Inferior Spirit Root

"I wonder how many Fairy Su requires?"

Having collaborated with Su Shuangjiang several times now, Lin Changheng found the experience quite pleasant and asked directly.

"However many Brother Lin has, I can take them all."

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

Clearly, the pills refined by Lin Changheng had gained recognition abroad; with their reasonable pricing, they were being chased after by rogue cultivators. That was why Su Shuangjiang dared to make such a claim.

Lin Changheng looked at the female cultivator deeply for a few moments without speaking, instead tapping his fingers against the table as he pondered.

With less than two months remaining, he would soon be withdrawing to the clan alongside the others from the Xu Family apothecary. Once that happened, holding onto these pills would make them much harder to offload.

It would be better to sell them all now. With Su Shuangjiang acting as a shield in the open, and with all the major factions busy planning their own evacuations, their eyes might not necessarily fall upon this matter...

After some deliberation, he reached a decision.

"I have about fifty pills on hand. I wonder if Fairy Su can handle that many?"

"Fifty?" Su Shuangjiang's eyes brightened. "Naturally, I can."

Yet, inwardly, she clicked her tongue in astonishment. Is this something a novice alchemist could possess?

Her estimation of Lin Changheng rose by another notch.

"Fairy Su, pray do not take offense at my meddling, but I suggest you release these pills in batches once they are in your hands. Otherwise... the innocent man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

Lin Changheng looked at the female cultivator, delivering the solemn warning before chuckling softly. "After all, I should hate to lose such a good neighbor just like that."

"This little woman understands."

"That is good. Please, count them."

With a wave of his hand, Lin Changheng produced fifty wooden pill boxes.

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

"Very well. Fifty bottles of mature Fire Crow essence blood at fifty spirit sand per bottle, with three bottles of juvenile essence blood counting as one mature bottle, totaling ten spirit stones. Fifty [Crimson Flame Pill]s, at twenty percent off the market price, totaling eighty spirit stones. I trust my math is correct?"

"It is." Su Shuangjiang shook her head and promptly produced seventy spirit stones, pushing them toward Lin Changheng.

Lin Changheng pushed five of them back. "I hope Fairy Su can help me see if you can acquire the essence blood of the 'Green Wood Snake,' or perhaps other demonic beast essence blood. I need a large quantity, however; rare types are not necessary for now."

"Very well!"

Su Shuangjiang agreed decisively, though she pushed the five spirit stones back toward him. "This little woman enjoys Brother Lin's trust. Doing a few small favors is already an extra gain; how could I accept a gift from Brother Lin on top of that? Would that not make me a greedy person?"

After seeing the female cultivator out of his cave dwelling, Lin Changheng returned and stared at the spirit stones, lost in thought.

He had previously seized an opportunity to change his appearance and sell twenty-five [Crimson Flame Pill]s to another spirit pill shop at a thirty percent discount.

Combined with the batches sold to Su Shuangjiang over the past four months, the stockpile of pills he had accumulated was finally cleared out.

All of this was to ensure the distribution was as scattered as possible.

At this moment, the number of spirit stones in his pouch exceeded one hundred and fifty!

This was a fortune he had never possessed, nor even dared to imagine!

He sank his consciousness back into his sea of consciousness.

The Origin Cauldron remained as it was, standing steady and immovable.

Clouds and mist churned at the mouth of the cauldron, revealing three illusory treasure seeds: one gold, one crimson, and one emerald.

The emerald treasure seed was the faintest of them all.

[Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed · First Layer]

[Spirit Snatch: 13/100]

This was because the [Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed] had successfully completed its Spirit Snatch a month and a half ago and had been refined into Lin Changheng's body.

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

[Effect: Body possesses initial resistance to toxins; rapidly refines low-grade poisons.]

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

Naturally, with his cautious nature, he only bought poisons that would, at most, cause some swelling or numbness—limited damage.

He would never dare touch anything lethal.

The result of his experiment left him quite delighted.

Mundane poisons no longer posed any threat to him; his body automatically resisted them without him needing to do anything.

As for the first-grade low-tier poisons, which were refined from the venom of various poisonous insects in the cultivation world, a drop on the skin would cause a patch of rot.

If left untreated and allowed to seep into the body, it would taint one's spiritual power, causing it to circulate slowly and sluggishly.

But after circulating the [Poison Neutralization Art], the venom was refined away within a few breaths. Not only did the negative effects vanish, but the venom was even converted into pure spiritual energy that could be absorbed.

It was completely neutralized!

His ability to protect himself had grown stronger once again!

Lin Changheng even wondered if pill toxins, being a form of poison, could be dissolved in the same way.

However, pill toxins were dispersed and difficult to detect, lacking concrete evidence, making them hard to target.

Furthermore, the spiritual essence of his Wood Spirit Root had also increased from six wisps to seven!

Now, Lin Changheng was eager and ready to tackle the red Treasure Seed.

"Two bottles of mature Fire Crow essence blood can perform one Spirit Snatch! This time, it will definitely be enough!"

"Absorb for me!"

Drip, drip, drip... Lin Changheng poured all the Fire Crow essence blood into the copper basin, then reached his hand inside while connecting with the [Origin Cauldron].

Whoosh!

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

There was no longer any blood color!

Nor was there any scent of blood!

At this moment, within the cauldron in his sea of consciousness, cyan rays of light rose and fell continuously, as if gestating life.

Then, a newly solidified red Treasure Seed rose and fell at the mouth of the cauldron, its crimson light dazzling.

[Fire Crow Treasure Seed: Second Layer]

[Can continue to refine Demon Race innate talent: Fire Control]

Lin Changheng looked at the identical Treasure Seed, and with a thought, the seed vanished into his mind.

A scorching yet warm sensation pierced through his soul and flooded his entire body.

[Refined: Fire Control Art: Agility]

Lin Changheng saw that after the Treasure Seed was refined, a phantom of an identical Treasure Seed continued to form in the original spot of the red Treasure Seed.

This was the overflowing Fire Crow essence blood continuing to undergo Spirit Snatch, condensing into a new Treasure Seed.

"The Fire Control Art has changed from [Path Glimpse] to [Agility]. Does this represent a transformation of the art?"

This was Lin Changheng's first [Second Layer Treasure Seed], and he immediately formed a hypothesis.

[Effect: Stable control of ordinary flames, moderate enhancement of fire-type techniques.]

"I'll test it in a moment to be sure, but my Spirit Root..."

He cast a [Spirit Inspection Technique] on himself, and a strange feeling instantly arose in his heart, but he knew what it was—

[Fire Spirit Root, 11 wisps of spiritual essence]!

Once any attribute of a cultivator's Spirit Root exceeded ten wisps of spiritual essence, it became a Low-Grade Spirit Root!

This meant that Lin Changheng's aptitude had broken through the limits of a Miscellaneous Spirit Root and transformed into a Low-Grade Spirit Root!

"Hoo! Refreshing!"

His Spirit Root had finally completed its initial transformation, which was crucial for his path of cultivation. With a slight perception, he felt that his affinity for fire spiritual energy was clearly higher than before, possessing a sense of liveliness and agility.

They say that water dripping day by day wears away the stone!

Accumulation bit by bit might not be visible in the short term, but as time passed, the gap would become immense!