Chapter 784: The Price of Heavy Water per Yuan

Zhang Xuan truly didn't hear Luo Qiqi's shouts. Executing the Mortal Purgatory Heaven-Treading Art, he flew silently forward, hugging the ground.

As a Heaven-Acknowledged Master who had undergone three trials and whose Eye of Insight had advanced, even the faint traces left by the other party were clearly visible to him.

"Hmm? Where is this going?"After following the traces along the lake for a while, they suddenly led straight up a hillside, causing Zhang Xuan to look puzzled. He had never been to this hillside before, and there were no residences on it. With night already fallen, what was this woman doing here?

He continued his journey, hidden by the night. The hillside was covered with various low-growing shrubs, and at its summit was an octagonal pavilion.

Such pavilions were common in the academy. Firstly, they provided students with a cool place to rest, and secondly, they offered a convenient spot to pause and exchange insights. Cultivation breakthroughs and sudden understandings could sometimes happen in an instant, and moving around might cause one to miss that fleeting feeling.

Zhang Xuan flew towards the pavilion, staying close to the bushes. Before he even reached it, he saw a graceful figure standing inside. Illuminated by the surrounding starlight, she appeared hazy, like a beautiful painting. It had to be said that Hu Yaoyao indeed had an excellent figure. From a distance, she resembled a phantom of the night, captivating anyone who laid eyes on her.

In Zhang Xuan's mind, aside from Luo Ruoxi, who had caused him to lose composure and faint twice, he didn't feel much for other girls. Yet, he still admired the figure of the woman before him.

"Alright, come out!" Standing in the small pavilion, her elegant posture forming a captivating curve, Hu Yaoyao suddenly spoke.

"Could I have been discovered?" Zhang Xuan stiffened, then shook his head. He had used the Mortal Purgatory Heaven-Treading Art, remaining airborne and leaving no traces. Furthermore, he wasn't directly behind her but was using his Eye of Insight to detect residual marks. Such tracking methods made it impossible for someone at her Leaving Aperture Realm ninth layer cultivation to notice him, let alone a Saint realm expert!

"Haha, Yaoyao is truly perceptive. I just arrived, and you've already found me..." Just as Zhang Xuan wondered why she would say that, a laugh rang out. Following this, from one side of the hillside, the sound of footsteps treading on wind was heard, and a tall figure landed inside the pavilion.

It was a young man who appeared to be in his thirties, with cultivation as surging as a river. He was surprisingly similar to Hu Yaoyao, also a Leaving Aperture Realm ninth-layer expert. At this level of cultivation, one's age could no longer be determined by appearance. Appearing to be in his thirties, he had likely lived for at least fifty or sixty years. However, compared to the over two-hundred-year lifespan of a Leaving Aperture Realm cultivator, this age was still considered quite young.

"You live up to your name. Cultivating the True Yang Art, you're like a blazing sun even before you arrive, making it hard to go unnoticed!" Before Hu Yaoyao could speak, a faint voice sounded, and another figure appeared.

It was a woman of similar age to Hu Yaoyao, whose beauty was in no way inferior to the 'demoness.' However, their temperaments were like two extremes. Yaoyao was like a demoness, every movement captivating, making one feel like pulling her into an embrace and ravishing her. This other woman, on the other hand, was aloof and cold, like a block of ice, making people keep their distance and dare not approach.

"Lives up to his name? Could it be... Xue Zhenyang?" Seeing two more people arrive consecutively, Zhang Xuan dared not move, remaining hidden in the bushes, while also feeling perplexed. He had previously heard of something called the True Yang Society, whose leader was a fifth-year student named Xue Zhenyang. Hearing this now, he immediately connected the two.

"Indeed, this guy really doesn't conceal himself. If he were like me, Yaoyao wouldn't have noticed him!" As Zhang Xuan was speculating, another figure appeared. This person was like a ghost; if they hadn't spoken, even Zhang Xuan wouldn't have noticed them and would have had no idea where they came from.

"Long Cangyue, you cultivate the Cold Moon Art, moving under the cover of night, making yourself neither male nor female. I'm not like you!" 'Xue Zhenyang' scoffed.

"You're the one who's neither male nor female! Do you believe I'll teach you a lesson?" The young man named Long Cangyue immediately flew into a rage.

"Come on, do you think I'm scared of you? It's been a while since I've stretched my muscles; a fight wouldn't hurt!" 'Xue Zhenyang's' zhenqi pulsed within him, making him seem like a blazing flame, ready to attack at any moment.

"A defeated general dares to boast before me? Since you want to fight, I'll grant your wish..." Long Cangyue sneered. Instantly, both were at daggers drawn.

"Alright, you two always bicker the moment you meet, without any restraint. Don't you know we have important matters to discuss today?" Hu Yaoyao huffed.

Hearing her words, their ready-to-fight aura immediately subsided. Both smiled simultaneously: "You're right. We can have our private sparring matches later. Today, we have serious business to discuss! We mustn't delay things."

"Alright, everyone's here. Dong Xin, you just got back; tell us what information you've gathered!" Seeing that the two were no longer bickering, Hu Yaoyao waved her hand and looked at the woman not far away.

"Hmm, I went to that place and quietly observed for two days. Zhenyang was right; the item is definitely there. However... the level of danger is also greater than we imagined. I'm afraid it will be very difficult for just the four of us to succeed!" The cold-faced woman, Dong Xin, hesitated before speaking.

"It is indeed difficult. Leaving aside the complex natural environment, just those two large beasts alone are something we can't directly confront." As he spoke of the matter, Xue Zhenyang lost his previous irritability and frowned.

"Yes, we must plan carefully, otherwise, I'm afraid we might not get the item and might even lose our lives!" Long Cangyue on the side concurred.

"Plan carefully? How so? If my guess is correct, this item will definitely mature within this month. Once fully ripe, those two large beasts will undoubtedly consume it to cleanse their meridians and temper their bones. By then, they will be the ones breaking through, and we'll have no chance!" Xue Zhenyang flicked his sleeve and huffed.

"Zhenyang is right. Once this item matures, we truly won't have another opportunity. We must sneak in before it ripens and seize it the moment it's ready! Otherwise, if we miss this chance, aspiring to break through to Semi-Saint... it would be nearly impossible without several decades of arduous effort!" Hu Yaoyao nodded, her brows furrowed tightly.

"Yes, we understand the reasoning. The question now is how we can breach their defenses and deal with those two large beasts!" Xue Zhenyang shook his head, unable to resist looking at the girl nearby: "Dong Xin, you're the most famous genius of the Beast Tamer School. Didn't you say you had a way to deal with these two?"

"These two creatures possess ancient beast bloodlines, so ordinary items won't impress them. Didn't I instruct you before I left? I told you to buy Primeval Heavy Water. This item has a purifying effect on ancient bloodlines. Using it as bait might lure them into a trap! Once they're ensnared, we'll have our chance!" Dong Xin spoke, her delicate brows furrowed, then looked up at everyone: "By the way, did you manage to buy this item?"

"Buy it? How can we buy it? A single jade bottle of Primeval Heavy Water costs a hundred thousand mid-tier spirit stones! You know our financial situation; where would we find that much money?" Xue Zhenyang shook his head with a bitter smile.

Even as fifth-year students, a hundred thousand mid-tier spirit stones was a significant amount, very difficult for them to procure.

"Primeval Heavy Water?" Hidden to the side, Zhang Xuan's heart stirred. The Five Grand Incantations of the Golden Body had five levels. After incorporating numerous body tempering techniques, the first level didn't require external treasures, but the remaining four did. The second level needed Earth Core Grand Rock, and the third level required Primeval Heavy Water as an auxiliary. He had only heard the name of this item but knew nothing about its appearance or whereabouts. He never expected to get information about it from these people.

They actually wanted to buy it too.

"A hundred thousand mid-tier spirit stones... that's ten high-tier ones... So expensive!" While excited, he also felt helpless. Based on his understanding of the third level of the Five Grand Incantations of the Golden Body, he would need about ten bottles of Primeval Heavy Water to cultivate it to completion. He currently only had ten high-tier spirit stones, enough for one jade bottle. To cultivate it, he was still quite short!

"Didn't the new students report a few days ago? Shouldn't you have made a large profit?" Hearing Xue Zhenyang complain about poverty, Dong Xin couldn't help but ask.

When new students enrolled, all major societies would make a fortune. This year was also a once-in-a-decade recruitment cycle, with supposedly thirty thousand new students. With so many people, even earning three spirit stones per person would nearly reach a hundred thousand!

"Make a fortune? It's good enough if we didn't lose everything! Don't you know what happened these past two days?" Hearing this, before Xue Zhenyang could speak, Long Cangyue on the side shook his head.

"Know what? I just arrived and sent you the message to gather here. I haven't had a chance to go back yet. What happened? Did the academy interfere?" Dong Xin looked at them curiously. She had spent two days in a certain place, and the round trip had taken a few more days, so she only arrived this evening and was unaware of the academy's recent events.

Every semester, senior students extorting new students was a common practice that the academy generally didn't intervene with. Firstly, it served to temper the new students' arrogance, making them realize that there were always others stronger and more skilled than them. Secondly, it also allowed the various master teachers to collaborate better and unite more effectively in the future to resist the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.

With the academy not interfering and new students being easy to trick, they should have made a good profit. It had even become an established industry. Why did it sound like they had lost money?

"Don't disbelieve me when I tell you, a monster appeared among the new students and completely disrupted the business! This year's entrance examination was organized by your Beast Tamer School. You should have known about this for a long time, right?" Long Cangyue said.

"Yes!" Dong Xin nodded: "Dean Mi personally handled it and prepared for several months in advance!" As one of the top geniuses in the Beast Tamer School, she had good relationships with her teachers and knew about the new student examination even before the news was officially released.

Dean Mi had been capturing spiritual beasts causing trouble everywhere, and she had even participated, personally catching seven or eight of them.

"The rules for this assessment were very simple: killing a spiritual beast at the peak of the Leaving Aperture Realm fourth layer counted as one point... Do you know how many points that monster among the new students scored?" Long Cangyue asked.

The new student entrance examination had already passed several days ago, and as the president of the Azure Moon Society, it wasn't difficult for him to inquire about the specific details of the assessment.