Fasting spirit medicines, the three tribulations of artifact consecration, and Qiongyun currency

Ao Ding and his two companions entered the spirit market and found an inn called Fivefold Harmony Terrace to stay at.

Leaving Lu Xiu at the inn to cultivate diligently, Ao Ding and Sun Chen began wandering through the spirit market.

As the sky gradually darkened, the illuminating spirit platforms around the market lit up one after another, their many spiritual lights bathing the entire street in a dreamlike glow.

Ao Ding swept his gaze over both sides of the street.

There was a Heavenly Craft Tower. Thick smoke billowed constantly from every window of its seven stories, while phantom images of various magical artifacts circled beside it. Downstairs, cultivators and demon spirits of all kinds exchanged views and discussed artifact refining.

There was a Thousand Talisman Studio. True registers of the Three Caverns revolved around the hall, laying down layer upon layer of talisman formations. Two fox demons posed coquettishly at the entrance, soliciting customers. Through the doorway, countless dazzling talismans could be seen hanging on the display racks.

There was a Jade Ganoderma Hall, where several elderly men sat consulting with patients. Their patients included not only human cultivators, but all manner of demon spirits and monsters as well.

"Surprised?" Sun Chen asked. "The Seven Spirits Sect's records describe endless conflict between humans and demons... yet here, they live in such harmony?"

"Because this is territory under the Central Wasteland's governance, where the immortal sects reign supreme and the Demon Court cannot interfere?" Ao Ding asked.

"Exactly. The immortal Dao cherishes life and shows compassion to all beings. If the Demon Court had not harbored malice, and those demon immortals had not betrayed their teachers and destroyed the Dao, how could today's conflicts have arisen? You should know that the Demon Court's many emperors, kings, and sovereigns were originally all immortals under the six patriarchs."

Sun Chen sighed. "The six immortals descended to impart the Dao, treating everyone equally regardless of human or demon origins. That first generation of immortals lived together harmoniously, and peace and tranquility reigned throughout the world. Only when the Devil Ancestor attacked, inciting strife among the six sects and slaughter between the human and demon lineages, did the scourge of the Western Wilderness's Demon Court begin."

Conflict between humans and demons had indeed existed ever since humans first appeared in this world. But in those days, the six exalted immortals had led humanity in educating some demon spirits and monsters, while suppressing other savage wilderness species that resisted instruction and could not shed their ferocious nature. Creatures such as Xiangliu, Qiongqi, Zhuyan, and Zhuhuai had all been targets of the humans and demon immortals of old.

Back then, there had been no such thing as a Demon Court.

Only after the Devil Ancestor attacked and the six sects descended into internecine strife had the demon immortals taken their kin and disciples to the Western Wilderness to establish the Primordial Demon Court. It had gradually grown into a force to be reckoned with, eventually giving rise to what were now called the eight thousand Demon Courts.

Although the six sects had suffered internal conflict, they had never closed their doors to those seeking instruction. They continued teaching demon spirits and transmitting the orthodox arts throughout the Central Wasteland, Southern Wasteland, and Eastern Wasteland. The Jade Cauldron Dao of Alchemy even included methods specifically for diagnosing and treating demon spirits.

"Demons can be good or evil. If you encounter vicious, malicious ones who refuse to listen and cannot be reasoned with, kill them outright. But demon spirits who can communicate, can be reasoned with, and wish to do good should be guided and taught. You must never indiscriminately call for every demon in the world to be killed, failing to distinguish good from evil-even if evil demons persecuted you or wiped out your entire sect. Kill all your enemies; at the very most, implicate their three clans and wipe out a Demon Court. That is enough. Why make some grand vow that every member of the Demon Race deserves death, that all demon spirits must be exterminated? Then bring your first stroke down on an immortal sect's guardian spirit beast or some such..."

Sun Chen had clearly recalled something from the past, and a trace of disgust appeared on his face.

Ao Ding tactfully refrained from probing.

The two walked and stopped along the way, sometimes chatting and laughing, sometimes browsing the shops.

"If there's anything you want to buy, just say so-we came to the spirit market to prepare cultivation supplies for you. Hmm, there is something we must settle first. After my Liberation by Violence, do you intend to keep vigil for me for three years-twenty-seven months-or substitute days for months and leave the mountain after twenty-seven days?"

Sun Chen would make different arrangements for Ao Ding depending on his choice.

The former required three years' worth of cultivation supplies. The latter required only a month's supplies, but since Ao Ding would be leaving early, without those additional three years of magical power to protect himself, he would need more protective items.

Ao Ding answered without hesitation. "After you depart through Liberation by Violence, Senior, I should naturally keep vigil for you for three years, to honor our bond of transmitting the Dao."

"Good. In that case, I'll make the arrangements based on the Profound Gang Upper Realm."

If Ao Ding hurried down the mountain after twenty-seven days, he would certainly still be in the Mystic Gang Thoroughfare Realm. But if he cultivated diligently in the mountains for three years and still remained there, would that not make a joke of Sun Chen's teaching?

Breaking through to the upper realm was a must!

"Three years? Good, good. Then let's buy food first."

"Food?"

Ao Ding patted the wooden staff at his waist.

"I have the Meal-Painting Art, and I'm proficient in hell-food cooking incantations. How could I let myself starve?"

But when he saw Sun Chen leading him into an alchemy shop, Ao Ding thought he understood. "Senior, are you preparing fasting pills for me?"

"Yellow Sprout Fasting Pills?" Sun Chen said disdainfully. "Those are things for the lower sort to eat. What True Disciple of the six sects eats that rubbish in seclusion?"

Stepping over the threshold, Sun Chen called, "Is anyone here?"

A little Daoist attendant wearing a red jacket and patterned padded coat ran over to welcome them. Rabbit ears sprouted from his head, and a fluffy rabbit tail hung from his backside. He was clearly a rabbit.

"Yes, yes! What would you like to buy, immortals? Pills? Spiritual items? Our alchemy shop carries countless treasures. We even sell the wondrous immortal medicines of the exalted Jade Cauldron Sect!"

"Bring out your fasting spiritual items. The finest quality, enough for three years."

The shopkeeper, who had been dozing behind the counter, hurriedly rose at those words.

He sent the rabbit spirit back to pounding medicines and personally received the pair with a businesslike smile.

Oh my-a big customer had come knocking!

Someone actually wanted to buy top-grade fasting spiritual items here in Azure Pool Immortal Market?

After inviting them to sit and serving fragrant tea, the shopkeeper personally fetched three jade boxes of samples.

"Here are three samples. Young brother, you can try them all. Here, the first is Blue Heavens Clear Dew."

Sun Chen swept his Divine Sense over the jade boxes and nodded inwardly. All were superior spiritual items of Return to the True quality. Excellent.

Suddenly remembering something, he asked Ao Ding, "You know how spiritual items are graded, don't you?"

"Yes." He had learned that much in the Seven Spirits Sect.

"The cultivation world divides nature's treasures into immortal and spiritual grades. Immortal-grade heavenly treasures are mostly used by True Persons, while cultivators like us use the three grades of spiritual items. Those three grades take their names from the Three Tribulations of Artifact Refining: spirit nurturing, form tempering, and Return to the True. Spirit nurturing is the lowest grade, and Return to the True is the highest."

It was that same old fondness for elegance in the True Realm. Low, middle, and high grade would have been perfectly convenient, yet they insisted on giving them different names.

"Wrong. Spiritual items did not take their names from magical artifacts; magical artifacts took theirs from spiritual items. When a spiritual item first grows, the primordial qi of heaven and earth imbues it with spirituality. This is called Spirit-Nurturing. As time passes, the spiritual item gradually changes its form. Ganoderma, ginseng, goldthread, and fleeceflower take on the shape of infants; ancient trees and vines grow into the forms of dragons and serpents; immortal flowers unfurl their stamens in the forms of luan birds and phoenixes. This is form tempering. After form tempering, these spiritual items with extraordinary manifestations nurture a true nature. If they pass their tribulations and attain the Dao, they can become spirit immortals. Those that fail their tribulations are what we call superior spiritual items-the Return to the True grade."

Sun Chen intended to teach Ao Ding artifact refining in the future, so he decided to lay the groundwork now. "It was by observing how heaven and earth created spiritual items that cultivators like us found inspiration for the path by which magical artifacts advance into Dharma Treasures.

"Magical artifacts undergo three tribulations, addressing true nature, spiritual qi, and material respectively. The lightning tribulation of Return to the True tempers true nature; the fire tribulation of form tempering forges the treasure's body; and the wind tribulation of Spirit-Nurturing purifies spiritual power. None of the three tribulations ranks above another. Whenever an artifact meets the requirements in one aspect, you can attempt the corresponding artifact-refining tribulation. Because your wooden staff is made from unusual material and underwent that scorching fire of yours, it can already be considered to have passed the form-tempering tribulation."

Sun Chen made no attempt to conceal this lesson from the shopkeeper beside them.

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes and looked at the Xuanjia Spirit Staff at Ao Ding's waist.

Oh my, it really was!

A magical artifact whose body had been tempered, already forming the spiritual embryo of a Dharma Treasure.

After two more artifact-refining tribulations, it could become a Dharma Treasure.

But the shopkeeper merely looked, then thought no more of it.

Of the three artifact-refining tribulations, wind and fire were the easiest to pass. Lightning was the real obstacle.

How many magical artifacts had been destroyed in lightning tribulations? Never mind their spiritual power-even their embryonic bodies had been reduced to dregs.

The same held true for natural spiritual items. Why did the True Realm have so many spiritual items and so few spirit immortals? Had they not all failed their tribulations?

Ao Ding acknowledged the lesson and turned his gaze to the jade boxes.

The shopkeeper placed a long-necked bottle carved from warm jade before Ao Ding.

Through the bottle, he could see fine, deep-blue mist sparkling with spiritual light, slowly swirling within. Like billowing clouds and starlight, it was ethereal and airy.

"Blue Heavens Jade Dew," the shopkeeper said. "One drop a day keeps hunger and thirst at bay for a day. Prolonged consumption can grant insight into water-controlling Divine Abilities-unleashing floods, summoning rain, damming rivers, and walking the seas. You may even comprehend the Blue Heavens Clear River Great Art and cultivate the Heavenly River Dao Fruit."

Looking at this old man and young man, he naturally understood the situation.

A young Mysterious Gang cultivator and an elderly cultivator of profound attainment.

Master and disciple, of course!

Before entering seclusion, the master was preparing superior spiritual items to sustain his disciple without food.

Ao Ding looked at Sun Chen.

Sun Chen nodded. "Try it. You'll be cultivating for three years, so naturally you should use that time to build a solid foundation, not squander it on inferior fasting pills."

Only then did Ao Ding take the jade bottle.

With a light flick, he sent a drop of dew floating slowly from the bottle into his mouth.

Cold blossomed instantly on his tongue, and a cool stream slowly circulated throughout his body. Soon, however, the cold current was refined by his True Heaven Golden Gang, replenishing Ao Ding's magical power.

"The flavor is all right. Mild at first, then a sweet aftertaste. Just a little cold."

The shopkeeper took the opportunity to open the second jade box.

Inside lay a golden flower bud on the verge of blooming, shaped like an orchid. A strand of golden filament emerged from the bud, radiating spiritual qi. A light sniff of its fragrance cleared and refreshed the mind; even Ao Ding's left eye felt somewhat more comfortable.

"Try this next. This is a Jade True Golden Bud, grown in the immortal gardens of the heavenly palaces. Likewise, one flower a day prevents hunger and thirst. Prolonged consumption nourishes the Dao body, strengthens the foundation, replenishes vitality, and purifies true Gang. There is even a chance of producing a strand of immortal qi and developing the form of a Celestial Person-untainted and without leakage, free of calamity and illness."

Sun Chen examined the bud and nodded inwardly.

This flower was good too. The Pure Tenuity Sect had a Yi Wood Flower God Secret Art that suited this spiritual item very well. Oh, Ao Ding's Golden Light Method suited it too.

Ao Ding picked up the flower bud and swallowed it.

Dry, astringent, and unremarkable in flavor.

But warmth descended from his throat through the twelve-storied tower, actively merging with his True Heaven Golden Gang. Soon, Ao Ding gained another strand of magical power.

Closing his eyes to sense it for a moment, Ao Ding said quietly, "Compared with the dew, this is more compatible with my magical power."

The shopkeeper hurriedly said, "Young brother, look at the third one too. This is called a Five-Colored Exquisite Insect, and it has seven apertures. Eat one each day: after a year, it opens the seven apertures and six qi; after three years, it lightens the body and lets you fly through the sky; after ten years, it grants immortal ascension to the Jade Palace. That's right-even a pig eating these superior spiritual items for ten consecutive years could transform into a Jade Tower Realm pig!"

Ao Ding stared at the beetle inside the jade box. It was the size of a soybean and resembled a ladybug. Patterns resembling eyes, ears, a mouth, and a nose marked its back, the seven apertures symmetrically arranged and shining with five-colored rays.

Compared with dew and flowers, wasn't this thing a little disgusting?

Staring at the jade box, he slowly swallowed the Exquisite Insect in one gulp.

He tasted nothing, only felt a surge of true qi rising within him. It too suited his True Heaven Golden Gang and soon transformed into magical power. Moreover, like the flower bud, the Exquisite Insect nourished the liver and brightened the eyes.

Ao Ding thought, It seems I'll have to choose between these two.

For Ao Ding, who possessed the True Person's Eye, protecting his eyes was a factor he had to consider.

Sun Chen stared at the Exquisite Insect, pondering silently.

In spiritual qi and quality, this Exquisite Insect was undoubtedly the best. It just wasn't cheap. If he bought three years' worth, he probably wouldn't have much money left for artifact-refining and talisman-drawing materials. Those would cost at least four or five thousand shell leaves altogether, wouldn't they?

Besides, would Ao Ding eat these insects for ten years to break through to the Jade Palace?

Leaving aside whether that was necessary... where would he buy the remaining seven years' worth of Exquisite Insects after finishing his three-year vigil?

Ao Ding soon thought of the same problem as Sun Chen.

If he reached the Profound Gang Upper Realm after three years, only the ultimate realm would separate him from the Jade Tower Realm.

In that case, would he still need Exquisite Insects?

Sun Chen pondered aloud. "How much are the golden buds and Exquisite Insects?"

"Twenty shell leaves per bud, twenty-five per insect."

Well, they certainly were not cheap.

At three thousand six hundred and fifty days for ten years, that would cost ninety-one thousand two hundred and fifty Jade Cloud Shell Leaves.

"If you buy ten years' worth of Exquisite Insects, we can offer a discount-just ninety thousand shell leaves."

Jade Cloud Shell Leaves were the currency of the True Realm, produced by the Qiongyun Immortal Trees cultivated by the Jade Cauldron Sect.

Each tree grew one leaf a year, jade-green with blue-green veins, called a Jade Cloud Shell Leaf. It was hard and indestructible, and could also be used in medicine and cultivation. After ninety-nine years, the green shell leaf transformed into a hundred-year scarlet bud called a Crimson Cloud Blossom. After nine thousand nine hundred years, the bud formed a purple fruit, which underwent a lightning tribulation and was called a Qiongyun Firmament Pill.

Shell leaves, Crimson Cloud Blossoms, and Sky Pills were the True Realm's units of currency, each worth a hundred of the preceding unit.

When Ao Ding left the Seven Spirits Sect, he had carried twenty-four Jade Cloud Shell Leaves-in other words, twenty-four coins.

That little money was not even enough to buy a single Exquisite Insect!

"There's really no need," Ao Ding volunteered. "I'll use golden buds for fasting. They suit my true Gang. Three years' worth-no, twenty-seven months will suffice."

Having Sun Chen pay might seem unrelated to him, but half of Sun Chen's possessions would eventually become his. In the end, was he not paying himself?

Ninety thousand Jade Cloud Shell Leaves was simply too expensive!

Hearing Ao Ding say this, Sun Chen abandoned the thought of spending such a large sum. Would it not be better to leave that money for Ao Ding to use himself later?

As for the flower buds...

"Make it a full three years! Twenty-seven months? That leaves too little room."

The shopkeeper calculated, then smiled. "Oh, that will be twenty-one thousand nine hundred shell leaves. How about this? I'll throw in ten bottles of Qi-Restoring Foundation-Stabilizing Pills, ten bottles of Jade Clarity Spirit-Congealing Pellets, and ten portions of Heart-Cleansing Toxin-Resolving Powder. We'll make it twenty-two thousand shell leaves. What do you think?"

"Let's do that." Ao Ding could use those medicines later too; they made fine extras.

Sun Chen casually took out three fist-sized fruits. Lightning patterns covered their surfaces, and alchemical light shimmered over them.

Well, they were actually paying with Qiongyun Firmament Pills?

Definitely disciples of a major sect. Could they be exalted immortals from the six sects?

The shopkeeper immediately grew more respectful.

He called for the rabbit spirits to prepare three years' worth of golden buds and had the three kinds of extras packed and placed on the table well beforehand.

Finally, he went to fetch the change himself.

"Three Sky Pills, thirty thousand coins. Change of eighty Crimson Cloud Blossoms, eight thousand coins..."

Really, in a place like Azure Pool Immortal Market, how often did anyone ordinarily see a Firmament Pill?

Even making change was such a bother!

Once this transaction was finished, he would have no Crimson Cloud Blossoms left and would have to find a way to exchange currency with others.

Still, this was a happy hardship, and the shopkeeper savored it like honey.

"There's no need to give us the money immediately. We still have other things to buy. How about this: send someone with us to negotiate prices. Once we've finished shopping, whatever money remains can be your gratuity. If it isn't enough, we'll pay the difference."

The shopkeeper immediately brightened at that.

"Yes, yes! I'll personally accompany you, exalted immortals. No one knows the prices in Azure Pool Immortal Market or the usual temperaments of our fellow immortals better than I do."