Lu Chaoxi immediately gathered his seventh brother and ninth sister after receiving Lu Ranting's message and told them about the news.
"We must obtain the Foundation Building Elixir!" Lu Chaoxi immediately expressed his sentiments.
Lu Mingchao had the same feelings. However, she had a concern. "But the recipe can only be sold for 8,000 Spirit Stones. Will we be able to amass the 2,000 Spirit Stones that we lack?"
Both the eyes of Lu Mingchao and Lu Chaoxi turned toward Lu Chaohe.
In recent years, the two of them had placed their focus on their cultivation. It was Lu Chaohe who mostly dealt with the clan's matters.
Faced with the gazes of his eldest brother and ninth sister, Lu Chaohe said, "The situation of the clan has improved over the years. Even though we are spending money on more areas now, there should still be some money on the ledger. We should be able to come up with about 1,300 Spirit Stones. I have about 500 Spirit Stones in savings that I am not using. I can use those too. The clan has given me the Thousand-Ton Jade Suppression Plate. My 500 Spirit Stones cannot even buy half of the Level Two high-grade magic equipment."
"I…I don't have that much. I only have 200 Spirit Stones," Lu Mingchao said. She was indeed poorer than the others.
Lu Chaoxi said, "That's enough. We would have 2,000 Spirit Stones if we pool our money together. I have over 300 Spirit Stones. However, we should also search for a better Level Two magic equipment to deal with the Water Ghosts while we are at Anling. The piece of magic equipment that was forged with the tiger's fangs should be able to fetch 200 to 300 Spirit Stones. Let's see if we can exchange it for a piece of yang-element magic equipment."
"We'll not have enough Spirit Stones to purchase an additional piece of Level Two magic equipment," Lu Chaohe said. "In recent years, our relationship with the Han Clan from Luyi has become better. We can borrow some money from them. We can use the herd of Water-Spirit Horses as collateral and borrow 1,000 Spirit Stones. It shouldn't be too much of a problem if we return 1,500 Spirit Stones in 10 years."
500 Spirit Stones in 10 years was roughly 5% interest annually. It was not too expensive.
"That's fine. It's good to prepare more Spirit Stones." Lu Chaoxi nodded in approval.
In the past, he would not have agreed to the proposition. They could borrow the money but had no means of repaying their debt. However, now that the development of the clan was getting better and better, repaying 1,500 Spirit Stones in 10 years should not be too much of a problem.
Furthermore, they were making preparations for their future attack on the Water Ghost Lake. The Yin-essence Water Jade that they would obtain was worth a fortune. Comparatively, the interest they would accrue from the loan was next to nothing.
The three siblings discussed the matter and came up with a rough framework for their plan.
Half a month later, they had gathered all of the funds they needed.
They sold the Level Two magic equipment, "Demon Tiger Twin Fangs," for 300 Spirit Stones and gathered the funds they got from the family's reserves, the money they borrowed from the Han Clan, and the savings of the three Foundation Building cultivators. Lu Chaoxi had 3,600 Spirit Stones and a recipe for the Foundation Building Elixir in his bag.
Lu Chaoxi and Lu Mingchao brought the items along and quickly left the mountain for Anling City.
This time, only the two of them went on the journey. Anling City was far away. Even a Foundation Building cultivator required four days to get there. It also took time for the transaction to take place. There had to be someone watching the mountain.
The two of them arrived at an area a hundred miles away from Anling City four days later. Lu Chaoxi stopped.
"Mingchao, I'm depending on you."
"All right."
Lu Mingchao bade her elder brother goodbye and headed toward the city alone.
They had discussed this on their way here.
The Foundation Building Elixir had too great of an allure. Lu Chaoxi asked himself this, "Would he rob or even kill someone if he heard that a person had a Foundation Building Elixir on him and was passing through a nearby area?"
Maybe not. But that was not because the Foundation Building Elixir was not valuable. Instead, it was because of his moral code.
He had a moral code, but what if someone else had that thought too?
He also asked Lu Mingchao this question. Mingchao's answer was more representative. "If I could… I might indeed take action."
Lu Chaoxi let out a bitter laugh immediately after he heard that.
Even Mingchao had such a thought. "What about someone else?"
Anling City was the largest city in the prefecture. There was a man-made Level Three spirit vein in the city. There were six Foundation Building cultivators just among the unaffiliated cultivators alone, much less the people stationed there by the various clans.
If Ranting had accidentally leaked information during her one-and-a-half-year stay in Anling City or if there were any mistakes during the transaction that caught the attention of someone else, they might face the threat of being robbed.
They did not want to harm another person. However, it would be foolish of them not to be cautious.
There would not be a problem in Anling City itself. After all, the city was governed directly by the Qingfeng Sect. No one would dare cause any trouble within the city or the hundred-mile-area around the city. Otherwise, the Initial Enlightenment cultivator that the Qingfeng Sect had stationed there would be able to suppress them in a matter of minutes.
However, things would get a little dicier if they were out of the city.
After he split up with Lu Mingchao, Lu Chaoxi went back 20 miles and found the place that he had arranged to meet up with his sister after the transaction. He made the necessary preparations and consumed an elixir that could obscure the ripples of his spiritual strength before hiding himself.
Lu Mingchao would head past the area after she was done with the transaction. He could check to see if she was being followed then.
It was best if there was no one tailing her. It was all right to waste the Yang-element Lightning Amulet that he set up. However, if someone dared to attack them, Lu Chaoxi would not hold back. He would fight with all his power.
******
Lu Mingchao quickly met up with Lu Ranting after she entered the city.
They did not waste any time. Ranting had already made the necessary preparations. The two of them sprinted straight for the shophouse that the Husheng Merchant House had in Anling City.
The person tending to the shophouse also received the news. He personally welcomed them and brought them to the VIP room on the third floor.
He had to pay attention to a transaction that involved a sum of 10,000 Spirit Stones.
The manager's name was Li Ran. He was also a Foundation Building cultivator. He was the person managing all of the transactions that the Husheng Merchant House had in Anling City.
He fetched the two of them a flask of tea. Mingchao and Ranting thanked him but did not touch the tea.
It paid to be cautious.
Li Ran did not think too much about it. He asked, "Can you take out the items first? We have to appraise the recipe."
"Of course." Lu Mingchao took out the prescription from within her bag.
Li Ran received it with both hands and then said, "Please wait a moment."
The two of them were not particularly worried when they saw him turn to leave.
The Husheng Merchant House was an influential faction. There was a form of guarantee, given their reputation. They did not have to worry that any major problems would occur during this stage of the transaction.
Sometime later, Li Ran returned and said, "There are no problems with the recipe."
After he said that, he took out a hexagonal wooden box from within his bag and released its restraints. Inside the box was an ordinary-looking, milky-white pill that was about the size of a pigeon's egg. It was not exceptionally glorious, and it did not smell of anything.
However, this item was something that millions of Qi Refining cultivators dreamed of obtaining. It was the Foundation Building Elixir that cultivators might not even get to see once in their lives. This was a necessity for any cultivator who wanted to progress further and step into the first hurdle on their path of cultivation.
One elixir cost 10,000 Spirit Stones. Under normal circumstances, the elixir could not be purchased with just money alone. It had to be traded for with something of equal value.
The breathing of the two ladies from the Lu Clan became more rapid when they saw the item.