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Chapter 199: Hiring Help

“Upper grade! Spirit Sensing upper grade! That’s a peak Spirit Sea existence. We’ve only been students for a little more than a year, but we killed it!” Cai Junyang excitedly said.

He hadn’t been thinking about it too much during the battle, but now that he recalled, he realized that he and Tang Jie had set a record.

Fiend beasts were fierce, and fighting one of the same level and coming out victorious wasn’t easy, much less fighting one beyond one’s level.

He and Tang Jie had only recently entered Spirit Lake, so fighting against a fiend beast of the same level was already pretty good. He had never expected to kill a fiend beast that was one entire tier higher. As he thought about it, the look Cai Junyang gave Tang Jie turned even stranger.

He was well aware of his own strength, so it was only now that he realized how strong Tang Jie was.

Even though he was rather slow to realize, it wasn’t too late. As he looked at Tang Jie, he felt unable to meet his eyes. He thought to himself, Does this guy already have the strength of a peak Spirit Sea?

Tang Jie didn’t feel anything. “In the end, it was a difficult victory. This Quadeye Mantipede is far from what can be considered a formidable fiend beast of the Valley of No Return. Even if we won, that doesn’t mean that we can strut around this place.”

“That’s true. If only we could convert our harvest here into power,” Cai Junyang said somewhat bitterly.

His words gave Tang Jie an idea, but it was such a brief thought that it was gone before he could catch it.

With the medicine applied, the two packed their things and started back on their journey.

Following their original path, they arrived at the place the mantipede had first appeared. They were just about to go over when the tiger growled and ran off to the side of the path.

Tang Jie called out, “The tiger has noticed something. Follow me.”

The two of them hastily followed the little tiger, and it wasn’t long before they reached a grassy clearing and saw the little tiger excitedly circling a tree.

There was nothing unusual about the small tree, but there was a strange plant growing under it. It had violet petals, three to a flower, and six flowers had bloomed, a little purple fruit in the middle of each of them.

“This is… a spirit plant?” Cai Junyang was very uncertain.

He looked at Tang Jie, who replied, “Yes, purpearl fruit. It’s no wonder the mantipede appeared here. It was guarding the purpearl fruits.”

“Purpearl fruits! Haha! Rather than losing money, we made money!” Cai Junyang was ecstatic.

Purpearl fruits were mainly used to increase blood energy, and they were the main ingredients in muscle creation, blood circulation, and explosive strength pills. The exact effects depended on the age of the fruit.

As the plant was three feet high and had a faintly purple luster, it was probably around thirty years old and had only started growing after the last time the valley had been sealed. Even though it was far from reaching the ideal age of at least one hundred years, it was still a rare superb material. It was hard to blame Cai Junyang for smiling so much.

“Half for you and half for me.” Cai Junyang lunged over, and as he plucked the six fruits, he added, “These purpearl fruits are thirty years old, so one can sell for at least three hundred, so three is nine hundred coins. This is nearly a thousand coins, haha… Oh, wait, we also have to give one to the sect.”

Cai Junyang sighed. “I really wish I had snuck in a pill furnace so that I could refine on the spot.”

Tang Jie chuckled. “Keep dreaming! The Valley of No Return is only opened once every few decades, and there are countless valuable resources within. The sect is already being extremely generous by having students hand over only thirty percent. Do you realize that smaller sects have only one or two places like this? While the treasures might be priceless, students can risk their lives and end up having to hand over eighty percent of their gains to their sects. It’s only Basking Moon Academy that takes so little, and you want to enjoy it on the spot…”

As he spoke, his mind suddenly trembled.

That flash of insight from before reappeared, and Tang Jie finally realized what he had almost missed.

Digesting on the spot!

Yes, while others couldn’t, he could.

The vast majority of spiritual materials needed processing and had the best effect when refined into pills, but this wasn’t a problem for him.

The Parting Classic’s body refinement used the base material and had never needed any finished products. This was because it extracted the energy from spiritual materials for use.

Tang Jie had not noticed this before, nor had he felt there to be anything good about this, but now, he realized its advantage.

This meant that he could use all of the harvests from this place to strengthen his body and that he didn’t need to take anything out.

Although the Parting Classic also required boiling water to serve as the medium, that simply called for a wooden basin.

There were trees all over the place, so he just needed to find a larger one and hollow it out to make a basin, after which he could put some water in and heat it. He couldn’t be compared at all to other people, who needed to bring pill furnaces and other support tools.

This also meant that Tang Jie didn’t need to pay the sect thirty percent of his harvest.

And this wasn’t even considering the bigger advantage. He could use his harvests to improve himself and could truly get stronger through combat.

As the Valley of No Return was sealed, there were far more spiritual materials here than in the outside world, most of which were thirty years or older. By gathering many resources and using them, he could go through another leap in power and start up a cycle.

Right now, he could just barely manage to beat an upper-grade Spirit Sensing fiend beast on his own, but after a round of strengthening, he would have a much easier time with them. He might even be more capable of surviving against a Mind Opening fiend beast.

These six purpearl fruits were hugely beneficial for blood energy and were ideal materials for body refinement.

Tang Jie found it hard to contain his excitement, but he managed to restrain himself and said, “Junyang, why don’t you make a deal with me?”

“What?” Cai Junyang was startled.

“I want all six purpearl fruits.”

“Eh?” Cai Junyang was flabbergasted.

Tang Jie took out the crocodile scales and the things he had taken from those three students he had killed from his Mustard Seed Bag. “I’ll use all these things to trade for them with you.”

The crocodile scales were materials for defensive tools and those three students had left behind a spell weapon. These two together were definitely enough to trade for three purpearl fruits.

Cai Junyang hadn’t expected Tang Jie to trade with him, and after calculating the value of the goods, he realized that he was even making a small profit. He suspiciously asked, “Have you found some hidden benefit of these purpearl fruits?”

Tang Jie was rendered speechless. “Hidden benefits, my ass! I want them because I plan to use them. You know that purpearl fruits are beneficial to blood energy, and my constitution…”

Cai Junyang understood. “I get it. You want to make them into pills. If so, then we have a deal.”

After trading for the purpearl fruits, Tang Jie continued with Cai Junyang on their journey.

With a new plan, Tang Jie stopped focusing on fiend beasts and began to look out for spirit plants. After all, the Parting Classic mostly used spirit plants and only an extremely small number of fiend beasts.

They killed the occasional low-level fiend beasts they came across, and Tang Jie traded what spoils he received for materials from Cai Junyang.

In this way, the two of them finally reached that cliff Tang Jie had seen before. Before they were even close to it, they could already see the flocks of Thunderbirds in the air.

These Thunderbirds had a golden luster and had three blue-feathered plumes at the tops of their heads. They had wingspans of nearly four meters, and with each flap, lightning would dance around them.

Each Thunderbird had its own nest on the cliff, and the nests were intricately constructed from branches, dirt, and saliva, much like a swallow’s nest. The nests even used withered pieces of wood and fallen leaves as roofs to shelter against the wind and rain.

They flew up and down into the cliff, entering and exiting their nests while occasionally crying out in pleasant tones. Occasionally, when something alarmed them, they would all take flight. There were less than a hundred of them, but their enormous forms made the sight magnificent, their wings capable of blocking out the clouds and casting a shadow over the world.

Even without asking, one would know that this was Thunderbird Cliff.

Each of these Thunderbirds had the strength of lower-grade Spirit Sensing, and a few of them had reached middle grade. As for the Thunderbird King, it was of Spirit Sensing’s upper grade. But their numbers meant that even Mind Opening fiend beasts didn’t lightly provoke them. Thus, Thunderbird Cliff was one of the most dangerous areas in the Valley of No Return.

In truth, the map of the Valley of No Return had been marked according to the strength of fiend beasts. Any location that was marked meant that this area had a powerful existence, or a powerful group.

Thunderbirds were a ruthless kind of fiend beasts, and they were extremely aggressive. Considering that they were birds of prey that flew at high speeds, few students chose to mess with them.

As they looked at the distant flock of Thunderbirds, they stopped. Cai Junyang said, “It really is Thunderbird Cliff… At least we know where we are now.”

“We know where we are, and where we need to go. I presume that you’re headed to the Ice Cave?” Tang Jie asked.

“Of course. That’s where the Iceflame Red Lotus is. Where else would I be going?” Cai Junyang gave Tang Jie a strange look. “You’re not going to tell me that you don’t want to go, are you?”

“I need to head to Megastone. My young master is there,” Tang Jie replied. One hour ago, Wei Tianchong had confirmed his position. Megastone was on the northern end of the Valley of No Return.

As for the Iceflame Red Lotus, he was in no rush.

To get to the Ice Cave, one first had to pass through the dangerous and unfathomable Floral Forest. The Floral Forest was one of the danger zones of the Valley of No Return, and even if one managed to get through, when one got to the Ice Cave, one would have to deal with the Frost Fairy, a Mind Opening sprite. This was an old monster that had lived through several openings of the valley and could be considered one of the big bosses of the Valley of No Return.

Only by overcoming this threshold could one obtain the Iceflame Red Lotus. Thus, for now, he wasn’t too worried about it.

“So we’re splitting up,” Cai Junyang sighed. He didn’t ask how Tang Jie knew, for he was sick of being told that everyone had their secrets.

“But I really don’t want to go there right now… Junyang, there’s something I would like your help with,” Tang Jie lightly said as he looked at the distant Thunderbirds.

“What is it?”

“Go to Megastone and help me protect my young master.”

“Wei Tianchong?”

“Yes. I have some business to take care of here and can’t leave, so I want to entrust you with that task.”

“What business could you have?” Cai Junyang asked in confusion.

He noticed that Tang Jie was looking at Thunderbird Cliff, and trembled in realization. He said in a shaky voice, “You’re not thinking about dealing with those Thunderbirds, are you? Tang Jie, don’t go crazy on me. There are too many Thunderbirds, and their attacks are too vicious. Even a Mortal Shedding Realm expert wouldn’t dare to challenge them. This giant flock of Thunderbirds is even more threatening than a Mind Opening fiend beast!”

Tang Jie chuckled. “I know what I’m doing. It’s just that if I do this, I won’t have time to help the young master. That’s why I’m asking for your help.”

“No!” Cai Junyang immediately refused. “Tang Jie, I consider you my good brother, which is why I helped you last time and didn’t take the head. But I have no intention of giving up on this True Inheritor opportunity this time. If you want to help Wei Tianchong become a True Inheritor, one reserve slot simply isn’t enough. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning. You have to get all three reserve slots in order to make it work. You and I are bound to be rivals. Even if I help you as a friend, that depends on what you ask of me. In letting you go last time, I already did my utmost duty. Don’t you think it’s a bit much to ask me to go and help out Wei Tianchong?”

“Thirty lower-grade thunderplumes will be your reward for helping me.”

“Wh-what?” Cai Junyang felt like he had been struck by lightning as he stared at Tang Jie in disbelief.

Thunderplumes were the three blue plumes on the crowns of the thunderbirds’ heads. This was where the essence of the thunderbird’s power was gathered, and one could say that eighty percent of their value was gathered in those three plumes. The remainder was in the flesh. Of course, this didn’t count Thunderbirds that had formed fiend pellets.

Thunderplumes had many uses. They could be made into lightning-type spell weapons or they could be used to support the cultivation of lightning-type spells.

A single thunderplume of a lower-grade Thunderbird was worth one hundred coins, a middle-grade one was worth three hundred coins, and an upper-grade was worth six hundred coins.

Thirty lower-grade thunderplumes equaled three thousand spirit coins.

From a student’s perspective, such a gesture could only be considered generous.

At the same time, it also meant that Tang Jie was really planning to attack the Thunderbirds. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be promising thirty thunderplumes.

Cai Junyang was badly shaken by these words. “You’ve gone fucking crazy! These Thunderbirds aren’t something you can provoke! Even ten of you put together wouldn’t be enough to deal with them!”

“I have my ways of resolving this problem. You just need to make a decision.”

“I refuse!” Cai Junyang shouted.

“Forty.”

“Tang Jie, don’t try that on me. There’s no way you’ll succeed.”

“If I don’t succeed, I’ll give you my Mustard Seed Bag and the Heartbreak Saber. In any case, so long as I don’t die, you don’t have to worry about me running on my debt.”

“Then I still won’t agree. I’m getting that True Inheritor position.”

“You have a one-in-several-thousand chance of getting the True Inheritor position.”

“Then I still want to try!”

“Fifty.”

“You…”

“Eighty!”

Cai Junyang stared in shock at Tang Jie, not daring to believe his ears. “Are you crazy? You plan to take down the entire Thunderbird nest?”

“One hundred,” Tang Jie coldly said. “I would only offer this deal to you. No one else is worth this much. I’m asking for your help, but I’m also repaying you for what you did last time! Brother, you should cherish this opportunity. If you protect Wei Tianchong for me, then so long as he doesn’t die, you can essentially get ten thousand coins as a reward. Moreover, you still retain the right to go after the Iceflame Red Lotus yourself. You should know that without me at his side, he can’t pose much of a threat to you. On the contrary, he might even help you out.”

Cai Junyang looked dumbly at Tang Jie. After a while, he said, “You know what you’re doing, right?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, deal!” Cai Junyang gritted his teeth and finally agreed.

Ten thousand coins might not compare to the value of a True Inheritor, but it was definitely far more valuable than a one-in-one-thousand chance at becoming a True Inheritor. No matter how much Cai Junyang desired the True Inheritor post, he had still fallen to Tang Jie’s lucrative deal.

This was the difference between ten thousand dollars and a lottery ticket. Anyone could see which was more valuable.

Cai Junyang looked at Tang Jie and sighed. “If you can really do it… I can only say that when the Wei Clan selected you as a servant student, they really found the right person.”

Tang Jie smiled. “Only a deal that can make the investor money can be considered a good deal… and that’s the only way to draw in more investors.”

Cai Junyang couldn’t understand these words no matter how he thought about them.