Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 914 - Chapter 914 Chapter 914 Guidance Plaque

Chapter 914: Chapter 914: Guidance Plaque Chapter 914: Chapter 914: Guidance Plaque Feng Jun really didn’t know what the white plaque was, but he felt it should be somewhat persuasive.

However, when Huang Fu Flawless saw the plaque, she froze for a moment.

Then, she stood up and bowed to the plaque, “Master Busheng, I am at your service.”

Feng Jun gave her a dubious glance, wanting to say something but in the end remained silent, though inside he was grumbling–what nonsense about Master Busheng, there’s not even Divine Sense attached to this plaque, right?

But Huang Fu Flawless had seen that look in his eyes. After she finished bowing, she asked with a smile, “Do I sense some skepticism on your part?”

“Yes,” Feng Jun nodded frankly, “I don’t even know what this plaque is.”

“The Talented Scholars Plaque, ‘talented’ as in sage,” Huang Fu Flawless explained with a smile, “It looks like a Guidance Plaque, but it’s much more valuable…”

The Talented Scholars Plaque is a symbol only possessed by the Four Sects and Wutai; it’s what they issue when they take a liking to a talented individual but, due to various reasons, are temporarily unable to invite the person back. So they give them this plaque.

In essence, the Talented Scholars Plaque is similar to the Guidance Plaque, but the latter is for guiding Cultivation Seedlings, whereas the former is for courting major talents among Cultivators, which is incomparable.

The Two Peaks and One Valley also have needs for recruiting talented individuals. No matter the era or background, true talents are always in high demand.

But they don’t issue Talented Scholars Plaques; encountering a talent mostly leads to coercing or enticing them, and if that doesn’t work, then… Soul Searching.

Why? Because only Golden Core Masters are qualified to issue the Talented Scholars Plaque–the Ascendants could, hypothetically, but what difference would it make to issue one if you’re an Ascendant?

The true Talented Scholars Plaque should be understood like this.

It says, I think this young man is promising, with potential. It’s fine if you can’t come for now–when you’ve thought it over and decided to join, or if you’ve thought it over, you can bring this plaque back with you.

Of course, since the young man is quite exceptional, it’s likely others will notice him. These others might come from minor powers and resort to methods that are not quite appropriate–even if they can’t take the person away by force, it wouldn’t be too surprising to resort to Soul Searching.

To put it plainly, this Talented Scholars Plaque is essentially a “Talent Reservation Card,” or–like a direct admission quota from a prestigious university.

The prominent university reserves a quota; it’s up to the student to attend or not–usually, they do. But if anyone dares to intercept halfway, they need to consider, what kind of rage would that provoke from the person who got intercepted?

Having explained for quite a while and seeing Feng Jun still appearing clueless, Huang Fu Flawless couldn’t help but sigh, “Have you provoked Muchuan or the Xue Family?”

Feng Jun started to understand, “So with this plaque, the Xue Family wouldn’t dare to touch me?”

“That’s the idea,” Huang Fu Flawless nodded with a smile, “You don’t even need to show the Talented Scholars Plaque to the other party, just let the rumor spread, and they won’t dare to target you for anything.”

Feng Jun thoughtfully nodded, considering that Ji Buseng hadn’t even asked about the troubles he encountered that day, seemingly indifferent, yet left behind a Talented Scholars Plaque effectively blocking all troubles.

It seemed that the blood he had coughed up at that time had paid off in the end.

However, these Cultivators from Tianxin Platform, really don’t know how to interact with people… or rather, they are too willful, nonchalant in both helping and provoking, utterly disregardful of others’ feelings.

This feeling made Feng Jun both laugh and cry, but his resentment towards Ji Buseng had genuinely faded.

He was a bit curious about the deterrent power a Golden Core Master had over ordinary people, “So could I then claim that any anonymous assassination attempts against me in the future are the work of Muchuan or the Xue Family?”

“That’s a bit unclear,” Huang Fu Flawless looked at him with a smile, clearly very astute, able to guess what he was thinking, “A real master has the ability to deduce the mysteries of the heavens; it really depends on whether Master Busheng is willing to divine the future for you.”

Feng Jun grasped the concept that even with a real master’s favor, he couldn’t be completely carefree; should there be any plot against him, it would likely remain hidden, without erupting in the open.

To others, this might be slightly dissatisfying, but Feng Jun found it to be quite acceptable. He wasn’t one to habitually rely on others; as long as the Xue Family wasn’t brazenly amassing forces for vengeance, what was there to fear?

Huang Fu Flawless got a bit curious, “How exactly did you annoy the Xue Family?”

Feng Jun snorted and briefly recounted the events–naturally, he didn’t outright say how the Xue Family’s two Ascendants had died. In the end, he declared disdainfully.

“…The merits were earned by myself, why should they think they’re entitled to buy them off me at a discount?”

Huang Fu Flawless knew about the death of the Xue Family’s two Ascendants and since he was unwilling to divulge everything, she didn’t push and just responded with a smile, “You managed to fell two of the Xue Family’s giants… Really, in the contest of the Great Dao, no concessions should be made; neither you nor they were in the wrong.”

Don’t let her youth deceive you, she really saw through the nature of such matters. Yet she also expressed her stance, “No matter what, you are a friend of the Huang Fu Family, and they failed to bully him and even lodged a complaint… It seems I still need to warn them.”

Feng Jun looked at her skeptically, then laughed, “Then I must thank you, Chairman Huang Fu.”

Huang Fu Wuxia glared at him irritably, “What’s with that look? Do you really think I’m just catching a ride on a Heavenly Heart platform master’s coattails?”

Feng Jun answered with a smile, “Catching a ride is normal, after all. As a qualified businessman, one should minimize costs and maximize profits.”

“You and your ways…” Huang Fu Wuxia stopped herself. The mobile phone realm places great importance on ethics; merchants aren’t supposed to be solely profit-driven. She felt a bit uncomfortable hearing this, but ultimately, she sighed, “Doing business like that would result in losing many friends.”

Feng Jun continued smiling as he replied, “Actually, a businessman does business to make money, not to make friends.”

“You’re wrong about that,” Huang Fu Wuxia glared at him discontentedly, “To me, earning Spirit Stones is important, but making friends is also important… Having a cultivation partner, wealth, and territory are necessary to make oneself stronger.”

“Your words are certainly not wrong,” Feng Jun nodded to show his agreement, “I was just explaining the fundamental nature of business.”

The next morning after Huang Fu Wuxia’s visit, Old Man Su came to the door with great solemnity, accompanied by two High-Rank Qi Refiners–because he brought Broken Qingluo with him, he had to act cautiously.

Upon seeing Feng Jun, he was extremely respectful and immediately performed the gesture of a disciple, “I have seen Feng Shangren. The Pill Formula you bestowed opened my eyes and earned my utmost admiration. After testing, three formulas are effective. I have no way to repay you, so I’ve come to present Broken Qingluo…”

“Wait a moment,” Feng Jun interrupted him, “Are you saying only three are effective? Which one is not?”

“It’s the one for Water Attribute Spirit Beasts, it has consistently failed to refine,” Old Man Su answered with a bitter smile, “I only just managed to refine it the day before yesterday… However, the expenses were considerable, and I’m temporarily short of funds to purchase a Spirit Beast for testing.”

Alchemy has a rate of success, particularly with new Pill Formulas. Feng Shangren had not specified what to pay attention to during the alchemy, so he could only test bit by bit based on experience. In these past ten days, who knows how many furnaces were wasted, spending a vast amount of Spirit Stones.

Plus, he had bought three Spirit Beasts for testing, so this expenditure nearly emptied the family’s reserves of Spirit Stones.

However, now that he could effectively enhance the intelligence of Spirit Beasts, once his proficiency in refinement increased, these Elixirs could earn him a considerable amount of money.

Feng Jun didn’t mind the other party making money; his main aim was to increase his cultivation level. He had also invested a lot of effort in Formation, and occasionally he would draw some Talismans. He really didn’t have the energy to learn Alchemy.

Compared to deducing Formations and drawing Talismans, Alchemy required much more effort.

Thus, he said with a smile, “Then I will not wait for the test results of the fourth formula. If it is not successful, come find me. Leave the Cultivation Technique behind… Oh right, leave me a copy of the test results for those three Pill Formulas.”

Old Man Su had indeed prepared the material, which included the steps and precautions of the refining process for the three Elixirs, as well as the test results.

Feng Jun wasn’t really interested in the method of refining Elixirs, as it wasn’t of much significance to him.

Even if he changed his mind and wanted to practice Alchemy, he could deduce the refining process through his mobile phone–of course, such an exhaustive method would consume considerable resources.

Considering that he had obtained the reward by impersonating an Alchemist, he couldn’t appear indifferent. So, he received the Pill Formula with an outward show of pleasure, “Daoist Su is thoughtful indeed.”

As soon as his words fell, two people hurried into the courtyard. It was not someone else but Huang Fu Wuxia and Master Xu.

Chairman Huang Fu wore a smiling face and asked informally, “I heard that the Elixirs have been successfully refined? Master Xu and I have come especially to offer our congratulations.”

“Three types have been refined,” Feng Jun replied with a smile, “The fourth is still under practice, but it should almost be there.”

Huang Fu Wuxia glanced at Old Man Su and asked smilingly, “I wonder if you could supply the Elixirs to the Tiantong Commerce Alliance? Of course, if you are willing to part with the Pill Formula, Tiantong would also be willing to buy it at a high price.”

The Tiantong Commerce Alliance wasn’t optimistic about the market for the Insight Pill, but purchasing a complete Pill Formula was still feasible. This was the difference between investing in foundational research and patent acquisition–even if the Insight Pill’s market was small, it was a complete Pill Formula.

Old Man Su hesitated, then spoke, “May I ask what price Tiantong has in mind for purchasing the Insight Pill?”

Huang Fu Wuxia turned to look at Master Xu, who then replied, “It depends, but it won’t exceed ten Spirit Stones.”

Old Man Su thought it over and shook his head with a grim face, “That price is too low. My Alchemy costs are high.”

Even if he managed to improve the rate of successful refinement, he felt that this price would not allow him to earn much.

Master Xu looked at him indifferently, “If that’s the case, we are willing to purchase the Pill Formula from you.”

Old Man Su hesitated for a moment, then took up the courage to answer, “Master Xu, it’s not that I am unwilling to sell, but the price is rather high.”