Chapter 266 - 196: The Ten-Year Secret Realm, The Main Ingredient at Hand
Chapter 266: Chapter 196: The Ten-Year Secret Realm, The Main Ingredient at Hand
Otherwise, the Purple Extreme Sect would directly intervene and annihilate the families involved.
Wiped out, root and stem!
It was precisely because of this rule that the Xu Family was worried their current nemesis, the Qiu Family Ancestor, might enter the Secret Realm to take a gamble.
If he managed to find some treasures and exchange them for the resources needed to break through to the Middle Stage Foundation Establishment, it would pose a significant threat to the Xu Family.
Lin Changheng, however, smiled and offered some comfort, "Perhaps if the Qiu Family Ancestor dies in the Secret Realm, wouldn’t that save you a great deal of trouble?"
As an outsider to the situation, Lin Changheng’s mindset was quite optimistic.
"Let’s hope so..." Xu Xujun’s sigh still echoed clearly in his memory.
...
The second thing Xu Xujun had revealed was that he had seen one of the medicinal materials Lin Changheng was looking for in the Ruins District.
This medicinal material was one Lin Changheng had picked out from the Youthful Appearance Pill’s Pill Formula.
He had attached an image and given it to the Xu Family, asking them to keep an eye out for it.
If the situation was urgent, they could even buy it directly, and Lin Changheng would pay them back the full amount in Spirit Stones.
He wouldn’t let them suffer a loss.
He even specified that just the roots would be acceptable!
As it turned out, the moment Xu Xujun glanced at the Jade Scroll, he immediately offered up information.
Back when he was searching for Treasure Medicine for Xu Hanji, he had seen it in a shop in the Ruins District.
It was said to be a rare medicine, but it wasn’t related to the Foundation Establishment Pill.
When someone asked, the owner said it was the main ingredient for the Youthful Appearance Pill.
The atmosphere had immediately become much more cheerful.
You have to understand, here on the Wilderness Border, everyone was a cultivator who lived on the edge, pursuing strength and Cultivation!
So for someone to bring up "youthful appearance" naturally drew a wave of ridicule from the crowd.
"I don’t know if it’s been bought by someone yet."
That was Xu Xujun’s last comment on the matter.
Therefore, Lin Changheng had to make a trip to the Ruins District.
It was something of a return to an old haunt.
This was where he had sold his pills back in the day.
It was how he had accumulated his first pot of gold.
...
SWOOSH! A Dharma Ship whistled past.
This was a place he once only dared to approach by hiding in a caravan of packhorse carriages, a journey that would take a sluggish six or seven days on the road.
Now, in just half a day, he flew over the mountain ranges, and the large, dusty Marketplace from his memory appeared before his eyes.
Previously, when viewed from the ground, it had seemed like a giant beast crouching between the vast heaven and earth.
Now, looking down from high in the sky, it just seemed small and crude.
It couldn’t compare to the Floating Immortal City he had grown accustomed to.
As the Dharma Ship drew near, he felt a downward pressure assail him. Lin Changheng knew this was the No-Fly Array, so he immediately lowered the Dharma Ship and strode forward.
At the entrance, he still had to pay one Spirit Stone in exchange for a token to enter the Marketplace.
Forty-odd years had passed, but the appearance of the shops lining the bluestone slab roads had barely changed.
The flow of people on the streets, however, had dwindled somewhat, no longer matching the former spectacle of shoulders rubbing against shoulders.
Lin Changheng knew some of the reasons for this. The existence and rise of the deeper Cyan Spirit District had siphoned away the Ruins District’s foot traffic and customer base.
The two Marketplaces were now in a state of both balance and competition.
Only when a major Auction was held would the crowds surge back for a time.
Following the location Xu Xujun had given him, Lin Changheng, with a clear purpose, soon arrived in front of a shop called Yang Family Pharmacy.
But as Lin Changheng stood still at the entrance, he found it somewhat familiar.
This location should have been a shop called "Alchemy Pavilion" before.
There had been a middle-aged Shopkeeper inside. Lin Changheng had sold his first Masterpiece Elixir here, and the man had even pointed him toward a clear path for obtaining Pill Formulas...
His impression of the man was quite good.
But his Divine Sense had already swept inside, and the figure of that middle-aged Shopkeeper was nowhere to be found. Evidently, the staff had changed, or the shop had changed hands.
This was incredibly common in the Cultivation Realm. Especially for cultivators with long lifespans, once the time scale was stretched out, they would discover the truth that while things may remain, people do not.
...
Lin Changheng slightly concealed his Cultivation and entered directly.
Inside, a young, beautiful woman was busy working. Seeing a customer, she immediately greeted him with a smiling face.
Lin Changheng gave a light chuckle and got straight to the point, explaining his reason for coming.
"Fellow Daoist, are you saying you need that Tier Two main ingredient for the Youthful Appearance Pill, the Purple Jujube Grass?"
The woman was taken aback.
"That’s right. I heard that your esteemed shop might have it, so I rushed here from my clan to purchase it."
Lin Changheng confirmed with a slight smile.
"But, that medicinal material was already..." the young, beautiful woman began immediately.
Her words were cut short by a voice that suddenly came from the doorway. "My apologies, customer. My wife remembered incorrectly. The Purple Jujube Grass has not been sold."
"I distinctly remember you putting it in the lower counter, but your memory is poor, and you can never find it."
Then, a Male Cultivator strode in from the doorway. He shot an imperceptible glare at the young, beautiful woman who had been about to speak again, causing her to deflate instantly. He then walked briskly behind the counter and began rummaging through a pile of medicinal materials.
"See? I told you it was here!"
He then took out a rather exquisite Moyu Long Box and pushed it onto the counter with a cheerful expression.
Lin Changheng watched this scene with a smile.
This Male Cultivator seemed to be the master of the shop, carrying himself with the air of someone in charge.
And everything that had just happened was under the scrutiny of Lin Changheng’s Divine Sense.
Including the man’s subtle action of glaring at the young, beautiful woman.
And also including how the man, while appearing to be rummaging behind the counter, was actually just feigning the motion as he took the Moyu Box out of his Storage Bag.
At the same time, Lin Changheng, who was extremely sensitive to Essence Blood, also smelled the faint, bloody scent clinging to the Moyu Box.
Yet, the shop master himself was completely scentless, spotless, and clean as if freshly washed, having clearly just cast several Cleaning Skills on himself.
More critically, although his face showed the marks of time, Lin Changheng still had an impression of him.
They had met a few times before!