"Okay, then. Keep up your seclusion training. I'm going out for a look around."
Xiao Yulü nodded without asking any questions, then turned and went back to his room. It looked like he planned to stay in seclusion until he broke through to Level 15.
Xiao Yan watched him close the door and disappear from sight. Then he turned, went downstairs, and stepped out onto the bustling streets of Shrek City.
His goals were clear. First, he wanted to find something fire-related that could be incorporated into the Flame Mantra. Beast Flame, Earth Fire, or even a high-quality fire-attribute treasure would be worth trying.
Second, he needed to prepare for alchemy.
An elder of the Xiao Clan had once given Xiao Yan a hundred-year-old Crimson Flame Herb. With the help of a Calm-Qi Root, he had refined it into a pill that aided cultivation, and it had taken him straight from Level 5 to Level 10 in one go, with medicinal power to spare.
If he could find a primary ingredient of the same grade, or even higher, then with his steadily improving alchemy skills, he would surely get twice the result with half the effort.
Shrek City truly lived up to its reputation as the heart of the continent. Its commercial district was far more luxurious than Xiao Yan had imagined.
He hadn't gone far before a pharmacy caught his eye. The shop was lavishly decorated, with a vast, brightly lit interior.
He stepped inside and discovered that there was more space beyond the tall medicine cabinets near the entrance. The area behind them looked less like a pharmacy and more like an auction house.
The aisles on either side were empty, with only a few people in sight. In the middle stood exquisite glass display cases, each holding jade boxes to protect the precious medicinal ingredients inside.
Xiao Yan's gaze swept across the jade boxes. Before long, he spotted several small, entirely purple flowers in one of the display cases, their petals shimmering with a faint glow.
"Purple Sun Flower."
Xiao Yan's heart stirred. Like the Crimson Flame Herb, this was a fire-attribute herb. Judging by its quality, it was a hundred-year-old spirit herb, and its medicinal power was even purer than that of the Crimson Flame Herb.
But the price was far too steep.
A small card beneath the glass display case listed the price.
"Three-hundred-year-old Purple Sun Flower, three hundred Gold Soul Coins each."
Xiao Yan looked at it a few more times before finally turning away, reluctant to leave.
There was no helping it. He really didn't have much money.
One Gold Soul Coin was worth ten Silver Soul Coins, or a hundred Copper Soul Coins. Xiao Yan only had a few Silver Soul Coins on him, the living allowance the elder had given him for his time at Shrek Academy—in other words, meal money.
With no other choice, Xiao Yan spent the next half-day browsing other shops in the eastern district.
At the Soul Tool shop, a Soul Tool that could assist a fire-attribute Martial Soul in releasing Soul Power cost a thousand Gold Soul Coins or more. At the materials shop, a hundred-year-old fire-attribute Soul Beast skull the size of his palm was priced at five hundred.
He even spotted a tiny, dark-red Ember, about the size of a grain of rice, sealed inside a transparent crystal in the window of a rare treasures shop. Its label read, "Earth Core Fire Seed (three thousand Gold Soul Coins)."
Xiao Yan stared through the window for a long time. Only when the setting sun stretched his shadow far behind him did he finally turn away and trudge back, heavy-footed and reluctant.
Alas, he had all the theory and skill in the world, but no resources. There were countless things that made him drool, but...
He had no money.
When he returned to the Cloud Arrival Inn, dusk was drawing near.
Xiao Yan pushed open his room door listlessly. He planned to sit on the bed and cultivate, numbing himself with training and escaping his frustration.
But the moment he stepped inside, Xiao Yan froze.
A money pouch lay on his desk.
It was a bulging pouch, exactly like the one Xiao Yulü had had the day before.
No, it was the same pouch.
Xiao Yan picked it up and looked it over, then noticed a note tucked beneath it.
He picked up the note and read the line Xiao Yulü had left.
"I know you don't have much money. If you went out shopping, you were bound to find something you liked but couldn't afford."
"Your big brother's going into seclusion to cultivate, so I can't help you buy it. Take my money pouch and spend what you need. Consider it my treat."
"Don't worry about the money. When it runs out, I'll contact the elders and have them send more."
"—Xiao Yulü"
Xiao Yan's hand stilled. His fingers gradually tightened, crumpling and crushing the note.
He stood there for a long while, then suddenly felt a little amused.
A flame kindled in the young man's hand, burning the note to ash. Then he picked up the heavy money pouch. Its weight in his hand made him raise his brows.
He reached inside and found that the space within was far larger than the pouch appeared to be.
Who would've thought Xiao Yulü's money pouch was a Storage Soul Tool?
That guy...
He didn't take much, only five hundred Gold Soul Coins, which made his pockets bulge.
Then the young man left the inn again.
--
Midnight.
Xiao Yulü's cultivation gradually stalled. His Soul Power was brimming, but he couldn't find a way to break through.
"Phew... I've built up so much momentum, yet I still can't break through. What am I missing?"
"Have I been stuck for too long and lost my edge? Is that why I can't make any progress?"
After thinking it over for a long while, Xiao Yulü still had no answers. He simply left his room and went out onto the balcony to clear his head.
But the balcony was as bright as day.
Xiao Yulü's eyes widened. A mass of Lie Yan roared across the balcony, with a slender figure and the shadow of a Golden Dragon on either side.
It was Xiao Yan and Little Fire Dragon.
This was the crucial moment in the alchemy process.
After several failures, Xiao Yan had finally managed to refine the various ingredients into medicinal liquid again. Now it was time to add the most important primary ingredient—the Red Sun Flower!
He only had this one, and he absolutely couldn't afford to fail!
Xiao Yan had used substitute ingredients to refine a batch of inferior pills first. Only then had he used the three-hundred-year-old Red Sun Flower, to make sure it wouldn't go to waste.
Xiao Yulü watched as the ingredients within the flames gradually melted into medicinal liquid, mingling with the other materials. Then, under the flames' influence, they slowly condensed into one pill after another.
By this point, Xiao Yan's Soul Power was nearly depleted. His face had gone deathly pale, and Little Fire Dragon was exhausted, sprawled on the ground.
"Phew... The pills are done. I'll call them... Purple Sun Pills."
Xiao Yan put the Purple Sun Pills into a porcelain bottle and stuck a special label on it, then set it beside the batch of inferior Purple Sun Pills he had refined earlier.
After finishing the alchemy, Xiao Yan picked up Little Fire Dragon and planned to go back to his room to rest. But then he saw the young man standing at the top of the stairs, staring blankly at him.
He suddenly felt awkward.
"Ahem... Why are you still up so late? How's your cultivation going?"
Xiao Yan cleared his throat, then asked as calmly as he could.
"Not bad. Xiao Yan, I didn't know you could refine pills."
"I know a thing or two."
Xiao Yan waved a hand and slung an arm around the other boy's neck.
"By the way, you've hit a bottleneck, haven't you?"
"...Yeah."
Xiao Yulü nodded, making no attempt to hide it.
"Heh."
Xiao Yan chuckled, then shoved the porcelain bottle containing a whole bottle of Purple Sun Pills into Xiao Yulü's hand.
"Here. Make them last."
Xiao Yulü looked up sharply at Xiao Yan, unable to believe it.
Xiao Yan nodded and patted him on the shoulder again. Then he went down the stairs and returned to his room as if nothing had happened.
Xiao Yulü was left staring blankly at his retreating figure.
Before you continue