Cultivation Supplies
The production of Creation Pills within the territory of the Great Han Dynasty was not high.
The reason for this is simple: the catalyst required for the Creation Pill is a demon core.
Within the Shaofu Temple of the Nine Ministers, there is a Demon Extermination Division. The people in this division travel back and forth every year to find, kill, and obtain demon pills.
The Demon Extermination Bureau's record is getting worse year by year. Now they're even taking care of incompetent little demons. For example, if a little demon like Jin Wanliang encounters the Demon Extermination Bureau, he'll definitely be chased to the end.
In this situation, one cannot expect the Great Han Dynasty to have many high-quality Creation Pills.
But the situation in Xiong State is different.
The Yedie River Holy Land and Xieluosi River Holy Land in the Xiong State are teeming with demons, and even a large number of demon humans.
Even the Great Han Dynasty couldn't control the fighting among the common people. Battles between monsters and demons from the Xiong State were also common, and a number of people would die from time to time.
"I'll trade you 188 demon cores. If you succeed in alchemy, these 188 Creation Pills will be yours!"
Hongku negotiated with Zhang Xuezhou quite a bit along the way.
Aside from treasures that can't fit in their pouches, cultivators generally carry their wealth with them at all times, just in case of unforeseen needs.
If Zhang Xuezhou is willing to exchange with him, Hongku can complete the transaction immediately.
"A single demon core isn't very useful; Creation Pills require a lot of medicinal herbs," Zhang Xuezhou said. "If you offer me 188 Creation Pills, I won't utter a single word!"
"Your Great Han Dynasty doesn't lack medicinal herbs, it only lacks high-quality demon cores," Hongku retorted. "The demon cores I have are truly top-quality!"
"You know the Great Han Dynasty doesn't lack medicinal herbs, but I do," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Just a few days ago, I was told that medicinal herbs over three hundred years old are only supplied to officials of the Three Dukes level. How could an official like me from the eunuch bureau have such good fortune!"
"Your broken court has too many rules!"
Hongku cursed under his breath.
But Hongku also knew very well that rules are rules.
Even the Yedie River Holy Land follows the rules of development, and there is a huge difference in interests between the Venerable and the Dharma Master.
In the past, his pockets would have been emptier than his face; how could he have produced hundreds of materials?
As long as these materials can be repeatedly obtained in the future based on his status, Hongku will not be stingy in the slightest.
After all, as long as he lives long enough, Hongku could easily obtain two or three hundred demon cores in the Sacred Land.
On the contrary, no matter how long Hongku lives, he has no chance of obtaining the Black and White Twin Horses, a Spirit Artifact, simply because of his status as a Venerable of the Sacred Land.
Despite the criticism, Hongku's base price has been gradually increasing.
As the most treasured possessions of the Venerables White Bone and Black Earth, Hongku would trade them even for everything in his own bag.
"I can only trade cultivation items with others. Low-ranking officials don't have anything good, and high-ranking officials wouldn't even look at a pittance. I need to give away at least 120 of these 188 demon cores before I can even gather the materials for the remaining 68 Creation Pills!"
"That makes at least sixty-eight!"
"Unless I'm possessed by the patriarch of the Yin-Yang School, I have no chance of successfully forging one!"
What are your chances of succeeding in becoming a pill?
"About 50%, that's about my level!"
Zhang Xuezhou and Hongku continued to haggle.
After calculating back and forth, Hongku finally figured out Zhang Xuezhou's bottom line.
Zhang Xuezhou would gladly hand over the Black and White Twin Horses for just 188 Creation Pills.
One hundred and eighty-eight demon cores are roughly equivalent to thirty-four Creation Pills.
Hongku had to admit that the Yin-Yang School's alchemy skills were not just for show; even someone like Zhang Xuezhou had at least a 50% success rate in producing pills.
If Zhang Xuezhou were invited to the Yedie River Holy Land Yedie River Holy Land, Zhang Xuezhou would become a top-tier Alchemist there, specializing in refining creation pills.
Creation Pills, a hard currency among great cultivators, are always in high demand. Hongku compared the success rate of pill refining at the Yedie River Holy Land and pondered whether he should cooperate with Zhang Xuezhou to refine Creation Pills and profit from the price difference.
After repeated calculations, Hongku felt that he could make money by diligently running the Black and White Twin Horses in the future. This would not only allow him to recoup his investment in exchanging for the Black and White Twin Horses, but he would also earn more.
After some calculations, he became more confident when negotiating the price.
"You know I have blood essence. Besides the 231 demon cores, I'll add 76 more blood essences. I also have six iron-tendon ginsengs, plus 12 Grain Avoidance Pill... Oh, you don't want the Grain Avoidance Pill? Then I'll take three secret-recipe tonic pills... I'm not interested in that either... You should have said you were open to other options earlier!"
After a series of discussions, Hongku pulled out bottle after bottle of the lowest-grade poisons from his bag.
For the cultivators of the Yin Yang Nine Heavens Sect, the alchemy skills of the Northern Kuru Continent were very poor. Even someone like the Goat Strength Demon King Yangli from the Xieluosi River Holy Land could make alchemy work. So even the Venerable One had to kidnap Zou Bugui make pills and medicines.
Zhang Xuezhou looked down on Hongku's elixirs, but he was quite interested in the various raw materials.
Since Hongku didn't have the ingredients for tonics, Zhang Xuezhou chose other things he needed.
He would occasionally make a joke about Hongku.
"Teacher, you used to hate poison!"
"I may hate them, but they're useful, and I can't possibly go against something that's useful!"
Hongku didn't blush at all.
He had a whole bunch of things like Five-Step Bewitching Smoke, Water of Eternity, and Soul-Severing Powder stored in his bag.
Normally, using these low-level methods would be troublesome, but when combined with the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique, the probability of cultivators of the same level falling for them increases significantly.
This is similar to the idea that Zhou Yueyan and others used to rely on stuffing a mouthful of Spirit-Forging Pill into a ferocious beast; if the medicine worked, it would save them a lot of trouble.
"Make a deal!"
As numerous items were taken out, Zhang Xuezhou finally made his decision.
He never showed any greed; he only cared about the benefits he could obtain without incurring retaliation, which made Hongku particularly satisfied.
Even though Hongku was somewhat dissatisfied with the previous deal at Nanming Fire, he had to say that the exchange with Zhang Xuezhou was flawless.
Recalling the matter of Nanming Fire, Hongku couldn't help but confirm it again and again.
"Are you sure I can use the black and white twin horses?" Hongku asked.
"If I can use it, why are you worried about not being able to?" Zhang Xuezhou retorted. "This is just a magical Spirit Artifact that requires incantations; it doesn't require any cultivation at all. You just need to run five or six thousand miles back and forth and then recharge your Law Power. If you're willing to infuse your Law Power while running, you can practically run continuously, even covering tens of thousands of miles at a time!"
"Too!"
"You can escort my cousin's cavalry for now. I'll run back to Chang'an City to train the Black and White Twin Horses and try to erase my Law Power imprint as quickly as possible. You can try out the horses first. If you're satisfied, we can switch; if not, we don't have to!"
Zhang Xuezhou's reassurance was so reliable that even after repeated consideration, Hongku couldn't find any fault with it.
In short, Hongku felt that this transaction was very safe and that he couldn't possibly lose money.
He readily agreed and took on the itinerary for the next few days.
"Cousin, I'll ride back to Chang'an City first. You follow behind!"
"Become!"
Rong Tianding, who was leading a group of elderly women from Zhang Household Village Rong Tianding in agreement.
Both Jin Chang and Hongku are malevolent spirits.
Rong Tianding didn't know how the other cultivators felt about these two, but Rong Tianding knew very well that since he and Zhang Xuezhou had fallen out, the mortality rate of these two would be very high, and they couldn't possibly get away with faking their deaths.
It seems that Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou's constant chatter behind the horse team these past few days has defused the potential crisis.
Zhang Xuezhou even made a new deal with Hongku, Hongku his discarded treasures for a bunch of cultivation supplies.
This is not just an exchange, but a binding agreement.
This forced Hongku to consider the deal between the Black and White Horses. He no longer harbored any ill will towards Rong Tianding during the journey. Zhang Xuezhou even revealed his success rate in alchemy. Because the deal had emptied his pockets, Hongku even considered cooperating in alchemy.
And there is another extremely important thing.
Before Zhang Xuezhou fell into a coma, he left the Zhang Xuezhou first with a perfectly legitimate reason, thus avoiding any potential risks for himself.
"No matter what techniques or methods you use, they can't compare to my cousin's skillful use of his strengths!"
Zhang Xuezhou's methods are nothing new; he simply trades his own strengths for the weaknesses of others.
If a person is greedy, they will inevitably be persuaded by Zhang Xuezhou's words.
After following Zhang Xuezhou more often, Rong Tianding gradually became enlightened and learned how a cultivator without a powerful backer or background should cultivate.