Long Shi slapped his forehead and said, "I understand. Does Fellow Daoist Xiao want to create an energy channel?"
Xiao Wenbing smiled and nodded. Long Shi is so understanding.
Faced with Hui Zhe and the others' silent questioning, Long Shi explained their plan to help revive the Tree of Life in the Flame Realm.
Unexpectedly, these words left the elders of the Jade Cauldron Sect dumbfounded, their gazes towards Old Dragon and the others filled with unfamiliarity and doubt.
Xiao Wenbing looked at their performance in surprise and asked, "Senior Huizhe, you..."
Hui Zhe chuckled, his expression quickly returning to normal, and said, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, if I haven't misheard, you want ten thousand portions?"
“Yes.” Xiao Wenbing was very surprised. He had already explained it so clearly, so why did Huizhe ask again?
"Ahem, Fellow Daoist Xiao, the Five Elements Stone is the top-grade spirit stone among the five elemental spirit stones. Although our Jade Cauldron Sect is wealthy, we are still unable to provide ten thousand portions."
"Is that so? Even your Jade Cauldron Sect can't produce one?"
“That’s right. Our Jade Cauldron Sect has accumulated only three thousand sets of top-grade Five Elements Stones over the generations. Even if we took them all out, it would still be far from enough.”
“Three thousand copies…” Xiao Wenbing sighed and said, “Well, it’s not quite enough, but it’s better than nothing.”
"this……"
"What's wrong now?"
“Fellow Daoist Xiao, this is the culmination of tens of thousands of years of accumulation by countless generations of talented predecessors in our sect. We can't just take it all at once.” Hui Zhe’s old face crumpled, his eyes already brimming with tears, and he pitifully pleaded, “You must leave me some of our inheritance…”
Xiao Wenbing felt a chill run down his spine. If someone saw him with that expression, they might think he was bullying an old man. He quickly said, "Don't worry, senior, I'm not that kind of person. How much are you planning to give me?"
Hui Zhe blushed and slowly extended two fingers.
Xiao Wenbing nodded secretly. The other person had three thousand in stock, and he just gave them two thousand with a single word; that was truly generous.
Xiao Wenbing bowed deeply to the selfless old man and said, "Two thousand portions are enough. Thank you for your generosity."
"Two thousand copies?" Hui Zhe looked astonished, as if he had heard something unbelievable. He was speechless, wanting to say something but then stopping himself.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I didn't mean two thousand portions..."
"No?" Xiao Wenbing looked at the old Taoist priest with white hair and eyebrows suspiciously and asked, "Isn't it two thousand?"
Hui Zhe held up two fingers again and said, "Of course it's not two thousand."
"You...you're not telling me you only plan to provide two hundred copies, are you?"
"Clap..." Hui Zhe clapped his hands, making a loud applause. He immediately became radiant and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Xiao is really smart. This old Daoist admires him."
Staring at the old Taoist priest, speechless, Xiao Wenbing twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "Don't you think two hundred portions are still too many?"
"Really? That's a lot?" Hui Zhe looked utterly bewildered. After a long pause, under Xiao Wenbing's gaze, he finally understood and laughed, "This old Daoist understands. Fellow Daoist Xiao has extraordinary abilities; of course, we wouldn't even consider these little things a threat." His brow suddenly furrowed, and he said, "However, if we don't contribute at all, we'll feel uneasy..."
"Feeling uneasy?"
“Yes.” Hui Zhe gritted his teeth and put on a solemn expression as if he would rather go to hell than not go to hell. “No matter what, we have to do our part. So, let’s provide 150… no, let’s round it up to 100.”
Xiao Wenbing nodded blankly. Round it up to a whole number? Even the fractional fifty is saved. Hmm, not bad, it is indeed a small token of my appreciation.
After bidding farewell to Sect Leader Huizhe, Long Shi and the old man stared at each other, neither of them able to understand why Huizhe's attitude had suddenly made such a 180-degree turn.
"Fellow Daoist Xiao, is this Five Elements Stone really that important?"
“Of course it’s very important.” Xiao Wenbing explained, “Although Yaqi has the Qiankun Ring, it’s impossible for her to protect such a long distance. Only a magic weapon made with top-grade spirit stones of the five elements as the array core can ensure that the energy of the thundercloud storm reaches the Tree of Life smoothly.”
Long Shi suddenly realized, but this problem was not easy to solve. Without the raw materials, wouldn't it be like a skilled cook trying to cook without rice?
Old Long frowned and asked in surprise, "Huizhe is really strange. Why has he become so stingy?"
Xiao Wenbing was also in a dilemma. If he had known this would happen, he would have just made some in private instead of going through all this trouble.
Although he knew that top-quality sets of Five Elements Stones were extremely valuable, he never expected to be so humiliated at the Jade Cauldron Sect.
Now that he has the Void Cauldron in his possession, given enough time, creating ten thousand sets of top-grade Five Elements Stones wouldn't be difficult. However, doing so would take far too long; creating such a quantity of spirit stones would be impossible without several years of effort.
The creation of spirit stones is different from that of magical artifacts. While the creation of magical artifacts can be shortened by various means, the creation of spirit stones is a matter of real skill. The amount of energy to be created must be exactly what amount of energy is required, and there is no room for opportunism.
He sighed slightly. The magic weapon he planned to use was a super-large magic artifact made primarily of spirit stones. In terms of pure power, it was not as powerful as the Xuanwu Shield, but if he wanted to restrain the enormous energy in the thundercloud storm, it was indispensable.
If Xiao Wenbing were to create it alone, he would have to sit still for over a decade without eating, drinking, or relieving himself. Even if he could endure that long, the secret of his supernatural ability would be impossible to keep hidden.
Frowning in deep thought, Xiao Wenbing looked up and saw Long Shi staring intently at him. Greatly surprised, he asked, "What are you doing?"
Long Shi and he were good friends, so he replied without hesitation, "We'll wait for you to figure something out."
"Wait for me to figure something out?"
"Exactly."
Xiao Wenbing was taken aback, only to see Long Shi nodding repeatedly, looking completely at it as a matter of course, which made him burst into laughter.
"Fine, I'll think of a way," Xiao Wenbing said through gritted teeth, inwardly cursing the lazybones. But he really did have to come up with a solution himself.
He sat cross-legged, focused his divine sense into the Heavenly Void Ring, summoned the Mirror God, and inquired about the solution.
After hearing this, the Mirror God lazily said, "The best way is for you to create it yourself."
"No, I'd rather jump off a building than spend years making spirit stones," Xiao Wenbing refused decisively.
"Jump off a building? Why would you jump off a building? With your current physical strength, you won't die from jumping off a building."
He glared at it and said, "Stop joking. Is there any other way?"
"have."
Xiao Wenbing smiled with delight and said, "I knew you had a way. Tell me quickly."
"First, create ten thousand Dark Infants, then let the Divine Spark control them and refine them separately."
"Refine them separately?"
"Exactly. Just like the Ancestral Master's House of the past, we can divide the entire magical artifact into ten thousand parts for refining, and then combine them together at the end."
With a loud clap of his hands, Xiao Wenbing's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he said, "Not bad, it's a good idea, but there's no need to create ten thousand Dark Infants."
"Do you want to do it all by yourself? You might as well just manufacture the finished product."
"Hehe... Mirror God, you know, there's a saying on Earth that's quite useful here too."
"What did you say?"
“This planet lacks everything, but it doesn’t lack people. However…” Xiao Wenbing smiled coldly and said, “That old dragon is so lazy, I can’t let him get away with it.”
"?"
Volume 6 Scams and Deceptions, Chapter 6: A Useless Piece of Rice
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After the discussion, Xiao Wenbing immediately took out the Heavenly Void Ring and explained with a smile.
For some reason, Long Shi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He raised his head, turned around, and strode away, about to leave the place.
Xiao Wenbing immediately jumped up, grabbed Old Long's sleeve, and asked, "Senior Long, why are you running?"
"I don't know," Long Shi replied honestly.
"You don't know?" Xiao Wenbing was even more suspicious and asked, "If you don't know, why are you leaving?"
"Yes, seeing your smile suddenly made me want to leave this place."
"Is that so... So I'm that scary!" Xiao Wenbing laughed self-deprecatingly, wondering if he wasn't cunning enough or if the old dragon was just too sensitive.
After coughing, Xiao Wenbing said, "Senior Long, since the Jade Cauldron Sect is unwilling to provide full assistance, we will have to find a solution ourselves."
“Yes, it’s best to find a solution ourselves.” Long Shi looked up and asked, “Does Fellow Daoist Xiao have a solution?”
Xiao Wenbing narrowed his eyes slightly and said with a smile, "Originally, there wasn't one."
"…………"
"However, after seeing you, I thought of a good idea."
Long Shi looked at Xiao Wenbing with suspicion and said cautiously, "Please speak."
"I've heard that both the Dragon and Phoenix clans are races that like to collect rare and exotic treasures, is that right?" Xiao Wenbing asked in a seductive tone.
Long Shi blinked and said warily, "We have collected some, but not much."
Do you have a complete set of Five Elements Stones?
"have."
"Excellent, how much?"
"With the combined strength of our Dragon and Phoenix clans, we estimate we can distribute about a thousand portions," the old dragon said after a moment's thought.
“One thousand…” Xiao Wenbing frowned deeply, seemingly very dissatisfied with the answer.
Long Shi coughed and said, "Although our Dragon and Phoenix clans only have so many, the Divine Tree clan must also have some in stock. They are spirits and monsters. They live in the soil, so they must have collected more than us, probably around one or two thousand."
"Alright, Elder Long, please collect the Five Elements Stones they have."
"Huh? Why me?" Long Shi was immediately dissatisfied. Why was he the one to take the lead again?
"Of course it's you. Don't forget, you are now an unparalleled master among the dragons. Only you could possibly complete such a difficult and glorious task."
"Is that so?" Long Shi asked with a bitter expression. If he had a choice, he really wouldn't want to be this unparalleled master.
Xiao Wenbing's smile suddenly vanished, and he asked with a worried expression, "By the way, even if the three holy lands provide three thousand portions, there is still a shortfall of seven thousand. What do you think we should do?"
"Seven thousand..." Long Shi seemed to see tiny, beautiful spirit stones swirling above his head, and suddenly shivered. He said, "I have absolutely no way out."
"Alas, although I have come up with a solution, but..."
"What suggestions do you have, Fellow Daoist Xiao?"
"Division of labor and cooperation".
Long Shi frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"