Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 99 The Supreme Cicada Molt
Three days later, a giant black tortoise walked down the street, with two people, a man and a woman, sitting cross-legged on it.

Among them, the female cultivators were young and beautiful, with plump figures, unlike the flat figures of other female cultivators. They were well-developed with prominent breasts and buttocks.

In contrast, the male cultivator was unremarkable, merely handsome, but his calm demeanor concealed an inexplicable confidence beneath his composed exterior.

These two were Fang Jingxuan and Wang Xinyu. Today was the day they had agreed to examine the cicada's molts, so Fang Jingxuan followed Wang Xinyu and arrived early at a mansion to wait.

This place is located in the heart of Hongyefang, and compared to my own location, every inch of land here is incredibly valuable.

Fang Jingxuan estimated that this house alone was worth at least ten thousand low-grade spirit stones.

A moment later, someone came out and welcomed Fang Jingxuan and Wang Xinyu inside.

Immediately, Tuoyuan was placed in the animal pen, and the cultivator led Fang Jingxuan and the other person inside.

Upon entering the main hall, Fang Jingxuan was served spiritual tea. The disciples withdrew, and an elderly cultivator with gray hair and a cultivation level of the seventh stage of Qi Refining emerged from the back hall.

Upon seeing the person in question appear, Fang Jingxuan stood up and greeted them:
"Master Hua, thank you for your trouble."

Seeing this, Master Hua waved his hand and said:
"It's alright. I'm just doing my job for money. It's a fair transaction. There's no trouble at all. Where are the items?"

Master Hua was quite decisive and got right to work. Fang Jingxuan and Wang Xinyu exchanged a glance before Fang Jingxuan took out the remains from his storage bag.

"I obtained this by chance, but I have never been able to truly awaken its potential since I got it, so I would like to ask a master to take a look."

Fang Jingxuan placed the remains on the table, gave a brief introduction, and then fell silent.

Master Hua glanced at it first, then asked:

"This should be the remains of a golden cicada, but you can't determine its grade, right? Before this, did you try to awaken its spirit?"

The so-called "spiritual awakening" refers to the process by which a spiritual material, after existing for too long, will spontaneously seal itself off when its spiritual energy dissipates faster than it absorbs spiritual energy from the world, thus reducing its consumption.

The saying "a treasure is hidden" perfectly describes this situation.

Next, cultivators need to use spiritual energy to awaken it, and this process is called spiritual awakening.

Of course, only high-grade spiritual materials will experience this. Those that are not high-grade cannot reach this level at all. Their spiritual energy will dissipate, and they will decay and merge into the world.

Moreover, the higher the grade of the spiritual material, the more difficult it is to awaken its spirit. For ordinary low-grade spiritual materials, ordinary cultivators can simply try to cleanse them with spiritual energy.

After obtaining the cicada shell, Fang Jingxuan was unsure of its grade and dared not dispose of it casually, so he could only seek help from a professional cultivator.

Naturally, Fang Jingxuan couldn't use it directly for cultivation. Now that the remains had already concealed themselves, forcibly cultivating with it would most likely damage it.

"No, you are the first appraisal master I have ever consulted. I'm counting on your amazing abilities this time."

After hearing Fang Jingxuan's answer, Master Hua's expression softened somewhat. He touched the remains with his hands and said:
"The first time you awaken a spirit, the effect is usually the best. The worst thing is to start halfway through, not knowing what to do, and then give up halfway."

In this way, this spiritual material has been wasted. I ask myself, in this Red Leaf Workshop, no one's appraisal and spiritual awakening skills can surpass mine. If you look for others, they will only be about the same.

Also, you're familiar with my pricing standards, aren't you? Do you have any objections?

Before coming, Wang Xinyu had already told Fang Jingxuan that when Master Hua made a move, he would start with one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Of course, if you are not confident in your spiritual materials, you can choose a spirit stone that is equivalent to one-tenth of the value of the spiritual materials themselves.

Basically, the spiritual materials that can be sent for awakening are all of mid-grade first rank or higher, and are worth at least three or four hundred low-grade spirit stones.

In this way, Master Hua would be guaranteed an income of at least thirty or forty low-grade spirit stones.

Moreover, those who come to Master Hua are all very confident in their spiritual materials, and quite a few of them have obtained first-grade high-quality spiritual materials.

No wonder Master Hua can own such a large mansion; he makes money incredibly fast.

"I already know that these are one hundred low-grade spirit stones. Please accept them, Master Hua."

Fang Jingxuan handed over a cloth bag containing spirit stones. Master Hua took it, and his smile became even more genuine.

"Alright, now that I've taken your money, I'll get to work. You two, watch closely as I unleash my power!" As soon as he finished speaking, a slit opened between Master Hua's eyes, and a beam of crimson light shot out, illuminating the remains.

As the crimson light washed over it, the outermost layer of the remains, its dark color, gradually peeled away.

Suddenly, a spark of inspiration arose from the remains and began to grow stronger.

Three breaths later, Master Hua frowned slightly. In his estimation, this remains should have been successfully awakened.

But the reality is that this remains are still greedily absorbing the energy from the crimson light, and the transformation within them continues.

Five breaths later, Master Hua's face began to turn pale. His [Crimson Eyes and Golden Pupils] divine power was not yet fully mastered and could only last for ten breaths at most.

Previously, when appraising spiritual materials, a mid-grade first-level spiritual material could be appraised in just two or three breaths.

Even a first-grade high-quality relic would only last five or six breaths at most, but this relic clearly hasn't reached its limit yet.

As the spiritual energy within the room rapidly increased, Master Hua's face grew even paler. After ten breaths, Master Hua finally could not hold on any longer, and the crimson light emanating from between his brows flickered a few times before suddenly dissipating.

"Oh, Master Hua, are you alright?"

Wang Xinyu stepped forward and helped him up; otherwise, Fang Jingxuan predicted that Master Hua would have fallen to the ground.

"It's alright, I'm getting old and my energy is running low. I'll be fine after a rest. You all hurry up and check if this remains have been successfully awakened."

At this moment, Fang Jingxuan had already taken the drastically altered remains into his storage bag.

Suppressing his excitement, he addressed Master Hua:

"The spiritual awakening has been successful. Thank you for your help, Master Hua. Xinyu, let's not disturb Master Hua's rest any longer. Let's go."

"Phew, it's good that it's successful. Since I've taken your money, I have to do a good job. Even if the spiritual awakening fails, I'll still have this reputation in my hands."

"Guards, escort these two young friends away."

Afterwards, Fang Jingxuan and Wang Xinyu bowed and took their leave. Once they were gone, Master Hua slumped into a rattan chair and instructed his disciples:
"I've announced that I'll be going into seclusion for the next ten days and will be suspending all assessments."

The disciple nodded in agreement, turned and left, leaving Master Hua alone in the hall.

After a moment, Master Hua, having caught his breath, murmured to himself:
"A top-grade remnant, indeed! Very rare indeed. But it's not worth ruining my reputation. If my name is tarnished, who will dare to come to me for appraisal of spiritual materials in the future? Let's leave it at that."

If news of this remains were to leak out, Fang Jingxuan would definitely suspect him first. If Fang Jingxuan were to spread the word and reveal his own ordeal, Master Hua would certainly be unable to continue his career.

Master Hua clearly understood this principle, so no matter how high the grade of the golden cicada molt was, he was not tempted.

Uh, except for third-tier spiritual materials!

As he spoke, Master Hua's voice softened, followed by soft snoring. It turned out that he had fallen into a deep sleep due to excessive exertion.

On the way back, Wang Xinyu never asked what grade Fang Jingxuan's remains were.

Some things are very sensitive, and even close friends need to be mindful of boundaries.

Matters concerning supernatural powers, one's destiny, or even the items used for cultivation are all taboo for a cultivator. If others find out about these matters and target them specifically, it would be extremely dangerous.

So, Fang Jingxuan didn't say anything, and Wang Xinyu didn't ask anything. The two of them silently returned to the street and parted ways at the gate.

However, when they parted, Fang Jingxuan said to Wang Xinyu:

"Remember to come early for dinner tomorrow. I'm going to make eight dishes to celebrate."

At this moment, Wang Xinyu revealed a sweet smile and nodded vigorously at Fang Jingxuan.

"Okay, eight dishes, right? I'll definitely go."

(End of this chapter)