Both Jaekyung and Gwak Jeong-shin agreed that Mook-soo's spiritual fruit was a valuable treasure. However, they needed to discuss just how valuable it was and how the payment would be made.
"This is my first time seeing this spiritual fruit, but I know a fair amount about spiritual objects of this kind. In other words, I have a rough idea of its price range."
Gwak Jeong-shin spoke first. Jaekyung listened quietly.
"But with spiritual objects like these, the problem is not the price but acquiring them, so they are never sold at a fixed price. When sold, it's mostly through auction, or otherwise handled through barter. Therefore, I would like to sell this spiritual fruit at an auction."
If one was confident in their goods, an auction was one of the best ways to get the highest profit. Seeing Gwak Jeong-shin's confident appearance, it seemed he had a degree of certainty. Jaekyung did not object to putting the spiritual fruit up for auction.
The bigger the income, the better, so why would he object? However, there was a minor problem with this method: if the spiritual fruit was sold at auction, he could only receive the payment after the auction was over.
Another problem was that unless Jaekyung went to the auction house himself to watch the proceedings, he couldn't confirm how much the spiritual fruit sold for.
Jaekyung, of course, had no intention of going to a place teeming with dangerous human cultivators, nor did he want to sit idly on Black Flood Dragon Island and simply hope that Gwak Jeong-shin wouldn't deceive him. Gwak Jeong-shin seemed to have considered this as well, and he gave Jaekyung two options.
"I won't beat around the bush. I can pay you a fixed price in spirit stones beforehand, or I can deliver the proceeds after the auction, minus the commission fee. Please decide as you see fit, Dao Friend."
There was no need to specify what that fixed amount of spirit stones would be. This was because the 'Spiritual Object Price List' that Jang Hu-am had gifted him before contained information and approximate prices for all sorts of spiritual objects, allowing him to roughly estimate the value of the spiritual fruit.
"I'll take the spirit stones in advance."
"As you wish."
As if he had anticipated Jaekyung's choice, Gwak Jeong-shin smiled and nodded.
"How many spiritual fruits will you be selling?"
"Three."
"Fifteen medium-grade spirit stones each, for a total of forty-five. How does that sound?"
"That's good."
Jaekyung smiled with satisfaction. The price he had received for selling the spiritual soil before was six medium-grade spirit stones, and even that was originally five, with Gwak Jeong-shin adding one more as a gesture of goodwill.
But now, the price of a single one of Mook-soo's spiritual fruits was three times that of the spiritual soil; how could he not be pleased? It felt as if his cushion of money, which had been slowly wearing away, had suddenly become several times thicker.
"Here you are."
Gwak Jeong-shin paid the price right then and there without hesitation. However, when Jaekyung checked his storage pouch, there were not forty-five, but sixty medium-grade spirit stones inside.
"It tastes good."
When Jaekyung looked puzzled, Gwak Jeong-shin simply smiled without explanation, taking another bite of the spiritual fruit he had already tasted. Seeing that heartwarming sight, Jaekyung's heart warmed as well. Wealth is a lovely thing in itself, but its meaning fades if you just sit on it.
Moreover, in the cultivation world, to put it bluntly, might is right, so one should not be stingy about turning wealth into strength when the opportunity arises. Jaekyung also knew this principle of the cultivation world well. He had no intention of treating the spirit stones in his hand like a sacred treasure.
However, that didn't mean he planned to spend them recklessly either. In fact, Jaekyung had already set his priorities for how he would use the spirit stones once he had enough. First was safety, second was Cultivation.
As a cultivator, he naturally had to focus on building his Cultivation, but more important than that was securing his safety. After all, Cultivation was like a marathon with no visible finish line; no matter how fast you run, it's meaningless if you fall along the way.
"I wish to acquire a formation."
At Jaekyung's words, Gwak Jeong-shin nodded again, as if he had expected it.
"No problem. But the price of formations varies greatly depending on the type and the area they protect. What do you wish to protect with the formation, Dao Friend? A water territory? Or an island?"
"A water territory? Can a formation cover an entire water territory?"
Jaekyung asked in amazement. He knew very well how vast the water territory he occupied was, so he couldn't even imagine a formation massive enough to envelop the entire area.
"Of course. However, setting up such a large-scale formation requires various conditions and consumes an enormous amount of resources. That's why for such large areas, simple detection formations are more commonly used than formations with direct defensive capabilities."
"I see."
It was truly amazing, but that was all. He had neither the ability nor the intention to make such an extravagant purchase.
"How much would it cost to acquire a formation to protect this island?"
"Well, that would naturally depend on its performance. But generally, the protective formations established by Foundation Establishment powers are not very expensive. After all, a formation is still just a formation; it's easy to hold back an opponent for a short time, but difficult to defeat them."
"That is all I'm hoping for."
"Hmm. Please wait a moment."
Gwak Jeong-shin seemed to rummage through a few storage pouches before handing over a familiar-looking jade slip.
"I'll give you that jade slip as a gift. Please take a look."
"In that case, I won't refuse."
Jaekyung immediately scanned the contents of the jade slip. As expected, the names, effects, and prices of all sorts of formations flashed through his mind. Among the countless formations, Jaekyung focused on those with the name Island-Protecting Grand Formation.
There was no other reason; he simply thought that with such a name, it would be suitable for deployment on an island.
'Hmm.'
The grand names of the formations made Jaekyung's heart pound, and the descriptions of their effects swayed his mind, but the prices listed at the end coldly extinguished it all, as if nothing had happened. 'It's so hard to earn, but so easy to spend.' The price unit for all the formations was medium-grade spirit stones.
Some cheap ones were five or six, but the expensive ones cost a hundred, even two hundred. Jaekyung glanced over a few options that were out of his reach before he started looking at the more realistic ones.
"The Supreme Tiger Island-Protecting Grand Formation. I'll take this one."
"An excellent choice."
A formation worth twenty-five medium-grade spirit stones. It meant giving back about half of the spirit stones he had just earned, but he didn't feel it was a waste. If you have a lot, you must put in as much effort to protect it.
An investment of this size was not excessive; in fact, it felt a little insufficient.
"As far as I know, our branch has the formation flags for the Supreme Tiger Island-Protecting Grand Formation in stock. I will return to check and bring them to you right away."
"I am indebted to Dao Friend Gwak."
"Don't mention it. Dao Friend Jaekyung is a major client of mine, so it is only natural that I serve you to the best of my ability."
Not a client of the guild, but 'my client'. Jaekyung understood the meaning behind Gwak Jeong-shin's words and simply smiled faintly without a word. Gwak Jeong-shin, who had left with the spiritual fruits, returned within a few days, bringing the formation flags needed to deploy the Supreme Tiger Island-Protecting Grand Formation.
Jaekyung installed the formation flags according to the enclosed instructions, and the moment the last flag was planted at a point on the outskirts of Black Flood Dragon Island, an invisible barrier rose and enveloped the entire island. 'So this is a formation.' Even though it was invisible, he could clearly feel the formation's presence through his spiritual awareness.
In that moment, any regret over the twenty-five medium-grade spirit stones vanished as if washed away. Until now, Black Flood Dragon Island had been his land, but not his home. Shouldn't a home have walls to block the wind and a roof to keep out the rain?
In that sense, only now, after the Supreme Tiger Island-Protecting Grand Formation was deployed, did Black Flood Dragon Island truly become his home. A safe and cozy home.
"There."
Jaekyung took a look around Black Flood Dragon Island and then used the formation plate to place a mark on Cheong-o and Mook-soo. Since the Island-Protecting Grand Formation enveloped the entire island, this mark was now required to enter and exit freely.
"I doubt you need this, but I'll give you one anyway."
When placing the mark on Mook-soo, Jaekyung acted as if the mark was something extraordinary. He then encouraged it to work hard and bear more spiritual fruit, though it was unclear if Mook-soo understood. 'Mook-soo's spiritual fruits and the Meat-Scaled Fish.
With these, I won't have to worry about spirit stones for a while.' Jaekyung thought about how he would use the spirit stones from now on. The most urgent matter was, of course, cultivation techniques, and after that, the Hundred Arts of Cultivation.
This was an idea Jaekyung had vaguely held for a long time, but it became more concrete after he acquired the formation. The four conditions of Cultivation are collectively called Wealth, Companions, Techniques, and Land, but everyone knows which among them is the most important. Especially for a cultivator without any backing, the importance of wealth is even greater.
Therefore, Jaekyung wanted to train in the humans' Hundred Arts of Cultivation. This was not simply about earning spirit stones. The Hundred Arts of Cultivation should not be considered mere skills for making a living.
Most of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation are closely related to Cultivation itself, so learning them is of great help in advancing one's Cultivation. A prime example was the Dao of Alchemy. If one could create the medicinal pills they needed themselves, wouldn't that naturally be a great advantage for their Cultivation?
'Should I try acquiring it through the Prosperous Treasure Guild?' He had heard that basic knowledge of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation could be easily obtained at any market square, and through a renowned guild like the Prosperous Treasure Guild, it shouldn't be difficult to obtain knowledge beyond that.
Of course, for truly advanced knowledge and special secret arts, one would have to seek out a renowned master or hope for a fortuitous encounter, but that was a story for the distant future, not something to worry about now. 'No, it's best to avoid the Prosperous Treasure Guild.'
Even if it wasn't on the same level as acquiring cultivation techniques, seeking the Hundred Arts of Cultivation also carried the risk of arousing suspicion. Jaekyung did not want to take even a small risk if he could help it. Especially when there were other ways.
'It's about time I started.' While patrolling his water territory recently, Jaekyung realized that the humans living there were also a resource he could use. He could make them patrol the water territory, or he could throw them as food to the aquatic spirit beasts under his command.
Furthermore, he could send them to the human territories to acquire the things he needed.
That's right.
Jaekyung planned to select a few capable humans and send them to the human territories. If all went well, he would be able to obtain various items he needed through them. 'But before that, I should take a look.'
There were dozens of islands inhabited by humans in his water territory. He didn't expect those who had been helplessly exploited by the Black Shark Gang to possess any great legacy, but just in case, he intended to search them thoroughly.
Having made up his mind, Jaekyung moved immediately, and the first place he visited was the relatively familiar Three Frog Island.
"Dragon Lord!"
Jaekyung casually scanned the countless humans who greeted him. Among the humans who could not completely hide their fear, one boy who showed a different emotion stood out. Jaekyung knew that young boy.
'Han Cheong-yu.'
The emotion seen in the boy was complex. There was fear, like the others, but also a glimpse of something like reverence, and it even seemed that the latter was stronger.
'Not bad.'
The boy, whom he had paid no mind to before, now looked a little different.