The Female CEO's Personal Bodyguard

Chapter 1499: Chapter 1499: Snatching Love by Force?

Carson Flores sat by the window of the tavern, sipping wine while watching the bustling crowd on the wide streets below, his demeanor leisurely.

He had been in Flying Phoenix City for several days now. As the date of the Cloud Elixir Pill King competition approached, more and more cultivators flooded into Flying Phoenix City, and the inns were already packed to capacity.

The majority of cultivators entering Flying Phoenix City weren’t alchemists. Most of them came to watch the excitement, although some cultivators had elixirs or immortal elixir needs and hoped to take this opportunity to fulfill them.

The competition day had not yet arrived, but the trading market in the western part of the city was already vast in scale and thriving. Cultivators flocked to trade and browse, creating a sea of people.

After finishing his meal, Carson headed to the trading market once again to hunt for treasures.

The trading market was a temporary transformation of the military training grounds, occupying a large area and divided into multiple sections, including magical treasure trading, elixir trading, immortal elixir trading, and even a dedicated alchemy area.

In the alchemy area, alchemists of various levels were stationed. Cultivators who needed elixirs could bring their own materials and request alchemists to refine them, paying a commission if successful. If the refinement failed, alchemists would compensate a certain percentage of the value of the materials.

Carson leisurely wandered through the elixirs section, searching for the elixirs he needed.

During Eastflow Ancestor’s birthday banquet, he had received over a dozen rare items, including Thousand-Year Snow Ganoderma, Ink Jade Bamboo Shoot, and Pure Yang Wood—three types of immortal elixirs.

Thousand-Year Snow Ganoderma could be used to refine Snow Spirit Pill, Ink Jade Bamboo Shoot could be refined into Ink Jade Pill. Both pills could rapidly increase one’s strength, while Pure Yang Wood could be refined into the toxin-cleansing sacred elixir, Pure Yang Pill.

At the time, Carson didn’t have the ability to refine them. Over the past five years, he had been busy improving his alchemy skills and hadn’t had time for cultivation, so he had left them untouched. Besides, he feared his skills weren’t up to standard.

Immortal elixirs that could be presented by a sect as birthday gifts to a Peak Golden Immortal were bound to be extremely rare. Wasting them due to failure would be too much of a loss.

Carson’s current strength was still a step away from Late Human Immortal. He planned to seize this opportunity to buy all the necessary materials, refine the pills, and charge directly into Late Human Immortal.

The materials Carson needed were numerous and quite precious. However, the main ingredients for refining the pills were already in hand, so he wasn’t worried about gathering the rest.

Carson approached a stall and suddenly his eyes lit up.

On a Rune Box rested a handwritten tag.

Pure Yang Wood.

Pure Yang Wood was an essential secondary material for refining Snow Spirit Pill, second only to the main ingredient, Thousand-Year Snow Ganoderma. Its value wasn’t exceedingly high, but it was scarce. Carson had searched for days to no avail, yet he had now stumbled upon it.

Carson stood before the stall and pointed toward the box, ”Pure Yang Wood—can I take a look?”

The stall owner, an old man with snowy white hair, smiled as he handed over the Rune Box to Carson.

”Fellow Daoist, go ahead and inspect it. This Pure Yang Wood is upper grade! I spent a fortune getting my hands on it...”

Carson paid no attention to the old man’s sales pitch. As soon as he opened the Rune Box, a fierce, scorching aura surged forth.

Inside the box lay a piece of wood, quietly resting. Though it wasn’t aflame, its entire surface glowed crimson like a fiery ember.

Carson’s eyes brightened. The quality of this Pure Yang Wood was indeed excellent—definitely suitable for crafting the elixirs.

He looked up and asked, ”How much?”

The white-haired old man smiled slyly and said, ”A hundred thousand Immortal Spirit Stones.”

Carson raised an eyebrow. He could afford this price, but it was noticeably steep for Pure Yang Wood.

”Your price isn’t very honest. Give me a fair number already.”

The old man chuckled, ”Fellow Daoist, I know this price is somewhat higher than the market rate, but there’s no choice—I paid a high price for it myself. Surely you’d let me earn a little profit, wouldn’t you?”

Of course, the old man was lying. This piece of Pure Yang Wood was worth around fifty thousand Immortal Spirit Stones, meaning he’d doubled the price. Yet the wood was his, and he had every right to set his asking price. With so many cultivators searching for materials daily, he was in no rush to sell.

Carson was just about to agree when, suddenly, someone interrupted: ”A hundred thousand Immortal Spirit Stones—I’ll take it.”

Carson frowned and turned to look. Not far behind him stood a man and a woman, their eyes fixed on the Pure Yang Wood. The man looked around thirty, the woman twenty-seven to twenty-eight, both exuding an extraordinary air.

The duo wore white robes, adorned with an emblem of an alchemy furnace encircled by two golden dragons. The dragons spewed True Fire beneath the furnace, with fierce flames raging below—an image so lifelike it seemed alive.

A sect specializing in alchemy?

Carson couldn’t identify their background immediately, nor did he care to. He simply took out a hundred thousand Immortal Spirit Stones and handed them to the stall owner.

”A hundred thousand.”

The stall owner blinked, glanced at the two individuals behind Carson, and said nothing, though there was a trace of apprehension in his eyes.

Carson casually closed the lid of the Rune Box and tucked it into his Space Ring.

First come, first served—that’s the rule!

The pair glared at Carson, their expressions growing colder. The woman shouted in a frosty tone, ”What do you think you’re doing? Hand over that Pure Yang Wood! Didn’t you hear us say we want it?”