Refining Ruins Cauldron

The competition was suspended for half a day the following day.

"Huh? You've broken through again?"

Luo Mei looked at Gu Qingyun with some curiosity, her eyes full of confusion.

This guy is always surprising himself.

Such a cultivation speed is something that even geniuses with a single spiritual root can't achieve, let alone those with mixed spiritual roots!

At least Lome has never seen it.

"Just lucky."

Gu Qingyun scratched his head, quickly stepped forward, and stuffed something into Luo Mei's hand.

Upon touching fingertips, the latter blushed slightly and withdrew her hand as if she had been electrocuted.

"What is it?"

Curiosity quickly overcame her shyness, and Luo Mei opened the jade bottle, releasing a fragrant aroma.

She wasn't ignorant; she recognized what was inside in an instant.

"Gu Yuan..."

Before anyone could cry out, Gu Qingyun quickly reached out and covered the other person's mouth.

Luo Mei's voice was quite loud, and everyone around looked in their direction with puzzled expressions.

How could Gu Qingyun dare to let her do as she pleased?

If others find out that I have a Qi-stabilizing pill, even if it's the lowest quality one, it will cause me a lot of trouble!

One must be wary of people's true intentions!

Luo Mei only realized what was happening after her mouth was gagged.

However, she had never been in such close contact with a man before, and her pretty face flushed red. She quickly pushed Gu Qingyun away.

"Alright, alright, I won't shout anymore!"

"But you, how dare you take advantage of your senior sister?!"

As she spoke, Luo Mei glared at Gu Qingyun, waved her fist, and gave him a threatening look.

Gu Qingyun scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Senior Sister Xiaomei, I was too impatient."

With her emotions calmed down, Luo Mei's expression became more serious.

She glanced at the Qi-stabilizing pill again, then her gaze returned to Gu Qingyun.

"This pill...aren't you going to keep it for yourself?"

"It's just a Qi-stabilizing pill, how can it compare to the kindness my senior sister has shown me? Take it." Gu Qingyun said honestly.

Upon hearing this, Luo Mei was taken aback at first, then burst out laughing.

"I didn't expect you to be so loyal to us."

Without refusing, she put the pill away.

Looking at Gu Qingyun again, her eyes softened.

"With the Qi-Strengthening Pill, I no longer need to search for the Autumn Nether Fruit."

Luo Mei smiled, in a great mood.

Autumn Fruit?

Gu Qingyun's mind stirred. This spiritual medicine had the effect of increasing the success rate of breaking through bottlenecks and was mostly used to refine breakthrough pills.

Of course, it only increases the success rate; it's far inferior to the Qi-stabilizing pill.

However, Gu Qingyun was still tempted.

This is of utmost importance to me right now.

"Senior sister, may I ask you a favor? I need that Autumn Dark Fruit."

"This time, I, your junior brother, owe you this debt, and I will repay you in the future, senior sister."

The effects of Gu Yuan Dan on oneself are limited in the short term, so one must seek other breakthroughs.

Breakthrough materials are rare and hard to come by; the Autumn Nether Fruit is one of them.

"You... come with me. Whether or not we can go down the mountain is not up to me; we have to ask Master."

After hesitating for a moment, Luo Mei decided to help Gu Qingyun.

After learning the whole story, Nalan Feixue looked at Gu Qingyun with new respect.

The Qi-Strengthening Pill, a pill that other outer disciples value more than their own lives, was actually given to Luo Mei by Gu Qingyun.

This alone proves that I didn't misjudge him back then.

"Master, Junior Brother is doing this to improve his cultivation and get a good ranking. Isn't it also to bring glory to Tiandu Peak?"

"Just agree to his request."

Luo Mei quickly offered her support, as she could tell there was more to the story behind Gu Qingyun's descent from the mountain.

Nalan Feixue pondered for a moment, and finally nodded.

"Very well, you are also trying to break through your bottleneck, which is understandable. I agree."

With that, she tossed out an identity token.

"This is my Peak Master's Token. With it, you may freely enter and leave the sect."

Gu Qingyun carefully took the token and quickly put it away, afraid of dropping it.

"Remember, you only have three days. The next round of the competition begins in three days. If you miss it, regardless of the sect rules, you will be disqualified from the outer sect competition for not attending on time. Do you understand?"

Gu Qingyun took notes carefully and nodded solemnly.

……

The market Luo Mei mentioned was called Xianggu, which was nearly four hundred miles away from the Changsheng Sect, not too far away.

With Gu Qingyun's current cultivation level, he could arrive in half a day.

However, Luo Mei is accompanying her on this trip. She has a flying artifact, so even with Gu Qingyun, it will only take an hour.

Luo Mei rode her sword and took Gu Qingyun with her.

As they made their way to Xianggu Market, Gu Qingyun stared intently at Luo Mei's retreating figure, lost in thought.

After a long silence, they finally broke it.

"Senior Sister Xiaomei, thank you so much."

In short, all my words can be summed up in just three words.

That's all Gu Qingyun can say right now.

"Between you and me, if we must define it, we are fellow disciples. Isn't it only natural for me to help you?"

As soon as she spoke, Luo Mei blushed.

Given my personality, I probably wouldn't have done something like this in the past.

I don't know how, but I somehow ended up coming out with them.

Fortunately, Luo Mei was in front, so Gu Qingyun couldn't see her expression.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and the market, located in a town, gradually became clearer.

The signboard of Xianggu Market was quite large, and Gu Qingyun could see it clearly from a distance.

Two cultivators, dressed in uniforms, guarded the outer perimeter. They were both at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

To enter the market, one must first be checked by two people and present an invitation; otherwise, one will be refused entry.

The Xianggu Market is more like a members-only place; not everyone can enter.

"This place was jointly built by the forces under several sects, and it is aimed at cultivators with a certain status."

"For ordinary rogue cultivators to enter, they either need sufficient strength or enough spirit stones."

"The news about the Autumn Nether Fruit also came from other peaks. I originally planned to come here to try my luck."

Luo Mei explained as she led Gu Qingyun toward the market.

"You might encounter other treasures at the auction. I'll show you around this time."

Along the way, besides Gu Qingyun and his companion, there were many other young cultivators who had come to visit after hearing about their reputation.

There were both men and women, all dressed in fine clothes, suggesting they were of high status.

"Have you heard about this auction? Apparently, there are some unearthed spiritual artifacts, said to have been left behind by ancient immortals!"

"What's the use? It's an ancient relic. If you ask me, the low-grade Spirit Gathering Pill is much better. It can help people break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, and there are enough Qi Refining cultivators fighting tooth and nail for it!"

"That's a Spirit Gathering Pill! You think you can just snatch it like that? You couldn't possibly buy it without at least 100,000 to 200,000 spirit stones!"

"Sigh, we rogue cultivators with neither background nor foundation can just join in the fun; it's not our turn..."

Gu Qingyun kept his ears open and silently collected all sorts of information.

He knew about the Spirit Gathering Pill; Elder Huo Qian had even explained its refining method.

The raw materials cost only three thousand spirit stones, but the value increased more than tenfold after the pill was made!

No wonder alchemists are so popular!