62: Rumors stop with the wise

White Crane Lake.

A massive cloud-breaking flying boat hovered over the center of the lake, below which was a small island about one li in diameter.

The island was shrouded in Spiritual Qi, covered with spirit flowers and Spiritual Plants, with several palaces and courtyards, creating a serene Concept.

This place was once the core of the Chen Family, the residence of their Foundation Establishment Ancestor, and only the most core Disciples of the Chen Family were qualified to enter.

Inside a hall filled with the atmosphere of daily life, a three-foot-tall purple-gold Pill Furnace sat in the center, glowing red from the orange-yellow flames emerging from the ground.

Xiao Ran sat cross-legged in front of the Pill Furnace, her hands forming seals, her eyes focused, monitoring the subtle changes in the furnace at all times, occasionally casting a spell to control the furnace temperature or lifting the lid to add new Spiritual Plants.

Half an hour later.

The earthly fire extinguished. Xiao Ran waved her hand, the lid of the purple-gold Pill Furnace lifted, and a strange fragrance permeated the air, refreshing to smell.

"Congratulations, Senior Sister! Your Alchemy skills have greatly improved. Becoming a Second-Rank Alchemist is just around the corner!"

Seeing that Xiao Ran had finished the Alchemy, a playful young girl in a floral dress skipped in and praised her with a smile.

Second-Rank Alchemist!

Xiao Ran smiled faintly. She could barely manage First-Rank High Grade Medicinal Pills now, and she had never successfully refined a First-Rank peak grade Medicinal Pill; being a Second-Rank Alchemist was still far out of reach.

"How do you know my Alchemy skills have greatly improved?"

Xiao Ran took out a jade bottle and used the Object Manipulation technique; the Medicinal Pills flew out of the furnace one by one and were stored into the jade bottle.

"Hmm~"

The playful young girl frowned and thought for a moment, then her beautiful eyes lit up, "Because the Medicinal Pills Senior Sister refined this time smell better than before!"

Xiao Ran's face darkened. Generally, the stronger the smell emitted by Medicinal Pills, the more the medicinal efficacy was dissipating, which meant the Alchemy was not perfect.

If it weren't for knowing that this Junior Sister of hers had such a personality, she would have thought she was being sarcastic.

The Junior Sister's name was Zhang Kexin, a Third-grade Spirit Root, the only top-tier Third-grade Spirit Root in the younger generation of the Red Pine Sect.

Upon entering the Sect, she was valued by Xiao Ran, brought before the Sect Master, True Person Xiao, and accepted as a Named Disciple of the Golden Core True Person.

"Stop joking around. How did the task I entrusted to you go?"

Xiao Ran had previously instructed her to keep an eye on the auction and report the situation after it was finished.

"Very smoothly!"

Zhang Kexin followed Xiao Ran out of the hall and said, "Everything was sold. A total of 68,800 Spirit Stones were auctioned, which is much more than the 50,000 we estimated before!"

"Not bad!"

Xiao Ran nodded with satisfaction. Adding the Spirit Stones obtained directly from raiding the Family and the supplies sent back to the Sect, this harvest in Yongning exceeded 300,000 Spirit Stones!

Excluding the expenses of the Law Enforcement Team, the Sect's harvest also exceeded 200,000 Spirit Stones. Compared to slowly collecting taxes, robbing Spirit Stones directly was much faster!

"There is also an interesting thing. A fool named Liu Xuan bought White Crane Lake!" Zhang Kexin said with interest.

"Hmm?"

"Liu Xuan?"

Xiao Ran had never heard of such a person in Yongning.

Without waiting for Xiao Ran to ask, Zhang Kexin explained, "Liu Xuan is an inner Sect Disciple of our Sect. I heard he is also a First-Rank Mid-Grade Talisman Master!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Kexin was a little envious. Her cultivation talent was good, but she was ignorant of all cultivation skills.

"But he is quite stupid. Others dare not buy the property of the Chen Family's ancestral land, but he used 5,000 Spirit Stones to buy the five-year lease of White Crane Lake."

The Chen Family's ancestral land possessed a tier 2 medium grade Spiritual Vein, which was of extremely high value; even 100,000 Spirit Stones would be considered a bargain.

The various facilities and buildings on Lake Heart Island alone were worth a lot, not to mention the nearly ten-li wide White Crane Lake, the surrounding Spiritual Plant fields, the herb gardens, and the tier 2 defensive array covering the entire White Crane Lake—all of these were good things.

For a Family, the value here was immeasurable; 200,000 or 300,000 Spirit Stones were worth it.

However, no one dared to buy it now, or rather, no one was qualified to buy it.

In all of Yongning, the only Family qualified and powerful enough to buy it was the Lu Family, the only Foundation Establishment Family at present.

But if the Lu Family took out a large amount of Spirit Stones to buy the Chen Family's ancestral land now, they would be fools!

No matter how great the value of White Crane Lake was, it was a long-term value. Whether it could exert its value depended on whether they could hold onto it.

Today the Sect could destroy the Chen Family and auction off White Crane Lake; who could guarantee that they wouldn't destroy the Lu Family tomorrow and continue the auction?

The situation was unstable, and the value of the Family residence was very illusory; it was better to have Spirit Stones in hand that could be taken away at any time.

Xiao Ran's goal was not the Lu Family, but those Families in Yongning with Qi Refining Perfection Cultivators.

If they could be coaxed into taking over White Crane Lake at a high price, they could immediately cash out a large amount of Spirit Stones and continue to collect high taxes.

If they couldn't hold it, they could send the Law Enforcement Team to snatch it back legitimately and continue the auction...

Only a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could hold a tier 2 medium grade Spiritual Vein. Ordinary Qi Refining Families lacked the virtue to match the position. These Families in Yongning had this self-awareness and no one dared to touch it.

"He is a Sect Talisman Master, isn't it nonsense for him to get involved?" Xiao Ran frowned.

"Yes!"

Zhang Kexin said, "I heard he is also a lecher who married many, many Dao Companions. He is addicted to female beauty every day and is not focused on Cultivating at all!"

"That's not all! He is also good at currying favor with the powerful. When he was in the Sect, he married the daughter of Lin Tianyue, the head of the outer Sect Talisman Hall of the Lin Family. After coming to Yongning, he married Zhao Deliang's Disciple, Xia He, and there is more..."

Zhang Kexin didn't know where she heard the gossip, but she talked endlessly, belittling Liu Xuan as worthless.

Xiao Ran, however, felt the more she listened, the more she felt that this Liu Xuan was a talent! According to Zhang Kexin, this person had been a First-Rank Mid-Grade Talisman Master for less than two years since joining the Sect, and his cultivation was at least Qi Refining Third Layer. No wonder Zhao Deliang was willing to win him over.

As for the gossip and rumors Zhang Kexin mentioned, Xiao Ran did not believe them!

A First-Rank Mid-Grade Talisman Master under twenty years old with a cultivation of at least Qi Refining Third Layer—how could he be someone addicted to female beauty?

Geniuses are always prone to various rumors. Rumors stop at the wise, and she, Xiao Ran, was a wise person who could see the essence through the phenomena!

But why did Liu Xuan spend so many Spirit Stones to buy the lease of White Crane Lake?

The lease of White Crane Lake did not include Lake Heart Island, nor the Spiritual Plant fields or herb gardens; it was just the lake, and the Spiritual Qi inside was only at the First-Rank Low Grade level.

The lake could only raise some spirit fish or aquatic spirit plants, and it required manpower to operate.

With an annual rent of 1,000 Spirit Stones, plus taxes, one might not even earn back the principal after a year of hard work.

Liu Xuan renting White Crane Lake alone would definitely not make any money!

"Indeed interesting!"

"Junior Sister, next time Liu Xuan comes, bring him to see me. I will ask him myself what he is thinking."

Xiao Ran instructed.

"No!"

Zhang Kexin was shocked, "Senior Sister, isn't his purpose obvious? He just wants to use this to curry favor with you. Don't be seduced by him!"

"You are overthinking it!"

Xiao Ran laughed and shook her head!

"Go down and Cultivate properly. Don't think about boring things all day long!"

"But..."

Seeing that Xiao Ran had already turned around and was no longer looking at her, Zhang Kexin stopped helplessly.