Marketplace, Selling Pills

"Senior Disciple Brother Su, please think of a solution quickly."

"Yeah, lately some of our brothers have gone missing or died. What's going on?"

"Where's Master? Is he just going to watch us all die?"

"If it's really impossible, can you let us go down the mountain to hide?"

"..."

A group of Medicine Slaves surrounded Su Hao, in a state of panic.

Not long ago, the steward of Bamboo Heart Courtyard, Xiong San Yan, and one or two Medicine Slaves suddenly died or went missing.

They had remained relatively calm then.

But today, three Medicine Slaves were killed in Bamboo Heart Courtyard, silently and gruesomely.

Wouldn't it be their turn next?

Each of them felt like a lamb to the slaughter. The spiritual energy they had cultivated was too weak to control, offering them no sense of security whatsoever.

Su Hao frowned, scanning the crowd. After a moment, he waved his hand, "Calm yourselves. I will report this truthfully to Master. Rest assured, everyone."

"Su Hao, how can you expect us to be at ease?" a fat man couldn't help but retort loudly. "They won't let us go down the mountain, and the guards here are all useless. Who can protect us?"

His words were immediately echoed by the crowd.

Su Hao's expression remained unchanged. "Huang Jiao, increase the number of guards and strengthen our vigilance, especially at night. We must have several teams on patrol."

"Yes!" Huang Jiao responded respectfully.

"Su Hao, the deaths of Chen Da and the other two are definitely related to Cultivators. In my opinion, some Cultivators practicing evil arts are using them for their training. What good will it do to add more guards? Unless you can get Cultivators to guard Bamboo Heart Courtyard. Easy for you to say. Why don't you live in Bamboo Heart Courtyard too..."

The fatty incited them again, stepping forward as if to grab Su Hao, assuming that since they all came up the mountain together, Su Hao's strength was similar to his.

Bang.

Su Hao casually slapped the fat man away. The man flew seven or eight meters before hitting the ground.

"This fat man is talking nonsense, causing unrest, and is a suspect. Lock him up in the woodshed. The rest of you, stay in your rooms and do not go out without permission. Otherwise, you will be killed without mercy!"

Su Hao glanced at the crowd, pondered for two seconds, then waved his hand, issuing his orders.

Huang Jiao and the guards immediately stepped forward.

Several people dragged the fat man towards the woodshed.

The remaining people were still dissatisfied, but they no longer dared to shout. However, their gazes towards Su Hao were filled with resentment.

It's just that he got lucky and was noticed by Alchemist Lin early! Karma is a cycle...

Some people thought to themselves, knowing they were powerless to resist Su Hao now, silently fantasizing about their future rise to prominence.

"Bury these three properly," Su Hao said, turning to leave.

"It must have been Liu Mei who did it."

Leaving Bamboo Heart Courtyard, Su Hao's mood was heavy. After witnessing the battle between Liu Mei and Lin Zhi Shan, he had a comprehensive understanding of Liu Mei's strength. If they were to fight, he believed he would not lose to Liu Mei. If he had the advantage of surprise and used sneak attacks, his win rate would exceed eighty percent! No matter what, once he made a move, it had to be a fight to the death, otherwise, there would be endless trouble!

"I wonder if Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's Huang Shanyu's influence will be effective. But she has definitely received the false news that Lin Zhi Shan secretly left the Sect. As Huang Shanyu said, she wants to kill these Medicine Slaves for revenge and to strengthen herself. Since she's here, but only killing ordinary Medicine Slaves, it at least means I won't be targeted until these Medicine Slaves are all dead."

Su Hao glanced back at Bamboo Heart Courtyard. He felt no affection for these people who had come up the mountain with him; they weren't even companions. Especially since the innate powers that erupted from these dead Medicine Slaves could be of great use to Su Hao. He had thought about killing them long ago to enhance himself with their innate powers, but he had never been able to bring himself to do it.

"Not to mention the side effects of the Heart Nurturing Pill, these people won't live much longer."

"If they can survive Liu Mei, I'll keep raising them until they die on their own."

Su Hao thought to himself.

He then headed down the mountain.

Liu Mei posed a threat to him, and he wasn't sure if she had any other tricks up her sleeve.

Su Hao needed to arm himself as much as possible and maximize his combat power.

Continuing to cultivate in seclusion and popping pills wasn't the best option.

In the Qi Refining stage, external forces like magic artifacts and talismans were the most effective means of increasing combat power.

Right now, he needed to exchange some of his unused pills for spirit stones, and then use those spirit stones to buy things that would boost his strength!

Su Hao descended the mountain, traveling with his movement technique.

He arrived at a valley called Hidden Dragon Valley, west of the Outer Sect's main peak.

Hidden Dragon Valley was where disciples gathered and socialized, and it also had many secret passages that served as shortcuts to places like the Flame Iron Ore Vein and the Ten Thousand Corpse Pit.

The central underground palace, where the caves converged, was a marketplace spontaneously formed by the disciples of the lower levels.

Opening a shop on the main peak required spirit stone rent, and they were often bound by Sect rules and supervision on the surface.

However, setting up a stall here required no rent and had no oversight; it was all about individual capability.

Due to the mixed crowd, it was also an excellent place to fence stolen goods.

Another point was that without the constraints of rules, stall owners without some strength might even get robbed.

Su Hao, clad in a black robe and wearing a ghost-faced mask.

This disguise to conceal his identity wasn't uncommon here.

The reasons were generally similar: either they were worried about attracting unwanted attention, or they needed to offload items with questionable origins.

Those who could openly display their faces and identities here were those with strong cultivation or backgrounds.

Along the way, some people glanced at Su Hao disdainfully, their eyes filled with mockery.

Qi Refining Level 4? They could hide their faces and figures, but not their spiritual energy aura, it was simply self-deception.

Without hesitation, they all judged Su Hao in their hearts as a naive little newbie!

Su Hao paid no mind to their gazes, browsing the numerous stalls of varying sizes.

The outer perimeter consisted of many cultivators with temporary stalls set up with small wooden tables or blankets, displaying various bottles, jars, magic artifacts, and materials.

The central area was more elaborate, with rows of standardized bamboo buildings adorned with signs of all sizes, seemingly protected by array formations.

Although it appeared to be a chaotic black market, it was actually maintained by a more brutal and simpler order, so the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.

Su Hao scanned the area; besides buying, people often bought and sold pills and magic artifact materials.

"Fellow Daoist, are you here to buy or sell? Our prices are absolutely fair."

A beautiful female cultivator from a nearby stall, dressed provocatively, greeted him with a smile.

"Heavenly Treasure Residence?" Su Hao noticed the shop's sign. "What's your relationship with Heavenly Treasure Pavilion?"

The female cultivator smiled. "Fellow Daoist, what does their relationship matter? We won't let you suffer a loss, and our reputation here is even more guaranteed."

Su Hao immediately understood. The two shops were related? He directly ignored this Heavenly Treasure Residence.

It was precisely because he was wary of Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and feared revealing too much that he came to this black market.

Naturally, he had to keep his distance from Heavenly Treasure Residence.

The female cultivator pouted, watching Su Hao disappear into the crowd. She always encountered these self-important customers who thought Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was unsafe.

"I want to sell pills," Su Hao said, arriving at another shop that looked more imposing than Heavenly Treasure Residence, Eight Treasures Pavilion.

"What kind of pills do you wish to sell?" a maid greeted him with a smile.

"Pure Qi Pills," Su Hao replied, taking out a bottle of Pure Qi Pills.

The middle-aged shopkeeper at a counter not far away glanced over. This kind of small business didn't warrant his personal attention.

The maid picked up the medicine bottle and poured out a pill. She had a discerning eye and could identify the pill's quality at a glance. "Oh... Mid-grade Pure Qi Pills?"

"Mid-grade Pure Qi Pills?" The middle-aged shopkeeper looked again. A mere glance from afar confirmed the maid's judgment was correct. He nodded, signaling that it was fine.

"Our purchase price for Mid-grade is 3 spirit stones per bottle."

The maid offered the price.

"3 spirit stones?" Su Hao frowned slightly.