Chapter 540 - 377: Jinbao’s Awakening
In the Quiet Chamber, Liu Xun nervously stated his promise. Although Fang Qingyuan had told him he could go all out in promoting the Spirit Wine, a quantity of fifteen thousand jars was truly excessive.
Moreover, it wasn’t just fifteen thousand jars. He also had the order forms from various shops that Jiang Tianfang had collected. Added together, these accounted for several thousand more jars.
Though the Qingyuan Sect had only just become a Golden Core Sect, its roots ran deep because it was previously an enfeoffed sect. Therefore, it had a shop in every Marketplace within the White Mountain Territory.
The shop in the Nine-star Marketplace was the closest and thus slightly larger—a separate three-story building. Although it was located in a less prosperous alley, it was still a sign of considerable wealth.
As for the shops in the other major cities like Artifact Talisman City, Li Huo City, Lianshui City, and Bomu City, they were truly just storefronts.
The main purpose of these shops was to sell the Qingyuan Sect’s specialties. Originally, this meant insect beasts like the Four-winged Cyan Jade Dragonfly, but now the Spirit Rice Flower Wine had been added to the list.
Listening to Liu Xun’s report, Fang Qingyuan simply nodded and said,
"It’s fine. I can supply that amount of Spirit Wine. For now, if we allow these five sects to make some profit, they will be more enthusiastic about the alliance. As long as these five sects don’t lead the opposition, we won’t have to worry about the other, smaller powers."
The five sects Liu Xun had approached were all pillars of strength in this part of the Far East. Each of them had three or four Foundation Establishment Cultivators, meaning they had considerable foundations.
Liu Xun had not gone to invite the powers that had only a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Even after the alliance was formed, these small powers could only be vassals, not core members.
"It’s just... about the price, Sect Leader. Do we really have to keep it so low?"
Liu Xun felt a pang of pain. In his opinion, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to sell this kind of Spirit Wine for twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones a jar. Selling it for only twelve to fifteen... with so many jars, how much money was the sect losing out on each year?
Fang Qingyuan shook his head slightly at Liu Xun’s thoughts.
"Don’t worry about small profits for now. The most important thing is to get the Spirit Wine distributed widely. It’s fine to earn a little less for that. Later, once everyone has accepted this Spirit Wine, we can just raise the price."
Fang Qingyuan made it sound simple, but this was just to comfort Liu Xun. White Mountain Loose Cultivators wished they could split a single Spirit Stone in two to spend it. For every Low-grade Spirit Stone the price of this Spirit Wine increased, they would lose more buyers in the future.
Priced at twelve to fifteen Low-grade Spirit Stones, this Spirit Wine was a divine nectar. But priced at twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones, it would be nothing special.
Once the White Mountain Loose Cultivators accepted the low price of this Spirit Wine, it would form a fixed impression. If they wanted to raise the price in the future, no one would agree.
But it wasn’t that Fang Qingyuan was unaware of this hidden risk. He had his own concerns and ideas, because the production method for his Spirit Wine was different from most on the market.
The creation of a Spirit Wine is normally measured in years. Without the settling that comes with age, the taste of the Spirit Wine could never satisfy connoisseurs.
Which of the finer Spirit Wines wasn’t aged for at least ten years? Better ones were aged for fifty or a hundred years. There were even some that had been aged for several hundred, or even thousands of years.
But the Spirit Wine Fang Qingyuan produced required only one month.
Because the production philosophy was different, Fang Qingyuan’s Spirit Wine was positioned like beer from his previous life, intended purely for mass-market volume.
Inside the Immortal Mansion, Spirit Rice was piled up like mountains. How to deal with such a large quantity of Spirit Rice was giving Fang Qingyuan a bit of a headache. With war raging everywhere in White Mountain, there was no shortage of buyers for Spirit Rice, but if the shipment volume was too large, it would be easy to attract the attention of Spirit Wood or the Li Huo Alliance.
At present, Fang Qingyuan didn’t believe that he and the Qingyuan Sect had enough power to cover this up. So, he chose to brew it into Spirit Wine, using this method to sell off the Spirit Rice.
To the major powers, Spirit Rice was a strategic resource, but Spirit Wine was not nearly as sensitive. This was because the most numerous group in the Cultivation Realm, the Qi Cultivation Cultivators, could not yet achieve Fasting. Only upon reaching Foundation Establishment could they begin to shed their reliance on Spirit Rice.
The level of attention received for selling Spirit Rice versus Spirit Wine was on a completely different level. A shipment of ten thousand pounds of Spirit Rice would be enough to put Spirit Wood and the Li Huo Alliance on high alert. But getting the same weight in Spirit Wine across the border would be much, much easier.
After discussing the Spirit Wine business, Fang Qingyuan asked about the alliance. Due to the rules of enfeoffment, the Qingyuan Sect could not blatantly annex and expand.
The Great Zhou Academy’s regulations were both a protection and a restriction. Of course, if the Qingyuan Sect was truly determined to go on the offensive, the Great Zhou Academy had no right to interfere. The sect just had to be unafraid of future retaliation from its enemies, because in that case, the Great Zhou Academy would not protect the Qingyuan Sect from those seeking revenge.
Liu Xun detailed the results of the past half-year to Fang Qingyuan one by one. In truth, Fang Qingyuan rarely asked about general affairs anymore. Only major events like the alliance were worthy of his time and energy.
Without the support of Spirit Wood and Li Huo, the powers surrounding the Qingyuan Sect all bowed their heads. Even if there were some who couldn’t read the situation, the Qingyuan Sect didn’t need to act. There were naturally vassals eager to cozy up to them who would step in and beat those factions into submission.
Currently, the dozen or so Foundation Establishment Clans and sect powers in the Far East had all submitted. Now, all that was left was to pick a date and hold the alliance ceremony, and the matter would be settled.
However, it was the end of the year, and they had just held Fang Qingyuan’s own Core Formation Ceremony. It wouldn’t be good to hold another grand celebration so soon. Therefore, Fang Qingyuan wanted to wait until the beginning of spring next year.
Fang Qingyuan’s wishes were naturally the Qingyuan Sect’s wishes. Once Liu Xun knew the specific timeframe, he began making various preparations in advance.
Just as Liu Xun was about to report on the preparations he had made for the alliance, he saw a hint of weariness on Fang Qingyuan’s face as he closed his eyes completely.
Seeing this, Liu Xun silently withdrew, closing the door properly on his way out.
Fang Qingyuan paid little mind to Liu Xun’s departure. At that moment, his consciousness had already entered the Immortal Mansion. Just a moment ago, the monitoring Array where Jinbao slept had sent out a warning, signaling to Fang Qingyuan that Jinbao was about to awaken.
Compared to Jinbao’s awakening, the matter of the alliance seemed far less important.
When Fang Qingyuan’s soul entered the Immortal Mansion and arrived at Jinbao’s resting place, he deactivated the Array. He saw golden light swirling around. A large amount of Gold Spirit Power had gathered before the body of a black and white fierce beast for it to devour.
With every wisp of Gold Spirit Power it devoured, Jinbao’s body swelled slightly. When the mass of Gold Spirit Power, which had spontaneously gathered while Jinbao slept, was nearly consumed, Fang Qingyuan clearly sensed that this was not the limit of Jinbao’s body.
It was merely the limit of the Gold Spirit Power Jinbao could gather, not the limit of what it could consume. Seeing that Jinbao could still eat more, Fang Qingyuan didn’t want its advancement to end here. With a thought, gold-attribute Top-grade Spirit Stones flew over from the large storehouse in the distance.
When these Spirit Stones reached Jinbao’s side, Fang Qingyuan abruptly crushed them to dust with his Soul Power. The Gold Spirit Power they released in that instant was about to dissipate into the world when it was sensed by the nearby Jinbao and domineeringly absorbed, then devoured by the beast with its eyes still closed.
For a moment, the dust from the pulverized Spirit Stones fell like a flurry of snow, scattering onto the ground below. It then sank into the Black Land and was completely absorbed.
And so, after about another half an hour, Jinbao let out a comfortable grunt. It stopped devouring Spiritual Power, opened its squinted little eyes, and looked at Fang Qingyuan.
Then, a heavy, powerful hug slammed into Fang Qingyuan’s arms. Even though Fang Qingyuan practiced a Body Refining Technique, he was still startled by the force of the impact.
’Jinbao... has gotten fatter again.’