Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 264: The Golden Core Jade Liquid Recipe

“Two months is not long for a Third Rank pill!” True Master Baoqing insisted, stroking his beard.

Wang Hao frowned, remaining silent. The timeframe wasn’t the issue; the logistics were. He couldn’t stay in Wanxiang City for two months, and entrusting a junior clansman to transport such a priceless, life-altering treasure across four million miles of open ocean was a gamble he refused to take.

He decided to be direct. “Senior, I cannot wait that long, nor can I risk carrying it myself later. Does a veteran of Wanxiang City like yourself know of a secure alternative?”

Baoqing chuckled, realizing the young man’s dilemma. “I thought you were worried about the quality! If it is merely delivery you fear, the solution is simple. For a fee, the Four Seas Merchant Alliance will handle the escort. As long as you can afford their rates, they will deliver anything, anywhere.”

“The Four Seas Merchant Alliance?” Wang Hao asked.

“Their strength is profound,” Baoqing explained. “In the South Sea, few dare to intercept their caravans. They operate with a strict guarantee: if the goods are lost, they compensate the full value.”

Wang Hao listened intently. He knew of the Alliance—they were a unique entity in the cultivation world. Unlike the rigid divide between the Righteous and Demonic paths, the Alliance walked the gray line, maintaining shops in both territories and even rumors of trading with the Demon Race.

Because they were a loose coalition of merchants rather than a unified sect seeking dominance, the major powers tolerated their existence. They paid their taxes—heavy ones, often forty percent of profits—and hired enforcers from all factions. In exchange, they became the circulatory system of the cultivation world’s economy.

“A cultivator’s courier service,” Wang Hao mused. “That works.”

He looked up. “I do not have contacts within the Alliance. Could I trouble Senior to arrange this? The delivery destination would be Giant Turtle Island, under the jurisdiction of the Ye family. It is roughly four million miles from here.”

“A trivial matter,” Baoqing waved a hand. “I have some old friends there. The Alliance has fixed rates; for a delivery of this distance and value, I estimate it will cost twenty thousand Spirit Stones.”

Twenty thousand. It was steep, but peace of mind was priceless.

While they spoke, Wang Hao mentally accessed his Farm interface.

He selected the plot containing the Yellow Pine Ganoderma and dumped bag after bag of high-grade fertilizer onto the digital soil.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

The years flew by in seconds.

The higher the grade of the spirit herb and land, the more potent—and expensive—the fertilizer required. A simple bag of Level 1 fertilizer cost one Spirit Stone and shaved off a day of growth. For basic Spirit Rice, it was a waste of money.

But for a high-tier herb on Gold-grade soil?

To push a nine-hundred-year-old Yellow Pine Ganoderma to the millennium mark required Level 4 fertilizer. Each bag cost 100 Spirit Stones and reduced growth time by eight days. To bridge the gap, he burned through fifty-seven bags—5,700 Spirit Stones gone in a blink.

But the math worked out. A thousand-year-old Ganoderma could sell for nearly 40,000 Spirit Stones.

The Ice Soul Flower was even more valuable. As an Ice-attribute herb with demanding growth conditions, a nine-hundred-year-old specimen could easily fetch 60,000.

Wang Hao did a quick calculation. He was trading over 100,000 Spirit Stones worth of herbs for two Foundation Establishment Pills and a recipe.

I am being fleeced, he thought grimly. But I need that Dustfall Pill recipe.

He materialized the two herbs from his storage (and effectively, the Farm). The air in the room instantly dropped in temperature as the Ice Soul Flower bloomed.

“Senior, please inspect these. Are they satisfactory?”

True Master Baoqing leaned forward, his eyes widening. He sniffed the Ganoderma and examined the crystalline petals of the flower.

“Excellent,” he murmured, unable to hide his delight. “The vintage is sufficient. The Ice Soul Flower is close to a millennium itself. Very well! With quality like this, you need not pay the delivery fee. I will cover the Alliance’s cost myself.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

“Madam Xu,” Baoqing called out, not looking away from the herbs. “Go fetch two Foundation Establishment Pills.”

Madam Xu swayed out of the room, her hips moving rhythmically. Moments later, she returned with a jade bottle.

Baoqing produced another bottle and a jade slip from his own storage bag. He pushed the collection across the table.

“Here is one Dustfall Pill, the recipe for the Golden Core Jade Liquid, and the extra Foundation Establishment Pills. Inspect them.”

Wang Hao scanned the items with his Divine Sense. Authentic.

“Since we have concluded our business,” Baoqing said, leaning back, “if you have any questions regarding alchemy, ask them now. We may not be master and disciple, but fate has brought us together.”

Wang Hao didn’t stand on ceremony. It was rare to get free tuition from a Third Rank Alchemist. He fired off a series of complex questions that had been plaguing him. Baoqing answered them with ease, unraveling the knots in Wang Hao’s understanding.

After a profuse round of thanks, Wang Hao left the Treasure Clarity Pavilion, his heart light. He had the recipe. He had the pills. It was time to go home.

The next day, the fleet assembled at the docks.

Including the thirty members of the Li family, over one hundred and twenty cultivators boarded the medium-sized sea vessel Wang Hao had captured years ago. The sails unfurled, catching the wind as they set a course for the Red Butterfly Sea.

The journey would be long. Giant Turtle Island lay over four million miles away.

For a Golden Core cultivator, the trip would take forty days of non-stop flight. For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was a four-month slog. But with a ship full of Qi Refining juniors and tons of supplies, flying was impossible. The ship was their only option.

It was also the safer option. The vessel’s defensive formations could repel low-level sea monsters and provide early warnings for the leviathans, giving the clan’s elites time to react.

Once they left the safety of Wanxiang City’s patrol waters, the atmosphere on deck grew tense.

Wang Guang’an and Wang Hao, the clan’s sword and shield, remained on high alert. This ship carried the future of the Wang family. If they encountered a Third Rank Demon Beast, the two of them could likely escape—but the hundred disciples behind them would be fish food.

Fortunately, the deep ocean gods were merciful. They encountered no leviathans. The endless waves of low-level beasts were easily dispatched by the disciples, turning the journey into a profitable live-fire training exercise.

However, the sheer density of the harassment slowed them down. Eventually, Wang Hao and the Patriarch had to step in, their flying swords cutting a bloody path through the waves to keep the ship on schedule.

Four months later.

The water turned a distinct shade of azure. They had entered the Red Butterfly Sea. Giant Turtle Island was now only a hundred thousand miles away—a mere five or six days of sailing.

The exhausted crew cheered. The promised land was in sight.

“We’re almost there!” Wang Wenxian gripped the railing, her eyes shining. “Fifth Brother, the Ancestor said there are Earth Fire chambers on the island. Does that mean we can all use Earth Fire for alchemy now?”

She had always envied the rich alchemists in Wanxiang City who could rent such facilities.

“The chambers should be intact,” Wang Hao nodded. “The Ye family wouldn’t let tenants destroy capital assets. But don’t mythologize it, Wenxian. Alchemy depends on the cultivator, not the heat source. Earth Fire isn’t magic; it still requires Divine Sense to control…”

“SILENCE!”

Wang Guang’an’s roar shattered the conversation.

The Patriarch stood at the bow, his aura flaring violently. “Strong spiritual fluctuation ahead! It’s either a Third Rank Demon Beast or a Golden Core cultivator! Battle stations! Everyone, prepare for impact!”