Chapter 269 - 198: Inventory of Gains, Miraculous Effect of the Red Crystal
Chapter 269: Chapter 198: Inventory of Gains, Miraculous Effect of the Red Crystal
Lin Changheng calmly returned to his seat.
It was only natural for the old Steward to feel the sting.
Of the six medicinal materials Lin Changheng had requested, four were the result of normal deductions, while the other two he had just added himself.
Both were rare, Tier Two supplementary ingredients for the Youthful Appearance Pill.
However, the medicinal properties of these two ingredients were not entirely unrelated to the lost ancient medicine used for the Spirit Communication Pill.
A connection could be drawn, giving his request a basis of legitimacy.
Even if they were examined out in the open, no one could definitively refute his reasoning.
Lin Changheng was confident he would get the support he needed.
As for why he didn’t just buy them with Spirit Stones...
It wasn’t that he was unwilling, but that the other party wouldn’t sell.
He had come several times, and every time he asked, the answer was always that they were out of stock.
Resources like these spiritual materials and spirit medicines were sold by the Immortal City on a planned basis, or they were saved for auctions to bolster the offerings.
They weren’t sold indiscriminately.
But now, things were different—
Lin Changheng was requisitioning medicinal materials for an official Immortal City task, personally approved by a True Inheritance disciple and tied to the interests of the city’s core leadership. His authority was astonishingly high, so of course, he would use the opportunity to his advantage.
When the old Steward mentioned that two other Pill Masters had also visited several times, Lin Changheng guessed they hadn’t truly been there to collect ingredients either.
They were most likely thinking the same thing: to fleece the Immortal City for all it was worth.
It was this reminder that prompted Lin Changheng to put his own plan into practice.
The old Steward’s reluctance indicated he was aware of this, but there was little he could do. After all, Lin Changheng was in the right, and the items belonged to the Immortal City.
His behavior was merely a way of creating "evidence" to absolve himself of responsibility in case of a future audit or investigation into the medicinal materials!
Once Lin Changheng realized this, he simply played along.
Both parties got what they wanted, a happy outcome for everyone involved.
Before long, the old Steward emerged, holding a tray.
"These medicinal materials are quite rare, Alchemist Lin. You must use them well. The storeroom doesn’t have any more to spare."
"I naturally won’t be wasteful. I’ll do my best, but one can never rule out unforeseen circumstances, can we?"
Lin Changheng naturally nodded in agreement but left his words open-ended.
Hearing this, the old Steward’s mouth twitched slightly. This Alchemist Lin might look young, but he was incredibly shrewd and left no openings whatsoever.
He could only force a smile as he saw Lin Changheng out, even having to say, "Take care, Alchemist Lin! Please, come again..."
"I will trouble you again if the need arises."
Pleased, Lin Changheng gave a faint smile and a wave, then steered his Dharma Ship and vanished into the sky.
...
「Outer Lake.」
Upon returning to Cave Mansion No. 98, Lin Changheng saw that Yan Mingyi had already dug a ten-foot-square pool in the front left of the courtyard.
It was filled with water, and a giant, bluish-black clam rested at the bottom.
It was situated on the opposite side of a path from the Black Armored Earth Turtle’s mud pit.
"Brother Lin, you’re back."
Yan Mingyi immediately came to greet him.
"Thank you for your hard work," Lin Changheng replied with a smile, patting the female cultivator’s head. He then told her he was about to enter seclusion and that she would have to manage everything for the time being. He was only to be disturbed for extremely important matters.
"I understand," Yan Mingyi replied, nodding obediently.
After exchanging a few more words, Lin Changheng went straight into the Secluded Meditation Chamber. With a continuous RUMBLE, the Dragon-Breaking Stone descended, sealing the entrance.
He had gained a great deal from this trip, most of which he hadn’t examined closely. Now, he needed to carefully sort through it all.
He was preparing for a long period of seclusion.
First was the Storage Bag he had obtained from killing that shop clerk in the Ruins District.
The man had only recently broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm, so his Storage Bag likely didn’t contain many resources. Lin Changheng only intended to give it a cursory look.
He found that aside from half a bottle of elixirs for advancing one’s cultivation, there wasn’t much else of value. There were only four Upper Grade Spiritual Artifacts, all clearly worn, which together might be worth fourteen or fifteen hundred Spirit Stones.
However, the number of Spirit Stones in the Storage Bag was surprisingly high, approaching nearly five thousand.
With just a bit more, he could afford a Low Grade Spiritual Artifact.
However, this included the two thousand Lower Grade Spirit Stones that Lin Changheng himself had given him.
Moreover, the man was a smooth talker who tailored his quotes to the customer, with his prices fluctuating flexibly.
If Lin Changheng had pressed him a little more, he probably could have bought the main ingredient for just one thousand Spirit Stones—though he would have paid for it later with interest when the man tried to take it all back.
Lin Changheng also knew that after robbing and killing someone, this man would usually fence the goods immediately. These extra Upper Grade Spiritual Artifacts must have been loot from his most recent victim, which he hadn’t yet had time to dispose of.
Of course, for a newly advanced Foundation Establishment Cultivator, this was a decent fortune, but in Lin Changheng’s eyes, it was nothing special.
As for the other medicinal materials, none were of any use to Lin Changheng. It had been quite a stroke of luck for the man to have obtained even one Treasure Medicine.
He took out the Purple Jujube Grass.
Lin Changheng carefully cut off the usable medicinal portion and stored it away, setting the roots aside to be planted later.
...
Next, Lin Changheng took out the medicinal materials he had gathered from various places over this period. Comparing them to the Pill Formula for the Youthful Appearance Pill, he was surprised to find he had already collected most of them.
He was only missing one main ingredient, one supplementary material, and a catalytic ingredient that wasn’t hard to find on the market. With those, he would have a complete set of medicinal materials for refining a full batch.
This pill, like the Foundation Establishment Pill, required the Pill Separation Technique. A single set of medicinal materials could be refined into three pills, each possessing the desired youth-preserving effect.
Lin Changheng was instantly energized, a flicker of hope igniting within him.
He carefully put the materials away, then took out the Red Transparent Crystal Stone that Huang Jiuyuan, the Huang Family Grand Elder and branch patriarch, had given him and began to examine it.
This was the same Crystal Stone that Huang Jiuyuan had discovered long ago, alongside the Jade Void Brilliance Scripture cultivation technique.