After a banquet, 37 Qi Refining realm cultivators directly broke through to the Foundation Establishment realm. With the protection of the Qingfeng Villa masters, none of them failed.
Another 7 Foundation Establishment cultivators and 2 Fusion realm cultivators also advanced by a minor realm.
The rest also reaped smaller gains.
Now, Qingfeng Villa, a first-grade sect, had truly made a name for itself within a million-mile radius.
"Sect Leader Yang, we wish to purchase a batch of Iron Thorn Grass seeds. May we have more?"
After the banquet, Yang Hong did not hold the usual sermon meeting favored by many sects. Instead, he proceeded directly to the final stage of trade and exchange.
The cultivators who had been waiting below the mountain since earlier were now allowed in.
"Iron Thorn Grass seeds are available without limit. Ten spirit stones per jin. Purchase them over there."
Yang Hong smiled and pointed to a large high platform in the southeast corner, where Qingfeng Villa disciples were moving sacks of goods.
"Hiss~ Ten spirit stones per jin for seeds! What a bargain price!"
"I'm from Beigu Prefecture. There, a single seed costs a hundred spirit stones. This price difference is ten thousandfold."
"Nanheng Prefecture is the same. It's too expensive. I wouldn't travel millions of miles to the Lihuo Desert to buy seeds."
"We're rich! We're rich! Ten thousandfold profit!"
"I want ten thousand jin! I want a million jin!"
With a rustle, more than half of the people around Yang Hong dispersed.
Yang Hong watched the departing crowd, a smile playing on his lips.
Previously, the price of Iron Thorn Grass seeds he sold had been constantly dropping, while the market price had been soaring. In places where Lihuo Locusts hadn't appeared before, they had also started to emerge.
Anyone who didn't believe someone was manipulating things from behind the scenes was a fool.
This time, he decided to throw caution to the wind and disrupt the market!
The Lihuo Locusts were extremely destructive. Each insect swarm meant the demise of tens of millions of lives.
While these lives were not necessarily all human, many humans, especially mortals, would perish.
The evolution speed of the Lihuo Locusts was astounding!
As long as they had enough food, they could evolve into a ninth-rank Lihuo Locust in just 50 days!
And a single ninth-rank Lihuo Locust, if not discovered and eliminated in time, could wipe out an entire sect of seventh-grade or below.
Without more than four ninth-rank Mahayana realm cultivators acting in concert, even the most sophisticated protective array would be destroyed by a ninth-rank locust.
After ten years of relentless evolution, the Lihuo Locusts had reached the point of truly devouring all things. They could even consume intangible formations.
At the beginning of this year, the Ten Great Immortal Sects, in conjunction with the Buddhist sects, issued a kill order, demanding all cultivators to cooperate in eradicating the Lihuo Locusts, leaving not a single egg behind.
To combat the Lihuo Locusts, the ten top powers offered vast quantities of Profound-grade cultivation techniques as rewards.
It wasn't that they were unwilling to spend spirit stones. Rather, the cultivation techniques they offered could be exchanged by any cultivator who killed Lihuo Locusts, and were openly available.
In other words, the Ten Great Immortal Sects and Buddhist sects were now popularizing Profound-grade cultivation techniques across the continent.
Of course, there were certain conditions for redemption, which was why tens of thousands of cultivators had flocked to Qingfeng Mountain to buy Iron Thorn Grass seeds.
Although Yang Hong was not a benevolent person, he did not want the Lihuo Locusts to proliferate. Furthermore, Qingfeng Villa had an enormous surplus of Iron Thorn Grass seeds. Thus, he decided to sell them at a discount.
The Lihuo Plains cultivated by Qingfeng Villa now spanned ten million li, with an area of one hundred billion square li. One-third of this vast area was dedicated to planting Iron Thorn Grass.
One could imagine the annual harvest of seeds.
If not for the numerous disciples of Qingfeng Villa, including many mid and high-level cultivators, they might not have been able to collect it all.
"Sect Leader Yang, this humble Daoist comes from Chaoyang Sect and wishes to purchase the brewing technique for Iron Thorn Spirit Wine from Qingfeng Villa. May I know..."
As buyers of seeds left, other cultivators with different needs came forward.
Yang Hong directly shook his head. "Please return. It's unnecessary. All spirit wines can be successfully brewed using the fruit wine brewing method."
He understood that the brewing technique being sought was the "Spirit Monkey Brewing Technique" which Yang Hong had imbued with the Dao charm of creation. However, this technique could not be taught. Even if it could, he wouldn't spread it.
After all, some ultimate skills were best kept to oneself!
"Sect Leader Yang, Chaoyang Sect offers one hundred million spirit stones, please..."
"Deal!"
Upon hearing one hundred million spirit stones, Yang Hong's eyes lit up. He immediately took out a jade slip and handed it over.
He then added, "It's even better when paired with the Dao charm of creation."
Afterward, he gazed intently at the middle-aged Daoist before him.
"This..."
Hong Jian Daoist looked at the jade slip in his hand, his expression shifting through a mix of emotions, indescribable joy and sorrow.
"Spirit stones... one hundred million spirit stones..."
Seeing Yang Hong still muttering about spirit stones, Hong Jian Daoist handed Yang Hong a storage ring.
"Heh heh~ Anyone else want brewing techniques? These can brew various spirit wines, suitable for clearing heat and detoxification, nourishing Yin and tonifying Yang, increasing cultivation, or for festive occasions.
It's a clearance sale! Only one hundred million spirit stones."
Hearing Yang Hong's words, the surrounding cultivators' lips twitched, and their expressions flickered.
He hawked for ten minutes, and three more "fools" purchased the "Spirit Monkey Brewing Technique."
Gleefully pocketing four hundred million spirit stones, Yang Hong then turned his attention to other cultivators.
"Sect Leader Yang, we plan to develop in the Lihuo Plains you created. May we ask for your convenience?"
"You may. You can develop freely within a million li of Stone Mountain. The condition is that you can only recruit disciples once every three years, and Qingfeng Villa must have priority in recruiting disciples!"
"This..."
The sects that wanted to develop in the Lihuo Plains immediately fell silent.
If they agreed, it would mean handing over their most outstanding disciples to Qingfeng Villa first. In the future, no matter how they developed, they would never be able to surpass Qingfeng Villa and would forever be at their beck and call.
They dared not agree to such terms lightly.
However, if they refused, they could not develop in the Lihuo Plains.
Yang Hong cultivating the Lihuo Plains was not for charity. Cultivation was the primary objective, and developing sect power was the secondary goal.
The main force for developing a sect was more excellent disciples.
Qingfeng Villa's own migration of mortals was slow and troublesome, so introducing other sects was necessary.
After a moment of thought, Yang Hong added.
"How about this? There's a limit on the number of people. For a first-grade sect, Qingfeng Villa will have priority in choosing one person. For a second-grade sect, two people. For a third-grade sect, three people, and so on."
"This is acceptable. My sect is only a first-grade sect. I will inform the sect leader to relocate tomorrow."
"I'll join too. The Lihuo Plains, after Sect Leader Yang's spiritual plant cultivation, have reached the level of a third-grade spiritual land, far better than my second-grade spiritual land."
"I need to go back and ask the sect leader about this. After all, six excellent cultivator seeds are not a small number."
"I will not relocate. A third or fourth-grade spiritual land is not worth the development of my seventh-grade sect."
The sects had varied thoughts. Only sects of fourth-grade and below confirmed they would come to develop. Sects of fourth-grade and above were not particularly interested in the Lihuo Plains as a new territory.
Yang Hong did not force them. He then inquired if other cultivators who had remained silent had any trading needs.