He Pingsheng looked in the direction indicated by the Qi Refining Stage Third Level Disciple and indeed saw the staircase in a corner of the main hall.
"Thank you, Junior Brother!"
He Pingsheng cupped his hands in thanks and then walked towards the staircase.
He stepped onto the stairs and reached the second floor.
He first entered a room.
An Old Grey-robed Man sat in the room. He could not discern the Old Man's cultivation.
However, the Old Man's sharp gaze swept over He Pingsheng and he said, "Fourth Layer, huh... Is this your first time here?"
He Pingsheng respectfully replied, "Yes, Junior, this is my first time here!"
"No need for such a title!" The Old Grey-robed Man waved his hand and said, "You are at the Qi Refining Stage Fourth Layer, and I am at the Qi Refining Stage Ninth Layer. Although there's a difference, we are both in the Qi Refining Stage. You can call me Senior Brother from now on!"
"I cannot bear the title of Senior!"
"Yes, Senior Brother!" He Pingsheng quickly changed his address.
The Old Grey-robed Man said, "Go in!"
This hurdle was cleared.
He Pingsheng breathed a sigh of relief, politely bowed to the Old Grey-robed Man again, and then turned and walked into the main hall on the second floor.
The second floor was the same size as the first.
However, there was none of the bustling crowd found on the first floor.
Only a dozen or so Disciples moved back and forth among the various shelves.
"This Junior Brother..." A Qi Refining Stage Fifth Layer Disciple approached He Pingsheng, smiled slightly, and said, "Are you here to purchase items?"
"Please follow me!"
He Pingsheng said, "No... This is my first time up here, I'll just look around casually for now!"
"Alright!" The man said, "Then just look around. If there's anything you like, you can buy it. The price is marked below each item!"
He Pingsheng thanked him and then wandered around the vast second floor by himself.
There were other Cultivators on the second floor, but not many.
For He Pingsheng, it would be best if he could buy some 'waste pills' at an extremely low price, then use the gathering treasure basin to enhance their quality, and finally use them.
But he also knew this was a pipe dream.
Because Chang Yi Pavilion would never sell 'waste pills'.
Then, Low Grade Qi Gathering Pill!
Hopefully, the price isn't too outrageous!
He Pingsheng first searched along the counters and soon arrived at the 'Medicinal Pill Counter' area.
A huge counter was filled with various Medicinal Pills.
Gathering Qi Pill, Gold Bone Pill, Yuan Cultivating Pill, Marrow Cleansing Pill, Bigu Pill!
And so on...
The most abundant were Bigu Pills.
He Pingsheng checked, a batch of Bigu Pills cost 800 contribution points.
And one batch contained twelve pills.
Bigu Pills do not aid in cultivation.
But they have one advantage, which is to abstain from grain.
Qi Refining Stage Disciples still have to attend to chores like eating and drinking while cultivating, preventing them from focusing on cultivation. With Bigu Pills, these chores can be avoided.
Each Bigu Pill consumed allows a person to go without food or drink for a month.
A batch of Bigu Pills can sustain a Cultivator for a year.
However, looking at the price, He Pingsheng indicated he couldn't afford it.
Too expensive.
He only had a little over a thousand contribution points in total.
Then he looked at the rest.
Low Grade Gathering Qi Pill!
This stuff was much more expensive than Bigu Pills.
Because it is a Medicinal Pill used for cultivation, capable of increasing cultivation, it cannot be compared to crude things like Bigu Pills.
This item was not sold by the 'batch' but by the pill.
One Low Grade Gathering Qi Pill required two Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Therefore, they didn't want contribution points, only Spirit Stones.
This...
He Pingsheng wanted to buy some Gathering Qi Pills, but unfortunately, he had no Spirit Stones.
Of course, as a Disciple of a 'Cultivation Family', He Pingsheng couldn't possibly not know what Spirit Stones were.
Spirit Stones are a special kind of stone, each Low-Grade Spirit Stone is roughly the size of a jujube, divided into five different attributes: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. They contain different Five Elements Spiritual Qi.
This item can aid in cultivation and serve as an energy source for Formations.
Of course, they can also be used as a driving energy source for certain flying Treasure Artifacts.
Due to their widespread use, they have become the universal currency in the Cultivation World.
He Pingsheng had seen this item before. After his parents died, there were dozens of them at home, but they were later stolen by those unidentified individuals.
Not a single one remained.
"Senior Brother..." He Pingsheng saw the guiding Senior Brother, walked over, and asked, "How many contribution points can be exchanged for one Spirit Stone?"
"Hehe..." The Disciple in green robes smiled and said, "Junior Brother, you don't know, but contribution points and Spirit Stones cannot be freely exchanged!"
"Some items only require contribution points, but some valuable items must be purchased with Spirit Stones!"
"Do you understand?"
"I understand!" He Pingsheng wasn't stupid; he grasped it instantly.
He Pingsheng continued to look at the shelves.
Gathering Qi Pill, Low Grade, one pill can be purchased with two Spirit Stones.
Gold Bone Pill, Low Grade, one Spirit Stone per pill.
Marrow Cleansing Pill, Low Grade, five Spirit Stones per pill!
...
All these Medicinal Pills required Spirit Stones.
He Pingsheng's gaze shifted, and he saw some Spiritual Plants near the shelves.
seven-leaf spirit grass ten stalks: One Spirit Stone.
Spirit Apricot ten pieces, two Spirit Stones.
immortal bamboo shoot ten pieces, one Spirit Stone.
Vermillion Fruit ten pieces, three Spirit Stones.
He Pingsheng's eyes narrowed.
seven-leaf spirit grass, Vermillion Fruit, immortal bamboo shoot, and Spirit Apricot, these four types of Spiritual Plants are all First Grade Spiritual Plants. These four Spiritual Plants together form the Materials for refining the Gathering Qi Pill.
In other words, the above Spiritual Plants are the quantity of Materials for ten batches of Gathering Qi Pills.
Purchasing them would only require a total of seven Spirit Stones.
If all ten batches were successfully refined, even if they were all Low Grade, there would still be one hundred and twenty pills.
Each pill is worth two Spirit Stones, which would be two hundred and forty Spirit Stones.
Hiss hiss hiss...
Compared to the seven Spirit Stones for the Materials, a markup of over thirty times?
Of course!
The success rate of Alchemy is very low. For some Alchemists, often ten sets of Materials can only refine one batch of Medicinal Pills.
Then these twelve Medicinal Pills could still sell for twenty-four Spirit Stones.
Calculated this way, the markup is still more than three times.
However, Alchemy is not that simple.
In addition to purchasing Materials, one also needs a Pill Furnace, Pill Formula, and fire, etc.
Ordinary Outer Sect Disciples simply have no chance to enter the Pill Refining Room to perform Alchemy.
And if one were to perform Alchemy at home, the success rate would drop by more than tenfold.
Therefore, He Pingsheng instantly gave up the idea of selling Materials for Alchemy.
The key was, he also didn't have any Spirit Stones.
He Pingsheng shook his head and left the shelf selling Medicinal Pills.
He would go elsewhere to look around.
Elementary Flying Sword: First Grade Magical Artifact, priced at sixty Spirit Stones.
Green Wood Shield: First Grade Magical Artifact, once activated, it can defend against Spell attacks from Cultivators of the same level, priced at one hundred and thirty Spirit Stones.
Ice Needle Talisman: First Grade Talisman, after use, it can summon ice needles, equivalent to a full-strength attack from a Qi Refining Stage Seventh Layer, priced at sixty Spirit Stones.
What good items.
Unfortunately, he couldn't afford them!
He really couldn't afford them.