They returned to the dilapidated courtyard with Zi Ling, and neither of them spoke.

Qin Xin looked at Zi Ling's aggrieved face and his heart softened. He took the initiative to break the awkward atmosphere.

"Who came up with this terrible idea of ​​exchanging you for a spot in the Spirit Cleansing Pool?"

Qin Xin stared intently at Zi Ling with a stern face.

"It's me," Zi Ling replied softly. Looking at her pitiful appearance, Qin Xin momentarily forgot how to get angry.

"Qin Yunfei is no good person. Aren't you just throwing yourself into the lion's den?"

"Alright, don't come up with such bad ideas again. Just remember, you're not a servant. There's no need to be subservient to those people in the clan. Sometimes, think more about yourself and don't always think about doing foolish things."

Qin Xin earnestly educated Zi Ling.

"It won't happen again."

After being reprimanded, Zi Ling's eyes began to redden, as if she was about to cry at any moment.

Seeing this, Qin Xin felt a little sorry for him and said, "Alright, the weather is nice today, let's go to the market in Tianyuan City together. I also need to buy some pills for cultivation."

"Yay!" Upon hearing that they were going out together, Zi Ling, who had been sullen, immediately became excited.

With a month to go before the clan's martial arts competition, Qin Xin knew his own strength level. Qin Yunfei's strength had already reached the eighth level of the Acquired Realm, and some disciples who had been training in academies and sects were even stronger. But he couldn't afford to lose too badly, otherwise the nickname "trash" would be firmly established.

Zi Ling, having changed her clothes, appeared much more mature, which surprised Qin Xin.

Seeing the surprise in Qin Xin's eyes, Zi Ling's lips curled into a warm smile.

~~~~~~~

Tianyuan City.

In the northwest of the Eastern Wilderness lies a small border town.

As he stepped into the city streets, the cacophony of noise hit him immediately, and Qin Xin, who had been bedridden for three years, felt somewhat disoriented.

Because of its proximity to the Dead Leaf Forest, the city is quite prosperous, with many martial artists moving about in the bustling markets and gathering in the taverns to tell their stories of adventures in the Dead Leaf Forest.

Qin Xin led Zi Ling around the bustling streets of the city before arriving at a medium-sized market town in the southern part of the city. There are three such medium-sized markets in Tianyuan City, which are respectively governed by the Qin Clan, the Qian Clan, and the Zhao Clan. The only large market town in the city is governed by the Iron Blood Mercenary Group.

In terms of jurisdiction, it mainly involves collecting stall fees. Merchants or mercenaries who set up stalls in the market can ensure their safety in the market by paying a stall fee, thus preventing robbery, theft, fraud, and other such incidents, which also helps maintain order. Of course, there are also some shops and alchemy halls managed by the Qin clan in the market, which are also important sources of funds for the clan.

As she entered through the main gate of the market, the Qin guards at the entrance clearly recognized Zi Ling and hurriedly bowed upon seeing her arrival.

Zi Ling nodded slightly and hid behind Qin Xin, which made the guards a little curious. Zi Ling was someone close to the clan leader, so they were very curious about the identity of the man in front of her.

"So it's Miss Ziling. May I ask what you've come to the market to buy?" Just as the two were about to enter the market, a deep voice came from behind them.

Upon hearing the voice, Qin Xin turned around and saw five burly men dressed in the uniform of the Qin clan standing behind him. The speaker had a faint aura surrounding him, clearly indicating that he was a martial artist at the Qi Opening Realm.

Upon seeing the young man in front of Zi Ling, the man smiled憨厚ly and asked in a soft voice, "May I ask who this gentleman is?"

“He is Young Master Qin Xin.” Zi Ling clearly recognized this honest-looking man, and seeing his puzzled expression, she answered truthfully.

"Oh, Young Master Qin Xin, you're awake. I'm Tie Niu. I used to be a guard in your courtyard for a while." Tie Niu looked at Qin Xin with some excitement.

"So it's Uncle Tie Niu."

Qin Xin blinked, vaguely remembering Tie Niu. Before Qin Xin's martial bones were taken away, Tie Niu had served as a guard in Tie Niu's courtyard for a period of time. Later, through Qin Xin's recommendation, Tie Niu was sent to the market by the clan leader and became the captain of the guards.

“Uncle Tie Niu has come to the hospital a few times in the past three years, but you’ve been in a coma the whole time,” Zi Ling said softly, standing behind Qin Xin.

"Thanks. I just came to buy some pills for cultivation. Uncle Tie Niu, you go ahead with your work. Zi Ling and I will just browse around." Qin Xinping said calmly, without the arrogance of a family scion. His gentle tone made the guards feel quite comfortable.

Upon hearing this, Tie Niu smiled. They were always treated as servants in the Qin Clan, but Qin Xin was the only one who never put on airs and treated them very kindly. Now that he could see Qin Xin wake up again, he was very happy. He scratched his head and said with a smile, "It's alright. This market is a mixed bag. Let me go with Miss Zi Ling and Young Master."

After saying that, Tie Niu gave an order to the guards behind him.

Seeing Tie Niu's eager eyes, Qin Xin couldn't refuse for a moment, so he could only take him to stroll through the market.

Three years later, he first came to the Dantang Hall in the market.

As soon as he entered the main hall of the Pill Hall, several idle servants immediately looked over, their faces full of flattery as they saw the Qin clan insignia on Tie Niu's clothes.

"Hello, what kind of medicine do you need?"

A pretty young girl came up to greet them with a smile.

Qin Xin looked at her and asked, "Do you still have any Qi Gathering Pills?"

"Yes, but I don't know how much you need," the girl replied softly.

Qi-gathering pill, a first-grade elixir.

Martial artists in the Acquired Realm mainly lay a solid foundation by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and refining their meridians, so that they can step into a higher realm in the future.

When talking about elixirs, one cannot help but mention alchemists.

Alchemists are the most prestigious profession in the Tianxuan Continent.

If a martial artist wants to become an alchemist, he must first reach the Innate Realm; in addition to possessing a fire-attribute martial spirit, he also needs a method of condensing pills so that he can condense the elixir into pills.

Furthermore, the process of refining pills is complicated and cannot tolerate the slightest mistake. It requires martial artists to have extremely high perception and control, which means that becoming an alchemist requires extremely high talent. It is precisely because of these high requirements, coupled with the fact that the method of pill condensation is like the lifeblood of any alchemist and will not be easily passed on to others, that among tens of thousands of martial artists, only a handful can become alchemists.

Of course, the reason why alchemists are so prestigious is not only because they are few in number, but also because they can refine all kinds of cultivation pills, healing pills, auxiliary pills, etc. These pills are necessities for martial artists. Some powerful martial artists even become bodyguards or thugs for alchemists in order to obtain these pills.

Based on the grade of pills refined by alchemists, alchemists are further divided into nine grades from low to high: Grade 1 alchemist, Grade 2 alchemist, Grade 3 alchemist... Grade 9 alchemist.

Rumor has it that there are even higher ranks above the ninth rank, but no one has ever seen them.

There is only one third-grade alchemist in the entire Tianyuan City, and the Qin clan only has one second-grade alchemist, Qin Hongbing, who was sent by the Qin clan.

How much does it cost?

Qin Xin was not wealthy. Although the clan distributed cultivation pills every month, the amount was small. In addition, he did not manage any of the clan's businesses and had no other income. Over the years, with the money he had saved and the money given to him by his third grandfather, after deducting the pills he had bought in the past, he now only had a little over a thousand gold coins left.

"Fifteen gold coins, but only ten for clan disciples." The girl looked at Tie Niu following behind her and guessed that the two in front of her were members of the clan, so she answered very patiently.

"Give me twenty coins first."

Qin Xin took out two red cards from his bag.

For convenience, martial artists would store their gold coins in a money exchange. They could retrieve the gold coins using a gold coin card. These two red cards contained exactly two hundred gold coins.

Just as Qin Xin put away the bottle containing twenty Qi Gathering Pills, a mocking voice came from outside the pill hall, "Oh ho, you good-for-nothing actually came to buy pills? What's wrong, do you want pills to help you break through?"

Qin Xin turned around and saw Qin Yunfei dressed in a magnificent robe, with a sword at his waist, looking quite flamboyant. Several guards followed behind him, their eyes filled with disdain as they looked at Qin Xin.

"Give me twenty Qi-Nourishing Pills, and put them on my tab," Qin Yunfei ordered, glancing at the girl beside Qin Xin.

Upon seeing Qin Yunfei enter, the servants in the Pill Hall all fawned over him. After all, his grandfather was in charge of the Pill Hall business, and they naturally dared not offend him. They quickly packed up the Qi-Nourishing Pills and brought them over.

The Peiyuan Pill, a second-grade elixir, costs one hundred gold coins per pill.

The potency of this elixir is dozens of times that of the Qi-gathering Pill, and it is also of great benefit to the cultivation of experts at the Innate Realm.

"Zi Ling, why are you following this good-for-nothing? If you followed me, I guarantee you'd live a life of luxury, with plenty of cultivation pills and all that!"

Qin Yunfei held the pill in his hand and deliberately showed it to Qin Xin, making a face that looked like he wanted to punch someone.

"Dry tongue." Qin Xin picked at his ear, not wanting to pay any attention to him. He turned around and wanted to leave with Zi Ling. Qin Xin's strength was only at the sixth level of the Acquired Realm. If he had a conflict with Qin Yunfei, he would inevitably suffer a loss. Moreover, he could not use the True Qi Explosion casually, as the side effects were quite significant.

"Wait! This Pill Hall is my territory. Did I say I was going to sell you this Qi Gathering Pill?" Qin Yunfei stood in front of Qin Xin and said with a playful expression.

"Hmph! We've already paid!" Zi Ling said, somewhat angrily.

“Little sister Ziling, if you need any pills, just tell your brother and I’ll send them to you anytime. But it’s really a waste to give these pills to someone as useless as you.”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a sudden "snap".