“Do you have Gathering Spirit Pills?”
He Pingsheng asked, looking around the Alchemy shop.
The Alchemy shop’s storefront was small, less than ten feet in radius, with only a few shelves and some Formations inside.
This was understandable, of course.
Because there were only a few types of Medicinal Pills commonly used by Cultivators in the Cultivation World, they didn't take up much space, so there was no need to make the shop too large.
“Yes!” the child said to He Pingsheng, “But you’ll have to wait a moment; I can’t sell Second Grade Medicinal Pills. I need to call my master over!”
He Pingsheng nodded and said, “Call him!”
The young man picked up a Tóngxīn Fú (Sympathetic Charm) and sent a signal. Not long after, a tall, burly, and very upright old man walked out. This man had white hair and beard, but a youthful complexion.
He Pingsheng’s Divine Thought swept over this person.
It wasn’t impolite for a customer to scan the shopkeeper.
But he couldn’t scan him?
He Pingsheng was shocked: This guy’s Cultivation was either at the Peak of Foundation Establishment Stage, or he had already reached Golden Core Stage.
“Hehehe… Welcome, Fellow Daoist!” the white-haired old man said, “This old man is Xuan Yuan Chang Geng. Do you want Gathering Spirit Pills?”
With that, He Pingsheng could deduce that the other party’s Cultivation should be at the Peak of Foundation Establishment Stage, perhaps the tenth, eleventh, or twelfth layer.
Because if he were at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, He Pingsheng would have been able to tell. He couldn’t tell beyond the ninth layer.
The other party had just called him “Fellow Daoist,” which meant he was at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
“Yes!” He Pingsheng said, “I came to ask about the price!”
“Good, good, good… Please…” Xuan Yuan Chang Geng invited He Pingsheng inside and said, “We have Gathering Spirit Pills here, but not many. Currently, there are only three bottles, and they are only Low Grade…”
Low Grade was exactly what He Pingsheng wanted. He asked, “How much per bottle?”
Xuan Yuan Chang Geng said, “Two thousand Spirit Stones, Fellow Daoist. This is the lowest price. You might not find a lower price than mine in the entire Dingxiang City!”
He Pingsheng wasn’t surprised.
After all, this was a Second Grade Medicinal Pill.
He recalled that the Low Grade 【Sharp Gold Charm】 he had bought at Fenghe Estate in Matou Mountain Market cost three thousand Spirit Stones per piece.
It was normal for a bottle of Gathering Spirit Pills to cost two thousand Spirit Stones.
Second Grade items were many times, even hundreds of times, more expensive than First Grade items.
There was no other way!
Foundation Establishment Stage and Qi Refinement Stage were fundamentally worlds apart.
“Alright…” He Pingsheng said, “I’ll take one bottle… Also, may I ask, Brother Xuan Yuan, do you have any Materials for Gathering Spirit Pills for sale here?”
“Yes, we do!”
Xuan Yuan Chang Geng said, “Over here… they are sold by the set… The main Materials consist of 【Rehmannia Root】, 【Coagulated Night Purple】, and 【Mandala Lotus】, and there are thirteen types of auxiliary Materials, making a total of sixteen types of Materials!”
“Each set is four hundred Spirit Stones!”
He Pingsheng nodded.
Actually, the Materials for refining Medicinal Pills like the 【Gathering Spirit Pill】 were not fixed.
For example, the main Material 【Coagulated Night Purple】 is a type of spiritual liquid, the morning dew condensed from certain spiritual plants. Because it contains a misty Qi, it appears purple, hence the name Coagulated Night Purple.
If this item is unavailable, other Second Grade spiritual liquids can be used as a substitute.
Another example is the 【Rehmannia Root】. If there is truly no Rehmannia Root, some Second Grade 【Ginseng-like】 items can be used as a substitute.
Although the resulting Gathering Spirit Pills would have slight differences, their effects would be almost identical.
As for auxiliary Materials, they could be replaced in large quantities, and so on.
Four hundred Spirit Stones per set meant five sets would be two thousand Spirit Stones, roughly equivalent to the value of one bottle of Medicinal Pills.
And one bottle of Medicinal Pills contained twelve pills, which was one furnace’s worth.
Indeed… this selling price strictly followed the iron rule that five sets of Materials equal one successful furnace of pills.
In reality, successfully refining one furnace of pills from five sets of Materials was the average level of Alchemists in the Cultivation World.
Most Alchemists were at this level.
“Good!” He Pingsheng said, “Give me ten sets of these too!”
Xuan Yuan Chang Geng’s face darkened, and he said, “Uh… about that… Fellow Daoist, this old man doesn’t have that many at the moment, only five sets left!”
Small shops were like this; sometimes, resources were insufficient.
He Pingsheng didn’t mind. He nodded: “Five sets it is then. Give me some wood for Alchemy. I’ll pick it out!”
Xuan Yuan Chang Geng said, “That’s no problem!”
After selecting the wood, He Pingsheng asked again, “Do you have any Second Grade Poison Pills here, Fellow Daoist?”
“We don’t have those!” Xuan Yuan smiled bitterly and said, “These things are generally not needed by anyone. Fellow Daoist, are you perhaps a poison Cultivator?”
He Pingsheng nodded, acknowledging it.
Since the other party didn’t have poison pills, he could only leave.
There was no need to go to those large merchant associations.
Because when He Pingsheng had visited those large merchant associations before, he had also paid attention to the prices of Medicinal Pills, and they were indeed much more expensive than the Medicinal Pills in Xuan Yuan’s Alchemy shop.
Since that was the case, there was no need to go.
After returning to his small courtyard, He Pingsheng poured all the wood out of his Storage Pouch with a rustle.
He had no choice; he still had to use wood for Alchemy for now.
Otherwise, where would he get fire from?
He couldn’t possibly rely on fire spiritual power, as that would deplete his fire spiritual power before he could finish refining a furnace of pills.
It would be more trouble than it was worth.
Of course, Disciples who reached the Golden Core Stage could use Dan Fire for Alchemy.
However, Dan Fire was also extremely unstable, and during Alchemy, one had to divert Divine Thought to control the spiritual power output and the flame size, which was extremely taxing on Divine Sense. Therefore, even at the Golden Core Stage, very few Cultivators used Dan Fire for Alchemy.
It was rumored that only Cultivators who reached the Nascent Soul Stage and above could derive flames from their own spiritual power for refining Medicinal Pills.
The first step in Alchemy was to familiarize oneself with the Pill Formula.
He Pingsheng had previously refined only First Grade Medicinal Pills, the 【Qi Gathering Pill】, and had never refined a Second Grade Medicinal Pill before!
He took out a book: Thirty-Six Methods of Elixir Refining.
This Thirty-Six Methods of Elixir Refining was an enhanced Alchemy technique, recording a total of thirty-six common First Grade and Second Grade Pill Formulas in the Cultivation World.
That’s right, only First Grade Medicinal Pills and Second Grade Medicinal Pills.
There were no higher grades.
Of course, the current He Pingsheng didn’t need higher quality Medicinal Pills either.
He found the 【Gathering Spirit Pill】.
While comprehending the Pill Formula, He Pingsheng used the gathering treasure basin to enhance these 【Materials】.
A few days later, his five sets of Materials were enhanced into ten sets.
At the same time, that bottle of twelve Low Grade Gathering Spirit Pills was also enhanced by him into Peak Grade.
It became twenty-four pills!
After thoroughly understanding the refining method of the Gathering Spirit Pill, He Pingsheng began to light the fire and refine the pills.
“Open…”
He lightly shouted, and then the small cauldron was expanded by his magical power, turning into a foot in size, suspended above the flames.
Then, He Pingsheng, according to the method recorded in the Thirty-Six Methods of Elixir Refining, began to put the Materials into it one by one and refine them!
Time slowly passed.
About half an hour later, a huge explosion sound came from the small courtyard.
Heat waves spread outwards in visible fluctuations.
A burnt medicinal fragrance wafted over.
He Pingsheng’s face darkened: The furnace exploded.
The lid of the Pill Furnace was blown three feet away.
In the Pill Furnace, there was nothing but some black residue.
Not even a waste pill was left.
He Pingsheng took a deep breath. He was not discouraged. Instead, he picked up the Pill Furnace and carefully cleaned it.
It was his first time refining a Second Grade Medicinal Pill, so it didn’t matter if he failed.