Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 1183: Wu Family Passes the Test

Chapter 1183: Chapter 1183: Wu Family Passes the Test

The Wu Family quickly brought the Youthening Herb over.

They were all very much aware that the Youthening Herb was a treasured heirloom of their clan, but at this moment, they could only swallow their anger and not dare to speak out.

The Pan Family’s example was laid out plainly for everyone—they were still being hunted down as remnants to this very day.

The Wu Family did not want to go from being the hunters one moment to becoming the hunted the next.

The Youthening Herb was stored in an obsidian box with a Spirit Sealing Talisman affixed to it, providing exceptional protection.

Huang Fu Wuxia, well acquainted with treasures, casually tore off the Spirit Sealing Talisman and opened the box. A glint of brilliance flashed in her eyes.

The next moment, she smiled, "It’s of decent quality. Daoist Wu, how many Spirit Stones are you willing to sell it for?"

"Chairman Huang Fu, what are you saying?" Wu Shangren chuckled dryly. "I am simply returning something to its rightful owner. As for the price... You can discuss that with Mountain Master Feng."

"Alright, I know very well what kind of person Mountain Master Feng is," Huang Fu Wuxia waved her hand casually, speaking indifferently. "This Youthening Herb was harvested over fifty years ago. Surely you don’t think we couldn’t tell even this much?"

Feng Jun originally planned to play the fool and accept the Youthening Herb without issue. However, now that Huang Fu Wuxia had spoken so plainly, it would be too shameless to do so. He let out a cold snort, "This Youthening Herb originates from the Endless Sea."

"Oh?" Daoist Wu cast a surprised glance at him. It wasn’t astonishing for Huang Fu Wuxia to discern the herb’s age, but for Mountain Master Feng to recognize its place of origin? That was truly terrifying.

He smiled bitterly, "Let’s just say this herb comes from White Pebble Beach. Consider it my apology."

"That’s not how we handle things. Do we look like robbers who seize and plunder?" Feng Jun’s face darkened as he spoke coldly, "Just say it outright—how many Spirit Stones are you asking for this Youthening Herb?"

Daoist Wu tilted his head in thought before responding solemnly, "Our Wu Family really hasn’t gained much from White Pebble Beach."

"That’s easy, then! I’ll have to inspect your vault," Feng Jun waved his hand nonchalantly. "You should know by now; you won’t be able to hide anything from me. What I’m asking is... how much for the Youthening Herb?"

After some consideration, Daoist Wu finally answered, "Just pay what you think it’s worth. Honestly, I have no idea about the market price for this thing."

The Wu Family had held onto this Youthening Herb for many years, always unsure of how to use it.

Use it themselves? Absolutely not—how could a small clan like theirs afford to spend that kind of money?

Sending it straight to auction wasn’t a great option either. The Wu Family wasn’t particularly wealthy, but a few extra Spirit Stones wouldn’t have made a decisive impact. Worse yet, an auction might attract unwanted attention and create further trouble.

Their plan had always been to use the herb either to curry favor with a powerful individual or to find someone to refine it into a batch of Youthening Pills.

Refining Youthening Pills, however, was no ordinary feat—not only did the Wu Family lack the pill formula, but finding a reliable Alchemist was also far from easy. Suppose the Alchemist ruined the batch—what recourse would the Wu Family even have?

In the last fifty-plus years, the Wu Family had encountered plenty of powerful figures, but not all of them had any special interest in the Youthening Herb. Daoist Wu couldn’t exactly go around asking each one: "Are you interested in this?"

As such, their attitude toward the herb was one of casual reserve. If the opportunity arose, they might gift it or have it refined. Otherwise, they would leave it in their vault as part of the clan’s heritage.

Feng Jun, unsure of its pricing either, turned to Huang Fu Wuxia. "How much is this worth?"

Huang Fu Wuxia blinked her eyes, "Mountain Master Feng, might I ask if you could part with it and let me have it instead?"

"Let you have it?" Feng Jun pondered briefly, then turned to Kong Ziyi. "What do you think about this, Daoist Zi Yi?"

Kong Ziyi smiled faintly. "If you let her have it, I’ll raise the bid against her, and the highest bidder will win."

"Then I’ll buy it and gift it to you," Feng Jun immediately made his decision. If Kong Ziyi had no interest, he wouldn’t mind letting Huang Fu Wuxia have it. But since Kong Ziyi was interested, he would buy it for her without hesitation—there was no way the Wu Family dared to refuse his purchase.

"Feng Jun, that’s going too far!" Huang Fu Wuxia shouted angrily. "You’re willing to buy it for Zi Yi, yet you won’t even let me have the chance to buy it myself!"

"What kind of reasoning is that?" Feng Jun glanced at her and spoke leisurely. "When Daoist Zi Yi passed through Taiqing recently, she even gave me a gift, which I accepted readily, didn’t I?"

Huang Fu Wuxia immediately found herself at a loss for words. After all, the Storage Bag Kong Ziyi had gifted him was no small matter—it was worth at least ten thousand Spirit Stones.

On the other hand, her interactions with Feng Jun had always been strictly transactional—clear and straightforward, which had its conveniences. But such interactions also lacked the depth to accommodate such spontaneous gestures of goodwill.

However, Huang Fu Wuxia was a quick thinker. She waved over Kong Ziyi with a gesture. "Zi Yi, come here for a moment..."

The two whispered quietly for a short while, after which Huang Fu Wuxia approached Feng Jun boldly. "Zi Yi said she wants me to buy it instead!"

Feng Jun glanced at Kong Ziyi, who merely smiled without speaking. He shrugged, "Fine, as you wish."

What had happened was that Huang Fu Wuxia suggested to Kong Ziyi, "Why take on the gesture of indebtedness for something like this? Let’s skip the auction and split the cost. We’ll buy the Youthening Herb together and share the Youthening Pills we refine from it. What do you think?"

Kong Ziyi found the idea agreeable. While she didn’t mind receiving Feng Jun’s generosity, Huang Fu Wuxia’s reasoning wasn’t wrong—there was no need to owe someone a favor over such a trivial matter.

In truth, Kong Ziyi had little interest in taking advantage of Feng Jun, but since he had offered, it felt awkward to refuse.

This arrangement, then, suited everyone. They would pool their Spirit Stones to acquire the herb, refine it into pills, and split the results evenly—saving time and complications.

Huang Fu Wuxia purchased the Youthening Herb for ten thousand Spirit Stones. Truthfully, the herb’s grade was relatively low.

A similar herb had once sold at auction for fifty thousand, but that was due to competing bidders—it wasn’t a rational price.

In private transactions, the price ranged from ten to fifteen thousand Spirit Stones at most.

Ultimately, the value of such items was subjective. The key factor wasn’t the price but whether the owner was willing to sell.

This variance explained why even Feng Jun wasn’t sure of its market value, and Daoist Wu, after hearing the price, could only nod along—whether he was satisfied or not, he had no grounds to object.

To be fair, the ten thousand Spirit Stones offered was already a decent sum.

Later that day, Feng Jun was invited into the Wu Family’s secret vault.

A clan’s vault ordinarily wouldn’t be opened to outsiders. But the Wu Family had no choice.

Feng Jun walked through the vault briefly and then exited. Instead of lingering inside, he sat by the doorway, pulling out a square object and swiping his fingers across it.

Daoist Wu was curious about what he was doing, but Chen Junwei and Jing Qingyang flanked Feng Jun like vigilant sentinels, exuding an aura that warned against any intrusion.

Such a modest vault had nothing that truly interested Feng Jun.

After some time, he put away the mobile phone and spoke lightly, "There’s a five-hundred-year blue-patterned mushroom here—it came from White Pebble Beach."

The Blue Patterned Mushroom was a relatively rare Spirit Grass essential in many elixirs, with older specimens being particularly valuable.

A five-hundred-year mushroom was worth between 800 and 1,000 Spirit Stones.

Daoist Wu froze momentarily, his lips twitching before he nodded. "Alright, I’ll fetch it for you."

"No need," Feng Jun waved dismissively, speaking casually. "It was harvested ten years ago. At that time, I wasn’t yet the Master of White Pebble Beach. I brought this up to remind you: Secrets don’t stay secrets forever."

With those words, he strode out coolly, flanked by his imposing guards.

The Wu Family escorted him and his entourage out, exchanging glances as they exhaled deeply. Finally, the demon had left!

The events of the day had been a rollercoaster, with many twists and turns that left the Wu Family emotionally drained.

Initially, they’d only sought to divide up some benefits, engaging in a total of seven confrontations. Who would’ve thought the reclusive Master of White Pebble Beach would emerge in such formidably domineering fashion?

At first, they had considered allying with the Pan Family—but that powerful outsider was simply too unstoppable. They had no choice but to sever ties with the Pan Family and eventually annihilate them.

Even so, the Wu Family never let their guard down, constantly fearing the outsider’s wrathful retribution and the same fate that had befallen the Pan Family.

Fueled by this apprehension, they even opened their secret vault to Feng Jun. Thankfully, the outcome wasn’t disastrous.

Daoist Wu felt little guilt over betraying and ambushing the Pan Clan. If the relationship between the two had truly been strong, the White Pebble Beach battle would never have occurred. For the sake of the family’s advancement, softheartedness couldn’t be an option.

He turned to a Qi Refining Ninth Layer elder, the same one who had witnessed their duel, and asked, "We were lucky today—they weren’t overly greedy, only taking some Spirit Stones from the Pan Family. What do you think?"

The elder nodded, "A blessing amidst misfortune. Have you considered taking over the White Pebble Beach guardian duties?"

Daoist Wu was taken aback but pondered this notion for a while, eventually nodding. "That’s true. The Sun Family’s behavior has been downright pathetic. If I were Feng Jun, I wouldn’t rely on them either. But given our history... would he even agree?"

The elder responded slowly, "It’s uncertain—we can only take it one step at a time. When you can’t beat them, the only option is to join them."

I’d like to join them, but that depends on whether they’d even have me, Daoist Wu thought bitterly.

Still, recalling that they had at least acted reasonably, he hesitated before speaking again, "Perhaps I should ask if Mountain Master Feng has any plans for the Lu Family brothers—the trio dared to scheme against the Sun Family, which shows disrespect to him."

The elder considered mentioning that the Lu Family trio wasn’t easily provoked, but in the end, he held his tongue...

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