But Ruanjian knew Lin Mu was both a Qi cultivator as well as a body cultivator. Not to mention he also had an aura of superiority and cleverness that was not normal.

All this combined made Ruoxian know he would not be his match at all.

Even if this was the Grand Sky Pavilion and he was safe here, he couldn't stay here all the time, could he?

He would have to leave it at some point, and at that time he would be a free target. Having lived a few thousand years, Ruoxian knew better than to make random enemies. This was also why he had taken the path of an alchemist, as it allowed him to forge more alliances than enemies.

~huu~

Taking a deep breath, Ruoxian resolved his heart.

"Daoist Mu Lin certainly drives a hard bargain." He spoke keeping his tone calm. "Alas, I've failed in my attempt to bargain so I can only yield to you." He stated.

Lin Mu who heard this couldn't help but feel amazed.

'He's a lot better than others I've met…' Lin Mu thought.

Having met a reasonable person that was also manageable, Lin Mu was a bit surprised but thanked his luck. What he had done was also a gamble, but he reckoned it was worth it. And now that he had succeeded in it, he was going to reap the benefits.

"So to conclude, you will be making the Tri-essence Immortal pills for me and also hire me to find the Hundred year old Essence Spring Stalactite?" Lin Mu replied.

"Yes. That shall be our deal." Alchemist Ruoxian accepted.

'I was going to buy it myself before, but seems like I'll just have to do it this way.' Alchemist Ruoxian thought to himself.

In fact, Ruoxian had been stuck at the cusp of becoming a high rank Immortal Alchemist for nearly three hundred years now. Since he couldn't progress he had tried to cultivate and see if that would help him. But even that was of no use.

He focused on refining pills again, but he was experiencing no improvement in his skills at all. Eventually he understood that he would have to refine a pill that could naturally help him reach the next level.

And he decided that pill would be the Hundred Vicissitudes Immortal Pill. But to make it, he still needed the ingredients most of which he could get from the Grand Sky Pavilion itself. But the main ingredient was something that was very difficult to find and would only be auctioned.

The Hundred year old Essence Spring Stalactite that was auctioned in the Grand Sky Pavilion was actually something that was found several hundred years ago. Its owner had actually been auctioning it bit by bit over the years so as to keep the price high.

He had obtained a large chunk of it and was cutting it to sell mere fragments.

And since there had been no other supplier over the years, one could understand just how rare it was.

"Very well. I shall be in charge of finding the Hundred year old Essence Spring Stalactite then." Lin Mu finalized the deal. "Though… do you have any clues as to where I might be able to find it?"Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

"Essence Spring Stalactites themselves aren't actually that rare. They are found in the mines where Immortal Essence crystals are formed. But it's the hundred year old variants of them that are the hardest to find." Alchemist Ruoxian replied.

"Why's that so?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Because its not often that they exist that long. Either some cultivator or beast might take it before that, or they just end up collapsing automatically." Alchemist Ruoxian answered.

"And all the known Immortal Essence Crystal are already monopolized by the existing powers…" Lin Mu added.

"Exactly." Alchemist Ruoxian nodded his head. "Even the current supplier of the Hundred year old Essence Spring Stalactite is a high ranked aristocrat of the empire that owns two such mines."

"I see… So where am I supposed to get it? I don't think you had the mines of the aristocrats in your mind." Lin Mu inquired.

"Of course not." Ruoxian shook his head. "There is actually another place you can find unexplored Immortal Essence mines." He said before taking out a folded piece of beast skin from his spatial storage treasure.

He opened it up and spread it wide on the table.

"What's this?" Lin Mu could see several markings and diagrams that had been drawn on the beast skin.

Several of them had faded away, evidently due to the age of the beast skin though he could still make out some parts of it.

"A map?" Lin Mu guessed.

"Yes… well, partly." Alchemist Ruoxian replied. "This is an old document I obtained from a cultivator who had been to the Desolate Blood Battlefield. There are many relics and items left over from the past and they are discovered from time to time."

"So what does this say?" Lin Mu couldn't read the information on the map as it was written in a script he didn't know. 'Might be a local dialect. It's not in the Dao Script.'

"This document speaks of an old cache of Immortal Essence Crystals that had been hidden away by one of the powers that were involved in the legendary battle. They were meant to be used as supplies, but that time never came. The power that owned it was wiped out and only a few documents were left behind." Alchemist Ruoxian explained.

Hearing this Lin Mu grew quite curious.

"Oh? So you're saying, if these Immortal Essence Crystals have been untouched all this time, they might have condensed into a vein?" Lin Mu questioned.

"You certainly catch on quick, Daoist Mu Lin." Alchemist Ruoxian nodded. "While this doesn't happen normally, the cache was kept in a special preserving array. And after the battle and many deaths that happened on the battlefield, the remnant vitality should have permeated into them." He explained.