After walking a few miles on the mountain path, Ji Die finally arrived at the town outside the village and made his way to the Seven Mysteries Pharmacy in town.
As far as he knew, the herb gatherers from several nearby villages brought all their herbs here.
A black banner hung on the building at the entrance, with the two large characters 'Seven Mysteries' fluttering in the wind.
The young man, wearing straw sandals, stood at the entrance, rubbed the mud off his shoes on the bluestone slab, and then walked in.
That wild ginseng was indeed valuable, selling for a full two taels of silver, almost two years of his expenses.
Carrying a 'large sum' of money, Ji Die bought several kinds of medicinal herbs at the pharmacy, and then went to buy some rice and flour.
Of course, he also bought Ping Ping a pair of cute embroidered shoes, which cost ten copper coins.
"Come out."
On the way back, Ji Die took out the copper furnace again.
He then took out the ginseng he had just bought at the pharmacy, placed it in the furnace, and stared at it expectantly.
Buzz! A green light flashed in the furnace again.
Just like before, the ginseng, which was originally only finger-thick, grew larger again, becoming as thick as a baby's arm.
"With this treasure, I'll never have to worry about starving to death again!" Ji Die was full of excitement, and couldn't help but kiss the copper furnace.
Just as he was about to take out the other two medicinal herbs to try, he suddenly saw a red streak of light flash across the sky, falling not far in front of him.
"What fell from the sky?"
Ji Die paused, vaguely feeling that the firelight seemed to contain a person.
But how could a person fall from the sky?
An Immortal Cultivator?
Ji Die's heart pounded incessantly, and driven by curiosity, he took steps to approach the spot.
Gradually, a large pit, over a zhang in diameter, appeared in his sight.
From a distance, a figure could be seen lying in the pit, proving that what he had seen earlier was indeed a person!
"Falling from such a high place, I wonder if he's still alive." Ji Die stopped a few zhang away from the large pit and looked forward.
From this position, he could already see the scene inside the pit.
The figure he had just seen was an old man, his robes tattered and stained with blood, with a large pool of blood beneath him, his eyes closed, unaware if he was still alive.
At this moment, he noticed a small flaxen pouch hanging from the old man's waist.
"Since this person is an Immortal Cultivator, could there be a Cultivation Technique for Immortal Cultivators inside?" Ji Die's heart pounded, and he bravely put the rice and flour aside.
Then he found a stick more than a zhang long and cautiously approached the Black-Clothed Old Man.
When he was only three steps away, the stick could reach the small pouch.
Ji Die curiously extended the stick, wanting to hook the pouch over to see what was inside.
Unexpectedly, the old man, who had been lying motionless on the ground, suddenly raised his palm, grabbed the stick, and pulled it forward with force, trying to drag him over.
"Feigning death?"
A chill ran down Ji Die's spine; he never expected someone so severely injured to have such great strength. He was almost pulled to the old man's side.
Fortunately, he reacted extremely quickly and had been on guard, so he quickly let go of the stick and retreated to a distance.
But he was still covered in a cold sweat, as if he had walked through the gates of hell.
"Young friend, this old man is Zhang Feng, a Disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect. Not long ago, I was brutally hunted down by a villain, suffered severe injuries, and do not have long to live."
"I have Immortal Cultivation methods on me; I can give you all of them, hoping only that you can help me rest in peace." The Black-Clothed Old Man, seeing that his sneak attack had failed, slowly spoke, his voice weak.
Seeing that the old man seemed unable to move, Ji Die slowly relaxed.
"Alright, I'll come help you rest in peace tomorrow morning."
After what had just happened, Ji Die was now full of caution towards this Black-Clothed Old Man, and of course, he was unwilling to fully believe his words.
After all, if the old man's request was only this, why would he pretend to be dead at first to trick him into going over?
"Young friend, the Immortal Cultivation method can only be passed down orally. If I die, you won't get anything." The Black-Clothed Old Man's voice clearly showed some urgency when he heard this.
"He just said the Immortal Cultivation method was on him, but now he says it can only be passed down orally." Ji Die sneered inwardly, guessing that the old man was so anxious because he probably wouldn't live through the night.
So he simply sat down at a distance, waiting for the old man to pass away before going over to check.
The sky was gradually darkening, and night fell, bringing cold air in the deep winter of November.
The Black-Clothed Old Man initially kept speaking, constantly coaxing him to come closer, but eventually, he either gave up or died, and his voice slowly faded.
Ji Die was very patient and dared not take risks, so he waited in the cold wind, almost without sleep.
The surroundings were quiet; this road was usually deserted, seeing no one for three to five days, let alone now.
When it was almost dawn, he put down the rice and flour he was carrying and cautiously approached the Black-Clothed Old Man.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the clear moonlight provided excellent visibility.
Every step Ji Die took, he would stop to observe if the Black-Clothed Old Man reacted.
There was a large pool of blood on and under the old man, which had already begun to frost, and his body was motionless, his eyes wide open, seemingly truly dead.
Ji Die was not careless; when he was two steps away, he found another stick and poked the old man's pouch over.
This time, the Black-Clothed Old Man did not react, not even blinking his eyes.
Ji Die finally breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that the old man was truly dead. He threw away the stick and sat down excitedly, examining the pouch in his hand.
But after some fiddling, he found that the pouch could not be opened no matter what, and even his teeth couldn't bite through it.
"Could it be like the copper furnace, requiring a drop of blood for recognition?" Ji Die furrowed his small brow, pondering. He bit his finger and dripped his blood onto the pouch.
Buzz! A faint light flashed across the surface of the pouch, and the blood dropped on it quickly disappeared.
"I guessed right!" Ji Die was secretly delighted, feeling his consciousness establish a connection with a space about half a person tall.
He could see several sets of clothes inside, a small blue booklet, a black token, a few seemingly herbal items, and a dozen white stones.
"So all the items were in this pouch. Could this be an Immortal's personal space?" Ji Die was overjoyed. He had heard before that Immortals possessed personal spaces, and this pouch was very likely such a Magic Treasure spatial item.
He wondered if there were any Immortal Cultivation methods inside!
Suppressing his excitement, Ji Die knew that now was not the time to check his gains.
Before dawn, he found a suitable wooden stick and began digging a pit nearby.
"No matter who you are, since I've taken your things, I won't let your corpse lie exposed in the wilderness."
"It's a good thing the soil here isn't too hard." Ji Die muttered, and soon he was covered in sweat. A cool breeze blew, and he couldn't help but shiver.
Fortunately, before dawn, he finally finished digging the pit.
He dragged the old man into the pit, covered him with soil, picked up the rice and flour, and hurried back to the village.
After a night of high tension and the physical exertion of digging the pit, Ji Die was mentally and physically exhausted. Upon arriving home, he didn't even bother with his hunger and collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep.
Ji Die didn't wake up until noon, feeling groggy.
Noticing his stomach continuously rumbling, Ji Die cooked some rice and ate it. Then he closed the door tightly, sat on the bed, and took out the pouch, his face full of excitement.
"I wonder if there are any Immortal Cultivation methods inside!" Ji Die's heart pounded as he figured out how to take things out of it.
He discovered that as long as he thought about wanting something from inside, it would automatically appear in his hand.
Having learned from the previous experience with the furnace, this didn't surprise him too much, but he was still very excited.
With a thought, he quickly took out the white stones, the herbs, and the remaining booklet from that space.
Ji Die didn't know what the herbs and stones were for. After studying them for a while without understanding, he put them away.
His attention was drawn to the last booklet.
The booklet was very thin, with only three pages.
Upon opening it, he could see three large characters written on the first page.
"Tai Xuan Scripture Qi Condensation Volume."