Nine Evolutions of the True Spirit
chapter-207

Alchemists were only concerned about three things: spirit herbs, pellet recipes, and alchemy instruments.

From the Blood Condensation Realm onwards, the number of medicinal pellets available to them would decrease sharply. Not only were higher-level pellets harder to concoct, the number of required spirit herbs were also difficult to gather.

Hence, alchemists would buy every available spirit herb in the stores and marketplace, even at exorbitant prices. To outsiders, this practice could seem like impulse spending, but in reality, the pellets concocted from these spirit herbs would be worth much more than the cost!

Yet even with sufficient spirit herbs, to repeatedly concoct the same kinds of pellets wouldn't bring significant breakthroughs. Hence, a good alchemist must be knowledgeable and possess the skills to concoct all kinds of pellets. In order to do that, they must acquire more pellet recipes to expand their horizons.

After possessing a sufficient amount of spirit herbs and becoming familiar with different kinds of pellets, an alchemist must then sharpen their instruments to increase their success rate. This includes the alchemy cauldron, alchemy fire, as well as alchemy techniques and methods.

Lu Ping was not afraid of exposing his identity as an alchemist. After all, not only were alchemists respected by cultivators, they were also known to be eccentric and quirky savants.

As a group, alchemists were internally divided and looked down on each other, always fighting for resources and berating others' pellets.

However, when dealing with outsiders, alchemists would always come together to protect one of their own, especially when it came to the alchemists' heritage and knowledge.

As a result, alchemists were always respected and treated well in any party.

Little Sima already viewed Lu Ping with admiration when he saw him spend tens of thousands of spirit stones without flinching.

Lu Ping noticed Little Sima walking dazedly behind him. He knocked on his head and said, "What's the matter? Bring me to the next store already."

Little Sima recollected his thoughts and quickly said, "Ah, that's all of them. We've been to every spirit herb store already."

"That's all?" Lu Ping calculated in his mind.

In addition to those he already owned, he had gathered about thirty cauldrons of spirit herbs, but most of them were only Early and Mid Blood Condensation Realm medicinal pellets which had little effect on his current cultivation.

Coupled with his remaining Late Blood Condensation Realm medicinal pellets, his supplies would only last him at most half a year.

Lu Ping sighed—medicinal pellets were always the most lacking resource in the cultivation world after all.

He then asked, "Is there any other place on the island that sells spirit herbs?"

Little Sima scratched his head and said, "Yes, the mortal marketplace. It’s jointly owned by rogue cultivators and mortals, but there are fewer spirit herbs and more time-consuming to find."

The mortal marketplace was located in the south side of the Three Clans City. Here, the rogue cultivators and mortals lived together.

Most rogue cultivators weren’t so adventurous and had no fixed income, so in order to save up some spirit stones, they would rather set up their own stalls and sell their items for a higher price.

Over time, the mortals also learned from the rogue cultivators' behavior and would also set up their stores in the marketplace.

But mortals couldn't distinguish ordinary herbs and ordinary materials from their spirit counterparts, so they were only in the marketplace hoping that one of their items would hit the jackpot and they could strike it rich.

Lu Ping spent most of his time cultivating, and he had been spending heavily for his alchemy by buying spirit herbs in bulk from the stores. So he rarely shopped in the marketplace anymore, especially after entering the Blood Condensation Realm.

The mortal marketplace had always been lively, and many cultivators would come to shop in their free time. Everyone knew the chances of finding anything good was slim—they were really just here to take advantage of great bargains. However, such opportunities rarely happened since the goods were often picked up before they could end up in the marketplace.

Furthermore, there were some rogue cultivators who would sell items that they couldn't identify. Whenever someone recognized the items and tried to buy, the sellers would immediately raise the price and make a profit.

Even so, there were still many cultivators who liked to come and test their luck.

While Lu Ping and Little Sima were shopping in the marketplace, some of the stall owners recognized the latter and quickly put up their items. It seemed like Little Sima often brought other cultivators here.

After receiving Master Alchemist Liao Ding's jade scroll, his knowledge in spirit herbs had increased tremendously. The jade scroll had recorded many different types of 500-year spirit herbs, 1000-year spirit herbs, and even 3000-year spirit herbs. Reading it had been greatly enlightening.

"Seven Twilight Flying Flower Grass. It's a supplementary spirit herb for Early Blood Condensation Realm medicinal pellets. I’ll take it for twenty spirit stones."

"Three Autumn Morning Dew Grass. Another supplementary spirit herb for Mid Blood Condensation Realm medicinal pellets. At most thirty spirit stones."

"Stalwart Gale Grass. Not bad. A main spirit herb for the wind-element Late Blood Condensation Realm pellets. I’ll take it for a hundred spirit stones. What? Two hundred? Best I can offer is a hundred twenty, nothing more than that."

Lu Ping bought every 500-year spirit herb he saw at suitable prices. There were of course some who tried to raise prices, but Lu Ping would always negotiate them back to a reasonable range. In some cases, he would leave directly if the sellers tried to deceive him.

At this point, the sellers in the marketplace now knew that Lu Ping was not an amateur but a real professional. No one tried to fool him anymore.

Lu Ping bought more than two hundred 500-year spirit herbs, some of which were main ingredients for the Blood Condensation Realm medicinal pellets. Lu Ping was naturally satisfied.

The sellers also saw that he was sincere when buying the spirit herbs and always offered a fair price. They happily took out all of their spirit herbs to let him have a look. Some even showed him ones they couldn't recognize, and Lu Ping would identify and explain the spirit herbs to them.

Just like that, Lu Ping bought another hundred pieces of 500-year spirit herbs. He had acquired enough to concoct a year's worth of medicinal pellets, so he didn't have to worry about pellet supplies anymore.

Suddenly, laughter could be heard from behind Lu Ping.

"Blockhead Er, you've come again with your precious herbs?"

"Blockhead Er, you should stop being so delusional all the time. Those herbs have already been identified as ordinary herbs by the three clans' alchemists. You should just spend your time cultivating instead of trying your luck everywhere."

"That's right. Blockhead Er, your brother might have died for those three herbs, but he only did it for your cultivation breakthrough to the Blood Condensation Realm. What would your brother think, seeing you hold onto those herbs all day and neglecting your cultivation? Don't let your brother's death be for nothing."

Lu Ping turned his head and saw a rather despondent man holding a jade box in his arms walking towards him. Apparently, he had heard about Lu Ping's arrival in the marketplace and had brought out his herbs.

Lu Ping looked at Little Sima beside him, who was obviously familiar with the matters in the city.

Little Sima explained, "That’s Uncle Er-Qiang, his name is Li Er-Qiang. His big brother is Li Da-Qiang, an Early Blood Condensation Realm rogue cultivator. In order to help Uncle Er-Qiang break through to the Blood Condensation Realm, Uncle Da-Qiang went to the Endless Sea to earn spirit stones to buy a Blood Condensing Pellet.

"But Uncle Da-Qiang came back severely injured and died not long after. Uncle Er-Qiang found three spirit herbs in a jade box belonging to Uncle Da-Qiang. So, he believes that since his brother died for these herbs, they must be precious.

"Uncle Er-Qiang wanted to sell the herbs and buy a Blood Condensing Pellet, but the alchemists from the three clans have all identified them as just ordinary herbs that only look strange. But Uncle Er-Qiang didn't believe them and scolded them for being unknowledgeable which naturally offended the alchemists."

Li Er-Qiang stopped in front of Lu Ping, carefully handing over the jade box with a hint of expectation and fear in his gaze. He said in a very apprehensive tone, "Senior, please take a look at these three spirit herbs."

The crowd in the market suddenly stilled when they saw Li Er-Qiang handing out the jade box to Lu Ping.

Lu Ping took the jade box and glanced around, the cultivators had all stopped to watch him.

Some of them had a hint of expectation, hoping that the herbs Li Da-Qiang had died for were really some kind of treasure.

Some were looking compassionately at Li Er-Qiang, but shook their heads as they clearly didn't hold much hope for it.

There were also some who were sarcastically waiting to see Li Er-Qiang's disappointed expression again.

Lu Ping opened the jade box and saw three black-colored spirit herbs. Other than the color, the herbs looked ordinary and they didn't have any trace of spiritual energy.

In other words, they were just ordinary black-colored herbs.

Lu Ping stared at the herbs for a long time, and the crowd started to sigh again. They naturally thought that Lu Ping couldn't identify the herbs as well, so they must really be just ordinary herbs.

Li Er-Qiang looked at Lu Ping's expression and the last trace of expectation in his eyes was extinguished. Little Sima looked at him sympathetically.

"Wait a second…" Lu Ping muttered, "So these are those spirit herbs!"

Lu Ping's face suddenly showed a look of wonder. "What a surprise!"