Meanwhile, his alchemy skills had improved by leaps and bounds.
At first, he had only known how to make Body Tempering Pills and Blood Qi Pills. Gradually, he learned to explore and apply what he had learned to new situations.
Thanks to his terrifying comprehension, Su Yun mastered the recipes for three more first-grade pills in succession.
Qi Gathering Pills, Rejuvenation Pills, and Hemostasis Pills.
They were all essential everyday items for cultivators, basic pills that were consumed extremely quickly.
His approach to alchemy was simple and straightforward: make plenty, keep the supply filling, and put cost first.
He didn't bother with flashy, rare pills or touch difficult, high-tier recipes.
He only chose first-grade pills made from cheap, widely available medicinal ingredients, with simple refining processes and stable demand.
The cheaper the ingredients, the better. The simpler the refining process, and the faster they sold, the better.
After all, he had Thousandfold Amplification. As long as he had the ingredients, every pill in a batch would be top quality.
Other people made four or five pills per batch. He made at least ten, and every one was top quality.
Over the course of ten days, he spent nearly all of his hundred mid-grade spirit stones on medicinal ingredients.
Bundles of herbs, spirit flowers, and spirit plants were constantly delivered to the alchemy room.
He refined the five types of pills in rotation, keeping the furnace burning day and night.
Only when he had spent his last spirit stone and could no longer afford even a single ingredient did Su Yun finally stop refining pills.
Inside the alchemy room, rows upon rows of sealed jade bottles covered the floor.
Each bottle contained a top-quality first-grade pill.
The Body Tempering Pills were round and ruddy, the Blood Qi Pills plump and pearly white, and the Qi Gathering Pills gleamed with a lustrous sheen...
Every pill looked flawless, with clear pill patterns and pure medicinal power, containing almost no pill toxicity.
Looking at the storage bag stuffed full of top-quality pills, the corners of Su Yun's mouth rose uncontrollably.
His eyes brimmed with excitement.
These were all genuine spirit stones.
Pure, shining money.
Once he sold them, he'd be rich in an instant.
But after the excitement came a practical problem.
He had made the pills, but how was he supposed to sell them?
There were hundreds of bottles of top-quality pills, far too many to handle easily.
Selling them one bottle at a time from a street stall would take too long and waste too much time.
Besides, he absolutely couldn't sell them inside the Azure Cloud Sect.
The sect was full of fellow disciples, elders, and stewards.
He had been a newcomer for less than a month. If he suddenly brought out hundreds of bottles of top-quality pills, even a fool would know something was wrong.
If his alchemy talent proved too extraordinary, his trump card would inevitably be exposed.
Then everyone would become wildly curious about his secret.
The sect's higher-ups, other elders, and even outside powers would all set their sights on him.
Trouble would keep coming to his door.
Absolutely not.
He had to keep a low profile.
He couldn't trade inside the sect.
He needed to find a big buyer elsewhere and sell everything in one bulk deal.
Su Yun's smile faded as he began to plan.
Where would be the best place to sell them?
He planned to go out and find a cultivation market, then get rid of all the pills in one go.
Over the next two days, Su Yun used wandering around the sect as an excuse to discreetly ask people for information.
He made inquiries about nearby markets where cultivators gathered to trade.
After asking around several times, he finally got a definite answer.
Not far from Azure Cloud Mountain was the Azure Cloud Market.
It had sprung up under the influence of the Azure Cloud Sect and was the largest trading hub for cultivators within a thousand li.
Rogue cultivators and low-level cultivators streamed in and out without end.
Pills, magical artifacts, materials, monster cores, cultivation jade slips—everything was available.
It was a market where cultivators traded supplies, as well as an important contact point and source of tax revenue for the Azure Cloud Sect.
Azure Cloud Market.
The sprawling market lay hidden amid an unbroken stretch of mountains and forest, its outskirts protected by a concealment formation.
The formation concealed its presence and blocked all sound. Ordinary mortals passing by could see only endless woods, never suspecting that a hidden world lay within the valley.
The market had flourished under the Azure Cloud Sect's influence and covered a vast area.
Only cultivators, by circulating their spiritual energy and triggering the formation's restrictions, could see the entrance and enter safely.
Most of those who came here were nearby rogue cultivators, members of cultivation lineages, and quite a few sect disciples coming down the mountain to trade.
It was a jumble of all sorts, yet still well-ordered.
To avoid revealing his identity, Su Yun had prepared well in advance.
He had learned the simplest basic Disguise Technique beforehand. Combined with the Breath Concealment Art, it transformed him into a cultivator in his sixties or seventies, with graying hair and a thin, gaunt face.
He stooped slightly, his back a little hunched. He had deliberately given his skin the creases of old age, and his aura was suppressed until it seemed utterly ordinary. He looked like a common old rogue cultivator who had spent years scraping by.
He changed into a shabby, dusty gray robe, leaving not a trace of his youthful appearance.
Once his disguise was ready, Su Yun ambled toward the market's outskirts.
The unremarkable forest in the distance rippled with a layer of pale light the moment he approached.
The valley entrance, invisible before, appeared out of thin air.
He stepped inside.
In an instant, a wave of noise washed over him.
The market was bustling, filled with a cacophony of voices.
The streets branched in every direction, with rows of stalls lining both sides and shops standing shoulder to shoulder. Cultivators streamed through the streets without end.
Su Yun quickly swept his gaze around.
Most of the cultivators passing by weren't very strong; the majority were around the third or fourth level of Qi Refining.
Cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Refining were already uncommon, while those at the sixth level were few and far between.
Rogue cultivators lacked resources. They had no sect to support them and no stable cultivation methods, making their progress arduous and slow.
After decades of struggle, reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining was already quite an achievement.
They couldn't compare with Azure Cloud Sect disciples at all.
As for him, he was genuinely at the sixth level of Qi Refining.
In a market teeming with rogue cultivators, that already made him a minor expert, with enough presence to command respect.
Su Yun walked slowly along the main street.
Calls from vendors rang out one after another throughout the market.
"Fresh monster cores! Going cheap!"
"Low-grade magical artifacts, sharp and durable! Only thirty low-grade spirit stones!"
"Medicinal herbs for treating injuries! Bloodroot over a hundred years old! Buy in bulk for a better price!"
"Cultivation jade slips, incomplete martial techniques! Cheap clearance!"
The street stalls offered all kinds of things.
Magical artifacts, pills, herbs, monster materials, cultivation jade slips, miscellaneous spiritual materials.
All sorts of goods were piled up everywhere.
Su Yun looked this way and that, his eyes bright with curiosity.
Like a country bumpkin stepping into the Grand View Garden.
In his previous life in modern society, and in this life inside the Azure Cloud Sect, he had never seen such a lively cultivator market.
Many of the spiritual materials, ores, and monster parts were things he was seeing for the first time.
After wandering along half the street, Su Yun didn't linger.
He stopped a passing stall vendor and quietly asked for directions.
After a brief inquiry, he quickly got the information he needed.
The biggest place to buy and sell pills in the Azure Cloud Market was the Pill Pavilion, a shop specializing in pill sales and purchases.
It not only sold pills to the public but also bought pills of all grades at high prices. It was especially generous when buying high-quality pills, and its reputation was solid. It was widely recognized as the market's leading pill business.
After getting the location, Su Yun immediately set off.
He passed through two narrow, bustling alleys and skirted around the crowded stalls. Ahead, the view suddenly opened up.
A grand three-story wooden building stood before him.
It had sweeping eaves and a gilded signboard bearing two characters: Pill Pavilion.
The area in front was spacious and tidy. Two guards, both cultivators at the sixth level of Qi Refining, stood watch at the entrance.
To secure such a large three-story building in a market crowded with all sorts of people, and keep guards stationed outside, was proof enough of the Pill Pavilion's wealth and strength.
It was most likely backed by a major lineage or sect.
Su Yun adjusted the gray cloth hat on his head, pretended to be an ordinary old rogue cultivator, and walked inside at an unhurried pace.