The Deal!

Laifu Inn, Room No. 3 (Di Zi).

The candlelight flickered, casting the shadows of the two people on the wall, swaying slightly with the movement of the flame. The tea on the table had already been replaced three times; steam rose from the spout of the white porcelain pot, and a faint aroma of tea filled the room.

"It's good that Junior Brother Han is interested." Zhou Ding smiled, leaned back in his chair, slowly picked up his teacup and took a sip. His tone was unhurried. "However, I'll also be frank. I've put in a lot of effort and attracted quite a bit of trouble for these two pieces of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo."

He looked up as he spoke, his gaze tinged with amusement as he looked at Han Li: "There are no free treasures in this world, Junior Brother is a wise man. You want these two sections of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, so what do you intend to offer in exchange?"

The question was asked casually, with a slightly teasing tone, but it truly laid out the conditions.

Although Zhou Ding had a close relationship with Han Li, in the cultivation world, the more precious a material is, the less likely it is to be given away for free.

Even close brothers keep clear accounts, let alone a rare and precious treasure like the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo. Given Han Li's personality, he naturally wouldn't find anything wrong with these words.

As expected, Han Li fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.

It wasn't that he disliked Zhou Ding's straightforwardness; on the contrary, such candid presentation of conditions was more reassuring than those who were polite on the surface but harbored ulterior motives behind the scenes.

But the problem is, what can I give in exchange?

Han Li was also quickly calculating in his mind.

Spirit Stone?

He has accumulated a considerable amount of savings over the years, but given the rarity of Thunder Bamboo, it would probably take him most of his fortune to acquire it.

Moreover, given Zhou Ding's current cultivation level and strength, spirit stones would probably be delivered to him in abundance, so he wouldn't necessarily find them rare.

Materials? Although some of the rare ores and spiritual materials he treasured were indeed rare items, they were far from being worth the value of two sections of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.

Han Li frowned slightly, quickly reviewing his personal wealth in his mind, only to find that none of his assets could match the value of these two pieces of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.

He paused for a moment, then, without beating around the bush, looked up and asked Zhou Ding directly, "Senior Brother, how would you like to trade this item with me? Is it for spirit stones, or specific materials or pills? Or perhaps…?"

He paused, his eyes flickering slightly, his tone tinged with a hint of probing: "Is there anything... junior brother needs to do?"

He spoke his last sentence with great caution. In the world of cultivation, besides spirit stones and physical goods, there is another more common and complex form of trade—favors.

The phrase "do something" may seem simple, but it carries immense weight.

Some things cannot be measured by spirit stones, especially when it involves grudges, affections, or sectarian power.

A debt of gratitude is often harder to repay than tens of thousands of spirit stones.

Although Han Li was determined to get the two sections of Thunder Bamboo, he also knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch.

If Zhou Ding really needs him to do something difficult, then he has to weigh the risks first and see if it's worth risking his life for this opportunity.

Zhou Ding was amused by Han Li's caution when he heard Han Li's last sentence, and couldn't help but chuckle: "Junior Brother Han, are you afraid that I will make some difficult demands? Don't worry, we are fellow disciples, I will not make things difficult for you."

As he spoke, he reached into his robes, took out a jade scroll of emerald green, twirled it in his hand, gently placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Han Li: "These are some spiritual herbs that I need. Junior brother, please take a look."

Han Li reached out and picked up the jade slip. It felt warm and slightly heavy to the touch. He pressed the jade slip to his forehead and probed it with his divine sense. After a moment, his brows furrowed slightly, and his expression became somewhat solemn.

The jade slip contained only a few medicinal herbs, just five or six kinds.

But each name gave Han Li a feeling of familiarity yet distance. Although he had never seen these medicinal herbs in person, he had read about some of them in ancient books.

These medicinal herbs are all extremely rare treasures in the world. Some have disappeared from the Chaotic Star Sea for hundreds of years, while others only grow in the depths of certain wild and desolate places in legends. No one has ever heard of anyone seeing their traces recently.

Han Li withdrew his divine sense from the jade slip, placing it back on the table with a somewhat grim expression. He looked up at Zhou Ding, his voice tinged with a wry smile: "Senior Brother Zhou, are you making things difficult for me? None of the herbs recorded on this jade slip are easy to find. Let alone me, I estimate that even a powerful force like the Star Palace with its deep foundation would have difficulty gathering these herbs in a short time."

He was telling the truth.

Although he has an unimaginable advantage in elixirs.

That mysterious little bottle can accelerate the ripening of spiritual herbs, but he needs to have the seeds or seedlings of the spiritual herbs first.

The medicinal herbs on the jade slip are not something that can be bought with money.

Even if he possessed the supernatural power to accelerate ripening, without the seeds, he would be like a skilled cook without rice. And finding the seeds of these spiritual herbs would probably be even more difficult than finding the herbs themselves.

Han Li looked somewhat troubled.

To be fair, the conditions proposed by Zhou Ding were neither too high nor too low.

These spiritual herbs are extremely difficult to collect, and it might take several years or even more than a decade to gather them all. But if he were to refuse Zhou Ding on this basis, he really couldn't bear to part with those two sections of Thunder Bamboo—especially the section with roots, which was priceless to him!

Zhou Ding noticed the change in Han Li's expression and said with a smile, "Junior Brother, there's no need to rush to answer. I'm not asking you to bring all the spiritual herbs on this jade slip right now."

He paused, then held up one finger. "Ten years. I'm willing to give you ten years, junior brother. Within ten years, you can do your best to collect them. Submit as many as you can, and we'll call it a day when you've collected them all. As for the rest, if there are still any you haven't found by the end of the ten years, we can discuss it again then."

Han Li's expression shifted slightly upon hearing this.

Ten years is a period that is neither long nor short.

If it were any other cultivator, gathering these rare spiritual herbs within ten years would still be an extremely difficult task.

However, for Han Li, his herb garden had already cultivated quite a few spiritual herbs, but their quality was still far from sufficient.

Given time, with his ability to accelerate ripening, it's not impossible to produce a few of them within the deadline.

As for the rest who don't even have seeds, they can only try their best to find out information.

Although it is still difficult, at least it is not entirely hopeless.

What happened next was what truly surprised Han Li.

Zhou Ding tapped two fingers lightly on the table, his tone relaxed: "Furthermore, I can give these two sections of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo to my junior brother first."

Han Li suddenly raised his head, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes: "Senior brother means... to give it to me first?"

"Here you go first." Zhou Ding nodded, his tone certain. "Junior brother, take the bamboo back and focus on preparing to forge the sword. As for the spiritual herbs on the jade slip, gather them slowly, no rush. Senior brother trusts you."

Han Li knew better than anyone the value of those two sections of Thunder Bamboo.

Let alone a Core Formation cultivator like him seeing such a priceless treasure, even a Nascent Soul cultivator might be tempted.

Zhou Ding could have held onto these two sections of Thunder Bamboo as bargaining chips, and then exchanged them once he had gathered all the spiritual herbs.

Even though Zhou Ding was worried that he might turn against him after taking the bamboo, he still chose him because he trusted him, entrusting such a precious spiritual item directly to him. This was no ordinary trust; it could even be described as a gamble.

Han Li looked into Zhou Ding's calm yet smiling eyes and remained silent for a long time.

He didn't say any fancy words of thanks, he just nodded slowly.

Knowing his character, some things didn't need to be said; once he promised, he would definitely do it. His voice was low and solemn: "Since Senior Brother Zhou trusts me, I won't refuse. I will do my utmost to obtain these medicinal herbs. Within ten years, I will do everything in my power to give you an explanation!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ding's smile widened even further, and he raised his teacup: "Come, let's use tea instead of wine."

Han Li also raised his teacup, and the two lightly clinked them together in the air, producing a crisp sound. Zhou Ding tilted his head back and drank the tea in one gulp, then put down the cup, a satisfied look in his eyes: "Alright, we've finished discussing the important matters, and it's getting late. Junior brother, when you get back, carefully study the forging method of your Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword, and don't waste those two good pieces of bamboo."