The He Household Pill Shop

Late at night, outside Gazing Immortal Port.

A figure quietly appeared above the sea of clouds.

The radiance around him faded, leaving his face indistinct, but his eyes saw everything within the city with perfect clarity.

He murmured to himself, "Could that marsh-water spiritual item have come from Eastern Lake?"

"If so, why seek the Xinsi Golden Scripture?"

He pulled out a black tortoise shell and formed a Method Formula. He had barely begun his divination when a gust of xun wind suddenly swept toward him, cutting into his Primordial Spirit with searing pain. Startled, he canceled the Law Technique.

The figure holding the shell was shocked and furious. "That old hag really does regard this entire city as a morsel in her mouth!"

At some unknown point, another figure had silently appeared out of the void. His voice was aged:

"Fellow Daoist, don't stir up trouble, or that person will swallow you along with the rest."

The figure holding the tortoise shell sneered, "Heh, your Wu Household handed over three hundred years of its foundations on a silver platter. How generous!"

The Wu Household's ancestor did not argue. He only said, "Who told us to lose the Profound-Piercing Wind in our territory..."

The figure holding the shell said, "Are you really going to let yourself be slaughtered? How is this person any different from an Evil Cultivator?"

The Wu Household's ancestor fell silent for a long time before sighing. "At least you can negotiate terms with an Evil Cultivator."

At that, the figure holding the shell fell silent too.

The next morning.

Zhou Ning once again hired the wildflower girl to guide him, paying her half as much spirit rice as he had the day before.

He thought it was well worth it. Otherwise, as a newcomer, he had no idea how much money he would have been swindled out of.

For now, the problem of a Cultivation Method was solved.

Yesterday, the woman in purple gauze had told him that complete fourth-grade Purple Mansion Cultivation Methods were exceedingly rare and jealously guarded by sects and Aristocratic Clans. She had advised him to give up the idea.

Zhou Ning had spent half the night thinking it over. Since first-, second-, and third-grade methods were all for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, he might as well cultivate the incomplete Xinsi Golden Scripture. Perhaps once he had mastered it, he could try his luck at the former site of the Radiant Immortal Sect.

But he had not swallowed the True Yang Metal Qi in the city. For one thing, he was unsure whether it would produce a strange phenomenon and draw attention.

For another, he did not know whether his body's cultivation in the Land of Wei could be taken to Cuiwei Lake. Otherwise, he would waste a strand of True Yang Metal Qi for nothing.

After becoming a Qi Refining cultivator, cultivation is the most important thing. If I want to raise it quickly...

"Take me to the He Household's pill shop," Zhou Ning said.

"Sure!" The girl had replaced the flower in her hair with a fresh little red one, making her especially adorable.

Her voice was clear and pleasant. "The He Household is a Purple Mansion Aristocratic Clan on the north bank of the Lu River. It used to be under the Firmament Treasure Sect's rule, but broke away and established itself independently. Its alchemy skills rank among the best in the Land of Wei, and it doesn't deal in evil pills, so it has an excellent reputation."

Zhou Ning pondered, If possible, I should not only buy pills, but find an alchemy inheritance too.

After all, among the hundred arts of immortal cultivation, alchemy reigns supreme. Spirit Plant growers, talisman painters, and the rest can all stand by the roadside.

Before long, Zhou Ning stopped in front of a small building with upturned eaves on the street.

Looking up, he saw the four characters "He Household Pill House" on its signboard, their strokes winding like spirit snakes.

A thin middle-aged man squatted on the threshold and spoke as though they were old friends. "Little brother, buying medicine?"

Zhou Ning walked straight into the shop. A young man with a Qi Refining cultivation sat behind the counter.

He pulled out a jade bottle and said, "Shopkeeper, examine this pill!"

The young man turned his face. Radiance flickered across it, and his peerless appearance made anyone who looked at him feel inferior.

Hearing this, the man withdrew his Law Power, revealing a handsome face with swordlike brows and starry eyes.

"I am He Zhuoran."

Zhou Ning thought to himself, This man is no less handsome than me. That Law Technique in particular is truly marvelous. If he used it to seduce female cultivators, I fear he would succeed every time.

It's just a pity that, for me, it isn't the proper path after all.

Zhou Ning tossed him the jade bottle.

He Zhuoran crooked a finger, and a pale blue pill leaped out of the bottle, giving off a clear spiritual glow.

He used a Law Technique and examined it carefully for a moment.

"A Primordial Origin Pill, refined from Sky-Blue Leaf, Moon Condensation Dew... It has two spiritual markings on its surface and is of excellent quality. No human blood was added, either. Fellow Daoist, you're in luck. You can take it without worry."

"How much does it sell for? What does it do?" Zhou Ning asked.

He Zhuoran said, "This pill works wonders for breaking through minor realms in Qi Refining. Taking it at other times can also speed up cultivation. One pill per bottle, sold for sixteen Spirit Stones."

That expensive?!

Judging from its effects, it sounded like Cuiwei Lake's Spirit Condensation Pill. Deacon Su Wen had taken that breakthrough pill to advance to Late Qi Refining.

Zhou Ning said, "Many thanks. How much is the appraisal fee?"

He Zhuoran smiled. "It was no trouble at all. Hardly worth mentioning."

This man is generous. I can be friends with him.

Zhou Ning pulled out a small bottle of eel blood. "Does your shop buy this?"

He Zhuoran was knowledgeable and recognized it as a marsh-water spiritual item. Refined into Qi and Blood Pills, it would be greatly beneficial to Meridian Opening cultivators.

What was more, Devil Cultivators were especially fond of Qi and Blood pills, often treating them as treasures.

He Zhuoran immediately regarded Zhou Ning much more seriously. This man had connections.

Though his He Household was a Purple Mansion immortal clan, it was under the Firmament Treasure Sect's rule. Producing a single Purple Mansion cultivator had already required two hundred years of planning by the entire clan, and now its Dao Path had been cut off as well.

Purple Mansion Cultivation Methods, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and Foundation Establishment pills were all controlled by the Firmament Treasure Sect. What misery!

Zhou Ning took out forty jin of eel blood and received eight Spirit Stones, almost exactly what the woman in purple gauze had offered.

He then spent another seven Spirit Stones to buy two bottles of the He Household's Ginseng-Nurturing Pills from He Zhuoran. They would last him a year. They were similar to Cuiwei Lake's Spirit Essence Pills, but more than twice as effective.

Zhou Ning suspected that not only Cultivation Methods, but even alchemy techniques in the Land of Wei were probably far more advanced than those at Cuiwei Lake.

And as he chatted with He Zhuoran, he came to understand more and more clearly that many pills in the Land of Wei were impure. Most were human pills or evil pills, and taking them could damage one's foundation, muddy one's spiritual power, or even turn one into food for others.

This made Zhou Ning all the more eager to master alchemy, so that he could at least gain the ability to identify pills.

I need to find a way to learn more about the He Household.

He knew whom to ask.

At the same time as the day before, Zhou Ning and the wildflower girl arrived at the street-stall square.

But when Zhou Ning saw the empty stall, he froze. "Where is she?"

The woman in purple gauze was nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Ning could not help thinking, Could it be... that my desire to learn scared her away?

He waited half an hour, but there was still no sign of her, so he could only leave in disappointment.

For some reason, the wildflower girl felt pleased. She was the guide, after all!

She offered false comfort. "Senior, perhaps she changed trades."

Zhou Ning sighed.

He had come to the Land of Wei with two goals: a Cultivation Method and an alchemy inheritance. He had achieved the first, but had no idea where to begin with the second.

Seeing that he was in a bad mood, the wildflower girl volunteered, "I used to buy flowers too, but later I felt it didn't make money, so I switched to what I do now."

Zhou Ning grunted in acknowledgment and asked, "You're earning money away from home at such a young age. Is there some hidden story?"

At his question, the girl's expression dimmed. "My family used to be quite well-off, but then my father became obsessed with gambling."

The words were all too familiar. Zhou Ning said casually, "Then is your mother sick in bed, and do you have a younger brother with a Spirit Root?"

The wildflower girl was astonished. "How did you know?"

Zhou Ning thought, Practice makes perfect.

Still, it was not hard to tell whether she was telling the truth.

Passing a candied hawthorn stall, he bought the little girl a skewer.

The wildflower girl was delighted. She carefully wrapped it up and could not bear to eat it along the way, apparently intending to take it home.

Mm, she probably isn't lying. Her family circumstances really are complicated, Zhou Ning concluded.

He instructed her, "Help me ask around about the He Household in Lu North. I'll come to you again tomorrow, for the same one and a half taels of spirit rice."

Ever since he had learned that he could resell eel blood, this small guiding fee was of no consequence.