"The secret shop has a fair number of Spiritual Medicines; what exactly do you need, Fellow Daoist? Come with me."

The female cultivator led Jia Ren to a stone house filled with Spiritual Medicines, where a large quantity of them was haphazardly piled together.

The ages of the Spiritual Medicines varied, and immature sprouts were carelessly uprooted and thrown aside.

Spiritual Medicines are delicate; how can they be treated like weeds? How can one harvest immature Spiritual Medicines prematurely without realizing the potency is insufficient? Any Alchemist would be incensed to see such precious Spiritual Medicines treated this way.

This batch of Spiritual Medicines probably came from dubious sources... The origins of the herbs didn't matter; the secret shop's sources were of no concern to him.

Jia Ren needed to refine a variety of elixirs, including the Profound Water Pill, Spirit Enhancement Pill, Spirit Attracting Bait, and two types of Spirit Nourishing Pills, as well as the untried Profound Yin Pill, Resurrection Pill, and Fasting Pill, alongside the Spiritual Medicines required for the Hundred Poisons Scripture.

Since Spiritual Medicines are hard to come by, he didn't mind taking the opportunity to buy more.

"Do you have a list of the medicinal ingredients?" He, as the buyer, couldn't possibly be expected to sift through the selection himself.

"Please wait a moment!"

The female cultivator swayed her hips as she left, and shortly after, she handed a list of herbs to Jia Ren.

"Golden Spirit Flower, Hundred Vein Grass..."

Jia Ren reeled off a long list of various kinds of Spiritual Medicines.

The secret shop boasted a considerable variety and quantity of Spiritual Medicines, with over ninety percent of the materials available for purchase. Due to their uncertain provenance, the medicines were not priced highly.

He truly wanted to buy up all the medicinal materials and take them with him... If he missed this opportunity, it wouldn't be easy to buy a large quantity of Spiritual Medicines in the future.

Purchasing over fifty portions of each type of Spiritual Medicine cost a significant sum of Spirit Stones.

A big customer!

"Please wait, I will prepare everything for you immediately."

Soon after, a Ten Directions Storage Bag filled with Spiritual Medicines was handed over, containing a large quantity of them.

Jia Ren checked the Spiritual Medicines and showed a satisfied look on his face.

As he was about to pay with Spirit Stones, he had a second thought and asked, "Can I use elixirs to pay?"

He still had quite a few elixirs of slightly inferior quality, which he would not consume himself and did not wish to sell in the market. Why not use them to settle the bill? It was better than keeping them on hand, taking up space in his storage bag.

"The secret shop will invite an Alchemist to appraise the elixirs, with prices slightly below market value."

"That's acceptable."

Jia Ren took out the Minor Yuan Elixirs, Spirit Bud Elixirs, and Spirit Enhancement Pills he had initially practiced making. All were produced by alchemists below Master Level proficiency.

The quality varied greatly, with some being substandard and others fine.

The Appraiser wore a mask and first picked up a bottle of Minor Yuan Elixirs for examination, frowning.

"If they're all of this quality, the secret shop is not interested in purchasing."

The one he picked up happened to be the very first batch of Minor Yuan Elixirs that Jia Ren had refined. With many mistakes made during his initial refinement, the elixirs were of extremely poor quality despite forming successfully.

"Please look at these as well."

The Appraiser, clearly impatient, picked up a bottle of Spirit Enhancement Pills and his eyes lit up. He examined several more bottles, his brows alternatively knitting and relaxing.

"How can Fine Elixirs be stored together with substandard ones?"

"We can accept the elixirs, with prices fluctuating based on quality."

"Substandard elixirs can be valued at one-third of a normal elixir. Fine Elixirs can be sold at the normal price."

"Let's settle it at this price."

Why not trade the elixirs he couldn't use for a bunch of Spiritual Medicines?

After all the elixirs were accounted for and there was a surplus, Jia Ren exchanged it for a large quantity of Spiritual Medicines.

"Fellow Daoist, are you an Alchemist? Would you be interested in collaborating with the secret shop?"

"The secret shop has special channels and many more Spiritual Medicines."

"We also have Spiritual Medicines for Refining Foundation Pills. Would you be interested? You might even get a chance to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill."

Spiritual Medicines and the Alchemy Recipe for Foundation Establishment Pills? Jia Ren's heart skipped a beat, wondering if what the person said was true or false. If this were true, the power behind the secret shop was not simple. Ordinary families, not to mention lacking the Foundation Establishment Pill Recipe, would also find it hard to gather all the necessary Spiritual Medicines.

Could the secret shop be linked to... the Black Soul Sect? The Black Soul Sect had attacked the Great Wilderness Market, killing numerous Loose Cultivators and decimating countless families. They surely acquired a vast array of Spiritual Medicines.

Unlike Sects like the Five Elements Sect and the Yuding Sect, why would Demon Cultivators bother cultivating Alchemists? If there were indeed talented alchemists, their numbers would be scarce. Most likely, it was all stolen...

"I am merely helping others purchase Spiritual Medicines; I am not an Alchemist myself. I will have to consult them on this matter."

Jia Ren took the Storage Bag and left the secret shop.

Someone silently followed behind him.

Ah, why must you force my hand? I wanted to use the secret shop as a regular source for purchasing Spiritual Medicines... If you are unkind, don't blame me for being unrighteous.

Jia Ren used his Wind Control Skill to easily shake off his pursuer, and a Sound Transmitting Talisman with a flash of fire flew towards the Law Enforcement Office where the Cultivators of the Heavenly Sword Sect were stationed.

The Sound Transmitting Talisman was intercepted by a Sword Cultivator among the Guards, and a voice came from it.

"Found remnants of the Black Soul Sect, location Smoky Willow Lane..."

Having done a good deed, Jia Ren made a swift exit. The rest was for the Heavenly Sword Sect to handle; he chose not to get involved.

"You've gone too far."

In the Smoky Willow Lane secret shop, the owner of the shop asked the man wearing a hooded cloak in anger.

The secret shop had been operating smoothly in the Great Wilderness Market up till now, largely because of its good reputation. If the secret shop was hit, the Black Soul Sect would lose a channel for fencing goods.

As a Demon Path Sect skilled in murder and plunder, any items the Black Soul Sect couldn't digest themselves would be sold through secret shops in various markets.

"Rules are dead! People are alive."

"The Sect is lacking high-quality Alchemists. Our only Alchemy Master went mad from backlash during his practice and died a month and a half ago. We no longer have an Alchemist capable of Refining Foundation Pills."

"We managed to obtain a batch of Spiritual Medicines necessary for Refining Foundation Pills, but we are suffering from not being able to turn them into actual Foundation Establishment Pills."

"The Yuding Sect and Five Elements Sect protect their Alchemists too well, leaving us with no opportunity to abduct an Alchemy Master. It's rare to find a decent Alchemist, and we can't let this one slip by."

The words "Foundation Establishment Pill" seemed to carry a special magic, silencing the secret store owner.

The Black Soul Sect annihilated a family that cultivated Spiritual Medicines and, during their siege on the Five Elements Sect, seized a large quantity of Spiritual Medicine from their Spirit Medicine Garden, sufficient to refine more than a dozen batches of Foundation Establishment Pills.

Without an Alchemy Master, the success rate of Ordinary Alchemists Refining Foundation Pills is far too low. After failing five batches in a row, the Sect Master was so infuriated that he executed five Alchemists. This also led to the further decline of Alchemy talents within the Sect.

"I hope we can capture this person."

What's done is done, and fretting is of no use. Snatching an Alchemist of nearly Alchemy Master standard wouldn't be too bad a deal…

"Not good, the Heavenly Sword Sect is coming!"

The worst had happened…

A hundred Sword Cultivators arrived above the secret store. In just a few dozen breaths, the store was leveled.

Wang Fugui stood there, stunned, as he watched the spectacle of thousands of swords flying in the sky, motionless. There goes his livelihood… It couldn't have been the person I brought that destroyed the secret store, could it…

"Demon Cultivators must be executed by everyone!"

This has been handled!

Jia Ren returned to his dwelling, took out the full load of Spiritual Medicines from his Ten Directions Storage Bag, nearly brimming with happiness.

For the following period, he could focus on Alchemy.

Refining Spirit Nourishing Pills wasn't difficult. Sunfire Wood could easily do the job.

He had been disturbed by people coming to him several times during his Alchemy and didn't want to head to his Cave, which would only attract unnecessary trouble.

Jia Ren set up the Alchemy Furnace, used Sunfire Wood to heat the Pill Furnace, and kept feeding in the ingredients to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills.

With the experience of a Grandmaster-level Xuan Shui Pill under his belt, refining Spirit Nourishing Pills was simple and easy. He controlled the temperature of the fire with Pill Spells, and soon, the fragrance of the medicine filled the air.

The quality of the Elixirs was good, each shiny and plump, no worse than the Spirit Nourishing Pills he had unexpectedly acquired.

He fed the Spirit Nourishing Pills to the Spirit Insects, helping them grow rapidly.

As the Proficiency Level of the Spirit Nourishing Pills increased, new insights emerged in his mind.

Jia Ren took out the Spirit Attracting Bait recipe, comparing and improving it. He matched the properties and pharmacology of the medicines, discarded the useless, and formulated a new Alchemy Recipe with the Spiritual Medicines he had.

Let's see if it works.

Following the improved recipes of the Spirit Nourishing Pills and Spirit Attracting Bait, he intermittently added medicinal ingredients.

He activated the Spirit Eye Technique, closely observing the integration of the medicinal properties. Soon, a strange smell emerged, and the Elixir was refined.

Jia Ren looked at the black pills with a peculiar expression on his face. No new skills appeared on the Proficiency Panel.

A failure?

Jia Ren called over an Earth Corner Worm King and fed it the newly-refined black pill.

After eating the pill, the Earth Corner Worm King became excited and couldn't stop hopping around. Moments later, it lay on the ground, stretched its six jointed legs, and then remained motionless.

Did it die of pleasure?

Jia Ren dissected the Bug Corpse, carefully studying it to confirm there was no toxicity. Its death was quite peculiar.

Jia Ren then dissolved another black pill in water and ordered the Exotic Black Mosquito to suck it up.

The Exotic Black Mosquito buzzed excitedly, flying faster and faster, ending up with the same result as the Earth Corner Worm King.

First Alchemy attempt failed.

Jia Ren quickly formulated a second Alchemy Recipe, carefully considering every detail, and took out a small portion of ingredients to refine again.

Time slipped by without a trace, and five consecutive Alchemy Recipes all ended in failure.

The second Elixir directly caused the bugs to explode on the spot. The third to fifth Elixirs were relatively normal, with the Spirit Insects used for the experiment showing a slight increase in Spiritual Power and nothing else out of the ordinary.

As Jia Ren pondered over the sixth Alchemy Recipe, a distant booming noise reverberated, accompanied by wails and howls.

The Alchemy Room was set up with soundproofing restrictions, but the Spirit Insects he controlled with the Parasitic Spirit Mark sent out warnings.

What had happened?

Jia Ren sent an Exotic Black Mosquito to fly high, directing it with the Parasitic Spirit Mark, using its eyes to view the distance.

War had broken out again. The Black Soul Sect was attacking. Numerous dark clouds gathered, assaulting the newly established base of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

The Sect's Protective Great Formation was not a Sect Protection Array. A high-grade Sect Protection Array was not something that could be completed swiftly. The Formation at the Sect base wasn't weak; a Second Order Formation was enough to keep Foundation Establishment Cultivators out.

This place was not far from the Great Wilderness Market and had the assistance of the Yuding Sect on standby, so safety was not a concern. Who would have thought the Black Soul Sect would be so bold as to make a fierce attack on the Heavenly Sword Sect's base?

Hundreds of Loose Cultivators and disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect were enveloped in the black fog. When the mist cleared, there were nothing but shattered flesh and bones, with the souls long gone.

"Do you really think the Black Soul Sect is easy to bully?"

"First, let's collect some interest."

The Heavenly Sword Sect's Foundation Establishment Cultivators arrived a step too late. Seeing this, they were so enraged they nearly spat blood.

"The Heavenly Sword Sect swears to never coexist with the Black Soul Sect!"

"Kill!"

Deep in the Great Wilderness, a figure wielding a purple sword light rushed over. The Heavenly Sword Sect's Golden Core Ancestor was filled with murderous intent, determined to make the Black Soul Sect pay the price.

How dare a Black Soul Sect's Golden Core Cultivator with a damaged body be so presumptuous in front of the Heavenly Sword Sect? Today, I will wipe out the Black Soul Sect!

The purple sword light slashed towards the fleeing black fog, aiming to obliterate the Flying Boat and the hundreds of Demon Cultivators within.

"Return!"

A five-colored light shone from the horizon, and a five-colored barrier intercepted the purple sword light unleashed by the Heavenly Sword Sect's Golden Core Ancestor.

The Five Elements Sect and Black Soul Sect had joined hands?!

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