Do You Know Yun Zhonghe?

"Why has the Frost Wolf Pack come out to the outskirts lately?"

"Damn bad luck. What a waste of those two Tier 1 Demon Beasts we hunted—we didn't even have time to cut them up and put them into our Storage Bags."

"Maybe it's time for the wolf kings to fight for supremacy in the Howling Moon Mountain Range again. I heard it happened once several centuries ago, and many wolf packs fled to the outskirts to escape the disaster."

"Forget it, forget it. Let's head back to the Marketplace and rest up. We've been run ragged lately."

"Mm. As long as we're alive, that's what matters."

Just a few words, filled with both furious frustration and the relief of having survived a calamity.

Several cultivators walked from the plains toward the center of the Marketplace. When they passed Luo Chen's home, they paused for a moment.

Then a crisp, forthright female voice drifted over.

"Fellow cultivator, things may not be peaceful around here lately. If you have the means, you should move somewhere closer to the Inner City Area!"

Luo Chen did not answer.

If he had the means, he would have moved long ago.

Besides, somewhere close to the Inner City Area was not the Inner City Area itself. How could it possibly be considered safe?

Those rogue cultivators lived with their blades pressed to their throats. Robbing people on dark, moonless nights was far too common.

More than once, he had seen bloodstains and corpses on the road into the city.

This place was dangerous, but the cultivators of the Marketplace set up beast-repelling belts around the plains every year. Low-Rank Demon Beasts instinctively stayed away, while stronger Second-Order Demon Beasts did not dare approach areas where humans gathered.

Relatively speaking, where he lived was still fairly safe for now.

Besides, he usually acted poor as a church mouse, scraping together only a few Spirit Stones each month through backbreaking work. Few cultivators thought much of him.

"Hui Niang, why are you bothering with that kid?"

"Bathing in the creek and kneading mud in broad daylight—he's probably some newcomer who just arrived at Great River Market!"

"Come on, come on, let's go home."

Perhaps because they had not heard a reply, the people outside muttered a few words before leaving together.

Listening to them depart, Luo Chen could not help letting out a breath.

Compared to demon beasts, he feared human cultivators more.

Still, Hui Niang had a point. Times had changed. If something really was happening in the Howling Moon Mountain Range, then the Southwest Rogue Cultivator Area, being the closest, would indeed be in great danger.

"My mood's more or less adjusted now. Neither too tight nor too loose—tomorrow, I'll officially begin refining pills!"

"This time, I'll definitely succeed!"

After a full day and night of rest, both his body and mind were in peak condition.

At dawn, after circulating the Evergreen Art once, Luo Chen put on his grimy gray apron and walked to the kitchen window.

A long-bearded clay figurine stood there, holding a wooden blade. It had phoenix eyes, caterpillar eyebrows, and red painted onto both cheeks.

"Lord Guan, bless me with success!"

Calming his mind and steadying his breath, he set the pot on the stove, added water, fed in firewood, and ignited it with the Fireball Spell.

First, he simmered the auxiliary ingredients. Then he stir-fried the mineral materials, added broth and brought it to a boil, before adding He Shou Wu, Jade Mountain Herb, Fire Hound Whip, and the rest in sequence.

After simmering for roughly three hours, he added the final water-element spiritual herb, dried scallop, to harmonize yin and yang.

Throughout the process, he controlled the heat, sometimes using a roaring flame, sometimes a gentle one.

Another two hours passed before he lifted the lid!

A pot of pale-red paste huddled inside. When he poked it with a newly replaced wooden spoon, it wobbled like jelly.

It was pretty bouncy!

But it was still a failure.

According to the Pill Recipe, the finished paste should have been deep red. Only then would the All Wonders Pill possess its greatest aphrodisiac effect.

Though he had failed, Luo Chen was not overly upset.

Clearly, this batch had come very close to success.

At the very least, it had solidified well and achieved that springy texture.

For cultivators, if someone was not afraid of pill toxicity and ate the entire pot, it would probably still have some effect.

Of course, the aftereffects would definitely be severe.

So Luo Chen had no intention of selling it. That would be an easy way to get beaten up.

After tasting a tiny bit to determine the difference in medicinal power and reviewing the process once more, Luo Chen nodded and dumped all the dregs across the little creek.

That night, he continued cultivating and sleeping.

On the second day, he worshipped Lord Guan on schedule, then refined pills.

Failure!

On the third day, he worshipped Lord Guan on schedule, then refined pills.

Success!

Hey, it succeeded!

Looking at that huge pot of bright-red jelly, Luo Chen only felt that sweetness came after bitterness. His eyes almost welled up.

"Eight batches of materials failed, which means I lost around forty Spirit Stones. And if I count the forty bottles of Grain Avoidance Powder I could have refined during these eight days, that's another eight Spirit Stones gone."

"Wuwu, I nearly gambled away my entire fortune."

Luo Chen hurriedly scooped out all the medicinal paste. Ignoring the scalding heat, he used a bamboo knife to cut it into chunks, then kneaded each chunk into a round lump with his hands.

After drying overnight, it would be complete!

There was still one batch of materials left. He could make another attempt tomorrow.

The next morning, Luo Chen eagerly went to the cutting board in the kitchen where he made pills.

Sure enough, those ten round lumps had all shrunk to the size of longans.

The moisture had dried away, leaving only the essence.

Any one of them could send a man soaring!

With utmost care, Luo Chen stuffed the Red Small Pills into a jade bottle, then worshipped Lord Guan again.

"Second Master, you really have a heart. Even though I transmigrated, you're still watching over me. Once I make it big, I'll definitely build you a temple and mold you a Golden Body!"

After worshipping, Luo Chen pulled on his apron and clenched his fist fiercely.

"Sure enough, I'm a fucking pill-refining genius. I was born to refine pills!"

"One day, I'll definitely become famous. I've already thought of my title—the Eastern Wilderness Pill God. Its prestige won't be any worse than that Central Province Pill Saint!"

After giving himself a round of encouragement, Luo Chen busied himself once again.

Inside the smoke-filled kitchen, a hot yet cheerful atmosphere filled the room.

Yet when the bright sunlight streamed in, what met his eyes was an expressionless face.

"Hehe, people stumble and horses lose their footing. Even the Pill Saint blew up furnaces refining Tier 1 Pills when he was young."

"Next time, I'll definitely succeed. Definitely!"

Though he said that, Luo Chen's heart still ached.

This one batch of raw ingredients had cost five Spirit Stones!

He had lost a fortune!

"No, this only bottle of All Wonders Pills must sell for a high price. Otherwise, I won't even recover the cost!"

The sky was barely light.

It was as though heaven and earth were blanketed in white gauze mist, while the Million Mountains resembled an abyssal maw, opened wide as it waited to swallow Great River Market.

A young man in a washed-out Low-Grade Magic Robe ran through the Muddy Rogue Cultivator Shantytown like a gust of wind.

When female cultivators heading out to empty their chamber pots saw him, they could not help laughing and scolding him.

"Kid, you're running pretty fast! Got dogs chasing you?"

Fast—he really was fast.

Luo Chen seemed to truly have some affinity with Martial Dao. In just a few days, he had raised the proficiency of that book, Carefree Wander, from Entry Level to the Proficient Level.

Not only had it given him an Achievement Point, its boost to his speed had doubled as well.

Before, his limit had been 9 Seconds per Hundred Meters.

Now, with just a few strides, he could cover more than a hundred meters.

The trip into the city usually took an hour and a half on foot. Even running, it should have taken thirty or forty minutes!

Yet today, he reached the city gate in only twenty minutes!

Luo Chen had never experienced the effects of the Wind Riding Art, but he felt that Carefree Wander was no worse. And this was only the Proficient Level—there were still Mastery Level, perfection, and Grandmaster Level ahead.

There was plenty of potential left to dig out!

When he arrived at the Southwest Rogue Cultivator Area, the sky had not even brightened. This time, Old Taoist Chen Xiuping had not arrived before him.

In the vast stall area, only a scant few people had set up their wares.

Luo Chen looked around. Rather than immediately putting out his pills, he strolled over to a street stall.

"Brother Wang, you came pretty early!"

Wang Yuan glanced at him but said nothing.

Luo Chen grinned without embarrassment and squatted down to flip through several books.

"Don't touch Qi Refining Stage Five Must-Know Spells. That one costs money."

"How much?"

"Two Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

"Why don't you just rob someone?"

"I did rob someone for it!"

"Uh, pretend I didn't say anything."

Wang Yuan was at the Qi Refining Stage, Seventh Layer—the sort of person Luo Chen often described as living with a blade pressed to his throat. He had done plenty of fighting at village entrances and highway robbery.

Luo Chen could not afford to provoke him, while Wang Yuan did not think much of Luo Chen. They only exchanged a few words now and then when setting up stalls.

Oh, and back when Wang Yuan had fallen on hard times and had been forced to hunt in the Ancient Origin Mountain Range, Luo Chen had sold him several bottles of Grain Avoidance Pills on credit.

So the two of them did have a little history.

"Don't touch this one either. It records a sinister and vicious evil art."

"Heh, your hands are really cheap, kid. Be careful, or I'll rob you once you leave the Inner City Area!"

"Here, you can read this one all you want. If you want to buy it, I'll sell it to you at half price—five Spirit Stones."

Why buy anything when he could freeload?

Even if he had money, he could not waste it like that!

Luo Chen excitedly picked up Six Domains Customs Record and began reading with relish.

He read for an entire hour.

Only when the Marketplace began filling with people did Luo Chen reluctantly put the book down.

"Brother Wang, I'll head over first. This bag of Spicy Beef Jerky is for you—eat it when you're craving something."

Wang Yuan glared at him. "Scram!"

Looking at that bag of beef jerky, he swallowed almost imperceptibly, then clenched his buttocks.

Back at the Azure Stone slab stall, Old Taoist Chen had already begun arranging talisman skins and talismans.

"Uncle Chen, do you know Yun Zhonghe?"

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