Lin He examined the contents of the two pill recipes with his spiritual sense. To his surprise, both used level five demon cores as their main ingredient. Hongfu sighed and said,
"These two pill recipes were discovered while exploring ancient ruins. I imagine quite a few high-level demon beasts still roamed the Heavenly South in ancient times, but things are completely different now. High-level demon beasts have become exceedingly rare, and the value of these two recipes has plummeted."
Only then did Lin He understand why Hongfu had so readily offered up two pill recipes. In the original novel, Lei Wanke had traded just one pill recipe for a six-hundred-year-old spirit herb.
A level five demon core was worth only one to two thousand spirit stones in the Chaotic Star Sea, but in the Heavenly South, another zero had to be added to that price.
Finding so many level five demon cores was difficult enough. Even if they could be found, the cost of refining pills with them was more than an ordinary cultivator could bear. Thus, these two pill recipes were only useful to alchemists as reference material.
I was planning to find an opportunity to visit the Chaotic Star Sea anyway, to buy Snow Spirit Water, Heavenly Fire Liquid, and Dust Settling Pills-the three essentials for Core Formation-as well as various pill recipes for advancing my cultivation. This saves me some trouble.
Naturally, Lin He also examined the other items. They were fairly decent top-tier magical artifacts and high-tier beginner talismans, but he already had plenty of high-tier talismans and certainly lacked no top-tier magical artifacts. He therefore chose the spirit beast formations and the two Foundation Establishment pill recipes.
Hongfu was somewhat surprised by his insistence on taking the pill recipes, but she certainly would not refuse a chance to get those two recipes off her hands. The trade left everyone satisfied.
While she was in a good mood, Lin He casually asked where he could find a master artifact refiner. He had long wanted to find someone to turn his level four demon beast materials into top-tier magical artifacts.
"If you want to refine top-tier magical artifacts, you can seek out Madam Xu. Madam Xu is a master artifact refiner and currently runs a shop in the Covering Moon Sect's market. Just find an opportunity to go there and ask around."
Having just obtained two Jade Spirit Flowers, Hongfu hurried back to prepare for pill refinement. Though somewhat reluctant, Dong Xuan'er had no choice but to leave with her. Before leaving, she cast Lin He a flirtatious glance, which he naturally ignored.
Lin He returned to his room and set up an isolation formation before beginning to take stock of his gains.
His trip to the Heavenly Star Sect Market had been highly rewarding. Not only had he used the Ink Flood Dragon materials to refine top-tier magical artifacts, but he had also killed Xu Yan and obtained the Jadefire Blade and the Concealment Veil.
He had helped Xin Ruoyin several times, even spending a thousand-year-old spirit herb on her behalf, but his gains had been equally substantial. Not only had she given him a simplified Five Elements Reversal Formation, she had also taught him the fundamentals of formations and promised to improve the Five Elements Reversal Formation for him.
On his journey back, he had killed the fat old man, the thin old man, and the Xu patriarch's Spirit Puppet Clone. He had obtained the Green Ruyi and the Fire Spirit Sword, both premium top-tier magical artifacts, along with the magic treasure Golden Rain Sword and assorted magical artifacts, talismans, and materials. The medium-grade spirit stones alone numbered over eighty. It had truly been a rich haul.
He had then traded with Hongfu for an incomplete cultivation art, a jade slip recording various spirit beast formations, and two Foundation Establishment pill recipes.
Lin He took out the jade slip containing the spirit beast formations and handed it to Xin Ruoyin for careful study. Though he had gained a foothold in formations, his understanding remained shallow, and he still needed her help.
Next, he used his privileges as Garrison Commissioner to dispose of the batch of magical artifacts taken from the fat and thin old men, earning another thirty-odd medium-grade spirit stones.
While I still have a decent supply of spirit stones, I can try switching cultivation arts next.
Spring passed and autumn came. In the blink of an eye, a year had gone by. Inside the Portable Space,
Lin He sat upright in midair, bare-chested, circulating his cultivation art as he bathed in a sky full of starlight. Rays of starlight shone onto him and began to merge into his body as the art circulated. Specks of starlight emerged, making his body look profoundly mysterious.
"I've finally mastered the fourth level!"
This cultivation art granted a divine ability every three levels. Lin He casually formed a hand seal, and a layer of golden armor immediately appeared over his body. It was the Golden Armor Art!
The Golden Armor Art was not particularly powerful yet and could only withstand high-grade magical artifacts. However, its power would increase as he reached higher levels of the cultivation art. Its potential could not be underestimated.
After reaching the fourth level, Lin He did not stop. Instead, he began applying the body-tempering spirit liquid prepared with level five demon cores as its main ingredient. The spirit liquid worked exceptionally well with the starlight, allowing him to achieve twice the results with half the effort.
Over the past year, he had accelerated the growth of ten spirit beasts to level five, exhausting nearly all his spirit stones.
Sure enough, once the spirit beasts reached level five, they immediately slipped out of his control. Some of the fiercer ones even tried to devour their master. Naturally, they were trapped by the Five Elements Reversal Formation Lin He had set up in advance. He then killed them using various other means, obtaining ten complete sets of level five demon beast materials and ten level five demon cores.
Five of the demon cores were used to refine pills, while the other five were used to prepare body-tempering spirit liquid. In just one short year, Lin He's cultivation had advanced a thousand miles a day, and he had mastered the fourth level of the Star Refining Golden Origin Art in one stroke. By his estimate, another year or so would bring him to the peak of early Foundation Establishment.
With a wave of his hand, Lin He returned to his room. He dressed and walked outside. Yellow Maple Valley had already sent a Foundation Establishment cultivator to take over his duties.
After the handover, regulations required Lin He to return to Yellow Maple Valley. However, he intended to use the intervening time to take care of something else first.
In the market, a small formation shop was bustling with activity. Xiao Mei was so busy attending to customers that she had no time to rest, and Xin Ruoyin, the shop's owner, was also rushing about.
When Lin He arrived, Xiao Mei greeted him excitedly, while Xin Ruoyin immediately announced that the shop was closing, abandoning business altogether. Several cultivators were displeased, and some grumbled indignantly, but none dared step out of line. They all knew that a Foundation Establishment senior backed this little shop, and the few people who had previously come to cause trouble had met rather miserable ends.
Xin Ruoyin smiled faintly. This past year had been the most comfortable of her life. Not only had she been able to continue researching formations, but she had also opened a shop. With Lin He protecting her in the Yellow Maple Valley Market, no one dared bully her.
Upon seeing Lin He, Xin Ruoyin hurried to brew tea herself, then handed him a jade slip. "I've thoroughly studied the jade slip you gave me a year ago. My annotations on the formations and my own insights are all in this jade slip. As for the improved Five Elements Reversal Formation, that will still take another three years."
Lin He nodded, then suddenly said, "There's no rush on any of that. Pack your things. I'll take you both to the Covering Moon Sect!"