Two Years

Zhao Dapeng was overjoyed. His Storage Bag contained two thousand Spirit Stone and one hundred Profound Qi Pill, enough for him, a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refinement, to cultivate for a very long time.

"Thank you for your kindness, Elder Xia. I will do my utmost to fulfill your instructions."

Elder Xia nodded slightly, but instead of putting the black coffin into his storage ring, he dragged it with one hand and walked out.

After leaving the secret chamber and entering the courtyard, she summoned a flying boat and sailed away.

After seeing Elder Xia off, Zhao Dapeng hurriedly left the Small Courtyard. He was going to find the slave traders in the market and ask them to bring over a few strong ordinary men or martial arts practitioners.

Seeing this, Song Wen understood.

Zhao Dapeng's cultivation of living corpses was actually at the behest of the Beast Taming Sect.

Previously, I saw Zhao Dapeng bully the orphaned widow and her children next door in order to find a wife for his younger brother.

At the time, Song Wen still felt that he treated his younger brother fairly well.

Perhaps driven by profit; or perhaps, Zhao Dapeng had grown weary of caring for his mentally challenged younger brother over the years, leading him to choose the cruel method of turning his brother into a living corpse, neither human nor ghost.

During the three years he was raising the zombies, his mentally challenged brother suffered unimaginable torment, truly inhuman torture. Had it been a sane person, they probably would have succumbed to the torture and taken their own life long ago.

But why would the Beast Taming Sect go to such lengths to cultivate living corpses?

Furthermore, what is that aura on the living corpse, a blend of corpse energy and life energy?

After a short rest, Song Wen continued refining the elixir.

He first tried to refine the Bloodburst Pill.

Song Wen took out the newly purchased Yellow Essence Fungus and was about to refine the Alchemy when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

His storage ring also contained thousands of special Yellow Essence Fungus brimming with vitality.

These Yellow Essence Fungus varieties differ from the common ones and seem unsuitable for Alchemy.

Recalling the scene where the Silver Corpse's body showed streaks of blood after refining over a hundred special Yellow Essence Fungus, Song Wen made a decision.

He decided to use all of these Yellow Essence Fungus to nourish the Silver Corpse, hoping for an unexpected surprise.

One month later.

Song Wen entered the 'Flowing Radiance Pill Shop'.

This is the largest elixir shop opened by the Beast Taming Sect in East Birch Market.

Upon seeing Song Wen enter the shop, a beautiful maidservant came forward to greet him.

"Senior, what kind of elixir would you like to buy?"

Song Wen said, "I'm not here to buy pills, I'm here to sell them."

"May I ask, senior, what kind of pills do you wish to sell?"

"Profound Qi Pill"

The maid said, "Please wait a moment, senior Profound Qi Pill is First-Tier Superior-Grade pill. I do not have the authority to decide whether to purchase it. I will go and fetch the manager."

A moment later, guided by a maid, an old man with a white beard approached Song Wen.

"Fellow Daoist, I've heard you have Profound Qi Pill for sale?"

Song Wen nodded, reached into his Storage Bag at his waist, and a jade bottle appeared in his hand.

The white-bearded old man wore a kind smile.

"Fellow Daoist, please don't be hasty. Please come with me to the study to discuss this in detail."

Led by the white-bearded old man, the two soon arrived at an elegant study.

After taking his seat, the white-bearded old man spoke.

"Fellow Daoist, please take out the Profound Qi Pill. Before the transaction, I need to check the quality of the pill."

Before purchasing elixirs, shops must check their quality; this is common knowledge in the Cultivation World.

Song Wen readily agreed and handed the jade bottle to the white-bearded old man.

The white-bearded old man took the jade bottle and poured out a pill.

The elixir was pure in color, rich in Spiritual Qi, and carried a refreshing fragrance.

The white-bearded old man smiled.

"The pills you've refined are of excellent quality, fellow Daoist. If all the Profound Qi Pill you possess are of this quality, our Flowing Radiance Pill Shop will take them all."

Song Wen waved his hand, and two more jade bottles landed on the low table in front of him. Together with the bottle he had given to the old man earlier, there were a total of thirty Profound Qi Pill bottles.

The white-bearded old man examined the pills in the other two jade bottles before speaking.

"Each Profound Qi Pill five Spirit Stones. I wonder if you are satisfied with this price?"

Upon hearing this, Song Wen frowned slightly.

On the market, the price of Profound Qi Pill is around ten Spirit Stone per pill.

The medicine shop buys it for five Spirit Stones, thus making a profit of 100% from the purchase and sale.

The cost of the spirit medicine needed to refine one batch of Profound Qi Pill is approximately twelve Spirit Stone.

An ordinary first-tier Alchemist has a success rate of about 50% in refining Profound Qi Pill, and each batch of Profound Qi Pill yields six pills.

In total, the cost of refining one Profound Qi Pill is approximately four Spirit Stones.

Alchemist work hard to Alchemy, but each Profound Qi Pill only yields a profit of one Spirit Stone, far less than the profit from selling pills in a pill shop.

Song Wen shook his head, "If you are only willing to offer five Spirit Stones, then I will have to find another buyer."

After saying this, Song Wen made a move to put away the three jade bottles.

"Fellow Daoist, wait a moment."

The white-bearded old man quickly stopped him.

"Fellow Daoist, are you not satisfied with the purchase price? We can discuss it further. How about six Spirit Stones?"

Song Wen continued to shake his head.

"Seven Spirit Stone. That's the highest price I can offer. Even the Alchemist we work with year-round in the market can only get this much."

Song Wen sat down again and took out three more jade bottles.

"Make a deal!"

The identity of Alchemist was merely a cover for Song Wen; he did not make a living from it.

The old man's offer was reasonable, so he stopped arguing with him.

Moreover, Song Wen simply didn't have the time to set up a stall and sell Profound Qi Pill.

"Fellow Daoist, you are straightforward."

The white-bearded old man put away the three jade bottles, took out two hundred and ten Spirit Stones, and handed them to Song Wen.

"I am Ning Feng. May I ask your name, fellow Daoist?" After completing the transaction, the white-bearded old man asked with a friendly expression.

"My name is Yan Feng, and I greet Fellow Daoist Ning."

"I know all the Alchemist in the market who can refine Profound Qi Pill. Since you look unfamiliar, you must be new to East Birch Market?"

"I arrived in East Birch Market a month ago. I hope Fellow Daoist Ning will take good care of me in the future."

Ning Feng stroked his silver beard and smiled warmly.

"Alchemist, rest assured, I still have some influence in this market. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come to me. I will definitely lend a hand if I can help."

Song Wen cupped his hands in thanks, "Thank you, fellow Daoist."

"Five days from now, there will be an Alchemist exchange meeting in the backyard of Flowing Radiance Pill Shop. Would Alchemist like to attend?"

"Thank you for the invitation, Fellow Daoist Ning. I will certainly be there on time."

For the next two years, Song Wen focused on his cultivation in the market.

He had no shortage of Spirit Stone and did not need to venture out to search for the resources needed for cultivation; moreover, he did not provoke trouble, and even if trouble occasionally fell on him, he would avoid it if he could; for the past two years, his life had been peaceful.

In the past two years, he has participated in several Alchemist exchange meetings hosted by Ning Feng, met some Rogue Cultivator Alchemist, and mastered the refining techniques of three new first-order pills. His Alchemy skills have become more and more proficient, and his understanding of the Alchemy path has become more and more profound.

After more than two years of refinement, the hidden dangers of the unstable spiritual power and weak Foundation the Longevity Art Technique have been basically eliminated.

However, his research into the 'Bloodburst Pill' has not yet been successful.

The availability of only four Yellow Essence Fungus per month severely hampered his progress in developing the Bloodburst Pill.

In two years, they only made about a hundred attempts.

It is worth mentioning that a year and a half ago, Song Wen bought a suitable potent poison from a Rogue Cultivator on the black market.

After arriving in East Birch Market, he was busy refining Blood Qi Pill and improving his Longevity Art, which caused his Myriad Poisons Primordial Body to be neglected.

Having finally acquired the right poison, he was able to resume cultivating the <Myriad Poisons Primordial Body>.