The breathing of the two ladies from the Lu Clan became heavier when they saw the Foundation Building Elixir.
Mingchao was all right, but Lu Ranting felt a complicated mix of emotions.
She had been considered a genius many years ago. She reached the Qi Refining Stage when she was 14 and became a ninth-tier Qi Refining cultivator when she was 51.
She was spirited back then. She knew that it was difficult for the clan to provide her with a Foundation Building Elixir, yet she felt indignant to just go through the motions. Thus, she was prepared to spend five years to tune up her body and spirit to the extreme and then risk advancing to the Foundation Building Stage without the Foundation Building Elixir.
Five years passed. Her body and spirit were tuned up. However, a ninth-tier Qi Refining cultivator had tried to advance to the Foundation Building Stage but failed. He died pitifully during his closed-door training. That person was his cousin, and she had a close relationship with him. The two of them had supported each other when the clan was facing a crisis.
Before he tried to advance to the next stage, her cousin had even told her with a smile that he would be waiting for her at the Foundation Building Stage. In the end, when she saw him again, he had already become a pitiful-looking corpse.
The scene left a trauma in her heart. She was afraid. She, who had been prepared to start on her closed-door training, pushed it back a year to nurture her mental state again.
Then, one year after the other, the threshold of 60 years had passed.
She was emotional when she thought back to the past, but was also ashamed by her cowardice. However, she had to admit that she felt relaxed and a sense of relief when she passed the age of 60 and lost all hopes of reaching the Foundation Building Stage.
At least she still had 60 years to live.
She thought that she had let go of her past. However, when she saw the Foundation Building Elixir, the item that she had dreamed of obtaining more than a decade ago, she still could not suppress the emotion in her heart.
"If we had this item 15 years ago, would I be a Foundation Building cultivator today? Perhaps my cousin would not have to die?"
She shook her head and tossed this idea out of her mind.
Li Ran, who was sitting on the other side, let out a slight smile. He closed the lid of the box and asked, "Have you prepared the remaining 2,000 Spirit Stones?"
"Yes." Lu Mingchao collected herself. She then took out a storage bag and released its restraints before handing it to the other party.
Li Ran counted the stones. He was fast. His movements were practiced. "There are no problems. This Foundation Building Elixir is yours. Follow me later on and swear upon your soul that you will only sell the recipe once. You cannot sell it to another party."
They had discussed this earlier. Under normal circumstances, transactions that involved recipes or techniques were conducted this way to prevent the recipe of a technique from flooding the market. That would harm the interests of everyone involved.
"We still wish to purchase a few things. It's better to get them from the same person. Manager Li, do you have any good pieces of yang-element magic equipment here?"
She still had 1,600 Spirit Stones and could purchase a few more items. She might even be able to obtain a Level Two high-grade magic equipment if she negotiated well.
******
At the same time, four Foundation Building cultivators gathered in the "Tian" room of an inn not far away from the Husheng Merchant House.
The person leading the group said with a sinister expression, "They are from the Lu Clan. The people who came should be Lu Mingchao and Lu Ranting."
"So what if they are from the Lu Clan? Lu Mingchao is merely a fourth-tier Foundation Building cultivator. Anyone out of the four of us could kill her!"
"That's right. We don't even have to worry about any forms of revenge if we do the deed cleanly."
"We do not see Lu Chaoxi and Lu Chaohe. Could they be hiding in the shadows?"
"Lu Chaohe is not a cause for caution. He is not even as strong as Lu Mingchao. As for that old fogey, Lu Chaoxi. His lightning techniques were rather frightening before the demon uprising many years ago. As for now? He is already injured and cannot fight. He might not even have many years left to live!"
The few people exchanged words and felt extremely confident.
However, the person leading the group said nothing.
He was Zhang Xican. He was not considered an unaffiliated cultivator. The Zhang Clan was an old name in the Anling Prefecture with its main forces stationed in Anling City. They had considerable influence in the Changhong County in the south. Their home base was in the south of Anling City, at the Zhang Manor, north of Changhong County.
The Zhang Clan had never had a Golden Core cultivator. They had two ancestors who had reached the Initial Enlightenment Stage, but that was ancient history. The clan had not produced any powerful cultivators ever since their last Initial Enlightenment cultivator died over a hundred years ago. The Zhang Clan currently had two Foundation Building cultivators. Zhang Xican was one of them. He was permanently stationed at Anling City.
Some years ago, he received news that there was a Foundation Building Elixir for sale at the Husheng Merchant House. He had asked the Husheng Merchant House if he could purchase it, but could not come up with 10,000 Spirit Stones.
However, the item was too valuable. Zhang Xican did not want to give up. In the following years, the unaffiliated cultivators and a few Foundation Building cultivators from various clans also received the news and set their sights on the Foundation Building Elixir.
Initially, several parties competed with one another to see who could obtain the Foundation Building Elixir first.
However, they recently noticed that a foreign party had had frequent communications with the Husheng Merchant House.
They became more alert.
A month ago, they confirmed that the foreign faction's goal was the Foundation Building Elixir. Also, all the signs suggested that the foreign faction had produced an item that could move the seller of the elixir.
They were anxious.
The clans that had been initially competing with one another joined forces. The two clans and two other unaffiliated cultivators pooled their funds and gathered over 10,000 Spirit Stones. They attempted to purchase the Foundation Building Elixir but were rejected. The seller was leaning toward trading the Foundation Building Elixir for something better and not just Spirit Stones. The Gongsun Clan did not lack money.
Left without a choice, a thought sprang up in their heads—"Rob and kill them!"
They felt more relaxed when they had that idea. Even though it carried considerable risk, there was a massive reward if they succeeded. They would not even have to spend the 10,000 Spirit Stones to obtain a Foundation Building Elixir.
Today, they finally found out who the foreign faction who had hidden well was…
The Lu Clan from Pingyao!
Also, they found out from their informants that today was the day the Lu Clan was going to conduct the transaction with the Husheng Merchant House.
They were prepared to kill them and snatch their goods for themselves. However, Zhang Xican became a little hesitant when he heard that it was the Lu Clan.
The Lu Clan was not powerful. It had only risen in the past hundred years. Even though it had its brief periods of glory, it became silent in recent decades and had become more down and out.
However, they once had a Golden Core cultivator as their ancestor. Who knew if they had any powerful treasures in their hands? If they had a Level Three or Level Four amulet, a Foundation Building cultivator would not be able to protect themselves from the attack. They would instantly lose their lives.
Zhang Xican became scared. Losing his life was not worth a Foundation Building Elixir.
Thus, he voiced out his attitude clearly and said, "The Zhang Clan will not participate in this."
An unaffiliated cultivator looked at him and said, "Zhang Xican? You were the one who planned this matter. Now you're not going to participate?"
"Yes." Zhang Xican became more honest after he expressed that he would not participate in the action.
The unaffiliated cultivator wanted to continue convincing Zhang Xican but was stopped by a person beside him.
That person was Ma Sixian. He was from Anling's Ma Clan and was the only Foundation Building cultivator in the clan. Their base was situated in the Anling Prefecture.
Ma Sixian said, "We should not force Brother Zhang if he does not want to come. Are the three of us not enough to deal with Lu Mingchao? Without Brother Zhang, there is one less family we have to share the profits with."
Of the four people present, only he and Zhang Xican came from a clan. The other two were unaffiliated cultivators. Originally, they had discussed that the Zhang Clan would get the Foundation Building Elixir that they would steal, while the other three parties would each receive 3,000 Spirit Stones.
Ma Sixian had not been too happy with the arrangement. He was the only Foundation Building cultivator of his clan. He was old and did not have more than 15 years of his Core Lifespan left. He had to think about what would happen to the clan after he died.
He desperately wanted Zhang Xican to leave.
Zhang Xican stood up and brought his hands together as he bade the other three people goodbye. "Then let me wish the three of you success."
He left after he said his piece.
Ma Sixian suddenly obstructed Zhang Xican's path and said with a fake smile, "Brother Zhang, we are both from Anling. It's all right if you back out of the operation, but don't spread what we have discussed out to the world!"
His words were laced with threat.
Zhang Xican also let out a smile. "Don't worry. The Zhang Clan has no connections with the Lu Clan. We'll definitely not spout nonsense."
The two of them stared at each other in the eye for a little while. The atmosphere became a little tense. Zhang Xican saw that the other party had no intention of moving and thus decided to walk forward.
Ma Sixian had no choice but to move to the side. He looked at Zhang Xican leave with a murderous gaze.
Zhang Xican's back was covered in a cold sweat after he left the inn.
He had become alert in the room. He would have retaliated immediately if Ma Sixian tried anything funny.
The person from the Ma Clan had done many immoral things. He was the kind of person who would kill to silence someone.
Fortunately, this was Anling City. There was an Initial Enlightenment cultivator from the Qingfeng Sect guarding the place, so Ma Sixian was not that bold.
However, Zhang Xican secretly hated Ma Sixian. He did not expect Ma Sixian to threaten him before he left.
He thought about the situation for a moment as he was on his way back to his abode and came up with a new idea.