A swindler.
A goddamned, out-and-out swindler.
His heart was as black as Chen Yang's.
He was treating Lin Shisan like a complete idiot, a new menial disciple who knew nothing.
"Senior Brother, why is this Discarded Pill worth so much?"
Lin Shisan kept playing dumb.
This information was extremely important to him.
His father really had never explained any of this to him.
Perhaps his father had never had anything to do with this business.
"Our meeting was fate, Junior Brother. Let your senior brother explain it all to you."
"The pills may be ruined, but the spiritual herbs and medicinal ingredients inside them are still there. They can be purified again and made into spiritual medicine."
"They can't compare to finished Spirit Pills, and less than a tenth of their efficacy remains, but they're much better than ordinary medicine. They've been infused with spiritual energy and refined with spiritual fire."
"Plenty of small-fry disciples who can't afford Spirit Pills use these to get by. There's a market for them in plenty of sects. You're guaranteed to make a fortune."
The Herb Hall disciple explained everything in detail.
Lin Shisan understood now.
There were countless cultivators under heaven, but only a handful were truly rich.
Those with empty purses were everywhere.
For the sake of that elusive path to immortality, they had actually found this avenue.
They certainly had gone to painstaking lengths.
"With such a profitable business, plenty of people must be doing it. There must be quite a few people collecting Discarded Pills, right?"
Lin Shisan asked again.
Perhaps this avenue really would prove useful to him someday.
If his Little Black Cauldron truly could raise the grade of pills, he would have to come buy Discarded Pills from time to time.
He might even sell them afterward.
With his worthless body and false spiritual root, even if he could swallow his way onto a star-studded avenue, it would take pills by the batch.
The money for all those pills was a major problem.
Relying on those few measly Spirit Coins from his monthly allowance, he could swallow pills until he burst and still never reach that star-studded avenue.
He could buy Discarded Pills, take them back for the Little Black Cauldron to upgrade into proper pills, then sell some of them and pocket the difference.
After a few rounds of buying and selling, he would have the money for his pills.
"Junior Brother, you only know half the story."
"As far as I know, I'm the only one in our Azure Cloud Lineage with the connections."
"There used to be someone named Niu Shan in your Pill Room. He collected Discarded Pills for me. Unfortunately, he met with an accident."
"Junior Brother Lin, our meeting was fate. Let's be friends. My name is Zheng Qian. If you find any Discarded Pills in the future, you can sell them to me."
"We get along so well as fellow disciples. I can't promise you'll soar straight into the clouds, but I can guarantee you'll earn enough to fill your pots and bowls to the brim."
Zheng Qian's spit flew everywhere.
He thumped his chest and swore solemnly.
So Niu Shan and this Zheng Qian had been old acquaintances.
From what Zheng Qian said, Niu Shan had sold him quite a few Discarded Pills.
In that case, the two bottles of Body Tempering Pills and the twenty Spirit Stones in Niu Shan's ring might well have been earned this way.
He had been overthinking things.
The long-faced Law Enforcement Team member's inexplicable beating might very well have been nothing more than a rotten stroke of coincidence.
"Senior Brother Li, do you sell Discarded Pills?"
With that thought, Lin Shisan changed the subject and asked.
Since he bought Discarded Pills, he ought to sell them too.
At the very least, he ought to know where Discarded Pills were sold.
"Of course I do. I have some freshly made Body Tempering Pills on me right now. Fifty Spirit Coins each."
What the hell...
Lin Shisan nearly burst out cursing.
Just a moment ago, Zheng Qian had offered him twenty Spirit Coins to buy one. Now, with a simple change of hands, the price had more than doubled to fifty.
"Heh, heh, heh..."
Zheng Qian laughed awkwardly, feeling that the price was inappropriate himself.
"Junior Brother Lin, I have to keep the business running, pay wages, and find connections. Everything costs money, doesn't it?"
"How about this? If you really want one, I'll give you twenty percent off. I'll take a loss to drum up business. Consider it my way of making a friend."
"Then... could you get me one? But make it a better-quality one."
"Of course, of course."
In the end, Lin Shisan still bought a Discarded Pill, a Body Tempering Pill, to take back.
Utterly exhausted, Lin Shisan returned to his quarters, turned around, and shut the door securely.
He had no idea whether Chen Yang might make a covert move against him during the night.
Better to be careful.
He specifically brought over a sturdier piece of timber and braced the door firmly shut.
Then he stood at the window for quite a while.
Only after making sure no one was around did he carefully take the Body Tempering Pill he had bought out of his ring.
His task was complete, and he had already returned the Locator Ring.
This ring was Niu Shan's.
He gently wiped the pill with his sleeve, then carefully placed it inside the Little Black Cauldron.
This was the first time in his life he had spent money so recklessly.
He had spent forty Spirit Coins on a Discarded Pill, nearly a quarter of his usual monthly allowance.
One Lower-Grade Spirit Stone was worth a hundred Spirit Coins.
He had no idea whether the Little Black Cauldron could actually upgrade it.
Please don't let this money go down the drain.
Once everything was finished and put in place, Lin Shisan washed his face with cold water to calm himself down.
Thinking back on the day, he still felt uneasy.
He never wanted to experience anything that left his life hanging by a thread again.
Especially with a treacherous petty villain like Chen Yang, he absolutely could not provoke him again until he possessed overwhelming strength.
For a scrap of profit no bigger than a fly's head, Chen Yang really would kill him.
He had been far too impulsive.
He had talked back to Chen Yang like that in the Pill Room.
It was only a ruined Body Tempering Pill. He should have simply handed it over. Losing his life over it was nowhere near worth it.
At this point, dwelling on it would do no good.
Only by growing stronger could he leave this hellhole that devoured people without even spitting out their bones, and crush Chen Yang completely beneath his feet.
Casting aside the distracting thoughts in his heart and refusing to let his mind wander any further, Lin Shisan sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and cultivated.
As for the Tai Chi Body Tempering Manual Zhou Xiaotian had given him, he had no time to concern himself with it yet.
He tossed that into the Little Black Cauldron as well.
What if it could be upgraded too?
In the blink of an eye, the sky began to brighten.
Anxious all night, Lin Shisan had not slept at all.
His bloodshot eyes bulged like lanterns, staring until lights and shadows flickered before him.
Even when he went to work that morning, he was listless.
Fortunately, Chen Yang merely glanced at him twice before walking away.
After lunch, he returned to his room and stared at the Little Black Cauldron again.
Suddenly, he sensed a flash of seven-colored radiance.
A faint pill fragrance drifted into his nostrils, and his spirits
lifted.
Had it worked?
Had it really raised the grade of the Body Tempering Pill?
Thump, thump, thump. Lin Shisan's heartbeat quickened, and his hands curled into chicken claws again.
He gulped down a mouthful of cold water, trying to calm himself as much as possible.
Unable to contain the excitement in his heart, he slowly turned his gaze toward it.
It was as though he were about to glimpse a fairy of the Ninth Heaven emerging from her bath.
He was even more excited than he would have been to meet the grand elder.
What lay inside the Little Black Cauldron was no longer a shriveled, blackened Discarded Pill.
Instead, it was a perfectly round, plump Body Tempering Pill.
There were even two Pill Marks on it.
At least Zheng Qian had not cheated him completely. He had sold him a Two-Pattern Body Tempering Pill.
"So this is a Two-Pattern Body Tempering Pill?"
Lin Shisan carefully took it out of the Little Black Cauldron and held it before his eyes, examining it closely.
Round, smooth, full, and cool to the touch.
It was as crystalline and lustrous as pearl or jade, with the deep, muted color of agate.
Two ring-shaped markings circled its surface: two Pill Marks.
This Little Black Cauldron truly was an Immortal Artifact, a tremendous stroke of fortune for him.
Lin Shisan was overjoyed. It held more abundant spiritual energy than an ordinary Body Tempering Pill, and felt substantial in his hand.
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