Exchanging for the Ingredients for the Ninth-Grade Lightning Tribulation Pill

Lin Hai returned to the back courtyard of the Xiao Clan in Wutan City with the Mysterious Yellow Flame and the tamed Earth-Splitting Black Turtle.

He casually settled the enormous Earth-Splitting Black Turtle in a beast pen he had carved out in the back hills. The aura of the sixth-tier magical beast sent the ordinary birds and beasts in the hills scattering in all directions. But that was as far as it went. Under Lin Hai's might, the Earth-Splitting Black Turtle obediently lay prostrate, not daring to make the slightest move.

After taking care of that, Lin Hai found Yao Chen, who was guiding Xiao Yan as he absorbed the power he had gained from devouring Beast Fire.

"Yao Chen, bring me the Eighth-Tier Pills you've refined over the past year and a half," Lin Hai said bluntly.

At his words, Yao Chen didn't hesitate in the slightest. With a stir of his soul power, nine jade bottles as smooth as warm jade floated out. Light shimmered across their surfaces, and wisps of pill aura curled around them as they gave off astonishing waves of energy.

Inside were nine Eighth-Tier Pills, all of excellent quality.

"Spirit Venerable Lin, they're all here." Yao Chen pushed the jade bottles toward him.

Lin Hai put away the nine bottles and nodded. "I need to go to Sky Medicine City in the Central Plains to obtain a seventh-tier Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast Magic Core and Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva for Xiao Yixian to control her poison body. I'll also exchange for some medicinal ingredients while I'm there."

Hearing that it was for her, Xiao Yixian's delicate body trembled slightly. Her pale violet eyes turned to Lin Hai, rippling with emotion, and she said softly, "Big Brother Lin, I..."

Lin Hai glanced at her. His tone was calm but left no room for argument. "The Woeful Poison Body is too great a hidden danger. Controlling it sooner will be better for you and for everyone else. I'll be back soon."

With that, he took a step forward. His figure merged into space and vanished.

Central Plains, Pill Tower Trading Center.

Lin Hai appeared directly inside the VIP appraisal room on the trading center's top floor.

An old man with snow-white hair and beard and an aura as deep as the sea hurried over to greet him, his expression respectful.

Though the old man couldn't see through Lin Hai's exact strength, the aura Lin Hai unconsciously radiated made even his soul tremble.

"My lord, may I ask what you need?" the old man asked with a bow.

Lin Hai didn't bother with pleasantries. He swept his sleeve, and the nine jade bottles containing the Eighth-Tier Pills floated into the air.

In an instant, the room filled with fragrance. The dense pill aura nearly solidified, and glimmers of spiritual light flickered across the bottles, revealing the extraordinary pills within.

The old man's pupils contracted. He cried out in shock, "Eighth-Tier Pills! And... a full nine of them! These... this quality..." With his discerning eye, he could tell that these pills were far beyond the threshold of the eighth tier. They had weathered at least Five-Colored Pill Lightning, and two even seemed to possess a hint of sentience. They had likely survived Seven-Colored or even Eight-Colored Pill Lightning!

Such a display was simply horrifying!

Even some ancient sects with profound foundations might not be able to produce so many high-grade Eighth-Tier Pills at once!

"My lord... you're..." The old man's voice trembled.

"An exchange." Lin Hai's tone was indifferent. "One seventh-tier Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast Magic Core and one portion of Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva. In addition, I want two sets of ingredients for refining the Ninth-Grade Lightning Tribulation Pill."

"A Ninth-Grade Lightning Tribulation Pill?!" The old man sucked in another sharp breath.

That was a pill of the Ninth-Grade Profound Pill level! Every ingredient it required was a rare treasure almost impossible to find in the world!

He collected himself and said with difficulty, "My lord, although the Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast Magic Core and Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva are rare, these Eighth-Tier Pills are more than enough to trade for them. It's just that the ingredients for the Ninth-Grade Lightning Tribulation Pill... are far too rare. The main ingredients, especially the Origin of Nine Profound Golden Lightning and the Life-Generating Lightning Fruit, are currently... we only have two sets in stock. And... according to our rules, we require a barter, or..."

His meaning was clear. Eighth-Tier Pills were valuable, but they might not be enough to trade for the main ingredients of a Ninth-Grade Pill, especially two sets. After all, those capable of refining Ninth-Grade Pills generally had no shortage of Eighth-Tier Pills.

Lin Hai understood, of course. He said calmly, "These nine Eighth-Tier Pills will only be exchanged for the Magic Core, the Bodhi Saliva, and the auxiliary ingredients from those two sets. As for the Origin of Nine Profound Golden Lightning and the Life-Generating Lightning Fruit, I have something of equal value to trade for them. I won't let you take a loss."

The old man fell silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth. "All right! Please wait, my lord. I'll summon the person in charge and bring out the treasures at once!" A transaction of this scale was beyond his authority to decide.

Before long, the trading center's manager arrived in person, an old man whose aura had reached the peak of Spirit Venerable. After verifying the pills and hearing Lin Hai's request, he too was deeply shaken.

After a tense but efficient round of negotiations, the deal was struck.

Lin Hai traded two Eighth-Tier Pills for the seventh-tier Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast Magic Core and the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva.

With the remaining six Eighth-Tier Pills, he exchanged for all the auxiliary ingredients needed for two sets of the "Ninth-Grade Lightning Tribulation Pill"—dozens of precious ingredients, each radiating immense energy.

Finally, Lin Hai took out two jade boxes. One contained a low-grade Heaven-tier spirit skill. The other held two percent of the Void Devouring Flame's origin, a Child Flame separated from its main body. The value of these two items was no less than that of the two main ingredients for the Ninth-Grade Pill—in fact, it was even greater.

After inspecting them, the manager's hands trembled as he promptly brought out two heavily sealed jade cases.

One contained the Origin of Nine Profound Golden Lightning. The other held a gleaming silver fruit, its surface alive with swirling lightning patterns—the Life-Generating Lightning Fruit.

The trade was complete, and both sides were delighted.

Lin Hai put away everything he had obtained and didn't linger for a moment. He tore through space once more and returned to Wutan City.

The round trip had taken no more than two hours.

In the Xiao Clan's back courtyard, Lin Hai handed Yao Chen the Magic Core, which gave off a strange poisonous aura, and the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva, which wriggled as if alive and exuded a curious fragrance. Xiao Yixian was stunned, and her eyes reddened slightly.

"Big Brother Lin... thank you." A thousand words came down to that quiet expression of gratitude. The gratitude and tangled emotions behind it were beyond words.

Yao Chen, too, was deeply moved.

Lin Hai merely waved his hand and looked at Yao Chen. "As for the method of controlling the poison body, have Xiao Yan start learning about it after he refines his first Heavenly Flame in half a year."

"I understand!" Yao Chen replied solemnly.

Afterward, Lin Hai went to the beast pen in the back hills. He settled in the eight sixth-tier magical beasts of different attributes that had been captured by the four Holy Spirit magical beasts, along with the eighth-tier ice-attribute magical beast radiating terrifying cold—the Polar Ice Ape.

Only after finishing all this did he return to his quiet room. He looked at the two main ingredients for the Ninth-Grade Pill, both shimmering with lightning, and the great pile of auxiliary ingredients. A deep look flashed through his eyes.

The Ninth-Grade Lightning Tribulation Pill... Once he had handed out the promised rewards to the members of Haiye, he would go to the Yao Clan and have them help refine it.

If the pill succeeded, two of the four magical beasts would be able to advance further.

Once they broke through to the Eight-Star Holy Spirit level, when they fought the Soul Clan again, they would only know victory, never defeat.