There were 100,000 stalks of Essence Nourishing Grass and Rain Frost Flower respectively but they could only be exchanged for 1,000 Essence Condensation Pills!
The 1,000 Essence Condensation Pills had to be distributed to the hundred Snow Wind Ridge guards for this trip. After giving the ten stewards, Snow Wind Ridge had to keep a portion for themselves. There was not much that would eventually be left for the hundred medicinal farmers!
Every medicinal farmer could only get three Essence Condensation Pills!
Even the hundred guards for this trip would only obtain four Essence Condensation Pills each!
That added up to 700 Essence Condensation Pills.
The remaining Essence Condensation Pills had to be divided between the stewards and commanders—even Snow Wind Ridge did not have much left.
However, for the medicinal farmers and guards of Snow Wind Ridge, those three or four Essence Condensation Pills were their only cultivation resources for the next ten years!
Su Zimo frowned.
The cultivation environment here was even crueler and worse than he had imagined!
Duan Tianliang, Old Yan and the others had cultivated for thousands of years but there was not much improvement even after 10,000 years. It was not only because the Essence Qi of the Dragon Abyss Star was thin.
Even the most basic cultivation resources such as the Essence Condensation Pills were so rare!
Even for Su Zimo who possessed the Green Lotus True Body, his cultivation realm would increase slowly without sufficient cultivation resources, let alone them.
“Do you know how many stalks of Essence Nourishing Grass and Rain Frost Flower can refine an Essence Condensation Pill?”
Su Zimo asked.
“I heard that for ordinary Essence Condensation Pills, one stalk of Essence Nourishing Grass and Rain Frost Flower is enough,” Xia Qingying said.
A single immortal herb could refine an Essence Condensation Pill.
However, because the recipe for the Essence Condensation Pill was under the control of the major sects and factions, cultivators who ascended from the lower worlds required a hundred immortal herbs to exchange for a single Essence Condensation Pill!
“Blood Sun Valley can’t refine Essence Condensation Pills either. Where did they get their immortal pills?”
Su Zimo thought for a moment and asked again.
Xia Qingying said, “There’s only a single place with all the immortal pills on the Dragon Abyss Star and that’s Dragon Abyss City! That’s where many native immortals of the upper world gather and that’s where Blood Sun Valley exchanged their Essence Condensation Pills.”
Pausing for a moment, she continued, “However, I heard that if you want to exchange for an Essence Condensation Pill in Dragon Abyss City, you only need ten Essence Nourishing Grass and ten Rain Frost Flower each.”
“Mmm?”
Su Zimo frowned. “In other words, Blood Sun Valley is using ten immortal herbs to exchange for Essence Condensation Pills in Dragon Abyss City and we’re using a hundred immortal herbs to exchange for them?”
“That’s right,”
Xia Qingying nodded.
Su Zimo sneered, “Blood Sun Valley sure is evil. A single round trip is ten times the difference!”
Su Zimo asked, “Why does Snow Wind Ridge choose to head to Blood Sun Valley instead of Dragon Abyss City to exchange for Essence Condensation Pills?”
“Fufu,”
Liang Qiu was jealous when he saw Su Zimo and Xia Qingying chatting merrily at the side. When he heard that, he could not help but stifle a chuckle. “How ignorant.”
Su Zimo ignored that person and did not even look at him.
Xia Qingying’s expression dimmed as she shook her head. “There’s nothing we can do about that. It’s a long way from here to Dragon Abyss City and a round trip will take about half a year.”
“During this period of time, we have to pass through thousands of mountains, dense forests and countless dangerous places. Most importantly, we have to face the looting and killing of the Four Great Bandits of the Dragon Abyss Star, sigh.”
At that point, Xia Qingying sighed. “There are countless small factions like Snow Wind Ridge on the Dragon Abyss Star, but not many of them can reach Dragon Abyss City alive.”
“Even if they enter Dragon Abyss City alive, there’s no way they can return alive. The path to Dragon Abyss City is almost impossible.”
“Four Great Bandits?”
Su Zimo murmured softly.
Xia Qingying said, “There are many bandits on Dragon Abyss Star. Among them, the strongest and most powerful are the Four Great Bandits.”
“Actually, these bandits are also cultivators who ascended from the lower worlds. They rely on killing and looting to dominate the Dragon Abyss Star and commit all sorts of evil.”
“Aren’t the immortals of Dragon Abyss City going to deal with them?”
Su Zimo frowned and asked.
Xia Qingying shook her head. “The immortals of the upper world won’t care about our lives. They’ll just let us fend for ourselves and kill one another.”
“Furthermore, the lairs of the Four Great Bandits are not fixed and they roam all over the place all year round. There’s no way to exterminate them.”
“If we can’t destroy them in one fell swoop, all the cultivators that attack them will be met with their bloody revenge the moment they rise again!”
Xia Qingying thought for a moment and continued, “I heard from my father that previously, three major factions of the Dragon Abyss Star joined forces to destroy one of the bandit armies.”
“Although the bandits suffered immense losses, their leader managed to escape. Not long after, he returned and took revenge on the three major factions.”
“The three factions suffered immense losses. In the end, they were dragged down by the bandit army and annexed by other factions.”
“That’s how Blood Sun Valley rose.”
Su Zimo nodded. “In that case, does that mean that the eight major factions of the Dragon Abyss Star possess a certain level of strength such that they can head to Dragon Abyss City to exchange for Essence Condensation Pills?”
“That’s right!”
Xia Qingying nodded. “If we can head to Dragon Abyss City to exchange for Essence Condensation Pills and return alive, theoretically, we’ll be comparable to the eight factions.”
As everyone from Snow Wind Ridge advanced, Su Zimo obtained quite a bit of information from Xia Qingying.
Unknowingly, it was already noon.
Right then, Su Zimo’s ears twitched and a cold glint flashed through his eyes, as though he sensed something.
Although they were both Grade 4 Black Immortals, Xia Qingying and Liang Qiu felt nothing.
Suddenly, Su Zimo asked, “How far are we from Blood Sun Valley?”
“It’s less than a day’s journey,”
Xia Qingying said, “We’ll set off in the morning and will arrive at Blood Sun Valley around evening. It’s already noon now and we just need half a day more.”
“Should we stop and rest?”
Xia Qingying thought that Su Zimo was a little tired and asked.
Su Zimo shook his head gently and asked again, “Will there be any bandits along the way?”
“Even if there are, they are rare,”
Xia Qingying said, “Furthermore, these bandits are nothing much. Even if there are dozens or a hundred of them gathered together, without any powerful cultivators backing them, they would naturally disperse at the sight of our guards.”
“Fellow Daoist Su, don’t worry. This area is still under the jurisdiction of Blood Sun Valley. Typically, the Four Great Bandits won’t attack casually.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Right then, a slight tremble came from the ground, becoming more obvious and intense!
It was as though a massive army was charging over!
“Mmm?”
At that moment, Xia Qingying and Liang Qiu sensed it as well!
Someone was here!
“Be careful, everyone!”
Xia Qingying raised her arm immediately and hollered softly.
The hundred Snow Wind Ridge guards withdrew their Dharmic treasures from their storage bags and glared into the distance warily.
Before long, dust billowed in the distance!
From the looks of it, there were at least hundreds of living beings charging over in an aggressive manner!
“Woo…”
Before everyone could see who it was, a shuddering wolf howl sounded from the dust with a hint of blood and cruelty!
The expressions of everyone from Snow Wind Ridge changed!
