A Low-Grade Fasting Pill was priced at 90 gold coins, while a Mid-Grade one soared to 240 gold coins. As for the Qi Replenishing Pill, a Low-Grade version was 150 gold coins, and a Mid-Grade cost was a staggering 400 gold coins.
Taking this opportunity, Xue San compared the Fasting Pills on display with those he had. After some time he concluded that those in his possession were Low-Grade. The ones displayed were a tad bigger and their color was also a little washed, compared to his—a discovery that pleased him greatly.
After browsing through everything, Xue San decided to go to the second floor. He was about to go up when the girl from before came and stopped him.
"I'm sorry, sir, but the second floor is only for VIP customers who had spent at least 100,000 gold coins."
Hearing her words, Xue San thought his jaw was going to hit the floor. That was an unimaginable amount for someone like him. People had to spend this absurd amount of money so they could go and spend even more?
At that moment, Xue San heard some laughter coming from the stairs. A group of youths between 14 and 18 years old was coming down, all surrounding a beautiful girl.
The young woman exuded an ethereal beauty that seemed almost otherworldly. Her long, flowing hair was a vivid shade of green, cascading down her back like a river of emerald silk. It framed a face of delicate features: high cheekbones, a slender nose, and lips that curved into a smile.
Her deep jade eyes held a chilling aloofness that unsettled anyone who met her gaze. She carried herself with an innate sense of superiority, an air of detachment woven into her very being since birth.
She wore robes that flowed gracefully around her slender form. The garments were a soft blend of silvers and greens, embroidered with intricate patterns of vines and leaves that seemed to shimmer subtly as she moved. The sleeves were long and billowy, and a delicate silver sash cinched at her waist, accentuating her poise.
"Young Miss Dan Qing sure is a genius—only fifteen years old and already able to concoct pills. It is an honor for the Azure Cloud Alchemy House to have you visit them instead of the other shops," said one of the boys.
"If you see anything you like, just tell me; I'll buy it for you, miss Dan Qing" said another.
The young woman named Dan Qing didn't seem to care, but Xue San noticed that she enjoyed all the attention.
Xue San chuckled lightly to himself, but Dan Qing seemed to notice, and her gaze turned to him.
Seeing her suddenly stop and stare in his direction, Xue San was a bit startled but with a slight smile on his face he nodded at her in greeting.
Seeing this, something flickered in Dan Qing eyes, and then she smiled at Xue San.
Noticing this, the group of young men flocking around her turned and stared at Xue San as if he had just stolen something from them. It didn't help at all that Xue San was good-looking.
"Hmph, brat, who are you?" asked one of the boys out of nowhere.
"He seems to be just some outer sect nobody from the Soaring Sword Sect." remarked another
"Yes, haha, just look at his size. He must be over 18 and still an outer sect member; what trash," another chimed in.
Hearing them talk about him like that, Xue San's face fell. Were these people dropped when they were little? What the hell were they saying with me right here in front of them? he thought to himself.
"Hey, brat, what's your name?" Suddenly, one of them moved in Xue San's direction and asked in a commanding tone.
Seeing this many of the costumers expected to see a good show today.
Seeing his expression, Xue San didn't even know what to say, so he just blurted out what was on his mind: "Were you dropped on your head when you were a baby?" he blurted out
"Hahaha!"
The sound of beautiful laughter, like the singing of a bird, was heard throughout the entire first floor—it was Dan Qing.
Hearing her laughter, the boy who was in front of Xue San was so embarrassed that his face was redder than a tomato. Seeing this unknown youth make the beauty he liked laugh at his expense, he lost all rationality.
"You damn swine, let me teach you manners instead of your parents" He clenched his hand into a fist and was prepared to attack.
Suddenly, a pressure descended on the entire first floor. "Fights are prohibited in the Azure Cloud Alchemy Pavilion, Young Master Lai Han," a cold female voice was heard, and the young man named Lai Han stopped in his tracks as if frozen in place.
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"We are sorry, Senior. I hope you show lenience to Young Master Lai Han," said Dan Qing, her voice pleasant as a melody.
"Hmph," there was a cold harrumph, and the pressure disappeared.
Lai Han was stunned for a moment, then in an attempt to save face he turned to Xue San again and said "Consider yourself lucky brat." Although he wanted to sound threatening, his face had a grin because Dan Qing had stood up for him.
Xue San watched as the group left the Azure Cloud Alchemy Pavilion. He decided to use that strange power he got after fighting Bear-Axe to see if they had really left or if they were waiting for him outside.
Xue San last week of the journey wasn't totally useless, even if he couldn't cultivate he still could train this strange power, he now had a better control over this power.
Concentrating a bit, everything that was happening in the streets became known to him.
What he discovered next put a wide grin on his face.
"Young Miss Dan Qing, of course, we will all help you collect all the Spirit Ginseng you need."
"Yes, just tell us when you intend to depart, and we will make sure to help you," said another.
Dan Qing smiled, "Thank you all so much for your help. I intend to go four days from now, you all can meet me at the east gate in the morning. For now, I have some other matters to attend."
"Yes, of course, Miss Dan Qing."
So she is also after the Spirit Ginseng, hehehe, Xue San had a grin on his face. That spark that he had in Blueberry Village seemed to have reappeared again.
Now he just needed to formulate a plan to steal the Spirit Ginseng and also not get caught.
Why should he face the danger if he could make this group of morons do it? The only one who made him slightly uneasy was that beautiful young woman named Dan Qing.
"Although I can use up to four Phantom Hands at the same time now, my current Qi reserves aren't even close enough to sustain them for more than a few breaths of time. If they all attack me together, I will be done for."
With that in mind, Xue San decided to spend the next few days cultivating. It was dangerous in the long run, but now that Long Huo wanted to kill him for some reason, he needed to grow stronger.
"Damned if I do, damned if I don't," he said to himself as he stepped outside the shop.
Outside the Azure Cloud Alchemy Pavilion, the little boy was still waiting for Xue San." Did you find what you wanted, sir?"
"No, I want to see a few more shops."
Xue San visited a few more stores, but none of them were as good and had as many Pills to chose from as the Azure Cloud Alchemy Pavilion.
He asked the little boy if there might be some obscure shop known only to locals that sold quality products. But to his disappointment, the boy informed him that there was no such place; the Azure Cloud Alchemy Pavilion was indeed the best destination if one wanted pills or pill ingredients.
There were some other shops only sold Qi Replenishing Pills.
On the third floor of the Azure Cloud Alchemy Pavilion, there was a middle-aged woman and a young man drinking tea.
"Aunt, why did you stop Lai Han? Even if that boy is a member of the Soaring Sword Sect, he was still only an outer sect member, and didn't you say he's only at the second stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. You also know that, that Dan Qing did it on purpose, she is known for being like that, but she is still a direct descendant of the Dan clan of the Spirit Cauldron Sect, and even Lai Han's clan is not a small one," said the young man.
"Hmph, Ling Shaoqing, you brat, do you really think I did that in order to save some outer sect disciple?"
"What do you mean?" asked the young man named Ling Shaoqing.
"That brat—I don't know why he's going around with an outer sect disciple uniform, but the moment that Lai clan brat attacked, I felt bloodlust coming from that young man. And that strange technique that he used—if I'm not mistaken, it's the Hundred Phantom Hands. If that Lai brat continued with his attack, he would have died without even knowing how."
Ling Shaoqing was surprised at his aunt's words, he knew about the Hundred Phantom Hands technique and how difficult it was to cultivate it, so he pressed on, "But he is still only a second stage of the Qi Condensation Realm cultivator. There was no way he could have dealt with Lai Han."
Instead of answering, his aunt asked, "Do you know many second-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivators who have a spiritual sense comparable to a first-stage Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator?"
Hearing his aunt's words, Ling spat the tea that he was drinking.
"But he is definitely in the Qi Condensation Stage," his aunt continued. "Ling Shaoqing, try to find out more about that outer sect disciple of the Soaring Sword Sect. Since you are going there anyway"
"Yes, Aunt."
Xue San was unaware that his actions in the Azure Cloud Alchemy Pavilion had brought him unwanted attention.
Returning to the inn, Xue San paid to stay in the room for three more nights and told the manager not to disturb him.
Inside his room, Xue San sat in a meditation position. He was getting ready to cultivate using the Mid-Grade pills he had. After seeing how common it was to use the Poor-Grade ones for transactions, he decided not to use them.
Taking the round blue pill, Xue San popped it into his mouth and swallowed. Then, as if a dam broke loose, a great amount of energy started to flow through his qi paths. But unlike the last time he consumed a Mid-Grade Qi Replenishing Pill, his body could easily handle this amount of energy.
After cultivating for half an hour, Xue San opened his eyes. "How can this be? One Mid-Grade Pill and it only raised the Qi in my dantian by this amount. Even if it is easy to cultivate, the costs are just too high. I will need to take another one just to break through to the third stage, and God knows how many I will need to be able to move on from there."
If anyone heard that Xue San's only complaint was the amount of resources needed to cultivate, they would have probably beaten him half to death. Many people born in good clans had all the advantages needed to cultivate yet couldn't, and here he was complaining that it was too expensive to cultivate.
Four days later, Xue San exited his room, a dark look on his face. After this session of cultivation, he was left with a single poor-grade Qi Replenishing Pill.
He used two mid-grade pills to break through to the third stage, but to break through to the fourth stage, he had to use five mid-grade pills. When he tried to go from the fourth to the fifth stage, he used all the remaining mid-grade pills (four), the five low-grade pills, and even with the ten poor-grade pills, it wasn't enough. He felt like he needed at least two or three more mid-grade pills to be able to take that last step.
"Cultivation is so expensive," he sighed to himself.