Chapter 23

The next two missions Su Jiu accepted were to gather biyi grass for a reward of thirty spirit stones and to hunt Civet Beasts for fifty spirit stones.

She chose them because she could complete both together. Biyi grass was the main ingredient used to refine Spirit-Gathering Pills, and it was also the Civet Beasts' favorite food. Wherever Civet Beasts appeared, large patches of biyi grass could usually be found.

Civet Beasts were first-tier Demon Beasts with even fiercer attacks than Windfang Rabbits. They had already reached the middle grade of the first tier, so Su Jiu needed to make some preparations.

Before setting out, Su Jiu did not head straight to the mission site. Instead, she decided to visit the marketplace first.

This marketplace stood at the foot of the Azure Tide Sect's mountain and catered specifically to cultivators trading all kinds of resources.

The vendors in the marketplace generally fell into two categories: those operating shops and those setting up stalls along the streets.

Both had their advantages and disadvantages for cultivators. Shops charged more than stalls for the same goods, but the quality of goods bought at stalls was not guaranteed.

Many cultivators discovered problems with their purchases only after buying them from stalls. When they returned to find the vendors, there was no telling where those vendors had disappeared to. That would not happen with shops.

Still, plenty of cultivators chose to buy from stalls. After all, their prices were lower.

This time, Su Jiu had not come to the marketplace alone. Xia Meng and Mu Zihan were with her.

"Su Jiu, are all the missions you accepted this time solo missions?" Mu Zihan asked, probing indirectly.

Su Jiu nodded. She found group missions too troublesome, after all. Being alone was more peaceful.

Xia Meng pouted. "Having a higher cultivation level is so nice. You can even do missions on your own, unlike Zihan and me. We still have to tag along with a big group."

Su Jiu frowned slightly, though the change was so subtle that neither of them noticed. "You're going on a group mission?"

The sect had no strict requirement for which level of qi refining disciples had to reach before accepting missions, but most cultivators chose to wait until the third level of qi refining.

After all, even a low-grade first-tier Demon Beast required two or three cultivators at the third level of qi refining to kill it. For people like Mu Zihan and Xia Meng, who were only at the first or second level, hunting Demon Beasts was no different from marching to their deaths.

Xia Meng seemed to hear the doubt in Su Jiu's voice. "Yes. Some Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators are taking us along to experience hunting Demon Beasts. More importantly, we'll each get ten spirit stones."

They were bringing along two deadweights and even paying them spirit stones? Could there really be such a good deal?

Su Jiu did not believe it.

Since they shared a courtyard and got along reasonably well, Su Jiu offered a hint. "Senior Sister Han told me something. Before I came, another cultivator who lived in her courtyard went hunting with Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators while at the Second Qi Refining Layer. That cultivator never came back."

Xia Meng exclaimed, "Really? Someone still died with Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators there? That's so sad. But we'll be fine. There are three Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators in our group. They'll definitely be able to protect us."

Xia Meng remained entirely unconcerned, assuming Su Jiu was merely worried that the Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators would not be able to protect them. Mu Zihan's gaze, however, changed slightly. Without realizing it, she grew more wary of those Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators, though she still said nothing.

Su Jiu dropped the subject and turned toward the roadside stalls. She had given the warning she ought to give. Their friendship was no more than a casual acquaintance, and there was no need to cling desperately to them and stop them from going. That might only earn their resentment.

She approached a stall covered in bottles and jars. One glance told her it sold pills.

When Xia Meng and Mu Zihan saw Su Jiu stop at a pill stall, they said goodbye to her and went elsewhere.

"Little girl, what would you like to buy?"

Su Jiu picked up a bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills and sniffed it. They were low-tier pills, and their quality was even worse than those provided by the sect.

Seeing how young Su Jiu was and that she wore the robes of an Azure Tide Sect Outer Gate disciple, the vendor figured she was only at the first or second level of qi refining. Her eyes shifted as she said, "Little girl, those Spirit-Gathering Pills in your hand were made by a master Alchemist. Across this entire marketplace, hardly anyone's pills can compare to mine."

When Su Jiu said nothing, the vendor assumed she agreed. Putting on a reluctant expression, she said, "You're so young, and you're an Azure Tide Sect Outer Gate disciple. With such low cultivation, you probably don't have many spirit stones. I'll do a good deed this once and let you have them for twenty spirit stones a bottle."

Su Jiu put the pills back on the stall and gave the vendor a look that was almost a smile.

The vendor was only a mortal, after all. The little girl's expression made her feel somewhat guilty, and she wondered whether Su Jiu had seen through her. Still, she tried her luck. "How about taking two bottles? Spirit-Gathering Pills of this quality aren't easy to find in this marketplace."

As the vendor continued boasting about her pills, the corner of Su Jiu's mouth twitched, and she turned to leave. Not only were the pills inferior and full of impurities, but their effectiveness was also extremely low. They were far worse than the Azure Tide Sect's pills, and even the Spirit-Gathering Pills issued by the sect cost only ten spirit stones a bottle. This vendor was clearly trying to swindle her.

Seeing Su Jiu about to leave, the vendor grew anxious. "I can sell them for fifteen spirit stones!"

Su Jiu ignored her. She decided not to browse any more stalls and headed straight for the shops.

As she walked, Su Jiu discovered that as many as half the merchants in the marketplace were mortals, including that vendor. In her previous life, she had lacked nothing, so she had never paid attention to this marketplace at the foot of the mountain.

Now that she thought about it, there must have been some reason so many mortal merchants had gathered here.

At last, Su Jiu stopped beneath a sign reading "Pillheart Workshop."

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man with a kindly face. When he saw a little girl barely as tall as his legs enter in Azure Tide Sect robes, he smiled. "Little immortal master, what would you like to buy?"

"Returning Spirit Pills," Su Jiu replied.

The shopkeeper nodded, turned to fetch a bottle from the counter, and handed it to Su Jiu.

Su Jiu opened the bottle and sniffed it. The scent was clean and pure. Though the pills were also low-grade, they had indeed been made by a proper Alchemist, and they contained fewer impurities than the Spirit-Gathering Pills she had seen at the stall. She nodded. "How many spirit stones per bottle?"

"Ten pills per bottle, one spirit stone per pill. If you buy a whole bottle, just give me nine spirit stones." Su Jiu nodded inwardly. The price was fairly reasonable. Returning Spirit Pills had fewer buyers than Spirit-Gathering Pills. Although both were first-tier pills, Returning Spirit Pills actually sold for less.

As long as she did not run into a vendor like the one from earlier, she could actually buy a bottle of Returning Spirit Pills for eight spirit stones. But Su Jiu did not want to haggle with such people, so she simply chose to buy from a shop.

Su Jiu spent forty-five spirit stones on five bottles of Returning Spirit Pills, then took out the sect's Spirit-Gathering Pills and handed them to the shopkeeper. "Does your shop buy Spirit-Gathering Pills?"

The shopkeeper paused, not having expected Su Jiu to offer Spirit-Gathering Pills for sale.

In truth, low-tier Spirit-Gathering Pills were essentially ineffective for cultivators whose spirit roots had an affinity above eighty percent. In her previous life, Su Jiu had possessed a ninety-percent water spirit root and taken only high-grade Spirit-Gathering Pills, yet even those had done little for her.

In this life, she possessed a perfect spirit root with one hundred percent affinity, making supplementary pills such as Spirit-Gathering Pills entirely unnecessary for speeding up her cultivation.

The shopkeeper examined the pills and the bottom of the bottle with a magnifying glass.

The Azure Tide Sect's emblem was clearly stamped on the bottom.

"You want to sell the Azure Tide Sect's pills?" the shopkeeper asked in surprise.

Su Jiu nodded.

The Azure Tide Sect's Spirit-Gathering Pills were far better than those refined by unaffiliated Alchemists. Thus, while shops sold an ordinary Alchemist's Spirit-Gathering Pills for one spirit stone each, the Azure Tide Sect's could fetch one spirit stone and twenty Spirit Pearls apiece, and demand still exceeded supply.

The shopkeeper was delighted. It had been a long time since he had managed to buy any Spirit-Gathering Pills from the Azure Tide Sect.

"One spirit stone per pill. How many do you have?"

Su Jiu took out all twelve bottles of pills she had accumulated in her Storage Bag.

The shopkeeper's face nearly bloomed into a chrysanthemum with his smile as he kept murmuring, "Good, good, good."

Then he promptly took out one hundred and twenty spirit stones and handed them to Su Jiu.

"Do you have Hemostatic Pills?"

The shopkeeper put away the Spirit-Gathering Pills and brought out a bottle of Hemostatic Pills. "Since you've sold me so many Spirit-Gathering Pills, I'll charge you only nine spirit stones per bottle for these as well."

Su Jiu opened the bottle and sniffed it, frowning despite herself. Then, as though something had occurred to her, she sighed. "I'll take two bottles."

Su Jiu handed the spirit stones to the shopkeeper. Seeing such a little girl buy so much medicine, he guessed she might be heading out to gain experience and offered a reminder. "If you're going out to gain experience and want to buy some supplies, there's a general store next door. You can take a look. Its goods actually aren't much more expensive than those at the street stalls."

Su Jiu gave the shopkeeper a surprised look. They were neither relatives nor friends, yet a stranger who had done business with her only once had offered such kind advice. That was already rare in the cultivation world, all the more so because this shopkeeper was a mortal.

Su Jiu cupped her hands to thank the pill shopkeeper for his kindness, then went to the general store he had mentioned.