The Mountain Market

The disciples of the Advanced Study Hall quickly adapted to life as senior disciples.

Li Mo planned to rest well and resume his cultivation after his injuries healed. He headed to the hall's main entrance and glanced at the daily duty roster and temporary commission tasks for the second-year disciples.

After understanding the nature of these tasks, he strolled towards the Lingmu Sect's market at the foot of the mountain.

Compared to the first-year disciples' duty tasks, the second-year disciples' daily duties had changed somewhat.

Firstly, the Spirit Stone remuneration and sect contributions for the tasks had increased.

Secondly, the roles leaned more towards management, such as the disciple in charge of the Advanced Study Hall's kitchen, which was a daily duty assigned to senior disciples.

Finally, daily duty tasks were no longer mandatory. However, disciples who did not take on a duty task were required to pay a penalty of two Spirit Stones to the sect each month.

This difference, considering both income and expenditure, was not a small sum.

As for temporary commission tasks, they were diverse.

The vast majority of these tasks required leaving the sect for a period, running errands within Muzhou, and some even carried a degree of danger. The rewards were proportional to the time, effort, and danger involved, generally around five to six Spirit Stones, with some reaching seven to eight, depending on the specific task.

Approximately an hour and a half later.

Li Mo arrived at the market at the foot of Qingming Mountain.

At the entrance to the market, several wanted posters were displayed, and a few disciples from the Enforcement Hall were patrolling to maintain order.

It was a pity he hadn't mastered any long-distance travel spells, nor possessed relevant magical artifacts or spirit beast mounts, otherwise, the travel time would have been significantly reduced.

This market was Lingmu Sect's external market and one of the two largest trading markets in Muzhou. Cultivators from rogue sects and other sects visited daily, so there were no safety concerns; he didn't need to worry about being targeted by malevolent cultivators.

"It's truly bustling."

Li Mo marveled as he walked through the market streets.

The market wasn't vast, but the number of people coming and going was substantial, making it resemble a small Anle City.

Along both sides of the market roads, numerous vendors sold everything from snacks to cultivation materials, leaving Li Mo astonished.

He witnessed firsthand.

A vendor selling candied haws was chatting amiably with a stall selling talismans, talisman paper, and spirit ink. It was a case of "you earn your copper coins, I earn my Spirit Stones," with no boundaries between mortals and cultivators.

Legends of some cultivators were often exaggerated by these low-level vendors and then spread to mortals in remote areas, gradually evolving into myths.

Li Mo stopped at a stall displaying only a few fingernail-sized metal pieces.

He curiously looked at these granules.

"Fellow Daoist, are you looking to purchase Iron Essence or Copper Essence?"

Li Mo's eyes lit up with understanding.

Through the Spirit Reflection Sword Manual, he already knew that Iron Essence and Copper Essence were the basic materials for refining magical artifacts, generally suitable for low-grade and mid-grade artifacts.

The Silver Essence refined with great effort by Zhou Tai of the Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon was a higher-tier basic material.

"How many Spirit Stones?"

Li Mo naturally wasn't going to buy, he just wanted to familiarize himself with the prices.

"Heh, it's all market price. One qian of Iron Essence is ten Spirit Stones, one qian of Copper Essence is twenty Spirit Stones. Honest dealing, guaranteed quality and quantity."

Extracting Iron Essence and Copper Essence from massive amounts of pig iron and bronze required significant time and effort. Ordinary flames lacked the necessary temperature during refinement, and Spirit Stones had to be added to form what was called Spirit Fire. Thus, the prices of these refining materials were naturally not low.

Li Mo nodded and, without further comment, moved on to the next stall.

And so.

After wandering for nearly an hour, Li Mo finally gained a preliminary understanding of the prices of various basic materials for cultivators.

He inquired in detail about the prices of various spirit herbs multiple times.

The fundamental factor determining the price of a spirit herb was its age, with variations also occurring due to different types and medicinal properties.

Generally speaking.

When a spirit herb reached over a hundred years of age, its price would instantly surge.

Spirit herbs under a hundred years old would often see their prices drop tenfold or more. In the eyes of cultivators, they were practically seedlings, only used as auxiliary spirit herbs by Qi Refining Stage cultivators for refining spirit pills.

Conversely.

If a spirit herb reached over a thousand years of age, its value would skyrocket compared to those seven or eight hundred years old, yet it would still be priceless, with no market for it.

As for the Crimson Essence Fungus he possessed, it was technically a spirit herb with an age of around one hundred and eighty years.

However, the overall price of Crimson Essence Fungus was not particularly high.

Therefore, after comprehensive comparison, Li Mo estimated its value to be around two hundred Spirit Stones. He hadn't yet decided how to handle this spirit herb and planned to deliberate for some time.

He then stopped at an inconspicuous stall.

The stall owner was a cultivator who appeared to be in his thirties, wearing a crane-feather cloak. He held a book in one hand and was silently reciting, seemingly engrossed. In front of him, the stall displayed over a dozen strange and exotic monster items.

Li Mo activated his Spirit Eye and carefully examined them.

More than ten fragments of magical artifacts, three red spirit fruits, a large piece of broken wood, two incomplete jade slips, and some unknown dried mushrooms – it was a real hodgepodge.

However, Li Mo found himself strongly interested in the three red spirit fruits and that unremarkable piece of rotten wood.

He carefully examined it with his Spirit Eye, and indeed, strands of spiritual energy flowed within the red spirit fruit, likely a material needed for some kind of pill.

And this piece of rotten wood, after careful identification, he confirmed it was Thunderstruck Wood!

So-called Thunderstruck Wood refers to timber left from a great tree destroyed by heavenly lightning.

His interest stemmed from the fact that after studying the numerous lightning-avoidance techniques recorded in the Mystic Box, the only method he could possibly achieve with his current cultivation level was the Thunderstruck Wood refuge method.

According to the book.

After a hundred years, great trees would gradually have a chance to develop a trace of spiritual essence. Heaven cherishes life, and lightning often doesn't strike the same place twice. Therefore, using umbrella-shaped items made from spirit-infused Thunderstruck Wood could greatly weaken the might of heavenly lightning tribulations.

However, this method of deceiving heaven could only be used once.

Even if there were more spirit-infused Thunderstruck Wood in the future, it would be useless.

The crucial point now was how to determine if this piece of Thunderstruck Wood had developed a spiritual essence during its lifetime.

Li Mo continuously gathered the Magical Power from his Dantian into his eyes, fully activating his Spirit Eye, and diligently observed every detail of the Thunderstruck Wood.

According to the Lingmu Sect's main cultivation technique, Eye of True Spirit, the intensity of the Spirit Eye was determined not only by cultivation realm but, more importantly, by continuously and deeply observing various spiritual entities, accumulating experience over time to perceive all things.

Suddenly.

Li Mo noticed a trace of unusual spiritual energy flowing within the Thunderstruck Wood. His heart leaped with joy; this Thunderstruck Wood had indeed developed a spiritual essence!

"Boss, how much for these three wild fruits and this piece of broken wood?"

The stall owner put down his scroll and glanced at Li Mo.

"Those three spirit fruits are Nine Flavors Red, used to brew spirit wine with other spirit fruits. Twelve Spirit Stone each. This spirit-infused Thunderstruck Wood can be made into a blank for a high-grade artifact for warding off evil. Just add gold essence. Five hundred Spirit Stone."

The treasure hunt failed.

He felt a bit awkward, nodded, and left.

There was one more thing Li Mo hadn't forgotten: finding clues to the elusive Demon Core needed to refine the Creation Pill.

According to the Elixir Recipe, the elusive Demon Core had three characteristics.

Firstly, it would gestate a Demon Core at the Qi Refining Stage. Secondly, the Demon Core possessed lightning-avoiding properties. Lastly, the Demon Core contained mysterious Dao patterns.

Ordinary mountain and water spirits, at the very least, would gradually gestate a Demon Core after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, depending on their innate talent.

On the ordinary stalls lining the street, there were naturally no Demon Core for sale.

Li Mo entered a pill shop. There were quite a few customers inside, and various pills were displayed in the cabinets. Li Mo recognized pills like the Plague-Averting Pill, Blood-Replenishing Pill, Sleep-Inducing Pill, and Qi Gathering Pill, all of which were sold here.

After a brief glance at the prices, he moved to the materials section.

He skimmed past some spirit herb seeds, spirit herb seedlings, and common hundred-year-old spirit herbs, and then saw over a dozen Demon Core.

However, after carefully identifying them, he was somewhat disappointed.

These were all ordinary Demon Core, lacking the characteristics of the elusive Demon Core.

So, he went to another pill shop, but still couldn't find the so-called elusive Demon Core. It wasn't until the afternoon, around the hour of Shen (3-5 PM), that he confirmed the elusive Demon Core was not a material found on the open market. Only then did he leave the Lingmu Sect market and return to his sect.

The next day.

Ma Ling found Li Mo early in the morning, stating she had a mission to deliver a letter to Shangfeng County. It would cost one Spirit Stone to take a flying ship to the county city, and then she would rent a horse from the local Heaven's Mandate Bureau to travel. The journey would take anywhere from seven to ten days.

Li Mo inquired about the mission reward, which was seven Spirit Stone.

However, the round trip on the flying ship would cost two Spirit Stone, and since she hadn't taken on any daily rotation missions, she would have to pay a fine of Spirit Stone at the end of the month. This made her a bit reluctant, so she planned to complete two similar missions this month and see if any opportunities arose during her travels.

"Be careful on the road!"

"Don't worry."

After Ma Ling left, Niu Li and Yang Guang, knowing that Li Mo needed some time to recover from his injuries, didn't come to disturb him. Thus, Li Mo went to the Alchemy Hall.

There weren't many inner disciples in the Alchemy Hall, only sixty to seventy.

And only about thirty or so could be called alchemists, with the vast majority already at the Foundation Establishment stage.

According to the rules.

Every year, the Alchemy Hall would select one or more disciples from the Advanced Study Hall with good talent and perseverance to be admitted. However, some of these disciples would later choose to join other halls, while some would travel the world. The disciples who permanently stayed at the Alchemy Hall were usually only sixty to seventy, and about half of them were responsible for tending to the sect's spiritual fields daily.

Li Mo's visit this time was for the matter he was currently most concerned about.

That was to seek the Elixir Recipe for the Qi Gathering Pill.

The Qi Gathering Pill was a commonly used auxiliary cultivation pill for Qi Refining Stage disciples. Taking it could greatly enhance cultivation speed. However, except for a very few individuals, ordinary disciples wouldn't waste it. Even if they obtained a Qi Gathering Pill, they would save it for critical moments when breaking through bottlenecks.

"Senior Disciple Sister Chen."

"Mm."

Upon learning of Li Mo's intention, Chen Rong offered him some guidance.

"The third, thirteenth, and twenty-third of each month are when alchemists exchange insights. The Qi Gathering Pill is a basic Elixir Recipe for Qi Refining Stage cultivators and is easy to obtain. During normal times, you can also come here to tend to the public spiritual fields. Not only will this exempt you from the fine for missing daily rotation missions, but you can also earn Spirit Stone, sect contribution points, and opportunities for public alchemy later on..."

Chen Rong slowly explained the rules of the Alchemy Hall, and Li Mo nodded repeatedly.