Chapter 189: Trading Rare Flowers and Exotic Herbs

Walking out of Cao Junxiong's room, with the river breeze gently blowing, Yang Ling felt refreshed and invigorated.

He now had 171 Foundation Consolidation Pills on him.

He also had 22 Spirit Nurturing Pills remaining.

"When I get back to the Yunwen Provincial Capital, I'll first level up the Heavenly Will True Scripture to Flawless Proficiency."

Thinking this, Yang Ling felt a clear sense of purpose.

"Chief Constable Yang, you're here."

Two figures suddenly walked over from a distance, both Seventh-Rank experts around thirty years old.

Yang Ling had seen them during the Water Qilin Cave expedition, but only at the very beginning.

After that, the two had gone off somewhere. The Snowy Ice Plain was vast, and only a portion of the Zhao State martial artists who entered eventually reached Calamity Valley.

"Disciples from the Valley of the Dead are looking for me…"

Yang Ling's mind stirred, and he smiled, cupping his fists in greeting.

"What can I do for you two seniors?"

"Chief Constable Yang, you know our Valley of the Dead specializes in alchemy. The rare exotic herbs and flowers growing inside Water Qilin Cave are of exceptionally high quality."

"Even herbs and flowers of the same type and similar age as those outside are several tenths higher in quality."

"If used for pill refining, they can also improve the quality and success rate of the pills. We're here on behalf of our sect's elder to ask if you'd be willing to part with some."

The two men got straight to the point without beating around the bush, their eyes full of anticipation and sincerity.

Yang Ling glanced around and noticed that now, just after the return journey, martial artists who had entered Water Qilin Cave and brought out some rare exotic herbs and flowers were already being approached—either to buy or to trade.

It wasn't just happening on the giant ship he was on; similar scenes were unfolding on the other giant ships nearby.

Even Li Shou, who had only brought back a single rare exotic herb, was currently grinning from ear to ear as he took a stack of silver notes from someone, selling off the plant in his hand.

"These rare exotic herbs and flowers differ in type and age. Does the Valley of the Dead have a standard for how they plan to acquire them?" Yang Ling pondered. "Also, while I have four bags of rare exotic herbs and flowers, one bag has to be brought back to the Changhe Prefectural Capital and sold to the Pharmacy Guild's members. That was agreed upon earlier, so I'll only be selling these three bags."

He pointed to the three bags of rare exotic herbs and flowers he had confiscated from the Star Observation Academy disciple.

The two men were slightly delighted. Being able to buy three bags was already quite good!

"Chief Constable Yang, you probably still need quite a bit of cultivation resources," one of them said, cupping his fists. "Foundation Consolidation Pills and Spirit Nurturing Pills can all be used as currency to acquire rare exotic herbs and flowers. If you want silver notes, our Valley of the Dead can provide that too."

The other spoke up as well. "Chief Constable Yang, why don't you come and meet our Elder Qin in person? He has the authority to make the final decision on this matter, and you can also get an appraisal for these three bags of rare exotic herbs and flowers? Even if you don't sell them to our Valley of the Dead, at least you won't get cheated on the price when you go out."

Yang Ling's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately smiled, nodding. "I'll trouble you two to lead the way."

Before long, he arrived at the third floor of the giant ship. The Water Transport Guild had arranged a very classical and luxurious cabin for the Valley of the Dead here.

It was more than spacious enough to be used as a meeting hall.

At this moment, over a dozen Seventh-Rank experts from various backgrounds were already standing here, all of whom had been to Water Qilin Cave. They were clearly waiting for appraisals.

Yang Ling also spotted several Ironclad Constables among them.

One of them was his old acquaintance, Li Huaiyi.

This man was originally a disciple of the Valley of the Dead, practicing the sect's internal energy techniques, so it was normal for him to be here.

The others had obviously been brought here by him.

Seeing Yang Ling, Zhang Hu immediately stood up and cupped his fists. "Chief Constable Yang."

"Brother Zhang, we're colleagues. No need to be so formal." Yang Ling smiled and returned the gesture.

He then exchanged greetings with the other Ironclad Constables.

Li Huaiyi's expression was rather sour, as if he hadn't seen Yang Ling. Finally, when he couldn't avoid it any longer, he stood up and cupped his fists. "Yang—"

Yang Ling didn't look at him. Instead, he smiled and cupped his fists toward Mian Zhengdong and the others. "Senior Mian, you're all here too."

Mian Zhengdong and his group immediately gathered around, warmly chatting with Yang Ling.

Li Huaiyi's expression stiffened, his face feeling hot, as if Yang Ling had slapped him again!

Several Ironclad Constables, knowing there was some bad blood between him and Yang Ling, pretended not to notice.

"Haha! Chief Constable Yang has arrived!"

Just then, a middle-aged man walked out from the inner room with a loud laugh.

Two Seventh-Rank martial artists came out with him. They seemed to have already sold their rare exotic herbs and flowers, and they left with satisfied smiles, looking pleased with the price.

As they left, they glanced enviously at the bags hanging at Yang Ling's waist.

"Elder Qin." Yang Ling cupped his fists and bowed, taking the opportunity to glance at the man's Status Panel.

This was the Valley of the Dead's leading elder for this expedition. His cultivation level was on par with Li Ruhai and the others.

"Everyone, I'll appraise Chief Constable Yang's items first. Please bear with me for a moment longer?" Elder Qin smiled and cupped his fists toward Mian Zhengdong and the others.

Everyone understood the implication and immediately nodded with smiles, willing to wait a bit longer.

They knew their place. In the Valley of the Dead's eyes, Yang Ling was undoubtedly the big client.

Looking at the bulging bags at Yang Ling's waist, they felt a twinge of inferiority.

Following Elder Qin into the inner room, Yang Ling placed the three bags on the table for him to appraise personally.

Elder Qin didn't stand on ceremony and immediately focused on evaluating the value of these rare exotic herbs and flowers.

"This is a hundred-year Yellow Dan Flower. If used for pill refining, it can increase the number of pills produced from any recipe by at least ten percent."

"This item weighs two qian. One qian is worth five thousand taels, so this Yellow Dan Flower is worth ten thousand taels."

Ten thousand taels? Yang Ling hadn't expected the first rare exotic herb to be appraised at ten thousand taels.

The bag he had confiscated from the Star Observation Academy disciple contained at least fifteen or sixteen rare exotic herbs and flowers!

However, the appraisals from Elder Qin for the next ones were considerably lower.

The highest he appraised was three thousand taels.

Some didn't even reach a thousand taels.

In total, the rare exotic herbs and flowers in this bag were worth around thirty thousand taels.

"Chief Constable Yang, these appraisals are absolutely fair. No one outside will give you a more accurate valuation than I can. Please trust me on this." Elder Qin smiled. "So, would Chief Constable Yang be willing to part with them?"

"How many Foundation Consolidation Pills can thirty thousand taels get me?" Yang Ling suddenly asked.

Elder Qin was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "Six. The standard price for one Foundation Consolidation Pill is five thousand taels."

"But…" Elder Qin's face showed a hint of difficulty. "The stock of Foundation Consolidation Pills is limited, and they are extremely difficult to refine. The Valley of the Dead's share for the next few years has mostly been pre-ordered by various families…"

"Then I'll trade for Spirit Nurturing Pills instead," Yang Ling said.

He had only been asking about the Foundation Consolidation Pill's value out of curiosity. He didn't actually want to trade for them.

With 171 Foundation Consolidation Pills in hand, digesting them alone would take over five hundred days.

He simply couldn't use them up anytime soon.

Spirit Nurturing Pills, on the other hand, took effect immediately upon consumption without needing three days of meditation.

Right now, his Ethereal Steps' proficiency had already exceeded sixty thousand. He intended to push it all the way to one hundred thousand proficiency in one go and advance to the Skilled level.

Seeing this, Elder Qin immediately and generously brought out a camphorwood box containing exactly sixty Spirit Nurturing Pills. He completed the transaction with Yang Ling on the spot.

After the deal was done, Elder Qin began appraising the second bag.