Qi Replenishing Powder! Ghost Face Ambush!

"Hiss—"

The burly stall owner hissed through his teeth as if he had a headache, his eyes showing deep, hidden apprehension. After a moment of thought, he quoted a price:

"One hundred..."

Su Haoran's expression remained calm, his gaze sharp.

"One hundred and fifty taels! As this master suggested, the market price!"

Finally, the stall owner let out a long sigh, his tone laced with a hint of helplessness and relief.

This was the highest price he could offer. The young monk before him looked ordinary, but his demeanor was not to be trifled with.

This was the intuition he had developed from being a black market stall owner for so many years.

Being able to seize so much standard military equipment from the Great Western Army and still stand here unharmed was indicative of much more.

The transaction proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

The stall owner nimbly counted out a hundred-tael note from Baoyuan Bank and added fifty taels in loose silver, handing it over.

Su Haoran took the money, weighed it, and casually tucked it into his robes.

He didn't leave immediately but turned his gaze to the still bustling market in the night.

Now that he had a hundred gold, he needed to convert this money into strength as quickly as possible.

His Iron Cloth Shirt had been stuck at the Minor Accomplishment stage with 99% progress for a long time, just one step away from breaking through.

This final step required a massive amount of Blood Essence to push him forward.

Su Haoran's eyes darted like lightning, scanning the stalls under the dim, yellow lamplight.

At a stall to his left, several dull-colored ores were displayed. The owner boasted they were Meteorite Iron and asked for three hundred taels.

Su Haoran took one look and knew they were just ordinary Tekkai. He snorted inwardly and passed by.

Not far ahead, someone was selling a broken sword. Ancient runes were carved on its blade, emitting a faint spiritual glow. The asking price was even more outrageous: five hundred taels.

Unfortunately, the sword was broken, its spiritual essence lost. It was nothing more than scrap metal.

There were also various bottles and jars of pills, each with a more impressive name than the last: "Dragon Tiger Great Returning Pill," "Marrow Cleansing Tendon Changing Pill." But Su Haoran only needed to sniff them lightly to detect the unpleasant scent of inferior medicinal ingredients.

If these things didn't kill you on the spot, you'd be considered lucky.

As he looked around, Su Haoran's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

The goods in this black market, though seemingly diverse, were a mixed bag. True treasures were rare, and even if they existed, their prices far exceeded his affordability.

Was he really going to give up on finding external aids and go back to buy hundreds of pounds of meat, relying on the most cumbersome method of brute-force consumption to accumulate Blood Essence and push for the Major Accomplishment stage of Iron Cloth Shirt?

Although this method was safe, its efficiency was too slow.

In this chaotic world, every extra day meant an extra day of danger.

Su Haoran felt a pang of unwillingness.

He patiently continued searching the edges of the market, not overlooking any corner.

Finally, in a corner that hardly anyone visited, he stopped.

The stall owner was an old man as thin as a bamboo pole, his eyes half-closed, appearing half-asleep.

On his stall, only a single, yellowed old piece of paper was displayed.

It was a pill recipe.

The edges of the paper were tattered, and the handwriting was somewhat blurred, but the three large characters at the top, written in cinnabar, were still clear.

"Qi Replenishing Powder."

Su Haoran's heart stirred. He walked over and, feigning casualness, picked up the recipe.

"Ginseng three mace, Astragalus five mace, Atractylodes Macrocephala three mace, Angelica Sinensis two mace..." His eyes quickly scanned the list of medicinal ingredients on the recipe, muttering softly.

The more he read, the harder it was for him to suppress the joy in his eyes.

The dozen or so medicinal ingredients required by this recipe, apart from the main ingredients needing thirty-year-old Ginseng and Astragalus, were all common herbs that could be easily found in any larger pharmacy.

This was practically tailor-made for him!

With his current financial resources, purchasing some common-aged medicinal materials was more than enough.

As long as he had the aid of this "Qi Replenishing Powder," his chances of breaking through to the Major Accomplishment stage of Iron Cloth Shirt would increase by at least fifty percent!

"Cough, cough."

Seeing Su Haoran lost in thought, the thin old stall owner finally opened his cloudy eyes and said weakly, "Young man, you like it? This is a treasure passed down from my ancestors. It's said to be a recipe from the imperial palace of the previous dynasty, capable of solidifying the foundation and greatly replenishing Qi and Blood. It's a supreme treasure for martial artists."

Su Haoran inwardly sneered, but his expression remained unchanged. He put down the recipe and said blandly, "Just a piece of scrap paper. The writing is almost worn away. Who knows if it's real or fake. Name your price."

"Heh, young man, what are you saying?" The thin old man suddenly perked up and sat straighter. "This is an ancient recipe! Do you understand ancient recipes? It's worth a thousand gold! Since we're fated, I'll give you a good price, five hundred taels of silver, and it's yours!"

"Five hundred taels?" Su Haoran acted as if he had heard a joke. "Who knows if this recipe is a useless formula? If I buy it and can't refine any pills, won't this money be wasted?"

He extended a finger and pointed to a damaged corner of the recipe. "Look here, the most crucial auxiliary ingredient, half of its name is missing. How can I prepare it?"

The thin old man paused, his eyes darting around. He stubbornly retorted, "Well... you can figure it out yourself! What if you manage to figure it out, wouldn't that be a huge profit?"

"I don't have time to figure it out," Su Haoran said decisively, extending a single finger.

"One hundred taels. This formula's origin is unknown and it's incomplete. One hundred taels is the highest I can offer. If you sell, I'll take it. If not, I'm leaving immediately."

With that, he turned as if to leave, without any hesitation.

"Hey, wait!" the thin old man panicked.

He had been displaying this formula at several markets. Many people had asked about it, but no one had bought it.

No one was a fool; spending a large sum of money to gamble on an incomplete formula was too risky. He couldn't possibly let go of this chance, encountering someone who genuinely wanted to buy.

"One hundred taels... is too little..." the old man still hesitated.

Su Haoran continued walking, his voice cold, "I'll give you three breaths to consider."

"One."

"Two."

"I'll sell! I'll sell!"

Just as Su Haoran was about to take his third step, the thin old man couldn't bear the pressure any longer. Gritting his teeth, he agreed.

Su Haoran then turned back, took out the hundred tael silver note he had just acquired, which was still warm, and handed it over. At the same time, he tucked the "Qi Replenishing Powder" formula into his robes.

The transaction complete, he didn't linger for a moment, quickly turning and disappearing into the dark crowd.

Although he had obtained the formula, one of the medicinal ingredients was indeed somewhat unclear.

However, Su Haoran happened to know this crucial ingredient, so in his eyes, this was a complete formula.

For safety's sake, he didn't go directly to the largest pharmacy in Qingshi City. Instead, he wound his way through the city's streets. After confirming he wasn't being followed, he entered an old, reputable pharmacy in a secluded alley.

"Shopkeeper, according to this formula, please prepare ten doses of medicine for me," Su Haoran said, handing over the copied and completed formula.

"Certainly."

The pharmacy owner took the formula and couldn't help but glance at Su Haoran again.

This young man didn't look very old, could his body be that weak?

Although the formula used common medicinal ingredients, judging by its effects, it was clearly meant to replenish Blood Essence and was quite valuable.

Each dose, when calculated, came to exactly one tael of silver.

Su Haoran paid ten taels of silver and carefully packed away the ten heavy medicine bags.

Afterward, he went to the butcher shop and exchanged the remaining forty taels of silver for over a hundred catties of smoked preserved meat and dried meat.

Tying everything into a large bundle, Su Haoran then, under the cover of night, began his journey back to Prajna Temple along the mountain path.

With a full harvest, his mood was quite good.

As soon as he returned to the temple, he could immediately go into seclusion and, with the help of the medicinal effects, push his Iron Cloth Shirt to the Major Accomplishment realm in one go!

The mountain path was rugged, and the night wind was cold.

Su Haoran's footsteps were light and steady, moving through the forest like the wind.

However, after walking for several miles, his brow suddenly furrowed, and his steps halted.

Something was wrong!

A faint, elusive fragrance seemed to be drifting in the air.

This scent was extremely subtle, undetectable by ordinary people, but Su Haoran, with his keen senses, clearly detected it.

It was like an invisible thread, following him at a constant distance.

He was being watched!

The thought flashed through Su Haoran's mind instantly.

His heart sank, and a chill ran down his spine.

Were these people from the black market?

He immediately recalled the scenes from the market: the burly stall owner who sold him weapons? Or the thin old man who sold the formula? Or perhaps a third party lurking in the shadows?

Without time to think further, Su Haoran didn't hesitate. His figure flickered, and he darted into a dense thicket by the roadside, simultaneously suppressing his aura to the extreme, as if he had merged with the darkness.

He had only been hidden for about ten breaths when the sound of "rustling" footsteps came from the mountain road in the distance.

Soon, two figures appeared under the moonlight.

The one walking in front was a tall man, his face covered with a plain black cloth, his features obscured.

Behind him followed a man with a slightly hunched posture. This man was wearing a mask of a ferocious, blue-faced demon, making him appear particularly hideous and terrifying in the moonlight.

What made Su Haoran's pupils contract the most was that between the two of them, they were leading a black dog, half as tall as a man!

The dog's nose twitched as it sniffed the air, emitting a low growl from its throat. It eventually stopped not far from where Su Haoran was hiding and began barking furiously in his direction.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

"Heh..."

The man wearing the ghost mask let out a cold laugh, his hoarse voice echoing unnaturally in the silent mountain forest.

"You can't escape!"

He patted the fierce dog's head and spoke menacingly towards the pitch-black bushes, "Friend, stop hiding. My Thousand Mile Scent is a unique secret medicine, colorless and odorless. Once you're tainted, it won't dissipate for three days and nights. Even if you run to the ends of the earth, Black Wind will sniff you out."

The man with his face covered by black cloth stepped forward, adding coldly, "Hand over everything you got from Xunri Market obediently, and we'll mercifully leave you with an intact corpse!"

They had already gathered information about Su Haoran. He was just a Sweeping Monk Disciple from Prajna Temple.

If he were an official Martial Monk of Prajna Temple, they might have been wary, but a Sweeping Monk Disciple? Killing him would be effortless.

If it weren't for this brat's cunning, taking a detour through the city, they would have finished him off long ago.

Su Haoran, hidden in the shadows, felt a chill in his eyes upon hearing their words.

Murder for treasure!

He understood. He had been set up by that skinny old man during the pill recipe transaction!

The so-called "Thousand Mile Scent" must have been acquired then.

He slowly set down the pack on his back, his right hand subtly gripping the hilt of the saber at his waist.