This Young Man Runs Extremely Deep; Every Move Must Have a Meaning!

In the end, the flask containing over a thousand portions of Underworld Yin Fiend fell into Wang Yuan's hands. Yet the price was staggering. A full thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones—enough to purchase an entry-level, low-grade magic treasure similar to the Profound Fire Sword. Such an item truly should not have cost so much. At the end of the day, it was only a Tier 1 or Tier 2 material with few practical applications. Its sole merit, which could also be called its shortcoming, was its extreme rarity. Rarity commanded value, and combined with the hefty quantity in the flask, it had fetched such an exorbitant price. Once it was in his grasp, Wang Yuan lost all interest in the remaining auction lots. He had half an impulse to leave immediately and urge Luo Chen to concoct the pill for him. However, Luo Chen held him back to sit through the rest of the auction. "Is there something else you want?" Wang Yuan asked, puzzled. Luo Chen pointed to a name on the ledger. "A Daoist robe?" Wang Yuan was bewildered. "Didn't you already spend a fortune at the Heavenly Garment Pavilion to buy that Red Cloud Robe? What, do you have more spirit stones than you know what to do with, so you want to buy another top-grade one just to rotate through them?" Luo Chen shook his head with a chuckle. Though he kept his daily attire neat and presentable—and cut quite a fine figure—he was no peacock parading his wealth. Rather, as the head of an association, he needed to maintain a certain level of prestige. He could hardly go about in rags when negotiating business with others. That would be disrespectful to his counterparts and disrespectful to himself. By the same logic, Sima Huiniang, as the association's administrator, deserved that same prestige. "This is for Huiniang. Since she reached Foundation Establishment, I haven't given her a congratulatory gift." Wang Yuan parted his lips, but said nothing in response. Instead, a gentler look surfaced in his eyes. After spending so much time together, he had thoroughly grasped Luo Chen's character. Luo Chen drew immense gains from the labor of hundreds of cultivators under his command, propelling his own cultivation forward at astonishing speed. Yet he was never purely exploitative. On the contrary, within the scope of his capability, he treated his subordinates remarkably well. Before their Foundation Establishment, he offered every manner of guidance and earnest advice. After their breakthroughs, he never skimped on congratulations. Take Wang Yuan himself: after he established his foundation, Luo Chen had immediately presented him with Huo Hu's newly unsealed storage bag. Given Luo Chen's initial strength as a nascent Foundation Establishment cultivator at the time, cracking the storage bag of a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator must have cost him considerable time and energy. Later, at the Tianlan auction, Luo Chen had bid on a body-refinement cultivation method for him. Were those not congratulatory gifts for his Foundation Establishment? Presumably, Luo Chen had been equally generous with Duan Feng and Min Longyu. If nothing else, Min Longyu's magic treasure formation plate had clearly been of immense value. There was no way Min Longyu could have possessed either the means or the connections to procure such a thing himself. *Come to think of it, when he established his foundation back then, we didn't give him any gift at all.* Wang Yuan lowered his head, reflecting silently. While his thoughts drifted, Luo Chen had already joined the bidding for that top-grade defensive robe. The Ice Strand Jade Robe! Crafted by the Heavenly Garment Pavilion. It was refined using a small measure of the Ice Fort's Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice alongside a large quantity of glaze azure jade, supplemented by numerous specialized silk materials from the Heavenly Garment Workshop's Chen family. The original intent had been to craft a magic treasure robe. Yet due to the Tier 4 material, the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice, the attempt had failed. Speaking of which, Luo Chen's Ice Emperor Cauldron had likewise succeeded because of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice and failed because of it. It seemed the Ice Fort lacked an optimal way to handle this Tier 4 material under their control. Nearly every magic treasure they attempted to refine with it ended in failure. Nonetheless, though it was a failed product, its potency as a top-grade magical tool was not diminished in the slightest. Under Shi Boying's demonstration and explanation, the Ice Strand Jade Robe exhibited exceptional defensive capabilities. It was snow-white and translucent throughout, speckled with hints of glaze azure. The visual proportions seemed completely inverted compared to the amounts of its main constituent materials. In the end, Luo Chen won the bid for nine thousand spirit stones! This was the most expensive top-grade magical tool Luo Chen had ever purchased in his life. And it was not even for his own use. Watching Luo Chen part with the spirit stones while looking thoroughly pained, Wang Yuan could not help chuckling. "Why puff yourself up when it hurts?" Luo Chen rolled his eyes. "Am I someone who hurts over a mere eight or ten thousand spirit stones? Pfft, pocket change!" Even so, once the auction concluded, he could not resist complaining to Shi Boying. "Senior, you really fleeced us raw today!" Shi Boying said helplessly, "It was not my intention. If it were up to me, why would I make things difficult for you, Fellow Daoist? In truth, these resources were assigned to us by a Golden Core Master of our sect. If we failed to fetch an appropriate price, we would be reprimanded as well." So that was how it was! Luo Chen asked inquisitively, "A Golden Core Master of your Unfeeling Lineage as well?" "How could that be!" Shi Boying sighed. "It was Master Boshuang!" Through her casual explanation, Luo Chen finally learned the general layout of the Ice Fort's current forces. One late Golden Core, two mid Golden Core, and six early Golden Core cultivators. Nine Golden Core cultivators, divided among the Ice Fort's five lineages. The Unfeeling Lineage had once been quite influential, but after Fairy Jueqing personally executed her traitorous Golden Core Dao companion, their strength had plummeted, temporarily reducing them to the weakest lineage of all. They had even been shunted off to Tianlan Immortal City. Under the guise of overseeing the post, they had effectively been sidelined from the Ice Fort's innermost circle of power. Master Boshuang was one of the two mid Golden Core cultivators. Her influence was formidable! With tasks handed down directly from her, Shi Boying and the others had no way to refuse. The convoluted internal strife made Luo Chen's head ache just hearing about it. Yet he also understood why Fairy Jueqing placed such immense value on his Jade Dew Pills. Those pills would allow her to elevate the strength of the Unfeeling Lineage as much as possible. If she could nurture another Golden Core Master, she would still have a chance to reenter the core of the Ice Fort. Luo Chen was particularly intrigued by the tale of Fairy Jueqing personally executing her Dao companion and taking the title 'Jueqing'—the Unfeeling. Regrettably, Shi Boying dared not dwell on such gossip. Luo Chen only gathered that the slain Golden Core Dao companion had been named Shang Yun. Chatting along the way, Luo Chen purchased some materials he required within the Snow Lotus Hall. Items like Phantom Nether Grass and Tier 1 demon fox blood needed to refine Nether-Passage Pills were local specialties of the Ice Fort, held in abundant stock. Just as he was about to depart, Luo Chen seemed to recall something on a whim. He slapped his forehead and retrieved a jade bottle from his storage bag. "Fellow Daoist Shi, when Fellow Daoist Tantai shielded me in secret last time, it was surely thanks to your kind words on my behalf." "I neglected to thank you before." "A humble gift, not worthy of mention." Shi Boying's eyes lit up, and she took the jade bottle without drawing attention to it. Presumably, it was another portion of Jade Dew Pills! Taking bribes was the sort of thing where there was only the first time, and then countless times thereafter. By now, she was thoroughly accustomed to this routine. Escorting Luo Chen to the entrance of the Snow Lotus Hall in person, Shi Boying grew noticeably warmer. "Take care, Fellow Daoist!" Luo Chen waved with a smile, then vanished into the bustling sea of people alongside Wang Yuan. After his departure, the corners of Shi Boying's mouth curved upward. Her aged face was full of smiles. Throughout her long years of cultivation, Luo Chen was the one who best understood how to conduct himself, and the one she admired the most. In his dealings and manners, he truly left no loose ends anywhere. "Only someone like this could carve out a domain of his own step by step without the backing of any faction!" Sighing in admiration, she headed up to the second floor to tally the day's harvest. Passing by the counter, she noticed Qiu Liangyue busily at work and could not help frowning. She had never cared much for this disciple who, like Luo Chen, hailed from rogue cultivator origins and had only entered the Unfeeling Lineage by sheer luck. She had not felt it as keenly before. Yet when compared to Luo Chen, the gap was simply far too vast. She just didn't know how to conduct herself! Engrossed in attending to customers, Qiu Liangyue seemed not to notice her distaste. Yet after Shi Boying walked away, Qiu Liangyue raised her head from behind the counter, her face lined with bitterness. As a rogue cultivator who had weathered countless hardships and seen all sorts of people, how could she fail to notice Shi Boying's displeasure? In fact, it was not just Shi Boying. Hardly any of the other Foundation Establishment disciples of the Unfeeling Lineage ever offered her a pleasant face. She was powerless against it all. She had even begun to feel a faint twinge of regret over joining the Ice Fort. There were none of the conveniences she had envisioned, nor the devoted nurturing she had hoped for. All she received were disdainful, cold glares. All she had was an endless stream of petty, useless chores. To hope to form a Golden Core under her current conditions was nothing short of an idle fantasy. *I thought being transferred from a market deacon to the immortal city would bring me closer to Master Jueqing and earn her favor.* *Yet to this day, I haven't even seen her face once.* *Meanwhile, rogue cultivators like Luo Chen and Wang Yuan, who started out just like me, are not only thriving in the immortal city like fish in water, but are also treated with extraordinary respect.* *Was my choice wrong?* Just as she was murmuring to herself, hurried footsteps echoed from the stairway. Moments later, she saw Shi Boying rushing down in haste. "Senior Sister, what happened?" "It has nothing to do with you. Watch over the Snow Lotus Hall; I need to find Junior Sister Tantai!" Without looking back, Shi Boying threw out a sentence before dashing into the bustling crowd outside the hall. Qiu Liangyue parted her lips, shaking her head in resignation. Once again, she had pressed her warm face against a cold backside. The cultivators of the Ice Fort truly had cold backsides that could never be warmed. ... Inside a cave abode where ice and snow swirled endlessly. Tantai Jin held a snow-white pill between her fingers. Even her habitually cold and frosty countenance was visibly stirred. "A medium-grade Jade Dew Pill!" "Yes, precisely!" Shi Boying could hardly conceal her excitement as she added, "The moment I received it, I brought it straight here. Junior Sister, should we notify Master directly?" Even after being dispatched to Tianlan Immortal City, Fairy Jueqing rarely handled trivial matters. Instead, she delegated all authority to Tantai Jin, her most favored and highest-cultivated disciple. Unless a major event occurred, she seldom stepped outside. Only Tantai Jin could get in touch with her. Suppressing the excitement in her heart, Tantai Jin forced herself to remain calm and asked, "Luo Chen gave this to you?" Shi Boying felt as though a basin of cold water had been dumped over her, and her excitement instantly vanished. Her pale face flushed with awkwardness. "Yes." "The pills in this bottle are almost entirely low-grade Jade Dew Pills, with a single medium-grade one mixed in." "He probably carelessly slipped it in while collecting the pills." "He likely didn't even notice it himself!" Tantai Jin gave a noncommittal hum to this conjecture. Perhaps there was such a possibility. Yet it was far too slim. With someone as shrewd and calculated as Luo Chen, how could such a blunder occur? This had all the hallmarks of being deliberate. Then what was his purpose? To demonstrate that he possessed the ability to refine medium-grade Jade Dew Pills? To use this as leverage to demand greater benefits? Or perhaps stronger protection? Or did he harbor some other motive? Before discerning his intent, she dared not report this to her master. She understood her master's temperament only too well. Ordinary people dared not cross her in the slightest. Years ago, when her master's Dao companion showed signs of betraying the Ice Fort, the Ice Fort's Supreme Elder had intended to handle the matter, but her master had stepped in without a word and settled it all with her own hands. Disturbing her with an uncertain matter would only bring trouble. Gazing at the pill between her fingers, Tantai Jin's throat bobbed as she swallowed involuntarily. This was a medium-grade Jade Dew Pill! Even the low-grade Jade Dew Pills had an effect far exceeding ordinary Dragon Ascending Pills or Qi Harmonizing Pills for her. To say nothing of a medium-grade one! If she could consume medium-grade pills over an extended period, she was immensely confident that she could charge straight to the ninth level of Foundation Establishment within twenty years! By that time, she could represent the Unfeeling Lineage and return to the Ice Fort to contend for the title of Dao Seed. If she succeeded, her hopes of forming a core would be tremendous. In the future, she could even help her master uphold the Unfeeling Lineage and enjoy the finest resources the Ice Fort had to offer. Deep within her heart, she had already made up her mind. No matter what Luo Chen's objective was, she intended to agree to it! Everything for her Daoist path! Snapping back to the present, she looked toward Shi Boying. "Senior Sister, until we have a definitive understanding, we must not disturb Master while she attempts to break through to the mid Golden Core stage." Shi Boying was startled, but quickly concurred, "Naturally. Master's cultivation is the paramount concern!" "However, this matter cannot be ignored either." Tantai Jin took a deep breath and said slowly, "Whether Luo Chen did this intentionally or unintentionally, it at least proves he already has the ability to refine medium-grade Jade Dew Pills. This also means Master's investment in him has borne fruit." Looking at Shi Boying, who was nodding along, she gave her orders directly: "Next, go and thoroughly investigate all information regarding Luo Chen, and even the Luotian Association, big and small." "Present it to me when you're done, so I can be prepared when he demands an exorbitant price." Shi Boying was puzzled. "Is that necessary? Wouldn't it be more straightforward to ask him to his face?" Tantai Jin shook her head. "Luo Chen runs extremely deep; every move he makes must have a deeper meaning." "Back then, when he established a contract with me using low-grade Jade Dew Pills, he made a substantial concession." "Now that he has medium-grade Jade Dew Pills, he holds my lifeline in his grasp. Any new demands he makes are bound to be outrageous." "I refuse to remain passive, which means I must seize the initiative!" Listening to this analysis, Shi Boying felt as though a veil had been lifted. A look of shame even surfaced on her face. She had lived to such a ripe old age, yet she had essentially been working behind closed doors. Never mind that she could not compare to a formidable figure like Luo Chen, who had clawed his way up from the bottom; she could not even match the sharp, delicate mind of her junior sister, who devoted herself entirely to bitter cultivation. Accepting the order, Shi Boying flew away from Tianlan Peak and gazed into the distance toward Luo Chen's cave abode. "In just these short ten years in Tianlan, I've truly had my eyes opened!" ... Inside Cave Abode Yi-17. Luo Chen watched as Bai Meiling prepared portion after portion of medicinal herbs for refining Emperor Flowing Fluid, categorizing and placing them where they would be most convenient for him to reach. Afterward, he took out the carcass of that Tier 2 frost demon wolf from his storage bag. Based on past experience, the blood, flesh, and bones contained in a Tier 2 demon beast carcass were enough to support ten refinement attempts. He could even refine the frost wolf's demon core into it. That way, the resulting Emperor Flowing Fluid would pack even more medicinal potency! The reason he had been able to charge straight to the second level of Foundation Establishment on residual medicinal strength after his breakthrough back then was not just thanks to that Tier 2 upper-grade cave abode on Mount Luofeng, but also the residual power of two Foundation Establishment Pills and three portions of Emperor Flowing Fluid. In particular, those three portions of Emperor Flowing Fluid had contained the power of a blazing cloud roc's demon core. That had been the demon core of a Tier 2 demon beast! Even just a tenth of it contained immense spiritual power. Of course, doing so would make the refinement process far more intricate, and the difficulty would multiply. Luo Chen was not overly worried about that. Back in the Qi Refinement stage, he had been able to refine Tier 2 pills beyond his realm. Now, his alchemy attainments were ten or a hundred times greater than before; achieving success would be well within his grasp. He was not worried about the Emperor Flowing Fluid. At the moment, he was curious about something else. *Why hasn't word come from the Ice Fort yet?* *Could Shi Boying really not have noticed that medium-grade Jade Dew Pill?* *Right now, the Luotian Association is in a period of consolidation and can't offer me much assistance. I've pinned my hopes on the profits this medium-grade Jade Dew Pill can generate.* *Don't keep me waiting too long!* His intentions were worlds apart from Tantai Jin's conjectures. Luo Chen's request this time was pitifully simple: he merely wanted to earn a few more spirit stones. One could only say that unseen overthinking was the most lethal of all.