Incomplete Classic

Even knowing it was a scam, he'd still been swindled out of twenty spirit stones by the con artist. Chen Lin was deeply frustrated.

The blame fell on his own poor aptitude—he couldn't even learn the most basic Object Manipulation Technique. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been blinded by the promise of an Enlightenment Pill recipe.

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

"Huh?"

Chen Lin let out a surprised grunt.

He'd expected a blank sheet of paper, or at most some random scribbles, but it wasn't what he'd imagined at all.

Not only were there words on the paper, but they densely filled the entire sheet.

And they weren't ordinary words—they were rare Ancient Cultivator Script!

The original owner of this body had come from a small Cultivation Family and had some exposure to this script, barely able to recognize it.

Three drops of Spirit Grass juice, two qian of Blue Light Spiral Stone powder, one Three Fragrant Mushroom, three drops of Wood Attribute Spirit Beast blood...

After carefully reading through it, Chen Lin's face showed confusion.

First, it listed some material names, then detailed each step of the refining process, and even included precautions. It really did look like a genuine Pill Recipe.

"Could it be... this Pill Recipe is real?"

For a moment, Chen Lin wasn't sure.

Though he couldn't believe twenty spirit stones could buy a real Pill Recipe, a gambler's hope made him grit his teeth and turn toward a shop.

It was like someone buying a lottery ticket, always thinking they'd hit the jackpot, always believing they'd be the special exception.

Before long, Chen Lin walked out of the shop, his face full of bewilderment.

All the materials listed on the recipe could actually be bought, and they were extremely cheap.

The main reason was that the recipe required very small amounts. Take the Spirit Grass juice, for example—a bottle cost twenty spirit stones, but a bottle held several dozen drops, so three drops were negligible.

He estimated that a single set of materials from the recipe could be bought for just over twenty spirit stones.

It was practically a bargain!

But how could such cheap materials possibly refine an Enlightenment Pill?

Even if Chen Lin thought of himself as the chosen protagonist, he couldn't believe it was real.

He laughed bitterly at himself, shook his head, and headed out.

Just as he reached the exit of the Market, he stopped again.

What if... he tried?

It wouldn't cost many spirit stones anyway.

That person had even sworn a Heart Demon Oath.

If it worked, the payoff would be enormous.

But if he didn't try, the spirit stones spent on the recipe would truly be wasted!

Chen Lin's heart chafed at the loss, and his gambling nature rose again.

After a long moment, he walked out of another shop, his backpack bulging.

He'd bought almost all the materials from the recipe, except for one auxiliary herb called Eight-Section Root.

But this herb wasn't anything rare—he could find it by visiting a few more shops, or even at street stalls.

Sure enough, after wandering a short distance, he spotted it at a ground stall.

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

With all the materials gathered, Chen Lin was no longer in a hurry to leave. Since he'd made it to the Inner City, he might as well look around and stock up on some reserve resources.

The reward for refining the Soul Capturing Talisman had fattened his wallet, and after deducting what he'd spent, he still had plenty left.

Actually, he was still puzzled by the generosity of that Lu Family Rich Second Generation. After all, fifty Mid-grade Spirit Stones was a huge fortune.

The other party could have easily refused to pay, or even killed him to silence him, but instead he'd not only paid up but let him leave first, removing any worries.

It didn't seem like he'd been followed either.

Such an upright and generous cultivator was truly rare.

But confusion aside, it didn't affect his spending at all.

After all, he'd been disguised back then. Whether the other party had ulterior motives or not, they couldn't find him now.

"Huh?"

When he reached an inconspicuous little stall, Chen Lin couldn't help but pause, his gaze landing on a book.

The stall owner was a sallow, thin Female Cultivator, appearing to be in her twenties or thirties, with a cultivation of Qi Refining Level 2.

Only a few items were laid out on the stall, and none of them looked particularly appealing.

A single glance told Chen Lin that this Female Cultivator was definitely from the shantytown outside. Cultivators who lived permanently in the Inner City wouldn't look so malnourished.

"How much for this book?"

He crouched in front of the stall and picked up the book.

The book was thick, but unfortunately it was already tattered and full of worm-eaten holes.

Only half of the cover remained, barely revealing two Ancient Cultivator Script characters: 'Refining Manual.'

It was precisely because of those two characters that he had stopped.

Since he possessed the Ten Times Certain Hit talent, he shouldn't limit himself to alchemy and Talisman Crafting—he ought to dabble in all skills related to crafting items, or else it would be a serious waste.

"Ah, fellow cultivator, do you want to buy this? This is an Artifact Refining Manual, a heirloom treasure of my family. If you want it, give me, give me thirty Spirit Stones."

The Female Cultivator was dozing off, but when she heard someone asking the price, her eyes lit up and she blurted out.

"A heirloom, huh? Fellow cultivator, are you from a refining family?"

Chen Lin curled his lips, not believing her nonsense at all. If she were truly from a noble family, she wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state.

Even if she were, she'd be a fake like Zhao Zhengyuan.

Unexpectedly, after being questioned, the Female Cultivator got agitated and said huffily, "I really am from a refining family! What, don't I look like it?"

"You do, very much so. But fellow cultivator, you haven't taken good care of this family heirloom. Look at these pages—there's hardly a good spot left. Since it's your family's legacy, you must have a backup. Why not show me a new copy?"

Uh.

This time the Female Cultivator was stumped, her face turning a bit red.

"This is the only one. Take it or leave it. But this isn't an ordinary tome—it records the refining methods of rare treasures. If I weren't in urgent need of Spirit Stones, I wouldn't sell it for any price."

After being choked up, the Female Cultivator quickly turned feisty again.

No Female Cultivator surviving in the shantytown was easy to deal with. Chen Lin couldn't be bothered to argue with her and continued carefully flipping through the book, afraid of tearing a page and getting blamed.

After going through every page, he looked disappointed, put the book down, and shook his head.

"What, fellow cultivator, you don't want it? If you do, we can negotiate the price."

Seeing Chen Lin stand up, the Female Cultivator spoke urgently.

"This book has almost no intact pages left, and the writing on it is blurry. Even if it were a divine technique manual, it'd be useless, let alone a low-level refining book."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait a moment!"

Seeing that Chen Lin was really leaving, the Female Cultivator immediately stood up.

Chen Lin turned around, his expression displeased.

"What, fellow cultivator, are you trying to force a sale? This isn't the Outer City—the Five Great Families Enforcement Team is here."

The Female Cultivator quickly waved her hands. "No, no, I just wanted to ask—if I lowered the price a bit more, would you buy it? And besides, not all the content in this book is missing. There are still a few Magic Artifact refining methods where you can make out the gist."

Chen Lin chuckled and shook his head. "Fellow cultivator, since you claim to be from a refining family, you should know that whether it's alchemy, talisman crafting, or artifact refining, the content demands precision. Not a single character can be wrong. A slight discrepancy leads to a vast error—you can't just 'make out the gist' with something like this."

The Female Cultivator gave an awkward smile and mumbled, unable to speak.

Chen Lin was right; otherwise, this treasured book she'd kept hidden wouldn't have remained unsold. Coming to the Inner City this time was just to Try One's Luck. If she didn't make any money, she'd have no choice but to brave the wilds.

Seeing the Female Cultivator deflated, Chen Lin changed his tone and suddenly said, "Alright, I can see you're not doing well either. We're both people down on our luck. I'll buy this book, but I can only give you ten Spirit Stones."

He'd originally wanted to say five, but afraid she'd fly into a rage, he gave a price that would surely make her sell.

Though the book was as damaged as he'd said, there were indeed two Magic Artifact refining methods whose general content could be discerned. He wanted to try if his Talent Ability could craft them.

If he could, that would be a huge bargain!