"Brother, your prices..."
He Pingsheng looked utterly speechless.
Five spirit stones for three uses, but two for one?
"My friend, how would you price it?" The middle-aged stallholder looked helpless too. "Look, if I sold it to you for one spirit stone, I'd be taking a loss. After all, I didn't make this thing myself. I bought it from a shop!"
"But if I charge you two spirit stones, you think it's expensive!"
"How about this, then? Two spirit stones for this, and I'll throw in a treasure. What do you say?"
"What treasure?" He Pingsheng asked.
"Wait a moment... let me find it..." the middle-aged stallholder said.
He opened his pack and rummaged around for ages before pulling out a book made from the hide of some unknown animal.
"Here, take a look..." the stallholder said. "There's a Divine Ability recorded in this. Take it home and practice it!"
"If you happen to grasp it, you'll really be something!"
"My ancestor was an extraordinary Alchemist, and he passed this down. Unfortunately, none of us descendants have managed to learn it. Ah..."
The middle-aged stallholder handed it to He Pingsheng with a sigh.
He Pingsheng took the treasure and looked it over, then frowned. "Brother, this... even the general outline is incomplete?"
"The first section is missing!"
"Most of the second section is missing!"
"Eighty percent of the third section is gone!"
"And the fourth section isn't even here..."
He Pingsheng was dumbfounded!
The general outline said there were six sections in total!
But this...
How the hell am I supposed to practice this?
And because the general outline was incomplete, He Pingsheng didn't even know what this Divine Ability did.
The two characters in the book's title, "God-Communion," offered no clues either.
Unable to help himself, he asked, "And what does the title, 'God-Communion,' mean?"
The middle-aged stallholder's face darkened. "It's the God-Communion Method. One character is missing. Look, here... it's been so long that the writing has worn away!"
He Pingsheng was speechless again.
"If it were complete, would I be giving it away?" the middle-aged stallholder said.
"Young man, don't be greedy. Study this method. If you gain even a little insight, it'll benefit you endlessly for the rest of your life!"
"All right!" After some thought, He Pingsheng took out two spirit stones.
The deal was done.
Of course, he knew he had bought something useless.
But it doesn't matter. Once I get back, I'll put it in the Treasure-Gathering Basin and enhance it. Maybe I can get a complete version.
And it can even advance to a higher grade.
"Senior Brother Wang!" Once he was done, He Pingsheng took out his remaining three spirit stones. "If you still need them, I can lend you these three!"
"Yes, yes... Junior Brother He, thank you so much!"
"Don't worry. I, Wang Dun, am a man of my word... I have an Alchemy Furnace at home. I'll leave it with you as collateral when we get back!"
Alchemy Furnaces did exist in this world.
Small Alchemy Furnaces could be used by individuals.
However, compared with large Alchemy Furnaces, these small ones heated unevenly, and their temperatures were difficult to control. Unless a cultivator possessed powerful divine sense, people generally didn't use them.
That was especially true for low-level disciples.
"All right!" He Pingsheng gave Wang Dun the three spirit stones.
Wang Dun happily spent twenty spirit stones to purchase a furnace batch of Qi-Gathering Pills.
Of course, the price was reasonable, at least far better than buying them at the sect's Trade Pavilion.
"All right, Junior Brother He, it's getting late. We should head back!"
Wang Dun retrieved the Paper Crane from the Abundant Harmony Manor. The two climbed aboard, soared straight into the sky in an instant, and headed back toward the Great Void Sect.
Horsehead Mountain lay within the Daoist Profound Alliance's territory, with dozens of sects nearby. Wang Dun and He Pingsheng both wore the Great Void Sect's Daoist robes, so they were unlikely to encounter any danger.
Highway robbery and murder for treasure hadn't occurred within the Daoist Profound Alliance's territory for many years.
Of course, both of them were penniless and carried no treasures, so they naturally wouldn't draw anyone's attention.
As the sun sank in the west, the two finally returned to Spirit Medicine Valley.
"Junior Brother He... wait a moment..."
Wang Dun brought a palm-sized bronze furnace out of his dwelling. "This is my Alchemy Furnace... I'll leave it with you as collateral. Once I have three spirit stones to repay you, you can give it back!"
"You can use it too. Just channel spiritual power into it to expand it!"
"Sure..."
He Pingsheng nodded and, without standing on ceremony, took the Alchemy Furnace.
Since Daoist Withered Wood hadn't returned yet, He Pingsheng couldn't leave either.
He stayed in the valley, cultivating as he waited.
Night fell, and all sounds faded into silence.
The valley, normally wreathed in constant mist, gradually cleared. Stars glittered like pearls against the night sky, and a full moon the size of a cartwheel hung overhead. Streams of moonlight essence spilled down, illuminating the entire valley.
He Pingsheng closed the stone doors inside his cave one by one, then eagerly took the Treasure-Gathering Basin out of his body.
He placed all the other items that had been in the Treasure-Gathering Basin on his bed.
Then he tossed the tattered, incomplete God-Communion Method into the Treasure-Gathering Basin.
Whoosh...
He pushed the Treasure-Gathering Basin under the bed again!
The stone cave was pitch-black, without a trace of light.
Yet the moonlight essence condensed from the moonlight outside drifted slowly through the stone doors into the bedroom like translucent smoke, where the Treasure-Gathering Basin absorbed it.
He paid it no further attention, rolled over, and went to sleep.
He woke early the next morning.
The first thing he did was pull the Treasure-Gathering Basin out from under the bed.
One glance filled He Pingsheng with delight. There really were two books in the basin!
He took them out for a look.
The first was titled the Heavenly Demon Soul-Sowing Method.
He Pingsheng didn't study it at all, instead immediately taking out the second book.
The second was titled the Mysterious Gate Tranquil Mind True Formula.
This is good!
He Pingsheng picked up the Mysterious Gate Tranquil Mind True Formula and began reading.
The first page contained only one word: Heaven!
The second page held the general outline, complete!
The first section, the Qi Refining section, was complete!
The second section, the Foundation Establishment section, was complete!
The third section, the Golden Core section, was complete!
After those came the Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, and Void Refinement sections!
All six sections were complete.
But what exactly was this thing?
He Pingsheng took a deep breath and carefully studied the general outline of the Mysterious Gate Tranquil Mind True Formula.
Two hours later, he finally understood what it was.
"That stallholder really wasn't lying!"
This was a soul-refinement cultivation method.
Practicing it could strengthen one's soul.
A powerful soul brought a cultivator countless benefits.
First, it could better support pill refinement!
Second, cultivators with powerful divine sense had greater control over their spells in combat.
For example, cultivators at the fourth level of the Qi Refining Stage generally had comparable divine sense, which they could extend about a hundred feet beyond their bodies.
But if they practiced a soul-refinement cultivation method, they could extend their divine sense two hundred feet, or even five hundred feet.
Wouldn't that let them completely suppress their opponents through sheer range?
Their attack range would be longer!
Before you continue