Li Ping walked out of the Cave Abode under Feng Qufeng's respectful guidance.
Meanwhile, he was still pondering the conversation between Master Hu and his disciple.
Questions rose in his mind. Senior Wang from the Wang Family came to see him? Is he the Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wang Family I know? What did he come to see Master Hu for? Alchemy? Or something else?
The Wang Family Ancestor had swindled him out of a hundred spirit stones. Although he had not actually lost out when all was said and done, resentment still lodged in his chest.
If the opportunity arose, he would not mind making a move and teaching the man the meaning of cruelty.
As Li Ping pondered, Feng Qufeng's cautious voice reached his ears, interrupting his thoughts. "Senior, I've actually heard of your great reputation for quite some time."
"My great reputation?" Li Ping looked at him with mild confusion. Neither of them stopped walking as they spoke.
Feng Qufeng hurriedly explained, "Fellow Daoist Gu Musheng and I are close friends. He has mentioned you many times in my presence, Senior Li, and always speaks of you with great respect."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Understanding dawned on Li Ping.
When he had seen Gu Musheng not long ago, he had discovered that Gu Musheng had broken through from the sixth level of qi refining to the seventh, becoming a late qi refining stage cultivator.
His cultivation speed had surpassed what his aptitude should have allowed.
Gu Musheng had told Li Ping that he had bought a Qi Condensation Pill from one of Master Hu's disciples, a pill that could help overcome the bottleneck to the seventh level of qi refining. That was how he had successfully broken through.
Now it seemed that the person who had sold him the pill was this eldest disciple standing before him, whom Master Hu did not value.
"So, my young friend, you're actually friends with my third brother." Having understood the connection, Li Ping took another second-tier lower-grade Spirit Talisman from his Storage Bag. "My third brother told me you've looked after him a great deal. Please accept this Spirit Talisman as a token of my thanks."
With second-tier spirit land as his place of cultivation, Li Ping's mana recovery had become much faster, naturally improving his efficiency in drawing spirit talismans as well. Giving two spirit talismans to Master Hu's disciples as first-meeting gifts was hardly a big deal.
Perhaps these two would even prove useful when he pursued his plans for Master Hu's alchemy furnace in the future.
However, he had originally intended to give each cultivator in the Shared Boat Association one of the second-tier lower-grade spirit talismans he had drawn at their New Year's Eve gathering, as a life-saving trump card.
Now that he had given away two, he would have to sacrifice a little of his cultivation time.
"A second-tier Spirit Talisman." Feng Qufeng was astonished. He had never expected Fellow Daoist Gu's eldest brother to be so generous.
Once his surprise passed, Feng Qufeng immediately tried to decline. "Senior, this is too valuable. I can't accept it."
Despite his refusal, longing shone in Feng Qufeng's eyes. He wanted it.
Li Ping smiled and simply pressed the Spirit Talisman into his hand. Feng Qufeng promptly put it away.
After accepting Li Ping's Spirit Talisman, Feng Qufeng grew even more enthusiastic and answered every question Li Ping asked.
Feigning curiosity, Li Ping asked why Senior Wang had come to visit Master Hu. Feng Qufeng thought nothing of it and immediately explained, "Senior Wang came to ask my master to refine pills... He gathered enough spirit materials for a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills and asked my master to refine them."
"He gathered enough spirit materials for a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills? He's having Foundation Establishment Pills refined?" Li Ping could not help being shocked.
Foundation Establishment Pills were miraculous medicines in the eyes of low-level cultivators. Their recipe and the spirit materials needed to refine them were no secret; many people could recite them backward.
The supplementary ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills were easy enough to obtain. Only the primary ingredient was an immense headache, and it was also the reason these pills were so precious.
There were two methods of refining Foundation Establishment Pills, each requiring a different primary ingredient.
One primary ingredient was the spirit herb "golden marrow jade zhi," which had to be at least seven hundred years old. Beyond that threshold, the older it was, the better.
A seven-hundred-year-old specimen could yield at most three pills. Each additional century of age increased the yield by two. If golden marrow jade zhi over a thousand years old was used, a single batch could yield up to ten Foundation Establishment Pills.
The other primary ingredient was the inner core of a third-tier demon beast, which had the same effect as thousand-year-old golden marrow jade zhi.
The Wang Family Ancestor's request for Master Hu to refine Foundation Establishment Pills meant that he had obtained at least one of these ingredients. With good luck, his lineage could even gain three more Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Of course, even with a Foundation Establishment Pill, there was still a chance of failing to achieve foundation establishment.
But three Foundation Establishment Pills could produce at least one Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator!
What a lavish undertaking. No wonder he cast aside all shame and set up a scam to swindle people out of their money.
Li Ping sighed, mentally drawing circles as he cursed the man. May your pill refinement fail.
But when he remembered that Master Hu was a second-tier upper-grade Pill Refiner with a fairly high success rate in refining Foundation Establishment Pills, he realized this curse might not come true.
He hurriedly switched to another curse. May your lineage's cultivators fail at foundation establishment.
After Feng Qufeng respectfully escorted him out of the Cave Abode, Li Ping rode a streak of escape light back to his own Cave Abode.
Sitting cross-legged in the hall, Li Ping reconsidered his conversation with Master Hu. He still vaguely felt that something was off about the man's attitude.
Just like the Meng Family Ancestor, Master Hu had been far too warm toward him.
As he mulled it over, he could not help taking a bronze mirror from his Storage Bag and examining his reflection.
Yes, he still had the same ordinary appearance as before, with a pale, beardless face. He had not turned into someone with a round face and a full beard.
Li Ping was puzzled. How strange. Could Master Hu also have a grudge against that damned Sword Cultivator?
In the alchemy chamber at the rear of Master Hu's Cave Abode, two figures sat facing each other, while Master Hu's final disciple, Liu Yuan, attended them from the side.
One of the two was Master Hu. The other was none other than the Wang Family Ancestor, who had swindled Li Ping out of a hundred spirit stones.
The Wang Family Ancestor politely cupped his hands in greeting. "Master Hu, sorry for the trouble this time!"
As he spoke, he took out the various ingredients for refining the Foundation Establishment Pills from his Storage Bag, along with Master Hu's payment.
The most precious of all the ingredients was naturally the seven-hundred-year-old golden marrow jade zhi. He had paid the steep price of seven thousand spirit stones to buy this spirit herb from its owner.
Previously, he had consumed a great deal of his lineage's resources in an attempt to reach the foundation establishment late stage, only to fail.
This time, to scrape together enough money to buy the ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills and pay Master Hu, he had not only nearly emptied the Wang Family's coffers, but had even been forced to set up a scam, tarnishing his own reputation to squeeze spirit stones out of those rogue cultivators.
Master Hu nodded and carefully inspected the various ingredients the Wang Family Ancestor had brought.
He examined the seven-hundred-year-old golden marrow jade zhi with particular care.
After a long while, Master Hu looked up and sighed. "There's nothing wrong with the ingredients. What a pity, though. If this golden marrow jade zhi had been cultivated for another three hundred years, its value would have increased severalfold."
The Wang Family Ancestor smiled without speaking. How could he possibly wait another three hundred years?
Master Hu said solemnly, "I'll begin refining the pills for you now, Fellow Daoist. You may watch from the side!"
The Wang Family Ancestor nodded. With so many precious spirit materials involved, of course he would watch Master Hu refine the pills.
Otherwise, who knew whether the man might pocket his spirit materials?