Chapter 243 Gradual Enlightenment
Wei Songnian quickly checked the pills in his storage bag, took out twenty-four mid-grade spirit stones, and said:
"These are the spirit stones needed to pay for eight hundred pills."
Ji An accepted twenty of the coins and pushed the rest back.
"Why are you giving me so many pills that cost three spirit stones each? You should keep the profits you're entitled to."
He has reduced the number of talismans he makes now. Currently, their business dealings mainly involve the trade of spirit wine, with occasional sales of second-tier spirit fruits.
Wei Songnian revealed a simple and honest smile:
“We collaborated with other alchemists, and the first few transactions were all at this price.”
The family has always wanted to expand its influence in the elixir market and has contacted many alchemists, but has not been able to reach an agreement on terms.
Now that Senior Brother Ji has started refining pills, he feels it's an opportunity.
Ji An waved his hand and said:
"For me, I started learning alchemy because I have a lot of free time lately and I wanted to avoid wasting it."
Without the support of a sect's herb garden and other channels, I will inevitably have to reduce the number of times I refine pills in the future.
Cultivators are not puppets; they cannot endlessly repeat the same thing without getting tired, nor can they cultivate for twelve hours every day.
Therefore, whether it's physical training or alchemy, it's all a form of adjustment in cultivation.
"If you wish to refine pills, please give the order, and I will send people to collect the necessary ingredients."
Wei Songnian immediately made a guarantee, stating that the Wei family had accumulated some wealth in Mingfeng Mountain over the years.
If they can find a trustworthy high-level alchemist to cooperate with, they are willing to pay a price to collect medicinal herbs.
"My purpose in refining pills is to refine pills for the late Foundation Establishment stage for my own cultivation, which may conflict with your beliefs."
Alchemy is merely a means to an end; Ji An's true goal is to improve his cultivation level more quickly. This means he will not spend a lot of time and energy refining pills every day.
After refining the Blazing Sun Pill, his next target was the Azure Lotus Pill.
He currently has over two hundred Azure Lotus Pills, which he can exchange for a batch of medicinal herbs to improve his alchemy experience.
Next, Ji An will try the Purple Ganoderma Lucidum Essence-Condensing Pill, which is used by cultivators at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment.
“My senior brother has a bright future, so naturally he is different from us.”
If you want to collect medicinal herbs, just ask.
Wei Songnian laughed and said that even if the other party was unwilling to refine pills for the purpose of selling them, this relationship still needed to be maintained frequently.
After seeing Wei Songnian off, Ji An rode his flying shuttle to Lingxiao Mountain.
Unlike usual, cultivators were frequently seen entering and leaving the Diligent Work Hall.
He stepped inside and found two unfamiliar fellow disciples busy at the front, while Senior Brother Ye was looking through account books at the entrance of the storeroom.
Ji An condensed his voice into a thread and transmitted it:
"Senior Brother Ye."
The alchemy task has strict requirements for alchemists. If my senior brother is willing to help, we must not make it public.
Ye Changqing snapped out of his daze, looked over, and then stood up and waved.
Ji An walked over quickly, and the two of them sat down in the pavilion above the main hall.
"Senior brother, I have purchased five hundred genuine Flame Sun Pills and have come here specifically to exchange them for medicinal herbs. Please verify."
He took out a storage bag and handed it to the other person.
"Junior brother moves very quickly."
Ye Changqing smiled and took out the pills to check them one by one.
Every single pill that enters the warehouse must be carefully inspected; there can be no carelessness whatsoever.
Ji An responded:
"After all, it's a pill for the early stage of Foundation Establishment, which can be bought with spirit stones."
Problems that can be solved with spirit stones are not problems at all.
The two chatted casually, while Ye Changqing examined the items very carefully. By the time he finished checking them once, almost half an hour had passed.
"The quality of the pills is quite good. They are made using the refining techniques of Falling Maple Valley. I can give my junior brother 140 batches of medicinal herbs."
How can you tell the refining technique?
Ji An was taken aback. Could it be that Fallen Maple Valley could leave any mark on the pills?
"The techniques for controlling fire and separating pills in alchemy vary, and the resulting pill patterns will also have subtle differences."
For example, the pills refined using the Three Yang Elixir Fire Technique of the Ningcui Cliff lineage all have similar characteristics.
Ye Changqing explained, and talked about many techniques for distinguishing elixirs.
He himself does not know how to refine pills, but when it comes to his knowledge of elixirs, he is much better than many alchemists.
Ji An listened in a daze, and his strange knowledge increased considerably.
Ye Changqing stood up. "Junior brother, please wait a moment while I go and fetch the medicinal herbs."
Small groups of demonic beasts continued to launch attacks on Mingfeng Mountain Immortal City, prompting the three sects to join forces with other families to offer large bounties.
Various rare elixirs and magical artifacts have appeared in the bounty.
That night, inside a cave in the Immortal City.
Two rogue cultivators sat together, their auras as deep and profound as the sea.
An oil lamp fueled by the oil of demonic beasts burned on the table, its emerald flame flickering like the tongue of a green snake.
In front of each person is a cup of clear tea, with golden-veined white tea leaves floating inside, and a delicate fragrance spreading.
A monk with a hideous scar on his forehead said:
"These sects have really gone all out. All sorts of pills for breaking through realms, healing medicines, foundation-building pills, and cultivation pills have appeared in the bounty."
"Hehe, I wonder if any cultivator will be lucky enough to get their hands on it."
His words were filled with sighs, and also with a hint of ruthlessness.
The fair-skinned cultivator with a few wisps of beard beside him chuckled softly and said slowly:
"Of course there is danger involved; if there were no danger, it wouldn't be our turn."
After taking such a great risk, all we get is an opportunity.
From this perspective, we are essentially no different from those juniors at the Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment stages; we are all just hunting dogs lured by the bones thrown out by a few sects.
His eyes were deep and unfathomable, and although his tone was calm, it carried a murderous intent.
The scarred-faced cultivator gritted his teeth and said hatefully:
"These sects control the key resources for breakthroughs, driving us rogue cultivators to risk our lives, extracting so much wealth from us—it's hateful!"
Brother Chen Sheng, do you think they will really produce the Golden Core Elixir?
With such a precious medicine, wouldn't it be better to use it to train their own cultivators?
Even if we take a step back and assume that a Golden Core cultivator were to emerge from among the rogue cultivators, the power structure of the Western Continent would inevitably be reshuffled.
This is definitely not what those sects want to see.
After taking several external medicines, a cultivator at the fifth level of the Chaoyuan realm captures the great medicine within their body and unites the five energies in their chest. Then, they take the Golden Elixir to stimulate the primordial fire in their dantian to harmonize with the energies and forge the Golden Elixir.
External medicines need to be found by the cultivators themselves, and pills like the Golden Core are simply not available for purchase under normal circumstances.
Even if a rogue cultivator wanted to sell himself into a sect, he would not gain their trust and be granted the Golden Core.
"Without offering substantial rewards, how can any cultivator be willing to risk their life?"
When the demonic calamity erupts, the first places to be besiege will undoubtedly be the territories of various families and sects.
The oil lamp's flame crackled and flickered, distorting Chen Sheng's handsome face into a grotesque expression, making him look like a demon.
"As I just said, it is precisely because of the danger that we have this opportunity."
Whether it's true or false, we have to try.
The scarred-faced monk said in a deep voice:
"Brother Chen Sheng, you have been friends for many years and have faced life and death together countless times."
You have now reached the fifth stage of the Yuan realm, and I am willing to help you achieve merit and obtain the Golden Core.
Once my elder brother has condensed his Golden Core, we will also establish our own sect and create the fourth sect in the Western Continent!
"Brother Wu Long, with your help, we will succeed!"
If I am fortunate enough to achieve the Golden Core, I will be qualified to contact the high-ranking officials of the Central Continent merchants, and I will do my utmost to help my worthy brother obtain the Golden Core.
My idea is not to establish a sect, but to build a celestial city belonging to independent cultivators.”
“Brilliant!” Wu Long clapped his hands together. “In this way, although we don’t have the name of a sect, we have the substance of one, and we can also unite many independent cultivators.”
The cold light of the full moon gently caresses the water, making the cold pool shimmer.
Near the Azure Jade Tree, the light was exceptionally bright.
Ji An sat cross-legged on a futon under the tree, circulating the Green Wood Everlasting Technique. The light of the many spiritual objects around him had gradually dimmed.
The water elemental aura, imbued with a moistening aura, shimmered with a deep black light; the earth elemental aura, imbued with a nourishing aura, emitted a yellow glow; the wood elemental aura, imbued with a vigorous growth aura, was eye-catchingly green; and the silver moonlight, like a fine drizzle, entered his mouth and nose with each breath.
In the sea of consciousness, silver flowers fell like snowflakes, and the soul cheered with joy.
His hair and skin were covered in frost, making him seem almost transparent.
Ji An was lost in thought, feeling like a wild grass, withering and flourishing with the changing seasons, its life alternating between vigorous growth and withering, bursting forth with vitality only to lie dormant for a while, and then bursting forth again after enduring the cold winter.
Year after year, the sun and moon pass by, mountains collapse and rivers dry up, wild grasses go through countless generations of change, yet when the spring breeze blows, they remain as green as ever.
The chill in his body grew stronger and stronger. Ji An ended his cultivation and slowly withdrew his practice.
The Azure Dragon Wood was completely rotten and its original appearance was no longer visible.
The dark yellow clay resembled mud bricks that had crumbled from an earthen wall after enduring countless storms, and the trickling spiritual water in the jade bowl had completely evaporated.
He took the prayer mat away, revealing the whitish soil, a trace of life being plundered from the black earth.
Ji An activated the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra, and a warm, yellow spiritual light covered this 'chosen' land, spreading nourishing spiritual energy to heal its wounds.
His hand gestures changed, and a white mist rolled around, shimmering with a jade-like luster in the moonlight, as if it contained pearls.
The spiritual rain, imbued with the nourishing essence of the Gui Water Dao, silently nourished all things. Ji An's magical power surged, and his body floated away.
Beside the cold pool, the Heavenly Origin Pear Tree was laden with spiritual fruits that shimmered with a blue luster, bending the branches under their weight.
The fruit is the size of an egg, and as smooth and lustrous as jade.
The next day.
After finishing his breakfast, Ji An went to the vicinity of the Dragon Blood Tree, sat down cross-legged, and began his daily cultivation.
As the technique was activated, various colored spiritual lights surrounded his body.
Light black, yellow, emerald green, and orange-red.
These are the light of Gui water, the light of Ji earth, and the light of Ding fire, respectively, with a pervasive sense of moistening, nourishing, and warming spiritual energy.
Ji An felt as if he had become a burning fire tree, with roots extending deep into the earth, drawing nourishment from the magma.
In Ji An's hands, the Green Wood Everlasting Spring Skill has completely changed, something that even the creator of the skill probably did not foresee.
As the sun rose, pale golden solar fire poured down from the void, entering his body along with other spiritual light.
The essence of Earth enters the Spleen, Fire enters the Heart, Water enters the Kidneys, and Wood enters the Liver. As these four luminous elements flow, the lungs faintly glow with a bright white light.
If the high-level cultivators in the sect knew this, they would be greatly surprised, as this is completely beyond the reach of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!
(End of this chapter)
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