Exchange

Bai Hu shrugged and replied, "So, what is it that you promised in return?"

Shui Bing took a moment to reply, "Well... this... I only requested a few herbs and not several dozens of sets. I'm afraid now that my 2 items are not enough to exchange for all these materials"

She took out 2 jade boxes from her spatial pouch and laid them on the table. Then, with careful movements, she opened the boxes.

Whoosh!

Crackle!

Inside each box was a beast core with the aura of a Foundation level beast. One of the cores was shaped like an uncut crystal with a deep purple shade. Faint patterns could be seen inside the crystal and arks of lightning streaked across its surface.

The other core was a fist sized uneven ball and was turquoise in color. It had green feathery patterns on its surface and a cool breeze fluttered Bai Hu's hair.

Shui Bing gestured towards the purple beast core, "This is the beast core of a Peak Second Stage Amethyst Lightning Giant with a King Tier bloodline"

Next, she gestured towards the other beast core, "And this is the beast core of a Peak Second Stage Windlust Eagle that also has a King Tier bloodline"

Bai Hu picked up both beast cores and felt the pure aura contained within. Shui Bing sure has done her homework and figured out what items would prove to be the most useful to him at his level. Too bad she didn't anticipate the sheer amount of rare herbs Bai Hu managed to smuggle out.

He put the beast cores back into the jade boxes and looked at Shui Bing.

"These 2 things are indeed very useful to me, though with the amount of herbs there are, I'm afraid it'll only be able to exchange for half of the herbs"

She leaned back and thought about his offer for a moment before agreeing with a few more terms added.

"How about this, since those herbs are quite useful for me too, I'll trade for half of your herbs now. Give me a month and I'll trade for half your remaining amount, deal?"

Bai Hu agreed immediately and they proceeded to exchange their things. A few moments later, he left Flowery Crest Peak in a good mood.

Hong Hua waited until Bai Hu left and ran to Shui Bing. She grabbed her sleeve and began to rant.

"Elder sis! Don't tell me you're getting married already! And to that man? Did he come to give you the betrothal gifts- Ow!"

Shui Bing bonked her junior sister over the head.

"So young yet talking about such important matters. Don't worry, that handsome senior didn't come to propose to me so you still have a chance"

The little girl rubbed her head and blushed heavily when her intentions were found out. Shui Bing patted her on the head and tried to raise her spirits.

"Say, how about I properly introduce you to him the next time he comes? I know that he isn't a bad person so I trust him to take care of you"

She pouted, "Senior sis says that as if I would cause trouble"

"That's exactly what I'm saying"

"Sis!"

After a few more rounds of teasing, Hong Hua ran off with a red face. Shui Bing called after her, "Be sure not to be smitten by another man! You never know what their intentions are!"

"I know!"

Once Hong Hua left, another woman appeared behind Shui Bing. Sensing her presence, Shui Bing turned around and bowed.

"Master"

"Shui Bing, are you teasing Little Hua again?"

The woman wore a loose white dress that failed to conceal her hourglass figure. She had black waist length hair which compliments her jade like skin.

"I merely want to keep her safe from scoundrels," she replied flatly.

The woman sighed, "The profligate young masters of various clans have always been a headache. If only Little Hua wasn't so easily smitten by handsome men then we wouldn't have to be so worried"

…

Bai Hu arrived back at Thunderwind Peak and entered his cave abode. After quickly tossing most of his spatial pouches inside one of the rooms and filling a pouch up with spirit stones, Bai Hu left for the sect library that was right next to the Techniques Pagoda.

"Information on Establishing Foundation"

The man sitting at the front desk perked up and quickly sensed that the young man before him was indeed at the peak of Qi Refinement, so it wasn't too surprising that he would request for information on how to make a successful breakthrough.

"Please show me your identification badge"

Bai Hu did as he was told and handed his badge over. The clerk glanced over it and said "One moment," before walking through a door in the back.

A glint flashed through Bai Hu's eyes but he made no comment and waited patiently.

An hour later, the man walked out with several jade slips in his hands.

"Here I have all the information on Foundation breakthroughs"

He laid them out on the desk.

"We have 8 records that are of use to you. To read the records will be 5 spirit stones an hour and to make a copy is 20 for each one"

"I'll make of copy of each then"

He took out 80 spirit stones without batting an eye and dumped them into a receiver on the desk. The man was slightly surprised but quickly snapped out of his trance. He took out 8 blank jades and touched each one to a record, copying it. Once he was done, he handed them over to Bai Hu.

"Here you go"

He took the jade slips without fanfare and left immediately. However, when he was just about to step onto his flying treasure, a hoarse voice called out from behind him.

"Halt!"

Bai Hu turned around with a wry smile on his face. Originally, he had wanted to get a few slips on beast taming as well, but was forced to leave when he sensed that the clerk was acting odd. Now it seems that it's too late to avoid trouble.

There were 3 men, 1 of which emitted the aura of a newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The Foundation cultivator sneered.

"You're quite unlucky, kid, to garner the wrath of Senior Mo. Now, if you obediently hand over your spatial pouch-"

"It's against the rules to cause trouble around here," Bai Hu interrupted. Then he pointed in a certain direction.

"We can always settle things in the arena"

The 3 men were stunned for a moment, before bursting into laughter.

"Teach this kid a lesson, Boss!"

"Yeah! Kick his ass!"

Their leader smirked at Bai Hu, "Fine! Tomorrow at noon it is. Don't you dare run away, ahahaha!"

Then the trio finally left him alone and left to do their own things. Bai Hu sighed at the thought of all the troubles to come and stepped onto his flying sword.

Instead of going to the market as he had planned, Bai Hu went back home to rest. It seems apparent now that Mo Yuan Kai and friends had not forgotten about Bai Hu, and wanted him to pay.

It is very likely that they tipped off a great number of people in the sect and the market is indeed a good place for that.

He entered Thunderwind Peak and activated the restrictions around the area. Then he shut the door to his cave abode and took out several things.

Previously, a few of the defensive magic treasures he'd refined were damaged after taking a strike from the Purple Corpse Vulture King. Now he wanted to fix them so they are usable in the upcoming fight.

Bai Hu wasn't worried one bit despite knowing that his opponent was at the Foundation level. He had clearly felt that the man's foundations were unstable, and that he advanced with the assistance of many unconventional pills.

Whoosh!

He made a hand seal with both hands and the Fire Silk Scarf rose into the air along with several silks and materials. With a snap of his hand, a bright flame appeared and enveloped the materials and the scarf.

First, the red silks that Bai Hu had purchased long ago melted into a warm, red, liquid. It moved at his behest and glided along torn areas on the scarf. After an hour, the damage done to the scarf had disappeared.

But Bai Hu wasn't done. With another hand seal, a chunk of gold, silver, and copper essence flew up and entered the flames. It took an hour to refine each of the essences but when he finished, the metals intertwined and shot towards the Fire Silk Scarf.

A glaring light burst out of the scarf and Bai Hu hurriedly took a Qi Replenishment Pill before making a hand seal to control the refinement process.

"Refine!"

The various materials were successfully refined into the scarf after 2 more hours. The result was an exquisite looking red scarf with gold, silver, and copper colored patterns all over it.

Putting it away, Bai Hu took out the black scale shield next along with several pill bottles. Its going to be a long night for Bai Hu.