Chapter 83

(Chapter 5, thank you...)

As Chen Xun asked why the heavy burden of Canglan City was placed on Zong Ya's shoulders, Zong Tu narrowed his eyes and smiled, saying, "Zong Ya needs more worldly experience. Giving him this responsibility will be beneficial. Besides, I will be entering seclusion for cultivation soon, and it's too much for Nan Liao to support the village alone..."

"Ah!" Chen Xun exclaimed in surprise, "Is Grandpa going to break through?"

"Hard to say. My Soul Sea has shown some unusual activity recently after being stagnant for many years. I don't know if there's still a chance," Zong Tu said with a smile. "But speaking of the unusual activity in the Soul Sea, the main reason might be that I survived a life-and-death crisis after forcefully using the Soul Locking Technique during the wolf attack. Cultivation truly requires placing oneself in a desperate situation to achieve breakthroughs..."

These were Grandpa's cultivation experiences. Chen Xun knew these experiences would be invaluable for him to break through the ninth layer of the Savage Martial realm and enter the Rebirth realm.

He had experience pushing his physical limits for cultivation, and he thought that placing oneself in a desperate situation might indeed be the key to breakthrough.

Zong Tu took out a leather pouch from his chest and said, "This contains thirty Black Python Pills. Take them. Everyone has decided that from now on, every quarter, we will allocate thirty Black Python Pills for your cultivation..."

"This is absolutely unacceptable!" Chen Xun hurriedly said.

Thirty pills per quarter, four quarters a year, that's one hundred and twenty Black Python Pills.

Even in Canglan City, this was a huge number, equivalent to the entire year's output of Black Pythons.

Chen Xun's current consumption of Black Python Pills for cultivation was already very inefficient, but such low-level spirit pills were still hard currency in Canglan City and could be used to trade for higher-level spirit pills or other cultivation necessities.

He was not a member of the Black Python clan, and Grandpa had always refused to accept him into the clan, not wanting to tie him down. He still planned to establish his own sect. What merit did he have to receive one hundred and twenty Black Python Pills from the Black Pythons every year?

"The village's location is excellent. After making peace with Heishan, the valley between the village and Yema Creek can grow enough grain for the clan. Now, we can triple the number of people to gather herbs and hunt. We also have three pill formulas. Two months after you left, the village refined nearly a hundred low-level spirit pills. Once the trade route is open, I think if the nine clans unite, we can obtain some rare herbs from Canglan City through trade. In the future, we might be able to refine six or seven hundred spirit pills a year," Zong Tu said slowly. "Everyone knows that all this is your doing. You plan to establish your own sect, but this is your rightful share. If you don't accept it, the Black Pythons would be ungrateful..."

"Grandpa, what are you saying? The Black Pythons have been like a second family to me. How can I repay such kindness?" Chen Xun said.

"Xun, you are a person of integrity. Grandpa believes that if the Black Pythons are in trouble, you will not stand idly by. Therefore, the Black Pythons will support your cultivation no matter how hard it is," Zong Tu said firmly. "If you don't accept it, I will go back with Zong Sang and return those Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills to you. Everyone knows how precious the Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills are. What the Black Pythons can give you is far too little..."

Previously, Zong Tu and the others did not fully understand the value of the Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills, but after learning that Gu Jianfeng smoothly broke through to the peak of the sixth layer of the Savage Martial realm and entered the upper stage of the Savage Martial realm after taking the pills, they realized how precious they were.

Even the direct descendants of the Su family only had one chance to take the Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills each year before entering the Rebirth realm.

Seeing Grandpa's sincerity and the village's ability to spare so many Black Python Pills, Chen Xun no longer refused.

Chen Xun increasingly understood the importance of having the support of a sect or a powerful clan. Cultivation as a solitary practitioner was extremely difficult.

Not to mention secret cultivation techniques, not to mention the need for a quiet and safe environment, the total amount of pills required for cultivation to enter the Rebirth realm was astronomical.

After the initiation ceremony, Chen Xun spent over a month in seclusion, studying the Frost Blade Technique, with minimal consumption. But to further refine his blood and break through to the seventh layer of the Blood Change realm, the six Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills and a bottle of Essence Gathering Ointment he had were only enough for two or three months of cultivation.

He used to gather herbs and refine pills himself.

In the early stages of cultivation, this was not a problem. The mountains and wilderness of Python Tooth Ridge had few high-grade herbs, but low-level spirit herbs like Fishyang Grass were easy to obtain.

Before reaching the mid-stage of the True Yang realm, Chen Xun could barely manage by gathering herbs, refining pills, and cultivating simultaneously.

After entering the seventh layer of the Blood Change realm, even taking Essence Gathering Ointment to replenish his blood and qi was very slow. To maintain his cultivation speed, he needed to take higher-level pills.

Higher-level pills meant higher-level formulas and higher-grade spirit herbs.

High-grade spirit herbs usually had very long growth cycles, needing to grow for a hundred or even several hundred years in areas with dense spiritual energy to be effective, making them extremely rare.

In Canglan, areas with dense spiritual energy and suitable for growing spirit herbs were either controlled by the Su family and other major clans or were extremely dangerous places where entering without Rebirth realm cultivation would be suicidal.

Chen Xun would find it ten or even a hundred times more difficult to leave Canglan City to gather herbs and refine pills for cultivation as he used to.

If the Black Pythons could supply him with one hundred and twenty Black Python Pills annually, Chen Xun could directly exchange them for higher-level pills, allowing him to focus on cultivation and strive to break through his current realm.

His Soul Sea anomaly was the blood of a six-armed giant demon.

Su Tang said that to break through the physical barrier and enter the Rebirth realm, his body needed to be tempered to withstand the blood of a six-armed giant demon. He didn't know how many pills and how long it would take to break through.

If he relied solely on himself, Chen Xun didn't know if he would ever have the hope of breaking through to the Rebirth realm. Having a clan or sect to support him was crucial.

Although he was not a member of the nine clans, he strongly supported their alliance.

Even if he established his own sect in the future, he could only trust the people of the nine clans.

If the nine clans could establish a foothold in Canglan City, obtaining cultivation resources or trading pills through them would be much safer and more reliable than through other forces.

Even if he established his own sect in Canglan City, he would still live close to the nine clans and support each other.

Otherwise, with his limited strength, he might not even have a place to cultivate safely in Canglan City.

******

Speaking of cultivation resources, Chen Xun asked Grandpa Zong Tu:

"Of the three Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills we extorted from the Gui Xi tribe, I took one. This pill is redundant for me. Can I exchange it for some scarce herbs with the Heishan tribe?"

The Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills were most valuable for nurturing the spirit and enhancing the cultivation potential of Savage Martial practitioners, helping them smoothly break through from the peak of the sixth layer to the seventh layer of the Blood Change realm.

Chen Xun's Soul Sea anomaly was the blood of a six-armed giant demon.

He regretted that his cultivation potential was too high, and he didn't need to enhance it. Taking the Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills during cultivation was purely to replenish blood and qi, equivalent to three or four bottles of Essence Gathering Ointment, a huge waste.

If he exchanged one Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pill, he might get twenty to thirty bottles of Essence Gathering Ointment in return.

Chen Xun's expulsion from the academy was well-known in Canglan City. If he traded the pill with a stranger, the risk of being cheated was high.

A safer option was to trade with the Heishan tribe, whom he could trust.

Zong Tu said, "That's fine."

They must not leak the existence of the few Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills they had, but the extra one from the Gui Xi tribe was known to many. Chen Xun needed to exchange it for herbs or low-level pills to meet his immediate needs.

The Black Pythons were having a better year, but the good times had just begun, and they couldn't immediately provide a thousand Black Python Pills to support Chen Xun's cultivation.

After settling this, they let Zong Sang and Zong Ya rest, and Chen Xun and Grandpa Zong Tu went to find Gu Jianfeng and the others.

After so many twists and turns, the enmity between Heishan and the Black Pythons had been completely resolved.

Not to mention Gu Hu and Gu Jianfeng, even Gu Chen now felt guilty and uneasy, personally bringing chairs for Zong Tu and Chen Xun to sit down.

After some small talk, Chen Xun, sitting on the ground, took out a small black sandalwood box from his chest and explained his purpose:

"I have already entered the seventh layer of the Blood Change realm. The Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pill is not very useful for me now. I need other herbs for cultivation. The Black Pythons don't need this pill for the time being. I came to ask if the Heishan tribe needs it."

When the black sandalwood box was opened, the spiritual aura of the herbs filled the room, refreshing the five people inside.

The most precious ingredient in the Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pill was the blood of a savage beast, combined with other rare herbs and treasures, refined using the Su family's secret method.

Gu Hu and the others never imagined that Chen Xun had already learned the refining method from Su Tang, but the rare ingredients like beast blood made it impossible for Chen Xun to refine a batch of Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills himself.

Gu Jianfeng had already entered the upper stage of the Savage Martial realm at sixteen, with a high chance of entering the Rebirth realm in the future. How could Gu Hu not know the value of the Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pills?

If they could obtain another Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pill, the Heishan tribe could cultivate another young powerhouse like Jianfeng, which would be of great significance.

However, Gu Hu hesitated. Other tribes would have to pay at least one or two thousand low-level spirit pills or equivalent goods to obtain one Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pill from the Su family. The Heishan tribe couldn't afford that many low-level pills.

Moreover, Jianfeng had already broken through during the trial by taking a Nine Yuan Nourishing Apertures Pill given by Zong Ya, and they hadn't repaid Chen Xun for that favor yet.

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