Su Shan's Fortuitous Opportunity

After leaving the dining hall, Song Wen disguised himself and went to the small town where the ordinary members of the Su Clan lived.

Scattered throughout the town were a few shops run by monks, Song Wen decided to try his luck there to see if he could buy Ghost Needle Grass and Yellow Essence Fungus.

The town is inhabited by both immortals and mortals, and the shops run by cultivators are scattered haphazardly and without any discernible pattern.

It took Song Wen nearly an hour to visit all the herb shops in the town, but the result was not good. He only managed to buy Ghost Needle Grass, but he couldn't find Yellow Essence Fungus.

Although Ghost Needle Grass a second-tier spirit medicine, it has very few uses and low value.

As a commonly used second-tier spirit medicine, Yellow Essence Fungus seems to be intentionally controlled, as no shop sells it.

As Song Wen wandered through the streets and alleys of the small town, he suddenly realized that the courtyard he was passing by was Su Shan's home.

A quick scan with his Divine Sense revealed that Su Shan was at home.

Curious about what kind of demonic Cultivation Method Su Shan was practicing, Song Wen removed part of his disguise, transforming into the appearance of 'Master Alchemist', and gently knocked on the courtyard gate.

"Squeak!"

A moment later, Su Shan's wife, Chen Hong, opened the courtyard gate.

Upon seeing that the person who had arrived was Song Wen, Chen Hong stepped aside and said.

"Master Alchemist, please come in quickly."

After leading Song Wen into the Small Courtyard, she shouted loudly into the house.

"My lord, Alchemist has arrived."

After saying that, she went back inside, just like when they first met.

From their two meetings, Song Wen could roughly tell that this woman was a thrifty, conservative, and traditional woman who did not want to show her face in front of outsiders.

A moment later, Su Shan emerged from the side room.

The moment he appeared, Song Wen could clearly smell a strong stench of rotting corpse emanating from him.

He had just been in contact with a rotting corpse!

In other words, there are rotting corpses hidden in Su Shan's courtyard, and there should be more than one.

Song Wen glanced meaningfully at Su Shan, who was walking towards him with a smile.

He keeps corpses in his own yard; isn't he afraid that his unborn child will be contaminated by the corpse's aura?

"Alchemist, what brings you here today?"

"Oh! Don't even mention it. The workload in the Alchemy Chamber suddenly increased, and Alchemy for days on end has left me physically and mentally exhausted. I came out to relax and stretch my muscles. I just happened to be passing by your house, so I knocked on the door to try my luck, and I didn't expect you to be home."

Song Wen could tell lies with ease.

He spoke as if Su Shan were an old friend of many years, recounting the hardships of his life to Su Shan, without treating Su Shan as an outsider at all.

Perhaps influenced by Song Wen's words, or perhaps sensing the closeness in Song Wen's words, Su Shan lowered his guard and began to complain.

"Who can argue with that! Five days ago, the Lineage suddenly increased security, and I've been guarding the mountain gate for three days and three nights straight. I'm finally able to take a break today."

Song Wen glanced at the inner room and asked softly.

"I just noticed that your wife's belly is getting bigger and bigger. Is she about to give birth?"

Su Shan nodded. "Yes, it should be within the next two weeks."

Song Wen smiled and clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "Then congratulations to Brother Su on the birth of your son."

Su Shan's expression suddenly changed slightly, and he looked somewhat uneasy, but he quickly concealed it.

Thank you...

After chatting for a while, Song Wen got up to take his leave.

As he left the courtyard, Song Wen glanced at the side room.

There is a secret room in the basement of the side room, containing three rotting corpses. The corpses have obvious signs of zombification and can be considered the lowest level of zombies.

However, Su Shan seemed to have missed the mark, and the zombie he created was tattered and looked just like a corpse that was about to rot.

After walking a long way, Song Wen glanced back at the Small Courtyard, which had already closed its gates again, and muttered to himself.

"Since you're determined to refine corpses, I'll give you a hand."

That night, Su Shan discovered that a wooden plank in the side wall of his house had been cracked by insects at some point.

Through the crack, he could see an extremely old cloth bag inside the wall.

Su Shan pried open the wall panel and took out a cloth bag.

As if it had been stored for too long, the cloth bag broke open at the slightest touch, revealing the corner of an old book.

He quickly tore open the cloth bag, and an ancient book made of animal hide appeared before his eyes.

Su Shan couldn't help but feel excited; he was certain he had discovered something extraordinary.

Opening the book, Su Shan began to read it carefully. To his delight, the book contained the very method of corpse refining that he urgently needed.

This book on corpse refining was found by Song Wen in a Storage Bag in the Withered Blood Secret Realm.

In the realm of demonic cultivation, this method of corpse refining wouldn't be considered profound, but it still has its merits. However, in the realm of righteous cultivation where demonic Cultivation Method are scarce, it's already considered a decent method of corpse refining.

The most profound aspect of this method of corpse refining lies in its use of quantity to achieve victory.

One method involves controlling hordes of corpses, allowing one to control dozens or even hundreds of walking corpses simultaneously. However, creating too many walking corpses means dispersing resources, which is the fundamental reason why Song Wen abandoned this Cultivation Method.

After leaving Su Shan's courtyard, Song Wen did not return directly to his residence. Instead, he disguised himself and headed to the Northern Lands Market to search for Yellow Essence Fungus.

He first went to several large spirit medicine, all of which were opened by the Su Clan, the Beast Taming Sect, and other neighboring cultivation forces, but none of them sold Yellow Essence Fungus.

Afterwards, he went to the Rogue Cultivator cultivators and some small spirit medicine.

Finally, they found Yellow Essence Fungus in a small shop in a secluded corner.

The shop owner was a male cultivator in his thirties, with Qi Refining Seventh Layer. He had a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks, and a mustache. He looked shifty and sneaky.

Upon hearing that Song Wen wanted to buy Yellow Essence Fungus, his eyes lit up, and he lowered his voice to say it.

"Fellow Daoist, Yellow Essence Fungus, a second-tier spirit medicine with a wide range of uses, has basically been monopolized by a few major cultivation forces, and it is very difficult to find outside."

"However, you've come to the right place. I have Yellow Essence Fungus here, and I can supply it long-term, it's just that the price..."

Song Wen knew the other party was trying to raise the price, but he urgently needed Yellow Essence Fungus), so he was willing to accept any price as long as it wasn't too outrageous.

"Just give me a price quote. If it's right, I can buy some. If it's too expensive, then I'll have to give up."

"How many years of experience with medicine do you need, fellow Daoist?" asked the man with the mustache.

"More than fifty years," Song Wen said.

The man with the mustache held up two fingers. "Two thousand Spirit Stone per plant!"

Song Wen frowned, his expression turning somewhat cold.

"You're asking for way too much."

According to Rong Jingyun's Jade Slip of experience, Yellow Essence Fungus has a wide range of uses and is cultivated by many larger cultivation forces. It can also be found occasionally in the wild. It is not worth two thousand Spirit Stone at all; two hundred Spirit Stone would be more appropriate.

The man with the mustache chuckled.

"Two thousand Spirit Stone, no bargaining. Furthermore, I don't have any stock on hand. You need to pay five hundred Spirit Stone as a deposit first, and come back tomorrow to collect the goods!"

Upon hearing this, Song Wen frowned even more deeply.

In the Cultivation World, it's always the case that you exchange Spirit Stone for goods; there's no such thing as paying a deposit upfront!

Seeing that Song Wen did not reply, the man with the mustache raised his hand, pointed to the shop's entrance, and said.

"If you think it's too expensive, then please do as you wish. In this Northland Market, only I have Yellow Essence Fungus for sale."

"However, fellow cultivator, you can also try your luck at the Rogue Cultivator's stalls. You might just strike it lucky and find one or two."

The man with the mustache looked like he had Song Wen completely under his thumb.

It is impossible for anyone in the entire Northern Lands Market to sell Yellow Essence Fungus anymore.

Even if a Rogue Cultivator manages to find Yellow Essence Fungus in the wild, they will either trade it privately with someone they know, or honestly accept the exploitation of powerful forces and sell it to them at a low price. They would never dare to sell it in the market; that would be suicidal.

The righteous forces' blockade of important second-tier spirit medicine is not just empty talk.

A flash of murderous intent appeared in Song Wen's eyes.

He reached up and took out the Storage Bag from his waist, pouring out five hundred Spirit Stone with a splash.

"I'll take one."

The man with the mustache beamed and quickly put away the Spirit Stone.

"Fellow Daoist, you will be able to obtain the Yellow Essence Fungus thing tomorrow morning."