Zi Yunshu and Yu Mi exchanged smiles, deliberately keeping Bao Gu in the dark.
Soon, the snow leopard demon beast meat, marinated with spiritual herbs, was ready. The three of them, along with the Duobao Spirit Monkey, enjoyed the meal immensely. After devouring a juicy leg of leopard meat in one go, the Duobao Spirit Monkey generously offered three gourds of Monkey Wine to the trio.
Yu Mi uncorked a gourd and took a sniff, realizing it was the pure, undiluted Supreme Monkey Wine. She chuckled to herself, thinking, “Sneaky monkey, always complaining about being out of wine. How come there are suddenly three gourds?” She also marveled at the amount of spiritual fruits needed to brew such a quantity of Supreme Monkey Wine. Where did the Duobao Spirit Monkey get so many spiritual fruits? Then, remembering the monkey’s thieving nature, she figured it out. Stolen, of course!
Bao Gu, knowing her cultivation was too weak to handle the Supreme Monkey Wine, politely set aside the gourd given by the Duobao Spirit Monkey and started drinking the spiritual wine Yu Mi offered her. After a few sips, the aroma of the Supreme Monkey Wine from Yu Mi and Ziyun Shu made her head spin, and she soon passed out. In her daze, she saw a man in a flowing purple robe sitting by the fire, taking a gourd of Supreme Monkey Wine from her senior sister and drinking it in one gulp before taking the gourd away.
Pointing at the man in the purple robe, Bao Gu protested, “Don’t you dare take my senior sister’s wine!” She then collapsed, still glaring at the man, and quickly fell asleep.
When she woke up, she found herself still lying by the fire, with the sky now dark and snow falling. The snow leopard was reduced to a skeleton, and the Duobao Spirit Monkey was cracking open bones to drink the marrow. Bao Gu wondered since when did monkeys eat meat? She looked up at the man sitting across from her and asked, “Who are you?” He seemed about thirty, with a dignified air, but his act of taking Yu Mi’s wine was annoying.
Yu Mi scolded, “Bao Gu, show some respect. Hurry up and greet your grandmaster.”
“Grandmaster? So young??” Realizing her faux pas, Bao Gu quickly added, “And so handsome?” trying to flatter him.
Zi Tianjun smiled and asked, “Bao Gu, what are your thoughts and plans for the future?”
Bao Gu sensed the seriousness behind Zi Tianjun’s smile and thought he must have some considerations for her. She said, “Grandmaster, Bao Gu believes that no matter how poor our home, Xuantian Sect, might be, we should never give up.”
Zi Tianjun asked, “If it can’t be saved, leading to ruin and death, would you prefer to relocate to avoid disaster or stay and fight to the bitter end?”
Bao Gu hesitated before answering, “Relocate to avoid disaster. If the enemy relentlessly pursues us, there will be no peace anywhere. If we just retreat, Taiyin Sect will think we are afraid and intensify their pursuit. Losing Xuantian Sect’s foundation means losing our footing. Even if Xuantian Sect is poor, it’s still our home. Without a home, where can we stand?”
Zi Tianjun replied, “It’s rare for you to think this way! But I was asking about your personal plans, not Xuantian Sect’s.”
Bao Gu blushed, embarrassed. She bit her lip and said, “My cultivation is weak, so my priority is to cultivate. But it won’t happen overnight, and I need a lot of spirit stones! Xuantian Sect is in danger partly because of me. Although I’m weak, I can’t just hide and live a peaceful life. I can’t live peacefully anyway. Selling a bit of Duobao Spirit Monkey’s Supreme Monkey Wine to get a large amount of spiritual pills, spirit stones, and refining materials to enhance the disciples’ strength. Our sect has many elders at the late Nascent Soul stage, just a step away from the Spirit Transformation stage. I’ll discuss with Duobao Spirit Monkey to bring out some treasures to boost everyone’s strength!”
She turned to Duobao Spirit Monkey and said, “Little monkey, I don’t want to take your things, but it’s a critical moment. We’re in this together. Once we get through this, Xuantian Sect will grow stronger, and you’ll have whatever you want.”
Duobao Spirit Monkey chirped, looking pitifully at Bao Gu.
Bao Gu patted Duobao Spirit Monkey’s head, saying, “Be good, it won’t be long before I return what I took from you.” She then looked at Zi Tianjun and said, “Grandmaster, we can’t just take the little monkey’s things for free. If we only rely on what’s in the little monkey’s belly, we’ll be sitting ducks.”
Zi Tianjun smiled, turned to Duobao Spirit Monkey, and said, “Duobao, how about a fair exchange of goods?”
Xuantian Sect was poor, and many members were stuck at bottlenecks unable to break through. If they had spiritual pills to help, Xuantian Sect’s strength could increase exponentially. Those stuck at the Foundation Building stage could use Golden Core Pills to break into the Golden Core stage, and those at the Golden Core stage could use Nascent Soul Pills to reach the Nascent Soul stage, while those at the Nascent Soul stage could use Supreme Monkey Wine to break into the Spirit Transformation stage.
Golden Core Pills were relatively easy to find, just lacking some main ingredients. Nascent Soul Pills, however, had ingredients that had been extinct for years, and no one had seen them being made for a long time. Now, with Duobao Spirit Monkey, there was hope to gather the ingredients for Nascent Soul Pills.
As for Supreme Monkey Wine, it was a treasure. Zi Tianjun had broken through to the Spirit Transformation stage with just half a gourd of Supreme Monkey Wine from Feng Yi. If Xuantian Sect could have a few more Spirit Transformation stage experts, they wouldn’t fear Taiyin Sect. Three Spirit Transformation stage experts standing together would be an invisible deterrence without even lifting a finger.
What they needed now were spiritual pills and time!
Zi Yunshu also gave her gourd of Supreme Monkey Wine to Zitian Jun.
Zi Tianjun handed a storage bag to Duobao Spirit Monkey, saying, “Take a look at what’s inside.”
Duobao Spirit Monkey took the storage bag, explored it, and chirped happily at Zi Tianjun.
Zi Tianjun listed dozens of spiritual herbs, saying, “I’ll exchange these herbs and fruits in the storage bag for the same types of herbs and grasses you have. Whatever quantity you have, I’ll exchange for it!”
Duobao Spirit Monkey looked at Zi Tianjun, counting on its fingers, seemingly calculating if the deal was worth it. After a while, it scratched its head, seemingly confused, and looked at Bao Gu for help.
Bao Gu smiled and said, “I’ll help you calculate!” She took out her family’s abacus, shook it, and positioned the beads, saying, “The herbs grandmaster is offering can be found in the market or within sects, not extinct ones. What you should exchange with Duobao Spirit Monkey are rare and extinct items. Rarity makes them valuable. Grandmaster, for the sake of our shared lineage, I’ll give you a discount. For the same grade of treasures, one for five! Only same-grade exchanges, third grade for third grade, fourth for fourth, fifth for fifth. If grandmaster wants to exchange for ninth grade, please use ninth grade sacred herbs.”
Duobao Spirit Monkey’s eyes lit up at the one-for-five exchange, eagerly nodding and hugging Bao Gu’s neck, looking utterly adored.
Zi Tianjun agreed. Exchanging five common spiritual herbs for extinct ones was a great deal.
Bao Gu added, “For every set of alchemy ingredients we gather, you need to give me some corresponding pills. I know a batch of pills can yield as few as three to five or as many as a dozen or twenty, like Qi Pills which can produce dozens to hundreds per batch. I won’t ask for much, just ten percent.”
Zi Tianjun looked deeply at Bao Gu and nodded. He felt like this girl didn’t seem like a cultivator but more like a born merchant!
Bao Gu said, “Deal, let’s start the exchange.” She asked Duobao Spirit Monkey to give her the storage bag, and she first categorized the herbs in her grandmaster’s storage bag by grade, then counted the quantity of each grade. She also had Duobao Spirit Monkey take out the herbs and grasses her grandmaster wanted, categorizing and counting them. She exchanged them at a one-to-five ratio under the watchful eyes of her grandmaster and Duobao Spirit Monkey.
Duobao Spirit Monkey was thrilled to see one herb exchanged for five, jumping around happily.
Zi Tianjun also smiled, pleased to exchange common spiritual herbs for a large amount of rare ones at such a low price.
Both were happy with the spiritual herbs and grasses they received.
Bao Gu, seeing the transaction complete, said, “Grandmaster, I know you want to refine Nascent Soul Pills. I don’t need Nascent Soul Pills right now, and some fellow disciples do. Please convert the Nascent Soul Pills to spirit stones at market price for me. I know Xuantian Sect’s spirit stones are scarce. If you can’t gather enough spirit stones, the shortfall can be covered with spiritual pills, refining materials, and magical treasures.”
She calculated that Zi Tianjun could refine five batches of Nascent Soul Pills, with at least three pills per batch, accounting for failure rates, she should get at least one Nascent Soul Pill. She also calculated the number of Golden Core Pills and Foundation Building Pills she was entitled to, then eagerly looked at Zi Tianjun, asking him to “pay.”
Yu Mi and Zi Yunshu were dumbfounded.
Zi Tianjun was silent for a while before quietly handing Bao Gu a storage bag, saying, “This is all I have! Take it!” Seeing Bao Gu about to speak, he glared at her and said, “Would I ever treat you unfairly in the future?”
With a flick of his sleeve, he left! He realized that through this middleman role, Bao Gu had earned a Nascent Soul Pill, five Golden Core Pills, and ten bottles of Foundation Building Pills without any investment. What a profitable deal!
Bao Gu quickly opened the storage bag Zi Tianjun gave her and looked inside. There wasn’t a single top-grade spirit stone, just over a hundred high-grade spirit stones, several hundred mid-grade spirit stones, a pile of low-grade spirit stones, and a bunch of magical treasures she couldn’t understand. She pouted, feeling wronged, and muttered, “Grandmaster is bullying me! Cheating!”
Zi Tianjun, flying high in the sky, blushed and cursed silently, “Damn!” before swiftly flying away.
Yu Mi snatched the storage bag from Bao Gu’s hand and looked inside, her mouth gaping open. She pulled out a pair of underwear and looked at Little Martial Aunt, saying, “Little Martial Aunt, is this your dad’s underwear?”
Zi Yunshu’s face turned red instantly. She stood up, ready to strangle Bao Gu, but quickly changed her move, snatching the storage bag and underwear from Yu Mi’s hand. She quickly checked the bag for any embarrassing items, then threw the bag back to Bao Gu, glaring fiercely. Her beautiful face was so red it seemed to bleed, angrily staring at Yu Mi, who couldn’t straighten her back, and threateningly said, “Keep it to yourself, or I’ll kill you!”
Bao Gu quietly took the storage bag and sneaked towards the house. Just a few steps away, she saw Yu Mi suddenly flip Little Martial Aunt over, pinning her down and sitting on her waist, while pinching Little Martial Aunt’s chin, teasing, “Little Martial Aunt, why is your face so red? It’s not like I sold your underwear. Why are you blushing?”
Zi Yunshu was furious, her chest heaving.
Yu Mi, eyes wide, stared at the heaving chest like a lecher, thinking, “Little Martial Aunt is really saucy, transforming into a human form with such big breasts!” She squeezed them, finding them surprisingly real.
Bao Gu looked down at her own modest chest, pouted, and turned back to yell at the two women rolling and fighting in the snow, “You’re both grown-ups, yet still rolling in the snow!”
So what if you have big breasts!
