Yao Zunze's Medicinal Pill

The Six-eared Spirit Python Empire was not a recently emerged Magical Beast empire. It had existed in the northern reaches of the Beast Domain for a very long time; no one even knew when it had been founded. At the very beginning, however, it might not have been ruled by Six-eared Spirit Pythons.

This ancient city of the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire was also known as Magic Core City. Aside from being a city ruled by Magical Beasts, the northern Beast Domain frequently yielded the remains of ancient Magical Beasts. Thus, the magic core trade in the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire was especially booming. Many alchemists who could not find suitable magic cores came here to try their luck.

From cheap Grade One magic cores to the magic cores of Tier Eight ancient Magical Beasts, everything could be found here. It was even said that magic cores from the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan had once appeared in the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire, causing a tremendous uproar. In short, as long as one could afford the price, one could find any magic core one wanted here.

One could even say that if one could name a Magical Beast magic core, it could be found in the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire.

Although the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire was a nation ruled by Magical Beasts, it was not inhabited solely by Magical Beasts, nor was it desolate or barbaric. On the contrary, it was no different from the great cities of the human race—equally bustling and crowded with traffic. Human cultivators could be seen everywhere, and those who came to the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire hailed from all corners of the world.

"What the hell is that? Stone men?" Zhu Jin looked at the group of walking people by the city gate, whose skin and appearance resembled stone, and tilted his dragon head. There had been no mention of a race of stone men in the book.

Zhu Jin frowned and thought, Hm? Could they be the Stone Clan?

Zhu Jin knew that there were eight surviving Dou God Clans on the Dou Qi Continent. Among them were the Xiao Clan, where Xiao Yan's line remained; the Gu Clan, where Xun Er belonged and which excelled in Dou Techniques; the Soul Clan, the greatest villain faction that specialized in the path of souls; the Flame Clan, skilled in fire; the Thunder Clan, skilled in physical strength; and the Yao Clan, skilled in alchemy.

However, the final two clans, the Stone Clan and the Spirit Clan, had barely been introduced in the book. The Spirit Clan in particular had been wiped out by the Soul Clan before it had even made an appearance.

Zhu Jin only vaguely remembered a passage from the Heavenly Tomb arc. Due to their bloodline, members of the Stone Clan possessed physiques far surpassing ordinary people, comparable to the most powerful Magical Beasts. Their skin was also grayish-white, much like stone.

"So there really are stone spirits on the Dou Qi Continent." When Zhu Jin forged medicinal cauldrons, aside from using large quantities of ores, he also used something called Stone Essence. Stone Essence came in different attributes. For instance, the first medicinal cauldron Xiao Yan obtained in the book used a type of Stone Essence called Flame Essence. This Stone Essence was similar to a Magical Beast's magic core, the essence of a mineral vein, and was extremely difficult to form.

Fusing Stone Essence of different attributes into an item could grant the finished product different attribute enhancements.

"Right. Heavenly Flames and Nine Mysterious Golden Lightning can both develop spirits, so it doesn't seem strange for Stone Essence to develop spirits on the Dou Qi Continent..." Zhu Jin shrugged. It was entirely possible that the Stone Clan's Dou Di had been a piece of Stone Essence that developed a spirit, cultivated into a Dou Di, and then founded a new race. These stone men were very likely descendants of the Stone Clan, or perhaps born from mixed blood between the Stone Clan and humans, much like the Snake-People Tribe.

It could be said that the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire was one of the largest ancient cities in the northern Beast Domain. It had always been extraordinarily lively, with creatures from all corners of the world!

Naturally, Magical Beasts made up the majority.

Zhu Jin was not small, measuring a full twenty meters in length. Even though Old Turtle had shrunk his body, he was still quite enormous. Yet here, they could only be considered average-sized. The entire nation resembled a city of giants, where everything was huge, and the buildings were absurdly massive, soaring into the clouds.

Enormous Sky Whales droned through the heavens as they flew into the empire; gigantic Centipedes crawled in winding paths; there were even quite a few Dragon Beasts that looked similar to Zhu Jin. Zhu Jin and the others, riding atop a great turtle, blended in quite well.

Along the way, Zhu Jin saw many good items being sold by the roadside: Grade Five and Grade Six medicinal ingredients, magic cores, even medicinal pills and extremely precious Transformation Grass. However, with a sweep of his Dragon Sense, Zhu Jin discovered that the Transformation Grass had lost more than half its energy. It had likely been dug out from some ancient ruin, but the passage of time had greatly diminished its medicinal effects.

Zhu Jin only glanced at these things. First, he did not have that much money to buy them. The price of a Transformation Pill was equivalent to the five lowest-ranked Heavenly Flames; he simply could not afford one. Second, the world of Magical Beasts was just as full of deception as the human world. Most of the goods here were fakes.

A considerable portion of the magic cores were actually counterfeit! Just like Xie Yun, who had been deceived by the Beast Power Pill, many of the so-called ancient medicinal pills and ancient pill formulas here were fake!

However, this Magical Beast empire was not without legitimate establishments. The Nine Nether Commerce Association was one such proper platform, and it was also the destination of Zhu Jin and the other beasts.

"So this is the Nine Nether Commerce Association, the commerce association of the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan." Zhu Jin was deeply shocked as he looked at the enormous structure before him. The entire commerce association appeared to be wrapped around by a gigantic black python. A black flag bearing the image of a Nine Netherworld Python fluttered in the wind, while two Tier Six giant pythons stood imposingly before the entrance.

Dragon Island, on the other hand, had no time for construction due to its civil war. Many places were merely ancient plazas and caves that had existed since long ago, while numerous palaces had already collapsed. There were even rumors that the Four Great Dragon Islands attacked one another's islands, launching "air raids."

Xie Dong nodded. "The Nine Nether Commerce Association can be considered the largest commerce association in the entire Beast Domain. Backed by the massive population of the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan, the Nine Nether Commerce Association outnumbers the Heaven Phoenix Commerce Association of the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan."

The development path of the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan was simple: strength in numbers. Magical Beast factions related to the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan could be found throughout the Beast Domain, and there were even many connected to them in human territories.

Tickets for the spatial wormholes of the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire had to be bought at the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Commerce Association. Though this ancient nation was called the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire, it had always truly been controlled by the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan.

"Mm, let's go in and ask how to get to Horizon City." Zhu Jin named a city.

Horizon City was the city where Xiao Yan had taken Zi Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, and Xin Lan to board a spatial wormhole to the Central Plains. During the Horizon City arc, Xiao Yan obtained a Tier Six Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast magic core. Later, a spatial storm within the wormhole separated him from Xiao Yi Xian and the others, after which he entered the Wind Lightning Pavilion arc.

Therefore, the nearest spatial wormhole exit to the Black-Corner Region was located in Horizon City.

Just as the group was about to enter the Nine Nether Commerce Association to buy spatial wormhole tickets for Horizon City, a commotion suddenly erupted inside the association, followed by endless discussion.

Flame Wolf was quite perceptive and immediately ran into the commerce association to inquire about the situation. Before long, he had gathered information from the crowd of beasts and reported, "Dragon King, I heard that the disturbance is because Yao Zunze's Medicinal Pill from Starfall Pavilion will appear at the upcoming Nine Nether Commerce Association auction."

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"What did you say?! Venerable Yao of Starfall Pavilion?!"