Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation

72: Chapter 68: Acquiring the Star Fallen Iron

72 -68: Acquiring the Star Fallen Iron

On the evening of July 8, the mysterious green-clothed man still had not appeared.

Xu Jin suspected that this fellow might have already been nabbed.

July 9 was the day when the Taoist Institute organized a group of disciples to go into the mountains to complete various tasks.

Early in the morning, after completing his morning practice and cultivation, Xu Jin hurried to the Pill Room, needing to replenish a batch of Pills.

The Mental Awakening Pills given by the mysterious green-clothed man, including those seized in the mission, had already been used up, with at least two needed per day—a bottle would last only five days.

In the past few days, Xu Jin had purchased a bottle each of Rejuvenation Pills and Mental Awakening Pills.

This morning, he discovered that only two of each pill were left.

This treasure hunt in the mountains would take at least three days, so he had to top up his supply.

After arriving at the Pill Room, Xu Jin asked the Pill Room Master to purchase a bottle each of Rejuvenation Pills and Mental Awakening Pills, costing him 350 taels.

Including the purchase he made a few days ago, the 1800 taels of silver left from Xu Jin’s last mission were now reduced to less than 1100 taels.

Of this amount, 600 taels must be reserved for his younger sister, Jiang’er.

By the time he returned from this treasure hunt in the mountains, it would be just about the right time.

When Jiang’er returned home after working a full month, Xu Jin had already planned it out; he’d directly keep her from going back, and then discuss the matter with her employer, Zhao Mansion—if worst came to worst, compensating with silver was the way to go.

If his father relented about spending the silver, that’s simple; they would just have to use silver to settle it.

The fundamental reason Xu Dajiang, his father, hesitated to spend money was just one word—poverty!

There was no family fortune to speak of.

It’s just like when you only have ten thousand yuan, spending one thousand calls for careful consideration, and spending ten thousand requires extreme caution.

But when you have a million or ten million yuan, spending a thousand or ten thousand is just like how other people casually spend one or two yuan, easily splurging it away.

Why ponder on spending one yuan?

“By the way, Master, does our Pill Room have any top-grade Rejuvenation Pills?” After buying the Pills, Xu Jin asked an additional question—he had heard Lu Xianbing mentioning this Pill the day before yesterday, so he inquired.

“Yes, but not many, one hundred taels of silver each, want to buy a few?” Xu Jin was now considered a major customer among the disciples, as he needed to buy three to four hundred taels worth of Pills every five or six days—thus, the Pill Room Master always had a rather broad smile when seeing Xu Jin.

“How effective is it?” Xu Jin asked.

“The Pill Master stated that the effect of the top-grade Rejuvenation Pill is twice that of the low-grade,” replied the Pill Room Master.

“Uh, that’s a bit pricey, could I take a look at it?”

Xu Jin asked this in order to understand the effects of the top-grade Rejuvenation Pill and also to see what it looked like.

“Of course, you can.”

Afterward, the Pill Room Master carefully took out a medicine bottle, opened the wax seal, poured one Pill onto a jade plate, and handed it to Xu Jin, “Only for looking, no touching—it’s something that goes in the mouth.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Just one glance was enough to dampen Xu Jin’s interest, but internally, he was incredibly excited.

This wasn’t a top-grade Rejuvenation Pill, it was a stupor-inducing Rejuvenation Pill.

After placing ordinary Rejuvenation Pills into the Star Lamp for nourishment for a day, this was the result.

A faint halo of starlight lingered around the Pill, giving it a beautiful, magnificently stunning appearance.

Instantly, Xu Jin thought of a way to make money.

Promoting ordinary Rejuvenation Pills to top-grade after nourishment, the difference in price was seventy taels.

Even if earning less, it was still sixty taels.

The problem was that the Pills he nourished himself were barely enough for his own use.

“Hey, you’re heading to the mountains; do you need some Star Refilling Pills?” The Master saw Xu Jin about to leave and quickly tried to make a sale.

Xu Jin shook his head, waved his hand to refuse, and left the Pill Room, heading straight for the Forging Hall.

The items he had ordered a few days ago should have arrived.

Regarding the Star Refilling Pills, Xu Jin still had supplies that he hadn’t used up yet.

Moreover, with recent cultivation at Dining Dawn’s Sixth Layer, the consumption of Star Power was quite low.

The second-tier starlight from the Candou Platform was not all used up daily by Xu Jin; he had been saving it up, having already accumulated eight strands, so he didn’t need any Star Refilling Pills.

“Master, has the Star Fallen Iron I exchanged for the other day arrived?” On reaching the Forging Hall, Xu Jin eagerly asked.

“It’s here, it’s here, I’ll go fetch it for you.”

Previously, when Xu Jin had slain the treasonous flag master, Ji Bochang, of the Star Patrol Guard, Ji Bochang’s First Tier longsword Star Weapon had ended up with Xu Jin.

Xu Jin’s initial thought was to sell it to buy Star Fallen Iron.

The Star Weapon longsword was priced at 2000 taels at the Forging Hall, with a buyback price of 1500 taels.

If he could find a suitable private buyer, selling it for 1800 taels or more should be no problem.

The Forging Hall also had Star Fallen Iron.

But when Xu Jin inquired, they did not sell it.

It belonged to the restricted military supplies, which worried Xu Jin greatly.

To upgrade the Second-tier Candou Platform to the Third Tier, it was easy to procure the Refined Iron, Purple Copper, silver, and gold with enough silver, but Star Fallen Iron and Human Tier Star Jade were hard to come by on the regular market.

Xu Jin had already inquired about it in Jinshan County City, especially the Star Fallen Iron, which was publicly available only at the Jinshan Taoist Institute, Tianyang Branch, and Cangming Branch.

There might be other channels in the shadows, but Xu Jin couldn’t find them.

Moreover, those shadowy channels would only be more expensive.

Xu Jin then approached Instructor Zheng at the Forging Hall, hoping to purchase a piece of Star Fallen Iron.

As for its use, he was deliberately vague.

Instructor Zheng’s response was the same: Star Fallen Iron was a military-controlled material, and every tael that came to their Forging Hall had to be recorded and allocated.

However, it was still a low-level military-controlled material, and there were loopholes to be exploited.

Xu Jin could exchange for it with that First-tier Star Weapon Longsword.

That way, the accounts of the Forging Hall would be balanced, and they could give the Star Fallen Iron to Xu Jin.

What else could Xu Jin say?

Besides thanking Instructor Zheng, he immediately agreed to the exchange.

Otherwise, there was nowhere to get it.

When Xu Jin received the piece of Star Fallen Iron, he was a bit surprised, because it was indeed very small and heavy.

The size of a fingernail, pitch black, a full tael.

“Thank you, Master.”

After expressing his thanks, Xu Jin asked, “Master, do we have any Human-tier Star Jade for sale here?

What’s the price?”

“Human-tier Star Jade, used for making Emblems, is sold at the Foreign Affairs Hall.

The price, it seems, is also divided into three tiers.

I remember the cheapest, the First-tier, one hundred taels of silver per piece, the Second-tier is 500 taels, and the Third-tier Human-tier seems to be one thousand taels,” said the Master of the Forging Hall.

“Thank you, Master.”

Leaving the Forging Hall, Xu Jin’s thoughts moved, and that piece of Star Fallen Iron was already collected into the Candou Platform.

Xu Jin, however, headed straight for the Martial Arts Hall as the assembly time was approaching.

So far, the cost of upgrading the Candou Platform from Second-tier to Third-tier had become clear.

One tael of Star Fallen Iron, Xu Jin had already obtained, valued close to two thousand taels.

The other Refined Iron a thousand catties cost just over one hundred taels of silver, Purple Copper a hundred catties and ten catties of silver, as well as ten taels of Gold, were all a bit over one hundred taels; these four items totaled over four hundred taels, not exceeding five hundred taels.

The biggest remaining expense was for nine Human-tier Star Jade pieces; the lowest First-tier should suffice, requiring nine hundred taels for nine pieces.

That is to say, just to upgrade the Candou Platform, at least another 1400 taels were needed.

And the remaining 1100 taels of silver in hand, aside from the 600 taels set aside for his sister and father, left only five hundred taels, which was enough to support Xu Jin’s cultivation for just seven or eight days.

By this calculation, although the monthly salary of the Star Patrol Commander was high, it was only enough to maintain a comfortable standard of living; it was truly insufficient for cultivation.

So, Xu Jin had to make every effort in this mountain treasure hunt.

After all, the opportunities to be guarded by the experts of the Taoist Institute while venturing into the mountain to hunt for treasure were rare.

Carrying the backpack and tools he had collected from the Foreign Affairs Bureau the day before, Xu Jin arrived at the Martial Arts Hall to find that many people had already gathered there.

A dense crowd, easily over three hundred.

The Institute’s disciples, who were still cultivating within the Jinshan Taoist Institute, participated in the monthly mountain hunting for treasures.

Before long, Tutor Gan arrived first.

Tutor Gan, who usually sported three flowing beards, was today dressed in a snug outfit, carrying a large backpack.

Following him were Master Zheng from the Forging Hall and two other Instructors, and two flag masters from the Star Patrol Guard, Cui Tianqi and Zhang Yunliang.

Then, with a resounding clang of landed footsteps, Ning Yuchan also arrived.

Ning Yuchan’s attire today was eye-catching.

Gone was the usual long skirt, replaced by a sky-blue tight-fitting outfit, with archery sleeves, long hair tied back, and two white ribbons fluttering; she looked valiant and was very easy on the eyes.

But what surprised Xu Jin even more was that Dean Cao Chun appeared, accompanied by two black-clad Inspection Officers.

Eventually, even the Vice Mountain Master, Feng Shu, arrived.

In an instant, Xu Jin realized that the Jinshan Taoist Institute’s monthly treasure-hunting expedition was more important than he had imagined.

It wasn’t just about allowing disciples to obtain cultivation resources; there must be other purposes.

“The monthly treasure hunt is about to commence.

Since there are new disciples joining, I will explain a few extra points,” announced Vice Mountain Master Feng Shu.

“Safety, safety comes first!

Taking you on treasure hunts in the mountain is meant for you to gain cultivation resources and also to fulfill the Institute’s quota for supplies.

But remember, it’s not for you to lose your lives.

Safety comes first.

If you encounter any danger that you cannot handle, immediately send out an emergency signal.

The scattered instructors and teachers will arrive in the shortest possible time.”

“Other than that, simply follow the Institute’s rules, which are all listed in the booklet provided to you.

But there is one very important point.

Be cautious of other people!” Vice Mountain Master Feng Shu said.

“Hmm?” Many disciples showed puzzled expressions.

Be cautious of other people—cautious of fellow brothers and sisters?

“With so many experts from our Jinshan Taoist Institute venturing into the mountain, the danger deep in Green Mountain will greatly diminish.

Many Loose Cultivators from the Martial World and even Evil Path Cultivators will also take this opportunity to enter the mountain in search of herbs and treasures.

These people are of mixed characters, and wealth moves the heart.

If you encounter them, be very careful, maintain your distance, and if anything seems amiss, immediately send out a warning signal,” Vice Mountain Master Feng Shu instructed.

The disciples then finally understood that these were the people to be cautious of.

“Let’s set out.”

Following Vice Mountain Master Feng Shu’s command, the crowd of disciples marched out of the mountain gate, heading straight for Green Mountain.