Peng Qiu Encounters a Strange Incident While Collecting Pill Recipes

On the other side.

Beyond Serpent Dragon Lake, in the desolate area stretching for millions of miles between it and the Golden Horn Grassland, lies an extremely hidden cave abode within a desolate valley.

Before long, a somewhat thin young cultivator at the Qi Training Ninth Layer Refining emerged from the cave abode with an excited expression.

He quickly ran out of the Boundless Great Swamp and entered the largest Serpent Dragon Marketplace.

This person wandered around the market for nearly half a day, inquiring about the more famous shops in the market.

They investigate which shops are more trustworthy and fair.

After several verifications, he finally stood outside the gate of the Hundred Spirits Sect Sky Talisman Gathering Treasure Pavilion, the headquarters of the Sky Talisman Commerce Association, one of the two major chambers of commerce in the Bailingmen territory, which had a weaker foundation.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally took a step and entered.

There were quite a few people inside the Gathering Treasure Pavilion.

After waiting for a while, a waitress came up to greet them and asked softly.

"Senior, what do you need?"

The young cultivator at the Qi Training Ninth Layer lowered his voice and answered the maid, "Does your shop accept alchemy manuals?"

Upon hearing this, the maid's eyes lit up, and she quickly ushered the young cultivator at the Qi Training Ninth Layer Refining into a quiet room in the Gathering Treasure Pavilion, asking him to wait there for a moment.

The maid then informed the two shopkeepers of the matter and went to the backyard of the shop, knocking on the door of a quiet room there.

Not long after, the door was opened.

Ling Clan Ling Chengxin, Second Rank Low Grade Alchemist from the Gathering Treasure Pavilion at the Chamber of Commerce headquarters, emerged from the pavilion, accompanied by waves of fragrant pills.

Ling Chengxin is also in his fifties, but because his cultivation has broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, his body has been nourished by spiritual energy.

This made him look like a young man, with fair skin, and he looked like a scholar.

"Wanning, what brings you here, girl?"

The maid was the youngest member of the Wan Generation among the four generations of the Ling Clan: Xiao, Peng, Cheng, and Wan. She was the eighth in the Wan Generation, twenty-three years old, and possessed the aptitude of Five Spirit Root.

Because of her poor aptitude, she left the Clan Mountain when she turned eighteen to work for the Lineage and earn Spirit Stone.

Now, she works as a maid in the Gathering Treasure Pavilion at the headquarters of the Sky Talisman Commerce Association.

"Uncle Thirteen, someone came to the shop to sell a first-level alchemy manual. I'm afraid it's fake, and since you're the only second-level Alchemist in the shop, I'd like to ask you to come out and take a look."

Ling Wanning, who was serving as a maid, said excitedly.

Given the size of the Sky Talisman Commerce Association, having one second-tier Alchemist at headquarters is usually sufficient.

During the Chamber of Commerce's auction held once every five years, the Ling Clan, Yang Clan, and Spirit Talisman Old Ancestor, three forces from the Sky Talisman Commerce Association, will jointly offer spiritual items.

"A manual on alchemy? That's quite rare. I'd like to take a look."

Ling Chengxin's expression shifted slightly.

A book of alchemical formulas is not something that can be called a book of alchemical formulas. Only when more than ten Pill Formula are collected in a book can it be called an alchemical book.

Then, led by Ling Wanning, he entered the quiet room where the young cultivator who sold pill manuals was.

The young cultivator who sold alchemy manuals trembled when he saw the maid bring a Foundation Establishment Cultivator Foundation Establishment.

However, he quickly returned to normal, and he cupped his hands in greeting to Ling Chengxin, who was in the Foundation Establishment Realm, and called him "Senior".

Ling Wanning, who was acting as a maid, tactfully left the quiet room, leaving the space to Ling Chengxin and the young cultivator who sold alchemy manuals.

"Young friend, I am Ling Chengxin, the Supreme Elder of the Lingxiao Ling Clan, and also the Pill Refining Guest Elder of the Sky Talisman Commerce Association."

"Since you wish to sell Pill Refining diagrams, young friend, would you mind taking a look?"

"I also need to verify whether it's true or false."

Seeing that the young cultivator was somewhat reserved, Ling Chengxin then revealed his identity.

Upon hearing this, the young cultivator considered that the Lingxiao Ling Clan was now the only Golden Core clan in the Yan Kingdom, and that the Ling Clan family had always had an excellent reputation and treated their relatives with enviable kindness.

In addition, the Sky Talisman Commerce Association emphasizes fairness and justice.

After hesitating for a moment, he took out the alchemy manual that he had recently found in the secluded cave abode of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the Boundless Great Swamp.

However, he did not reveal the true origin of the alchemy manual.

Instead, he said, "This second-tier alchemy manual is a family heirloom; it is absolutely genuine."

"However, senior, you can only read the first ten pages of this alchemy manual. Otherwise, with your Divine Sense, once you finish reading this manual, you will probably memorize all the contents of that manual as well."

"If you later decide you don't want it anymore, I'll be at a huge loss."

Ling Chengxin understood and nodded slightly, agreeing to the matter. "I can promise you this."

After saying that, he reached out and took the alchemy manual, and carefully flipped through it.

The first ten pages of this first-order alchemy manual only record the recipe for a First Rank Low Grade Pill Formula called "Demon Breaking Pill".

Ling Chengxin, a Second Rank Low Grade Alchemist, was immediately intrigued upon seeing the contents of the Pill Formula.

The Demon Breaking Pill is a rather rare type of elixir that can help Demon Beast break through their bottlenecks.

First Rank Low Grade Demon Breaking Pill can help demonic Demon Beast in the Early-Stage Qi Training break through minor bottlenecks, or increase their probability of reaching the Qi Training Fourth Layer.

"The Lineage does not currently possess the Pill Formula for refining this type of pill. If I can acquire this Pill Formula, the Lineage who rely on the cubs of the Demon Beast produced in the clan's Spirit Beast Garden as their Spirit Beast beasts will no longer need to worry about the slow advancement of their Spirit Beast ranks."

Based on his experience as a second-tier Alchemist, Ling Chengxin verified that the Pill Formula was genuine, and a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes.

The Ling Clan established the Spirit Beast Garden more than 20 years ago, which housed a large number of Demon Beast.

In addition, there has been over twenty years of training by the Ling Clan, as well as subsequent arrests in recent years.

The number of Spirit Beast in the Spirit Beast Garden is now close to one hundred, which means that two or three Spirit Beast cubs are born in the Spirit Beast Garden every year.

Among the two or three-headed Demon Beast cubs, there are always some with better aptitude. These aptitude-rich Spirit Beast cubs are also very popular among the Ling Clan clan.

Basically, these high-quality Spirit Beast cubs are in short supply, and as soon as they appear, they are exchanged by the clansmen.

As a result, nearly 30% to 40% of the more than 200 cultivators in the Ling Clan now possess Spirit Beast.

However, the cultivation speed of Demon Beast is generally extremely slow, and it can take several years or even more than ten years to advance to a minor realm, which troubles many Ling Clan cultivators who possess Spirit Beast.

The only option is to spend a lot of money to buy spiritual fruits and other spiritual items to accelerate the cultivation speed of one's own Spirit Beast.

That's exactly what Ling Pengyun did back then.

It can be said that the Pill Formula of this "Demon Breaking Pill" alone has been of great help to the Ling Clan.

Ling Chengxin then inquired with the young cultivator who was selling the alchemy manual.

"Young friend, how much are you asking for this alchemy manual?"

The young cultivator selling the pill manual smiled slightly, a hint of delight in his eyes, when he saw Ling Chengxin ask about the price.

"My alchemy manual contains thirty-six first-grade Pill Formula and twelve different second-grade Pill Formula. On the market, a First Rank Low Grade Pill Formula costs at least fifty, First Rank Middle Grade Pill Formula costs one hundred, First-Tier Superior-Grade Pill Formula formula costs one hundred and fifty, and Second Rank Low Grade Pill Formula costs at least five hundred Spirit Stone..."

"Considering that my pill formula might overlap with Pill Formula you possess, if you are truly willing to purchase it, I will sell it to you for a package price of five thousand Spirit Stone."

"If you are unwilling, senior, then the Pill Formula the First Rank Low Grade- Demon Breaking Pill that you have seen will be given to you by me."

Seeing that the young man selling the pill manual was reasonably priced and showed goodwill, Ling Chengxin was quite satisfied with the young cultivator.

After a moment's thought, he stepped out of the quiet room, took five thousand Spirit Stone from the shop counter, and handed them to the young cultivator selling the pill manual.

The young cultivator was quite pleased with this.

"Now, I can buy a second-rate Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object Spirit Stone."

He was about to stand up and leave when Ling Chengxin stopped him.

"Wait a minute. You've already taken the Spirit Stone. I still need to examine the subsequent pill formulas in this pill Pill Formula. If any of them are fake, you'll lose some Spirit Stone until I verify the authenticity of all the subsequent Pill Formula."

"But don't worry, as long as everything you bring out is genuine, my Heavenly Talisman Merchant will not touch a single Spirit Stone in your possession."

"Furthermore, I can assure you that no one knows about what happened today except me."

"If you need to purchase anything of high value, you can go directly through me. I guarantee the safety of your transaction, and I can vouch for it with the reputation of my Sky Talisman Commerce Association."

"Also, I don't know if you have a copy of the alchemy manual. You must have made Heavenly Dao Oath based on your cultivation level that you will not pass on this alchemy manual to outsiders."

This "customer is king" management philosophy was something Ling Pengyun instructed him to do some time ago when Ling Chengxin returned to the Lineage to attend Ling Pengyun's Golden Core Ceremony.

It is precisely because of this excellent after-sales service management method that Sky Talisman Commerce Association's business has improved by about 10% to 20% in recent days.

Upon hearing this, the young man selling spiritual items immediately complied, having already made Heavenly Dao Oath not to reveal the alchemy manual.

Then, a thought struck him.

The Sky Talisman Commerce Association of Commerce enjoys an extremely high reputation and is one of only two chambers of commerce in the entire Hundred Spirits Sect territory.

It is said that the number of Spirit Stone circulating in this chamber of commerce each year is only a few hundred thousand.

Such a large chamber of commerce naturally has an extremely important reputation.

Once its reputation is damaged, the Sky Talisman Commerce Association will have no future. Even if the guild's spiritual items are of high quality, probably not many cultivators will dare to buy them, lest they perish from purchasing them.

This isn't unheard of; many poorly managed small shops have ripped off Rogue Cultivator in this way.

"Senior, could you possibly obtain a second-rate Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object for me?"

The young cultivator was lost in thought and asked a question.

"If all thirty-six first-tier Pill Formula and twelve second-tier Pill Formula in your alchemy manual are genuine, I can certainly help you find second-tier Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object. Currently, my Ling Clan only has two types of second-tier Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object: Small Hundred Spirits Water and Meridian Protecting Pill. Which one do you want?"