Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 647 Soul-Refining Pill in the Dark Night

Ji Anlai arrived at the second-floor living room, a space that was originally quite spacious but now felt cramped. He bowed apologetically and said:
"Thank you all for your support. I didn't expect so many fellow Daoists to come and show their support."

There were also a few Golden Core cultivators, perhaps they came to purchase pills for their juniors.

"Haha, the pills are so effective, of course we're happy to support them! Fellow Daoist, I see the seats are already full. When does the trade fair begin?"

Junior Sister Ji Anchong nodded and replied, "Let's begin now."

He walked over to Han Yan and handed her the two bottles of pills, and the scene fell silent.

Han Yan received the pills, turned her back to check the quantity, and then addressed the crowd in a deep voice:
"Everyone will clearly feel that the pills in our shop are more effective, and this batch of Peiyuan Pills and Jiejin Pills are no exception."

Many people have been speculating about the reasons behind this, and now it's time to reveal the answer.

Senior Brother Xuanqing possesses the spiritual fire of heaven and earth, which allows him to refine the impurities in spiritual herbs at a deeper level and promote the fusion of the medicinal liquid.

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces lit up with surprise, and they couldn't help but start discussing it.

Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run; most cultivators have heard of the Heavenly Spirit Fire.

Han Yan was very satisfied with everyone's reaction; most of these people would become loyal customers of the store in the future.

The reason for announcing this news only now is that we must maintain a certain level of restraint; a noble alchemist who possesses the spiritual fire of heaven and earth cannot simply shout it out on the street.

Another point is that the medicinal materials obtained by the shop are enough to barely keep it running.

In a few months, the support from the certification association will be halved. Releasing this news now will allow the monks present to quickly spread the message further.

They have now given up on gaining more support from the Lingnong forces, which are deeply intertwined with other forces, and not everyone has the courage of Master Guangping.

Han Yan raised her voice and said:

"Everyone, let's start by trading the Qi-Nourishing Pills. These pills, refined using the spiritual fire of heaven and earth, can increase the chances of breaking through to a higher realm."

Our offer is one Peiyuan Pill in exchange for ten batches of materials. We accept Zhuque Flame Grass Pill, Baihu Xuanjin Pill, Bihua Pill, and Diyuan Anhun Pill. Each batch of medicinal materials is required to make five pills.

The Earthly Soul-Soothing Pill and the White Tiger Golden Elixir are even more expensive, and we will give everyone an extra fifty mid-grade spirit stones for each batch.

Another point is that all fellow cultivators who trade spiritual herbs can receive a voucher granting them priority in purchasing ten Chaoyuan-stage pills.

A cultivator below retorted, "It's a bit expensive. Normally, one Qi Cultivation Pill can be exchanged for seven or eight batches of medicinal herbs, but almost no one chooses to exchange it with spiritual herbs."

Immediately, someone chimed in, "Yes, it's too expensive."

Ji An stood up from his chair and called out, "Everyone!"

He scanned the room and, seeing that everyone's attention was drawn to him, raised his right hand.

A three-layered flame appeared at his fingertip, growing ever larger, and a terrifying aura spread outwards, causing cultivators nearby to reflexively lean back.

The inner flame is emerald green, exuding a vibrant life force; the middle flame is crimson, giving a warm feeling; and the outer flame is blazing white, exceptionally pure.

"This is the Azure Lotus Burning Heart Flame, one of the most suitable spiritual flames of heaven and earth for alchemists, so the pills I refine are worth this price."

His calm and composed tone exuded confidence that gave people a strong sense of reassurance.

A Golden Core cultivator's gaze was intense, then he smiled broadly:

"It truly is the Azure Lotus Heart-Burning Flame. May I ask how many furnaces of Yuan Dan materials are needed for you to form your Golden Core?"

He had always suspected that the reason why the pills in the Crimson Flame Pavilion were of higher quality than others was because they possessed the spiritual fire of heaven and earth.

However, the Heavenly Spirit Fire is extremely rare and hard to come by. He believed that the other party was likely an alchemist who cooperated with the auction house, and now his guess has finally been confirmed.

Han Yan responded gently, "Since you asked, I'll be frank. One Golden Core can be exchanged for six batches of Fire Essence Pill materials, with each batch yielding five pills."

If all of it is converted into spirit stones, the value of one Golden Core is roughly equivalent to more than ten Fire Essence Pills.

Based on a 40% success rate in forming the pills, which translates to five batches of medicinal materials, and considering the quality of the pills, charging for six batches is not unreasonable.

"Now, we will begin trading the Qi Cultivation Pills. Fellow Daoists who are interested, please come forward."

The cultivators who brought enough spiritual herbs went up to exchange them, and a total of seven Qi-Nourishing Pills were traded.

"May I ask, Master, the ingredients for a complete set of pills are not easy to find. Is it possible for us to exchange them for other resources?"

Han Yan shook her head, "No, we only accept complete sets of pill ingredients."

However, there's no need to worry. We'll keep the pills; you can exchange them when you've gathered enough materials.

There's another important piece of news: we hold this kind of transaction every three years, during which Peiyuan Pills and Jiejin Pills are released, with roughly the same quantity as today.

Many people immediately breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that the shop could reliably provide pills meant that it had a stable source of medicinal herbs, which also meant that the shop was doing well.

Someone else asked, "Master, why doesn't your shop accept materials for the Canglan Baoguang Pill?"

Han Yan pondered and said:
"The Azure Lotus Burning Heart Fire is a yang fire, and it has no effect on refining the Water-based Elixir."

Frankly speaking, the effects of the water-elemental pills we refine are not much different from those in other shops.

"If you, fellow Daoist, could provide materials for the Azure Treasure Light Pill in exchange for the Nourishing Essence Pill, that would be acceptable. However, each batch of materials would incur an additional twenty mid-grade spirit stones, which wouldn't be very favorable to you."

Her tone of voice, which was entirely from the other person's perspective, made everyone feel more at ease.

Han Yan coughed and continued:

"Any fellow cultivators still want to exchange for Qi Cultivation Pills? If not, we'll begin exchanging for Golden Core Pills."

No one responded, so the exchange for the Golden Core pills began, but only one pill was obtained.

Last year, the auction house held a large-scale auction, so there were fewer cultivators seeking to form the Golden Core stage.

A Golden Core cultivator said in a deep voice:

"As your shop knows, the materials for Golden Core level pills are precious. It's unknown how long it would take to gather enough spiritual herbs. Could you exchange other resources for Golden Core pills?"

His Daoist partner urgently needs the Golden Core Elixir and doesn't want to wait any longer.

Ji An interjected:
"As far as I know, third-grade pine nuts are rarer on the market, but auxiliary medicines can still be purchased if there are channels."

"Alright, if you're short on Tier 3 pine nuts, you can exchange them as long as you have enough of the other materials. You can use materials from eight batches without the main ingredient to offset five batches of materials."

He had no shortage of Tier 3 pine nuts in his small world, so this method of exchange was actually the best for him.

"Alright, I know some fellow Daoists who should be able to help."

Ji An smiled and nodded, then stood up and said:

"In addition, I will give all fellow cultivators who purchase the Golden Core Pill a bonus: one month's rental fee for a mid-grade third-level cave dwelling to help them break through their cultivation level."

Normally, aside from accumulating extremely rich, low-grade level 3 spiritual vein nodes, which is sufficient for a cultivator's breakthrough needs, mid-grade level 3 spiritual vein nodes can meet the needs of all cultivators.

For every cultivator who breaks through in the Immortal City, the stone tortoise can absorb more Dao essence. "Haha, this is a good omen. My clansmen are preparing to adjust their condition and break through in a few days."

The Golden Core cultivator who had exchanged for the Golden Core materials laughed, realizing that this would save him dozens of high-grade spirit stones.

"I should have thought of this method sooner; I might have already absorbed several hundred Daoist principles by now," Ji An said kindly.
"Alright, fellow Daoist, come to the shop if you need anything, and I will give the instructions."

After the trade fair ended and the customers left, Han Yan smiled and said:

"Providing rental fees for the cave dwelling is a great way to promote the business and also gives you more opportunities to observe the tribulation of lightning."

"By the way, I have a question I've always wanted to ask: Senior Brother, what can you observe from the tribulation lightning?"

Ji An said in a serious tone, "One can better comprehend thunder magic through thunder tribulation."

"But being so far from the tribulation clouds, the divine intent of the tribulation lightning must have been extremely weak by the time it reached you, right?"

"Over time, even the slightest progress can lead to a qualitative change."

If a cultivator gets too close to the tribulation clouds, it will trigger their own tribulation. The tribulation that a Golden Core cultivator has to face is the same intensity as when breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm, so Ji An had no intention of getting involved in the tribulation.

It would die if it got even slightly touched; I wouldn't dare take advantage of that.

Thinking of this, he suddenly had an evil idea: to seal the Golden Core level enemy with a spirit-sealing technique and place him within a range that could trigger a lightning tribulation.

However, he had a concern: if the stone tortoise was damaged beyond its tolerance, it would be a double loss.

Once the idea took hold, it grew wildly like weeds in a wasteland. He felt he could try it out when he reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm.

Stone turtles are so spiritually powerful that they should be able to bring good fortune and ward off evil.

Ji An changed the subject and said:

"Now we have enough medicinal materials stored up to last for a long time, which can make up for the gap caused by the reduced support from the certification association."

If possible in the future, I will leave behind more pills for breakthroughs from other commissions.

With the shortage of spiritual medicine alleviated, he was able to dedicate more time to cultivation.

Han Yan's eyes curved into crescent moons. "The most important thing is for Senior Brother to improve his cultivation. If we are short of pills, we can still support ourselves with the talisman business."

Ji An nodded slightly and asked with a smile:

"What is the success rate of your refining Fire Essence Pills now, and what is the percentage of high-quality pills?"

"Because I had enough opportunities to refine, I made great progress."

However, the success rate of pill formation is only slightly over 80%, and the rate of high-quality pills is 60%, which is far behind that of my senior brother.

Han Yan was a little embarrassed. This number was certainly amazing compared to that of an ordinary alchemist, but her senior brother's success rate was over 90% and the rate of producing high-quality pills was 80%.

Comparisons are odious, and she was now experiencing the envy and jealousy that others used to feel when they looked at her.

Ji An sensed the hidden bitterness in the voice and said:
"My soul strength is naturally strong, which gives me a significant advantage."

Half a month later, a cultivator broke through to the Golden Core stage in the Immortal City, and Ji An happily gained 72 points of Dao Rhyme.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, and Black Stone Mountain has welcomed its guests.

Inside the cave, Ji An raised his teacup and smiled:
"Fellow Daoist is a rare guest. The spiritual tea is rather bland. I hope you will not find it offensive."

Master Moyun twitched his nostrils and chuckled:
“If a cultivator finds a mid-grade third-tier spiritual tea bland, they would at least be a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. I am not one of them; I simply think it is an unparalleled delicacy.”

"You're an expert," Ji An said. Having drunk so many spiritual teas, he could only distinguish the grades of spiritual teas by their aroma without tasting them. He could only identify the few he often drank.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ji An asked:
What has been the situation in the Misty Mountains in the last two years?

"The concentration of the demonic mist is getting higher and higher, and the area it covers is getting larger and larger. The area of ​​the purification array of several fortresses is being compressed."

However, the main force of defense now is not us, but the demon cultivators.

Having already demonstrated the advantage of demon cultivators in the demonic fog environment, the True Lords immediately increased the number of demon cultivators.

A large number of low-level cultivators with poor aptitude switch to other cultivation methods, resulting in an astonishing attrition rate. However, some cultivators always manage to stand out; these are all formidable individuals.

As Ji An listened to the other party's account, he vaguely understood the True Lords' plan: to train demonic cultivators to withstand the initial shocks after the full-scale outbreak of the Great Calamity.

He felt there were some hidden dangers in doing this, and the demonic cultivators might not be willing to accept it.

The two spoke in human language for a while longer, and then Master Moyun took out a brocade box:
"Back in Misty Mountain, it was only thanks to your third-tier purification talisman that I was able to cleanse the pollution from my body."

These are a few spirit seeds I've collected; please accept them.

Ji An's eyes suddenly lit up, and he laughed:
“Spiritual seeds are my favorite, it would be disrespectful to refuse them.”

He did not refuse, took the brocade box and opened it. Inside were two seeds, one large and one small, as well as a light black jade slip.

The smaller ones were about the size of pigeon eggs, with a light purple outer skin and scattered white spots. He recognized them as the spirit seeds of the Nightshade Tree.

The larger ones are as big as eggs, round and shiny black with very fine white wavy lines. I've never seen them before, and I don't recall any records that match those characteristics.

He sensed the life force of the spirit seeds; the small seed was a high-grade third-tier seed, and the large seed was a mid-grade third-tier seed.

He placed the jade slip on his forehead to read the information inside, then quickly put it down.

"The prescription is too expensive; I cannot afford it."

The pill is called the Night-Tempering Soul Pill, a third-tier pill for enhancing the soul.

Depending on the age of the main and auxiliary ingredients, the highest grade of pills that can be refined is third-tier.

Enhancing the strength of one's soul is a lifelong endeavor for cultivators. The effects of Soul-Nourishing Wood and Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea are to slowly nourish the soul, with a gentle effect that remains effective as long as the grade is high enough.

The Soul-Refining Pill of the Night has a much stronger effect, but there is a limit to the number of times it can be taken.

For items of the same grade, the first one has the greatest effect, the second one has half the effect, the third one has a negligible effect, and the fourth one can only increase mana, without nourishing the soul.

Master Moyun scratched his head sheepishly and said:

"I asked someone to find a spirit seed and luckily obtained a Star Soul Tree seed, the larger one, which can be cultivated into Star Soul Fruit, a natural delicacy that increases the strength of the soul."

He paused for a moment, then said, "The pill formula and the small seed were given to you on someone's behalf. The owners of several pill shops in the Immortal City want to invite you to a banquet at Dingxiang Pavilion. I'm just passing on the message."

They said that whether you agree or not, the spirit seed and the pill formula will belong to you.

Ji An narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling that his luck was simply too good.

The seed, the size of a pigeon's egg, is from the Nightshade Tree. There is one in this small world, currently a mid-grade third-tier tree. Its spiritual fruit will ripen soon, and as a result, a pill recipe is delivered to my face.

(End of this chapter)