Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

"You wish me to lend you my Spirit stones, Your Majesty?" Lady Zhan asked from the other side.

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind it," Alex said.

"I don't mind," she said. "But… instead of lending you the spirit stones, would you mind if I buy something from you instead?"

"Buy from me?" Alex asked. "What… do you wish to buy?"

"The Spiritual Root Improving pills recipe and Soul Trancing pill recipe," the woman said.

Alex was a little taken back at the audacity of this woman to ask for something that was so obviously not something she should be asking for.

He didn't particularly mind the attempt though.

"Lady Zhan, you must understand that these pill recipes are quite important to me and they are my secret," Alex said. "I cannot just hand them over. I can hand over normal ones, but not these specific ones."

"I understand," the woman said. " But since Your Majesty needs the Spirit Stones, I was wondering if you would be willing to trade them for it."

"I'm afraid I cannot," Alex said. "The pills for Dao and Spiritual roots are something that I cannot pass along."

"That's… a shame," the woman said. "I was hoping you would say yes. I was even ready to make whatever Oath you would want me to make. In the end… it didn't work out. I guess I will have to be happy with the lower-grade recipes. The Spirit Immunity pill and the Poison Neutralizing pill, would you be happy to sell those?"

"That I am fine with," Alex said since he saw no problem with the two pills when compared to the Dao pill and the Spiritual root pill.

"So you will sell me those two?" the woman asked from the other side. "I will try and buy the other two sometime in the future if I can."

"Yes," Alex said. "I will sell you those two."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," the woman said in a happy tone from the other side. "Should we talk prince then?"

Alex paused when he heard the happiness in the woman's voice. She was a bit too happy for someone who didn't get what she wanted.

'Unless,' he thought as a possibility came to his mind. One that made him know that he had been outplayed.

"Wow!" he couldn't help but be impressed. "She was after those two recipes from the start, wasn't she?" he said softly to himself. "She really tried to lowball me only to make me later think the deal I landed on was much better for me."

Alex knew in his heart that had the woman asked him to buy the two pill recipes, he would have never agreed. However, making him think he was getting a solid deal out of this, she took from him something that he didn't want to but willingly gave.

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself and quickly spoke back in the talisman. "You better have a lot of money or something," he said. "The recipes are going to cost you a lot."

"Oh, let me check how much I have after everything I bought today," the woman said and went silent for a bit.

He looked at the bidding amount go past 160 thousand Saint Spirit stones when she replied back with a message.

"I have about 90 thousand Saint Spirit stones to give," she said. "Would that be enough for the two pill recipes?"

Alex thought for a bit and couldn't help but shake his head. "That's a little too cheap for the recipe itself, given that the recipe is what makes the pill reach over 90% Harmony under the hands of a talented alchemist."

"What if I were to make an oath that I wouldn't randomly sell the pills or the recipes to anyone? I can make an oath that I won't sell the pill recipe at all, and the pills I will only give to friends and families," she said.

Alex thought for a bit, but there wasn't much thinking he needed to do here. He was going to have to accept it if I wanted the other item.

"Very well, I will accept it," Alex said. "So, 90 thousand?"

"90 thousand," the woman replied back.

Alex put down the talisman. "I got ourselves another 90 thousand," he said. "We now have a little over 200 thousand."

"That is amazing news," elder Liang said excitedly. "It's just reached 160 thousand and is slowing down, so it should be quite enough."

"Let's hope so," Alex said and watched the numbers continue moving. He could only wonder how many more, just like him, had yet to start their bidding.

When the bidding started to slow down to around 170 thousand, it improved again as it shot to 180 thousand easily. It continued increasing and at this point, Alex joined in as well.

"So many sects and families would want this," Alex said softly. "We have to get this no matter what."

It continued increasing as the bid reached 190 thousand. As they all waited, the bidding reached 200 thousand.

200 thousand Saint Spirit stones.

That was an unfathomable amount of Saint Spirit stones for something that ate up even more Spirit stones on a daily basis.

The number continued increasing by a random sum, slowly reaching a level that made Alex fear once more.

It took its time, taking nearly 5 minutes to do so, but the bidding reached 210 thousand. Alex couldn't help but frown at this point.

He had less than 220 thousand Saint Spirit stones, so if it crossed that, he wouldn't be able to win at all.

Alex realized that if he truly wanted this artifact, he needed another help.

'But from who?' he thought. He thought about the various people and landed on Tian Honglui. He quickly sent him a message regarding the fact that he needed Saint Spirit stones.

However, Tian Honglui didn't reply at all. Alex couldn't get the last sum of money he would need.

As the bid crossed the 220 thousand Saint Spirit Stones mark some 10 minutes later, Alex knew that it was time to give up.