Ancient Recipes and Return

"Why are you being so generous today, Junior Brother Liu?"

The kindly old man not only knew Liu Jing, but also knew he came from a declining Cultivation Family. So although he knew Liu Jing was unlikely to falsify his offer, he still wanted to confirm it.

"Haha, no need to worry, Senior Brother Wu. This time, I went out and killed an evil cultivator at Foundation Establishment Mid-stage. I came into a sum of money."

Liu Jing took out the sinister Magic Artifact used by Old Ghost Blood from his Storage Bag and generously displayed it to everyone.

This Magic Artifact was actually the Bloodthirsty Shuttle. However, Old Ghost Blood's had been nurtured for nearly two hundred years and was an exceptional top-grade killing Magic Artifact. Ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators would have their hair stand on end merely from sensing its aura.

While marveling at the Bloodthirsty Shuttle's power, everyone also grew deeply wary of Liu Jing, who had killed its owner. Their desire to compete with him for the Qi Gathering Pills weakened even further.

The boorish Big Man who had offended Liu Jing earlier in particular now felt as though he were sitting on pins and needles, wishing he could leave at once.

In the Cultivation World, strength was ultimately supreme. This move from Liu Jing directly secured his victory. After paying the Spirit Stones, he happily tucked the bottle of Qi Gathering Pills into his robes.

With the Qi Gathering Pills warming up the auction, the atmosphere became lively again. The next several kinds of pills all sold for prices twenty to thirty percent above Market Price.

However, no more pills that could assist Foundation Establishment stage cultivators in cultivation appeared. Instead, there were pills for specialized purposes, such as [Spirit Infusion Powder], which could accelerate the growth of spirit beasts; [Explosive Flame Pills], which could greatly increase the power of one's fire-element Spells for a Short Period of Time; [Joyful Pills], which enhanced the effects of Dual Cultivation; and so on.

Near the end of the pill auction, the kindly old man brought out a bottle of [Qi Harmonizing Pills]. Among common pills, these were the best cultivation-enhancing pills that Qi Refining Stage cultivators could take. They had presumably been prepared specifically for cultivators like Luo Hong, who had attended with their elders.

The Medicinal Power of a single Qi Harmonizing Pill was around 20, more than three times that of a Yellow Dragon Pill. Luo Hong decisively bid again, taking all ten Qi Harmonizing Pills for one hundred Spirit Stones.

During this, the Treasure Woman also tried to compete with him. However, she seemed to have spent too many Spirit Stones on the Azure Condensing Mirror and did not put any real pressure on Luo Hong. Only after it was over did she look at him with even greater hostility.

Luo Hong ignored her outright and muttered, "Trading the possessions of three evil cultivators for a bottle of pills shouldn't count as a loss." This successfully calmed the slightly astonished look in Liu Jing's eyes.

After the pill auction came the less popular Auction Items, such as talismans, Formation Flags, and spirit beasts. Since fine items were rare in these categories, it was not long before the auction moved on to various spiritual materials and Spiritual Herbs.

Most of the spiritual materials and Spiritual Herbs were high-grade goods suitable for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. Although Luo Hong had no use for them, he still broadened his horizons considerably.

Time Passed amid one round of bids after another. When the final Spiritual Herb was sold, the kindly old man immediately announced the start of bartering.

There was no particular order. Anyone interested could go onstage to display their spiritual items and state what spiritual items they wanted.

Luo Hong watched more than ten Foundation Establishment stage cultivators take the stage in succession and display their spiritual items, yet he did not see the top-grade Aerial Driving Magic Tool he had been yearning for.

He counted the top-grade Magic Artifacts that had appeared throughout the Trade Fair and found that offensive Magic Artifacts such as hooks, forks, swords, and halberds were the most common. The Azure Condensing Mirror was the only half-decent defensive one, while there had not even been a trace of an aerial-driving type.

"Looks like other cultivators aren't fools either. They won't casually sell such life-saving treasures."

"An [Ancient Pure Lotus Pill Recipe], in exchange for a lotus-type Spiritual Herb over Five Hundred Years old."

At some point, the veiled Female Cultivator from the Moon Concealing Sect had gone onstage. She took out an Ancient Pill Recipe and actually wanted to trade it for a Spiritual Herb over Five Hundred Years old, something even Core Formation stage cultivators coveted.

Luo Hong, who had already been losing interest, perked up again upon hearing the words "Pure Lotus Pill." This was an advanced version of the White Lotus Pill and would be of great benefit to his cultivation of the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method.

This woman clearly wanted to refine Pure Lotus Pills. Could it be that she cultivated the Ice Skin Jade Bone Method as well?

Quite a few people were interested in the Ancient Pill Recipe, but the veiled Female Cultivator's asking price was too high. For Foundation Establishment stage cultivators like them, even Spiritual Herbs with two or three hundred years of cultivation had to be sought painstakingly. Thus, after waiting for quite a while, no one below the stage responded.

Naturally, Luo Hong did not have one either. He merely kept This Matter in mind.

The veiled Female Cultivator had expected this result long ago, so she was not particularly disappointed. Her expression unchanged, she stepped down from the stage.

At Yellow Maple Valley, above the protective formation of Fanghua Garden, Liu Jing briefly bade Luo Hong farewell before heading straight for Li Huayuan's cave residence.

Taking out his access Token, Luo Hong returned to the small courtyard he had been away from for half a month. He could not help feeling completely relaxed, and he lay on the bed to rest properly for a while.

On the way back, he had subtly questioned his fellow disciples. After he left, Hundred Crafts Hall had caused a commotion for a full ten days, investigating every disciple who had learned talisman-making.

In the end, they only caught two disciples who had made inferior talisman paper and passed it off as good quality. After punishing them severely, they dropped the matter.

At least, that was how it appeared on the surface.

With this, Luo Hong naturally felt greatly reassured. As Long As they did not conduct a massive and thorough investigation, the chance of him being exposed was very small.

As for whether Hundred Crafts Hall would set some kind of trap and wait for him, appearing lax outside while remaining strict within, Luo Hong was even less worried. He had intended to make one big score and then stop anyway. If Hundred Crafts Hall truly had any arrangements, they would only be wasted effort.

After recovering his energy, Luo Hong went to the main house to inspect the operation of the Small Rain Cloud Array.

Before leaving, he had placed four Spirit Stones into the Formation Plate. By now, it had only used a little more than one.

Luo Hong was extremely well-off in Spirit Stones now, so he simply added several more. This way, he would not need to worry about his duties at Fanghua Garden for the next few months.

If the other Qi Refining Stage disciples in the valley knew Luo Hong was doing this, they would surely curse him together for being so wasteful. If they did what he did, the two Spirit Stones the sect issued every month would not even be enough, and they would have to add some of their own.

Yet this was the joy of having Spirit Stones.

Sitting cross-legged within the Spirit Gathering Array, Luo Hong took more than ten Jade Bottles of various sizes out of his Storage Bag in one go and lined them up neatly before him.

More than half of these Jade Bottles contained Yellow Dragon Pills refined for him by Li Xiaowan. Since Luo Hong had saved her, Li Xiaowan not only did not take a cut, but also gave him several extra pills, bringing the total to fifty.

"Out of ten batches of Yellow Dragon Pills, five succeeded. I'm still far behind Old Demon Han, but compared to other alchemists, that's already considered excellent."

Aside from the Qi Harmonizing Pills he had just bought, the rest were pills he had found in Li Mingjing's Storage Bag.

There was nothing special about them. They were all pills on the same level as Yellow Dragon Pills, but there were many of them. Their total Medicinal Power added up to more than 500.

"In theory, these pills can raise my Mana Limit by 1,000, enough for me to cultivate to Level 10 Qi Refining. By then, I'll have completed more than half of my Qi Refining Stage cultivation and should be able to glimpse some of the secrets to advancing to Foundation Establishment."

After Speaking, Luo Hong tipped his head back and swallowed a Yellow Dragon Pill, beginning to refine its Medicinal Power.

Next chapter preview: The Mystery of the Bottleneck. Didn't expect it, did you? I managed to squeeze out a saved chapter.