Chapter 116: The Elixir Trade

...

By the next morning, two hours had passed since dawn.

Su Yifan finished his cultivation session. After giving some instructions to his guards, he leapt into the air and vanished into the horizon like a streak of light.

...

At the same time, in Dragon City, inside the Dragon Group’s conference room, Tang Shengguo, Chen Jing, and Yang Junchen were gathered.

“That’s the whole situation,” Yang Junchen briefly recounted the matter Li Ye had entrusted to him.

“What? One thousand spirit stones?!” Tang Shengguo couldn’t help but stand up from his chair, disbelief etched across his face.

One thousand spirit stones?

Did that kid think they were candy beans?

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Chen Jing soothed. Then he looked at Yang Junchen and asked, “Junchen, did Su Yifan say what he plans to use such a large amount of spirit stones for?”

This was a crucial question. Spirit stones were precious because they were considered strategic resources. If so many spirit stones were to fall into the wrong hands, it would pose a significant threat not only to them but to the entire Xia Nation.

He needed to know why Su Yifan wanted so many spirit stones.

“Sir Chen, Su Yifan didn’t say,” Yang Junchen shook his head.

Hearing this, Chen Jing stroked his beard thoughtfully.

After a moment, he turned to Tang Shengguo. “What’s your opinion on this matter?”

This was a serious issue, and he couldn’t decide alone, so he sought Tang Shengguo’s input.

“What else could it be? I think that kid wants to resell these spirit stones,” Tang Shengguo said irritably.

The lowest market price for spirit stones was 100 million each. Selling them on the black market or overseas could easily double that price.

Su Yifan surely couldn’t use that many himself; this was the only plausible explanation.

“I don’t think so. If he just wanted to make money, he could have negotiated directly with us. Why go through all this trouble?” Chen Jing replied.

Based on his understanding of Su Yifan, the young man was certainly not motivated by money.

A proud and self-reliant person like him would have little desire for worldly possessions.

Although he had only met Su Yifan a few times, he knew the young man was patriotic and would never do anything harmful to the country.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given them that gene reagent earlier.

“If it’s not about money, then what does he need so many spirit stones for?” Tang Shengguo was baffled.

For warriors, spirit stones served only one purpose: to temporarily boost their strength when facing a formidable enemy.

Moreover, only a few stones could be used at a time, and the more used, the greater the risk of self-destruction.

Even if the entire Su family’s warriors used them together, they still couldn’t consume that many.

“Forget it. Since we can’t figure it out, don’t overthink it. With us here, nothing should go wrong,” Chen Jing said, exhaling deeply. He then asked, “Regarding those pills that can enhance strength, how many does Dragon Scale want to exchange?”

“One thousand spirit stones are too many, and we don’t even know if those pills work,” Tang Shengguo doubted.

He was skeptical about the exaggerated rumors concerning these pills.

If they were real, exchanging one thousand spirit stones would be worthwhile; but what if they had no effect...

“General Tang, rest assured. I’ve already checked. Those guys from the Yun City Martial Arts Alliance all broke through after taking Su Yifan’s pills,” Yang Junchen interjected.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jing and Tang Shengguo were both startled.

“Is that true?” Tang Shengguo asked excitedly.

“Absolutely. How could I joke about such a thing?”

After receiving the pills yesterday, Yang Junchen had gone to the Martial Arts Alliance to inquire.

He learned that they had already taken Su Yifan’s pills and all had breakthroughs because of them.

That was why he rushed back to Dragon City without hesitation.

Tang Shengguo had originally planned to wait and see how Yang Junchen fared with the pills before making a decision.

But now, hearing that the pills were indeed effective, he couldn’t sit still.

“If these pills are that powerful, Dragon Scale wants to exchange thirty first. If they really work, we’ll exchange more later.”

Dragon Scale had about 200,000 spirit stones in reserve, which seemed like a lot but couldn’t be wasted recklessly.

Everything still depended on actual results. After all, seeing is believing.

Upon hearing Tang Shengguo’s intention to exchange thirty pills, Chen Jing also spoke up:

“In that case, Dragon Group will also exchange thirty.”

Thirty pills equated to 30,000 spirit stones. Though Dragon Group’s reserves were smaller than Dragon Scale’s, they still had just over 100,000 spirit stones.

If the pills truly enhanced their overall strength, spending all their spirit stones would be justified.

“That’s great. I’ll share this good news with Young Master Su right away,” Yang Junchen said joyfully.

At first, he thought this matter would be complicated, considering one thousand spirit stones was no small sum.

Now, hearing the senior leaders’ approval, he had essentially completed the task entrusted to him by Young Master Su.

Perhaps, when Young Master Su was in a good mood, he might even reward him with two pills.

That would be fantastic.

...

Elsewhere, Su Yifan had already reached the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

He was about to delve deeper when he noticed a dozen or so figures dashing swiftly into the depths of the mountains not far below.

“They seem to be in a hurry. Could they be rushing to seek treasure?”

After all, the Ten Thousand Mountains were perilous but held many opportunities.

This often attracted warriors seeking fortune.

Seeing them, Su Yifan realized he didn’t yet know the exact location of the Reincarnation Valley and decided to go down and inquire.

Moments later, he landed on the ground and quickly caught up with the dozen or so figures.

“Stop!”

At that moment, a middle-aged man leading the group halted his sprint.

He raised his hand, and the others immediately stopped as well.

“Atai, what’s wrong?”

The only young woman among them asked.

Atai did not answer her but fixed his gaze on a towering tree not far ahead.

“Who’s there? Show yourself immediately!”

Upon hearing this, the others tensed, each assuming a defensive stance.

“Atai, what’s going on?”

The young woman asked again.

“Miss, there’s someone ahead,” Atai said.

The next moment, a force gathered in his palm as he struck the large tree with a powerful blow.

“Boom!”

A meter-wide imprint of his palm appeared, blasted through the center of the tree.

Despite this, no one emerged from behind the tree.

“Perhaps you saw things?” the young woman suggested.

“Impossible.”

Atai trusted his instincts. After a few leaps, he reached behind the tree but found no one.

Could he have been mistaken?

Just as he began to doubt himself, an urgent voice came from behind: “Who are you? Let go of our miss immediately!”