Lower-Grade Spirit Root

"How many does Miss Su want?"

After working together several times, Lin Changheng and Su Shuangjiang had gotten along quite well, so he asked her directly.

"As many as Brother Lin has, I can take."

Su Shuangjiang's red lips curved slightly as she spoke.

Clearly, the pills Lin Changheng refined had earned recognition outside, and their reasonable price had made them popular among rogue cultivators. That was why Su Shuangjiang dared to make such an offer.

Lin Changheng gave the female cultivator a long look but said nothing. Instead, he tapped his fingers on the table, pondering something.

There were less than two months left before he and the others from the Xu Family Apothecary had to withdraw to their clan. By then, it would be even harder to sell the pills he had on hand.

He might as well sell them all now. With Su Shuangjiang handling things in the open, and the various powers busy planning their own withdrawals, they might not pay attention to this matter...

After weighing it over, he made up his mind.

"I have about fifty left. I wonder if Miss Su can take them all?"

"Fifty?" Su Shuangjiang's eyes lit up. "Of course."

But inwardly, she was astonished. Was this really the sort of stock a newly established alchemist could have?

Her estimation of Lin Changheng rose a few notches.

"Don't blame me for sticking my nose in, Miss Su. I'd still recommend selling these pills in batches once they're in your hands. Otherwise... a man is innocent, but his jade brings trouble."

Lin Changheng looked at the female cultivator and gave her a grave warning. Then he smiled lightly. "After all, I wouldn't want to lose a good neighbor just like that."

"This little woman understands."

"Good. Take a look, then."

Lin Changheng waved his hand and brought out a wooden box containing fifty pills.

A long while later, Su Shuangjiang looked up. "Brother Lin, the pills are all in order."

"Mm. The mature Fire Crow blood essence goes for fifty Spirit Sand per bottle, and three bottles of the juvenile kind count as one mature bottle. That makes ten spirit stones in total. As for the fifty Crimson Flame Pills, at eighty percent of the market price, they come to eighty spirit stones. Did I get anything wrong?"

"No." Su Shuangjiang shook her head, promptly took out seventy spirit stones, and pushed them toward Lin Changheng.

Lin Changheng pushed five of them back. "I also hope Miss Su can help me see if she can get hold of Green Wood Snake blood essence, or the blood essence of some other demon beast. I need a fairly large quantity; it doesn't have to be rare."

"Good!"

Su Shuangjiang agreed without hesitation, but pushed the five spirit stones back. "Brother Lin trusted me with a small task, and I've already gained an extra benefit from it. How could I accept your gift as well? Wouldn't that make me insatiably greedy?"

After seeing the female cultivator out of his cave dwelling, Lin Changheng returned and gazed pensively at the spirit stones before him.

Earlier, he had found an opportunity to change his appearance and sold twenty-five Crimson Flame Pills to another pill shop at seventy percent of the market price.

Adding those to the pills he had sold to Su Shuangjiang in two batches over the past four months, he had finally cleared out his entire stock.

He had done it to spread the sales out as much as possible.

And now, he had more than a hundred and fifty spirit stones in his pouch!

It was wealth he had never possessed before, or even dared dream of!

His consciousness sank into his sea of consciousness once more.

The Origin Cauldron remained as it was, standing firmly and steadily in his sea of consciousness.

Cloudlike mists churned above its mouth, revealing three illusory treasure seeds: one gold, one crimson, and one jade green.

Of them, the jade-green seed was the faintest.

[Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed: First Layer]

[Spirit Snatch: 13/100]

That was because the Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed had already been successfully absorbed a month and a half ago, refined into Lin Changheng's body.

He had also obtained [Poison Neutralization Art: Path Glimpse]!

[Effect: The body gains an initial resistance to poison, and can rapidly refine low-grade toxins.]

At once, Lin Changheng bought some mundane poisons and first-tier low-grade toxins from a rogue cultivator's stall not far from home.

Of course, with his cautious nature, he only bought toxins whose harm was limited to making his body swell a little or go slightly numb.

He would never dare touch anything deadly.

The results of his test left him quite pleased.

Mundane poisons no longer posed any real threat to him. His body resisted them automatically, without him having to do much at all.

The first-tier low-grade toxins, on the other hand, had been made by refining the venom of various poisonous insects from the cultivation world. A drop on the skin would eat away at the flesh.

If left untreated for too long, they would seep into the body, taint his magical power with poison, and make it sluggish and difficult to circulate.

But after he activated the Poison Neutralization Art, the venom was refined away within a few breaths. Not only did the harmful effects disappear, but the venom was even transformed into pure spiritual power that he could absorb.

It had been neutralized completely!

His ability to protect himself had grown stronger once more!

Lin Changheng even wondered if pill poison counted as poison too, and whether he could neutralize that as well.

But pill poison was dispersed and difficult to detect, and he had no solid evidence. He couldn't reach a conclusion.

In addition, the spiritual resonance of his Wood Spirit Root had risen from six wisps to seven!

Now, Lin Changheng was eager to get started on the crimson treasure seed.

"Two bottles of mature Fire Crow blood essence should earn me one point of Spirit Snatch! This time, it'll definitely be enough!"

"Absorb it!"

Tap, tap, tap... Lin Changheng poured all the Fire Crow blood essence into a copper basin, then dipped his hand inside and simultaneously connected with the Origin Cauldron.

Whoosh!

The copper basin was instantly left with only a thin layer of clear water.

Not a trace of blood remained!

Nor was there any bloody stench!

At that moment, blue-green light surged and ebbed inside the cauldron in his sea of consciousness, as if something were being brought to life.

Then a solidified crimson treasure seed bobbed above the cauldron's mouth, its light dazzling.

[Fire Crow Treasure Seed: Second Layer]

[Can continue refining the Demon Race's innate talent: Fire Control]

Lin Changheng looked at the treasure seed, identical in every way to the previous one, and willed it forward. The seed promptly sank into his mind.

A hot yet warm sensation coursed through his soul and swept over his entire body.

[Obtained: Fire Control Art: Agility]

Lin Changheng saw that after the seed had been refined, an identical illusory treasure seed continued to form in its place.

It was the excess Fire Crow blood essence, still undergoing Spirit Snatch and condensing into a new treasure seed.

"The Fire Control Art went from Path Glimpse to Agility. Does that mean the art has evolved?"

This was Lin Changheng's first Second Layer Treasure Seed, so he couldn't help but speculate.

[Effect: Stably controls ordinary flames; greatly enhances fire-based techniques.]

"I'll try it in a moment and find out. But my Spirit Root..."

He immediately cast the Spirit Inspection Technique on himself. A curious sensation arose in his heart, and he knew what it was—

[Fire Spirit Root, eleven wisps of spiritual resonance]!

When a cultivator's Spirit Root in any attribute exceeded ten wisps of spiritual resonance, it became a Lower-Grade Spirit Root!

That meant Lin Changheng's aptitude had also broken through the limits of a mixed Spirit Root and transformed into a Lower-Grade Spirit Root!

"Whew! That feels great!"

His Spirit Root had finally undergone its first transformation, a crucial turning point for his Dao Path. With a brief check, he could tell that his affinity for fire spiritual power had clearly improved. It felt more lively, more nimble.

They said that drops of water could pierce stone!

Accumulation, drop by drop, might not look like much over a short time. But given enough time, the gap it created would be enormous!

Tomorrow, please give the new chapter a read. It's crucial for the author and the new book. Many thanks, everyone! orz!