Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 1242: Knowledge is Priceless

Chapter 1242: Chapter 1242: Knowledge is Priceless

Gong Yannan’s face couldn’t help but heat up upon hearing Feng Jun’s words. He wasn’t a "naive and silly" person. Among Gu Practitioners, his name was feared, but when dealing with non-Gu Practitioners, he preferred to be reasonable.

Feeling slightly embarrassed by the accusation of forgetting past favors, he could only defend himself with some effort, "The Green Silk Spirit Grass Gu is worth this price."

"Haha," Feng Jun laughed again, choosing not to argue, "I told you before that I have more than one Gu Practitioner by my side, and they couldn’t possibly be ignorant of these Gu insects’ value. Out of trust, I accepted your price, but... they will laugh at me for it."

Gong Yannan remained silent; this was a tough conversation to respond to. If he couldn’t give a satisfactory answer, a confrontation was very likely.

Others might fear Gu Practitioners, but would Mountain Master Feng fear them? Think of the three brothers of the Lu Family, and you’ll know.

Gong Yannan was silent for a long time, eventually sighing, "But these two treatments I provided are from my clan’s secret tome. Many Gu Practitioners recognize these Gu insects, but most don’t know their function... especially the latter one."

After some silence, Feng Jun lightly clapped, "Haha, alright, I accept your reasoning. Knowledge is priceless... Especially here, where the information blockage is extreme."

Kong Ziyi and An Yuhong were already accustomed to Feng Jun’s occasional new terms. Gong Yannan was not, but he couldn’t deny that what this person said was straightforward and easy to understand.

Then, Feng Jun stopped smiling and cleared his throat, "Alright, let’s get to the main topic. Since you believe knowledge is priceless, then the advice to save your grandnephew’s life should also cost a lot."

Hearing this, Gong Yannan squinted his eyes, his face gradually darkening, and he slowly spoke, "Mountain Master Feng, are you threatening me?"

"Threatening?" Feng Jun was taken aback at first, then laughed again, "Haha, you’re overthinking. I have no intention to threaten you. I’m just setting a high price. If you think I’m retaliating, then you’re misunderstanding my intent..."

After a pause, he added, "You can refuse and walk away. I won’t stop you... but one day, your foolish decision could lead your grandnephew to pay a harsh price."

Gong Yannan’s expression gradually softened. He thought Feng Jun was trying to force a sale but after a moment of silence, he spoke up, "Alright, I apologize. I was wrong... Does Yi Yun really have serious issues?"

Feng Jun smiled again but didn’t answer.

He wasn’t particularly angry about buying the Gu insects at a high price; as the other party said, they were ahead in terms of knowledge, and paying for it was reasonable. Feng Jun even considered asking him to look for more medical Gu insects.

However, when An Yuhong brought this matter to light, he couldn’t ignore it—otherwise, what would others think of him?

Seeing no answer, Gong Yannan paused for a moment, then shook his head, "Since it’s expensive, I think I’ll pass. May I leave?"

Feng Jun still didn’t answer, just smiled and spread his hands, which made it clear to everyone.

Gong Yannan cupped his hands and left with his grandnephew. After leaving, he released a flying shuttle and darted away.

An Yuhong couldn’t help but exclaim, "Mountain Master Feng, they really left. You just made a prediction for nothing... aren’t you going to claim your spirit stones back?"

Feng Jun smiled and replied, "Doing business means accepting losses as well as gains, but... although his price was outrageous, knowledge itself is a spirit stone."

He didn’t believe the other party would just leave like that. Otherwise, why leave behind a shadow bug that can only live for a day to eavesdrop?

In fact, even if they really left, it didn’t matter—I’ve already given a warning, and it’s on them if they don’t heed it.

But An Yuhong was a bit unwilling, "Don’t you have an Elder Liao on Mount Zhige? He won’t make fun of you, right?"

Feng Jun was a bit annoyed at her for ruining his plan, but her intentions were good, and she was quite earnest, which was rare among major sect disciples.

So he smiled, "Those guys and their brother are typically brainless; they aren’t smart enough to laugh at me."

Meanwhile, in the flying shuttle, Gong Yannan’s face was as gloomy as water, as he considered whether to return.

Leaving was just a gesture. Although he seemed "naive," it was just his way of "reasoning." He was not lacking in the wisdom and shrewdness expected of someone of high standing—he just wanted to ensure he could leave safely after refusing.

Now it seemed that leaving safely wasn’t much of a problem, so next, he seriously considered whether to spend so many spirit stones to clear a potential "hazard" for his grandnephew.

As for the eavesdropping bug, it was just his habit of being cautious. After all, it only lived for a day, and very few non-expert Gu Practitioners could detect it.

Thinking it over, he decided to lower the shuttle about three thousand miles away to listen to further responses—this distance was the sensing limit for the eavesdropping bug; any further, and it wouldn’t be reliable.

But just then, he caught three words, Elder Liao Brother—it should also be a higher-up to dare to laugh at a superior?

Gong Yannan knew Feng Jun was the Mountain Master of Zhige, and he also knew Mount Zhige was in Donghua Country of the Mortal Realm, but he didn’t really investigate the matter—just a Mortal Realm, after all.

An out of this world Gu Practitioner in the Mortal Realm... Gong Yannan slowly stopped the shuttle.

He finally remembered, not sure if it was last year or the year before, the Gu King of Wan Gu Mountain seemed to have discovered the presence of a newborn Gu King and dispatched several Gu Cultivators to the Mortal Realm. In the end, because some mortals were injured, they were captured.

The news about the Gu King was actually very secretive, but the intelligence of the Snake King was not very high. After discovering that the enemy’s presence had disappeared, he did not keep this matter a secret. And since Wan Gu Mountain is considered sacred in the hearts of all Gu Cultivators, many eyes were watching it.

Gong Yannan had not visited Wan Gu Mountain for four or five years, but he frequently interacted with Gu Cultivators. Upon hearing of this incident, naturally, he did not take it to heart, hence he just remembered— it seemed like he once dealt with those Liao Family Brothers.

What left the deepest impression on him was that the Liao Family Brothers didn’t operate with much intelligence, but they were indeed difficult to deal with.

At this moment, he recalled again, it seemed like the place the Liao Family Brothers went to was... Mount Zhige?

No! He quickly made a decision and turned his flying shuttle around to head back.

Before long, he arrived at White Pebble Beach. After descending from the shuttle, he stood at the courtyard gate and shouted loudly, "Gong Yannan pays respects to Mountain Master Feng."

Upon entering the courtyard, he found three cultivators looking at him oddly. Hesitating for a moment, he stepped forward and cupped his hands, "I left in a hurry just now and forgot to ask Fellow Daoist Feng, how much should the fee be?"

Feng Jun looked at him with a half-smile, "Originally planned to charge you three thousand Spirit Stones, but now it’s going to be six thousand."

Upon hearing this, Gong Yannan couldn’t help but frown—is this provocation?

Raising the price didn’t matter, but I ask for six thousand and you give me six thousand, isn’t that deliberately bullying people?

This time, however, he controlled his emotions well and spoke calmly, "May I ask Fellow Daoist Feng, is it possible to reduce it a little?"

Feng Jun shook his head and replied with a smile, "Knowledge is priceless. May I ask Fellow Daoist Gong, did I bargain just now?"

Gong Yannan’s eyelids twitched twice, "Alright, I agree, but can you first tell me about my grandnephew’s problem?"

An Yuhong snorted coldly and spoke disdainfully, "Mountain Master Feng’s skill in deduction is appreciated even by several real people of our Taiqing. If you try to renege on your words after hearing it, that would be a huge problem."

Gong Yannan thought that made sense too. Once they tell him, can he not pay? Not to mention it might be reasonable, even if it’s not, he still has to acknowledge it—Mount Zhige already has one Gu Cultivator, it doesn’t hurt to have another.

Thus, he took out two Storage Talismans and handed them over. One Storage Talisman contained four thousand Spirit Stones he had just collected, and the other was intended to redeem the Green Silk Spirit Grass Gu with fifteen hundred Spirit Stones, "Only fifty-five hundred Spirit Stones... Can I owe five hundred for now?"

Feng Jun was amused by him again, this Gu Cultivator really is poor, "So you didn’t even prepare the full ransom of two thousand Spirit Stones?"

This time Gong Yannan didn’t try to put on a brave face, instead, he replied with no expression, "Most Gu Cultivators are poor, and with a large clan, being poor is not embarrassing."

"Fine, then remember you owe me five hundred Spirit Stones," Feng Jun took the Storage Talismans, then looked at Gong Yiyun and said with a half-smile, "Regarding your own problem, will you say it or should I?"

Gong Yiyun stared at him in amazement while Gong Yannan looked at his grandnephew with a peculiar expression.

After a long while, the Qi Refinement Realm Gu Cultivator shook his head blankly, "Forgive me, Mountain Master Feng, I don’t understand your words."

"Hehe," Feng Jun chuckled again. To Gong Yiyun, this smile looked as detestable as could be.

Feng Jun really couldn’t help but laugh, these two truly are a perfect match, "Do you think the fire poison on you is completely gone?"

Gong Yannan looked at his grandnephew in confusion, wondering about the fire poison?

Gong Yiyun was also blank-faced, then his expression changed dramatically after three or four seconds.

Almost at the same time, Gong Yannan’s brow furrowed and he spoke sternly, "Is it from twelve years ago?"

Gong Yiyun’s face turned pale, hesitated for a moment, and then replied vaguely, "At that time, I thought the fire poison was cured, didn’t feel anything abnormal."

He was actually lying, the fire poison injury he suffered back then was worse than he admitted, but in order to appear strong and maintain his image of being the best among his peers, he claimed it was just a minor injury.

It could be said that this was just a young man saving face, not a big deal, and it could be clarified in the future. However, later some matters in the clan arose which disturbed the peace for a long time, involving some resource allocation issues.

Gong Yiyun didn’t want his resources to be reduced, so he secretly sought some water system natural treasures to restore himself. He didn’t mention this to Gong Yannan—he knew that his third granduncle valued him highly, but he was ultimately not his biological grandfather.

His biological grandfather had been dead for more than fifty years.

(Recommendation for a new book by a friend, "6666th Rebirth" by Yi Tong Pud, highly recommended, Feng Xiao has read it and thinks it’s good. Also, call for votes, recently the fall has been a bit severe.)