Soaring the Heavens

'Yan Beihong also bought a Fretless Fruit?' Miao Yi found this a little strange. Back in the Subjugation Crusade, Yan Beihong's cultivation was only at the Blue Lotus Fifth Grade. He couldn't possibly break through from that to the Red Lotus realm in less than ten years, could he? If that was true, then that was a little too inconceivable. Everyone knows that the time it took to raise one's cultivation grade only grew longer the higher their cultivation was.

However, it wasn't as if everyone knew about Yan Beihong's cultivation grade. How could an outsider possibly tell that it was strange, especially Wen Fang? Miao Yi asked, "What's wrong about it?"

Qian'Er replied, "Wen Fang said that this was already Master Yan's fourth time buying a Fretless Fruit from her within the year. The first time, he had bought three fruits. However, after a few days, he bought another ten fruits. And a month later, he looked for her to buy fifty more. This time, he's actually bought two hundred Fretless Fruits from Wen Fang."

"So many?" Miao Yi exclaimed in shock. A single Fretless Fruit cost about ten thousand low-grade Orbs of Will. Wouldn't this mean that Yan Beihong had spent almost 2.6 million Orbs of Will on buying Fretless Fruits? That was equivalent to 2.6 billion Gold Crystals!

How much exactly were 2.6 billion Gold Crystals worth? He had once spent almost all his savings just to refine a set of Second Grade Armor Artifacts, so he was fully aware of the gravity behind such a large sum. At the time, he had purchased 150 urns of Crystalline Obsidian at a net total of 300 million Gold Crystals.

This amount was not only enough to refine his entire set of Armor Artifacts, but Charcoal's as well. And because of Charcoal's size, that was where most of the spending had gone to. So in truth, his own set of Armor Artifacts had only cost about 100 million Gold Crystals. If he was going by the market rates, then he would have to take into account Yao Ruoxian's labor fees as well as the Second Grade Yao Cores he had used for the refining process. That put the total cost of his Second Grade Armor Artifact set at about 200 million Gold Crystals. A single low-grade Orb of Will cost around the same as a thousand Gold Crystals, which meant that his Armor Artifact set was worth about 200,000 low-grade Orbs of Will.

This meant that Yan Beihong had actually used up over ten sets of Second Grade Armor Artifacts just to buy Fretless Fruits. Miao Yi couldn't help wondering why he was spending so much money.

"Why did he buy so many Fretless Fruits?" Miao Yi couldn't help asking. He knew that Yan Beihong's cultivation speed was fast, but still, regardless of how quickly his cultivation grew, did he really need to buy so many Fretless Fruits?

Qian'Er replied, "Wen Fang also has no idea why Master Yan is buying up so many Fretless Fruits. She said that during the first two times he made the purchase, she was still able to see him in person. However, during the next two purchases with the fifty and the two hundred Fretless Fruits, Hong Xiu and Hong Fu were the ones who signed off on Master Yan's behalf. The person in question was nowhere to be seen. Wen Fang wanted to pay him a visit, but it seemed that Hong Xiu and Hong Fu stopped her from doing so, which was very strange. Moreover, it would be inappropriate of Wen Fang to pry into why the other party had bought so many Fretless Fruits. Back when she was talking to us, Wen Fang even made a joke about it. She noted how there aren't too many cultivators that could break through to another major realm within a year, and as such, there aren't a lot of Fretless Fruits circulating around the market. Moreover, the orchards responsible for producing the Fretless Fruits only release a very limited amount at any one time as a means to control their market value. Now that Master Yan has bought so many Fretless Fruits, there's a shortage of it in the market. Wen Fang speculates that the price will drastically increase soon enough. She joked that Master Yan had a businessman's cunning, and wondered if he was preparing to make a huge profit of the Fretless Fruits once the price has soared."

Xue'Er continued, "Even though Wen Fang was just saying it in jest, but both of us felt like she'd caught on to something, and was intentionally leaking this information out to us so that we could inform you, Master."

Miao Yi quietly nodded. The Chamber of Commerce wouldn't normally reveal the details of a transaction with its customers, and Wen Fang wasn't such a loose-lipped woman either. She definitely had her own reasons for doing so. In short, she was likely trying to do him a favor, as she was aware that he had a close relationship with Yan Beihong.

"It looks like that woman made yet another killing this time." Miao Yi chuckled. He raised his hand and added, "Let's go! We're going to see your father."

The two girls looked at each other, then immediately followed after Miao Yi. Deep down, they pondered, 'I wonder why Master is looking for Father? He normally doesn't meet with him if it's nothing major.'

The trio soon reached the forbidden island and entered the quiet courtyard. There, they saw Charcoal still sleeping under the eaves of the main hall, while Yao Ruoxian was cultivating on the bed inside.

Yao Ruoxian's cultivation seemed to be picking up speed at a steady pace. It seemed he had just sold off thirty sets of Second Grade Armor Artifacts in one fell swoop and had the two girls exchange them for five million low-grade Orbs of Will for him. At his cultivation grade, every breakthrough required millions of low-grade Orbs of Will. Now that he had an adequate supply of orbs, it was natural for his cultivation speed to pick up.

Miao Yi laughed bitterly as he thought about this. Other things aside, not only did he have to provide for the old man, he still had to spend a relentless amount of Yao Cores for Charcoal and the tiny mantids as well. Had he not earned a fortune in the Subjugation Crusade, there was no way he could afford such luxury. Just the amount of Orbs of Will for Yao Ruoxian's cultivation alone was an astronomical sum.

However, Miao Yi knew that this was money he needed to spend. After going through the Sea of Constellations Subjugation Crusade, he became aware of the importance of transcendent artifacts. Moreover, he realized that Yao Ruoxian was indeed quite the expert. This Artifact Artisan was someone he definitely needed by his side. Once his own cultivation had increased and he had a powerful transcendent artifact at his disposal, why should he ever have to worry about not getting enough Orbs of Will? Therefore, it was important to have foresight. There was no such thing as profit without investment.

"Father!" The two young ladies called out as they entered the main hall.

Yao Ruoxian opened his eyes and smiled, then tucked away the large mounds of Orbs of Will in both his hands. Once a cultivator was at the Red Lotus realm, they could easily emanate their own internal arts outside of their body. There was no longer a need for them to place the Orb of Will in their mouths.

"The damned fatso has eaten so many Yao Cores, but he doesn't look any different than usual. He still sleeps like a pig all day long," Miao Yi grumbled as he sent a couple of kicks to Charcoal's body. However, there was no reaction from Charcoal at all. As Miao Yi then walked inside the house, he lifted his head up to the eaves and noticed the tiny mantids silently perched up on the beam. Compared to Charcoal, these little fellows had undergone quite the change. At the very least, they were around the size of two fists now and were almost twice as large as they were before. It seemed the food wasn't wasted on them, at least.

"What are you here for?" Yao Ruoxian scoffed. It seemed he was always pissed at seeing Miao Yi.

But then again, there was probably no way a man would be pleased to see the guy sleeping with his two precious daughters.

Miao Yi let out a chuckle and cupped his fists. "I've come here just to see you, Senior."

Yao Ruoxian huffed disdainfully, "Spare me the crap. Like I don't know you well enough. You would never show your face in front of me if you didn't have anything urgent to talk about. Saying that you're here just to see me is a lie. It's more like you want to know about that high-grade storage ring of yours, correct?"

"You're overthinking things, Senior. You've been in the cultivation realm for so many years. Surely, you know about a great many things. I have come to seek guidance from you." Miao Yi didn't wait for another scornful reply, and quickly added, "Senior, do you know if there is a purpose to gathering a large supply of Fretless Fruits?"

Yao Ruoxian was taken aback. "Why are you asking this for?"

Miao Yi said somberly, "I have a friend who suddenly purchased a large supply of Fretless Fruits. Over two hundred pieces, to be exact. I felt this was a little strange, so I came here to ask if you know anything about it."

Yao Ruoxian said casually, "Obviously, a Fretless Fruit is used for breaking through to the next major realm. Don't tell me you don't know this much… Over two hundred pieces? There's no need to have so many of them to break through from the Blue Lotus realm to the Red Lotus realm, but it's a little too few to break through from the Purple Lotus realm to the Golden Lotus realm as well."

Miao Yi asked, "Are you saying it can only be used for breaking through a major realm? There's no other purpose to it?"

Yao Ruoxian responded, "What other purpose can there be? It's precisely because there aren't too many uses for it that the Western Constellations Palace intentionally limits the number of Fretless Fruits they sell and avoid its price from falling."

"Western Constellations Palace?" Miao Yi was surprised. "The Fretless Fruit came from the Western Constellations Palace? I've been around the area before, but I didn't see any place that grew these Fretless Fruits!"

Yao Ruoxian huffed irritably. He himself had never been to the Western Constellations Palace before, but the brat before him did. He said in annoyance, "Then it's probably because you just can't tell trash from treasure. The Sea of Constellations is a place where demonic creatures of all kinds reside. There are no followers in that place, only rare and mysterious plants and herbs. And the Fretless Fruit itself is a very important bargaining chip for the Western Constellations Palace to get their share of cultivation resources from the Six Sages. As a result, Western Constellations Master Fu Qing keeps a tight grip on its production rights. Where else can you find it if not in the Western Constellations Palace? Moreover, I heard that this is a very tough plant to grow. It cannot take the heat, nor can it withstand the cold. And although it's a type of plant, it cannot be affected by the presence of other plants. It needs to grow in an environment without worry, hence, why it's called the Fretless Fruit."

Hearing this, a thought suddenly flashed by Miao Yi's mind. He asked, "What does the plant of the Fretless Fruit look like? Is it dark green in color?"

"Like hell would I know. I've only seen the fruit itself, not the plant…" As he said this, Yao Ruoxian seemed to have caught on to something, and asked, "You've seen it before?"

"I don't know if I have. But hearing what you just said, I think I did…" Miao Yi then briefly recounted his experience sweeping the grounds of the Western Constellations Palace.

After hearing Miao Yi's tale, Yao Ruoxian slapped on his thigh and shouted, "That's definitely it! The grassy area where you swept is definitely the place! Tsk tsk, to be able to care for the garden where the Fretless Fruits grows. This isn't something that anyone can experience. Most of the cultivators in the world have only seen the fruit and not the plant itself. Kid, you were quite lucky. Now you've become more knowledgeable."

'You call this lucky? I almost died from fatigue sweeping that place!' Miao Yi shook his head. He didn't find such an experience to be something to be enthused about.

Since he couldn't get any answers from Yao Ruoxian, Miao Yi didn't stay too long and returned back to his manor. He then wrote a letter to Yan Beihong asking him how he was doing.

However, for some reason, Yan Beihong didn't reply for quite a while. Hong Fu only sent back a perfunctory reply on his behalf saying that everything was fine!

Miao Yi grew even more suspicious that something had happened. Why was Hong Fu replying to his letter instead of Yan Beihong? This wasn't normal! Yan Beihong would never be so busy that he couldn't even write back a single letter!

If his position didn't make it difficult for him to leave his post without first getting his superior's permission, then Miao Yi would have definitely gone straight to the First Earthly Branch to find out what was going on.

By the time Yan Beihong wrote back to him, half a year had passed.

Currently, Miao Yi's cultivation was at the Blue Lotus Fourth Grade, and his cultivation speed had already increased from refining five orbs a day to six. Furthermore, he would need to refine over twenty-thousand Orbs of Will to break through to the Blue Lotus Fifth Grade. Miao Yi speculated that it would probably take him around ten years to make the next breakthrough.

He believed that his own cultivation speed was quick enough, so much so that it was dangerous for him to reveal it to outsiders. However, when he read through Yan Beihong's letter, even though he was already prepared for it, he still couldn't help his shock.

Yan Beihong's reply went as follows: 'The reason I didn't reply to your letter last time was because my cultivation had already reached its crucial stage for breaking through to the Red Lotus realm, and I had ordered that no one is to disturb me. I'm sorry! Right now, my cultivation has already broken through to the Red Lotus First Grade. I've also caught the Palace Lord's eye and have already been promoted to Hall Master!'

Within the silent quarters, Miao Yi held onto the jade archive and went deep in thought as he slowly recovered from his shock. He was simply too astonished by Yan Beihong's cultivation speed. After so many years, even Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei, who had already reached the door to the Red Lotus realm, have yet to break through. However, Yan Beihong, who was several levels behind the two initially, had already completely overtaken them in one fell swoop. This was just too inconceivable.

Miao Yi couldn't help wondering what kind of cultivation art Yan Beihong was practicing in. This cultivation speed was just heaven-defying! He hoped that Yan Beihong wouldn't become too outstanding and attract some unsavory attention to himself!