103: Elixir

Su Dingbei still had a strong impression of Lu Xuan.

"Fellow Daoist."

Lu Xuan glanced at Su Dingbei.

"Fellow Daoist left in such a hurry last time that I haven't had the chance to ask for your name. Might you be willing to tell me?"

"Please, sit, Fellow Daoist. It's inevitable to be a bit guarded when first arriving on the island. Please excuse me. I am Wang Teng."

Lu Xuan calmly fabricated a perfectly reasonable excuse.

"Fellow Daoist is truly straightforward. I admire that."

"I wonder where you are staying now? Perhaps we could get together sometime in the future?"

Su Dingbei then revealed his true purpose; after all, every Cultivator was a resource.

"You flatter me, Fellow Daoist Su. I am currently farming Spirit Fields for the Huang Family, living as a farmer. How have you been, Fellow Daoist Su?"

"You are too modest, Fellow Daoist. I was just lucky. The Zhao Family learned that I possessed the cultivation of a Martial Grandmaster and that my Immortal Dao cultivation had reached Qi Refining Level 3, so they recruited me into the Law Enforcement Hall to be responsible for the safety of the Cultivators and commoners in the Zhao Family's territory."

"The Law Enforcement Hall? You truly are a dragon among men, Fellow Daoist."

"The Law Enforcement Hall only pays fifteen Spirit Stones a month. Cultivation costs at least ten, and after deducting food and other expenses, there isn't much left."

"Fifteen..."

Lu Xuan thought about his own rented fields. Normally, after deducting the Spirit Rice that had to be handed over, the annual income from one mu of land was only about ten Spirit Stones. And that was only if the person renting it took meticulous care of it.

If he didn't have the Luck Space, harvesting once a year from nine mu of land would only yield ninety Spirit Stones a year.

Indeed, things without much technical requirement simply didn't make money, but it wasn't without its merits; at the very least, it was safe.

Although Su Dingbei had a high income, they had to face those Bandit Cultivators, who were no different from common bandits.

"By the way, would you like to join me? Most of the people gathering today were on the island on the same day as us."

Su Dingbei extended an invitation to Lu Xuan.

"No, thank you. Let's do it next time. I have things to attend to later, so I won't disturb everyone."

"This... very well. I will ask you out individually next time then."

"Mm."

"Brother Su, who was that person? You chatted with him for so long that all the dishes have been served."

A young Cultivator asked.

He was the youngest in the group. At only eighteen years old, he had already reached Qi Refining Level 2. He also possessed Four Spiritual Roots and had come from elsewhere, only being at Qi Refining Level 1 when he first arrived on the island.

Now, he had been taken under the Zhao Family's wing and was serving in the Law Enforcement Team.

"Someone who arrived on the island with us. It's normal that you don't recognize him; he parted ways with us quite early on."

"Oh, I wonder what he is doing now?"

"He is currently farming Spirit Fields for the Huang Family. I intended to invite him to join us, but he declined."

"What? He actually went to do that? What is there to gain from befriending such a person?"

Liu Hong's eyes showed disdain; clearly, he looked down on Lu Xuan for being a farmer. He had been interested at first, but lost interest upon hearing this.

He had no respect for people who willingly degenerated like that.

"Exactly, Fellow Daoist Liu is right. He is not one of us."

Another burly man drank a cup of wine, expressing agreement with Liu Hong's words.

"It's a good thing he still had the self-awareness not to come over."

Liu Hong's voice was not loud, but it was clear enough for Lu Xuan, who was sitting in the corner, to hear every word.

Lu Xuan heard these words but remained noncommittal. After finishing his last cup of wine, he paid the bill and left.

"What kind of nonsense is this? I get mocked just for eating a meal!"

Lu Xuan could not understand the thought process of these people.

Fortunately, this was one of his strengths: not to argue with fools.

Flowing water does not compete for the lead; it competes for endlessness. Besides, in his view, the potential of this Spirit Farmer was immense.

... Duobao Street.

The busiest street in the market. The stalls here contained items from all over the world. You could even hear people selling the Legacy of a Nascent Soul Cultivator here, though, of course, you had to judge the authenticity of the items yourself.

"Take a look, Fellow Daoist. This is the cultivation experience of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, only two hundred Spirit Stones."

The stall owner was enthusiastically promoting his wares. Their main targets were Cultivators like Lu Xuan who had low cultivation levels and were a bit older; after all, these people were willing to spend money to achieve a Breakthrough.

Although Lu Xuan was currently at Qi Refining Level 2, he still presented himself as being at Qi Refining Level 1.

"Medicinal Pills from the Immortal Cave of a Purple Mansion Cultivator, unknown effects, fifty Spirit Stones a bottle."

In front of one stall owner were many porcelain bottles that carried the scent of soil. The bottle mouths were sealed, and they looked like they had been around for a long time.

"Would you like to take a look, Fellow Daoist? This is 'pill gambling.' If a graded Medicinal Pill comes out of it, you'll have made a huge profit."

Medicinal Pills in this world were divided into graded and non-graded.

Medicinal Pills useful to Qi Refining Cultivators were mostly non-graded, such as the qi gathering pill Lu Xuan had obtained previously.

Graded Medicinal Pills were for Foundation Establishment Cultivators and above. The most famous First Grade Medicinal Pill was the foundation establishment pill, which could increase the probability of a Peak Qi Refining Cultivator breaking through to Foundation Establishment by thirty percent. It could also protect the Cultivator's heart meridians so that even if the Breakthrough failed, they would not suffer too much damage.

Soon, Lu Xuan arrived at his destination: Duobao Pavilion on Duobao Street.

"Greetings, Immortal. How may I help you?"

A shop assistant greeted him very enthusiastically and did not show any expression of disgust because of Lu Xuan's low cultivation level.

"I came here to buy a bottle of qi gathering pill. I heard that your qi gathering pill is of the best quality."

"You have a good eye, Fellow Daoist. That goes without saying. At Duobao Pavilion, if nothing else, our Medicinal Pills are definitely second to none on Lake Heart Island."

As he spoke, he had someone bring out a bottle of Qi Refining pills from the back.

Then, in front of Lu Xuan, he unscrewed the cap and poured all ten qi gathering pills onto a tray.

"Please look, sir. These Medicinal Pills are plump and smooth, with a rich medicinal fragrance. They are High Grade."

Although Lu Xuan had never refined Medicinal Pills himself, he had read Pill Formulas and some alchemy books, so he knew how to evaluate them.

He knew the man was not lying to him.

"Not bad. How many Spirit Stones?"

"Our Duobao Pavilion's Medicinal Pills are of high quality and have less pill toxin. A normal bottle of pills outside sells for three Spirit Stones, but at Duobao Pavilion, we charge four."

"Four?"

"Sir, please don't think it's expensive. Just the fact that it has less pill toxin than outside pills makes it worth the price."

"Take this qi gathering pill for example. You can take at most one pill a day from outside; otherwise, the pill toxin will accumulate and affect your Dao path. But with our Duobao Pavilion's pills, you can take two a day."

"It can greatly shorten the interval between doses for a Cultivator and increase cultivation speed."

"Furthermore, the medicinal properties of our pills are better, and the effect of one pill is ten percent higher."

Lu Xuan nodded slightly, indicating his approval of the man's words.

He was not a novice who knew nothing; naturally, he knew about things like pill toxin.

The more skilled the Alchemist, the less pill toxin their Medicinal Pills would have, and the better the effects.

Even the same type of Medicinal Pill was divided into High, Medium, and Low Grade, as well as the flawless grade with no pill toxin at all.

"It is worth this price."

Good things are always good things. Being expensive was its only flaw, but that was your flaw, not the item's.

"Give me one bottle."

As he spoke, he took out four Spirit Stones, his heart aching.