CHAPTER 98: CHAPTER 91: GATHERING OF BIG SHOTS, ALL FOR SPENDING MONEY

When Lu Yu arrived at Celestial Immortal Guest Inn, he opened the door to find five elderly people sitting in the room, looking like they had been waiting for him for some time, as the dishes on the table had already gone cold.

Among the five, Guo Cunrui was the youngest, only in his fifties, and seemed even younger after cultivation. The oldest seemed to be around 80 or 90 years old, with gray hair, but his presence was the strongest among them all.

The gray-haired elder sat in the center, while Guo Cunrui and the others were spread out on either side, leaving the main seat across for Lu Yu.

Seeing Lu Yu enter, Guo Cunrui stood up and said, "Mr. Lu, let me introduce you."

Upon hearing this, the people present felt somewhat strange. They were used to others introducing themselves in front of them, and didn’t expect to be introducing themselves to someone else.

"This is Wang Dalong, founder of Dalong Group." A middle-aged man, the physically sturdiest among the five.

"This is Zhang Longjian, founder of Longjian International." Lu Yu glanced at him and immediately sensed his strong aggressiveness.

"This is Fan Cheng’en, patriarch of the Jiangnan Fan family." Lu Yu observed him closely; Jiangnan Fan’s family were descendants of Fan Li, the most famous business family.

Finally, Guo Cunrui introduced the elder sitting in the center to Lu Yu, respectfully saying, "This is General Lin, General Lin Yuan."

General Lin Yuan — a figure recorded in Hua Country’s textbooks, Lu Yu hadn’t expected to one day see this legendary figure.

The elder stood up, smiling, and said, "Youth are truly heroic! But there’s no need to call me General anymore; I’ve retired for many years now, just call me Old Lin."

Lu Yu nervously shook hands with Lin Yuan, as he deeply admired and respected General Lin.

Eventually, Lu Yu did not sit in the main seat, leaving it vacant and taking a seat in a nearby chair.

Once seated, Guo Cunrui had the server remove the cold dishes and bring up a new round of hot dishes. Before they were served, he poured wine for everyone and began discussing the purchase of game resources.

Currently, the resource he most needed was a cultivation technique, as he was about to break through the body refinement stage and needed an excellent technique to continue training.

Since switching to other spirit-level techniques after breaking through the body refinement stage would be troublesome, Guo Cunrui contacted Lu Yu after failing to purchase a technique at the Beifeng City auction house to see if he had any means to obtain one.

Receiving the news brought him great joy, not only did Lu Yu have it, but it was a sixth-grade cultivation technique.

Seeing Guo Cunrui directly approach him to buy the technique, Lu Yu felt a bit troubled. It would have been easy if he had some points left, but currently his point balance was less than 5 million, only enough to buy the cheapest sixth-grade technique.

If he sold this technique to Guo Cunrui now, and later offered a higher-priced technique to others, it might inadvertently cause resentment.

The best solution would be to sell everyone techniques at the same price tier, but Lu Yu was reluctant to only sell each person a 5 million-point technique, as the profit between 5 million and 9 million would make a 40-million-point difference.

Thus, Lu Yu brought out things he had prepared long ago.

"You know the significance of cultivation techniques; even as a disciple of Divine Weapon Pavilion, I can’t just take them out freely, it takes time."

Lu Yu explained to Guo Cunrui that he obtained various resources through his identity as a disciple of Divine Weapon Pavilion.

After all, no one would come forward to prove he was lying.

Given that, only three players had joined Divine Weapon Pavilion.

Zhang Qiling had claimed he hadn’t been out before, and seemed not to plan to come out later, and the other one Lu Yu hadn’t even met, making it even less likely to reveal Lu Yu’s true identity.

"However, I brought some spiritual treasures crafted by my senior brother for you to see." Lu Yu shifted the blame to Kui Defa.

"Protective Golden Bell, second-grade spiritual treasure, can withstand three full-strength attacks from peak Qi Cultivation stage." Lu Yu took out five small bells hanging by red strings for them to see, priced at 800,000 gold coins each in the system mall, though he sold them for 8 million each.

Unlike spiritual armor, the Protective Golden Bell can exert its effect just by wearing it, requiring no cultivation from the user.

Upon mentioning the price to the five, their expressions remained unchanged as they promptly bought them.

Previously, Guo Cunrui had brought them to witness the power of martial cultivators in the Qi Cultivation stage and those in higher realms. Although they just peered from afar, they knew what such might represented.

Lu Yu handed them the Protective Golden Bells.

If he mentioned paying half the money now and then collecting the items later, it would make Lu Yu appear stingy, and Lu Yu believed that these big figures wouldn’t covet this small amount of his money.

Soon after, Lu Yu logged off and checked the Winter Century Bank account, finding a 40 million transaction recorded, which auto-deleted after a minute.

He transferred the received funds to points.

Lu Yu wasn’t sure how the system mall took the money, as there wasn’t a need to input account info; entering the amount and clicking confirm would complete the recharge.

Having money on the account brought Lu Yu peace of mind.

"Tell me what type of cultivation techniques you want, so I can go back and spend contributions to exchange for them," Lu Yu said.

Guo Cunrui replied, "I want a sword skill heart technique, preferably a quick-attack style." His current practice involved a quick-attack sword style, and choosing a similar type for further cultivation would yield twice the results.

Lu Yu mentally noted this, then looked at the others.

Wang Dalong wanted a body refining technique, Zhang Longjian sought an offensive fire or lightning technique, and Fan Cheng’en chose something that could extend life.

Everyone looked at Lin Yuan, curious about which path he would choose.

"There’s no rush with cultivation techniques. I want to ask Lu Xiao You if there’s anything to enhance one’s realm?" Lin Yuan, being the eldest, had old injuries tormenting him; he preferred solving them over gaining strength.

Having heard Guo Cunrui mention that realm enhancements naturally healed bodily ailments, he asked this question.

Lu Yu presented a Primordial Spirit Fruit, placing it in front of him, saying, "This is a heavenly treasure called Primordial Spirit Fruit. The body can absorb its gentle spiritual qi, cleanse the body, enhance Qi Blood, and elevate martial cultivators in the body refinement stage."

Upon hearing his words, their eyes became fervent; Guo Cunrui, after watching the Primordial Spirit Fruit, sighed, "Why didn’t I meet Mr. Lu sooner?"

He had reached the peak body refinement stage, about to advance into the Qi Cultivation stage, making the Primordial Spirit Fruit ineffective for him; consuming it would only restore spiritual qi, speeding up training without advancing the realm.

He had inquired much about the heavenly treasures that could enhance strength, yet found no gateway, often bearing exorbitant prices that Guo Cunrui couldn’t afford.

He could only diligently train daily using Qi Blood Pills.

"This Primordial Spirit Fruit — consider it my gift to Old Lin." Lu Yu ignored Guo Cunrui’s lament, addressing Lin Yuan.

"The market price for a Primordial Spirit Fruit is 4,000 gold but given the high demand and scarcity, it often sells at auction for 5,000 to 6,000 gold," Guo Cunrui explained.

Converting the money to his real-world assets, at 600,000 each, he didn’t much care; however, glancing at his remaining game assets of less than 30,000 gold, Lu Yu’s gesture struck him as particularly generous.

Lin Yuan picked up the Primordial Spirit Fruit from the plate, saying, "Then I thank you, Lu Xiao You."

He took a bite, filling his mouth with a refreshing aroma, and as it reached his stomach, he felt his body becoming invigorated, breathing became easier, making him feel twenty years younger.

Soon, Lin Yuan finished the entire Primordial Spirit Fruit, surrounded by the others, tensely focused on him, asking, "How is it, how do you feel?"

Lin Yuan opened his eyes, lively and vibrant; even his presbyopia felt better, saying, "Excellent! Lu Xiao You, how much more do you have? I want them all."

"Don’t be like that, Old Lin! Share some with us." Wang Dalong immediately voiced upon hearing this; seeing Old Lin’s gaze sweeping over him, he shrunk back, having worked with Lin Yuan in his youth, making theirs the closest relationship among them.

The others nodded, indicating they wanted a share too.

Guo Cunrui glanced at the gold coins in his storage, realizing since it wasn’t gold coins being spent, he said, "Let me try one, too."

The four looked at him in unison, saying, "You don’t benefit, why do you want one?"

Guo Cunrui: "..."