Nether Poison Dragon Fire

Central Plains, Sky Medicine City.

Lin Hai appeared once more in this enormous city, where the air was thick with the scent of pills.

Without the slightest delay, he headed straight for the grandest building in the city, Myriad Medicine Pavilion, whose sign bore the emblem of Pill Tower.

The moment he stepped through the entrance this time, Mo Li, the steward who had received him before, came rushing out of the back rooms as if his backside were on fire. He moved at top speed, his face piled high with unprecedented awe and flattery, and bent so low his waist nearly touched the floor.

"My lord! We were remiss in not welcoming you! Please, come in! This way, to a private room on the top floor!" Mo Li's voice trembled with excitement.

The Fire Beads from last time, along with this lord's unfathomable strength, had already spread throughout Myriad Medicine Pavilion's upper ranks. He had been designated a top-priority guest.

Lin Hai gave a slight nod and followed him straight up to the heavily guarded private room on the top floor.

Once seated, Lin Hai didn't wait for the serving girl to bring tea. He took out the jade bottle containing the sealed Supreme Pill and placed it on the table.

The moment the jade bottle appeared, the air in the entire room seemed to freeze.

Not a trace of medicinal power leaked out, yet the immense energy within, contained to the utmost and seemingly infused with the laws of heaven and earth, made Mo Li's soul tremble. He was a Sixth-Grade alchemist!

He didn't even need to probe it with his spiritual power. Just looking at the fine Pill Patterns naturally formed on the bottle and the hazy, seven-colored radiance was enough to tell him how terrifyingly high the pill's grade was!

"An E-Eighth-Tier Pill?!" Mo Li's voice was dry and quavering, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

How much time had passed? This lord had brought out another Eighth-Tier Pill already?!

Judging by its appearance, the pill had just been refined. It was flawless!

"Mm. A Supreme Pill," Lin Hai said evenly. "I'll trade it for four sets of the ingredients needed to refine this pill."

"F-Four sets?!" Mo Li nearly bit his tongue.

A finished Eighth-Tier Pill in exchange for four sets of raw ingredients? It sounded like a losing deal, but that wasn't how one should calculate its value!

The success rate for Eighth-Tier Pills was so low it was practically abysmal. Even when someone from Pill Tower refined one, there was no guarantee they could succeed in a single batch.

Often, using two or three sets of ingredients to produce one pill was already considered extraordinarily lucky!

This lord was offering a finished pill in exchange for raw ingredients. Either he was supremely confident in his success rate, or he simply didn't care about such losses!

Either way, it revealed an unimaginable depth of resources and strength!

Mo Li didn't dare hesitate or even think of haggling. He immediately bowed and said, "Please wait, my lord! This matter is of great importance. I must seek approval from the elders at headquarters at once!"

Before long, Myriad Medicine Pavilion's Grand Elder, an Eight-Star Dou Zun at the peak of his rank, appeared in person once more. His manner was even more respectful than before.

He carefully examined the pill in the jade bottle. Shock and delight filled his face.

"Perfect! This is a truly perfect Supreme Pill! Not a trace of its medicinal power has dissipated, and its Pill Patterns formed naturally! My lord, please wait. We'll have the ingredients prepared for you at once!" The Grand Elder was so excited that he immediately issued the order.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, four jade boxes were brought in. They were layered with seals and radiated powerful spatial energy. Inside each box lay a complete set of Supreme Pill ingredients, all of the finest quality and age.

Lin Hai swept his spiritual sense over them, confirmed they were in order, and put away all four boxes. Then he stood to leave.

"My lord, please wait! This is Myriad Medicine Pavilion's highest-grade guest token. Please accept it! Should you ever need anything, Myriad Medicine Pavilion will do everything in its power to assist you!" The Grand Elder hurriedly presented a purple-gold token bearing a lifelike Pill Tower emblem.

Lin Hai took it casually and slipped it into his Storage Ring without even looking at it. His figure had already faded and vanished.

He had arrived without warning and left just as abruptly.

The senior members of Myriad Medicine Pavilion were left behind, gazing at the priceless Supreme Pill, too overcome with excitement to contain themselves.

After leaving Myriad Medicine Pavilion, Lin Hai didn't immediately return to Wutan City.

He strolled through the streets of Sky Medicine City, spreading his spiritual sense like a flood of quicksilver.

Before long, he locked onto a shop called Myriad Fire Hall.

It was a fairly large establishment, specializing in all kinds of strange flames. It sold everything from low-rank Beast Fire to Yin Fire collected underground and Stone Fire, among other varieties. There must have been a thousand kinds or more.

Plenty of cultivators with fire attributes and alchemists wandered about, browsing.

A shop assistant came over. "What kind of flame are you looking for, sir? We have Beast Fire of every rank and all sorts of strange flames. We even have a Child Flame of Earth Core Flame, captured deep inside a volcano..."

Lin Hai cut him off and asked directly, "Do you have any Beast Fire or strange flame with a poisonous attribute, something like Nether Poison Fire?"

"Poisonous? Something like Nether Poison Fire?" The shop assistant paused and thought it over. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Ah! You've actually asked about just the right thing! We recently acquired a strange Beast Fire. It's the innate poison flame of a Sixth-Rank magical beast, the Nether Poison Dragon! It's dark green and contains deadly poison. It's somewhat similar to the legendary Nether Poison Fire, though its power is worlds apart, of course."

Nether Poison Dragon Fire? Lin Hai's eyes shifted slightly. "Bring it out for me to see."

The shop assistant soon returned from the back room with a specially made dark green crystal bottle. Inside, a clump of dark green flame danced and flickered, surrounded by an eerie green poisonous mist.

Lin Hai swept it with his spiritual sense and gave a slight nod.

The flame's quality was indeed low, but the poison it contained came from the same source as Nether Poison Fire.

It was the perfect substitute, and refining it would pose almost no danger.

"How much?" Lin Hai asked curtly.

The shop assistant smiled. "You have a good eye, sir. Although Nether Poison Dragon Fire is Sixth-Rank Beast Fire, its unusual properties make it quite rare. The price is one Sixth-Tier Magic Core, or an equivalent treasure or pill."

A Sixth-Tier Magic Core? Lin Hai's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He didn't have any Magic Cores left in his Storage Ring. As for pills, he'd already traded the Five- and Sixth-Grade Pills he had for ingredients and hadn't brought any loose ones with him.

"Wait here," Lin Hai said calmly. His figure vanished from Myriad Fire Hall in an instant.

The shop assistant saw his vision blur. Then the man was gone, leaving him rooted to the spot in confusion.

Deep in the Hengduan Mountain Range.

Lin Hai appeared out of nowhere. His powerful spiritual sense immediately locked onto a Sixth-Rank, low-level Storm Demon Tiger resting in its lair.

The tiger seemed to sense danger. It had only just opened its scarlet eyes and let out a threatening growl when—

Lin Hai pointed at it from a distance.

Poof!

A fine spatial rift flashed by. The Storm Demon Tiger's head was pierced through in an instant, and it died without so much as a whimper.

A Sixth-Tier Magic Core wreathed in green wind energy was drawn out by an unseen force.

The entire process took less than a breath.

Lin Hai put away the Magic Core and vanished again.

Back in Myriad Fire Hall, the shop assistant was still scratching his head, wondering why the customer had suddenly disappeared.

Suddenly, his vision blurred. The man in blue appeared once more, as if he had never left.

Lin Hai set the Sixth-Tier wind-attributed Magic Core, still faintly warm and pulsing with energy, on the counter. "Is this enough?"

The shop assistant stared at the freshly harvested Sixth-Tier Magic Core, its energy not yet fully stilled. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets!

H-How long had it been?

Ten breaths?

Had this lord gone out and killed a Sixth-Rank magical beast on the spot?!

What kind of terrifying speed was that?!

He broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly lifted the crystal bottle containing Nether Poison Dragon Fire with both hands, respectfully offering it to Lin Hai. "It's more than enough! Please take it, my lord!"

Lin Hai took the crystal bottle without even glancing at the Sixth-Tier Magic Core and turned to leave.

The shop assistant looked at the Magic Core on the counter, then at the empty doorway. His legs felt like they were about to give way.

Lin Hai, meanwhile, had already left Sky Medicine City. He took one step, and space shifted.

The next moment, he appeared in the courtyard of the Xiao Clan in Wutan City.