Tianyuan Mountain.
Six Top-grade Tianyang Pills.
If these things got out.
Forget Tianyuan Mountain—even the entire Cultivation World would be swept up in a Bloody Storm.
Ye Xuan didn't rush to swallow one.
He picked one up and rolled it between his fingers. It felt smooth and warm as jade.
Though it had just come out of the furnace, it held not a trace of heat. Instead, it gave off a cool sensation.
That was how it should be.
Top-grade pills returned to simplicity.
Only inferior pills were surrounded by a smoky aura. That meant their medicinal properties hadn't been contained and had dissipated.
"Lucky me."
Ye Xuan muttered, tipped his head back, and tossed it into his mouth.
Gulp.
The pill slid down.
There was none of the agonizing pain of lava pouring through him, nor the torment of his meridians being torn apart.
The pill melted into a warm current.
Like a hot spring on a winter's day, or a gentle spring rain.
It nourished everything in silence.
The current flowed down his throat, quickly spreading through his limbs and bones.
Under the nourishment of its medicinal power, his already resilient meridians widened a little further.
The Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao began circulating on its own.
At that moment.
The Yuqing spiritual energy inside Ye Xuan was like a starving wolf catching the scent of meat, lunging madly at this new energy.
It devoured and assimilated it.
The spiritual energy, originally a shade of green, began to deepen in color.
The sensation was marvelous.
It was like repeatedly hammering a piece of iron, removing every impurity until only the purest steel remained.
If spiritual energy in the Yuqing Realm was gaseous,
then now it was transforming into a liquid.
Denser, heavier.
Each drop of spiritual energy contained at least ten times the energy it had before.
The bottleneck that had held Ye Xuan back—the thin barrier between the peak of the ninth layer of the Yuqing Realm and the Shangqing Realm—
was washed away by this immense yet gentle medicinal power without putting up even the slightest resistance.
"Pop~"
A faint crack rang out.
It was as if something had broken.
Then suddenly, everything opened up before him.
Ye Xuan's eyes snapped open.
The once-dim secret chamber came into sharp focus.
He could see the dust motes drifting through the air and the spider in the corner, about to spin its web.
He could even make out the tiny hairs on its legs.
His hearing had changed, too.
Through the thick stone walls and the formation,
he could just make out the rustle of leaves in the wind outside, as well as the muted argument of a few rogue cultivators far in the distance.
This was the Shangqing Realm!
Ye Xuan opened his palm. A ball of green light appeared in it.
It was no longer the insubstantial glow he'd produced before.
The green light was condensed to the utmost, like a piece of green jade, radiating a heart-stirring power.
The first layer of the Shangqing Realm.
He'd made it.
It had been so easy, it was almost hard to believe.
"You really can't beat a pill."
Ye Xuan dispersed the spiritual energy in his hand and sighed.
Bitter cultivation?
There was no way he was going to spend his life cultivating the hard way.
With all the skills rewarded by the system,
he'd have to be out of his mind to sit around meditating and breathing like some old ox.
Ye Xuan stood and stretched his arms and legs.
In the Qingyun Sect, the Shangqing Realm was the threshold for becoming a sect leader.
Even some elders of the older generation hadn't reached it.
Across the entire world,
Ye Xuan now counted as someone of consequence.
However,
this wasn't the time to get carried away.
Ye Xuan sat back down instead of rushing out of seclusion.
He had to consolidate his cultivation after such a breakthrough.
Three days later.
Ye Xuan had fully consolidated his cultivation.
He looked at the five remaining Top-grade Tianyang Pills in his Storage Bag.
After a moment's hesitation,
he took out a jade bottle carved with a seal and carefully placed them inside.
These were trump cards. They could save his life in a critical moment, or be exchanged for top-tier resources.
He couldn't sell them.
But his Storage Bag still held a pile of "junk" that was taking up space.
Of course, "junk" was relative to the Ye Xuan of today.
For instance, the piles of Huiyuan Pills and Blood-stopping Powder he'd made while practicing.
And the few Mid-grade Magic Tools he'd accidentally "ruined" during the process.
In Ye Xuan's eyes, they were failures.
But to the rogue cultivators on Tianyuan Mountain, they were treasures.
Rogue cultivators were poor.
Even a Low-grade Magic Tool could make them fight tooth and nail, let alone a Mid-grade Magic Tool.
"I should be able to trade this junk for plenty of good materials."
Ye Xuan made up his mind.
Before returning to the Qingyun Sect, he would increase his wealth several times over.
After all, the resources at Great Bamboo Peak were far too limited to meet Ye Xuan's needs.
With that thought,
Ye Xuan withdrew the formation around the secret chamber and stepped outside.
The long-missed sunlight fell on his face, a little too bright.
A few sparrows in the courtyard took flight in alarm.
Before Ye Xuan could even stretch, someone knocked on the courtyard gate.
"Master Ye?"
"Have you emerged from seclusion?"
The voice was cautious, yet carried unmistakable urgency.
It was Old Sun, the broker in charge of this area.
The old fellow was certainly well-informed. Ye Xuan had only just withdrawn the formation, and he'd already come sniffing around.
Ye Xuan straightened his robe and concealed the aura of his breakthrough, making it seem as though he were still at the ninth layer of the Yuqing Realm.
Playing the fool while hiding one's strength was a basic rule of survival in the martial world.
Besides,
if a rogue cultivator suddenly broke through to the Shangqing Realm, it would draw too much attention and risk attracting the notice of powerful factions.
"Come in."
Ye Xuan answered calmly.
The courtyard gate opened.
A little old man with a goatee and a shrewd look hurried inside.
"Oh!"
"Master Ye, you've been in seclusion for days!"
"Our fellow cultivators around here have been waiting for you to come out every single day!"
The moment he saw Ye Xuan,
Old Sun's face blossomed into a broad smile.
Nothing but nonsense.
Waiting for me to come out?
You're waiting for my pills.
"Old Sun, cut the act."
"Any rare goods on the mountain lately?"
Ye Xuan didn't call him out.
He walked over to the stone table in the courtyard, sat down, and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Master, you've asked the right person."
"A couple of days ago, a few daredevils came back from the East Sea."
"They brought back a piece of Deep Sea Sinking Silver as big as a millstone, along with a two-thousand-year-old Blood Coral!"
Old Sun chuckled, stepped closer, and lowered his voice.
At that,
Ye Xuan's eyelid twitched.
Deep Sea Sinking Silver was an excellent material for forging flying swords. It could greatly improve their toughness.
Blood Coral was even better.
Combined with other Medicinal Ingredients, it could be used to make Blood Essence Pills. They could heal injuries and replenish qi and blood, making them a sacred medicine for body cultivators.
He had to get his hands on both.
"Old Sun, spread the word."
"Tell them that I, Ye, have emerged from seclusion."
"Tonight at midnight, I'll be putting a batch of pills and magic treasures up for trade."
"Trade only, no sales."
"I'll take only top-grade materials—Medicinal Ingredients, ores, Beast Cores. I want them all."
"..."
Ye Xuan didn't finish speaking.
He merely crushed the teacup in his hand.
Powder sifted down.
Old Sun's pupils contracted.
That teacup was made of a hundred-times-refined iron and was incredibly hard. Ye Xuan had crushed it to powder with such ease?
Master Ye's cultivation... must have improved again!
"Yes, yes!"
"This old man will take care of it right away. I'll make sure everyone hears!"
Before you continue