According to the annotations on the map, among the shops in Little Lake City that sell elixirs, there are not many that have elixirs for the Foundation Establishment stage; there are only two with the highest reputation.

One is the Longevity Immortal Tower, a familiar place run by the Chang Chun Temple of an acquaintance of Yuan Ming.

Not only elixirs, but Longevity Immortal Tower also deals with talismans and spiritual materials; Yuan Ming just happens to have some spiritual materials to sell, and with a Longevity Token in hand to enjoy better services, going there was most suitable.

However, Yuan Ming's gaze was drawn to another shop.

Before long, Yuan Ming arrived at a shop named "Qingmu Building".

Before he even entered, he noticed on either side of the shop's entrance neat rows of jade potted plants; among them grew a Calming Flower, a Spirit Grass whose fragrance was faint but soothing and focused the mind, thereby also serving as one of the auxiliary ingredients for Nourishing Origin Pills for Qi Refining disciples.

Despite the Calming Flower not being a particularly rare Spirit Grass, placing it so prominently at the doorstep still highlighted a certain boldness.

Yuan Ming passed by the Calming Flower potted plants and walked into the shop, immediately enveloped by a wave of unique and captivating fragrance as he glanced at the variety of Spirit Grass on display on the shelves.

These Spirit Grasses seemed to have undergone special selection and cultivation, their intertwining aromas not at all cluttered or unpleasant; rather, they formed an especially rich and unforgettable scent.

Between the shelves, shop assistants dressed in light green robes either greeted customers or arranged Spirit Grasses, and even those who did menial tasks and moved things around showed a hint of cultivation.

Suddenly, Yuan Ming noticed that Xu Tian and Luo Xing'er were also in the shop, speaking with a shop assistant behind the counter about something.

Yuan Ming, standing at the entrance, surveyed the interior when a shop assistant noticed him and immediately came over, smiling, "Senior, the items on the first floor are all Low Grade Spirit Grasses, which may not catch your esteemed eye. Please follow me upstairs to discuss further."

Yuan Ming, who came to buy Foundation Establishment stage elixirs, hadn't concealed his cultivation and followed the assistant upstairs. The green-robed assistant escorted Yuan Ming into a private room, served him a cup of fragrant tea, asked him to wait for a moment, and then left.

Yuan Ming deliberately held the Longevity Token in his hand.

The private room was decorated mainly in green, with carvings of plants on the screens and furniture, and the medicinal fragrance in the room was particularly refreshing.

Yuan Ming felt that compared to the Southern Border, the service by the shop owners in the Central Plains Market really made one feel right at home.

Before long, an old man in a wooden-patterned robe with white hair and beard quickly entered the room and said to Yuan Ming with a smile,

"Our shop is greatly honored by your visit, senior. It truly is a privilege. I am Jiang Yuan, the shopkeeper here. Should you have any needs, senior, please feel free to mention them."

"I'm just looking around," Yuan Ming leaned back in his chair, casually playing with a white jade token in his hand.

"Hehe, senior has indeed come to the right place! Not to hide from senior, many regular customers of this building have come from Longevity Immortal Tower. Although my Shengye Sect isn't as renowned as Chang Chun Temple, we certainly do not fall behind in terms of elixirs." Jiang Yuan glanced at the words 'Longevity Token' on the token in Yuan Ming's hand and said with even more enthusiasm.

Seeing Yuan Ming unmoved by his words, Jiang Yuan immediately continued, "For a distinguished customer like yourself, senior, our Qingmu Building places even more emphasis on experience. Please accept this Green Wood Token. In addition to the same treatment as Longevity Immortal Tower, all items sold, including elixirs and magic artifacts, will have a ten percent discount."

As he spoke, he took out a green wooden token from his sleeve and presented it to Yuan Ming with both hands.

"Then I'll accept it without ceremony. I've been in need of some elixirs for my cultivation recently; do you have any recommendations? You can also introduce some for healing." Only then did Yuan Ming show a faint smile, took the Green Wood Token from the old man, while the Longevity Token in his hand had already been put away.

"For healing, Rejuvenation Pills are good and can quickly treat most external wounds. In terms of effects, Bone-generating Pills are better, but they release their medicine more slowly and are not suitable for use in battle. As for cultivation elixirs, considering senior's situation, our sect's specially improved Four Spirits Pill should be the first choice. Compared to the ordinary Four Spirits Pill, not only is the effect slightly better, but it's also less likely to cause drug resistance and can be taken in conjunction with other elixirs even after a breakthrough to the mid-stage."

Jiang Yuan said, got up, gave a slight command to the waiting assistants outside the room, and soon an assistant came back carrying a tray with three porcelain bottles.

Yuan Ming took the bottles and opened each porcelain bottle one by one.

The Rejuvenation Pills were slightly red in color, emitting a faint burning sensation when held in one's palm, and the fragrance was not strong. The Bone-generating Pills, on the other hand, were completely opposite: not only pure white, but they also carried a rich and lingering fragrance, and they felt just warm when held in hand.

Compared to them, the Four Spirits Pill seemed quite ordinary, with no special color or fragrance—its appearance was unremarkable, just like an ordinary candy bean.

Before his visit, Yuan Ming had already learned that the Four Spirits Pill was relatively common as an assistant cultivation elixir for the Foundation Establishment stage, and he went straight to the point,

"Let's talk about the price."

"The Rejuvenation Pills and Bone-generating Pills are fifty Spirit Stones per bottle, while the Four Spirits Pill is two hundred and seventy Spirit Stones per bottle. It's the same price as the market rate, but the effect is better. These are the list prices and they are on display on the second floor," said Jiang Yuan.

Although Yuan Ming was prepared, he was still inwardly taken aback by the prices which were several times higher than the Qi Refinement stage elixirs.

This was only suitable for cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage.

No wonder there's a saying in the Cultivation World that cultivation, apart from innate talent, is actually about cultivating resources. Putting aside those heavenly materials and earthly treasures from the legends or those particularly effective special elixirs, even these relatively common elixirs were not something ordinary cultivators could consume long-term.

If a sect or family were to support a cultivator, naturally, the cultivator's speed of cultivation would be something that an unsupported Loose Cultivator could not catch up with.

Although one's lifespan could reach more than two hundred years after advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage, most Loose Cultivators probably spent the majority of their time seeking various opportunities or collecting resources. The actual time they could settle down for closed-door cultivation was likely not much.

After turning the thought over in his mind, Yuan Ming used the excuse of wanting to try them out as this was his first visit and purchased a bottle of each of the three types of elixirs, including the Four Spirits Pill. Before leaving, he also casually learned about a well-reputed spiritual materials shop called "Red Refining Hall" in the city, knowing that it was backed by the Heavenly Fire Sect from Zhao Country.

After leaving Qingmu Building, he found an inn, tried the Four Spirits Pill and found its effects to be quite impressive. He then visited Longevity Immortal Tower before heading straight to Red Refining Hall. After some consideration, he decided to sell all the spiritual materials and unused magic artifacts he held to the latter.

In the process, he accidentally learned that the Fiery Red Horn he had retrieved from Tali Volcano through Huo Chan'er was the horn tip of a Second-level Demon Beast, the Molten Fire Rhinoceros, a main material for refining top-grade Fire Attribute magical tools, extremely rare. After some haggling, he sold it for a whopping six hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

As a result, the Spirit Stones in his Storage Ring now amounted to close to four thousand.

Therefore, Yuan Ming returned to Qingmu Building, sought out the Shopkeeper Jiang Yuan, and bought another fifteen bottles of the Four Spirits Pill all at once. After learning that the other party loved paintings and calligraphy, they quickly became heartfelt friends upon seeing eye to eye, and he managed to get the shopkeeper to knock off another ten percent from the already discounted price.

"It seems I'll need to find a way to earn more Spirit Stones. These dozen or so bottles of elixirs won't last long if I go into seclusion," Yuan Ming murmured to himself, scanning the less than one thousand Spirit Stones remaining in his Storage Ring with his Divine Sense.

As he was worrying, a thought suddenly struck him. He took out a document from his Storage Ring and looked it over several times, a notion forming in his mind.

...

Half a day later, West City of Little Lake City, the Guangli Alliance's outpost.

As a quite famous Scatter Alliance within Da Jin, Guangli Alliance's branches were scattered throughout every market of Da Jin, and Little Lake City was no exception.

Yuan Ming looked up at the sign above the gate of the outpost to make sure he had found the right place, then braved the scrutinizing gaze of the guards and approached, spreading out the document in his hand.

"I've come to collect a debt!"

One of the guards at the gate became furious. He had been with the Guangli Alliance for many years and it had always been them collecting debts from others, never the other way around. He immediately wanted to teach Yuan Ming a lesson.

However, as his eyes scanned over the document and the Longevity Token in Yuan Ming's hand, his anger instantly dissipated.

Thinking it was a mistake, he reached out to take the document, but Yuan Ming swiftly tucked it away again.

"Let your Alliance Hierarch meet me," Yuan Ming said indifferently.

The guard glanced at Yuan Ming, noting that he was dressed in Chang Chun Temple's attire and did not dare to slight him. He quickly ushered Yuan Ming into the outpost and then turned to summon the branch president.

Yuan Ming waited for a short while in a room of the outpost, and soon enough, a young man dressed like a scholar came out smiling.

"Heh heh, I wondered why the magpies were chirping so happily early this morning. It turns out we have a friend from Chang Chun Temple visiting. I am Zhang Luhe, the steward of this place. May I know your distinguished surname?"

"Let's skip the pleasantries, shall we? My master is Xu Changqing. Today, I am here to collect a debt from your Guangli Alliance," Yuan Ming said with a cold face, slamming the document on the table.

At the time, Yuan Ming had disguised his Cultivation as being in the Qi Refinement Realm, whereas, as the president of the Guangli Alliance branch, Zhang Luhe's Cultivation had naturally reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Seeing a Qi Refining Disciple dare to order him around, Zhang Luhe's temper flared, and the smile on his face instantly vanished.

But after he picked up the document put forth by Yuan Ming and read it, he awkwardly began to smile again.

"This document...?"

"What about it? Let's get to the point, unless the Guangli Alliance intends to deny this debt," Yuan Ming scoffed.

"Not at all, it's just that this is a matter of great importance. I need to contact the Alliance Hierarch before making a decision. Please wait a moment; I will be back shortly," Zhang Luhe said with a forced smile.

With that, he took the document and hurried off, while Yuan Ming sat back relaxedly in the room, waiting for his response.

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