Chapter 1045: Chapter 1045 Spiritual Fire

Luodu Immortal City, Four Seas Commerce Association.

As a prominent and illustrious commerce guild known throughout the Cultivation World, the name of the Four Seas travels across the myriad heavens and worlds, with branches in almost every larger Immortal City in the Haotian Realm, and Luodu is no exception.

The Four Seas Commerce Association occupies five shopfronts on the city’s most bustling main street.

The arrangement is quite imposing.

Of course, compared to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion across half the street, the Four Seas Commerce Association still falls short; the former’s twelve-story high pavilion is a landmark even in this Earth-Level Immortal City.

But compared to the ruthless Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Wang Chen prefers the more down-to-earth Four Seas Commerce Association.

He is also considered a regular customer at the Four Seas Commerce Association, even holding a “VIP card” from this immortal merchant.

“True Person Wang, what can I do for you today?”

Upon seeing Wang Chen enter the hall, a middle-aged Cultivator immediately greeted him with a beaming smile and invited him to a private room for further discussion.

Over the past year, Wang Chen’s transactions at the Luodu branch of the Four Seas Commerce Association exceeded one hundred thousand Middle Spirit Stones, making him a significant customer.

The treatment, naturally, is different from that of ordinary customers.

“Manager Chen…”

After sitting down in the private room, Wang Chen cut straight to the point: “Do you have any Third Order Fire Aspect Spiritual Fire in stock?”

His first choice for purchasing cultivation resources is always the Four Seas Commerce Association.

Next would be the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

And local merchants would be his last resort.

The reason is simple: both the Four Seas Commerce Association and the Myriad Treasures Pavilion have top-notch commercial reputations; Wang Chen does not have to worry about his personal information leaking out.

Local merchants, however, are another story. Each of them could be backed by a powerful force that Wang Chen simply cannot afford to provoke.

“Third Order Fire Aspect Spiritual Fire?”

Manager Chen furrowed his brow and asked, “Is it urgent?”

He explained: “We don’t have it in stock, but I can transfer it from another branch or apply for it from the headquarters. It would take approximately three to five days.”

“Three to five days is fine.”

Wang Chen sighed with relief: “What about the price?”

Manager Chen’s smile grew wider: “True Person Wang, it’s not that I’m trying to inflate the prices. Spiritual Fire is rare. Third Order Fire Aspect Spiritual Fire is considered a treasure among the materials from heaven and earth, thus it can only be traded using Upper Spirit Stones.”

Wang Chen silently nodded.

Many precious materials from heaven and earth have specific trading requirements, such as only accepting Upper Spirit Stones or bartering goods.

Although Upper Spirit Stones and Middle Spirit Stones are exchangeable on the market, in reality, cultivators who possess Upper Spirit Stones would not easily exchange them for Middle Spirit Stones unless absolutely necessary.

Those wanting to exchange Middle Spirit Stones for Upper Spirit will generally have to pay a significant premium.

Moreover, the more you demand, the higher the premium!

The Four Seas Commerce Association is definitely not short of Spirit Stones; if they say they want Upper Spirit, they certainly won’t accept Middle Spirit.

Wang Chen had no choice but to consent: “Quote your price.”

Manager Chen held up a finger: “One thousand, non-negotiable.”

Wang Chen exhaled deeply: “Okay.”

One thousand Upper Spirit Stones–undeniably, saying it doesn’t hurt would be a lie.

If it weren’t for the fact that Wang Chen had recently slain four True Persons and obtained a large amount of high-quality Spirit Stones, he wouldn’t even be able to pull out that many Upper Spirit Stones now. So while it pained his heart, it wasn’t to the point of feeling like his heart was being gouged out.

But from a cost perspective, purchasing one thousand Upper Spirit Stones’ worth of Spiritual Fire to help True Person Shen refine a Flying Sword was definitely a huge loss–a loss without equal.

However, as the Artifact Spirit Cauldron also said, if he could gather the Third Order Five Elements Fire, he would be able to condense the Fourth Order Formless Fire. By then, not to mention Magical Treasures, he could even refine higher-tier Spiritual Treasures.

In this way, it’s still quite worth it!

Wang Chen also tentatively inquired about the prices of the other four types of Spiritual Fire.

The answers he received left him utterly dumbfounded.

Manager Chen told Wang Chen that among the third-order Spiritual Fires, the Fire Aspect ones were the easiest to obtain and thus they were also the cheapest.

The other four kinds were more expensive, especially the Water Aspect Spiritual Fire, which was actually five times the price of the Fire Aspect.

Five thousand Upper Spirits!

Moreover, this kind of Spiritual Fire was basically not in stock and needed to be pre-ordered, taking half a year or even longer to acquire.

Wang Chen roughly calculated that to gather all of the Five Elements Fire, he would need to come up with around thirteen thousand Upper Spirits.

No wonder Great Refiners served powerful forces, Wandering Martial Artists couldn’t even afford Spiritual Fires!

After paying a thirty-percent deposit, Wang Chen left the Four Seas Commerce Association.

He didn’t wait too long; just four days later, Manager Chen sent him a message.

The goods had arrived.

Coincidentally, right after Wang Chen obtained the third-order Fire Aspect Spiritual Fire, True Person Shen delivered the materials for crafting the Flying Sword.

Thus, the two immediately signed a Legal Pact.

Because it was the first custom order business, Wang Chen’s price wasn’t high, and he also agreed with the other party that if the Flying Sword failed to be crafted, he would compensate all the materials!

Essentially, Wang Chen was taking on all the risks.

But this was a necessity, and he still had to thank True Person Shen for giving him the opportunity to build a reputation.

“Come to collect the sword in half a month!”

True Person Shen was immediately taken aback: “Will half a month be enough?”

For a Great Refiner to craft a Magical Treasure, one or two months were normal, and for substantial Magic Artifacts like Flying Swords, the process often took even longer. Wang Chen only wanted half a month, which was somewhat beyond his expectations.

Wang Chen smiled and said, “Then let’s make it one month.”

“Half a month would be ideal!”

True Person Shen immediately changed his mind: “Then I’ll leave it to you, fellow Daoist!”

Although Wang Chen was young, he did not seem like the frivolous type given to boastfulness; since he dared to promise a half-month deadline, True Person Shen had no reason to quibble over it.

As long as the quality was assured, the duration didn’t matter at all!

However, with this, True Person Shen’s anticipation for the Red Sky Sword, which Wang Chen was customizing for him, grew even deeper and stronger.

After True Person Shen left, Wang Chen called Su Ziling and informed her that he would be in seclusion for half a month.

Then he went into the Refinement Room, activated the Array, and sealed the door.

“Time to get to work!”

Wang Chen patted the Creation Cauldron placed in the center of the private room and called out the Artifact Spirit Cauldron.

The Ding cheered with excitement: “Master, have you bought the fire source?”

“Mhm.”

Wang Chen took out the Spirit Casket containing the third-order Fire Aspect Spiritual Fire and, upon opening the casket, a bright and scorching flame immediately appeared.

Waves of heat swept toward all directions, causing the room’s temperature to surge suddenly.

If it wasn’t for the Array intrinsic to the Spirit Casket suppressing this ball of Spiritual Fire, its natural released power would be enough to melt the surrounding rock walls, turning the solid stone into magma!

“Excellent, excellent!”

The Ding applauded: “Master, quickly get the Spiritual Fire in here.”

Wang Chen flicked his finger and projected the Spiritual Fire from the casket into the Treasured Cauldron, which immediately radiated bright light, glowing a deep reddish hue.

Taming the Spiritual Fire also required a process of refinement, and with the assistance of the Ding, it took Wang Chen an entire day and night to completely subdue the third-order Fire Aspect Spiritual Fire.

Then he began crafting the Red Sky Sword.

This refining took another seven days and seven nights.

——

The first update is here; I’m asking for your monthly votes and support, thank you, everyone!