Joining Forces

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Alchemy cultivators were exceedingly rare among Rogue Cultivators, and no one in their little courtyard had ever managed to befriend an alchemist before. Once the spiritual pills or healing pills they used in the mountains ran out, they could replenish them nearby, which was incredibly convenient. Even if they had to spend spirit stones to buy pills from Lu Xiaotian, they would always be cheaper than those sold in shops. To them, saving even a little was worthwhile. Over time, not only could they speed up their cultivation considerably, but they could also save a great deal of expense.

"That works too. Brother Luo, you know many people, so help me inquire about pill formulas for the Qi Refining Middle Stage and late stage. Healing pill formulas would be fine as well. It would be even better if we could get them before entering the Moonwatch Mountains," Lu Xiaotian said.

"Brother Lu, has your attainment in alchemy already reached such a level?" Luo Yuan asked in astonishment.

"Big Brother, you're really muddleheaded. The smell of the Qi-Gathering Pill when we entered was clearly much richer than what we used before. Brother Lu must have refined mid-grade Qi-Gathering Pills. Naturally, he can try refining higher-grade pills. Perhaps all our pills will depend on Brother Lu in the future." Luo Qing's beautiful eyes shifted as she spoke.

"At present, my pill success rate for Qi-Gathering Pills is a little over thirty percent, not quite forty. If I am lucky, I can indeed refine mid-grade Qi-Gathering Pills. If I refine pills needed for the Qi Refining Middle Stage and late stage in the future, you two siblings may come to me to buy them. The price will be slightly lower than the market rate."

Lu Xiaotian had a favorable impression of the two siblings. Moreover, over the past half year, they had indeed provided him with quite a bit of useful information. As the only two people he knew in Moonwatch City, he did not mind lending them a hand.

"A success rate of over thirty percent—Brother Lu's talent in alchemy is truly astonishing." Luo Yuan could not help drawing in a cold breath. Even among the alchemists raised by Lineages, very few could reach such a success rate, and every one of them was an old hand with decades of alchemy experience. Even if Lu Xiaotian had begun refining pills in his mother's womb, this talent was still far too shocking. Yet upon hearing Lu Xiaotian's promise, Luo Yuan was overjoyed and hurriedly patted his chest. "Rest assured, Brother Lu. Leave this matter to me. I will definitely get news of the pill formulas for you."

There were several kinds of pills used during the Qi Refining Middle Stage and late stage. The Qi-Nourishing Pill and Origin Qi Pill were merely representative examples, while several other pill formulas were also quite effective. There were still four months before the immortal sects recruited disciples. If they prepared for a while before entering the mountains, they should be able to obtain some information.

"Thank you, Brother Lu." Luo Qing's eyes curved into slits as she smiled, happily thanking Lu Xiaotian.

Lu Xiaotian smiled faintly. In truth, after refining Qi-Gathering Pills without interruption for the past half year, his pill success rate had already risen to nearly fifty percent. He had refined high-grade pills twice and mid-grade pills more than a dozen times. If the siblings knew these figures, who knew what expressions they would wear.

The Luo siblings hurried off in a flurry to inquire about pill formulas. After disguising himself as a rough-faced man, Lu Xiaotian also left the courtyard and set up a stall by the roadside. He placed a wooden sign beside it that read: Qi-Gathering Pills for Sale.

With the immortal sects' disciple recruitment drawing near, the number of Rogue Cultivators gathering in Moonwatch City was clearly much greater than before. As necessities for cultivation, pills were the most sought-after goods among Rogue Cultivators. Although many Lineages in Moonwatch City ran pill shops, spiritual herbs grown in spiritual fields were limited and harvested only once a year. Furthermore, alchemists were exceedingly scarce. As a result, pills were nearly ten percent more expensive than usual, yet demand still exceeded supply.

Not long after Lu Xiaotian set up his stall, more than a dozen people gathered around it one after another. His prices were still the same as before, ten percent lower than those of the current shops. Before long, the several dozen Qi-Gathering Pills on his stall were snapped up clean. After taking in more than a hundred spirit stones of various kinds, Lu Xiaotian packed up his stall, changed into another disguise, and moved to a different street.

After repeating this several times, more than three hundred spirit stones had accumulated within his storage barrier. For a Qi Refining cultivator, this was undoubtedly a windfall.

There were still two bottles of pills on the stall. Lu Xiaotian hesitated briefly, then put away the two bottles of Qi-Gathering Pills, preparing to end his business for the day.

"Excuse me, are the Qi-Gathering Pills in your hand still for sale?" A somewhat youthful voice sounded at that moment.

Lu Xiaotian looked up and saw an honest-looking youth dressed in ordinary hemp clothes staring at him somewhat nervously. The youth was at the Third Layer of Qi Refining. "Fine. You will be my last customer today. I still have seven Qi-Gathering Pills here, four low-grade spirit stones each."

"I do not have enough spirit stones. Can I trade something else for them?" the honest youth asked awkwardly.

"What do you have?" Lu Xiaotian asked.

"I have a set of formation flags that can form the Guarding Origin Formation. It can trap an expert at Qi Refining Great Perfection for about an hour," the honest youth said quietly. "However, using the formation for the first time consumes twenty spirit stones. The second time requires forty spirit stones, and the cost keeps doubling. After using it four or five times, the formation flags will be scrapped."

"Formation flags? Do they have any killing power?"

Lu Xiaotian's heart tightened as he asked. In the cultivation world, alchemists were already a rare group, but formation masters were even rarer than alchemists.

This was because advancing as a formation master was even more difficult than learning alchemy. More importantly, studying formations consumed vast amounts of energy and time, so their cultivation was usually not very high. Yet once they refined a formation, its destructive power was generally beyond comparison with that of ordinary cultivators.

"N-no," the honest youth stammered.

Lu Xiaotian was immediately speechless. A formation that required twenty extra spirit stones each time it was used and could only be used five times—though even if it could still be used afterward, the sixth use would cost one hundred and twenty spirit stones, something few could afford. And it could only trap an opponent for about an hour, with no destructive power whatsoever. It was truly tasteless as chicken ribs. Buying this set of formation flags would cost spirit stones too; with those spirit stones, he might as well buy more talismans.

"The materials I used to refine these formation flags cost twenty-three low-grade spirit stones. I-I only need five Qi-Gathering Pills."

The honest youth seemed to know that the formation flags he had refined had little practical use. He had set up a stall in the city for several months, yet hardly anyone had asked about them. Occasionally, one or two people did inquire, but once they saw the cost of using the formation, they shook their heads and left without a second thought.

Lu Xiaotian had initially thought them useless, but then another thought came to him. He did not possess any powerful spiritual artifact at the moment. If he truly encountered a formidable opponent, being able to trap them long enough to escape with his life would not be bad. Moreover, the youth before him looked honest and dependable, like someone who had not been long in the world. Befriending a formation master might prove useful in the future. As an alchemist, he could refine Qi-Gathering Pills whenever he wanted.

With that thought, Lu Xiaotian poured an additional Qi-Gathering Pill from the bottle and handed it to the honest youth. "You are currently at the Third Layer of Qi Refining. Pills are especially important for breaking through to the Qi Refining Middle Stage. There are six Qi-Gathering Pills here. I hope they can help you reach the Fourth Layer."

"Th-thank you, Big Brother. My name is Wang Mo. May I ask how I should address you?" the honest youth asked, so excited that his words came out in a jumble.

"My name is Lu Xiaotian."

Taking the four azure formation flags, each about a foot long, from Wang Mo, Lu Xiaotian chatted with him for a few moments. Only then did he learn that Wang Mo came from a small cultivation Lineage beneath the Night Qin Kingdom. His Lineage had been passed down for several generations. After his parents exhausted their lifespans, Wang Mo had decided to come to Moonwatch City in search of an opportunity to join an immortal cultivation sect.

Lu Xiaotian fell silent inwardly. Even Qi Refining cultivators were no different from ordinary mortals if they could not enter the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Traveling to the Moonwatch Mountains required many preparations. Lu Xiaotian put away the formation flags and first went to a talisman shop to replenish several dozen low-grade talismans. Now that he had a little more money on hand, the talismans he bought were somewhat better than before. Then he spent more than sixty spirit stones to purchase a spiritual sword.

With an ample supply of pills, at his current cultivation speed, he could likely reach the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining in about a year. If he obtained new pill formulas, the speed would increase further. Thus, he had to begin considering a new cultivation technique.

The newly purchased spiritual artifact was a golden short sword, a mid-grade spiritual artifact. After fondly examining it for a while, Lu Xiaotian asked at two shops selling cultivation manuals along the way, but neither had the latter volume of the Primordial Unity Scripture. He did not give up. After walking through two more streets, he arrived at Moonwatch City's largest cultivation technique shop.

"If this shop does not have it either, I will choose another cultivation technique." Lu Xiaotian made his decision and stepped inside.

Worthy of being Moonwatch City's largest cultivation technique shop, it contained more than a dozen rows of ancient shelves. By rough estimate, there were at least tens of thousands of cultivation manuals. There were also ten mortal clerks responsible for explaining the manuals to buyers. At that moment, quite a few people were selecting techniques suited to them beside the shelves, while others were asking the shop clerks for advice.

"Immortal Master, what kind of cultivation technique are you looking for? Our shop has tens of thousands of techniques. I am sure we have what you need."

The moment Lu Xiaotian entered the shop, a clerk eagerly came forward and spoke.

"Do you have the late-stage Qi Refining portion of the Primordial Unity Scripture?" Lu Xiaotian asked.

"The Primordial Unity Scripture? No immortal cultivator has ever chosen such a technique. It is extremely obscure. Please wait a moment, Immortal Master. I will look for it."

The clerk rested his chin on his hand and thought for a while, then led Lu Xiaotian to the innermost bookshelf. The cultivation techniques in the shop were arranged according to metal, wood, water, fire, earth, ice, wind, and lightning. Within each attribute, the early-stage, middle-stage, and late-stage techniques were separated again.

Five-Element Spiritual Roots were the most common Spirit Roots. Lu Xiaotian had never tested his own Spirit Root values, but he learned any branch of the five-element spells at the same speed. Ice, wind, and lightning were slightly worse. No cultivator's Spirit Root value could exceed one hundred points. Aptitude below thirty points was considered inferior, while fifty or above was considered superior.

Lu Xiaotian estimated that he possessed all five Five-Element Spiritual Roots, and they were extremely balanced. Even counting generously, none of them would exceed twenty points. He was absolutely among the inferior of the inferior, so he could not be bothered to undergo testing.

Most cultivators chose cultivation techniques that focused on a single Spirit Root attribute. It was not that no one chose a technique like the Primordial Unity Scripture, which had no attribute requirements, but their numbers were exceedingly few.