One Man's Poison, Another Man's Honey

In front of the law artifact pavilion.

Zhang Jing slowly walked closer while sizing up the building.

Call it a pavilion, but it was actually just a shop, with a floor space only slightly larger than the medicine shop his own household ran in Yong'an City.

Of course, one sold law artifacts and the other sold herbs.

The two naturally could not be mentioned in the same breath.

Just as he was about to walk inside.

Zhang Jing suddenly heard the sounds of an argument drifting out from within the law artifact pavilion.

Bang! Bang!

The table was struck with a thunderous clatter.

"Big Uncle, the law artifact you sold me has a problem; one of the restrictive spiritual qi lines inside is blocked. What right do you have not to compensate me with spirit stones? Three spirit stones, make it snappy. Consider it my taking a small loss to buy this broken law artifact of yours at a high price."

The voice sounded somewhat tender, but the tone was filled with struggle and accusation against an unscrupulous merchant!

"Alas, Little Linglong, even if you want to earn spirit stones, you can't target just your Uncle Chen and pluck him to death."

A slightly helpless voice rang out.

"Tell me, which time this month is this? The law artifact was completely fine when sold, yet it is guaranteed to break the second day it gets into your hands. Either there's a flaw here, or there's a problem there."

"What's even more infuriating is that every single time I finish compensating you with spirit stones, hey, guess what? The next day you go out to set up a stall with a completely undamaged law artifact."

"Coincidence, these are all coincidences."

The tender voice argued, though the voice grew increasingly softer, clearly lacking a great deal of confidence.

In the end, she could only say with depression: "Today, let's consider it my taking a huge loss! One spirit stone-you compensate me with just one spirit stone."

"No way..."

Seeing that the door was not closed and the argument inside showed no signs of stopping, Zhang Jing simply decided not to wait anymore and walked straight into the law artifact pavilion.

Ji Bochang followed closely behind him.

Tap, tap-

The moment Zhang Jing's footsteps sounded, silence was restored inside.

Then he felt two gazes fall upon him, one after the other.

"Shopkeeper, how are the law artifacts here sold, might I ask?" A faint smile appeared on Zhang Jing's face as his gaze met those two gazes head-on, asking calmly.

The arrangement inside the law artifact pavilion was completely reflected in his eyes.

On two sides were display cabinets filled with various law artifacts. Next to each law artifact was a description including the artifact level, effects, material, and price.

It looked extremely detailed.

However, Zhang Jing did not sense any spiritual qi fluctuations from these law artifacts; presumably they were not real law artifacts, but rather samples meant only for guests to view and select.

In the very center position was a counter.

At this moment, a middle-aged man and a girl of about fifteen or sixteen stood respectively inside and outside the counter.

Clearly, these were the two people who had been arguing inside just now.

Seeing business arrive, the shopkeeper stepped out from behind the counter.

"This fellow daoist, all the law artifacts in our small shop are displayed on the cabinets on both sides. You may take a look first, and if there is anything that catches your eye, then-Young Master Ji, what wind blew you here today?"

Halfway through his words, the shopkeeper suddenly noticed Ji Bochang behind Zhang Jing and hurriedly greeted him cheerfully.

Seeing this, Ji Bochang waved a hand and said with an expression entirely devoid of ripples: "Shopkeeper Chen, I am accompanying Brother Zhang today to purchase a law artifact. He is your main customer here, so don't get it reversed."

"Haha, so it should be, so it should be." With that, Shopkeeper Chen was seen spinning around rapidly, cupping his fists and bowing toward Zhang Jing before him, saying apologetically: "Just now it was my fault, and I hope this Young Master Zhang will not take offense at all. Whatever law artifact you wish to buy and whatever requirements you have, just name them."

Yet at that very moment.

"Uncle Chen, I'm leaving first." After speaking softly to the shopkeeper, the half-grown girl quickly left, clutching a blade-shaped law artifact.

Only until the girl's figure vanished did the shopkeeper look back at Zhang Jing, saying with full apology:

"Pardon me, Young Master Zhang, but this niece of mine has a somewhat shy personality."

Not exposing the shopkeeper.

Zhang Jing kept his attention entirely focused on the law artifacts and asked: "Shopkeeper, how are your defensive law artifacts sold here?"

That's right, defensive law artifacts!

After a spell of deep contemplation, Zhang Jing had ultimately decided to prioritize purchasing a defensive law artifact.

After all, he only had one life.

With the mysterious jade talisman as his backing, as long as he didn't die, his future would definitely be bright.

Of course, this also had a great deal to do with the newly emerged skill trait of the Middle Grade cultivation method Five Viscera Water-Origin Guiding Commentary after it upgraded to the first rank—Five Methods Spirit River.

"Defensive law artifacts?" The shopkeeper pondered slightly, then asked: "Might I ask which grade of law artifact Young Master Zhang desires? To not conceal it from you, I only have lower-grade defensive law artifacts here. I wonder if that meets your requirements?"

"What lower-grade defensive law artifacts do you have?"

Zhang Jing's interest was instantly piqued.

"Please come with me."

Once the shopkeeper finished speaking, he led Zhang Jing to a display cabinet and began introducing them one by one in detail.

"This law artifact is called the 'Golden Light Shield'. Inside, it possesses the Vajra Spiritual Light restriction. When warding off an opponent's attacks, the Golden Light Shield will shoot out dazzling golden light to disrupt the enemy's vision. Young Master Zhang, I wonder if you are satisfied?"

"Hehe, it's alright, alright." Zhang Jing nodded with a stiff expression.

To put it bluntly, it meant this shield would also glow when struck.

The taunt value was practically maxed out; using this thing meant being afraid of not dying fast enough.

Which eccentric master craftsman actually manufactured such a bizarre law artifact? No wonder even the law artifact descriptions above had accumulated a layer of dust.

"This law artifact is called the 'Hundred-Craft Cloak'..."

"This law artifact is called..."

Following a careful round of picking and choosing, Zhang Jing ultimately selected a lower-grade law artifact-the Cloudwater Shield-which looked like it had relatively normal functions and possessed attributes matching his own spiritual qi.

It commanded a price of a full thirty spirit stones.

In front of the counter.

While digging out spirit stones, Zhang Jing asked with a smile: "Shopkeeper, that girl just now isn't your biological niece, is she?"

"Alas-"

Hearing this, the shopkeeper let out a sigh, then explained: "I knew I couldn't keep it from a genius figure like Young Master Zhang. This little girl is a bitter soul. Her parents met with an accident during cultivation, leaving only her and a younger brother of over three years old in the household. Usually, we old neighbors help out wherever we can."

"Don't look at how bitter this girl's life is; her aspirations are quite high. Every day she goes on about hoarding spirit stones to send her younger brother to the Dao Academy for cultivation."

So that was how it was.

A trace of emotion flashed across Zhang Jing's eyes.

"Then, Shopkeeper, we'll take our leave for now."

With that, Zhang Jing and Ji Bochang turned and left the law artifact pavilion.

Before long.

The young girl who had just left returned once more, arguing with 'reason' and force in an attempt to get back the single spirit stone compensation she should have received.

Once the spirit stone was in hand, she was heard asking:

"Uncle Chen, who were those two people just now? How was their spending so lavish? Thirty spirit stones-a full thirty spirit stones-they pulled them out the moment they said so, without changing their facial expressions in the slightest."

"That Young Master Ji is a scion of a cultivation aristocratic clan, and he has already passed the Dao Academy examination to become a Dao Academy disciple. His future is boundless!"

"As for that Young Master Zhang, this was my first time seeing him, but judging from them, the two faintly deferred to Young Master Zhang as the head. I reckon he is also a Dao Academy disciple, and his status is definitely not simple."

Shopkeeper Chen analyzed earnestly.

He lowered his head, only to see a yearning look appear in the girl's eyes as she said cheerfully: "Hehe, my little brother will definitely become a Dao Academy disciple in the future too. When he buys law artifacts in the future, he might be just as magnanimous."

"How nice."

On the other side.

Zhang Jing and Ji Bochang threaded through the crowded, narrow alleys and stepped into the main avenue at the very center of the Market District.

Following this avenue all the way to the end, they saw a carved-jade and gold-adorned exquisite three-story pavilion building.

"Wonderful Pill Pavilion? Brother Ji, are you planning to buy medicinal pills here?"

Zhang Jing asked curiously.

"Indeed, Brother Zhang. This Wonderful Pill Pavilion is opened by the Pill Spirit Squad, ranked seventh in the outer court. The medicinal pills inside are complete in variety, and their quality is top-tier. Though they are somewhat expensive, taking them brings peace of mind."

Ji Bochang explained patiently.

Hearing this, Zhang Jing nodded and said nothing more.

The spirit artifact he needed to buy this time was already in hand, and he had no other particularly needed items. Moreover, he only had fifteen spirit stones left-not much by any measure, but not a little either.

Naturally, Zhang Jing extinguished any further thoughts.

However, since he had already come, he simply decided to harbor the attitude of broadening his horizon and followed behind Ji Bochang into the Wonderful Pill Pavilion.

The moment the two entered, a maid stepped forward to greet them and said sweetly:

"Welcome, two Senior Brothers. Is there anything the Wonderful Pill Pavilion can help you with?"

"Do you have Purple Spirit Pills?" Ji Bochang asked.

The maid smiled, stretched out a hand to signal Zhang Jing and his companion to follow behind her, and said simultaneously: "Two Senior Brothers, Purple Spirit Pills are one of the top-tier cultivation medicinal pills refined by the alchemists of the Dao Academy's Thousand Techniques Pavilion. Their medicinal nature is mild and supremely pure, and after taking them there is no need to worry about contaminating the Dantian's spiritual qi, making them extremely precious. We do not have many left here either."

As they spoke, the three arrived beside a counter.

Beneath the counter, within transparent jade bottles, five Purple Spirit Pills flickered with a glistening precious light, looking extraordinarily remarkable.

"Only these?" Ji Bochang felt somewhat disappointed.

"Senior Brother, you surely know just how precious Purple Spirit Pills are; we only have a quota of these five in recent days. If Senior Brother is in urgent need of medicinal pills to break through your cultivation realm, using a small amount of Spirit-Nurturing Pills is also acceptable. The effect differs by no more than a fraction from Purple Spirit Pills, and they are even cheap."

Hearing this, Ji Bochang gave the maid a meaningful look and slowly said:

"Although Spirit-Nurturing Pills have good effects, the impurities within the medicinal pills seep into the Dantian, making the spiritual qi inside the body impure and difficult to recover. Apart from those rogue cultivators, who would still take Spirit-Nurturing Pills to assist cultivation? Are they insane?"

"Five pills it is, then. I'll take them all."

Hearing this remark from the side, Zhang Jing could not help clicking his tongue in amazement.

He had just seen the price: a single Purple Spirit Pill demanded twenty spirit stones, equivalent to a law artifact. Yet this wealthy patron before his eyes did not even blink an eye as he bought all five Purple Spirit Pills in a single package.

It simply screamed opulence!

Thinking further on how he himself had to be stingy even when buying a law artifact... well, the spirit stones in his hand were also related to Ji Bochang, so never mind.

Wait! Zhang Jing suddenly reacted.

Had this maid and Ji Bochang just mentioned a kind of medicinal pill called the Spirit-Nurturing Pill?

An effect comparable to Purple Spirit Pills priced at twenty spirit stones each, yet the cost was only-

Zhang Jing's gaze unconsciously swept toward the counter before him, and he soon discovered the label for Spirit-Nurturing Pills in the corner.

Two spirit stones a pill!

And the side effect was merely that medicinal impurities seeped into the Dantian, making the spiritual qi impure?

Perhaps this side effect was terrifying to others, but to Zhang Jing, who possessed the Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light, it seemed to be just so-so.

After all, one of the primary functions of the Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light was to weed out spiritual qi impurities from the Dantian and continuously purify the spiritual qi.

Which meant-he could purchase precious Purple Spirit Pills at the price of merely two spirit stones, and moreover, an unlimited quantity at that.

He still had fifteen spirit stones left, which was enough to buy a full seven 'Purple Spirit Pills'!

In this way, those geniuses who had accepted subsidies from task squads would completely lose their resource advantage in front of him, Zhang Jing.

A trace of excitement faintly surfaced in Zhang Jing's eyes, but it cooled down again in the next instant.

Before that, he still had to confirm how fast the Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light weeded out spiritual qi impurities within the Dantian.

If he ate all seven Spirit-Nurturing Pills this month, only for the Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light to take a dozen-odd years afterward to slowly weed these impurities out from the Dantian's spiritual qi, the loss would outweigh the gain.

"Buy one first to test the waters."

Zhang Jing made up his mind internally.

Outside the Wonderful Pill Pavilion.

Ji Bochang contentedly stowed the purchased Purple Spirit Pills into his storage pouch, then looked at Zhang Jing and said: "Brother Zhang, a ghost market will open here tonight. I want to go and experience it; would you like to come along?"

"No, Brother Ji." Zhang Jing shook his head and refused.

"Haha, in that case, today Brother Zhang will just have to head back alone first."

"Brother Ji, please go ahead."

"Farewell, Brother Zhang!"

With that, Ji Bochang turned and walked toward the depths of the Market District.

As for Zhang Jing, after walking only a few steps, he quietly returned to the Wonderful Pill Pavilion and, amidst the maid's strange gaze, spent the hefty sum of two spirit stones to purchase a single Spirit-Nurturing Pill.

After putting away the medicinal pill.

Zhang Jing followed his memory and arrived at the southwestern corner of the Market District.

The Dragon Marsh Market had set up cultivation chambers here, which happened to be used to verify the effects of the Spirit-Nurturing Pill and the Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light.

Before long.

He had rented a high-grade cultivation chamber in a relatively secluded location.

He spent another spirit stone-it was ridiculously expensive.

Yet there was no help for it; someone like Zhang Jing renting temporarily for a day was bound to be relatively expensive. If he rented long-term, averaged out per day, it wouldn't even be this costly.

However, you get what you pay for.

Upon entering the cultivation chamber, Zhang Jing suddenly felt that spending the spirit stone was worth it.

The density of spiritual qi inside here could almost compare to the spiritual qi gathered around him when he went all out to urge the Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm and circulate the Five Viscera Water-Origin Guiding Commentary.

Furthermore, the cultivation chamber was divided into inner and outer sections.

The inner space was relatively narrow, where Spirit-Calming Incense had already been lit and a Spirit-Concentrating Meditation Cushion was prepared. Moreover, the concentration of spiritual qi here surpassed the outside by three parts.

Clearly, this was the place for cultivation.

The outer space, however, was much more spacious.

Placed right in the center of the room was a bronze human-shaped target. This was used for cultivating and testing law techniques, and was also the primary reason Zhang Jing was willing to spend spirit stones to rent this cultivation chamber.

After locking the door of the cultivation chamber tightly.

Zhang Jing went straight to the small inner cultivation chamber.

He sat cross-legged, calming his mind and relaxing.

The faint scent of the Spirit-Calming Incense lingered around his nose, allowing his heart to calm down completely.

Almost there.

Zhang Jing took out the newly purchased Spirit-Nurturing Pill from his bosom, put it into his mouth, and then gently scraped off some powder with his teeth, swallowing it down.

In an instant.

Zhang Jing felt a surge of spiritual qi erupt within his abdominal cavity.

He hurriedly closed his eyes and operated the Five Viscera Water-Origin Guiding Commentary. The erupted spiritual qi was sorted out in a flash, following the cultivation method to circulate through the five viscera.

It ultimately transformed into wisps of pure black spiritual power, entrenched in the Dantian.

"There are really impurities?" Zhang Jing, noticing this scene, could not help but exclaim in wonder.

Although both were pure black spiritual power, there was a huge difference between the spiritual power transformed from the Spirit-Nurturing Pill and the spiritual power condensed by Zhang Jing through absorbing spiritual qi himself.

Compared to the latter, the former concealed extremely many starlight-like impurities within its interior, but fortunately they were being weeded out by the Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light, and at a very fast speed.

After repeated verification.

Zhang Jing finally reached a conclusion: one Spirit-Nurturing Pill was roughly equivalent to his own seven to ten days of sleepless cultivation, and the Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light could weed out the impurities of one Spirit-Nurturing Pill within three days.

This also meant that he could completely use the cheap and unlimited Spirit-Nurturing Pill as a Purple Spirit Pill without any hidden troubles.