Inside the palace above the Panlong Mountain Range, the high-ranking officials of the Sixth Prince's Mansion and Zhang Fan and his party were gathered. Although they had just experienced a great battle, and even the Sixth Prince's City had been reduced to ruins, their eyes held no sorrow. Instead, they looked at Zhang Fan with anticipation and excitement.
"Zhang Fan, can you really refine Immortal Grade spirit pills?" Liu Mu, impatient, was the first to break the silence and ask.
While he had always known of Zhang Fan's exceptional alchemy skills – Zhang Fan had gifted him a bottle of top-grade spirit pills when they first met in the Wushan Star Domain – Liu Mu had never heard of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator refining Immortal Grade spirit pills, even with his knowledge. The difficulty of such a feat was akin to a Nascent Soul cultivator being able to fight a Soul Transformation stage expert.
"Naturally. Do you think I'm lying?" Zhang Fan smiled and replied casually.
"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and refine one! Just give me a few bottles, and I can use this time to cultivate. If I can reach the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, I'll wield my heavy sword and take down a crowd by myself!" Liu Mu said excitedly.
"You still want a few bottles?" Zhang Fan looked at Liu Mu with a hint of exasperation and said, "Immortal Grade spirit pills are not that easy to refine, and I don't have the time to do so right now."
"Aren't you planning to refine a batch of Immortal Grade spirit pills to boost our strength for the battle three months from now?" Liu Mu asked curiously. The others also turned their gaze to Zhang Fan, thinking the same thing.
"Of course not. Leave the battle in three months to me. You can play with mud over there."
After speaking, Zhang Fan ignored Liu Mu's indignant look and turned to Ling Xiu. "Prefect Ling Xiu, I need to go into seclusion for the next three months. However, I've run out of spirit crystals. Please help me exchange all these magical treasures for spirit crystals."
With a wave of his hand, he summoned a massive pile of spirit treasures and heavenly treasures from his Star Elephant space, forming a small mountain in the center of the palace.
"How many cultivators did they kill to get so many magical treasures?"
"Isn't that spear the magical treasure of Nangong Feng? That's a high-grade heavenly treasure!"
Most of the cultivators in the Sixth Prince's Mansion had not entered the Great Luo Realm. They had only heard that Zhang Fan had gone on a killing spree inside, but seeing it was far more shocking than hearing about it. Such a vast number of magical treasures must have come from slaying numerous powerhouses.
What they didn't know was that hundreds of flying swords were acquired by Zhang Fan after leaving the Great Luo Realm, from the Supreme Elder of the Black Sand Grotto-Heaven. Although the two sword formations had been shattered by the crackling rhinoceros phantom, and a large number of flying swords were rendered useless, many intact flying swords were still collected by Zhang Fan.
"Elder Zhang Fan, you're too polite. Just tell me how many spirit crystals you need. As long as my Sixth Prince's Mansion can provide it, we will fulfill your needs." Ling Xiu repeatedly declined. These magical treasures were indeed precious, but he valued Zhang Fan himself even more.
"I need one hundred billion spirit crystals, and a heavenly medicine that can enhance the soul." Zhang Fan's words stunned everyone in the hall.
One hundred billion spirit crystals? What kind of concept was that? The average price of a high-grade heavenly treasure was around one hundred million spirit crystals. Although the pile of treasures Zhang Fan had presented was valuable, with seven or eight high-grade heavenly treasures among them, their total value was only around five billion spirit crystals, still half short of one hundred billion.
And the heavenly medicine that could enhance the soul, as mentioned by Zhang Fan, was each priced at a sky-high sum, far more precious than high-grade spirit treasures. For cultivators at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, soul power was crucial. If the soul power was too weak, they would be unable to withstand the fusion of Dao rules, which showed how valuable such heavenly medicines were.
Upon hearing Zhang Fan's request, even Ling Xiu, who had been mentally prepared, was stunned for several seconds. He hadn't expected Zhang Fan to be so demanding, requiring one hundred billion spirit crystals for just a few months of closed-door cultivation, despite being only at the mid-stage of the Nine Tribulations realm.
However, having come this far, he could only choose to believe Zhang Fan. After a long period of thought, he finally said, "Leave it to me. It will be delivered to Elder Zhang Fan within three days." One hundred billion spirit crystals was no small sum, and a heavenly medicine that could enhance the soul was even rarer, requiring time to search.
Zhang Fan nodded and then asked, "Prefect, how much do you know about those three factions? Apart from the visible powerhouses, how many hidden cultivators do they have?"
Ling Xiu had previously mentioned to Zhang Fan that the Flying Immortal Mansion had a suspected Soul Transformation stage cultivator, but that was a hundred thousand years ago. If that person was still alive, there were only two possibilities. The first was that they had broken through to the Soul Transformation stage. Zhang Fan considered this possibility minuscule; if they had truly advanced to that level, they would have likely left the Wushan Star Domain long ago. Zhang Fan leaned towards the second possibility: they had used special means to seal all their vital energy, making them undetectable by heavenly tribulations, thus allowing them to exist for so long. Zhang Fan was not worried about this; no matter how powerful they were, once they merged with ninety-nine percent of their soul and rules and made a move, they would definitely be sensed by heavenly tribulations. The probability of passing the Soul Transformation tribulation before the complete fusion of soul and rules was incredibly small.
Ling Xiu shook his head and said, "I cannot provide you with accurate information, but I have some guesses."
"Besides Bai Mengtian, the Flying Immortal Mansion openly has another half-step Soul Transformation expert, which is the previous Prefect of the Flying Immortal Mansion. When I visited the Flying Immortal Mansion as a guest, I vaguely sensed his aura."
"As for the Black Sand Grotto-Heaven, in addition to Fu Beichen, there are two more half-step Soul Transformation experts. One is the guardian of the Black Sand Grotto, who is responsible for guarding the prisoners within and rarely walks on the Realm Heart Continent. The other is the previous Grand Elder of the Black Sand Grotto-Heaven, who, after entering the half-step Soul Transformation realm, passed on his position to Nangong Pu and devoted himself to cultivation, rarely showing himself."
"As for the Sun Shadow Grotto-Heaven, besides Sima Cang, the other is Sima Cang's grandfather. After passing the position to Sima Cang, he has also rarely appeared."
"The Black Sand Grotto-Heaven had a half-step Soul Transformation expert skilled in sword formations, whom I have killed. It seems that was the one you mentioned," Zhang Fan said.
"Killed?" Everyone looked at Zhang Fan with shock. A half-step Soul Transformation expert, and he just killed him? They also understood that it must have been arranged by Fu Beichen to intercept Zhang Fan, but they hadn't expected Zhang Fan's strength to be so formidable, capable of killing even a half-step Soul Transformation cultivator.
"My Sixth Prince's Mansion also has three reclusive half-step Soul Transformation experts, but they are in long-term seclusion, focusing on Dao cultivation and striving to merge rules and soul. Unless the sect faces an existential crisis, they will not easily take action," Ling Xiu said frankly, looking at Zhang Fan. Zhang Fan understood. This was likely why Ling Xiu's attitude towards Bai Mengtian and the others was so firm. Even if he and Liu Mu didn't act today, Bai Mengtian and the others wouldn't be able to destroy the Sixth Prince's Mansion.