Chapter 161 - The Myriad Manifestations Sect’s Plan (1)

No one disliked money. And no one would ever think I’ve earned enough, then simply stop earning. That was true for people. It was even more true for sects.

Thanks to Xu Xinyao taking the initiative to make the connection, the Myriad Manifestations Sect did not need to purchase expensive formation blueprints, nor did they need to pay additional exorbitant fees to formation inscribers. They only had to cover the cost of the formation materials.

Although Sageridge was only a county level settlement, its past prosperity as a demonic beast trading hub meant the city itself was actually quite large.

Xu Yuan did not understand formations, but he had read many internal reports from the Chancellor’s Manor. Naturally, some of those reports had contained information about the initial investment and later returns involved in constructing formations.

To build an illusion formation large enough to cover an area as vast as Sageridge, Xu Yuan roughly estimated that the materials alone would cost around a million taels of silver. Of course, that was if the materials were purchased at market price.

As a colossus of a sect, the Myriad Manifestations Sect naturally had its own supply channels. But even taking that into account, the cost of setting up this grand illusion formation should still have been upwards of six hundred thousand taels.

The Myriad Manifestations Sect was not a person. It was an alliance of interests. There was no way it would spend that much silver just to help his Xu Xinyao do charity work. If they had chosen to invest, then the reason had to be that they could obtain even more in return.

And yet now, the Myriad Manifestations Sect had simply tossed aside this money-making path and run off.

“Eh? Young Master Zhou?”

As Xu Yuan was thinking, a clear young woman’s voice suddenly rang out from the bustling street, carrying a hint of excitement.

“Young Master Zhou! What are you standing there for?”

Xu Yuan instinctively looked toward the voice. After seeing who it was, he suddenly realized that she was calling him.

Across the busy market street, two young people were looking his way. One of them was a pure and pretty young girl, currently bouncing on her toes and waving at him.

When he saw her, Xu Yuan paused briefly, then recognized the pair as the sect disciples he had met earlier in the abandoned village, Zhou Xiaohe and Li Erzhu.

After a second of silence, Xu Yuan also revealed a smile and nodded to them. He remembered that these two were from the Myriad Manifestations Sect, and their status there should not be low. So why were they still here now?

Seeing that Xu Yuan recognized her, Zhou Xiaohe immediately grabbed the wooden-faced Li Erzhu beside her and dragged him toward Xu Yuan.

Once they reached him, Li Erzhu cupped his fists very politely. “Brother Zhou, it’s been a while.”

Zhou Xiaohe poked her head forward and said with a bright smile, “Young Master Zhou, what brings you here?”

Xu Yuan’s eyes curved with a smile. “I happened to be passing by, so I entered the city to purchase some supplies. And you, Miss Zhou? Why are you here?”

Without thinking, Zhou Xiaohe pointed at Li Erzhu beside her and answered, “This blockhead heard there were demonic beasts causing trouble around here and insisted on coming to exterminate them. We killed beasts along the way, and somehow, step by step, ended up in Sageridge. We just happened to come here to sell some demonic beast cores. Who knew we’d actually run into you, Young Master Zhou? Hehe...”

Zhou Xiaohe immediately glared at him. “Aiya, if you don’t want to wait, you can go back first!”

Li Erzhu shut his mouth.

Zhou Xiaohe cleared her throat and smiled. “Young Master Zhou, what do you want to buy?”

Xu Yuan looked at the two of them with some hesitation, but still lowered his voice and listed over a dozen medicinal herbs. “Soul Dove Grass, Qi Soul Stillway Flower, Soulgreen Vine...”

After slowly finishing the list, Xu Yuan quietly watched her expression. These were all medicinal herbs that could help Luo Daofan recover his soul power. Because the old man had no body, his soul power could not recover on its own. Once he used it, it was gone. If he wanted to restore it, he could only rely on external things like pills or medicinal herbs.

The group fell into a brief silence.

Zhou Xiaohe’s beautiful eyes flickered slightly, and soon, a trace of embarrassment appeared on her face. She lowered her voice and said, “Young Master Zhou, I only recognize a few of the herbs you just mentioned.”

Xu Yuan was not surprised. There were countless medicinal herbs under heaven, after all. He merely said, “As long as it’s one of the ones I mentioned, any of them will do. Price is not an issue.”

Zhou Xiaohe’s little face flushed slightly, and she shook her head. “Young Master Zhou, it’s not a matter of price. There’s nowhere in Sageridge that sells those herbs.”

“There isn’t?” Xu Yuan sighed. After a brief pause, he asked again, “What about flying demonic beasts? Grade C is fine.”

The Department of Exotic Beasts had a unified classification system for all demonic beasts under heaven. Military and civilian use were divided into two categories. Flying and land-based beasts were divided into two branches. From top to bottom, they were ranked as Grade-A, Grade-B, Grade-C, Grade-D, Grade-E, and Grade-F.

Xu Changge’s black hawk belonged to the Grade-A military flying demonic beast category, which meant it was very, very expensive.

With the amount of silver Xu Yuan currently had, the most he could afford was a Grade-C civilian flying demonic beast for transportation.

But even so, Zhou Xiaohe still shook her head. “No.”

“Grade-D flying demonic beasts would also be fine.”

“Also no.”

“Grade-E?”

“Young Master Zhou, Sageridge only has demonic beast eggs and younglings.”

Xu Yuan fell silent.

Zhou Xiaohe also fell silent.

Small places really had nothing.

Xu Yuan sighed softly. “Thank you for telling me, Miss Zhou. It seems Sageridge does not have anything I need for the time being.”

Zhou Xiaohe also looked somewhat embarrassed. She lowered her voice and said, “Why don’t you come back to the sect city with us as guests, Young Master Zhou? The Myriad Manifestation Sect’s territory is packed with merchant associations. Many, many large trading guilds have branches there.”

Xu Yuan did not answer immediately. He had only come to this place to buy supplies. Since there was nothing here for sale, he naturally had no reason to stay. More importantly, the Myriad Manifestations Sect’s actions clearly showed that something was wrong with Sageridge. Only an idiot would keep lingering here.

After pondering for a moment, Xu Yuan looked at Ran Qingmo, who had been standing quietly to the side, and said, “Ying’er, what do you think?”

“I’ll listen to you,” Ran Qingmo answered softly.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan let out a breath and cupped his fists slightly toward Zhou Xiaohe. “Then we’ll be troubling the two of you along the way. But before we set off, we still need to buy some miscellaneous supplies.”

When Zhou Xiaohe heard this, she visibly became excited. “It’s not trouble at all. Let’s go. Having only this blockhead around all day is so boring I could die. Oh, right, Young Master Zhou, where’s that little girl who was with you before?”