Hope, Two Spirit Medicines
Ding Qifeng looked at Li Yunjing in surprise.
"Yunjing, are you serious?"
Li Yunjing nodded earnestly, his expression grave. "Of course."
Ding Qifeng set down his teacup, his expression turning serious as well.
"Yunjing, I understand why you have this idea, but it's a bit of a fool's dream.
"I'm a second-grade Alchemist, a high-tier second-grade Alchemist at that, and I'm currently working toward becoming a third-grade Alchemist.
"My cultivation is also at Peak Foundation Establishment.
"Do you know how many people would trample my doorstep if I put out word that I was willing to join a Lineage or sect?
"And what sort of terms those Lineages or sects could offer me?"
Li Yunjing nodded lightly.
Li Yunjing was naturally well aware of this.
The monthly stipend paid to Ding Qifeng certainly couldn't be small.
It was beyond Li Yunjing's imagination.
The Spirit Stones alone would have to number at least ten thousand, if not tens of thousands.
That was to say nothing of the other benefits.
"All right, even if I could do without the stipend and the rest, does the Luozhen Sect currently have the resources to support my pill refining?
"You should know that I'm currently trying to refine third-grade spirit pills.
"The spirit medicines I need aren't ordinary ones a few decades or a hundred years old.
"They're third-grade spirit medicines at least five hundred years old.
"At present, I use as many as twenty third-grade spirit medicines a month. Can the Luozhen Sect meet that need?"
Ding Qifeng spoke without expression.
Li Yunjing remained silent.
In that regard, it wasn't impossible for the Luozhen Sect to meet his needs.
After all, the medicine garden's ability allowed spirit medicines to accumulate medicinal age directly once they matured.
At present, it triggered once every ten days.
For a third-grade spirit medicine to reach five hundred years of medicinal age,
it would take more than a decade.
For now, it couldn't meet Ding Qifeng's needs.
But Li Yunjing believed it would be able to do so later.
"Then, as long as we can support your pill refining needs, Uncle Ding, would you be willing to join the Luozhen Sect?" Li Yunjing asked.
Ding Qifeng chuckled.
"For Chengyu's sake, I can do without a stipend and the rest. You're right-as long as you can meet that condition, I'll join the Luozhen Sect."
Li Yunjing nodded lightly. "I understand."
Ding Qifeng smiled and thought no more of it.
Although Li Yunjing and the others reaching Foundation Establishment had shocked Ding Qifeng,
meeting his requirements would not be so easy.
Ding Qifeng had merely wanted to avoid dampening Li Yunjing's enthusiasm.
He had only given Li Yunjing a hope to hold on to.
After speaking with Ding Qifeng for a while longer,
Li Yunjing prepared to leave.
After bidding Ding Qifeng farewell, Li Yunjing did not leave Pill Furnace Mountain immediately.
Instead, he strolled around.
Pill Furnace Mountain was divided into two areas.
One was the Alchemists' living area.
The other was a market.
Some Alchemists didn't want to make the trip to Xunxian Town to buy spirit medicines or sell spirit pills,
so they had set up a market on Pill Furnace Mountain itself.
Some mountain foragers also brought freshly gathered spirit medicines there to sell each day.
Li Yunjing came to the market.
He planned to see if there were any spirit medicines that caught his eye.
He intended to buy them and plant them in his cave abode.
Like Ding Qifeng, he would be self-sufficient and meet his own need for spirit pills.
After looking around for a while, Li Yunjing hadn't found any spirit medicines that satisfied him.
Only a small section remained unexplored.
Li Yunjing had intended to leave.
But since he was already there, he decided to take a look.
Suddenly, Li Yunjing saw two fresh spirit medicines on a stall.
One of them even had dirt clinging to its roots.
The two spirit medicines were a lingzhi and an azure flower.
The lingzhi's surface was perfectly smooth and reddish-gold, like metal.
The azure flower looked like a burning flame.
"Golden Yang Lingzhi, Azure Flame Flower."
Surprise flashed in Li Yunjing's eyes.
He happened to have a use for both spirit medicines.
After Ding Qifeng had cleared up his questions,
Li Yunjing felt he could refine higher-tier first-grade spirit pills.
As it happened, the Luozhen Sect had three Pill Formulas for high-tier first-grade spirit pills.
The spirit medicines used for the Jade Lingzhi Pill recorded in one of those formulas included Golden Yang Lingzhi and Azure Flame Flower.
The Jade Lingzhi Pill was more effective than the Yellow Sprout Pill.
For a Qi Refining cultivator, taking one Jade Lingzhi Pill
was as effective as taking three Yellow Sprout Pills.
Li Yunjing had been wondering which high-tier first-grade spirit pill to try refining.
Since he had come across Golden Yang Lingzhi and Azure Flame Flower,
he could use the Jade Lingzhi Pill to practice.
Li Yunjing crouched down.
"How much?"
Without beating around the bush, Li Yunjing asked the price directly.
The seller opposite him was momentarily taken aback.
After recovering, the seller said,
"One hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones for both. No bargaining."
Li Yunjing frowned slightly. The price was a little high.
The price of a spirit medicine was determined by its medicinal age.
Spirit medicines a few years or a dozen-odd years old
generally went for a few Spirit Stones, ten at most.
But the greater their medicinal age, the more Spirit Stones they cost.
Of the two spirit medicines before him,
the Golden Yang Lingzhi was around sixty years old,
while the Azure Flame Flower was only fifty years old.
Normally, getting fifty Spirit Stones for the Golden Yang Lingzhi would be a good price.
Golden Yang Lingzhi was rarer and more valuable.
Azure Flame Flower, being more common, was worth only around thirty Spirit Stones.
Even with a markup, ninety Spirit Stones for both would be about right.
By asking for a hundred, the man was treating Li Yunjing like a complete sucker.
Li Yunjing shook his head slightly. If the man wouldn't bargain, he couldn't be bothered to haggle either.
He stood up, intending to leave.
But he inadvertently revealed the Luozhen Sect leader's token hanging at his waist.
The sharp-eyed seller spotted the token at once.
Realizing that the man before him was actually the leader of a sect,
the seller immediately spoke up.
"Senior, wait. The price is negotiable."
Li Yunjing glanced back at him.
"Give me a proper price."
The seller was torn.
He wanted to ask for a high price but feared offending the man.
A Rogue Cultivator couldn't afford to offend a sect leader casually.
But if he asked for too little, he wouldn't make much.
After some hesitation, the seller said,
"Senior, seventy-five Low-Grade Spirit Stones for both, and they're yours."
The seller promptly wrapped up the two spirit medicines and handed them to Li Yunjing.
Li Yunjing smiled and accepted them.
He took out a Spirit Stone note with a face value of fifty.
Then he took out another twenty-five Spirit Stones.
"Here, take them."
The seller took the note and the Spirit Stones.
Though he had made a little less, it was better than making nothing at all.
"Judging by how intact that Azure Flame Flower is, you must be quite skilled at gathering herbs. If you find any good medicines in the future, you can bring them to the Luozhen Sect. The Luozhen Sect won't let you take a loss," Li Yunjing said.
"Also, if you know any other herb gatherers, you can tell them about this too."
The seller was stunned to hear this.
Then he didn't know whether to be happy or upset.
The Luozhen Sect could buy the spirit medicines he gathered.
That was naturally good; he would have a reliable outlet.
The spirit medicines wouldn't have to pile up in his hands.
But the problem was, who knew whether the Luozhen Sect would really keep him from taking a loss?
"What's your name?" Li Yunjing asked.
"Senior, my name is Lei Yang," the seller replied.
Li Yunjing nodded lightly. "I'll remember you. Remember what I said."
With that, Li Yunjing turned and left.
Lei Yang felt a headache coming on.
He watched Li Yunjing's departing figure,
his gaze deeply complicated.
"Alas!"
With a sigh, Lei Yang quickly packed up and left as well.
Li Yunjing walked out of Pill Furnace Mountain,
then used Wind-Riding Escape to hurry back to the Luozhen Sect.
Around evening, Li Yunjing returned to the Luozhen Sect.
Mo Xuan and the others had returned early.
At that moment, Mo Xuan was personally cooking dinner.
Zhang Hanpeng and the other four disciples were helping him.
Seeing this, Li Yunjing considered inviting a spirit chef to the Luozhen Sect.
But he soon smiled at himself in mockery.
"The Luozhen Sect is still just a tiny, insignificant sect, and I'm already thinking about things like this. I've really gotten carried away."