''A rank 6 'five-elements grass'? The same 'five-elements grass that's used to concoct a rank 6 'five-elements awakening pill'?'' Wan Zu asked, his voice laced with shock as he stared at Shun Long.
Shun Long nodded his head, causing the look on Wan Zu's face to turn even more serious.
Shun Long wasn't surprised by Wan Zu's reaction since he already knew that obtaining the 'five-elements grass' from him today wasn't going to be easy.
Even if Wan Zu had more than one stalk of 'five-elements grass', Shun Long understood that Wan Zu may be unwilling to sell it to him regardless.
After all, this was an extremely rare rank 6 medicinal herb that wasn't for sale in any shop within the Holy city. Shun Long had searched the entire Holy city, but not even the White tiger chamber of commerce had a 'five-elements grass' on its third floor. As for whether they had one on the fourth floor, Shun Long didn't know, since the fourth floor was restricted to peak level Dao Kings and above.
Shaking his head, Wan Zu looked at Shun Long and said with a serious look on his face
''Brother Shun Long, what you are asking for is very difficult even for me. A single stalk of rank 6 'five-elements grass' is extremely rare in our Golden Treasures Hall.
The 'five-elements grass' is one of the 2 main medicinal herbs needed to concoct the rank 6 'five-elements awakening pill'. As an alchemist yourself, I am sure that you, brother Shun, also understand the value of a 'five-elements awakening pill'. Even in our Holy sect, there is no other pill that can allow someone to strengthen their physique other than the 'five-elements awakening pill'!
However, the success rate of refining a single batch of 'five-elements awakening pills' is less than 20 percent. Even powerful star-rank alchemists are rumored to have only 40 percent success rate when they refine it.
Although our Golden Treasures Hall does indeed have 2 stalks of 'five-elements grass' right now, only the peak rank 3 gold-grade alchemists working in the 'Refinement Hall' in the inner court are allowed to purchase them. Thus, brother Shun, I apologize but I cannot sell even a single stalk to you.''
Wan Zu had an apologetic look on his face as he looked at Shun Long and shook his head.
He already knew that the 'five-elements grass' that Shun Long was looking for was one of the 2 main rank 6 medicinal herbs that an alchemist needed to refine the 'five-elements awakening pill', but even in the Holy sect, that was an extremely rare pill.
How could Wan Zu just sell it to Shun Long just because he was asking for it?
Since the Holy sect only had a limited number of stalks of 'five-elements grass', they would only allow the alchemists working in the Refinement Hall to purchase them, as the 'five-elements awakening pills' would then belong to the sect.
Shun Long understood this as well, not needing Wan Zu to explain it to him.
He had already heard that any alchemist who wanted to earn sect points, could concoct pills for the Holy sect in the Refinement Hall and sell them directly to the sect.
Of course, working for the Refinement Hall had its own advantages as well, since those alchemists wouldn't have to pay any fees to use the rooms inside the Refinement Hall while they make use of the 2 earth flames inside the sect, and they would also gain priority when they purchase certain ingredients from the Holy sect as well, such as this 'five-elements grass' that Shun Long wanted.
However, Shun Long didn't even consider becoming a member of the 'Refinement Hall' before he rejected the idea.
Although the alchemists of the 'Refinement Hall' had their own advantages, they would be strictly monitored by the sect as well every time they concocted their pills, in case they tried to hide the pills they concocted and sell them off privately.
It was only natural that the Holy sect wouldn't allow something like that.
However, when they are being monitored, it would not only expose their alchemy techniques for other experienced alchemists to see and learn from it, but certain pill recipes that they had painstakingly obtained would be viewed by others as well!
This was why many alchemists would consider it seriously before they joined the 'Refinement Hall'.
Although Shun Long wasn't worried too much about others trying to steal his pill recipes, he was planning to use the Refinement Hall more than once in the future, and that would definitely risk him exposing the secret of his herb garden.
If he joined the Refinement Hall and the other alchemists overseeing his pill concoction noticed that Shun Long had suddenly started to produce endless amounts of the same ingredients every time he refined some pill, they would naturally start getting suspicious.
In his heart, Shun Long valued the herb garden just as much, if not even more than the Heaven Swallowing vine.
After taking a look at Bai Longtian, Xie Xingyi, and Jiang Chen, who were all sitting around him, Shun Long simply smiled, before he turned his attention towards the white-robed Dao King sitting opposite to him.
No matter what, Shun Long couldn't just let this opportunity go. He already had Jiang Chen and the others search for the 'five-elements grass' in almost every single one of the 10 largest cities in the Holy sect's territory in the past 5 months, but they hadn't found anything.
This was why Shun Long had resorted coming to the Golden Treasures Hall today.
With a serious look in his eyes, he then waved his hand, causing a white-colored flower and a dark-red tree branch to appear on the table in front of him, immediately attracting not just Wan Zu's, but even Liu Mei's and the rest's attention.
''A rank 6 'white petal flower'? And... is this a 'heart branch' from a rank 6 'Red Parasol tree'? Brother Shun, what do you mean by this?''
Wan Zu stared at the 2 items that had appeared on the table in front of him with a surprised look in his eyes, before he turned his attention towards Shun Long.
He had already guessed what Shun Long was intending which made him even more surprised.
''Senior Wan Zu, I'm willing to trade both this 'white petal flower' and the heart branch from the 'Red Parasol Tree' for a stalk of your 'five-elements grass'. I assume you already know the value of these items so I hope you won't try to haggle with me. This is already my bottom line today. Even though the 'white petal flower' is slightly inferior when compared with a stalk of 'five-elements grass', the heart branch from the 'Red Parasol Tree' is worth just as much.''
Wan Zu instantly fell silent as his eyes stared at Shun Long seriously without responding straight away.
As a Dao King and the person responsible for the first floor of the Golden Treasures Hall, how could he not recognize the 2 items that Shun Long had taken out?
It was easy for Wan Zu to guess that Shun Long really needed the 'five-elements grass', otherwise he wouldn't have taken out both of those medicinal herbs to exchange for it.
After all, just the heart branch from the 'Red Parasol Tree' was at the same level as the 'five-elements grass' that Shun Long wanted.
Although the rank 6 'white petal flower' was the other main medicinal herb that an alchemist needed to concoct the 'five-elements awakening pill', it was still considered a relatively common rank 6 medicinal herb and was much easier to find compared to the 'five-elements grass'.
But if Shun Long was willing to exchange both of those medicinal herbs for a single stalk, that was a completely different matter.
Of course, Shun Long clearly knew that in Wan Zu's eyes he was making a loss from this trade, but unless he offered something like this, it was very likely that Wan Zu would still refuse to trade with him if he just took out the heart branch from the 'Red Parasol Tree' instead.
After all, the Holy sect had a much vaster network compared to Shun Long, and they could find practically any rank 6 medicinal herb, as long as they were willing to pay the price for it.
Wan Zu remained silent as he seriously observed the yellow-robed young man in front of him, before he finally spoke a few moments later
''Young master Shun, since you are so determined, it would truly be rude of me to refuse. Please wait here.''