Chapter 461: Chapter 446: Treasure Exchange Conference
A birthday celebration allowed Zhouyang and many cultivators who came to celebrate the birthday of the Qin family’s ancestor to deeply experience the heritage of this millennia-old family, with its over two thousand years of history.
As the saying goes, seeing is believing. Only after witnessing the Qin family’s wealth, connections, and heritage firsthand can one truly understand that the assertion that the Qin family’s power is comparable to a middle-level sect within the Anti-Light Alliance is definitely not just idle talk.
Without mentioning anything else, just the banquet arranged to entertain cultivators attending the birthday celebration is beyond what ordinary forces could afford.
Take, for example, the banquet for the Purple Mansion Stage cultivators like Zhouyang; a standard table seats four people, offering twelve major dishes, various types of spirit wine in several casks, and a large platter of spirit fruits.
The major dishes use the meat of Tier Three and even Tier Four demon beasts, and the vegetarian dishes are made with Tier Two and Tier Three spirit herbs and elixirs. These ingredients, prepared by professional chefs, are not only delicious but also very nourishing.
Furthermore, the spirit wine is brewed mainly from Tier Three spirit fruits. Drinking a pot of this wine can equal the result of several months of diligent cultivation, offering significant benefits to Purple Mansion Stage cultivators like Zhouyang.
Even the large platter of spirit fruits consists entirely of Tier Three spirit fruits, with each one worth at least three hundred low-grade spirit stones.
The total value of arranging such a banquet table easily exceeds ten thousand low-grade spirit stones, and the Qin family set up over twenty tables of this scale!
Zhouyang calculated in his heart that even without including the more expensive banquets for the Golden Core Stage cultivators, the expenditure just on banquets for Purple Mansion Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators exceeds fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones.
The wealth of the Qin family is thus plainly evident!
According to custom, after enjoying the feast, Qin Mingde, the star of the birthday celebration, will take the stage to deliver a lecture.
If Zhouyang had encountered such a lecture from a Golden Core Stage cultivator before he had subdued Xu Song, he would have considered it a fortuitous opportunity and been extremely interested.
But now, carrying a Golden Core Stage cultivator with him, he is utterly uninterested in Qin Mingde’s lecture.
Clearly, a public lecture like this contains substantive content, but most of it is vague and meaningless talk.
It’s not just Zhouyang; those cultivators from forces with Golden Core Stage cultivators controlling them show little interest in such a lecture as well.
Were it not for the need to avoid offending anyone, they’d rather have a few exchanges with same-tier cultivators, sharing experiences truly beneficial to each other’s cultivation, than waste time listening to Qin Mingde’s lecture.
Enduring through this nutritionally lacking preaching conference, the segment Zhouyang eagerly awaited finally arrived.
"Alright, we’ll stop here for today. Next, to express our gratitude to all you Daoist friends who traveled from far away to my Qin family to celebrate my birthday, I, along with the Qin family and some friendly Daoist friends, am willing to take out some treasures to hold a Treasure Exchange Conference. Any Daoist friends interested are welcome to stay and participate."
On the platform, after Qin Mingde finished his lecture, he stood up and spoke aloud about hosting the ’Treasure Exchange Conference’.
Upon hearing this, the high-tier cultivators who had been listening to his lecture a bit drowsily were immediately invigorated.
Once at the Purple Mansion Stage, it’s often difficult to buy required treasures solely relying on spirit stones, so high-tier cultivators have always been quite eager to participate in exchange conferences like the ’Treasure Exchange Conference’.
Basically, as long as they are not in closed cultivation and receive an invitation, high-tier cultivators are willing to spend some time participating in such events.
However, organizing such activities requires a highly influential cultivator to take the lead in initiating it, or it must be held in conjunction with some large-scale celebration events.
The more places there are with high-tier cultivators, the more such events occur.
As Zhouyang knows, in the most prosperous area within the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, the Liuyun Immortal City, there is at least one exchange conference or auction beneficial to high-tier cultivators every month. Thus, it has become the best place for high-tier cultivators in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm to seek necessary treasures.
Originally, if he hadn’t been intercepted halfway by the Beast Taming Sect, he might already have obtained the "Purple Heart Jade Marrow" for Zhou Guangxiang in Liuyun Immortal City.
Soon, as those Foundation Establishment Cultivators unqualified to participate gradually retired, the ’Treasure Exchange Conference’ swiftly started with Qin Mingde.
"To start things off, I’ll first present my treasures. If any Daoist friend values what I offer, they merely need to show me a treasure of equivalent value for a look, and if suitable, I’ll exchange it."
Qin Mingde first explained his exchange requirements, then waved his hand, presenting a pile of treasures.
"Tier Four High-Grade Spirit Pill [Purple Qi Nourishing Divine Pill] - Five pieces, each capable of increasing the cultivation of Seventh-Layer Purple Mansion Cultivators by five years, and has the effect of strengthening the divine soul."
"Tier Five Spiritual Object Silver Gang Star Sand - Three ounces, can greatly enhance resistance effectiveness when incorporated into a lifebound spiritual artifact."
"Tier Five Spiritual Object Vajra Wood Heart aged five thousand years - seven feet in length. The hardness of Vajra Wood can rival same-tier Spiritual Gold, and millennium-aged Vajra Wood Heart is best suited for Wood Element cultivators to refine lifebound spiritual artifacts."
...
Qin Mingde truly deserves to be a seasoned powerhouse at the Ninth-Layer of the Golden Core. The treasures he brought out were all of great value, and many of them were even very useful to Golden Core Stage Cultivators.
Of course, these items were indeed good, but to exchange for them, one also needed to bring out treasures of equivalent level.
Therefore, most Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators could only gaze longingly at these treasures, watching as either Golden Core Stage Cultivators or the few Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion Cultivators preparing for Core Formation stepped forward to exchange for these treasures.
Zhouyang also had his eyes on a certain treasure, so after seeing a Golden Core Stage Cultivator exchange for one of the treasures, he took the opportunity to quickly present a Flying Sword Spiritual Artifact to Qin Mingde and said, "Junior wishes to use this Tier Four High-grade Flying Sword to exchange for those five ’Purple Qi Nourishing Divine Pills’ in senior’s possession. Would senior agree?"
This Flying Sword was something he acquired after slaying a young swordsman in the ’Cloud Mist Marsh’ of the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm. That battle nearly cost him his life and was the first time he witnessed the formidable Attacking Divine Techniques practiced by Golden Core Stage Cultivators.
Qin Mingde, evidently a connoisseur, upon seeing the Flying Sword in Zhouyang’s hand, did not immediately dismiss it because it was just a Tier Four Magical Artifact, but nodded slightly and said, "Let this old man take a look at the sword."
With that, he beckoned, and the Flying Sword in Zhouyang’s hand turned into a silver light, flying into his own hand.
He then gently infused it with magical power, and a chilling sword light radiated from the blade, nearly cutting his finger.
"Good sword!"
With eyes alight, Qin Mingde turned to look at Zhouyang, waved his hand, and the pill bottle containing the ’Purple Qi Nourishing Divine Pills’ was tossed towards Zhouyang.
"This bottle of Spirit Pills is yours, young friend."
Though Zhouyang knew that given Qin Mingde’s status, he was unlikely to lie about the effect of the Spirit Pills, he cautiously removed the cork and poured out a pill to sniff for himself.
Spirit Pills beneficial for refining cultivation usually emitted a pill fragrance that, once inhaled, would allow one to sense their potential to enhance one’s cultivation.
Having consumed Spirit Pills of this type more than ten times over compared to his peers, Zhouyang was more adept at discerning them than some alchemists.
Thus, just by lightly sniffing the pill fragrance, Zhouyang could feel his own magical power stirring within, confirming that the ’Purple Qi Nourishing Divine Pill’ indeed had a substantial effect on refining his cultivation, even if it didn’t reach the effect Qin Mingde claimed, it wouldn’t be far off.
Therefore, he quickly returned the Spirit Pill to the bottle and thanked Qin Mingde with a cupped-fist salute, "Thank you, senior."
Qin Mingde didn’t mind his cautious attitude, nor did any of the other observing cultivators mock him for it.
A Treasure Exchange Conference like this one, by nature, tests the discernment of participating cultivators.
Making a mistake by exchanging watermelons for sesame seeds, and realizing it only after the exchange is concluded, would leave one to swallow their grievance.
Following that, once over half of Qin Mingde’s treasures were exchanged away, the rest were left untouched, prompting him to quickly withdraw them, allowing another Golden Core Stage Cultivator to present their treasures for exchange.
The treasures these Golden Core Stage Cultivators presented were mainly Tier Five Spiritual Objects useful for Golden Core Stage Cultivators, and they sought items of the same tier, rarely willing to exchange Tier Five Spiritual Objects for Tier Four ones.
However, Zhouyang seized the opportunity to use a Tier Five Spirit Elixir he had brought from Xu Song’s Cave Mansion to exchange for several Tier Four High-Grade Spirit Pills that could refine his cultivation.
With fewer than twenty Golden Core Stage Cultivators present, the true focus of the Treasure Exchange Conference was still on those Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators.
The treasures the Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators brought forth, though not as valuable as those from Golden Core Stage Cultivators, were more suitable for the broader group of Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators, increasing the likelihood of successful exchanges compared to those of the Golden Core Stage Cultivators.
During the event, Zhouyang also made several transactions, using some self-crafted Magical Artifacts and Spirit Talismans to acquire some good Artifact Refining Materials and Alchemy Materials.
When it was his turn, after some thought, he abandoned the idea of presenting his heavy treasures to seek ’Purple Heart Jade Marrow,’ and instead laid out some ’Fire Separation Essence Gold’ and a few Magical Artifacts, expressing his interest in exchanging for Refining Sword materials like ’Taiyi Essence Gold.’
Fortunately, there were enough High-Tier Cultivators at this Wanhua Mountain event that Zhouyang was able to gather enough ’Taiyi Essence Gold’ for refining his sword with ease, and even acquired quite a surplus.
Thus, after nearly two days, the ’Treasure Exchange Conference’ on Wanhua Mountain finally concluded successfully.
At that time, regardless of whether people like Zhouyang who had little interaction with the Qin Family gained anything from the ’Treasure Exchange Conference,’ they opted to take their leave.
Wanhua Mountain, which bustled for a while, thus returned to its previous tranquility.