The attendant hurried ahead to lead the way, and the two followed behind.
By now, quite a few cultivators were already aboard the ship, with queues forming outside several rooms.
They reached their destination by walking straight ahead. Zhao Yi looked up: Room Jia Two. He glanced to either side: Room Jia One and Room Jia Three.
"Young fellow, what does Room Jia One sell? What about Room Jia Three? How are these rooms divided up?"
Zhao Yi asked with an easy smile.
"Immortal master, the rooms on the first deck are divided according to the Heavenly Stems."
"Jia stands for pills, Yi for magical artifacts, Bing for talismans, Ding for spirit rice, Wu for formations, Ji for spirit beasts, Geng for spirit cuisine, Xin for cultivation methods, and Ren and Gui for unusual spiritual objects."
The attendant answered fluently.
"I see. What about the second deck?"
Liu Yu followed up.
"Immortal master, I do not know. I only run errands on the first deck."
Zhao Yi nodded and knocked on the door. Upon hearing a voice inside, he pushed it open and entered.
Room Jia Two was furnished much like Room Ding Four, except that a Pill Cauldron stood in the middle instead of a rice vat.
Behind the counter sat a young cultivator in a scarlet brocade robe patterned with clouds, resting with his eyes closed.
Having gained some experience buying and selling spirit rice, Zhao Yi no longer felt intimidated, though his manner remained very deferential.
"Senior, I would like to buy three bottles of Essence Qi Pills, ten bottles of Origin-Nourishing Pills, and twelve each of these three spirit medicines: vitality-strengthening grass, dragon-snake branches, and poria fruit."
"Essence Qi Pills come ten to a bottle and cost thirty spirit stones per bottle. Meridian Opening stage cultivators take one every three days. Three bottles cost ninety spirit stones."
"Origin-Nourishing Pills come ten to a bottle and cost four spirit stones per bottle. Qi Nurturing Stage cultivators may take one a day. Ten bottles cost forty spirit stones."
"Vitality-strengthening grass costs one spirit stone for two stalks, dragon-snake branches cost one spirit stone each, and poria fruit costs one spirit stone for two fruits. The total is one hundred and fifty-four spirit stones."
"No bargaining, no discounts. If you are not buying, simply leave."
The scarlet-robed cultivator remained resting with his eyes closed, his low voice reaching Zhao Yi's ears.
Zhao Yi inwardly clicked his tongue. The Fubo Pavilion's pills were actually so much more expensive than those in other shops.
Essence Qi Pills cost five spirit stones more per bottle than elsewhere, and Origin-Nourishing Pills cost one spirit stone more per bottle. The spirit medicines, however, were priced the same.
He had no choice but to buy the pills. Without them, when would he ever improve his cultivation by relying solely on the faint spiritual energy in Jade Essence Rice?
The pills and spirit medicines he was buying this time were all for Liu Yu, Wang Qing, and Li Hai. Zhao Yi could not bear to spend the money on Essence Origin Pills for himself. He would improve Liu Yu and the others' strength first!
But he simply did not have enough spirit stones. Forget it. I will leave out the Origin-Nourishing Pills for now!
"Senior, I will not take the Origin-Nourishing Pills. I will take everything else."
"One hundred and fourteen spirit stones."
Zhao Yi took out the bag of spirit stones he had earned from selling spirit rice, then took another twenty-four spirit stones from his person, put them inside, and handed the bag to the scarlet-robed cultivator.
Seeing no response from the scarlet-robed cultivator, Zhao Yi placed the bag on the table.
With a wave of the scarlet-robed cultivator's hand, the bag vanished, and three bottles of pills appeared on the table.
Then he tapped a little bell on the counter. Before long, someone emerged carrying a bag, bowed to the scarlet-robed cultivator, placed the bag on the counter, and returned to the back.
Liu Yu picked up the pills, opened each bottle, and poured out one pill from each to inspect.
After confirming that everything was correct, he put them back, then took the bag from the counter, opened it, and carefully inspected every piece of spirit medicine.
A short while later, he finished checking, packed away the pills and spirit medicines, and secured them close to his body.
The two bowed to the cultivator and prepared to leave. At the doorway, Zhao Yi hesitated a few times, then turned back, with Liu Yu following close behind.
"Pills sold are neither refundable nor exchangeable."
The scarlet-robed cultivator spoke without opening his eyes.
"Senior, this is not about a return or exchange. I have a bottle of pills that I obtained through good fortune, but I do not recognize them. I would like to ask for your guidance."
"Pill identification costs five spirit stones per appraisal."
The scarlet-robed cultivator finally opened his eyes, glanced at Zhao Yi, and spoke slowly.
With a pained expression, Zhao Yi took out five spirit stones, then brought out the bottle of pills he had found while searching Daoist Mu's belongings after killing him last time, placing it on the table.
The cultivator first put away the spirit stones, then picked up the jade bottle, examined it, and glanced at Zhao Yi.
"This is a Spirit-Sealing Bottle, generally used to hold relatively precious pills. The bottle alone is worth ten spirit stones."
He then opened the jade bottle and poured a pill into his palm.
The pill was the size of a pearl and translucent as jade. A faint trace of herbal spiritual energy began to spread through the room.
The cultivator sniffed it, his expression shifting uncertainly. He then took out a small jade knife, scraped off a trace of powder, and drew it into his mouth before looking at Zhao Yi with a complicated gaze.
"These are Primordial Chaos Pills. Each pill is worth one hundred and fifty spirit stones. They come three to a bottle, and a full bottle sells for five hundred spirit stones. They are taken to break through to the Spirit Attraction Stage."
"You were lucky to come across them."
With that, the scarlet-robed cultivator put the pill back into the bottle.
Looking at the jade bottle on the table, the scarlet-robed cultivator considered briefly, then said, "I also buy pills here. If you wish to sell this bottle, I can offer you five hundred and twenty spirit stones."
"That is a very fair price. Taking Primordial Chaos Pills alone will not allow you to break through to the Spirit Attraction Stage. They must be taken together with two other kinds of pills for a twenty percent chance of breaking through to the Spirit Attraction Stage. Those two are Marrow-Cleansing Pills and Spirit-Nourishing Pills, each worth no less than Primordial Chaos Pills."
Upon hearing that they were worth five hundred spirit stones, Zhao Yi was instantly shaken to his core. He felt as though a pie had fallen from the sky and struck him, leaving him dazed and stupefied. For a moment, he was too shocked to speak.
No one had expected the most precious gain to be this bottle of pills. Five hundred spirit stones-even all of Linghua Island's assets put together would not amount to two hundred spirit stones.
Hearing the cultivator say he could buy the bottle of pills, Liu Yu tugged at Zhao Yi's sleeve. Zhao Yi came back to his senses, considered for a moment, and said with a bitter smile, "Thank you for telling me, Senior, but I will keep this bottle of pills. It will give me something to hope for."
The scarlet-robed cultivator had indeed said these pills had to be taken with two other kinds of pills to provide a twenty percent chance of breaking through to the Spirit Attraction Stage.
But three birds in the woods were not worth one in the hand. No one knew when they might next encounter pills like these.
In the cultivation world, any pill that aided a breakthrough between realms could only be encountered by chance, not sought at will.
"Remember, a Spirit-Sealing Bottle can preserve pills for no more than thirty years."
The scarlet-robed cultivator nodded and said nothing more.
Hearing this, the two hurriedly gave the scarlet-robed cultivator a proper bow of gratitude before leaving the shop.
Outside the shop, Zhao Yi looked around, found the attendant, walked over, and said, "Take me to a shop selling talismans!"
The attendant nodded and continued leading the way.
Afterward, the two bought two Sharp Metal Talismans, two Golden Light Talismans, and five Talisman Arrows at Shop Bing Two, spending seventeen spirit stones.
They then went to the Ren-Gui shop to exchange for two water-attribute, two earth-attribute, and two wood-attribute spirit stones, spending forty-two spirit stones.
Feeling his pockets, he found that only four of the spirit stones he had earned this year remained.
He still wanted to browse the other shops, but decided against it.
Besides, carrying pills and talismans worth seven hundred spirit stones, Zhao Yi could not even walk with an easy step.
Then Zhao Yi thought of the plundering and slaughter on Red Sand Island and the other islands. It was as though cold water had poured over his head. He shuddered all over and came to his senses.
If they did not leave now, what were they waiting for?
With their transactions complete, the two immediately left the merchant ship.
After disembarking, the two looked back at the Fubo Pavilion's merchant ship and exchanged a smile.
"Spending spirit stones feels so good!"
Before you continue