Trade

"I'll take all these books on formations. What treasure do you want in exchange? I don't have much here. How about I give you a few hundred Cockroach Gu?"

Knowing she was afraid of cockroaches, Long Xuan cracked a joke.

Di Xin shot him a reproachful glance and said slowly, "Compared to Gu Masters from those great clans, Rogue Cultivators cultivate who knows how much more slowly. I want to become a Marrow Cleansing Stage Gu Master as soon as possible, so I need treasures that can speed up cultivation. Do you have any?"

Hearing her request, Long Xuan tossed her a Hundred Flower Pill. "Would this kind of spirit pill do?"

He was quite confident in the Hundred Flower Pill's ability to increase spiritual power. To this day, he had never seen a Spirit Gathering Stage pill with a stronger effect than the Hundred Flower Pill.

Di Xin took the Hundred Flower Pill, brought it close, and inspected it carefully. Before long, delight appeared on her face.

She had never seen such a spirit pill in her life. It was her first time seeing a pill containing such immense spiritual power. It surpassed other Spirit Gathering Stage spirit pills by an unknown margin, leaving her overjoyed.

This spirit pill was more than three times as effective as others of the same type. If taken in large quantities, it could accelerate cultivation at a terrifying rate.

With this spirit pill aiding her cultivation, she was confident she could break through to the Marrow Cleansing Stage within a few years.

She made no attempt to hide the joy on her face. Raising her head to look at Long Xuan, she said, "I consider myself well-traveled and well-informed, yet this is still the first time I've seen such a spirit pill. I want it. How many pills do you intend to use in exchange for my formation inheritance?"

Long Xuan had complete confidence in his spirit pills, so her agreement did not surprise him in the slightest.

Considering that techniques were not lightly passed down in this world, and knowledge was the most expensive thing of all, he did not hold back at all. He directly raised five fingers, intending to offer five thousand Hundred Flower Pills and sweep up every formation book she had.

Do not be frightened by such an enormous number of spirit pills. Long Xuan's pill-forming success rate was close to one hundred percent, and his output rate was nearly one hundred percent as well.

Others found it difficult to refine such a vast quantity of spirit pills, but for him, with his absurd refining efficiency, five thousand pills truly were not much of a challenge.

He was even preparing to build a larger pill furnace and attempt to create the Big-Pot Pill Refinement Technique himself.

That meant directly tossing dozens of times the usual amount of ingredients into the pill furnace. When the pills came out, dozens of times the usual amount would come out as well.

One pot could directly produce several thousand pills.

That would save him from wasting too much time refining pills and delaying his research into formulas.

This idea was his own invention. No other pill refiner dared do such a thing, nor had anyone ever thought of it.

With pill refinement success rates being so low, who would dare toss dozens of portions of ingredients in at once? If it failed, the losses would be nothing short of catastrophic.

Moreover, pill refinement required strict control over the proportions and quantities of formula ingredients. One fraction more or less would not do.

What Long Xuan was doing was equivalent to altering the formula itself. That would introduce even more variables, undoubtedly making refinement more difficult and lowering the success rate further.

Only a bold madman like him would dare attempt something like that.

Of course, this world did not have such a large pill furnace, so he could only teach himself artifact refinement and forge one personally. Thus, this terrifying plan could only be shelved for the time being.

What Long Xuan did not expect was that when Di Xin saw him raise five fingers, she actually assumed he meant five hundred spirit pills. Delight immediately appeared on her face. She had never imagined that there would be so many spirit pills of such high quality. It far exceeded her expectations.

Even if she were beaten to death, she would never have thought of the terrifying number five thousand. Who could possibly have such an enormous pill output? It was impossible.

Di Xin felt she had picked up a huge bargain, so she immediately shouted, "Good! Five hundred spirit pills it is! Deal!"

As if afraid he might change his mind.

Long Xuan was stunned on the spot.

One did not know how rich the other was, while the other did not know how poor the first was.

Naturally, Long Xuan would not foolishly tell her that he had intended to offer five thousand spirit pills. Since she had misunderstood, he would let her keep misunderstanding.

So, as if afraid she might change her mind, Long Xuan also felt he had gained an enormous bargain and immediately began taking out bottle after bottle of Hundred Flower Pills.

Five hundred Hundred Flower Pills—such a huge quantity that even taking them out took him quite a while.

Before long, pill bottles covered the entire table. Di Xin poured out the Hundred Flower Pills to inspect them while stuffing them into her storage pouch, smiling so broadly that her mouth could not close.

If she had known Long Xuan had intended to offer five thousand, who knew whether she would still be able to smile? By then, she would probably regret it until her intestines turned green.

There were not many formation books, and they were easy to collect. Long Xuan only had to move them once to put them all into his storage pouch, then immediately headed back, afraid she might regret the deal.

"Wait!"

Di Xin suddenly called out to stop him. Looking at his back, she said, "I forgot to tell you: everything I know, as well as the books you took, came from a certain formation master. They cannot see the light of day."

"You can secretly use the formations in those books yourself, but do not let anyone see them. They all record exclusive formation diagrams, and it will be easy for people to trace their origins. When that happens, it may bring great trouble."

Long Xuan hurriedly turned around, glaring at her viciously as he gritted his teeth. "Why didn't you say so earlier? No wonder you sold them so cheaply."

Only now did he understand why she had no notion that techniques should not be lightly passed down, and why it had been so easy to obtain formation books from her.

It turned out those formation books were not hers at all. She had stolen every last one of them, so naturally she would not feel any heartache about passing that knowledge on.

But seeing that she had already put all the Hundred Flower Pills into her storage pouch and was wearing a playful smile, he knew there was no chance of getting them back.

Fine. In any case, he intended to process the formation patterns down to the finest detail, and he might even create a formation of his own.

No matter how he chose to handle the formations, their final form would undergo tremendous changes. He could guarantee that no one would be able to recognize their origins.

Hearing Long Xuan's words, Di Xin's smile froze. Cheap? Pills of such high quality, and he called them cheap? Did he even know their value? Then the meaning of those five fingers he had raised just now...

Di Xin's heart skipped a beat, and she instantly felt as though she had missed out on a hundred million.

"I forgot to tell you, all my spirit pills were stolen too. Do not use them in front of outsiders, and you absolutely must not trade them away. Otherwise, something terrible will happen."

Long Xuan then thought that if Old Long saw the Hundred Flower Pills and recognized them as coming from his incomplete formula, it would definitely cause unnecessary trouble. So he took the opportunity to remind Di Xin as well before returning in high spirits.

Di Xin glared fiercely at him before introducing her third treasure...

Time trickled by bit by bit. Long Xuan kept his eyes wide open, staring at batch after batch of treasures on the table, hoping to find an opportunity to pick up some enormous bargain.

Di Xin stepped down, and a second Rogue Cultivator stepped up. When the second stepped down, a third stepped up...

Batch after batch came and went. By now, no one knew how many people had changed places before the table, and the treasures they had brought out were too numerous to count.

Yet every treasure was traded at its proper value. Long Xuan had not encountered even a single chance to exploit someone's mistake.

Do not take everyone for fools. What idiot would bring out something to sell if they could not judge it or see through it? Picking up bargains here truly was no easy matter.