Chapter Seventeen: Mo Yun Jing
Within ten years, all the immortal artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level assigned to Tongzhou Hall’s artifact-forging tasks went to Juehuo Peak. As a result, Juehuo Peak built a large building on the peak called “Absolute Great Fire” to accommodate various merchant groups and cultivators who wished to apply for artifact forging. The person in charge of receiving them was Lin Po.
Lin Po had already reached the rank of Six-Star Human Soul Immortal. Having him handle thereception gave guests a sense of being treated generously, as a Six-Star Human Soul Immortal was considered a mid-level powerhouse on Zhu Yan Star. At that time, Lin Po was receiving representatives from the Zhu family, and it was a significant deal, so he went to the Peak Master’s Pavilion to report to Zhen Nantian, asking the peak master to handle this important transaction.
The Zhu family was the strongest among the three major forces on Zhu Yan Star. Undoubtedly, Lin Po couldn’t act on his own and had to let the peak master negotiate personally.
Zhen Nantian, who had just finished discussing points with Fire Lord, heard Lin Po’s report and realized that the Zhu family must have brought a major deal. Delighted, he immediately left the Peak Master’s Pavilion. Fire Lord secretly communicated with the God of Artifacts and learned that the representatives from the Zhu family were led by Zhu Bao. Thus, Fire Lord followed Zhen Nantian to “Absolute Great Fire” as well.
In the reception hall, three people from the Zhu family were present, all of whom Fire Lord recognized—they were the same three individuals from Hai Lan City: Zhu Bao, Zhu Ding, and Zhu Ping. When Zhen Nantian entered, the three members of the Zhu family simply nodded. But when they saw Fire Lord behind Zhen Nantian, their faces lit up with joy, as if they had met an old friend after years of separation.
“Haha, welcome, esteemed guests, to our Tongzhou Hall! I am Zhen Nantian, the peak master of Juehuo Peak,” Zhen Nantian declared, his large belly shaking as he spoke.
Zhu Bao bowed and sat down, then said with a smile, “Peak master, I am Zhu Bao. In the past, I always communicated with Peak Master Leng Gu. Hearing that all immortal artifacts below the Human Soul Immortal level at Tongzhou Hall are entrusted to your peak for forging, I really wanted to meet you, so I came to disturb you.”
Upon hearing this, Zhen Nantian looked somewhat surprised, as if he had heard of Zhu Bao’s name before.
“Brother Zhu Bao, since we are both Human Soul Immortals, let’s call each other brothers from now on. What kind of immortal artifacts does brother Zhu Bao want Juehuo Peak to forge this time?” Zhen Nantian asked directly.
Since taking on Tongzhou Hall’s artifact-forging tasks for Human Soul Immortals, Zhen Nantian had devoted himself entirely to artifact forging and treated every guest who came to Juehuo Peak with courtesy. Of course, what concerned him most was the number of immortal artifacts each guest wanted to have forged.
Zhu Bao listened with a smile, then said, “Peak Master, let’s stop with the pleasantries. I’ll just tell you directly how many immortal artifacts our Zhu family needs this time. There are ten thousand immortal artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level, and an equal number at the Human Spirit Immortal level.”
Zhen Nantian was stunned upon hearing this and looked at Zhu Bao in disbelief, as if doubting what he had just heard. Generally, over ten years in Tongzhou Hall, they would receive only about ten thousand crafting tasks. Now, as soon as Zhen Nantian took on the task of crafting artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level, he encountered such a large order, leaving him utterly overwhelmed. The reason was that he had never received any substantial orders before—only small ones of a hundred pieces at a time. This time, it was directly ten thousand pieces, so he was struggling to process it.
Fire Lord smiled faintly and then kicked Zhen Nantian’s little foot, saying, “Fatty, reply.”
“Oh…” Zhen Nantian regained his energy.
Zhu Bao, Zhu Ding, and Zhu Ping all looked at Fire Lord’s action with disbelief. They knew very well that Fire Lord had only joined Tongzhou Hall for a little over a year, yet he dared to kick Peak Master Zhen Nantian’s foot—how incredible!
The hierarchy in the immortal realm was strictly enforced. Those with lower cultivation levels had to be respectful and careful when dealing with those of higher cultivation. Especially for a powerful family like the Zhu family, the rules were even stricter. Thus, it was hard for these three to believe what Fire Lord had just done.
“Brother Zhu Bao, our Juefire Peak has taken on the ten thousand immortal artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level. As for those at the Human Spirit Immortal level, we can’t take them—those need to be assigned to other crafting peaks in Tongzhou Hall,” Zhen Nantian said with a smile after regaining his composure.
Zhu Bao nodded and said calmly, “I’ve already heard about the changes in Tongzhou Hall, so I brought these ten thousand immortal artifacts at the Human Soul Immortal level. Peak Master, since this crafting task is quite large, I hope you can offer some discounts to our Zhu family. I believe you’ll consider it.”
With such a large quantity, discounts were necessary.
However, as a peak master of Tongzhou Hall, how could Zhen Nantian not understand what Zhu Bao meant? So, while he pretended to respond verbally, he secretly used his immortal perception to communicate with Zhu Bao.
“Brother Zhu Bao, usually, an immortal artifact at the level of a one-star Soul Immortal costs fifty Origin Stones. One at the two-star level requires 200 Origin Stones; three stars need 1,000 Origin Stones; four stars demand 5,000 Origin Stones; five stars require 10,000 Origin Stones; and six stars need 20,000 Origin Stones. How about this? On the surface, I’ll give you a 3% discount, and I’ll also transfer you an additional 2%,” Zhen Nantianxian transmitted through his consciousness.
In reality, this meant Juehuo Peak was offering a 5% discount. However, as the representative of the Zhu family, it was necessary to give Zhu Bao some benefits—this was a common unspoken rule in the immortal realm.
“Peak Master, then I’ll consider you my friend. It’s settled,” Zhu Bao replied through his consciousness.
Soon, the two Soul Immortals exchanged messages via their consciousnesses and reached a cooperation agreement.
On the surface, Zhen Nantianxian said with a smile, “Brother Zhu Bao, right now, many guests on Zhu Yan Star are requesting the creation of immortal artifacts, and Juehuo Peak can’t handle it all at once. But since the Zhu family is the leading force among the three major factions on Zhu Yan Star and has given us Tongzhou Hall such a large order, how could I possibly be distracted? How about this, Brother Zhu Bao? I’ll give you an additional 1% discount according to the previous rules.”
“Peak Master, that won’t do. Our Zhu family also has partners on other planets. With such a small discount, I can’t guarantee that we’ll give this order to your Tongzhou Hall,” Zhu Bao replied with a calm smile.
“Well… Brother Zhu Bao, you really put me in a difficult position. Fine, I’ll make a decision on my own. How about I give you a 2% discount?” Zhen Nantianxian hesitated for a long time before responding.
Zhu Bao shook his head and then said calmly, “Peak Master, I understand your difficulties. How about a 3% discount?”
Zhen Nantianxian stared at Zhu Bao and remained silent for a long time, pretending to be troubled.
“Since the Peak Master can’t make a decision, then I’ll leave Tongzhou Hall. If our Zhu family has any tasks in the future, we can discuss them then,” Zhu Bao said angrily, standing up ready to leave after seeing that Zhen Nantianxian didn’t respond.
“Don’t… don’t go, Brother Zhu Bao! I’ll risk being punished by the hall master just to reach an agreement with you—3% discount!” Zhen Nantianxian frantically grabbed Zhu Bao and hurriedly said.
Huozun had been watching their interaction with a smile. The Spirit of Weapons had reported everything about their secret conversations to him without any changes.
The soul of the Spirit of Weapons was too special; no consciousness could escape its detection.
Zhu Ding and Zhu Ping also watched with smiles on their faces. They knew there must be some secret deal going on, but they didn’t point it out, preferring to maintain this atmosphere together. After the agreement was reached at Zhen Nan Tian Shang, Zhu Bao finally turned his attention to Fire Lord. “Fire Lord, it’s been over a year since we last met. I never expected we’d be so fate-bound—your arrival at Jue Huo Peak, and your cultivation level rising from one-star Human Soul Immortal to four-star Human Soul Immortal,” Zhu Bao said with a smile. With his own cultivation level as a lower-tier Human Soul Immortal, he could instantly discern Fire Lord’s level as a Human Soul Immortal. Hearing this, Zhen Nan Tian looked at Fire Lord in surprise before realizing that Fire Lord must have met Zhu Bao during the recruitment process. Fire Lord smiled and replied calmly, “Zhu Bao, I really didn’t expect you to be so highly regarded in the Zhu family. You’re in charge of recruiting new members and also handling the artifact refinement tasks.” Seeing Fire Lord deliberately avoiding his question, Zhu Bao’s expression darkened slightly before he said indifferently, “I’ve already heard that since your arrival at Tong Zhou Tang, it’s caused quite a stir. Now, another major event has occurred on Zhu Yan Star—a Human Soul Immortal discovered a vein of Mo Yun Crystal in the Lan Jin Mountain Range and wants to auction it at the FireFire Xia (xiá) Fire Xia English ->，Fire Xia（Fire Xia）Fire Xia：
Fire Xia
Fire Xia：
Fire Haze / Fire Glow / Fire Rosy Clouds
Fire Xia **Fire Xia**。 Merchant Alliance. I wonder if you, Fire Lord, would be interested in representing Tong Zhou Tang to compete with me there?” Hearing this, even Fire Lord’s usually calm expression showed a hint of surprise. It turned out that the Artifact God had already told him that Mo Yun Crystal was a mineral with excellent fusion properties—just like Yuan Tong ore, which could fuse materials below the level of Human Soul Immortals, Mo Yun Crystal could fuse materials below the level of Human Soul Immortals as well. Once they obtained these Mo Yun Crystals, Jue Huo Peak would be able to take on artifact refinement tasks for Human Soul Immortals. “Zhu Bao, your arrival brings me good news. I’ll discuss this with the peak master. By then, Zhu family, don’t disappoint me at the FireFire Xia (xiá) Fire Xia English ->，Fire Xia（Fire Xia）Fire Xia：
Fire Xia
Fire Xia：
Fire Haze / Fire Glow / Fire Rosy Clouds
Fire Xia **Fire Xia**。 Merchant Alliance,” Fire Lord said with a faint smile. In the immortal realm, many mountain ranges remain unexplored and are likely to contain abundant rare minerals. According to the rules of the immortal realm, whoever discovers unclaimed mineral deposits, as long as they register them with various merchant alliances, owns those deposits. Now that this Human Soul Immortal had discovered Mo Yun Crystal, it belonged to him. Realizing his own strength was limited, the best course of action was to auction the mineral to someone else. Zhu Bao listened to Fire Lord’s words with a smile before exclaiming happily, “Great! Fire Lord, the auction will be in three years. We’ll meet at the FireFire Xia (xiá) Fire Xia English ->，Fire Xia（Fire Xia）Fire Xia：
Fire Xia
Fire Xia：
Fire Haze / Fire Glow / Fire Rosy Clouds
Fire Xia **Fire Xia**。 Merchant Alliance then.” Fire Lord nodded.