Incomplete Classic

Chen Lin was utterly frustrated. He had known the man was a swindler, yet still let himself be cheated out of twenty spirit stones.

He had only his abysmal aptitude to blame. He could not even learn the most basic Object Manipulation Art; otherwise, the pill formula for the Enlightenment Pill would never have blinded him.

Standing in the cold wind, he casually unrolled the paper.

"Huh?"

Chen Lin let out a surprised exclamation.

He had expected a blank sheet, or perhaps some random scribbles, but it was nothing like what he had imagined.

Not only was there writing on the paper, it densely covered the entire sheet.

And these were no ordinary characters, but the rarely seen ancient cultivator text!

The body's original owner had come from a small immortal cultivation family and had some exposure to ancient cultivator text, so Chen Lin could just barely decipher it.

Three drops of dianling grass juice, two mace of blue-light spiral stone powder, one tri-fragrance mushroom, three drops of wood-attribute spirit beast blood...

After reading it carefully, Chen Lin looked puzzled.

It first listed the ingredients, then detailed every step of the refining process, even including precautions. It really did look like a pill formula.

"Could this pill formula actually be genuine?"

For a moment, Chen Lin was no longer sure.

Though he could not believe twenty spirit stones could buy a genuine pill formula, wishful thinking still made him grit his teeth and turn toward a shop.

He was like a lottery buyer who always believed he could hit the jackpot, convinced he would be the one exception.

Before long, Chen Lin emerged from the shop with a strange expression.

Every ingredient in the pill formula really was available, and they were extremely cheap.

That was mainly because the formula called for tiny quantities. Dianling grass juice, for instance, cost twenty spirit stones a bottle, but each bottle held dozens of drops. The cost of three drops was practically negligible.

He estimated that a complete set of ingredients would cost a little over twenty spirit stones.

They really were dirt cheap!

But how could ingredients this cheap produce an Enlightenment Pill?

No matter how much Chen Lin fancied himself the protagonist chosen by fate, he could not believe this was real.

With a self-mocking smile, he shook his head and headed out.

He had only just passed through the Market's exit when he stopped again.

Why not give it a try?

It wouldn't cost many spirit stones anyway.

That man even swore an Inner Demon Oath.

If it worked, the payoff would be enormous.

And if I don't try, the spirit stones I spent on the formula really will have gone down the drain!

Unwilling to let it go, Chen Lin felt his gambling instinct rise again.

A good while later, he emerged from a shop with his backpack bulging.

He had bought nearly all the ingredients in the formula. The only thing missing was a supplementary ingredient called eight-section root.

It was nothing rare, though. He could find it by visiting a few more shops; even street stalls sold it.

Sure enough, he had not gone far before finding it at a street stall.

For just two spirit stones, he bought more than a dozen roots.

With all the ingredients gathered, Chen Lin was no longer in a hurry to leave. Since he had finally made a trip to the Inner City, he might as well browse a little longer and stock up on supplies.

The reward for making Soul-Detaining Talismans had fattened his purse. Even after his earlier spending, he still had plenty left.

In truth, he was still puzzled by the generosity of that wealthy young man from the Lu Lineage. Fifty medium-grade spirit stones was an enormous sum, after all.

The man could easily have refused to pay him, or even killed him to silence him. Instead, he had not only paid, but also let Chen Lin leave first, sparing him any lingering worries.

He did not seem to have followed him, either.

Cultivators that upright and generous were truly rare.

But his doubts did nothing to interfere with his spending.

He had been disguised at the time anyway. Whatever ulterior motives the man might have had, he would not be able to find Chen Lin now.

"Huh?"

As he reached an inconspicuous little stall, Chen Lin stopped involuntarily, his gaze settling on a book.

The stallholder was a female cultivator with a sallow face and a scrawny frame. Judging by her appearance alone, she was in her twenties or thirties, and her cultivation was at the second layer of Qi Refining.

Only a handful of items lay on her stall, and none looked particularly appealing.

One glance told Chen Lin that she must also live in the Shanty Town outside. Cultivators who resided permanently in the Inner City would not look this malnourished.

"How much for this book?"

He crouched before the stall and picked it up.

The book was thick, but unfortunately badly damaged, riddled with holes left by insects.

Only half its cover remained, and he could barely make out the two ancient characters for "artifact refining."

Those two characters were precisely what had made him stop.

With his Ten Attempts One Hit talent, he could not limit himself to pill refining and talismancrafting. He ought to explore every skill involving the creation of objects, or he would be squandering his gift.

"Ah, fellow Daoist, do you want to buy that? It's an Artifact Refining Grimoire, a treasure passed down in my family. If you want it, just give me... give me thirty spirit stones."

The female cultivator had been nodding off, but at the sound of someone asking a price, her eyes immediately lit up and the words tumbled out.

"A family heirloom, eh? So you're from an artifact refining clan, fellow Daoist?"

Chen Lin curled his lip, not believing a word of her nonsense. A true clan descendant would never have fallen into such miserable circumstances.

Even if she was one, she would be another impostor like Zhao Zhengyuan.

Unexpectedly, the woman grew agitated at his skepticism and huffed, "I am from an artifact refining clan! What, don't I look like it?"

"You do. Very much so. But you haven't taken very good care of this family treasure, fellow Daoist. Look at these pages-hardly any part is intact. Since it's a family heirloom, surely you have another copy. Why not bring out a new one for me to look at?"

"Uh."

That left the woman stuck, her face reddening.

"This is the only copy. Take it or leave it. But this is no ordinary classic. It records methods for refining rare treasures. If I weren't desperate for spirit stones, I wouldn't sell it for any price."

After being left speechless for a moment, the woman immediately became fierce again.

No female cultivator who survived in the Shanty Town was a pushover. Chen Lin could not be bothered to trade barbs with her and continued leafing carefully through the book, afraid a page might come loose and give her an excuse to extort him.

After turning through every page, he set the book down with a disappointed expression and shook his head.

"What, you don't want it, fellow Daoist? If you're interested, we can negotiate the price."

Seeing Chen Lin stand, the woman spoke with some urgency.

"Hardly a single page in this book is intact, and the writing is blurred beyond recognition. Never mind a low-level artifact refining book-even a Divine Art Manual would be useless in this condition."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Seeing that Chen Lin really meant to go, the woman immediately stood up.

Chen Lin turned back, looking displeased.

"What, are you planning to force me to buy it? This isn't the Outer City. The Five Major Families' Enforcement Team is here."

The woman hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no! I just wanted to ask whether you'd buy it if I lowered the price. Besides, not all the contents are missing. You can still make out the general refining methods for several magical tools."

Chen Lin chuckled and shook his head. "Since you're from an artifact refining clan, you should know that pill refining, talismancrafting, and artifact refining all demand precision. Not a single character can be wrong. As the saying goes, a hair's breadth of error leads a thousand miles astray. A rough idea simply won't do."

The woman smiled awkwardly, unable to stammer out a reply.

Chen Lin was right. Otherwise, this cherished treasure she had kept tucked away would not have remained unsold all this time. She had only come to the Inner City to try her luck. If she still could not earn anything, she would have no choice but to venture into the wilderness.

Seeing that the woman had lost her temper, Chen Lin suddenly changed his tone. "All right. You don't seem to be doing very well, and we're both people down on our luck. I'll buy the book, but I can only offer ten spirit stones."

He had initially wanted to say five, but fearing she might fly into a rage out of humiliation, he offered a price she would surely accept.

Though the book was as badly damaged as he had said, the general contents of the refining methods for two magical tools were still discernible. He wanted to test whether his talent ability could produce them.

If it could, he would have landed an incredible bargain!

If you enjoyed this book, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you can find it again next time.