Immortality: Starting with the Fruit of Taiyin

Tianfeng Chamber of Commerce is one of the four leading forces in Wanze Immortal City.

As early as the initial introduction, the young man surnamed He had already mentioned this huge chamber of commerce that spanned multiple countries.

As a powerful force existing in the form of a chamber of commerce, unlike the members of the Chamber of Commerce who are purely engaged in business, the chamber of commerce from the Great Zhou Dynasty often has the shadow of some powerful immortal cultivation families behind it, and its true strength is quite terrifying.

Even though it was just a branch, it, along with the local Tianshan Sect and the two major merchant guilds from the Merchant Alliance, controlled the three third-tier spiritual veins that converged in the center of the Immortal City.

The fact that it could achieve this as an outsider demonstrates its formidable power and, consequently, its concern for its reputation.

"Alright, lead the way."

Wang Xuan nodded slowly and did not raise any objections.

His trip was merely to purchase a single beast egg; there was no need for him to worry about anything else.

……

The immortal city is vast; the previous half-day visit was merely a cursory glance.

On his way to the shops under the Tianfeng Chamber of Commerce, Wang Xuan happened to pass by a fairly large open-air stall.

Unlike other places, this place doesn't sell various spiritual materials, but rather a pile of stones devoid of any spiritual energy.

Many independent cultivators were gathered around, picking and choosing, some looking dejected, as if they had suffered some kind of blow.

"What are you doing?"

Wang Xuan's gaze swept across the scattered rocks, and he asked casually.

"What you're asking about, senior... Oh, I see. This is jade gambling."

Looking in the direction of the sound, the young man surnamed He suddenly realized what was happening.

"Like other shops, this is one of the industries that are allowed to operate in the Immortal City. However, strictly speaking, it is not a legitimate shop, but a place similar to a gambling den."

"As you should know, senior, compared to the ancient and medieval times, the environment of heaven and earth has long since declined. The Nascent Soul stage is already the pinnacle of a state, and the Divine Transformation stage is almost impossible to find. We can only glimpse the glorious immortal path of its former glory in the ruins of ancient immortals."

"However, in the search for ancient ruins, apart from those truly dangerous forbidden areas, most of them are useless places that have long been buried deep underground, never to see the light of day along with the depleted spiritual veins, and eventually reappeared with the changes in the earth's veins. And these stones come from this."

"The stone covering their surfaces is formed from the dried-up spiritual veins, and it has the ability to shield cultivators from their divine sense."

"Considering that there's usually nothing of value in these kinds of ruins, the organizations responsible for the excavation simply sell them publicly, which actually makes them more profitable."

"As for the rogue cultivators who buy them, most of them want to gamble on their luck. In addition, there have always been rumors of people successfully establishing their foundation by opening high-level spiritual objects, making stone gambling even more popular."

"I see." Nodding with interest, Wang Xuan then asked, "So, must the stones here be quarried on the spot, or are they allowed to be taken away and quarried later?"

"Of course, it will be opened on the spot."

Without hesitation, the young man surnamed He replied with a wry smile, "After all, you know that."

"If it's ordinary spirit stones, spirit herbs, or low-level inheritances of various arts, then it's fine to open them... But if it involves advanced spirit items above the Core Formation stage, the Immortal City has explicit regulations that the major powers have the right to forcibly purchase them at a 10% markup on the market price, unless the person in question is a core disciple of a major power."

"Besides, if we refuse, we will not only be provoking the interests of the Immortal City's administrators, but we will also be wanted by the Heavenly Mountain Sect, the overlord of the Chen Kingdom."

"Therefore, there have been no exceptions over the years."

Nodding slightly, Wang Xuan listened to the boy's explanation and roughly understood.

The sale of gambling stones in the Immortal City did indeed give low-level cultivators a chance to turn their lives around.

However, opportunities can be given, but the size of those opportunities cannot exceed the control of the upper echelons of the Immortal City or even the Nascent Soul sects.

In this way, the existence of jade gambling can generate revenue for the forces behind it, while not affecting their acquisition of the most precious spiritual items. Finally, it can also give the rogue cultivators at the bottom a glimmer of hope, preventing them from taking risks.

This small pile of stones serves three purposes in one fell swoop. It must be said that the person who set this precedent thousands of years ago was truly remarkable.

"interesting."

With a slight flicker in his eyes, Wang Xuan smiled and said:

"Now that I've been to the Immortal City, I should at least experience the local customs and culture."

"Here, you pick one for me too, just to try your luck."

For a few spirit stones, each person selected a stone, which was then opened on the spot by the person in charge of the place.

As it turned out, the stone Wang Xuan chose was empty, with only a few weeds of unknown origin. On the contrary, the stone chosen by the boy surnamed He yielded a mid-grade spirit stone, making the boy regret his choice on the spot.

As a form of stone lining that forms after a spiritual vein dries up, spirit stones are among the easiest spiritual materials to extract from stone.

A mid-grade spirit stone contains about ten times the spiritual energy of a low-grade spirit stone. However, considering the difference in the quality of spiritual energy, its actual value is about a hundred times greater.

Unexpectedly, there was such a pleasant surprise. Looking at the heartbroken young man surnamed He, regardless of whether he was faking it or not, Wang Xuan simply "rewarded" him with ten spirit stones as a reward for his good fortune.

As for his own piece, he carefully collected the weeds and stones, saying he planned to take it back as a souvenir.

"commemorate?"

"Hahaha……"

Before leaving, watching Wang Xuan solemnly gather up the weeds, some of the customers in the stone gambling shop who had been attracted by the mid-grade spirit stones couldn't help but laugh.

This sect disciple is still too young. If it were truly for commemoration, why be so cautious?

The scene before him reminded him of his own experience back then. He had also sprouted this nameless weed on his first try, and thought it was some kind of incredible opportunity, so he carefully hid it.

However, after several years of investigation, it was eventually proven that it was indeed just a weed, and not some ancient spiritual plant that others did not recognize.

"So that you may know, fellow Daoist, the weeds you have grown are indeed a kind of ancient spiritual herb, but they are not of high quality."

"The only unique feature is that once the planting scale exceeds 100,000 plants, there is a very small probability that a first-tier plant will be born; if it exceeds 100 million plants, there is a tiny probability that a second-tier plant will be born... Moreover, it is rumored that once it is sublimated to the third tier or above, this kind of spiritual herb can even defy fate and purify spiritual roots."

"Therefore, in ancient and medieval times, this kind of weed was planted almost everywhere, spreading to various blessed lands, spiritual veins and wilderness. There were even lucky mortals who picked up the suddenly mutated high-level spiritual herb and then ascended to the heavens to become geniuses with earth-grade spiritual roots or above."

"But as time has passed and the world has changed, this spiritual herb called Tear-Stain Grass can no longer grow. Even if planted in a fourth-order spiritual vein, it is no different from weeds and has no chance of mutating as it once did."

"I couldn't bear to see you disappointed, so I spoke up to remind you. I hope you won't take offense."