under twenty years old and already possesses Rank 4 Sword Intent," one Sword Cultivator said.
"I should talk to him. Do either of you know how I can find him?" Chen Yue was shocked. She felt she had overlooked a very important issue. She had mentioned Heavenly Sword Mountain to Qin Chu back then, so why hadn't she thought Qin Chu would come here? Because of her oversight, Qin Lingxi and Yi Feng had been circling the Azure Sky Mountain region all this time.