All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 413 - 56 Beginnings and Cornerstones (3/3)

Chapter 413: Chapter 56 Beginnings and Cornerstones (3/3)

Shopping was quick.

Within less than two hours, An Jing had bought all the Spiritual Materials needed for the Dragon Storing Bottle with Huo Qing at Xuanye Special Market—the inventory at Linlang Commerce Chamber had some, and the rest were supplemented here.

Subdue Evil, although not skilled in pill concoction or talisman crafting, was quite proficient in Formation and Artifact Refining. Once back in Embracing the Void realm, It said It would teach An Jing a technique for Artifact Refining, specifically to craft the ’Dragon Storing Bottle’.

As for fertilizers, An Jing had originally doubted whether Tianyuan Realm would have such effective ripening products. Unexpectedly not only did they exist, but there were also several varieties, making An Jing feel ashamed of his previous doubts about the technological capabilities of Tianyuan Realm.

An Jing bought a portion of each of the top-selling ripening fertilizers on the market—"Cao Mu Mao", "Jin Xi Rang", and "Su Sheng Ling". He planned to test them back in Embracing the Void to see which one was better before buying in bulk.

All these purchases together cost two thousand four hundred Good Deeds. An Jing’s Good Deeds were now depleted, but there was still plenty of Frost Jade and a considerable amount of Spiritual Objects in the storages of Linlang Commerce Chamber. Huo Qing didn’t think An Jing would be short of money, so she transferred some funds from her end.

"This operation has gone surprisingly smoothly."

There weren’t many people in the Special Market today, probably because many had gone to enjoy the bustle at Chonggang Town. An Jing looked around the market and nodded, "Mission accomplished, I can almost leave now."

"Wait another day or two," Huo Qing said, shaking her head slightly. "The Fire Crow Monsters are still wandering in the Wilderness. Wait until the Subdue Demons Guard Squad from Floating Dust Plains has eliminated them. They are experts at subduing Monsters/Demons. The roads will be safe in a day or two."

"That makes sense."

An Jing was not in a hurry and naturally wouldn’t expose any flaws out of impatience.

In the Special Market, the large screens that usually played advertisements were now urgently broadcasting news about the Ancient Immortal Ruins. An Jing had seen the scene of Chonggang Town splitting open ten times now, and he could even vaguely see his own warehouse in the elevated eastern district—a somewhat satisfying sense of involvement.

The advertisements broadcasted between the news were varied: Body Protection Artifacts, high-quality talismans, Heart Condensing Jade Pendants, and secret manual sets... Health products, virtual companions, personal flying swords, and house-sized Spirit Gathering Array Plates, everything was available.

An Jing watched these advertisements with keen interest. Huo Qing and the others had long since grown tired of them, but for him, they represented the powerful technology and productive capacity of Tianyuan Realm.

While Embracing the Void realm might not fall short in high-end technology, and might even surpass Tianyuan Realm, in the civilian technology for the middle and lower classes, the accessible Artifacts for ordinary cultivators, Tianyuan Realm unquestionably outmatched Embracing the Void.

To the locals, these advertisements were nothing new, but for An Jing, each one represented major reform when introduced to Embracing the Void realm. They could support him in establishing a new force.

"Linjiang City is my starting point, but it is not my foundation."

An Jing thought, "This place can serve as a node for me within Da Chen territory, but I must not place the core of my power here... I must leave Da Chen, find a land where a powerhouse can support me, allowing me to act freely, only then can I fully develop and establish the base I desire."

"For now, it seems like only Bright Mirror Sect, only Dust Li, is the option."

As An Jing was deep in thought, he noticed a familiar figure flash across many of the advertisements: "Nian Quan?"

He looked carefully and saw that it was an advertisement for the Special Market competition, and his friend Nian Quan’s Third Middle School team had taken third place in the group competition.

"Not bad at all," An Jing smiled. "I remember there were over thirty official teams in the competition, so third place is quite valuable."

He continued to watch the promotion and found out that the personal competition of the Special Market tournament had also reached the halfway mark—with thirty-six contestants originally qualifying, two rounds of eliminations had passed, leaving sixteen competitors.

The sixteen contestants were now engaged in intense point cycle matches, aiming to eliminate half of the players after five rounds. The event had reached its third day.

Nian Quan’s score was ’3-0’, meaning he had defeated three opponents in a row, undefeated and directly qualified for the finals to start preparing for the last double-elimination round.

"He’s really strong," An Jing remarked.

Huo Qing had not contacted Nian Quan since they first met, but since Nian Quan was also a friend of An Jing, upon seeing Nian Quan’s performance, he sincerely felt happy for him, "He’s already secured a spot in the top eight, and out of the remaining top sixteen, there are actually ten from First Middle School!"

Seeing this, Huo Qing was also surprised, "That’s incredible! An Jing, your friend has won two matches against students from First Middle School! One of the students from First Middle School has already been eliminated because of this!"

"Ah?" An Jing blinked, a bit puzzled by Huo Qing’s astonishment, "So they’ve been eliminated, what of it? If there are ten people from First Middle School in the top sixteen, a few have to be knocked out, right? Do they really expect to monopolize the top eight?"

"More than that!"

But Huo Qing shook his head, making an even more exaggerated statement, "If it’s the First Middle School I know of, they might not participate in competitions normally, but once they do, they absolutely have to cling to all the top ranks!"

"If four people participate, they’ll take the top four, if eight people participate, the top eight, with ten people it’s the top ten, there are hardly any exceptions!"

"This time is the exception then." An Jing raised his head, looking at the big headshot of Nian Quan that had appeared once again, finding the contrast between the emotionless profile picture and the face he remembered quite interesting, "With Nian Quan’s abilities, as long as he can successfully refine Qi with the ’Lingze Rejuvenation Pill’ I gave him, he should have no problem making it to the finals among his peers, if not being undefeated."

"That’s the principle of it... but can people from First Middle School accept it?"

Huo Qing, though he had never attended an official school, was a local and had long heard of the reputation of First Middle School, thus he frowned and said, "Looking at these scores... by the time we get there, all the other top eight except Nian Quan will be from First Middle School."

"It’s fine if he just wants to show his face in the top eight, but if he wants something higher, that’ll be trouble."

"Let’s get in touch and congratulate him first."

An Jing didn’t worry too much, took out his Water Mirror, and sent a message to Nian Quan [Congratulations on making the top eight! Keep it up!].

Before An Jing could put down the Water Mirror, a ’typing...’ status bar appeared on Nian Quan’s side, along with a [smiling] emoji.

It didn’t take long for Nian Quan’s reply to come: [Mm, thank you!].

Xuanye City Special Market, Underground Spirit Vein Area.

Players’ resting room.

Nian Quan sat with his eyes closed, and in the ’Special Concern’ section of the chip in his brain, besides the grey-black ’Mom’, only a red ’An Xuan’ was blinking.

An Xuan: [You’ve refined Qi, haven’t you? Keep it up, take first place!]

Upon seeing this message, Nian Quan paused for a moment, then a barely noticeable bitter smile appeared. He stirred his Divine Sense and replied: [Mm. I’ve refined Qi. But...]

The young man thought for a bit and still typed out the second half of the sentence: [But, I may not continue to compete. Making the top eight is already quite good, the principal can accept this result too. After the interview in a couple of days, I’ll go back to school]

An Xuan: [Typing...]

An Xuan: [Why?]

Although it was only three words, the perplexity spilled out of the dialog box. Nian Quan lowered his eyes, he looked at his right hand already bound in bandages and medicinal paste, and the greenish-brown traces of poison that were spreading from his elbow. He tried to input in a nonchalant tone: [There was a bit of an accident, I got injured]

[It’s not shameful to lose to First Middle School, it’s okay, making the top eight is already very impressive]

An Xuan: [Typing...]

An Xuan: [I’m in the Special Market, where are you?]

[I’ll be right there]