By tier, the Foundation Establishment Pill was a Tier-2 pill, but in terms of rarity, it could easily rival pills of Tier 4 or 5. Even among personal disciples or direct lineage disciples of grand sects and prominent families, only a fortunate few could ever obtain one.
The root cause of such scarcity lay in the extreme rarity of its main ingredient, the Heavenly Tone Lotus.
Heavenly Tone Lotuses were notoriously difficult to cultivate. Even when grown in spiritual fields, one might only harvest a few stalks every few years, and expecting high age was out of the question.
As for those growing naturally in places teeming with spiritual Qi, they were even harder to come by, almost always guarded by formidable spirit beasts.
—Yet what truly occupied Jiang Qihe's mind was not any of this. It was... if Miss Yu was searching for the Heavenly Tone Lotus to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, it meant she might well be a Tier-2 alchemist.
This was simply too unbelievable.
Jiang Qihe forced himself not to overthink it, quelling the surging waves in his heart. He called the shop attendant over to prepare the spiritual plants she needed for refining Dew-Condensing Pills and Rejuvenation Pills.
Once the attendant hurried off to carry out the order, Jiang Qihe pondered for a moment before speaking. “As an alchemist, Miss Yu, you naturally understand how rare the Heavenly Tone Lotus is far better than I do.”
“However, as luck would have it, I actually happen to have news regarding a Heavenly Tone Lotus.”
Hearing this, a subtle glimmer of delight washed over Shi Yu's eyes. “I am all ears.”
Jiang Qihe did not keep her in suspense. Pacing slowly, he explained, “There is an auction house in the main city, operated by the Xie Clan, a prominent cultivation family.”
The main city...
Shi Yu was aware that East Continent comprised thirty-two prefectures, and Changyuan Prefecture was one of them.
Each prefecture was further divided into several sub-prefectures. Besides its central sub-prefecture of Hengze Prefecture, Changyuan Prefecture contained seventy-eight other sub-prefectures.
The sub-prefecture where the Yuxu Sect resided was called Lingtai Prefecture. The “main city” Jiang Qihe just mentioned referred to the provincial capital of Lingtai Prefecture.
Within such cities, the dominant forces were cultivation families.
Sects mostly established themselves upon grand spiritual mountains and rivers, whereas cultivation families established their strongholds inside cities.
Under normal circumstances, the two sides minded their own business, yet transactions and trade between them were common. Among the families, sending descendants to sects for cultivation was a frequent practice. For instance... for instance, Eldest Senior Sister Yan Xiao—the very person who had caused her spiritual meridian to be extracted and who had placed the Bound to Silence restriction upon her, leaving her unable to clarify or defend herself.
She hailed from the Yan Clan, a noble cultivation family, possessing an exalted status.
Recalling the past, Shi Yu's eyes turned chillingly cold, her fingernails digging deep into her palms.
Quickly reining in her turbulent thoughts, Shi Yu raised her eyes to look at Jiang Qihe, who had paused mid-sentence upon seeing her dazed state. She offered an apologetic smile. “My apologies, Manager Jiang. My mind drifted for a moment.”
“It's no trouble.” Jiang Qihe had not missed the sudden dark intensity in her eyes just now, but suppressing his curiosity, he continued, “Aside from ordinary buying and selling, this auction house run by the Xie family holds a small auction every month to bid off rare and exotic items.”
“Every six months, they hold a grand auction, where the items up for bid are even rarer and more extraordinary than those at the monthly auctions.”
Shi Yu lightly tapped her fingers on the table absentmindedly, picking up on his words. “Will the Heavenly Tone Lotus appear at this grand auction?”
Jiang Qihe nodded. “Indeed. I received word earlier that the upcoming grand auction happens to feature a Heavenly Tone Lotus.”
“However, this particular Heavenly Tone Lotus isn't very old—it is mediocre at best.”
Heavenly Tone Lotuses withered and died far too easily; how could one with high age ever easily find its way into the open market?
Shi Yu, however, did not care about its age. Once she planted it inside the Fate-Tapping Bell, nurtured and imbued with the rich spiritual Qi and vitality of the Life Spring water, its medicinal potency would hardly be lacking.
In any case, she was still far from Foundation Establishment, so she could afford to wait. What mattered most was how to secure this Heavenly Tone Lotus.
If she missed this opportunity, who knew how many years or months it would take before she heard news of another Heavenly Tone Lotus?
Shi Yu asked, “When will this next grand auction take place?”
“Four months from now.” Seeing that she was tempted, Jiang Qihe reminded her, “The spirit beast riot isn't over yet, so traveling to the sub-prefectural city might prove difficult.”
Shi Yu knit her brows slightly.
Indeed. No one knew what had triggered the spirit beast riot, and having lasted this long, it was hard to say when it would finally come to an end.
Fortunately, there were still four months left. She could assess the situation later.
At that moment, the attendant returned carrying a medicine basket filled with spiritual plants, and the two ceased their conversation.
Inside the basket were all the spiritual plants Shi Yu required for refining both Dew-Condensing Pills and Rejuvenation Pills.
Jiang Qihe counted the items, calculated the total price, and took the initiative to offer a discount, rounding off the remainder.
Seeing this, Shi Yu chuckled. “It seems I'm taking advantage of Manager Jiang's generosity.”
“Not at all,” Jiang Qihe replied politely. “The pills Miss Yu brought today were a feast for my eyes. Consider this a gesture of reciprocity.”
Shi Yu smiled and shook her head, her veil fluttering gently with the motion.
After paying, she stowed the spiritual plants away. “Thank you for telling me all this today, Manager Jiang.”
Jiang Qihe cupped his hands. “A minor matter. I am glad if it proves useful to you, Miss.”
Shi Yu bade him farewell and turned to walk out.
Jiang Qihe watched her departing back, gazing for a long moment as a strange feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
Why does Miss Yu's back look so strikingly familiar, no matter how I look at it?
Yet in his memory, he had certainly never met her before.
Somewhat puzzled, Jiang Qihe brushed the baseless feeling off as a trick of his imagination. Setting it aside, he picked up the small jade bottle containing the Dew-Condensing Pills again and put it away with utmost care and reverence.
...
Upon returning to her courtyard, Shi Yu did not rest. After tidying up briefly, she took out the spiritual materials refined by the Life Spring water, including the Golden-Winged Bird Feathers and Soul Frost Jade.
She intended to make a fine brocade robe out of the Reverse-Backed Bear-Rhino hide she had obtained earlier, embellishing it with the Golden-Winged Bird Feathers. She would then use Soul Frost Jade powder to carve a restriction array that circulated in harmony with the heavens. Using the fire-element elemental Qi within the Golden-Winged Bird Feathers as a catalyst to circulate throughout her body, it would offer defensive protection while nourishing her constitution.
The Reverse-Backed Bear-Rhino hide had been tempered by the Life Spring water and soaked in custom medicinal solutions using a special medicinal tanning method. Stretched out, it had become thin and soft, almost like cloth.
Shi Yu lit the Gansong Charcoal and calcined the Golden-Winged Bird Feathers one by one. She then arranged them in a precise pattern, weaving them onto the Reverse-Backed Bear-Rhino hide before refining it once more. Next, she used the Soul Frost Jade powder to engrave interlocking restrictions onto the garment...
Ten days passed in this manner before the spirit robe was finally completed.
As Shi Yu completed the final step, a brilliant radiance flashed across the spirit robe before fading away. The golden feathers spread a gentle, warm fire aura that swiftly circulated into every corner of the garment.
The restrictions lit up one after another like ancient totems—mysterious, beautiful, and emanating a unique charm that gave the entire robe a magnificent appearance.
At the same time, a wisp of treasure Qi surged into her dantian.
She had never slacked in her daily cultivation, and recently she had switched to High-Grade Dew-Condensing Pills, which possessed remarkable efficacy. With these factors combined, Shi Yu had already reached the threshold of the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm, just a single step away.
With the entry of this wisp of treasure Qi, she smoothly broke through into the third layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
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