"Elder Xue, please wait, I was just joking. However, I am truly sincere about buying fierce ghosts. After all, as you know our situation at Ghost Ridge Palace, we have no problem cultivating poisonous insects, but when it comes to nurturing fierce ghosts, we are no match for the Heavenly Soul Sect. In the entire Sect, only I cultivate ghosts. Given that the Heavenly Soul Sect is a giant of the Qingzhou Demon Path and a sacred place for controlling ghosts and commanding souls, I hope that Elder Xue can do me this favor," Su Jie implored while holding the Heavenly Soul Sect in high esteem. He was asking for a favor, not out of his mind, or else he wouldn't be arrogantly bossing people he sought help from.
Elder Xue Xin stopped in his tracks, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Do you want so many fierce ghosts for the Ghost Bride?"
He turned his gaze toward Han Ruyan, who stood quietly beside Su Jie.
Ghost Bride Han Ruyan had the Heavenly Spinning Jade Light Body, ranked seventh among divine bodies, and after becoming a fierce ghost, she inherently possessed the ability to command All Spirits, 'spirit' here referring to supernatural beings.
In the Heavenly Soul Sect, it goes without saying for Outer Disciples, even Inner Disciples usually control only 1-3 fierce ghosts, and the level of those ghosts is quite limited.
That's because, unlike poisonous insects, even the lowest-grade insects are somewhat living creatures that can form bonds with their owners over time.
Fierce ghosts, on the other hand, have no such emotions, and if their numbers exceed the limit, the cultivator can lose control of them, and if not careful, may suffer backlash.
Including the Secret Realm Elders of the Heavenly Soul Sect, they wouldn't cultivate too many fierce ghosts either, as having too many would be beyond their control, so they follow a path of specialization.
Of course, the Heavenly Soul Sect has a way of commanding a multitude of ghosts, which is through the Heavenly Soul Array Map.
This Array Map has the power to summon souls and attract ghosts, usually set up in the wilderness to lure wild wandering souls and fierce ghosts to enter.
Inside, they need to regularly feed living humans to the ghostly beings to cultivate their fear and enhance their levels, and during battle, they deploy the Array Map to use them for their own purposes.
However, the fierce ghosts in the Array Map are semi-wild, different from the contracted ghosts that can be freely controlled, so such practices are still quite risky.
But Han Ruyan as the Empress among ghosts had no such restrictions, and could easily command legions of ghosts.
Elder Xue Xin, being an Elder of the Heavenly Soul Sect, was aware of the special traits of the Ghost Bride, so he surmised that Su Jie wanted to procure fierce ghosts for Han Ruyan to command.
"You can't hide it from you, Elder Xue. Indeed, these fierce ghosts are for the Ghost Bride, whose ability can well manage a host of ghosts and increase our offensive tactics," Su Jie nodded, affirming that once those fierce ghosts were in his grasp, he planned to send them to Blue Star.
With Su Jie and Han Ruyan's strength, actually, whether they used a group of ghosts or not made no significant difference.
If they truly needed to attack in numbers, Su Jie himself had the Human-faced Moth Cloud and the Soul Summoning Banner, especially the latter, which was enormously powerful.
"Five hundred third-grade fierce ghosts are too many and very expensive," Elder Xue Xin pointed out as he spoke. The Heavenly Soul Sect excelled at nurturing fierce ghosts, not only by cultivating them themselves but also by capturing wild ghosts, or by using the Heavenly Soul Formation to attract them.
The types of fierce ghosts are numerous, and even at the same level, their combat power and uses are vastly different, with price differences as staggering as seven or eight times.
Not to mention others, Han Ruyan could easily overpower a seventh-grade fierce ghost of the same level.
"I've done some research, and most third-grade fierce ghosts from the Heavenly Soul Sect are priced between 1000 and 5000 spirit stones. Calculating by the most expensive ones, five hundred would only cost a mere 2.5 million spirit stones. Moreover, I just came into a small fortune," Su Jie said, patting his Storage Bag at his waist with a look of affluence, clearly not concerned about the price.
Elder Xue Xin's mouth twitched, thinking of the five million spirit stones that Su Jie had extorted from Chang Shiyang, immediately feeling a mix of envy and resentment. For the man before him, five hundred third-grade fierce ghosts really were just a small sum of money.
"Ah, right, aside from third-grade fierce ghosts, I also plan to buy some second-grade and first-grade ones; the more the better," Su Jie added, thinking of purchasing more ghosts in one go to save the hassle of doing it again later.
"This quantity is too much; I can't decide on my own. I need to report this to the Sect Master for approval," Elder Xue Xin said, seemingly troubled and unable to agree immediately.
"Then I'll have to trouble Elder Xue to put in a few good words for me. I'll be sure to reward you handsomely afterward," Su Jie offered, smilingly slipping a precious exotic treasure and several top-grade Spirit Stones.
"Cough, of course, of course. The traditional friendship between Ghost Ridge Palace and our Heavenly Soul Sect is long and deep, with generations of good relations. And I'm sure the Sect Master, too, will understand Master Su's difficulties, and I'll persuade him accordingly," Elder Xue Xin said, with an impassive face but hands quick to accept the Spirit Stones into his sleeve, clearly no stranger to such transactions.
Su Jie internally scoffed, knowing full well there was no such long and deep relationship between Ghost Ridge Palace and Heavenly Soul Sect.
When the Heavenly Soul Sect first moved to Qingzhou, Ghost Ridge Palace even held a grand meeting to decide whether to deploy forces to drive the Heavenly Soul Sect away.
Despite being forced by the threat of the Righteous sects and having no choice but to bleed resources to form an alliance with the Heavenly Soul Sect in the Sect wars, the two Demon Sects didn't really share much camaraderie. Otherwise, Ghost Ridge Palace wouldn't have been snubbed from the Heavenly Soul Sect Master's 300th birthday celebration.
"That's right. Our two Sects are linked and advance together for mutual benefit, making us reliable friends and sincere partners forever. Qingzhou's development cannot do without the Heavenly Soul Sect," Su Jie remarked, though he had his own internal criticisms, he kept a beaming smile on his face.
"Haha, the prosperity and stability of Qingzhou also require Ghost Ridge Palace. Although we are far apart in distance, our hearts are connected. What binds us is not only the profound traditional friendship, close ties of mutual interest, but also our individual dreams," Elder Xue Xin said, having accepted the payment, his attitude toward Su Jie improved noticeably, and they looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.