Marketplace

Lin Chan opened the mechanism of the Flowing Cloud Pill Pendant and used a Cleaning Spell to extract the filtered impurities, which amounted to a piece the size of a soybean.

They were all materials from the alchemy process that hadn't been fully refined, along with some burnt dregs and parts that couldn't integrate into the medicinal power.

Lin Chan found a jade bottle and collected these residues. Once he had enough, he could use them as fertilizer for growing plants and such.

Setting the jade bottle aside, Lin Chan took out the pills he had stashed away.

Just as he was about to toss his leftover Qi Gathering Pills into the pendant, a thought struck him.

"This pendant can block Pill Toxin, so why not use lower-quality pills instead? That would save me some Talisman Coins, and I'm running a bit short on those right now."

Thinking this, Lin Chan swallowed a Qi Gathering Pill.

After cultivating until his meridians felt slightly sore, Lin Chan packed up and headed out, making his way to the Scripture Gorge to find Zhang He.

Zhang He was older and knew the sect better, so Lin Chan wanted to ask him where he could get waste pills or low-grade Qi Gathering Pills.

It didn't matter if they had heavy Pill Toxin; the key was that they were cheap and plentiful.

He did the math: the pendant could take five broad-bean-sized pills at once, and it would take about ten days to fully consume their medicinal power.

That meant he'd need at least fifteen Qi Gathering Pills a month.

The steward on Tianquan Peak who managed pill distribution only gave out six high-quality Qi Gathering Pills each month, which clearly wasn't enough.

So, for now, he absolutely couldn't waste the pendant's filtering ability on good-quality Qi Gathering Pills.

Once he was richer, that would be a different story.

"Old Zhang!"

Lin Chan was already quite familiar with Zhang He, so he addressed him like that.

Zhang He spent every day in the Scripture Gorge, making him easy to find.

"Brother Lin."

Zhang He walked over to greet him.

"Old Zhang, do you know where I can buy those low-quality Qi Gathering Pills?"

Lin Chan asked directly.

"Brother Lin, what do you need those pills for? With your status and talent, why use them for cultivation? They'd only hurt your future potential."

Zhang He immediately advised him, worried that Lin Chan was too young and might rush his breakthrough down the wrong path.

Young people always did that, impatient and reckless.

"Old Zhang, you've got it wrong. I'm raising two Little Demons, aren't I? They're cultivating too slowly, so I want to buy some to feed them."

Lin Chan had his excuse ready and blurted it out as soon as Zhang He asked.

"I see."

Zhang He nodded in sudden understanding. It was true that some Inner Sect Disciples with plenty of Talisman Coins did that.

But Lin Chan was only at the early Qi Cultivation stage, clearly not in that category.

Still, Zhang He wasn't about to meddle in someone else's wallet, so he just replied:

"Over at the Outer Sect Square, there's a small market every two days. If Brother Lin wants to trade for something, you can check it out there."

With several hundred or even a thousand people in the outer sect, there was always demand for exchanging goods.

"Got it, Old Zhang. When's the next market?"

Lin Chan pressed.

Zhang He counted on his fingers and said, "Tomorrow morning."

"Great! Thanks, Old Zhang!"

Lin Chan nodded and went off to look for some Daoist texts to read.

The next day, Lin Chan got up early and headed to the Outer Sect Square. Sure enough, he saw people setting up stalls in an orderly fashion.

Pills, talismans, broken artifact fragments, Spiritual Medicine—almost everything revolved around important cultivation items.

Lin Chan wasn't one to wander aimlessly, so he casually approached a stall selling pills.

The stall owner was a young girl with a Spirit Snake Bun, at the early Qi Cultivation stage.

Seeing Lin Chan's attire, she immediately said, "Senior Brother! Take a look!"

Lin Chan glanced around casually. There were some detox pills, wound ointments, and a few sachets.

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Lin Chan hadn't seen any of these items before. He gave them a quick scan and moved on.

"Senior Brother, these pills were all refined by my elder sister. I'm here selling them for her."

The girl smiled as she struck up a conversation.

Lin Chan took a serious sniff of the pill's scent and examined its quality—far worse than what he received each month.

"Senior Brother, my name is Xie Yuban, and my sister is Xie Gejing. When will you be giving lectures at the training grounds? I'd like to come listen."

Seeing that Lin Chan was young, handsome, and an Inner Sect Disciple with a bright future ahead, the girl found herself talking more than she intended, even forgetting to push her pills.

"I don't give lectures at the training grounds."

Lin Chan shook his head. Holding up the box she had used to display her wares, he asked:

"Do you have any pills of even lower quality than these?"

Flustered that Lin Chan was speaking to her, the girl's face flushed as she scrambled to recall.

"My sister should still have some, but those are Low-Grade Pills. We only sell them to Wandering Cultivators outside the sect."

She answered quickly.

"That's fine. Can you take me to see them?"

Lin Chan asked.

"Senior Brother, where is your Cave Dwelling? I could deliver them there."

Xie Yuban said, a hint of shyness creeping into her voice.

"You can find me at Scripture Gorge this afternoon."

With that, Lin Chan set down the box and moved on to browse other stalls.

Among Shu Mountain's seven main peaks, Tianquan Peak was not known for pill refinement. Few of its Inner Sect elders were skilled in the art, and their disciples followed suit.

If Inner Sect Disciples couldn't do it, Outer Sect Disciples were even less capable.

Thus, there were only two stallholders selling pills. Lin Chan told the other one to meet him at Scripture Gorge that afternoon as well, so he could compare their pill quality and decide which was better.

That afternoon, both parties arrived at Scripture Gorge carrying their inferior Low-Grade Pills.

After weighing his options, Lin Chan settled on the pills from the Xie sisters—twenty pills for one Mortal Talisman Coin.

It wasn't that Lin Chan was swayed by beauty. He had little interest in the two sisters. Rather, Xie Gejing offered the best price, and the pill's medicinal potency was decent.

Of course, Lin Chan had also considered using waste pills.

But while waste pills were even cheaper—comparable to Bigu Pills—they were almost entirely composed of useless Pill Toxin, with nothing of value left. Lin Chan had no choice but to abandon the idea.

Otherwise, he could have saved a few more Talisman Coins.

When Xie Yuban and Xie Gejing returned to their dwelling, Xie Yuban immediately beamed with joy.

"Mother! Senior Brother Lin picked our pills! Hehe!"

"I've told you before—call me sister. Calling me mother makes me sound old."

Xie Gejing lightly tapped Xie Yuban on the head.

She had reminded Xie Yuban time and again to address her as a sister within the sect.

"There's no one around!"

Xie Yuban said in a coaxing tone.

Though Xie Gejing appeared to be in her early twenties, it was merely the result of good health and beauty preservation.

In truth, she was already nearing forty.

Of course, compared to the Inner Sect True Person elders with their youthful faces and white hair, this was nothing.

As for their current Cave Dwelling, it belonged to an Inner Sect Senior Brother they knew. Since he was going on a several-year training expedition and the cave would sit empty anyway, he rented it to them.

"Mother! I'd never even seen Senior Brother Lin before today. He must be around my age, right?"

Xie Yuban smiled to herself.

She knew that Inner Sect disciples were usually old monsters.

"Probably."

As one of the few alchemists among Tianquan Peak's Outer Sect disciples, Xie Gejing had some knowledge of the Inner Sect senior brothers.

It was true that she had only heard of this particular person in recent years.

Still, most of the senior brothers she knew didn't think highly of him—some even sneered at his name.

But no matter how lackluster an Inner Sect Disciple might be, he was still beyond the reach of two lowly Outer Sect disciples.

"Focus on your cultivation. Don't let your mind wander!"

Seeing Xie Yuban's silly grin, Xie Gejing tapped her forehead again—this time a little harder.

Otherwise, Xie Yuban wouldn't learn her lesson.

Xie Gejing feared that Xie Yuban might repeat her own mistakes. She deeply regretted having given birth to Xie Yuban back then. If not for that, she might have gone further in her path.

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