The Journey of Immortal Cultivation

Chapter 1059 - 578: Whereabouts of the Spiritual Tea (2)

For an ordinary private house not designed for storing goods, the backyard of the Li Family underwent special modifications to accommodate some goods from the Heavenly Residence. So, even if Juan Niang or Elder Qi bought a house in the Central Capital, they would still need special renovations to barely fit the massive ten thousand pounds of Spiritual Tea, which means it definitely can’t be hidden in some secret room or underground cellar.

This batch of goods from Ningyuan Hall was ordered by the Heavenly Residence half a year ago. From a temporal standpoint, half a year is indeed enough time for Juan Niang to renovate a residence, but would she go through so much trouble just to deceive Ning Xiaoxian?

Even so, Ning Xiaoxian still dispatched several Hidden Guards skilled in the Concealment Technique to search around the residences near the Medicine Ginseng Group for any possible suspicious points, while she herself took the rest of the people to enjoy the mountains and rivers, drawing away those secretly tailing her while making a show of her actions.

If a courtyard has been converted into a warehouse, it must differ greatly from an ordinary family’s garden layout, making it not hard to identify. Although many cultivators live in the vicinity, the Hidden Guards are quite adept at concealing their presence. They searched for two days without being discovered. However, within a radius of six miles of the Medicine Ginseng Group, there were no unusual residences, making this possibility very slim.

The second possibility is that Juan Niang’s subordinates used large-capacity storage containers. Once the Spiritual Tea was transported out of the gate, they might have packed it all up, making it impossible for the city guards or the chasing Hidden Guards to find even a trace of those dozens of large carts. How convenient and swift.

The best part is that neither the Hidden Stream nor anyone else from the Heavenly Residence would suspect that these three rings contain tea worth millions of Spirit Stones. Elder Bian and Steward Wu have secretly investigated over the past few days, discovering that aside from ten thousand pounds of Spiritual Tea, no other tea was stored in the warehouses controlled by Elder Qi and Juan Niang, making it absolutely untraceable.

When the Heavenly Residence and Ning Xiaoxian are arguing red-faced over the supply of Spiritual Tea, Elder Qi just needs to arrange for someone to auction off these three rings. This would effortlessly earn them ten thousand pounds of Spiritual Tea! Any way you calculate it, the benefits are enormous, because usually acquiring these three rings wouldn’t cost more than six hundred thousand Spirit Stones. Paying six hundred thousand to earn six million is truly a huge bargain.

What, you ask how Elder Qi can take these three auction items from Bai Yujing and give them to Juan Niang for theft? Haha, that involves a highly applicable term: abuse of power for personal gain. With Elder Bian, behind Steward Wu, capable of acquiring Juan Niang’s seal from the tightly regulated Seal Supervision Bureau, what’s so surprising about Elder Qi temporarily appropriating three rings from the unsold auction items? Large organizations always have their troubles; the more luxurious the building, the more hidden termites, ants, cockroaches, and various small parasites it harbors. It’s a natural ecosystem, as well as a societal one.

In the past twenty years, the Heavenly Residence has handled a total of thirty-two Storage Rings. Excluding those with too small a capacity, twenty-six rings have a capacity of over thirty thousand pounds. Elder Bian checked the records, and none of these rings were linked to Elder Qi. This indicates that Elder Qi personally possessing such high-capacity Storage Rings is an extremely remote possibility.

It’s undeniable that Juan Niang’s maneuver is quite ingenious. Any other opponent might not foresee such a method; unfortunately for her, she faced Ning Xiaoxian. As the owner of the God Demon Prison, and someone who constantly holds a Sea Bag, when she noticed discrepancies outside the Li Mansion, her first calculation was, just how probable was it that Juan Niang employed a large-capacity storage container to transport the Spiritual Tea away. Besides, she remembered clearly seeing these three rings at the auction preview in Bai Yujing, with a combined capacity reaching 130,000 pounds, perfectly fitting the tea and the carts together without any effort.

This is what Changtian often reiterates, the disparity in vision. Many times, the clarity people seek is just a thought flashing in a moment. The difference between people lies in whether such a thought can even occur in your mind.

After repeated discussions with Steward Wu, they both believed there was at least an eighty-percent possibility that Juan Niang exploited these three rings. Such a probability was more than sufficient for them to take a risk. During the attempt, they might even confirm the remaining twenty percent possibility.

The bidding began. Due to the seller’s insistence, the three rings were auctioned off as a bundle, not sold separately, starting at a price of one hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

"One hundred twenty thousand Spirit Stones!"

"One hundred thirty-five thousand Spirit Stones!"

"One hundred fifty thousand!"

"One hundred fifty-five thousand Spirit Stones!"

As she had anticipated, there were indeed quite a few bidders at the start, and the Black Stone Plate outside the box flickered incessantly. The auctioneer found it difficult to keep up with both eyes. However, each increment was only two or three thousand Spirit Stones, indicating that everyone was cautious and reluctant to spend much on the rings. After all, these are only auxiliary Magic Artifacts, far less critical to one’s life and death than treasure armor or weapons.

When she finished slowly munching on a juicy, fresh peach, the rings’ price had just reached five hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

As she licked her slender fingers, a servant swiftly fetched a fragrant, snow-white handkerchief for her to clean her hands. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)