Strange Treasure

The little team others envied left Qin Dongcheng unmoved.

Even without revealing that he was a Low-level Alchemist, with the skills he'd had as an Alchemy Apprentice, it wouldn't have been hard for him to find a beauty who was one in a hundred and marry her.

A high-paying job earning a hundred or so taels of silver a month would have made him a promising young man earning hundreds of thousands a month in his previous life. How could he have lacked a pretty girlfriend?

Cultivation was the true path. With strength, you had everything.

In this martial world where the strong ruled, sufficient strength was everything. It had been the same in his previous life, except there had been no martial arts there—only power and wealth.

He'd already completed this month's mandatory task, and even finished next month's by handing in Sun Flame Liquid. Qin Dongcheng felt much more at ease now and had far less to worry about, so he could devote more time to cultivation.

"You practiced the Phantom Movement Technique once. Congratulations, you triggered a Thirtyfold Critical Hit and received thirty times the benefit!"

With a single Thirtyfold Critical Hit, Qin Dongcheng's mastery of the Phantom Movement Technique smoothly broke through to the fourth layer. He could now create four afterimages to confuse his enemies, letting him escape pursuit or turn the tables and kill them.

With a tap of his foot, he crossed dozens of meters in an instant. The four afterimages scattered in different directions, leaving enemies unable to guard against them.

The fourth layer of the Phantom Movement Technique was even more powerful than he had imagined. Even martial experts two or three realms above Qin Dongcheng would struggle to find his true body.

What's more, Qin Dongcheng also had the Heaven Concealment Art, which could effectively hide him and confuse his enemies. Together, the two techniques worked even better.

Not long after his Phantom Movement Technique broke through, Qin Dongcheng's success rate in refining Sun Flame Liquid rose above twenty percent.

Repeated critical hits had sent his Sun Flame Liquid refinement soaring, and his Alchemy was improving rapidly as well.

Never mind next month—even the Sun Flame Liquid required for the month after that, and the month after that... Qin Dongcheng had already refined it all. He was just waiting to turn it in.

He didn't submit too much at once. He completed only next month's mandatory task, lest the people above decide he was too capable and raise his quota.

For a Low-level Alchemist, handing in several bottles of Sun Flame Liquid in a month was already quite impressive.

Many Intermediate Alchemists submitted only a few bottles more than Qin Dongcheng.

As time passed, Qin Dongcheng's stock of Sun Flame Liquid kept growing. In just a month or two, he had accumulated dozens of bottles.

By now, Sun Flame Liquid was selling for around thirty taels of silver at the Bamboo Forest Black Market. It was so scarce that buyers couldn't find it even at that price, far exceeding its original price of ten taels and soaring to more than three times its former value.

This showed just how great the Five Elements Sect disciples' demand for Sun Flame Liquid was. Its profits far exceeded those of Golden Wound Pills.

Qin Dongcheng had stopped refining Golden Wound Pills and was spending most of his time on Sun Flame Liquid instead, hoping to seize this chance to make a tidy sum.

Seeing that the price of Sun Flame Liquid had climbed so high, Qin Dongcheng decided not to wait any longer. After disguising himself, he quietly went to the Bamboo Forest Black Market to sell a batch.

He still had quite a bit of silver and wouldn't lack cultivation resources in the short term, but who would complain about having too many resources?

As he continued to break through, he would need more and more resources and treasures. Qin Dongcheng had to prepare early.

When he arrived at the Bamboo Forest Black Market, Qin Dongcheng found it much livelier than before. The Demons and Ghosts' invasion had brought plenty of calamities, but it had also brought many opportunities.

Take the materials found on the Demons and Ghosts, for example. They alone were worth quite a lot.

Many Demons and Ghosts were treasures in their own right. They could be used for alchemy, weapon refinement, cultivation, setting up formations... If the Five Elements Sect could weather this crisis, many young talents would surely rise, and all kinds of resources and treasures would become more plentiful.

Qin Dongcheng planned to first see if there was anything good he needed, then find a suitable spot to set up a stall and sell the Sun Flame Liquid he had refined.

"A Low-level Strange Treasure, one Blood Flame Grass. If you want it, bring out Sun Flame Liquid—at least thirty bottles. Nothing else will do."

As Qin Dongcheng walked past a corner, he heard someone call out haughtily. His eyes lit up, and he turned toward the spot in disbelief.

Blood Flame Grass!

A Low-level Strange Treasure that could greatly improve the cultivation of Martial Artists in the first three realms. Its effects far surpassed those of Low-level Pills used for daily cultivation; the two were worlds apart.

The Blood-Replenishing Pills Qin Dongcheng took were just ordinary Low-level Pills. He could take one every day, and it would slightly improve the pace of his cultivation.

But Strange Treasures were different. Even a Low-level Strange Treasure could greatly improve Qin Dongcheng's cultivation. A single Blood Flame Grass could even raise a Martial Artist in the first three realms by one or two minor stages.

Even if Qin Dongcheng took it himself, it would help him advance considerably, saving him several months of cultivation or more.

Good things like this were always scarce, and money alone couldn't buy them.

Qin Dongcheng had visited the Bamboo Forest Black Market many times, but he had never once seen a Strange Treasure for sale. He had gradually given up hope. After all, though he had no Strange Treasures, he wasn't short on Pills for daily cultivation.

Yet now, of all times, he'd found someone selling Blood Flame Grass. The seller was bartering, but the item he wanted was exactly what Qin Dongcheng had.

After only a brief consideration, Qin Dongcheng decided to buy it.

With Demons running rampant and Ghosts growing ever more brazen, and Demons and Ghosts repeatedly invading Bamboo Forest Valley, the more strength he had, the better.

Breaking through to a higher level sooner would also make him safer.

Qin Dongcheng examined it and confirmed that the Blood Flame Grass was genuine before walking over. "I'll take this Blood Flame Grass. Here are thirty bottles of Sun Flame Liquid."

The asking price wasn't high; it was about the market rate. In fact, if Sun Flame Liquid weren't so scarce right now, even a hundred bottles might not be enough to trade for one Blood Flame Grass.

The seller was probably in urgent need of Sun Flame Liquid to deal with Ghost Spirits and Anomalies, so he had put up the Blood Flame Grass.

The stall owner's eyes lit up. After confirming that the Sun Flame Liquid was genuine, he smiled and handed over the Blood Flame Grass. "If we weren't going to kill a group of Ghost Spirits in a few days, with our lives hanging in the balance without Sun Flame Liquid, I really wouldn't have been willing to sell something this good."

"Now that the goods and money have changed hands, we'll be selling another batch of good stuff at the start of next month. If you're interested, come to the Bamboo Forest Black Market around then. You might find something like this Blood Flame Grass again."

"All right, got it." Qin Dongcheng nodded to show he understood.

As he left, he could clearly sense several people watching him—or, rather, watching the Blood Flame Grass.

They didn't have the capital to buy it themselves, so they wanted to do business without putting up a cent and snatch it from Qin Dongcheng.