Ju walked across the streets of Ender Town; the pathways seemed to be clustered even more than usual as buyers and sellers discussed prices. The main things the young boy was looking for were pills and a new weapon, preferably a dagger. Ju decided to stop by one seller’s stall; he was tall and slim with an indifferent expression; the young boy noticed that anytime someone wanted to buy something from him, he would name a price, and the seller would be discouraged and leave.

Ju suddenly felt interested. According to Old Kai, when sellers did this, they had the utmost confidence in their wares to charge a much higher price without compromise.

“Do you have pills that could be used for healing?” Ju calmly asked.

Ju’s small stature and weird appearance caused the man's expression to show a hint of annoyance, but he still replied.

“White pills are available, and I also have some stardust pills that are useful for internal injuries, morning dew pills can quickly aid recovery of cuts and mild external injuries, and finally, pseudo-spiritual pills that can give instant essence supply, although fairly small, however in a dangerous battle it can be game-changing.”

Ju slowly pondered. He already had the tempering formula, although it didn’t completely clear his body of impurities; the white pill was no longer important to him. The stardust pills could be useful, together with Morning Drew pills, but what Ju wanted the most were the pseudo-spiritual pills; when alchemists try to produce spiritual pills, sometimes they fail, and the results become pseudo-spiritual pills.

Spiritual pills are vital medication for Essence artists. They provide instant access to essence, although this comes with many drawbacks. One is that the quality of one’s natural essence slowly drops with every use, and the chances of impurities piling up drastically increase.

Stolen novel; please report.

Despite that, spiritual pills were still highly sort after.

“How much are the Stardust and Morning drew pills?

“Both are 40 gold coins each.”

“Can the stardust pills work for a spiritual snake venom?” Ju calmly asked.

The shopkeeper hesitated a bit before replying.

“If it is the venom of a snake that has not formed a core, the pill should have some effect, although it might not be life-saving. However, a snake has formed a core; nothing much can be done.”

“How much is the pseudo-spiritual pill?”

“ 150 gold coins each.”

“Non-negotiable?” Ju frowned.

“Non-negotiable.” The shopkeeper said with a tone of finality.

“Let me have stardust and morning drew pills, three each, and four pseudo-spiritual pills.” Ju did a bit of calculation and said.

The shopkeeper briefly looked surprised, but he said nothing. Instead, he selected some multicoloured pills and wrapped them before placing them on the stand.

Ju then brought out 840 gold coins and gave them to the shopkeeper. His heart was almost on the verge of bleeding, and he was penniless once again.

“I have less than two hundred gold coins left. Hopefully, the issue with Master Pike will go over smoothly so I can hunt."

After this incident, Ju decided to go solo. He already knew the general outline of the forest and some of the vendors he could contact.

After the transaction, Ju did not want to waste any more time in the marketplace. Instead, he decided to go to a secluded forest area and practice the Hunter’s thorn.