Although the profession of alchemist was rare and scarce, the world was vast. Looking across the entire cultivation realm, their numbers were countless. It was completely normal for a pill or two to share the same name.
Shi Yu did not jump to conclusions or assume that the alchemist holding the “Lesser Longevity Pill” was a fraud. After all, who was to say someone else couldn't name a pill they refined a Lesser Longevity Pill as well?
In any case, it was best to go over and see what was actually going on first.
Along the way, the woman introduced herself as Zeng Rong. Her desire to obtain a longevity-extending item was to seek an immortal opportunity for her husband.
“My husband and I are merely ordinary rogue cultivators who fled here from another prefecture, so we have no foundation in this city. Currently, the two of us do odd jobs around town to earn a meager pittance of spirit stones for our cultivation. We thought living this way wasn't too bad.”
“It's just that...” A faint, tired smile touched Zeng Rong's face. “A few days ago, my husband went out and happened to meet a Foundation Establishment Realm Master, who said he could take him on as a disciple and grant him his heritage, but...”
Shi Yu chimed in, “But he requires a longevity-extending item?”
Zeng Rong nodded. “Yes. When a Master takes a disciple, he must always test their sincerity. The two of us searched far and wide, but items that extend longevity have always been rare and exorbitantly expensive—hardly something rogue cultivators like us could ever secure.”
She sighed and added, “That treasure passed down from my ancestors... was originally a very precious Tier-7 pill recipe. Unfortunately, through the passage of time, its spiritual charm faded, rendering it a fragment. It can't fetch much of a price anymore.”
A Tier-7 pill recipe?
Shi Yu was somewhat surprised.
The creation of a pill recipe was just like that of a technique jade slip, requiring the consumption of divine soul power to engrave and write. It was not like martial arts secret manuals in the Mortal Realm that could simply be transcribed onto paper.
What paper could record was, at best, the proportions of spirit plants. The most crucial aspects—fire control, smelting, spiritual infusion, and the like—were all profoundly subtle matters that could not possibly be conveyed through written words on paper.
If Zeng Rong's Tier-7 pill recipe had been preserved intact, its value would be immeasurable. But if it was a fragment... few people would be willing to take it.
For high-tier pill recipes like this, restoring a fragment was virtually impossible.
Even stepping back to assume it could be restored, the resources required would be unimaginable.
Zeng Rong understood this as well. After her expression dimmed for a moment, she smiled again. “Fortunately, the master alchemist in the trading area still has a Lesser Longevity Pill in hand. Since it's a barter trade, I wanted to give it a try.”
“I see,” Shi Yu nodded gently.
As they spoke, they rounded a wide alley and arrived at the trading area specifically set up for alchemists from all over.
Seeing people coming and going all dressed in the standard Taoist robes of their respective associations, Shi Yu retrieved the uniform Taoist robe of the Lingtai Prefecture Alchemist Association from the Fate-Tapping Bell and slipped it over her dress.
Turning her head to look at Zeng Rong, who nervously moved to pull out the pill recipe fragment from her storage bag, Shi Yu raised a hand to stop her and smiled. “Sister, aren't you afraid I'll just take your item and walk away?”
Zeng Rong froze for a moment, then said timidly, “Miss... you don't look like that kind of person.”
Shi Yu smiled softly. “Let me head inside and take a look first.”
Asking Zeng Rong to wait here, Shi Yu strolled into the trading area. The guards at the entrance glanced at her Taoist robe, their eyes sweeping over the emblem pinned to the front before silently looking away.
Stepping inside smoothly, Shi Yu looked around with a touch of curiosity.
Most alchemists held themselves in high esteem as noble figures and did not hawk their wares loudly like ordinary vendors. Instead, each occupied a spot and laid out the items they wished to trade. Guards with considerable cultivation patrolled back and forth, so there was no need to worry about robbery or theft, making the environment fairly quiet.
As Shi Yu walked further inside, this trading area gathered entirely by alchemists indeed offered plenty of fine goods. All kinds of exotic spirit plants and rare items were displayed, many of which even she had never seen before.
Walking a bit further, she saw a few local alchemists laying out local specialties like Azure Lotus Jade Dew and Xuanpin Pearls. Their quality was exceptional—much better than what she had seen in that shop earlier—and they were present in good quantities.
She stepped up to ask the stall owner what he wanted in exchange. The vendor glanced at her, casually listed a few spirit talismans, and emphasized, “The spirit talismans I need must all be of superior quality and glowing with vibrant spiritual light.” Clearly, he didn't expect the young girl before him to have them.
Shi Yu smiled subtly, taking out a stack of spirit talismans according to the quantity he specified.
The stall owner's eyes widened. Seeing that every single one of these spirit talismans was a top-grade piece, his attitude instantly turned friendly. He helped pack up the local specialties Shi Yu requested and even threw in a generous amount extra.
The stall owners at the surrounding stalls were somewhat surprised upon seeing this, repeatedly eyeing Shi Yu and glancing at the emblem on her chest.
“To think someone from a small place like Lingtai Prefecture could possess such good items.”
“That person up ahead selling some Lesser Longevity Pill, didn't they seem to be an alchemist from Lingtai Prefecture as well?”
“That really is quite surprising.”
Silently listening to these faint murmurs, Shi Yu purchased what she needed and continued forward.
Up ahead, a stall appeared unusually lively, with a good number of people gathered around it.
Approaching the spot, Shi Yu heard a slightly aged voice saying, “As you all know, Blood Cloud Ginseng grows in places soaked in blood. Although consuming it directly can extend one's life by three to five years, it simultaneously fouls one's spiritual energy with filth and blood reek, thickening the bottleneck for breakthroughs. It truly is the worst possible choice.”
“Although my Lesser Longevity Pill uses Blood Cloud Ginseng as its main ingredient, it purges that foul, murky aura while amplifying the longevity effect. A single pill can extend life by ten years!”
Shi Yu raised an eyebrow. This description was practically identical to the Lesser Longevity Pill she refined.
Looking through the crowd of onlookers, she saw that the stall owner was an ordinary-looking elderly man lounging lazily on the ground. He also wore the Taoist robe of the Lingtai Prefecture Alchemist Association, yet Shi Yu had never seen him in the association.
In his hand, he held a transparent jade box containing a round, crimson pill.
Shi Yu swept her eyes over the pill and was slightly surprised. The pill was round and translucent red, and both its appearance and aura were eighty to ninety percent identical to the Lesser Longevity Pill she had refined.
Could someone have replicated the Lesser Longevity Pill? Shi Yu thought, frowning. Otherwise, how could the aura be so similar?
Looking at the other pills on his stall, they were all rare and uncommon items. A few of them even emitted an aura Shi Yu found somewhat familiar—they looked like... pills refined by President Song, Master Ji, and others.
Shi Yu's expression grew increasingly odd as she kept sizing up the elderly man.
Just then, the elderly man's gaze swept over and landed on her. Twitching his mustache, he waved his hand. “Closing up! Closing up!”
The crowd froze, growing anxious. “Why are you closing up so suddenly?!”
“None of you have what I want, and even if you do, you dawdle and hesitate to bring it out. Why should an old man like me waste time hanging around here with you?” Rolling his eyes, the old man waved his hand, sweeping all his goods away, and then gestured toward Shi Yu with a finger. “Little girl, come over here?”
The surrounding crowd turned to look at Shi Yu in unison.
Shi Yu blinked, pondered for a moment, and followed him.
This old man harbored no malice toward her.
Reaching a spot with fewer people, the old man stopped and looked at Shi Yu with a smile. “Little girl, thank you for taking care of my useless apprentice.”
Shi Yu was stunned. Thoughts turned in her mind as a realization slowly dawned on her. “Are you... Ji Yu's master?”
After Ji Yu fled to the main city when Changxu Village was engulfed by the Nightmare, Shi Yu had heard him mention meeting an old beggar on the road who taught him thieving techniques. Could it be this elderly man standing before her?
Although the old man looked completely unremarkable and had an understated aura, Shi Yu faintly sensed a deep and dangerous presence from him. His cultivation was likely fathomlessly high.
The old man chuckled. “Indeed, indeed! You can just call me Old Mo, same as that rascal Ji Yu.”
“I wouldn't dare. Greetings, Uncle Mo,” Shi Yu chuckled softly. “Ji Yu is currently working in my shop, so it's hardly much care on my part.”
After exchanging pleasantries, Shi Yu couldn't help asking, “How did you... come to Hengze Prefecture? And what about this Alchemist Association Taoist robe and these pills...?”
“An old man like me makes the world his home, drifting wherever the wind blows. If I feel like going somewhere today, I go; if I feel like going somewhere else tomorrow, I go there.” Uncle Mo paused and casually said, “The Taoist robe was stolen from some unlucky fellow. As for these pills...”
He chuckled and produced the “Lesser Longevity Pill” again right in front of Shi Yu. Waving his hand over it, the appearance and aura completely transformed upon second glance into nothing more than an ordinary Vitality-Restoring Pill.
Shi Yu stared in amazement. Though she didn't know what method he used to accomplish this, still...
She couldn't help saying, “Aren't you... deceiving people?”
Uncle Mo burst out laughing, carrying a rogue-like recklessness. “Walking the world is all a game! What does it matter if I deceive or steal?”
Before Shi Yu could react, he added, “I wander the four seas. A few days ago, I returned to Lingtai Prefecture to look up my apprentice, heard him talk about you, and decided to stroll over to Hengze Prefecture as well.”
Such a vast distance between Lingtai Prefecture and Hengze Prefecture was reduced to a casual “stroll” in Uncle Mo's mouth.
“Here, for you.” Uncle Mo casually retrieved a jade slip from his storage ring and tossed it into Shi Yu's arms. “Take good care of my apprentice in the future.”
With that, before Shi Yu could respond, his figure flickered, appearing several feet away, and with another flicker, he vanished completely from her sight.
“He really does whatever he pleases.” Watching Uncle Mo disappear, Shi Yu let out a soft laugh and shook her head.
Clearly, Uncle Mo had deliberately disguised those pills into familiar ones and spread word to draw her over.
She probed her divine sense into the jade slip gifted by Uncle Mo. It turned out to be a jade slip engraved with a cultivation technique and divine ability, named 《Illusory Resemblance Art》—the very trick Uncle Mo had just displayed to alter a pill's aura.
Anything one had seen or come into contact with could have its aura and divine charm simulated to a degree. Upon reaching perfection, it could simulate not only aura and appearance, but even a portion of its true efficacy. Having just read through the technique's introduction, Shi Yu showed surprise in her eyes.
If this technique was truly as described, it was downright defiance of the natural order. Furthermore, she couldn't even discern its rank, which proved its extraordinary nature.
Her care for Ji Yu hardly seemed worthy of such a grand gift. Uncle Mo was truly someone who acted entirely on a whim and followed his own heart.
Still, for now, having cleared up what was going on with the “Lesser Longevity Pill,” she had to go back out and give Zeng Rong an explanation.
Rate on N.U.
