Chapter 36: Gold Rush in the Market
The tranquility of the Yundan Peak courtyard remained untouched by the turbulent rumors of the outside world. Ye Li's heart was as calm as still water. During the day, she studied classics and practiced alchemy formations, and at night, she tempered her body and cultivated. Her days were fulfilling and regular. The minor conflict with Zhan Kuangfeng was just a trivial incident to her, and it didn't even stir up much of a ripple in her heart.
However, on the path of cultivation, wealth, companions, and land are paramount, with wealth always taking precedence. Whether optimizing spirit gathering arrays, practicing alchemy, or purchasing materials for more advanced techniques, vast amounts of contribution points are required. Simply completing sect missions is inefficient and easily exploited.
It's time to open up new resource channels.
That day, she once again visited the Vientiane Hall. Unlike her previous visits, when she had a clear goal and went straight to the point, this time she walked slowly through the bustling market, her eyes like the most precise sieve, meticulously scanning each stall.
The stalls boasted a dazzling array of goods: elixirs of varying grades, talismans, materials, ores, demonic beast materials, and even antiques of unknown origin. The sounds of hawking and haggling filled the air. Authentic goods mixed with counterfeits, precious gems and counterfeits alike, putting the buyer's discerning eye and luck to the test.
Most of the disciples came here to buy urgently needed items or sell their gains. Few people were like Ye Li, who seemed to be wandering around aimlessly.
Her eyes swept across the spiritual elixirs and talismans, across the weapons that gleamed with cold light, and finally stopped at the most inconspicuous corners that were piled with miscellaneous items and even covered with dust.
The vision and experience of her previous life's Supreme Being became her greatest reliance at this moment. Many things that seemed obscure and worthless to others might, in her eyes, gleam with a different kind of brilliance.
She stopped in front of a stall selling various low-grade medicinal herbs. The stall owner was an honest-looking outer sect disciple, and the herbs on the stall were mostly common and of average quality.
Ye Li's gaze fell on a small bundle of "Withered Heart Grass" that looked droopy, its leaves even somewhat burnt and dry at the edges. Withered Heart Grass was a low-grade spiritual herb, often used to refine the lowest-grade healing powder and was of low value.
However, Ye Li keenly noticed that at the roots of the bundle of withered heart grass, there were a few extremely fine grains of dark red gravel, almost indistinguishable from soil. These gravels exuded an extremely weak, yet extremely pure, aura of yang fire!
"Is this... Red Sun Sand?" Ye Li's mind stirred. Red Sun Sand is a second-tier fire-attributed spiritual material, often found deep within the earth's fire or beneath certain special fire-attributed spiritual plants. It is a highly valuable auxiliary ingredient for refining a variety of second-tier fire-attributed elixirs and magical instruments. Although these few grains are few, they are of extremely high purity.
She remained calm, picked up the bundle of withered heart grass, selected a few other common herbs, and asked, "How much are these?"
Seeing that there was business, the outer disciple hurriedly said, "Withered Heart Grass is cheap, three contribution points a bundle. These Dew Condensation Grass are five contribution points each. If you want all of them, just give me twenty contribution points."
Ye Li nodded and paid the contribution points directly without bargaining. The outer disciple was beaming, obviously thinking that this pile of "junk" was sold at a good price.
Putting the herbs away, the few grains of Red Sun Sand quietly fell into her fingertips. This alone was worth far more than twenty contribution points.
She continued walking. She stopped in front of a stall selling various incomplete jade slips and ancient books. The stall was piled high with various tattered jade slips and animal skin scrolls with illegible writing, most of which contained incomplete cultivation techniques or useless miscellaneous notes.
Ye Li's spiritual power slowly swept over. Most of the jade slips were indeed worthless, their spiritual energy completely drained. But as her consciousness passed over a nearly crumpled, oily, dark-yellow animal hide in the corner, the fragment of the Samsara Mirror deep within her soul trembled ever so slightly!
There's hope!
She suppressed her excitement and casually rummaged through the fragmented jade slips before finally picking up the stained animal hide and unfolding it. It was covered in faint lines and symbols drawn with some ancient pigment, most of which were no longer legible. It looked like a fragmented map or a ritual formation, devoid of any spiritual energy.
"Boss, what is this broken thing?" She frowned, looking disgusted.
The stall owner, a sharp-nosed, monkey-faced inner sect disciple, glanced at it and said unhappily, "Who knows what ruins this piece of junk was dug out of? I just collected it because it looked ancient. You want it? Give me five contribution points and you can take it."
Ye Li curled her lips, looking very reluctant, but still put down the animal skin and the two cheapest incomplete jade slips she had just picked (as a cover): "These three, ten contribution points."
The stall owner seemed too lazy to argue about such a small amount of money and waved his hand: "Okay, okay, take it, take it."
Ye Li paid the contribution points and put the item away. The moment her fingertips touched the animal hide, she could sense the faint desire transmitted by the Samsara Mirror. This item is definitely extraordinary!
Then, she bought a piece of "sinking silver ore" at a stall selling ore at a very low price. The ore was mistakenly thought to be "low-quality iron ore." Sinking silver ore has a soft texture but excellent spiritual conductivity, making it a high-quality material for making the base of the array.
In just one hour, Ye Li spent less than fifty contribution points, but found red sun sand, mysterious animal skins and sunken silver ore that were worth more than five hundred points!
This is the huge profit brought about by the gap in vision and knowledge!
She was not satisfied, but took these "junks" directly to "Bai Bao Zhai", a reputable shop in the Wanxiang Hall that specializes in appraisal and auction.
Entering the hall, a steward came up to greet me with a polite attitude: "Junior sister, what can I do for you?"
Ye Li directly took out the few grains of Red Sun Sand and said, "Please help me see how much these are worth."
The steward took the Red Sun Sand and examined it carefully, a look of surprise in his eyes. "Huh? Red Sun Sand of such pure quality is rare, even though there are only a few grains... I'll give you eighty Contribution Points. What do you think, Junior Sister?"
This price was higher than Ye Li had expected. She nodded and said, "Okay."
The transaction was completed, and the contribution points were obtained. She took out the piece of sunken silver ore again.
The steward inspected it again and said with a smile, "Junior sister, you have a good eye. This is top-quality sunken silver ore with very few impurities. The price is 120 contribution points."
"Can."
In the blink of an eye, the cost of 100 contribution points (including the purchase of sundries) turned into 200 points of profit! A net profit of 100 points!
Finally, after a moment's hesitation, Ye Li finally took out the stained hide. She couldn't decipher it herself for now, but perhaps a professional appraiser could reveal something. Even just a hint would be worth it.
"This thing...where did Junior Sister get it from?" The steward frowned slightly when he saw the animal skin. He looked at it carefully for a while, and then input spiritual power to test it, but there was no response.
"I just picked it up at the market. It looked old, so I was just curious." Ye Li said lightly.
The steward shook his head. "The material seems somewhat unusual, but the pattern is blurry and unclear, with no trace of spiritual energy. I can't make out what it is. Perhaps it's some abandoned draft from ancient times. This item...is not worth much. If it were auctioned, I'm afraid no one would be interested."
This result was within Ye Li's expectations. She hadn't expected to crack it immediately, so she put away the animal skin and said, "No problem, thank you, Manager."
After leaving Baibaozhai, her contribution points were already quite abundant. But she didn't stop her "gold panning" pace. In the following days, she spent every spare moment in the Wanxiang Palace market. With her extraordinary eyesight and the occasional perception of the Samsara Mirror, she picked up several bargains at extremely low prices.
A "hundred-year-old blood ganoderma" mistaken for a "ten-year-old purple cloud ganoderma" (its disguised form is very similar);
A small piece of "Void Stone" scrap containing weak spatial fluctuations (used as an ordinary decorative stone);
There was even a torn leather book hidden among the discarded books, which recorded a rare breath-retaining technique...
She wasn't greedy, always selecting only the most valuable one or two items, and she was decisive and undeterred. She kept some of the treasures she found for research (such as animal hides, Void Stones, and Breathing Techniques), while selling some to Baibaozhai or reputable shops in exchange for contribution points.
After doing this several times, she had unknowingly accumulated nearly a thousand contribution points of "original capital"! This process was much faster and safer than her hard work on the task.
Of course, she was extremely cautious during each transaction, changing her attire as much as possible and conducting transactions at different stalls and shops to avoid attracting attention. However, there is no such thing as a completely impenetrable wall, and the reputation of a female disciple from Yundan Peak with a "sharp eye and a knack for finding bargains" gradually spread among some veteran vendors at Wanxiang Hall and within a small circle.
Some people admired her vision and called her "a discerning eye"; others were jealous and secretly nicknamed her "picking up leaking glass", and even suspected that she had some special way of identifying treasures and began to secretly pay attention to her actions.
Ye Li was aware of these things, but didn't care. As long as they didn't attack him openly, a little attention wouldn't hurt.
With enough contribution points, she can finally start implementing the next plan.
She once again spent her contribution points lavishly, exchanging a large amount of high-quality alchemy materials (including several auxiliary medicines to assist in body tempering) and a batch of basic materials for making array plates (such as jade powder, spiritual ink, array base embryos, etc.) from the Merit Hall.
After returning to Yundan Peak, she first used the leftover materials of Kongming Stone and Shenyin Ore, combined with the newly learned knowledge of formations, and successfully made two "small spirit gathering array plates" whose effects far exceeded those of simple spirit gathering arrays. She used one for herself, and planned to leave the other for Liu Yiyi or sell it in the future.
Then, she began to retreat and put all her strength into the "Chalcedony Body Tempering Pill"!
Inside the underground fire chamber, Ye Li's expression was solemn. The underground fire beneath the alchemy furnace in front of her burned steadily. She adjusted the fire to its optimal state, then, following strict proportions and sequence, added the chalcedony ganoderma and a dozen other precious auxiliary herbs one by one.
His consciousness was highly focused, precisely controlling every change in the temperature. The medicinal liquid swirled and blended within the furnace, emitting a strange medicinal fragrance.
With previous practice and a solid theoretical foundation, this time, she felt exceptionally smooth. Her understanding of the medicinal properties, control of the heat, and grasp of the timing of pill formation all reached a new level.
A few hours later, when a crisp humming sound came from the alchemy furnace and a strong medicinal fragrance broke through the furnace cover and spread out, Ye Li slowly opened his eyes, and a smile of relief appeared at the corner of his mouth.
When the furnace lid was opened, five pills the size of longan, as white as jade, with two clear cloud patterns surrounding the surface, were lying quietly at the bottom of the furnace!
Chalcedony Body Tempering Pill, five pills are made, all of them are of medium quality!
Looking at these five hard-earned pills, Ye Li's eyes were filled with a sense of accomplishment. This not only meant a leap forward in her alchemy skills, but also meant that the last piece of the puzzle for her to break through the Condensed Veins Realm was already in place!
The accumulation of original capital has finally been transformed into a real and powerful driving force to promote the advancement of cultivation!
She put away the pill, walked out of the underground fire room, and looked towards her courtyard.
It’s time to retreat and break through to the Condensed Veins Realm!
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