Reincarnated as a Divine Tree

After a brief moment of surprise, their expressions quickly returned to normal. They had already anticipated something like this in the past few days.

Now it seemed the clan leader truly had the foresight.

If Blood Rice couldn’t be purchased here in Yong’an City, then perhaps they could acquire a batch through the Zhou clan’s channels instead.

While they were weighing their options, the elders of the four great clans had been watching Chen Tianjing and his companions closely, observing their every expression.

When they noticed that Chen Tianjing and the others showed no particular signs of disappointment, their curiosity only deepened.

Could it be that the relationship between the Chen clan and the Zhou clan was even closer than they had assumed?

Or were these youths simply better at hiding their thoughts than expected? Either way, there wasn’t enough to draw a clear conclusion.

With no further delay, the elders shifted their focus back to the Blood Rice.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have been difficult—a few jade coins would’ve been enough to buy it. But with all four clans present, buying it with just jade coins wouldn’t be so simple anymore.

None of them rushed to speak. The crowd remained silent as onlookers watched from a distance, hesitant to get involved. The square fell into an eerie stillness.

Then, after a moment’s hesitation, Xie Hongyuan stepped forward at the elders’ signal. Facing Chen Tianjing, she calmly offered, 

“Our Xie clan still has some Wuxin Fruits. They can boost a martial artist’s qi and blood by thirty percent if they’re at the Blood Coagulation Realm—and by forty percent for those in the early stages. The market price is two thousand jade coins. We’re willing to exchange them for all of your Blood Rice.”

Chen Tianjing and his companions exchanged glances, eyes lighting up.

The Wuxin Fruit was pricey, yes, but its effect clearly outclassed the Purple Ganoderma. It was a worthy trade.

But when the Xie clan tried to take all one thousand catties in a single exchange, the other three clans couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

They had initially refrained from bidding, not wanting to be the first to break tradition. After all, if jade coins alone could secure the goods, they would rather not give up precious cultivation resources.

Of the four, only the Shilin clan ever offered such items publicly. The others kept their resources tightly guarded.

Stone Warm Pavilion, the Shilin clan’s outlet, had its own reasons. Their shops weren’t limited to Yong’an City—they had branches in other cities too. With the sheer volume of jade coin transactions, they needed to sell resources to ease financial pressure. 

It also helped raise the Pavilion’s name. Still, as long as their coffers held, they wouldn’t casually sell off high-value items like Purple Ganoderma.

If every clan held this stance, then the Chen clan would have no choice but to accept only jade coins.

But the Xie clan had been the first to break that unspoken agreement, forcing the others to follow.

If they didn’t speak up now, the Xie clan would walk away with all the Blood Rice, making the trip pointless for the rest. Even if they were annoyed, they had to act.

And the Xie clan was no small power—they were the strongest in Yong’an, with a good chance of producing an Inner Qi Realm martial artist. The other clans had no choice but to respond.

“Our Gan clan can offer Mountain Elixirs in exchange for Blood Rice...”

“Our Shen clan has Heavenly Insects, also suitable for trade...”

“Our Shilin clan can trade Purple Ganoderma and Bodhi Fruit...”

One after another, they stepped forward.

As the three clans made their offers, Chen Tianjing and his companions exchanged puzzled looks.

Bodhi Fruit and Purple Ganoderma were familiar—they’d purchased them before. But Mountain Elixirs and Heavenly Insects? They’d never even heard of them.

According to the clans’ explanations, both were rare materials that enhanced a martial artist’s qi and blood at the Blood Coagulation level. 

The effects varied, but the pricing was clear: 1,600 jade coins for a Mountain Elixir, and 1,500 for a Heavenly Insect—both more expensive than the Purple Ganoderma they’d bought earlier.

Still, one thing quickly became clear: the four clans were all offering items specifically for the Blood Coagulation Realm. None had anything suited to enhancing qi and blood for martial artists at the Innate Realm.

That made sense. These resources weren’t easy to come by. The fact that the Chen clan had managed to purchase any at all was already lucky.

They hadn’t found anything like the famed Tian Nan Star, true—but then again, the clan had very few martial artists at the Innate Realm. What the clans were offering now was actually more practical for them.

If they could walk away with these resources, the trip wouldn’t be a waste.

But now a new issue emerged: all four great clans wanted to buy the entire stock of Blood Rice. That left Chen Tianjing and his brother in a bit of a bind.

It was just like the last time—a difficult position. But unlike before, this time the elders didn’t fight amongst themselves. They simply turned to Chen Tianjing and waited to see how he’d choose.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Tianjing finally spoke.

“All of the items you’ve offered are useful to our clan. But we only brought this much Blood Rice today. To make sure no one walks away empty-handed, we’d like to purchase a bit of everything from each of you. Would that be acceptable?”

Trading with each of the four clans—this was the approach both he and Chen Tianyu had agreed on.

It would let them compare the effectiveness of the various resources, which would also help guide future Blood Rice sales.

Of course, it might seem like they were offending no one—but it could just as easily offend everyone.

Still, these weren’t ordinary times. With the Zhou clan’s name now backing them, the four clans wouldn’t dare make trouble. And with that name in hand, the Chen clan could carefully maneuver among them—so long as they paid attention to balance.

One day, when their own strength was great enough, they wouldn’t need to worry about any of this.

After he finished speaking, the elders of the four clans clearly weren’t pleased—but they said nothing. Only the Xie clan elder chuckled and replied with a knowing smile.

“I was the first to speak. Naturally, the Xie clan should have the first share of the Blood Rice.”

“Of course,” Chen Tianjing answered with a polite smile.

Without any further delay, the Xie clan brought out several Wuxin Fruits. The exchange was completed swiftly.

And just like that, more than half of the Blood Rice had been sold.

It wasn’t that the Xie clan had paid more than the others. Rather, this elder didn’t seem to harbor ill will toward the Chen clan. Doing business with him wouldn’t bring harm.

The Gan and Shen clans followed. Even with only a portion of Blood Rice left, they quickly bought up nearly everything that remained.

By the time it was the Shilin clan’s turn, only a few dozen catties were left.

Chen Tianjing and his companions smiled faintly—the kind of smile that said, “Take it if you want. If not, we’ll sell it to someone else.”

They hadn’t forgotten the Shilin clan’s underhanded tactics last time.

While the Chen clan still wasn’t strong enough to confront them head-on, this transaction was theirs to control.

The elder from the Shilin clan said nothing, but his expression darkened. With a cold snort, he took out a Bodhi Fruit and a Purple Ganoderma and handed them over, collecting the last bit of Blood Rice.

Once the deal was done, he turned and left with a flick of his sleeve.

The other three elders smiled to themselves.

Though the Shilin clan wasn’t the strongest in Yong’an City, their Stone Warm Pavilion had a solid reputation and a wide commercial reach. Many envied them for it.

But watching them come up short today brought a quiet satisfaction to the rest.

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