Chapter 870: Selling Spiritual Liquid

Brother Lu's swordsmanship was extremely powerful, and as his companions, they knew this well.

Although he was still some distance from becoming a centurion, the gap was not large.

Such a strong man had thrust over a hundred and thirty times, yet not only had he failed to touch the opponent's clothes, but the key point was... he hadn't even touched a single blade of grass in the opponent's hand!

What's more, after retreating over seventy steps, he abandoned his sword and conceded defeat...

Just what level of strength had the opponent reached to achieve this?

It was laughable that they themselves had thought they were extraordinarily powerful and insisted on competing... it was nothing but self-inflicted humiliation.

"Brother Lu..."

He rushed over quickly and arrived at Brother Lu's side, only to see him looking ashen, as if he had suffered a great blow and still couldn't recover.

"Give him three hundred high-grade spirit stones!"

Brother Lu waved his hand.

The first bet lost a hundred, then doubled, totaling three hundred high-grade spirit stones!

"Yes!"

Wu Xu hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and took out a pile of spirit stones, wrapped them in true energy, and handed them over. Exactly three hundred, no more, no less.

"Then I'll graciously accept!"

Seeing that the other party actually took out so many high-grade spirit stones, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up, and he put them into his storage ring.

Originally, when he made such a bet, he had just said it casually, not expecting them to actually produce the stones. After all, even an elder like Mi didn't have that many spirit stones.

But who knew... they took them out easily. Could it be that these two were not only powerful but also... super wealthy?

If so, he could think of a way to earn more...

Chin in hand, Zhang Xuan pondered.

"I am Lu Cheng. I am inferior in skill. I have troubled you today. May I ask your name, so we might meet again in the future?"

Recovering from the defeat, Brother Lu clasped his fists and said.

A loss was a loss; there was no use denying it. Besides, ahead of them were a Violet Sun Beast and a cauldron, watching menacingly.

"I am Zhang Xuan!"

Zhang Xuan nodded: "It's no trouble at all. Just a friendly spar! If I'm not mistaken, your eagerness to obtain the Red Fire Fruit is to help this Master Wu break through, right?"

"That's right."

Lu Cheng nodded.

The greatest effect of the Red Fire Fruit was to increase the chance of breaking through to Half-Saint. He had long since reached that level, so naturally, he went through all this trouble for his friend.

"Actually, during my fight with Master Wu, I observed carefully. Your accumulation is profound and your strength is formidable. The reason you've been unable to break through is not insufficient cultivation, but..."

Zhang Xuan paused.

"What is it?" Wu Xu couldn't help but look over.

He had been stuck at the Cocoon Seal Realm for a long time. Many who had trained alongside him had already broken through the bottleneck, but he alone could not advance, which had long made him anxious.

When he finally learned of the Red Fire Fruit, he lost his composure and insisted on obtaining it.

If this person could help him break through, he wouldn't mind giving up the Red Fire Fruit.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's due to insufficient true energy and inadequate blood and qi," Zhang Xuan said.

"Insufficient true energy? Inadequate blood and qi?" Lu Cheng and Wu Xu both frowned.

The techniques and martial skills they cultivated were bold and aggressive, emphasizing offense. Coupled with special training, their true essence and physical strength were far greater than those of other masters at the same level.

And this man said they lacked true energy?

If his strength weren't so astonishing, they would have thought he was talking nonsense.

"That's right. Although your accumulation is thicker than ordinary people's, your barrier is also far more solid than normal. Others only need to gather their true energy into a bucket to break through, but you need to gather it into a pond!"

Zhang Xuan said.

"This..."

Wu Xu's face turned pale, then flushed.

What the other said was correct. Although he was extremely powerful at the same level, the barrier he needed to break through was indeed much harder than normal.

That was precisely why he had never succeeded.

"This is a common problem with our cultivation method!"

Lu Cheng sighed, shook his head, and looked over: "Master Zhang, is there a way to solve it?"

To be stronger at the same level, one must accumulate more power, but the more one accumulates, the harder it is to break through.

It was like building a house: the thicker the walls, the sturdier the house, but thicker walls require more bricks and time.

That was their situation now. To be invincible at the same level, they underwent various trainings, compressing their true energy to be purer and purer, accumulating more and more, so naturally, the barrier became thicker and harder to break.

"There is a solution... but it's rather troublesome."

Zhang Xuan paused, then said.

"There is?"

Originally, he had asked casually, not expecting an answer. Hearing this, Lu Cheng's eyes lit up, and he quickly looked at his friend nearby.

Wu Xu also understood, his face flushed with excitement, and he quickly stepped forward with clasped fists: "If Master Zhang has a way to help me break through, Wu is willing to pay any price!"

The young man before him, despite his youth, possessed such strength that he must have an extremely powerful master behind him. His vision was naturally extraordinary, and perhaps he truly had a way to help him succeed in one go.

"To put it simply, it's not complicated. Your true qi is insufficient, but you can quickly absorb spiritual energy to compensate. If you can increase the supply rate of spiritual energy, breaking through won't be difficult!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Increase the supply rate of spiritual energy? I've used plenty of high-grade spirit stones to break through, but the barrier of the Half-Saint remains unbreakable..."

Thinking there might be some method, Wu Xu shook his head with a bitter smile upon hearing this.

Being able to produce three hundred high-grade spirit stones at once showed he was not lacking in them.

If even enough spirit stones couldn't allow a breakthrough, it had nothing to do with increasing the supply rate of spiritual energy.

"High-grade spirit stones can indeed speed up cultivation, but... the supply rate of spiritual energy is still too slow. Most importantly, the spiritual energy within them is too abundant, making it harder to convert!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

"It's indeed not easy to convert high-grade spirit stones!" Wu Xu nodded.

If high-grade spirit stones were compared to beef, they might stave off hunger but were not easy to digest.

"Spirit stones contain abundant spiritual energy, but they are solid, and the spiritual energy takes time to volatilize. Liquid spiritual liquid, on the other hand, is different; its absorption speed is at least two to three times faster. Using it to assault bottlenecks would surely yield twice the result with half the effort!"

Zhang Xuan said.

Spirit stones were beef; liquid spiritual liquid was porridge, easier to absorb.

"Liquid spiritual liquid? Liquid containing spiritual energy... Are you talking about earthly vein spiritual liquid?" Lu Cheng thought for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.

There were many liquids containing spiritual energy, but at the Half-Saint level, the most effective was earthly vein spiritual liquid.

Others were even harder to digest than high-grade spirit stones.

"Correct. This spiritual liquid is condensed from the spiritual energy of earthly veins. Not only is it pure, but more importantly, it is relatively easy to absorb and convert into true qi... If you absorb this to break through, it will be much easier! You can also accumulate a vast amount of true qi in a short time and smoothly break through the barrier!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Earthly vein spiritual liquid... This stuff can only form in places where spiritual energy converges, and it is usually occupied by major powers. It's even rarer than the Red Fire Fruit. Where can we find it..."

Wu Xu smiled bitterly.

Everyone knew earthly vein spiritual liquid was a good thing, but... finding it was no easy feat!

Even if he knew it would greatly benefit his breakthrough, he couldn't find it!

"Well... I did obtain some by chance once, but I planned to keep it for my own breakthrough to Half-Saint..." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

"Teacher Zhang has some?"

Wu Xu's eyes lit up: "Would you be willing to sell me some? I'd like to buy it with high-grade spirit stones..."

"Well..."

Zhang Xuan looked troubled: "You know this stuff is hard to find. I don't have much, so it's really not convenient to sell!"

"If Brother Zhang is willing to share some with me, I'll pay double the price!"

After hesitating, Wu Xu gritted his teeth.

He had to break through to Half-Saint; otherwise, he might be eliminated. In that case, any cost was worth it.

Since the other party had it, it was an opportunity not to be missed.

"Double?" Zhang Xuan shook his head: "Well, since you want it so badly, and we are both master teachers, it's hard for me to refuse!"

With that, he turned his wrist, and a huge gourd appeared in his palm, holding about six or seven liters.

"This is all the earthly vein spiritual liquid I've accumulated. I'll give it all to you!"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

Taking it hastily, Wu Xu pulled out the stopper and immediately saw the gourd was full of earthly vein spiritual liquid, its spiritual energy rushing up, making his pores open wide.

"This... Thank you, Teacher Zhang!"

Seeing that the other had given him all the earthly vein spiritual liquid he had collected, Wu Xu was deeply moved. He solemnly cupped his fists and, together with Lu Cheng beside him, pooled their resources and handed over a storage ring.

"My brother and I left in a hurry, so we brought limited spirit stones. We know this is far from enough to match the value of this spiritual liquid, so we've also included some of our savings over the years. I hope Teacher Zhang won't mind..."

Knowing that the man before him had a sacred beast pet and a sacred artifact and was not short of money, they still couldn't take things for free, especially since they had offered double earlier.

Taking the ring, Zhang Xuan glanced at it and saw it contained a full two hundred high-grade spirit stones, along with many sixth-grade pills and some precious herbs, all of considerable value.

This gourd of earthly vein spiritual liquid, in Hongyuan City, would fetch at most fifty spirit stones. The other had given so much; it was already a huge profit.

It wasn't that the other was foolish with money, but that rarity made it precious. Ordinary people, without his accumulation, could break through to Half-Saint with high-grade spirit stones and had no use for such spiritual liquid.

Without demand, it naturally wasn't worth much.

"Earthly vein spiritual liquid contains abundant spiritual energy. Go back, heal your injuries, adjust your state to the best, and with one concerted effort, a breakthrough is just around the corner!"

Putting away the ring, Zhang Xuan said calmly.

"Yes!"

Wu Xu nodded.

He had just taken a punch from Zhang Xuan and hadn't fully recovered yet. To break through, he naturally needed to adjust to his best state, which was clearly not suitable here.

"Thank you, Teacher Zhang. We brothers will take our leave!"

Having obtained what they wanted, the two lingered no longer. Lu Cheng cupped his fists, and with a leap, they flickered a few times and disappeared from sight.

"Thank you, Teacher Zhang, for saving our lives!"

Seeing them leave, Hu Yaoyao and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Zhang Xuan with admiration.

Before, they only knew this guy was powerful in his auxiliary professions. Now they realized that compared to his cultivation, auxiliary skills were nothing!