Money Flows Like Water, Returning Origin Secret Notes

"Damage the meridians?" Lu Yang frowned.

Xu Ya said, "Within an Elemental Fusion Pill lies an extremely dense surge of attribute-less true power. Once swallowed, it dissolves inside the body. It does not enter the dantian, but instead merges into the meridians, temporarily becoming available for the martial artist's use. If the martial artist's own meridians are not tough enough, swallowing too many Elemental Fusion Pills at once will cause the excessive True Qi to squeeze the meridians, thereby injuring them."

Lu Yang nodded. "How much does this pill sell for?"

Xu Ya said, "The Elemental Fusion Pill is a finished Second Rank pill. Six thousand taels apiece."

Lu Yang sighed inwardly at how expensive the pill was, while saying with an expressionless face, "I want five."

"All right."

With money and goods settled, the two hundred and eighty thousand taels he had just gotten instantly became two hundred and fifty thousand.

Such a price was already comparable to a Mid-grade Yellow Tier cultivation method.

"This pill master business really is a money-making trade," Lu Yang thought.

Compared to talismans, which were good quality at a fair price, pills were clearly much more expensive.

This was precisely because of their rarity. Looking across the entire Black Mountain County, with its population of several hundred thousand, there was not even a single pill master.

There was even only the Qianfeng Merchant Association selling pills.

These pills had all been shipped over from other places, and their quantities, varieties, and grades were all very limited.

Looking across Great Jun, there were at least a hundred-odd kinds of pills that could amplify a Xiantian Martial Artist's strength for a short time, but in a poor, remote backwater like Black Mountain County, the only ones that could meet Lu Yang's requirements were merely the Explosive Yuan Pill and the Elemental Fusion Pill.

"Is there anything else you want, honored guest?" Seeing that Lu Yang was not leaving, Xu Ya asked with a smile.

Lu Yang said, "May I ask whether your esteemed association has any Black-grade or higher cultivation methods suitable for Xiantian Martial Artists?"

"We do. Honored guest, please come with me." Xu Ya's eyes brightened slightly. She extended a hand in invitation, then walked ahead, leading Lu Yang through the front hall and toward the merchant association's rear hall.

In Black Mountain County, Black-grade cultivation methods were already extremely precious existences. In the merchant association's front hall, there were at most a few incomplete Black-grade manuscripts.

The more profound cultivation methods, however, were properly stored in the rear hall and guarded by dedicated personnel.

Before long, the two arrived at the end of a passage.

The young woman flicked her finger, and a bit of True Qi sank into the wall. The formation on it slowly dispersed, and a long, narrow, dim passage appeared before their eyes.

Inside the passage, every five steps stood two Houtian Martial Artists holding weapons, one on the left and one on the right, waiting in strict formation.

Every fifteen steps, there was a formation restriction. Without a special talisman seal, even a Xiantian Realm martial artist would find it difficult to break through.

Along the way, Lu Yang saw dozens of Houtian Martial Artists. When his Primordial True Qi circulated, he could even faintly sense that there were experts of the same level as him hidden in the shadows.

This kind of strength was far too powerful compared to the vast majority of the great clans and noble families in Black Mountain County.

So much so that Lu Yang felt that if the Qianfeng Merchant Association intended to become the master of Black Mountain County, it could do so with ease.

At this point, Lu Yang also had a relatively direct understanding of the Qianfeng Merchant Association's strength.

"This is the place." Xu Ya pointed at a stone door on the left and smiled faintly.

Lu Yang nodded, and the stone door slowly pushed open.

The space inside the stone door was roughly five zhang square, and half-man-tall stone platforms stood on the ground.

On the stone platforms were placed scrolls, jade slips, and ancient, plain-bound books.

Outside the stone platforms, faint blue light screens lingered, clearly some kind of miniature defensive formation.

Even if someone could break in here, if they could not open these miniature formations, they would still be unable to take away the things inside.

Forcibly attacking them would only cause the formations to shatter and destroy the items within.

With such tight protection, even a martial artist at the peak of the Xiantian Realm could forget about stealing anything from here.

Xu Ya introduced several Black-grade cultivation methods to Lu Yang one after another, but none satisfied him.

Lu Yang was surprised to discover that the amount of True Qi cultivated by these Black-grade cultivation methods was actually quite a bit inferior to his own Returning Origin Art.

Even the slight descriptions of their cultivation method traits were still considerably inferior to the effects of the Returning Origin Art.

If he changed cultivation methods just like this, his strength would instead be greatly weakened compared to now.

The value of a High-grade Yellow Tier cultivation method was over ten thousand taels, while the value of a Black-grade, lower-tier cultivation method was around one hundred thousand taels.

Lu Yang currently only had two hundred and fifty thousand taels in hand, while the value of a Black-grade, mid-tier cultivation method was already generally over three hundred thousand taels.

Right now, he still could not afford one.

As for even higher-level Earth-grade cultivation methods, the Black Mountain County branch of the Qianfeng Merchant Association did not have any in stock, and they were not even traded for yellow and white things at all.

Lu Yang fell into a dilemma for a moment.

Changing cultivation methods would make his strength drop quite a bit among those of the same level, which was truly not what he wanted.

As for higher-grade cultivation methods, at his current stage, he simply had no way to come into contact with them, much less afford them.

Just then, Xu Ya, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "If this humble one's guess is correct, young master should have achieved some success in cultivating the Returning Origin Art, yes?"

"That is correct." Lu Yang knew his identity had already been seen through by Xu Ya, so he no longer concealed it.

Right now, he had been listed as wanted by the Black Mountain County Yamen. If Xu Ya had intended to take him in and claim merit, she would have made her move earlier and absolutely would not have waited until now.

What was more, even now, Xu Ya had not directly exposed the fact that he was Lu Yang. Clearly, she was unwilling to get involved.

This also fit the Qianfeng Merchant Association's usual way of doing things: they only did business, and spoke of nothing else.

Xu Ya said, "If Young Master is unwilling to change cultivation arts, this servant does have a method."

"Let's hear it." Lu Yang's heart stirred, and he spoke.

The young girl led Lu Yang to a bookshelf in the deepest part of the room.

Unlike those neat, clean stone pillars, the bookshelf was covered in dust.

A sparse dozen or so scrolls and books were placed on the shelf, without any array formations guarding them. It looked as if no one had shown any interest in them for quite some time.

The young girl rummaged through the bookshelf, and very quickly found an oxhide scroll.

"What's this?" Lu Yang stared at the scroll, only feeling an inexplicable sense of closeness and familiarity in his heart.

But he could be one hundred percent certain that before this, he had never seen this scroll.

Xu Ya smiled and said, "This Returning Origin Secret Notes is a deduction of the later contents of the Returning Origin Art made by a certain senior of our Qianfeng Merchant Association. Unfortunately, it was only deduced up to the seventh level of the Xiantian Realm before that senior sat in meditation and passed away. If Young Master considers himself talented, you might as well cultivate while deducing it. If you cannot complete the deduction in the future, it still will not be too late to switch cultivation arts then!"

Lu Yang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked, "May I ask how much this Returning Origin Secret Notes costs?"

Xu Ya said, "This scroll is only a deduced copy; it is neither the original nor complete. I'll make it a little cheaper—Young Master, for you, one hundred and fifty thousand taels."

"Deal!" Lu Yang decisively took out the Silver Notes.

For something comparable to a peak Black-grade, high-tier cultivation art, even if it was only an incomplete deduced copy, one hundred and fifty thousand taels was very cheap.

More importantly, at his current stage, Lu Yang could avoid the period of weakness that changing cultivation arts would bring him.

Next, he had to deal with the County Lieutenant and those people, so he had to ensure he was in his strongest state.