A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

"The Wind Chaser..."

Zhou Ping lowered his head, recalling the name that the old Taoist Mingxin had secretly whispered to him before he left. He figured that this must be the mysterious expert at the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage.

It seems that Master Mingxin has given him the choice; whether or not to seek a deal is up to him.

Zhou Ping sighed inwardly, realizing he now owed the other party a favor, and his impression of the old Taoist Mingxin changed slightly.

"Huh? What's this...?"

Zhou Ping suddenly stopped in front of a stall, attracted by a spiritual herb on it.

The stall owner was a masked woman who looked to be in her twenties or thirties. She wore a light yellow dress and appeared dignified and beautiful.

"Young master, is there something you've taken a fancy to?"

A gentle voice rang out, and the veiled woman raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhou Ping standing in front of her stall.

"May I ask, sir, is this seedling a Blood Spirit Mushroom?"

Zhou Ping pointed to the spiritual herb he had his eye on and asked in a calm voice.

The veiled woman followed his finger and smiled slightly.

"It is a young blood-ganoderma seedling."

"How much is this item for?"

Zhou Ping asked calmly, "This Blood Spirit Mushroom is an auxiliary ingredient in the refining of Golden Marrow Pills. If we can acquire it, we won't leave empty-handed this time."

"These seedlings aren't anything particularly precious, but each one still costs two spirit stones."

The veiled woman spoke softly, and having already clearly priced her items, she directly stated the price of the seedlings.

"Two spirit stones..."

Zhou Ping secretly recalled some records in the book, but there was not much information about this auxiliary medicine.

It only indicated a mature Blood Ganoderma, aged between fifty and one hundred years, with a value of approximately five to twenty spirit stones. There was no description of the seedling or seed.

"May I ask, fairy, if we can exchange items?"

Zhou Ping considered for a moment and felt that the price of two spirit stones was reasonable, so he asked, since he didn't have a single spirit stone at the moment.

"Barter? I wonder what this young master would like to exchange with me?"

The veiled woman looked somewhat surprised. Bartering is only possible if both parties need the same item.

Therefore, few deals can be reached; in most cases, one person is interested while the other is not, and the deal eventually falls through.

"Please look, fairy."

Zhou Ping took out a pill from his pocket and handed it to the masked woman.

Without hesitation, the masked woman extended her fair and delicate hand, placed the pill between her fingers, and sniffed it slightly.

Inside Guiyuan Pavilion, she wasn't worried about being ambushed. She was surrounded by like-minded people, and there were high-level cultivators from Guiyuan Pavilion upstairs. Anyone with a brain wouldn't choose to have any crooked thoughts here.

"Is this the legendary Black Scale Pill? Judging from its effects, it seems even more potent than the rumors suggest!"

The masked woman asked in surprise, a hint of delight appearing in her beautiful eyes.

After all, Wulin Pill is a sacred medicine of martial arts, and even for cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, it is a rare and precious medicine.

Although its effect on improving cultivation will be greatly reduced as one's realm continues to advance.

But any improvement is better than stagnation. Even the slightest improvement in cultivation level is a cause for great joy for most cultivators.

Moreover, its main effect is to temper the meridians and enhance the toughness of the body, which alone is enough to make everyone envious.

It should be noted that cultivators generally have weak physical bodies, and if they do not use magic, martial arts masters can easily defeat them.

Even cultivators at the late stage of Qi Refining will find themselves in grave danger when approached by a Grandmaster of Martial Arts.

The reason is simply that cultivators focus on cultivating magical power rather than physical body.

This is the general situation in the cultivation world; most cultivators are like this. Of course, a few cultivators will choose the method of body tempering, but overall, they are only a very small minority.

If cultivators could obtain some Black Scale Pills, taking them would be absolutely beneficial, making their meridians more resilient and their bodies stronger, which would undoubtedly greatly increase their survival and life-saving abilities.

For high-level cultivators, casting some high-burden spells becomes easier.

Therefore, although Wulin Pill is considered a sacred medicine by martial artists, it also holds an extraordinary status in the world of cultivation.

Any cultivator with some skill will try to obtain certain substances to consume during the early stages of their cultivation in order to strengthen their physical body.

The effects of the Black Scale Pill are limited. After taking a certain amount, it will gradually lose its ability to strengthen the physical body. Therefore, it is not a big burden for these cultivators.

If he wants to continue to temper his physical body, he will need even more powerful body-refining elixirs. At least Zhou Ping has never heard of such a elixir before.

"Your eyesight is excellent, fairy. This medicine is indeed the Black Scale Pill."

Zhou Ping breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the other party recognized the value of the goods. If he had encountered someone who didn't know their worth, the deal might not have gone through.

Seeing that her guess was true, the veiled woman's slender fingers, which were holding the pill, involuntarily bent back, and then she held the Black Scale Pill in her fair palm.

"Young master, if you have three more Black Scale Pills of the same quality, I will accept this deal."

Although Zhou Ping did not know the specific value of the Black Scale Pill in the cultivation world, he was still willing to accept exchanging four pills for a Blood Spirit Mushroom seedling that would be of great use to him.

After all, he still had a large number of Black Scale Pills in his possession, and these pills were not particularly valuable to him.

Moreover, before leaving Jinyuan, he had already brought the seeds of these medicinal herbs with him. If conditions permit, he can cultivate them continuously, which may be a good source of income in the future.

Zhou Ping took out a delicate little porcelain bottle and handed it to the masked woman without even looking at it.

"Please look, Fairy. I have exactly four Black Scale Pills left. If you ask for one more, I'm afraid this deal cannot be completed today."

The Black Scale Pills in this porcelain bottle are what Zhou Ping needs for his daily cultivation. There are exactly four left in the bottle. He had taken one out before, so there are three left.

The masked woman carefully poured out the pills, and after confirming that there was no difference, she put them away with satisfaction. Then she handed the Blood Spirit Mushroom seedling on the stall to Zhou Ping.

"Please keep this Blood Ganoderma lucidum safe, young master."

Her voice remained gentle, but there was a hint of joy in it.

Zhou Ping accepted the elixir from the woman, and his hand inadvertently touched her soft hand, which was cool and silky smooth.

The masked woman seemed to have noticed something as well, and subtly withdrew her hand, but a hint of unease appeared on her face.

Although she knew the other party did it unintentionally, looking at Zhou Ping's slightly dark complexion and his dull and honest appearance, a sense of disappointment welled up in her heart.

Everyone has a love for beauty, but Zhou Ping's appearance is really rather unappealing.

Zhou Ping, of course, had no idea what the other person was thinking. He simply stood there with his eyes downcast, looking dull and honest.

After all, he didn't do it on purpose.