Chapter 301: Marrow Injection

Chapter 301: Marrow Injection

The snow on Tianzhu Cliff had begun to melt, looking much the same as when he had left half a year ago.

Ji Xinghuo flew to the top of the cliff, immediately attracting the attention of many.

Not wanting to draw too much attention, he landed beside the elevator and casually strolled into the city.

With the arrival of the warm season, the number of people visiting Tianzhu Cliff had gradually increased, making the streets bustling and vibrant.

Ji Xinghuo walked leisurely, gazing at the stone palace in the center of the cliff top.

Previously, it had been beyond his electromagnetic sensing range, but now he could scan it. He soon discovered that, like many forbidden areas in the City of Eternal Day, the entire palace appeared as a blank in his electromagnetic sensing range, occupied by countless useless magnetic field signals.

"As expected of the Saint of Star Shepherding!"

Ji Xinghuo was not surprised. With the means of the Ethereal Wanderer, it was natural that his secrets would not be easily discovered by others.

Instead of immediately visiting Chieftain Hanshan, he first went to Xia Qingyu's home.

"Not home?"

Ji Xinghuo approached the small courtyard and realized it was empty. He couldn't find Xia Qingyu and Misha anywhere in the nearby blocks either.

As he walked to the front gate, Qinghong teleported him inside.

There was a layer of snow on the ground of the small courtyard, and it seemed that no one had been there for a long time. When he opened the door and entered, there was a thin layer of dust in the room, indicating that it had been vacant for at least a couple of months.

"They must be out," Ji Xinghuo thought. He had intended to pay Xia Qingyu a visit along the way, but since he wasn't home, he decided to leave it for another time.

Before leaving, he wrote a note and placed it in Xia Qingyu's room, informing him of his visit, his plan to return to Earth, and the date.

After that, he made his way to the Snow Ape Giant Tribe.

Presenting the Tianzhu Order, Ji Xinghuo soon met with Hanqiu, the six-meter-tall Snow Ape Giant, who greeted him with a enthusiastic smile.

"Welcome, esteemed guest. It has been a long time since we last met." Hanqiu stood up to welcome him.

"Greetings, Chieftain," Ji Xinghuo replied respectfully.

"Please, take a seat," Hanqiu invited him to sit down and then asked, "Did you receive all the messages I sent on your behalf?"

"Yes, your messages have been a great help to me," Ji Xinghuo expressed his gratitude again. Over the past half a year or so, he had received a total of about a dozen messages. Although he had only managed to arrive on time for a third of them, he had still gained nearly 100,000 points of spiritual source energy.

With two ether crystals per starry era, he had initially thought the information fee was expensive. But now, he realized it was a bargain.

Hanqiu's cooperation was most likely due to the Ethereal Wanderer's instructions.

"I'm glad to hear that. So, your visit to Tianzhu Cliff this time is to pay a visit to the Venerable?" Hanqiu inquired with a smile.

"Yes," Ji Xinghuo nodded. "Please convey my regards to the Venerable."

"You're in luck. The Venerable is currently on Tianzhu Cliff," Hanqiu said, then excused himself from the hall.

A voice suddenly rang out in Ji Xinghuo's mind, "It's been a few months, and your strength has improved by another major level. Such an evolutionary speed would put me to shame."

"Venerable Ethereal!" Ji Xinghuo quickly stood up to greet him.

At the same time, he was secretly astonished. He had no idea where the Ethereal Wanderer was, yet the other party could instantly discern his improvement in strength. This mysterious and powerful ability truly made the Saint of Star Shepherding awe-inspiring.

"Sit down," the Ethereal Wanderer laughed, his voice peaceful and cheerful, conveying a sense of goodwill to Ji Xinghuo.

However, Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but wonder how much of that goodwill he could trust.

"Now, what brings you here this time? Are you here to make a deal?" the Ethereal Wanderer asked, cutting straight to the chase.

"Yes, I'm here to sell and buy," Ji Xinghuo replied, using the excuse he had prepared beforehand. "On the trading list you gave me, you mentioned that you're looking to acquire Qingguokong. The price is three ether crystals per Qingguokong, right?"

"That's correct. How many do you have?" the Ethereal Wanderer replied.

"Maybe a little more than a few," Ji Xinghuo said, not wanting to reveal everything at once. "If I have a larger quantity of Qingguokong, will you still maintain the same purchasing price, Venerable?"

"I'll take however many you have at that price," the Ethereal Wanderer replied generously.

Ji Xinghuo sensed that there was more to this than met the eye. The Ethereal Wanderer had a high demand for Qingguokong and seemed to have a very stable sales market for them.

There were many expansion curiosities, and their varieties differed. However, most of them were only effective for the third stage and below. Moreover, the effects of these low-level expansion curiosities often conflicted with each other, meaning that using one would cause several others to become ineffective.

Only because Earth had entered the Starry Realm less than two centuries ago, and research in this area was scarce, did the aliens use whatever expansion curios they had.

If one were to widen their scope to the True Dragon Empire, they would discover that some expansion curiosities, despite being produced in distant locations and having completely different varieties, had conflicting effects and were mutually incompatible.

For example, the most common expansion curiosity, the Life Spirit Seed, had several alternatives in the True Dragon Empire.

Although Qingguokong was rarer than Life Spirit Seeds, there were surely other expansion curios that conflicted with it.

Hence, ultra-long-distance trading channels were not always profitable.

But that wasn't something he needed to worry about.

Ji Xinghuo sensed a gaze falling upon him from the direction of the palace, as if trying to see through him. He was alert, but on the surface, he remained calm and asked softly, "Are you interested, Venerable?"

"I'll take them all." The Ethereal Wanderer finally spoke, his words carrying a deeper meaning: "If you have a stable supply of Qingguokong, we can discuss a partnership, and we can negotiate the price further."

"For now, I only have this batch," Ji Xinghuo replied with a slight start. "I stumbled upon a small grove of Qingguokong trees and picked all the ripe fruits. It will take a few more years for the next batch to mature."

While in Peach Blossom Valley, he had asked Ren Mian about the maturation period of Qingguokong.

Normally, without artificial intervention, it would take forty starry months for the Qingguokong to mature, equivalent to eight years on Earth.

In the short term, he dared not sell more than this batch.

The next time he sold any, it would definitely be when his strength had improved further, at least to the point where he could sense if the Ethereal Wanderer was tracking him and have some confidence in resisting him.

"What a pity."

The Ethereal Wanderer sounded a little regretful but did not inquire further.

Ji Xinghuo took out a wooden box containing a thousand Qingguokong fruits from his dimensional pouch. There was no need to conceal his spatial equipment from a Saint.

"Venerable, here are the fruits," Ji Xinghuo said.

A vortex of dark void opened up and sucked in the wooden box, only to spit out three thousand ether crystals in return.

The huge pile of ether crystals formed a small mountain, sparkling and translucent, captivating one's gaze.

"Wow..."

Even though Ji Xinghuo had prepared himself mentally, the sight of such a massive fortune still caused his heart to beat faster. It was as if an ordinary person had obtained hundreds of tons of gold before the depreciation of its value as an industrial raw material after the opening of the stargate!

In terms of Asian dollars, it would amount to sixty billion.

However, six hundred billion Asian dollars couldn't even buy a third of these ether crystals, let alone the full three thousand.

Earthly currencies were practically worthless in the Starry Realm, unable to reflect the true value of ether crystals.

Nevertheless, Ji Xinghuo did not put away the ether crystals.

He was about to spend them right away.

"Venerable Ethereal," Ji Xinghuo said, "Is the trading list you gave me last time still valid?"

"What do you want to buy?"

"True-seeing Eyes, Absolute Hit, Life Revival, Shadow Clone, Ether Affinity, and Spirit Energy," Ji Xinghuo listed six exotic species, the first two being Starfall species, the most valuable ones.

The latter four were ultra-limit species, rarely found on Earth.

He wasn't buying them all for himself. Life Revival and Ether Affinity were for his second brother, Zhong Ming. He wanted to test the compatibility of Shadow Clone, and Spirit Energy was for his family's backup.

If they weren't suitable, he could always sell them on Earth and get some cash for personal expenses.

"Take them."

As the Ethereal Wanderer finished speaking, the vortex of void spat out six exotic species.

These exotic species had different forms and were not packaged. They fell out directly, and Ji Xinghuo quickly caught them with his sharp eyes and quick hands.

"I'll sell them to you at the prices listed," the Ethereal Wanderer said, and most of the pile of ether crystals on the ground was sucked back into the vortex, not even having time to warm up before they were spent.

Ji Xinghuo looked at the remaining few hundred ether crystals and felt a pang in his heart.

Absolute Hit for 1300, True-seeing Eyes for 1000, Life Revival for 10, Ether Affinity for 15, Shadow Clone for 25, and Spirit Energy for 50.

The six exotic species cost a total of 2,400 ether crystals.

All at a premium!

Because the Ethereal Wanderer was watching, Ji Xinghuo didn't dare to inspect the exotic species information in front of him and instead stored them all in his dimensional pouch.

However, he didn't leave immediately.

The Ethereal Wanderer noticed and smiled, "Do you want to buy something else?"

"Venerable, do you have any capacity-expanding curios that are suitable for me to use right now, something not on the trading list? I'm willing to pay a high price for them," Ji Xinghuo said after some thought. He knew that obtaining the heart of the Windstorm Beast might not happen anytime soon, so he couldn't rely solely on luck and needed to come up with another plan.

With the Ethereal Wanderer's capabilities, it shouldn't be difficult for him to get a capacity-expanding curiosity.

The premium price would be worth it for the sake of fusing with "Acceleration."

"Hmm..."

The Ethereal Wanderer pondered for a moment, "As a fourth-stage Evolver, there are quite a few capacity-expanding curios that could be useful to you, but they are not easy to obtain. How soon do you need them?"

"The sooner, the better," Ji Xinghuo replied.

He was in a hurry to get back to Earth and couldn't afford to waste much time.

"If you want them that urgently, the price won't be cheap. Wait for me for a day," the Ethereal Wanderer said before falling silent.

Ji Xinghuo waited for a moment to confirm that the Ethereal Wanderer had left.

He put away the remaining six hundred ether crystals, bid farewell to Chieftain Hanqiu, and returned to Xia Qingyu's courtyard. In his room, he took out the six exotic species he had just obtained and started examining their information one by one.

[Grade: Starfall]



[Fusion Success Rate: 91%]



[Upgradable: No]



Ji Xinghuo was initially delighted to see a 91% fusion success rate, finally finding an exotic species that met his high standards, and it was even a Starfall-grade one.

However, the "cannot be upgraded" note gave him pause.

Absolute Hit belonged to the Mystical System of abilities. As long as a target was locked within range, it would guarantee a hit!

This was also a conceptual ability and extremely powerful.

"Must-hit" was a terrifying boost to one's strength, especially for any shooter or long-range attacker.

But it couldn't be upgraded.

Ji Xinghuo was well aware that his own strength and rapid progress relied on the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupils absorbing spiritual source energy, directly upgrading his abilities, and saving him countless hours of training.

Any ability that couldn't be upgraded would have a diminished effect for him.

Because it capped his potential.

Moreover, Ji Xinghuo didn't need "Absolute Hit." With the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupils, he could already achieve near-perfect accuracy, with minimal difference in effect.

And Absolute Hit wasn't as powerful as one might imagine, as a hit didn't equate to a kill.

Legendary and above Exalters, especially those at the Celestial King level, were often well-rounded warriors with no glaring weaknesses and decent defensive capabilities. Many Celestial Kings were even renowned for their defenses, and some could even resurrect on the spot if killed.

Opportunities to fuse with exotic species would become increasingly rare, so he couldn't afford to be rash.

"I'll think some more."

"I can't fuse it right away anyway, so I'll decide later."

Ji Xinghuo pondered for a long while before setting Absolute Hit aside and picking up "True-seeing Eyes."

[Exotic Species: True-seeing Eyes]



[Grade: Starfall]



[Fusion Success Rate: 0%]



[Upgradable: Yes]



"Damn!"

Ji Xinghuo was stunned. This was the first time he had come across an exotic species with a 0% fusion success rate. Even the most incompatible species he had encountered before still had a success rate of over 40%, so what did this 0% mean? He soon realized that this 0% didn't solely represent the fusion success rate.

It also indicated compatibility.

True-seeing Eyes had 0 compatibility with him, and the reason was easy to guess—the Myriad Phenomenon Star Pupils already possessed the effects of True-seeing Eyes.

Fusing with this species would be a waste.

"If only I knew earlier, 1,000 ether crystals!" Ji Xinghuo felt a bit glum, but then he thought, "At least it's a Starfall species, and even with the markup, it's not a loss."

Selling it or giving it to a friend or family member were both good options.

Immediately, he thought of Zhao Manying.

Zhao Manying possessed the "Quantum Intellect" eclipse species, which granted her computational abilities akin to a computer, allowing her to process information with precision and speed, and her mastery over her own state was unparalleled. Quantum Intellect excelled in internal control and processing but fell short in external information gathering and perception.

True-seeing Eyes could make up for this shortcoming.

If Zhao Manying could fuse with True-seeing Eyes, her absolute strength would soar!

Ji Xinghuo continued to examine the other exotic species.

As for Spirit Energy and Life Revival, he had no use for those two. The Ether Affinity he had was the common type and couldn't be upgraded, so of course, he wouldn't fuse with it.

The last one, "Shadow Clone," piqued his interest.

[Exotic Species: Shadow Clone]



[Grade: Ultra-limit]



[Fusion Success Rate: 88%]



[Upgradable: Yes]



Ji Xinghuo's eyes lit up. An 88% fusion success rate was much higher than that of Clone Body.

Shadow Clone wasn't an illusion but a physical entity.

As long as he could control it, multiple shadow clones could instantly multiply an Exalter's strength severalfold.

Although shadow clones were temporary and would disappear after a period, and their strength was inferior to that of clone bodies, they also had their advantages: there could be more shadow clones, and they consumed less stellar energy.

"I'll keep it for now. Once I reach the Legendary realm and have more fusion attempts, I'll consider it then."

With the exotic species acquired, what he needed now was a capacity-expanding curiosity.

Ji Xinghuo finally understood, like all Exalters, the difficulty in finding and the value of capacity-expanding curiosities.

He stayed the night at Tianzhu Cliff.

The next day at noon, while Ji Xinghuo was cultivating, a vortex of void suddenly opened in front of him, and a tube of bluish potion fell out.

A voice resounded in his mind, "This is a 'Marrow Injection,' which grants one additional fusion opportunity, effective for fourth to sixth stages. It can only be used once per person. I'm selling it for 100 ether crystals. Take it if you want."

"I'll take it!"

Without hesitation, Ji Xinghuo took out a hundred ether crystals and threw them into the vortex.

Then he asked, "Senior, do you have more?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end