Chapter 18 Red Flame Pool Ten-Strike
Zhong Cai quickly selected all the rare herbs and medicinal materials, totaling 385 kinds of rare herbs, 522 kinds of common medicinal plants, and 173 kinds of other medicinal materials.
Wu Shaogan looked over and nodded.
Just then, the tribesmen ahead of them finished trading their resources, and it was Zhong Cai and Wu Shao's turn.
Behind the two sat a sprightly old man behind the counter. Behind him was a shelf with bags of mustard seeds of various sizes hanging from it.
Wu Shaogan handed the booklet to the old man and said, "Great-grandfather, thank you for your trouble." As he spoke, he flipped through the three pages recording the medicinal herbs. "I need all of these. I need ten thousand-drawer medicine cabinets."
This great-grandfather was from the sixth branch of the family and his name was Wu Tianqi.
He glanced at the count and said, "One hundred and thirty-three gold coins, seventy-eight silver coins, and one hundred and fifty copper coins."
Zhong Cai thought for a moment, then simply scrolled down to a certain page in the booklet and said, "I would like to trouble my great-grandfather to ask for a few more portions of each of the medicinal herbs in this row, this row, and these rows, to make up a total of one hundred and fifty taels of gold."
Wu Tianqi efficiently handled it for him, putting all the resources Zhong Cai had selected into the mustard bag he handed over.
Zhong Cai also gave him plenty of gold.
The money and goods were exchanged.
Wu Shaogan asked directly, "Great-grandfather, does the family possess any wood or firewood?"
Wu Tianqi glanced at Zhong Cai, his serious expression softening slightly: "Does Alchemist Zhong want to familiarize himself with wood and fire in advance?"
Zhong Cai frankly said, "Yes, we do have this plan. It's better to be prepared than not. I hope my great-grandfather won't laugh at me."
Wu Tianqi nodded and said, "It's good to be prepared." Then he answered Wu Shaogan's question, "Wood and fire are rare, and our family has no of them. However, as far as I know, a wisp of third-grade wood and fire will appear at the Fengyun City auction in a little over a month."
Zhong Cai was taken aback. A third-grade wood-fire? Does wood-fire have different grades?
He was puzzled, but he didn't dwell on it at the moment and immediately smiled and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Great-Grandfather. I understand now."
Wu Shaogan also expressed his gratitude.
Wu Tianqi didn't say anything more.
Zhong Cai pulled Wu Shaogan along as they left the mission hall.
Before leaving, he glanced at the main hall, where many task lists were posted on the high walls. At that moment, several members of the Wu family were going over to peel off a list and take it to the steward watching nearby to register it.
Wu Shaogan asked in a low voice, "Interested?"
Zhong Cai shook her head and smiled, "Not for now, we'll talk about it later."
Wu Shaogan smiled.
The two figures gradually disappeared into the distance.
The Wu family members then gradually withdrew their gaze, but deep down they couldn't help but feel that the two were getting along too well.
Someone couldn't help but ask, "Did they really not know each other before?"
Another person curled their lip: "One is a prodigy, and the other comes from a poor family. How could they possibly know each other?"
Some people even lamented, "Our fates as cultivators are so unpredictable! Now their roles have been reversed!"
For a moment, many members of the Wu family were also somewhat saddened.
Things are changing too fast indeed.
·
When they returned to the courtyard, Zhong Da was already back. He handed over the 260 gold coins he had earned to Zhong Cai and then withdrew.
Zhong Cai put away the gold and pulled Wu Shaogan back into the cultivation room.
"Quickly, let's get things organized."
In the blink of an eye, two large medicine cabinets appeared out of thin air and were placed side by side in front of the right wall of the cultivation room.
Wu Shaogan went to the corner of the wall and brought back several empty large baskets, placing them at Zhong Cai's feet.
Zhong Cai carried the mustard bag and poured it into the large baskets one by one. Before long, all the large baskets were full.
Wu Shaogan and he each took two baskets and filled the medicine cabinet.
Each alchemy material is placed in a separate drawer, and a blank label will appear on the surface of the drawer, on which the name of the material can be written.
Wu Shaogan doesn't recognize every single one, but that's okay. If he doesn't recognize one, he can just call Zhong Cai, ask her, and then she can make a note of it.
The two of them worked together and quickly organized all the alchemy materials.
Zhong Cai looked at the densely packed labels and felt a great sense of accomplishment.
Wu Shaogan joked, "You're satisfied with this? You've only filled one cabinet; there will be many more to come."
Zhong Cai nodded and smiled, "That's true."
The two tidied up the rest of their belongings and sat down on the floor together.
Wu Shaogan said, "Have you decided yet? Should we go to the auction and buy that wisp of wood fire, or have Xiang Lin inquire about other wood fires?" He added curiously, "By the way, are there different grades of wood fire?"
Zhong Cai recalled the same question she had with Wu Shaogan and said to him, "I was just about to tell you this. I was planning to think about the alchemist's inheritance again. I almost didn't realize it when my great-grandfather mentioned the third-grade wood and fire. I hadn't paid attention to the grades of wood and fire before, but now that I think about it, I'm afraid I've missed something. I should go and check it out, or I might suffer a loss."
Wu Shaogan nodded: "Then you should go and take a look. A flash of inspiration is fleeting, so don't get distracted."
Zhong Cai then closed her eyes and began to recall.
Wu Shaogan curled the corners of his mouth slightly.
·
Zhong Cai quickly searched for the inheritance.
The altar contains a wealth of alchemist teachings, including recipes that specify the necessary medicinal materials, refining methods (some even have multiple methods), and the appropriate heat control.
There are also numerous descriptions of alchemy materials from level one to level nine, each in great detail, including their growing environment, cultivation, uses of each part, form, and so on.
There are also quite a few complicated alchemy basics, with the least related to level one. The higher the level, the more things need to be paid attention to...
Zhong Cai had only just entered the realm of alchemy and had no intention of aiming too high. Therefore, when learning alchemy, he only focused on studying the learning materials for first-level pills.
Of course, he also glanced at the others, but they were truly vast and complex, with dense and numerous pieces of knowledge. He almost became completely immersed in them after just a glance, so he quickly pulled himself back to his senses.
As Zhong Cai quickly glanced at the inheritances, he roughly knew that the refining of second-level pills required melting medicinal materials with wood and fire, but the simple sentences did not mention the grade of wood and fire, so he did not think about it.
At this moment, Zhong Cai mobilized the wood and fire elements and discovered that there was actually a large, densely packed text.
The introduction begins by stating that there are many types of wood and fire, categorized into nine ranks.
Zhong Cai: "..."
They really do have different ranks.
Second-grade medicinal materials should correspond to second-grade wood and fire? Then what are first-grade wood and fire materials used for?
Zhong Cai realized she had been careless and quickly looked at the next section carefully.
Next, the content describes in detail the general types of each type of wood and fire, how to obtain them naturally, and the uses of different types of wood and fire, etc.
Zhong Caizai carefully memorized the information, but as soon as he saw the description of "First-Class Wood and Fire", his lips twitched involuntarily.
All pills below the highest grade contain impurities. To remove all impurities from a first-grade pill, one needs to refine a first-grade wood-fire. Only by burning the medicinal herbs with this fire can they be thoroughly refined. Furthermore, the more impurities present, the more it hinders the formation of the pill, leading to a decrease in the alchemist's rating and making it difficult to achieve top-tier or higher. However, wood-fire is more powerful and difficult to control than ordinary flames; the slightest mistake will turn all the medicinal herbs into waste…
Zhong Cai rubbed his temples, finally understanding why his alchemy skills could never break through the bottleneck.
Using ordinary fire instead of wood fire simply cannot burn away those deep-rooted impurities. These impurities not only hinder the separation of more than eight pills, but also affect the formation of top-grade pills.
Looking further ahead, Zhong Cai's expression became even more serious.
There are three ways for alchemists to form a contract with wood and fire: the first is blood oath; the second is a soul contract; and the third is an external force contract, such as a contract talisman or a contract formation.
[A first-level alchemist can only use either the first or third method to contract wood and fire. The first method can only contract first-grade wood and fire. Wood and fire exceeding the alchemist's original level requires external assistance, and the grade difference cannot exceed two grades... The greater the grade difference, the more difficult it will be for the alchemist to manipulate the wood and fire, and the more profound energy will be consumed...]
Zhong Cai thought for a moment and realized that the highest grade of wood and fire that a first-level alchemist could contract was exactly grade three.
No wonder his great-grandfather told him about the auction; it turned out that was the best he could get.
·
It took Zhong Cai two or three hours to finally finish reading it, and she remembered everything she needed to remember.
Then he let out a long breath and turned to tell Wu Shaogan the story.
Wu Shaogan suddenly realized, and asked again, "Have you thought it through? What are your plans?"
Zhong Cai said without hesitation, "We still need to find first or second-grade wood and fire." He explained to his friend, "I also thought about directly contracting a third-grade one and then gradually adapting to it so I could use it for a long time. But then I thought, I have too little Xuan Qi right now, it would be too arrogant to use a third-grade one directly, what if I can't control it? It's better to start adapting from the first grade."
After a moment's thought, Wu Shaogan agreed and then suggested, "However, Grade Three Wood and Fire are rare. Let's bid on it too, so we won't have to rush when we need it in the future."
Zhong Cai thought about it and agreed, saying, "Okay."
·
If you're going to buy wood for fire, you need to have enough funds.
Grade 3 wood and fire are level 3 resources. Normally, the price of a level 3 resource would not exceed 500,000 gold. However, if an item is auctioned and there are many alchemists vying for it, it's hard to say, and it could easily reach 2 million gold.
Besides, if the two of them encounter other suitable opportunities besides the Wood and Fire elements, they should definitely take the opportunity to film.
Zhong Cai calculated their savings and said, "We haven't spent much money; we still have over three million gold coins left."
Wu Shaogan pondered for a moment and said, "We still have quite a few second and third-tier Xuan weapons, beast cores, precious materials and treasures. You can pick and choose, and sell the ones you don't need for alchemy to the family. We can raise about 500,000 gold."
Zhong Cai pursed her lips, feeling a little heartbroken: "This is all the money you worked so hard to save up, and you're just going to throw it all away?"
Wu Shaogan didn't mind at all, and comforted him with a smile: "It was just something I got by chance. I kept it because it looked like it was of good quality. Now is the right time to sell it, so it'll be easier."
Zhong Cai's eyes darted around, and she quietly asked, "Among the things we drew, there's a copy of the 'Lanle Sutra.' Should we sell it to our families along with it?"
Wu Shaogan shook his head slightly: "The cultivation techniques are the family's heritage. In the past, I handed over all the cultivation techniques I obtained directly. If I give them away now, I'll have to find an excuse and not create any loopholes. We can go out and train together in the future, and then sell them when we come back."
Zhong Cai thought it made a lot of sense: "Let's do as you say."
·
In the following days, Zhong Cai remained in the courtyard refining pills. Wu Shao's trip seemed to be fleeting, and he quickly closed the door again. Although the many young members of the Wu family discussed it for a while, seeing that there was no further development, they naturally stopped paying attention.
Xiang Lin took the resources selected by Zhong Cai to the mission hall and received a total of 520,000 gold, which was about the same as Wu Shaogan's estimate.
After the money was brought back, it was still collected by Zhong.
The couple's gold reserves increased considerably from then on.
With the new method for refining alchemy, Zhong Cai's confidence increased greatly, and he found it much easier to refine elixirs.
So, of the next eighty batches of Qi-replenishing pills, seventy were successful, just two batches short of the 90% success rate! Each batch produced more than five high-grade pills, totaling a full three hundred and ninety-two pills! And not a single batch failed to produce any low-grade pills.
Such results made Zhong Cai extremely happy.
"Old Wu, aren't I amazing!"
Wu Shaogan was also somewhat surprised, but seeing Zhong Cai so smug, he raised an eyebrow and remained silent.
Zhong Cai glanced at him sideways, silently counting in her mind: one second, two seconds, three seconds...
Wu Shaogan compromised and gave a thumbs up.
Zhong Cai immediately beamed with joy.
As before, all the top-grade Qi-replenishing pills were put into the jade gourd by Wu Shaogan, while the other pills were put into a box and stored in a mustard seed bag by Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai said confidently, "Just you wait, it won't be long before I can replace them all with top-quality ones!"
Wu Shaogan felt a warmth in his heart and said with a smile, "Then I'm really looking forward to it."
After refining the Qi-replenishing pill, Zhong Cai then refined the Yang-extreme pill for himself.
These pills are expensive. When they go to Fengyun City, they can find an opportunity to sell all the pills and make a fortune, which will alleviate their financial pressure...
A few days later, fifty-eight batches of Yang-grade pills were successfully refined, yielding two hundred and fifty-three low-grade pills, one hundred and seventy-five mid-grade pills, and thirty-six high-grade pills.
The alchemy technique is slowly moving towards an 80% success rate.
Zhong Cai did not slack off and spent another ten days refining the Yang-Extreme Pill.
Unsurprisingly, he steadily increased the pill-forming rate to 80%, and the quality of the pills improved, with the number of high-grade pills increasing.
Zhong Cai asked, "Old Wu, how much Dan Yun have I reached?"
Wu Shao chuckled dryly, "Over eight thousand five hundred."
Zhong Cai scratched her chin, a little annoyed: "I'm still 1500 short of a 10-pull..."
Wu Shaogan flicked his forehead and laughed, "Your pill-forming rate is already high enough, aren't you satisfied?"
Zhong Cai said firmly, "No, I have to raise 10,000 before I leave."
Wu Shaogan said irritably, "You've been practicing for so many days in a row, you should take a break first."
Zhong Cai emphasized, "I want to get ten consecutive kills; I'm just 1,500 short."
Wu Shaogan: "..."
Just now it was "still lacking", but now it's "just lacking"?
Zhong Cai said with a smile, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Besides, I get four hours of sleep every day, so what's there to be tired about?"
Wu Shaogan couldn't refuse Zhong Cai, so he had no choice but to risk his life to accompany him and continue doing odd jobs.
However, thanks to Wu Shaogan's insistence, Zhong Cai no longer opened the furnace more than fifteen times a day.
Ten days later, a total of 110 furnaces were successfully completed, and the total amount of pill essence obtained reached nearly 1,900, finally enough to make ten consecutive runs in the Crimson Flame Pool.
Zhong Cai rubbed her hands together, quite excited.
"Old Wu, look! I'm going to do a ten-pull!"
Wu Shaogan immediately moved closer to Zhong Cai, his heart also filled with excitement.
"Come on, I'll watch you smoke."
The two stood together on the altar.
Bright, colorful clouds swirled above the crater.
At Zhong Cai's instruction, almost all of these colorful clouds were thrown into the depression.
The blazing red flames rolled in the pit, spewing out bright red orbs of light.
One, two... ten!
They all floated in front of Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai twitched her fingers slightly, took out all the envelopes, and held them in her hand.
·
As usual, Zhong Cai had to give Wu Shaogan five envelopes to open together.
But this time Wu Shaogan refused, and instead suggested with a smile, "This time I want to see your luck."
Zhong Cai glanced at Wu Shaogan and asked suspiciously, "Are you plotting something?"
Wu Shaogan smiled and said, "How could I dare?"
Zhong Cai snorted.
After a few distractions, Zhong Cai wasn't so excited anymore.
He did something fancy, stacking the ten envelopes together and holding them in both hands, then circulating his profound energy and activating them all in one go!
In an instant, ten envelopes flew out of his palm with a "whoosh".
They floated in unison in front of him, a truly spectacular sight.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan both looked over curiously.
I've never disassembled it like this before.
The three red seals shook and turned into smoke together.
At the same time, three low-grade mystic stones appeared.
Two more red seals shook, and thin golden light spun neatly in a circle before they both exhaled smoke.
Then appeared a dark, star-like stone and an old booklet.
They are all level 3 resources.
Zhong Cai's lips twitched slightly.
This familiar feeling is just like being back in the days of playing gacha games...
Wu Shaogan had no idea what Zhong Cai was thinking. He just looked at the dark stone and said confidently, "That's a Celestial Star Stone. It can be used to forge a level three Xuan weapon."
Then, on three of the envelopes, golden light spun twice.
Emerging from the smoke was a "person" with eyes closed, an unremarkable longsword, and an old booklet—thinner than the previous one.
Zhong Cai said, "Shouldn't these kinds of booklets all belong to the category of secret techniques and cultivation methods?"
Wu Shaogan nodded: "It should be."
Then, a seal appeared, surrounded by three rings of golden light.
What came out was a bottle of medicinal pills.
The last seal was a burst of golden light, revealing a lotus flower with densely packed petals, layer upon layer. It was the Thousand-Layer Lotus, a level-six rare medicine that was guaranteed to appear in every ten draws.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan worked together to "pick" all those resources and carefully identified them.
Besides the three low-grade Xuan Stones, the Heavenly Star Stone, and the Thousand Lotus, the remaining items are: the fourth-tier secret technique "Flowing Wind Dancing Fan", the fourth-level Xuan weapon Frost Sword, the fourth-level puppet Azure Sky Swordsman, the talisman manual "Complete Collection of Elementary Talismans", and the fifth-level pill [Mid-grade Limb Regeneration Pill].
Zhong Cai ground her teeth.
It's alright, neither too lucky nor too unlucky—most of them are level 3 or 4. Although I haven't gotten any level 6 resources except for the guaranteed ones, I haven't gotten any of the worst level 2 resources either, right?
Wu Shaogan clapped lightly: "You're very lucky."
Zhong Cai, who was initially not entirely satisfied, immediately raised her eyebrows again: "Of course!"
Thinking about it carefully, this is all free. If the two of them had cultivated in an ordinary way, they wouldn't even have been able to get close to level four resources.
Now, all I do is refine pills; I can easily make several kinds.
You've made a fortune!
·
Zhong Cai took out a small box, put the Xuan Stone in it, and placed it together with the Xuan Pearl box; he put the secret techniques together with the "Lan Le Jing"; he put the refining materials into the general store shelf; and he also put the pills into the medicine box.
Wu Shaogan glanced at the pills, seemingly lost in thought.
Zhong Cai knew him well and casually asked, "Is this elixir effective?"
Wu Shaogan nodded and frankly said, "An elder of the Wu family lost his right arm many years ago, which greatly weakened his strength. If we had this kind of elixir, he should be able to recover. But..."
Zhong Cai immediately laughed: "But we can't just give it away for free!"
Wu Shaogan smiled and said, "That's right. Besides, we can't explain its origin, so it's not worth taking the risk. After we go to Fengyun City in a few days, I plan to have the puppet Qingkong take the Limb Regeneration Pill to the auction. If the auction house accepts it, it's simple; we just need to send the news back to the Wu family. But if the auction house doesn't accept it... we'll go out and wander around, find an excuse to 'just happen to meet' and act as a go-between for the family, and have the puppet Qingkong sell it."
Zhong Cai's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "That's right! Then we won't need to send Xiang Lin anymore. After all, no matter how careful he is, there's always a chance of oversight. The puppet is different. Even if it's discovered, it's not a big deal. The Frost Sword we just got can also be used by him; its grade is a perfect match." He thought for a moment and then asked, "If we can't get into the auction, how will we price the Limb Regeneration Pill?"
Wu Shaogan pondered, "The basic price of a fifth-grade pill is over ten thousand Xuanzhu. The Limb Regeneration Pill is relatively rare and more expensive than ordinary fifth-grade pills. If it's for sale... there are no fifth-grade alchemists in the nearby cities. The Wu family once went to a fourth-grade city to look for the Limb Regeneration Pill, and an alchemist did manage to refine it, but someone beat them to it and bought the low-grade one for thirty-five thousand Xuanzhu. This one is mid-grade, so I'll sell it for fifty thousand."
Zhong Cai immediately became excited: "Then we'll be rich!"
Wu Shaogan joked, "You don't need to worry about this every day anymore."
Zhong Cai rolled her eyes: "I just want to save more money so I can live with more confidence. Don't you know what it means to be a good homemaker? If you laugh at me again, I'll kick you out hunting!"
Wu Shaogan couldn't help but chuckle: "Yes, yes, I was being ungrateful."
The two looked at each other and laughed.
I will definitely go hunting, but the time is not right yet.
Then let's get back to business.
Zhong Cai suggested, "Let Qing Kong handle the large-scale sale of the pills as well."
Wu Shaogan agreed.
Zhong Cai added, "On our way to Fengyun City, let Qingkong take the pills ahead of us to stagger our departure time."
Wu Shaogan agreed again: "Good idea."
Zhong Cai pondered, "Let's sell all the pills. We don't need them anyway, and I can refine them whenever we need them."
Wu Shaogan nodded and said, "Okay."
Suddenly remembering something, Zhong Cai abruptly asked, "By the way, the auction is still a few days away. When are we leaving? Besides Xiang Lin, who else are we taking with us?"
Wu Shaogan remembered this and replied, "Eight more days. Let's set off tomorrow. We can travel slowly. Xiang Lin will drive the carriage, and we'll take Bichen and Qiaohong with us."
Qiao Hong cooks, Bi Cen runs errands, and Xiang Lin protects... Zhong Cai thinks it's quite reasonable and nods in agreement.
·
The two are still relatively weak, so they need a car to get around when they go out.
In the past, Wu Shaogan received excellent treatment when he went out, with his family providing him with a top-tier level three carriage.
Although the car hasn't reached level four yet, and it wasn't given to him directly, it's already his personal car, which is almost like a gift.
Of course, times have changed now. When the two of them go out together, they either have to prepare their own transportation or rent a car from the family.
Zhong Cai felt it wasn't very safe and thought it best to prepare it herself.
"Xiang Lin is at the Palace Opening Realm, let's go buy a level two one, level one's defense is too poor."
Wu Shaogan never objected to this: "I'll listen to you."
Zhong Cai summoned Xiang Lin, gave him a thousand gold pieces, and told him to go to the outside merchants and buy the highest quality items.
Xiang Lin responded and left.
Zhong Cai then summoned Zhong Da and instructed him, "Tomorrow, Lao Wu and I are going out, and we may not be gone for a long time. You take good care of the house. You can use five hundred for cultivation and five hundred to manage household affairs."
He gave Zhong Da a thousand taels of gold, and he also distributed the monthly allowances for the servants.
With Zhong Da's personality, he's the perfect person to guard the house.
So he put away the gold and honestly replied, "Yes."
After that, Zhong Da stepped down.
Zhong Cai looked at Wu Shaogan and noticed that he was flipping through the book on talismans. She was a little surprised and asked, "What are you looking at this for?"
Wu Shaogan unfolded the page he was looking at and showed it to Zhong Cai, saying with a smile, "I'm going to study it."
Zhong Cai looked over in the direction he indicated.
On that page, a talisman was clearly drawn—the Cleansing Talisman.
Zhong Cai: "Uh."
At that moment, he felt a little guilty.
After each alchemy session, he would leave the furnace to his friend to clean. While it was indeed to give his friend something to do, successful alchemy was fine, but failed attempts left behind a stench that was difficult to clean...
Wu Shaogan noticed his mood at a glance and couldn't help but laugh, "I'm usually free, so I might as well try to see if I can make talismans."
Zhong Cai immediately put aside her guilty conscience and became more serious, saying, "I originally planned to teach you alchemy once I was able to produce top-grade pills. Then I need to break through my cultivation realm, and I'll also need to dedicate some time to cultivation. That would be a good opportunity to let you use the pill furnace."
Wu Shaogan's expression softened slightly.
Although he didn't think much of it at first, he noticed that Zhong Cai explained everything to him in great detail each time she explained how to process the herbs. She didn't even overlook the combination of medicinal properties, and she would share all the steps of refining the herbs as if she were giving a presentation. With such an obvious purpose, he could naturally guess Zhong Cai's intentions.
But despite his speculations, hearing Zhong Cai say it explicitly still brought him a sense of comfort.
Wu Shaogan never disappointed Zhong Cai's kindness, and said with a smile, "This isn't a one-way street. I'll learn whichever area I'm talented in. Just because I've learned talisman making doesn't mean you'll stop teaching me alchemy."
Zhong Cai thought about it and agreed, then casually waved her hand and said, "You're right. These two things don't conflict, either way is fine. We'll buy a batch of talisman materials on this trip! If neither of these works, I'll draw more cards later, and there will definitely be other things to learn. You're so smart, you'll definitely find the technique that suits you best."
Wu Shaogan raised an eyebrow and smiled, deliberately revealing a smug expression.
·
The next day, Zhong Cai, Wu Shaogan and their group left the courtyard early and found a small gate nearby to leave.
The movement was so subtle that no one noticed it.
Once outside, Xiang Lin took out the carriage and tied up the four horned horses.
Wu Shaogan pulled Zhong Cai into the car, and Xiang Lin sat in front of the car door and began to drive the horned horses.
Qiao Hong and Bi Cen each rode a horned horse, walking on either side of the carriage.
Such carriage designs are very common, so the carriage itself was ordinary and passed through the city gate smoothly, heading straight towards Fengyun City.
·
The interior of the carriage wasn't small; the inner layer was comparable to a small room, and it even had basic defensive features.
During the day, Xiang Lin and his servants would not come in to disturb them, but if they happened to be sleeping outdoors at night, they could take turns resting in the carriage near the door.
Zhong Cai leaned against a large pillow, spread her limbs, and lay on her back in a very arrogant posture.
Wu Shaogan sat to one side, holding a cup of tea and drinking it, looking at Zhong Cai with a smile.
Although he was almost squeezed against the wall by Zhong Cai, he looked so calm and collected that he didn't seem pitiful at all.
In one corner of the carriage was a pile of second-tier two-headed wild boar meat weighing several hundred kilograms. Little Qingpeng was lying on it, pecking and munching away, thoroughly enjoying himself. With each peck, it tore off a piece larger than a fist, and the wild boar meat disappeared at a visible speed... It was a mystery how its pointed little mouth could swallow it all in an instant.
Zhong Cai yawned; he had only been on the road for half an hour, but he was already feeling very bored.
So he grabbed Little Green Roc, kneaded and pinched it to relieve its discomfort, and then asked, "Hey, Old Wu, how much longer until we get there?"
After a moment's thought, Wu Shaogan replied, "Fengyun City is more than 8,000 li away from Kunyun City. Although we are riding in a second-class carriage, the horses pulling it are only first-class horned horses... Including the time for rest each night, it will take about six or seven days to get there. When we arrive, we will find an inn to stay in and rest for at most a day or two before we have to go to the auction."
Zhong Cai yawned again: "Fengyun City seems to be a level 5 city as well?"
Wu Shao chuckled dryly, “Yes. However, Fengyun City covers a much larger area, totaling 420,000 hectares, and has a larger population, over 40 million. Our Kunyun City only has 390,000 hectares and less than 40 million people. But the top ancestors on both sides are of similar strength, and the relationship between the two sides is still harmonious.”
Zhong Cai nodded, indicating that she understood.
·
As a level four puppet, the Azure Sky Swordsman is as strong as a cultivator in the Suspended Illumination Realm. Although it is not the highest grade among the items obtained from the card draw, it is quite important to Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan, as it can save them a lot of trouble.
Not long after leaving Kunyun City, the puppet disappeared into the forests on both sides of the road like a wisp of smoke, heading towards Fengyun City at top speed.
The Azure Sky Puppet is humanoid, its craftsmanship so exquisite that its features are indistinguishable from a real person. However, its intelligence is quite limited; aside from mechanically obeying its master's commands, it can only communicate in simple ways based on instructions given by its master.
After entering Fengyun City, Qingkong Puppet followed Zhong Cai's instructions and found the largest pill shop, quickly approaching the shopkeeper.
"Does your store buy elixirs?"
The shopkeeper was already middle-aged, but her skin was still fair and radiant, and her face still showed traces of her youthful beauty.
The reason for this is that she is no longer young, and her aptitude is too poor. She has not yet advanced to the Palace Opening Realm, so she is aging very quickly.
At this moment, she looked up at the blue sky and smiled gently, still possessing a certain charm.
"Of course, it's for acquisition. Do you have any medicinal pills for sale?"
The Azure Sky Puppet replied curtly, "Qi-replenishing pill, head-protecting pill, Yang-extreme pill."
Qi-boosting pills and head-protecting pills are too ordinary, and the name Yang-extreme pill seems unremarkable as well.
However, before the shopkeeper could show his disappointment, it quickly finished speaking: "There are medium-grade Qi-replenishing pills and head-protecting pills, and high-grade Yang-extremity pills."
·
Inside the secret room of the elixir shop, Madam Fangwan stared wide-eyed at the several boxes of various sizes neatly arranged on a long table, in disbelief!
The black-robed man opposite her was counting in a stiff, rigid voice:
“1,554 low-grade Qi-replenishing pills, 1,836 mid-grade pills; 577 low-grade head-protecting pills, 240 mid-grade pills; 888 low-grade Yang-extreme pills, 1,310 mid-grade pills, and 538 high-grade pills.”
"Among them, the Yangyang Dan is a head-protecting pill, suitable for the fourth level of the Heavenly Guidance Realm, and its efficacy is half a percent stronger than that of the Head-Protecting Pill."
·
Madam Fangwan was a woman who had seen many storms. When the visitor mentioned that there was a "superior-grade pill," she did not immediately choose to disbelieve him. Instead, she cautiously led him to a secret room, locked the door, and activated a soundproof array, showing that she took it very seriously.
In her mind, if the story was false, she could simply make a good impression and politely send the person away. But if it was true, it would undoubtedly be of great benefit to the alchemy shop. She couldn't just send the person away because she had never met them before.
But no matter what, Madam Fangwan never expected that this distinguished guest would act so...terrifyingly.
·
Xiufangdan Shop is one of the pillar industries of the Huo family, and even though the Huo family is slightly inferior to the Ai family, it still holds a pivotal position in Fengyun City.
Because of the family's extensive network of connections, the pill shop has ties with two major alchemy factions—Danxin Valley and Danding Sect—and can purchase pills from these two factions every month.
However, although there are many alchemists in both factions, the forces that have connections with both factions are far more than just the Huo family, and the pills they produce must be distributed in all directions. At the same time, Xiufang Pill Shop does not occupy the largest share.
When did pills start appearing in quantities of hundreds or thousands?
Take, for example, the Qi-boosting pill.
Its uses are wide-ranging, but its refining difficulty is not low, and its selling price is only one gold per pill. If a pill shop buys it, the price will drop slightly. For pill refiners, most of those with this skill would rather refine other more expensive pills, so being able to open a few batches each month is mostly a strict requirement of the sect.
The total amount was not much to begin with, and the amount allocated to Xiufangdan store was considered good if they could get a hundred or eighty pieces of inferior quality each time.
Low-grade Qi-replenishing pills are most suitable for cultivators at or below the fourth level of the Heavenly Guidance Realm. In the vast Fengyun City, there are at least tens of millions of such cultivators. What use are these Qi-replenishing pills? There are many who cannot buy them.
Moreover, when did it become possible for mid-grade pills to be more abundant than low-grade pills?
In the past, it was rare to get several medium-grade items at the same time when collecting a batch of low-grade items, but this time there were a terrifying nearly two thousand?!
Not to mention head-protecting pills like the Head-Protecting Pill; getting a dozen or so low-grade ones a month is considered a good harvest, and reaching the mid-grade level... is a rare sight, perhaps only once every year or two.
If it weren't for Madam Fangwan's strong will, she might have thought she was hallucinating.
·
Madam Fangwan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in her heart, and said softly, "It is an honor to meet you today. However, my shop is not very knowledgeable, and I am not qualified to set a price for this Yang Extreme Pill. How about we take one and send it to the back for the alchemist to evaluate? I guarantee with my life that I will give you a satisfactory price."
Without further ado, the Azure Sky Puppet took one of each of the three grades of Yang Extreme Pills (low, middle, and high) and handed them to Madam Fangwan.
Madam Fangwan carefully placed the contents into three small bottles, then quickly wrote a letter and put them all into a box on the right. She then said softly, "Please wait a moment, Your Excellency."
—After a flash of light, the pills and letter inside the box disappeared.
The blue-sky puppet nodded.
There was a moment of silence.
Madam Fangwan was originally a very eloquent person, but if the efficacy of the Yang-Extreme Pill was real, a top-grade pill would have a full 65% effect, which was 15% stronger than other head-protecting pills of the same grade! How could she not be excited about such a precious medicine? In addition, the person in front of her had a cold temperament and rarely spoke unless necessary, so she suddenly didn't know how to choose her words.
Fortunately, the awkward moment didn't last long, and soon the box returned with pills and another letter.
Madam Fangwan hurriedly read the letter, then let out a soft breath, revealing a gentle smile, and confidently quoted her prices: "Since this is your first time cooperating with our shop, we are willing to offer discounts. We will purchase Qi-replenishing pills and head-protecting pills at market prices. As for Yang-Extreme Pills, which have remarkable medicinal effects, our shop is willing to offer ten gold coins for the low-grade ones, sixteen gold coins for the mid-grade ones, and twenty-two gold coins for the high-grade ones. What do you think?"
In her view, the Yang-Yang Pill could be sold at a higher price, and a little publicity would be enough to offset the discounts offered by the first two types of pills. Building a good relationship with the other party was more important now.
The instructions given to the Azure Sky Puppet were: it would be acceptable as long as the price of the Yang Extreme Pill was slightly higher than that of the Head Protection Pill.
At this point, he readily agreed: "Okay. Let's settle the bill."
Madam Fangwan was extremely efficient and quickly calculated the amount, assuring everyone: "Qi-replenishing pills, low grade, total 1,554 gold; mid grade, 2,754 gold. Head-protecting pills, low grade, 4,616 gold; mid grade, 2,880 gold. Yang-extending pills, low grade, 8,880 gold; mid grade, 20,960 gold; high grade, 11,836 gold."
At this point, she smiled and asked, "That totals fifty-three thousand four hundred and eighty gold coins. Would you like to accept the gold directly, or exchange it for Xuanzhu pearls?"
Remembering Zhong Cai's request, the Azure Sky Puppet said, "Try to replace it with the Mysterious Pearl."
Madam Fangwan was used to this, and quickly took out a box and pushed it in front of the Azure Sky Puppet.
"Please take a look at the five mysterious pearls and the remaining three thousand four hundred and eighty gold coins."
The Azure Sky Puppet glanced at it and put it into its mustard seed bag.
Only then did he bring up the next deal: "A mid-grade, level three Youth Preservation Pill, would you like it?"
Lady Fangwan was taken aback, but then quoted a price without hesitation: "Ten Xuanzhu."
The Azure Sky Puppet took out another small bottle and handed it over.
Madam Fangwan promptly gave Xuanzhu a generous amount.
Without saying another word, the Azure Sky Puppet got up to leave.
Madam Fangwan hurriedly saw him off, still with a gentle smile, and said kindly, "If you have any more pills to sell in the future, please don't forget my shop."
The Azure Sky Puppet grunted in agreement and strode away.
·
After everyone left, Madam Fangwan let out a soft breath and rubbed her temples.
From the shadows, a gaunt middle-aged man emerged.
He twirled the ring on his right hand and said, "Madam Fangwan, why don't you send someone to go and take a look?"
Madam Fangwan glared at him and scolded, "Guard Sang, do you really not know, or are you testing me? That person just now was clearly a puppet, not the real one. What's the point of following him? Besides, that puppet's aura was terrifyingly strong. Who knows what kind of big shot is behind him? We're doing legitimate business. We're too busy making friends to risk offending someone."
—Don't be fooled by the fact that they're offering only first-grade pills; the quantity and quality are high, so there might be some deeper reason behind it. Besides, there are some new pills that haven't been seen in the vicinity before, making their origin even more uncertain. In that case, let's just follow the rules.
The gaunt middle-aged man smiled apologetically: "I underestimated you, Madam. But it is a great blessing that you have obtained a Youth Preservation Pill. You will surely be even more favored by the young master."
Madam Fangwan snorted, "I'm already this old, and with only a low-grade aptitude, how many more years can I live? The young master's favor is of no use to me. I don't need this Youth Preservation Pill. My sister has a low-grade aptitude, and this pill would be a great asset to her! I'm busy right now, so I'll trouble Guard Sang to make a trip for me and deliver the Youth Preservation Pill to my sister."
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