Borrowing the Spirit Stone

After creating the Lock Rings, the Lingxian Sect had not included them among the goods for sale, since they required Frost-Congealing Jade.

However, they had sent one each to the Yuan family head, Yuan Bi, and the ancestor, Yuan Ruogu. After all, the system had confirmed that both of them were people with whom the sect had established ties.

Moreover, their sect had close business relations with the Yuan family. Sending them two Lock Rings would make it more convenient to contact them whenever something came up. Otherwise, they would either have to keep the matter bottled up until someone from the Finance Hall came over to conduct a transaction, or spend additional spirit stones to use the Heaven-and-Earth Transfer Disk to send a message. The spirit stones consumed going back and forth that way would amount to no small sum.

The information sent to Yuan Bi and Yuan Ruogu along with the Lock Rings was that the Lingxian Sect actually originated from the mortal world.

After three years of interaction and business dealings, the Yuan family had become the Lingxian Sect’s most loyal business partner in the cultivation world.

Whenever the Lingxian Sect needed to search for rare materials of any kind, the Yuan family would do everything in its power to help. Aside from items that were truly impossible to find, they would basically manage to locate whatever the Lingxian Sect needed.

Thus, after a meeting among everyone in the Lingxian Sect, they had decided to tell Yuan Bi about the origins of their sect.

After all, the Yuan family had treated them with sincerity. They could not continue being so guarded after all this time.

Since the cultivation world and the mortal world were extremely far apart, even though the Lock Ring used an extremely miniature formation, it still consumed a considerable amount of spiritual power.

Fortunately, Lin Xiao was already at the Nascent Soul stage, so this level of expenditure was effortless for him.

The connection was established shortly afterward.

“Sect Master Lin?” Yuan Bi’s voice came through the Lock Ring.

This was the first time he had contacted Lin Xiao since receiving the Lock Ring.

Previously, he had only spoken with Qin Jianghe during the trial run, but at that time they had both been in the cultivation world. Strictly speaking, this was Yuan Bi’s first proper conversation through a Lock Ring with someone in the mortal world while he himself was in the cultivation world.

He had sent only one sentence—just three words—and could already feel some of the spiritual energy within his body being consumed.

Of course, this tiny expenditure was nothing to a Golden Core cultivator like him. It was roughly equivalent to the amount normally required to cast a Fireball Technique.

Even so, he found it rather astonishing.

“Family Head Yuan, I’m sorry to disturb you so suddenly. The sect has encountered a difficulty recently, and I would like to seek the Yuan family’s assistance,” Lin Xiao said at once.

“If Sect Master Lin has encountered a difficulty, please speak freely. If there is anything my Yuan family can help with, we will certainly go through fire and water for you!”

Lin Xiao had once saved the Yuan family’s ancestor. To a certain extent, this was equivalent to preserving the Yuan family’s position in Yuanling City.

If the ancestor had not recovered, it was hard to say whether the Yuan family would still exist today.

After all, although the Yuan family had enjoyed a great reputation in Yuanling City for many years, there were also plenty of people beneath the surface who coveted their position. If those people confirmed that the Yuan family’s ancestor truly could not recover, they would likely not let the family off.

In Yuan Bi’s eyes, providing the Azurewave Hot Spring treatment for Fellow Daoist Liu Chun’s younger sister did not count as a proper repayment at all. To him, it had merely been a small favor.

Furthermore, several years of business dealings had made Yuan Bi feel that the Lingxian Sect was extremely dependable. In every transaction, they had never tried to cheat or exploit loopholes, and had always been straightforward.

Not to mention that this sect was based in the mortal world.

Having operated in Yuanling City for many years, Yuan Bi knew something about the situation in the mortal world. He was aware that resources there were scarce and that cultivators struggled at every step.

Yet this Lingxian Sect had not only produced an outstanding talent like Sect Master Lin, but had also been able to continuously supply his family with all kinds of goods. Clearly, its strength was far from ordinary.

Therefore, Yuan Bi was more than willing for Lin Xiao to ask him for help.

The favor of saving his ancestor was simply too great. It was naturally better to repay at least part of it whenever possible. That way, through their continued exchanges, the connection between them would grow closer, and they could deepen their cooperation in future business dealings.

Seeing that he had agreed without even asking what the matter was, Lin Xiao smiled silently and stated what he needed.

“Family Head Yuan, our sect currently needs a large number of spirit stones for its development. Unfortunately, our sect’s supply is a little tight at the moment, so I would like to borrow one hundred thousand spirit stones from the Yuan family and repay them in five years. Would that be convenient for you?”

“I thought it was some great difficulty. Although my Yuan family cannot be said to be exceptionally wealthy, we can still produce one hundred thousand spirit stones. Besides, when my family was treating the ancestor’s inner demon, we had prepared one hundred thousand spirit stones to purchase an Icefield Elf. Who could have expected that Sect Master Lin would go to such great lengths to save him, leaving my Yuan family without spending a single spirit stone?”

“Since Sect Master Lin needs them now, there is no reason we cannot lend them to you. And there is no need to insist on repaying them within five years. You can return them once your sect is financially comfortable. Don’t let the sect’s spirit-stone reserves become too strained.”

“Will Sect Master Lin send someone to collect them, or will someone from your sect bring the spirit stones back during the next transaction?”

Yuan Bi did not tell Lin Xiao that he did not need to repay the one hundred thousand spirit stones simply because his family had originally prepared them to purchase an Icefield Elf for the ancestor. In truth, that was exactly what he was thinking.

However, he knew Lin Xiao would never agree.

Besides, if the Lingxian Sect did not have to repay the spirit stones, then the Yuan family would effectively be using the one hundred thousand spirit stones to settle the favor once and for all, severing that connection between them.

If two people wished to maintain a lasting relationship and deepen it over time, they needed to continue exchanging favors over the long term. Their relationship had originally become one of business partners because of that favor, and it had given them an additional layer of trust.

For the connection to last, it was best to keep that exchange going.

Upon hearing that Yuan Bi had agreed, Lin Xiao felt relieved. At least the first step in solving this problem had been taken.

“Thank you very much, Family Head Yuan. As it happens, Elder Qin will be delivering goods in a few days. I’ll have him collect the spirit stones from you then.”

“Sect Master Lin, you’re too polite. I’m quite familiar with Elder Qin. I’ll prepare the spirit stones within the next two days and personally hand them over to him when the time comes.”

After discussing the matter at hand, Lin Xiao asked a few questions about the current condition of the Yuan family’s ancestor and the situation in Yuanling City. Only afterward did he end the call.

With the matter of the spirit stones settled, Lin Xiao looked at the papers covered in notes and diagrams before him, put them away, and took out the Compendium of Formations to begin flipping through it.

Although he could now create spatial formations, he had not done much research into defensive formations.

Moreover, this formation could not serve a purely defensive purpose. He would also need to study artifact refining. Once he bought the Spirit Dike Tortoise shell from the system shop, he would have to begin carving formations into it and refining it into an artifact.

It needed defensive, settlement, surveillance, and control functions…

Meanwhile, Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan were also earnestly writing up their plans for the construction of the trading center.