Righteous and Upright

"Hm?"

Chen Nianzhi raised a brow and sized him up. Seeing the nervous look on his face, he gave a slight nod.

"I'll take it, but I need to see whether it's genuine."

"This..."

The youth looked at Chen Nianzhi uneasily. The item on him was far too valuable; once others saw it, they might well harbor thoughts of murder and robbery.

He hesitated for a moment, then remembered that he had specifically asked around before coming. This Inscription Pavilion of the Mu Clan had been open for over five hundred years and had built up five or six centuries of reputation and credibility. It should be trustworthy.

Besides, the man before him had upright features and an extraordinary bearing. He did not look like a bad person.

Having made up his mind, he gritted his teeth and handed over an ancient book.

"This is the Pill Canon passed down through my family. There can be no mistake."

"As long as you offer five hundred Spirit Stones, I'll sell it to you."

Chen Nianzhi opened the Pill Canon and gave it a brief look before hastily closing it again.

He stared at the youth and, without saying much else, spoke directly.

"I'll give you a thousand Spirit Stones, but you must swear a Heart-Demon Oath. You may never sell this Pill Canon to anyone else, nor may you pass it on to others."

"This..."

The youth hesitated. The pill formulas were worth a great deal, and he had indeed been thinking of selling the goods to three different buyers.

Seeing his hesitation, Chen Nianzhi sneered. "Once this pill formula is sold too many times, it will be nothing more than a sheet of paper anyone can copy. By then, it won't be worth anything."

"And you should understand the saying, 'A man is guilty because he carries jade.' With your cultivation, every additional copy you sell means another chance of being murdered for treasure."

"If you sell too many, then even if someone wants to avenge you afterward, they may not even know who killed you."

Hearing this, the youth felt that the man before him had a point. He glanced once more at the Inscription Pavilion's signboard before finally nodding.

"I can sell it to you, but I want payment and goods exchanged at the same time."

"Agreed!"

Chen Nianzhi nodded and directly took out a thousand Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag.

At the sight of the Spirit Stones, the youth's eyes lit up. His unsettled heart finally calmed.

This man can bring out so many Spirit Stones at once. He must hold no ordinary status within the Mu Clan.

With the Inscription Pavilion's five-hundred-year reputation, and with his status, he surely would not cheat me.

With that thought, the youth swore a Heart-Demon Oath. Money and goods changed hands, and the transaction was completed.

When the female shopkeeper emerged, she saw the youth bidding Chen Nianzhi farewell before leaving the Inscription Pavilion.

"That was?" the female shopkeeper could not help asking.

"A friend of mine. We happened to run into each other just now, so we exchanged a few words."

Chen Nianzhi spoke with a face full of righteousness and words of stern justice.

Then he took the Bellheart Grass in one hand, paid the Spirit Stones, and turned to leave the Inscription Pavilion at a brisk pace.

After leaving the Inscription Pavilion, he returned to his residence with an excited heart and opened the Pill Canon.

This was a complete collection of pill formulas, compiled by some senior alchemist in his later years after gathering together all the formulas he knew.

This collection contained twenty-six pill formulas in total: seventeen Tier 1 formulas and nine Tier 2 formulas.

The Tier 1 formulas aside, among the nine Tier 2 formulas were five Tier 2 Low-grade formulas, three Tier 2 Mid-grade formulas, and one Tier 2 High-grade formula.

Of the five Tier 2 Low-grade pill formulas, two overlapped with the formulas collected by the Chen Clan.

The other three formulas were for the Origin-Gathering Pill, Stasis-Resolving Pill, and Origin-Breaking Pill.

The Origin-Gathering Pill was a medicinal pill that greatly replenished True Essence, allowing cultivators to instantly restore a large amount of True Essence. Put plainly, it was a pill that gathered spiritual qi. It was not difficult to refine, but it required precious Tier 2 Spirit Fruit.

Furthermore, the Origin-Gathering Pill could raise a cultivator's chances of breaking through to Foundation Establishment by ten percent. Though the increase was not large, it was especially precious.

The Stasis-Resolving Pill, meanwhile, was a Tier 2 healing pill that could restore injuries to the physical body. It was quite effective even for Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The Origin-Breaking Pill could help Foundation Establishment Cultivators break through bottlenecks. When Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators broke through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, they needed to temper their own True Essence. Cultivators with slightly poorer talent often spent decades stuck in this process.

With the Origin-Breaking Pill, this process could be greatly accelerated, increasing the chance of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Among the three Tier 2 Mid-grade pill formulas, only one overlapped with the Chen Clan's collection. The other two were the Spirit-Concentrating Pill and the Explosive Origin Pill.

The Spirit-Concentrating Pill was a medicinal pill that strengthened divine sense. It could increase a Foundation Establishment Cultivator's divine sense by thirty percent. Cultivators with powerful divine sense often had a somewhat higher success rate when breaking through to the Purple Mansion realm.

Its preciousness was clear from this. Unfortunately, a cultivator could only consume one such pill in their lifetime; otherwise, its value would have increased severalfold.

As for the Explosive Origin Pill, it was a medicinal pill that could enhance a cultivator's True Essence. After taking it, a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator's True Essence could temporarily surge by fifty percent, reaching a level comparable to a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator.

However, this pill had severe aftereffects. After consuming one, a cultivator's meridians would often suffer grave damage, leaving them unable to fight lightly for ten years. Otherwise, they risked having their tendons and meridians snap apart.

The final Tier 2 High-grade pill formula was the first Tier 2 High-grade pill formula the Chen Clan had obtained.

This pill was the famous Foundation Establishment Pill. The Foundation Establishment Pill was the most widely circulated pill formula. Because it was extremely important, many alchemists sought ways to collect it.

However, the Foundation Establishment Pill was exceedingly difficult to refine. Though it was a Tier 2 High-grade formula, its refining difficulty was no less than that of ordinary Tier 3 pills.

Generally speaking, any alchemist capable of refining Foundation Establishment Pills could barely be considered a Tier 3 Alchemist.

He also discovered that this collection of formulas contained the compiler's alchemy notes. The youth's ancestor must have been an exceptionally skilled alchemist.

The pills recorded in the formulas had all been refined before, and the notes detailed the key points for refining these formulas, with remarks on problems alchemists might encounter.

"This time, I truly picked up an enormous bargain."

"If the Mu Clan found out, they would probably cough up a mouthful of blood in anger."

Chen Nianzhi closed the Pill Canon and could not help revealing a faint smile. The alchemy notes of a high-level alchemist alone were priceless and offered him tremendous inspiration.

If this Pill Canon were brought to an auction, it could likely sell for at least six thousand Spirit Stones. The Foundation Establishment Pill formula alone was probably worth more than three thousand Spirit Stones.

That youth simply did not recognize its worth. He had named five hundred Spirit Stones at the outset, leaving Chen Nianzhi too embarrassed to take such a bargain, so he raised the price to a thousand Spirit Stones.

That had also saved the youth's life. Otherwise, if he had dared to sell the same goods to three buyers, then with his cultivation, he would likely have breathed his last the moment he left Yuyang Market.

"The reason my Alchemy Art improved so rapidly has much to do with the alchemy notes Uncle Qing Meng left behind."

"Now that I have this Pill Canon as well, my Alchemy Art will likely advance by leaps and bounds from here onward."