Chapter 148: Trade Conference

"Fairy Yu has become an immortal..."

"I wonder if we will get to see her again in the future."

A bout of murmurs filled the plaza, but the atmosphere was a little lamenting.

"What a pity..." Daoist Ya sighed. "If we had done her spirit measurement a bit earlier, that senior wouldn’t have been here to notice her."

Elder Jin Nan’s expression turned grim, and he glanced at Daoist Ya.

"This is fate," said the farmer woman, snorting coldly. "That person seemed to be a sword cultivator. Among the six-tier empires that I know of, there are no sects of sword cultivators. She should be from a fifth-tier empire, or even a fourth-tier empire!"

The Fire Cloud Immortal and the rest of the cultivators exhaled.

A fifth-tier empire had Golden Core Realm experts. As for fourth-tier empires... It was rumored that they had legendary powerhouses in the fabled Nascent Soul Realm!

That was a realm of legends to the group of cultivators! Since the day they had stepped onto the immortal path, they had never encountered a Nascent Soul expert!

A fourth-tier empire...

When Xia Yu, the sixth princess, Pancake Zhang, and the others heard this term, they were astounded; Grand Xia had just risen to the eighth-tier empire. It was tens of thousands of miles away from being a fourth-tier empire. How big the difference was!

"How interesting must the cultivation scene in those places be? I am guessing Foundation Building Realm and Golden Core Realm cultivators are as common as dogs there," muttered Daoist Ya.

That statement immediately silenced everyone.

Elder Jin Nan glanced at him and sternly questioned, “If Golden Core Realm cultivators are as common as dogs, what does that make us?"

"That was just a metaphor, don't fret over it, don't fret over it." Daoist Ya chuckled, then swiftly changed the topic. "Let's continue with the spiritual measurement. But I have a suggestion, everyone,” he said. “Let’s all take out each of our Spiritual Measuring Bells. This way, the progress will be faster."

After thinking it over for a moment, everyone nodded in agreement. Even though spiritual measurement would consume Soul Imprints on a Spiritual Measuring Bell, they had no choice; this was for the better. It would be better to get this over with as quickly as possible as to not face another of such unpleasant situations.

With that, everyone summoned their respective Spiritual Measuring Bell. They were all different, with varying designs and sizes.

The spiritual measurement continued, and with the addition of the new Bells, the progress instantly accelerated, with dozens of people measuring their spirits simultaneously each time.

It was then that Fang Chen asked Elder Jin Nan, "How much does a Spiritual Measuring Bell cost?"

Elder Jin Nan was slightly taken aback at first, then he cautiously implored, "Fellow Daoist Fang, are you thinking of buying a Spiritual Measuring Bell for Grand Xia?"

Fang Chen nodded.

When the group saw that, their expressions varied.

While it was true that the birth of the spiritual marrow had helped talents emerge from Grand Xia, and those talents were in turn accepted into sects, that didn’t change the fact this piece of land was rather ordinary; the possibility of it producing more people with talent for cultivation in the future was very slim.

"Fellow Daoist Fang, you should know that the strength of a treasure is distinguished by the number of Soul Imprints it carries. In simple words, it will be classified based on the four ranks. Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Those with twelve or fewer Soul Imprints will be classified as yellow-rank, low-tier treasures. In comparison, those with thirty-six or fewer Soul Imprints are classified as yellow-rank, middle-tier treasures. And so on and so forth," explained Elder Jin Nan, he then began, "The Spiritual Measuring Bell from our Heavenly Southern Sect is a yellow-rank, middle-tier treasure with a total of thirty-two Soul Imprints. Our sect master obtained it in a trade conference once. It originated from a major sect in a fifth-tier empire, and as it has been in use for many years, it had lost a few of its Soul Imprints; however, it still cost the sect master a total of nine hundred low-grade spirit stones to buy it. So you see, Spirit Measuring Bells are quite expensive. There is no need for you to buy one for this place," he concluded.

The woman holding the mother hen nodded in agreement.

Fang Chen was surprised. "Is there no one in the Flame Empire who can craft these Spiritual Measuring Bells?"

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

He suddenly grew curious about the trade conference Elder Jin Nan mentioned.

Hearing his question, the cultivators glanced over at each other, their expressions strange.

Elder Jin Nan shook his head, a bitter smile on his face. "The Soul Imprints on the Spiritual Measuring Bell are extremely mysterious. The Flame Empire doesn’t have such a master who’s able to refine one. I am afraid that even among fifth-tier empires we cannot find anyone capable of refining one. It is said that all Spiritual Measuring Bells originate from fourth-tier and third-tier empires, although I cannot attest to that claim as I’ve never been to those places before."

Xia Yu and the other new disciples suddenly understood that the immortal sects were not invincible. Just the fact that they could not craft a Spiritual Measuring Bell and had to buy it from others was testament to that.

It was then that Abbess Zhu Yue chimed in. "There are times when you cannot buy the Spiritual Measuring Bell even if you have spirit stones," she said. "We can only buy the treasures and the elixirs that the fifth-tier empires’ major sects didn’t bother buying during those trade conferences...”

"Abbess Zhu Yue, what is the trade conference for?" Fang Chen asked.

"It is organized by merchants of the cultivation scene," explained Abbess Zhu Yue. "If merchants from the fifth-tier empires want to conduct a trade conference, they’ll relay a message to the sixth-tier empires they have relations with. At that time, the people of the sixth-tier empires are able to buy items that can only be found in fifth-tier empires. The same logic can be applied to fourth-tier empires to fifth-tier empires, and so on and so forth. Not to mention that besides buying things needed for cultivation, each trade conference is also an opportunity for powerful cultivators to discuss the Dao."

Then, Abbess Zhu Yue said another sentence, but this time, it directly rang in Fang Chen’s ears, not allowing the others to hear it.

"If you want a Spiritual Measuring Bell, our Concealing Moon Hermitage has an additional one that I can sell to you,” she said.

Fang Chen stared at her for a brief moment, then nodded slightly.

Meanwhile Daoist Ya was looking at his Spiritual Measuring Bell, seemingly a little distressed. "I estimate that the Soul Imprints on my Spiritual Measuring Bell will be destroyed by the time we’re done.”

"Same here," said Elder Jin Nan, clearly in a similar pinch.

Because of Fang Chen, the Soul Imprints on his Spiritual Measuring Bell had become much fainter, not to mention the cracks that spread over its surface now. Repairing it would surely cost him an arm and a leg.

"For the sake of finding good seedlings, the loss of some spirit stones is nothing," said the farmer woman with a faint smile. "It’s why we buy Spiritual Measuring Bells to begin with.”

The group nodded slightly.

Daoist Ya was naturally one of those who agreed with that view, but he couldn't help but still feel distressed.

The others assumed that Fang Chen had dispelled the idea of buying a Spiritual Measuring Bell since he hadn’t asked further, and so, they dropped the topic.

Suddenly, Fang Chen's gaze fell on the woman now standing in front of the bell. She was clearly a little nervous as she got ready to strike

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Yet another seven chimes!

All eyes suddenly focused on her, and even the other people who were also undergoing the test were stunned. If it weren't for Ancestor Xia Yu's reminder, they would have forgotten that they were also here to test their talents as well.

Although Fairy Yu had shaken the crowd to their core, after so many people had tested themselves only to turn out to be mediocre, the bubbly, excited atmosphere had slowly died down. Only Xia Yu and Pancake Zhang had been able to achieve seven chimes. Now that another such person had appeared, everyone was shocked and envious.

"The young lady has achieved seven chimes! Superior talent!" cheered the maid excitedly in the crowd.

Suddenly, many words of congratulations drowned Fang Qingyao.

Among those people was Li Maocai, who had offered the dragon truncheon to Fang Chen back then. Li Maocai was ecstatic! Not only had he managed to befriend Fang Chen back then, but he was also rather close to Fang Qingyao, too! It was truly a cause for great joy!

"This woman... seems to be related to the incident with Zhou Xiu back then?" Many court officials eyed Fang Qingyao, then looked at Fang Chen with surprise and suspicion. Back then, Zhou Xiu had slaughtered the Grand Xia merchants and was about to massacre the Green Medicine Hall that Fang Qingyao was in when Fang Chen stopped him.

Because of that incident, all the court officials had investigated Fang Qingyao, so many were able to recognize her quickly.

Fang Qingyao stood in front of the Spiritual Measuring Bell in a daze. She was surprised by the fact that she had superior talent. It was only after a while that she snapped out of her daze.

"Young Lady Fang, congratulations," said Fang Chen with a wide grin.