"Let me check the goods first."

Lin Chang'sheng said in a deep voice.

"Of course."

The pharmacist nodded and said, "Follow me."

Lin Chang'sheng immediately followed after the pharmacist, heading to the back hall. Behind the Jishi Medicine Hall was a large courtyard. They walked down a stone stairway on the east side, and the pharmacist pointed inside. "Right here, the stuff is kept underground, stays cooler, helps with preservation."

Lin Chang'sheng nodded, following the pharmacist down. After a dozen steps, he immediately felt a chill. On a stone platform to the left, there was a cut segment of snake body, as thick as a bowl, its back black like iron wire, its belly pale white.

It was about ten feet long, with more than seven inches missing from the head, and its blood already drained.

"How much are you asking?"

Lin Chang'sheng asked.

Basing it on his Dragon Blood Pill refinements and insights, he estimated there was still some snake blood left—it should be enough to extract four or five portions of the Black Line Flood Dragon Blood needed for Dragon Blood Pills.

"2,000 taels of silver and it's yours."

The pharmacist patted the snake's remains as he spoke.

"Isn't that a little steep?"

Lin Chang'sheng said. Truth be told, he had more than a hundred thousand taels, but it'd all been earned with no small effort. Bargaining wasn't beneath him.

"Not expensive at all. The Black Line Flood Dragon is formidable, about equal to an early-stage Martial Arts Grandmaster. Ordinary people can't kill one."

The pharmacist said seriously, "But fine, you name your price."

"A thousand taels. Most of the essence blood's been drained. I'm basically just going to take it home and make soup—see if it'll boost my qi and blood a bit."

Lin Chang'sheng paused to ponder, then spoke.

"How about this—1,500 taels and it's yours."

The pharmacist gave Lin Chang'sheng a look.

"1,200 taels. If not, I'll walk."

Lin Chang'sheng put on a show of leaving.

"Ah, fine, 1,200 taels it is!"

The pharmacist gave in and nodded.

This thing—it's only martial artists who buy it for tonic. Most of the snake blood's already gone; keeping it longer in storage would just lower its value even more.

"Deal."

Lin Chang'sheng nodded and waited for the pharmacist to wrap up the snake remains. Heart suddenly moved, he asked, "Do you have any Dragon Blood Pills for sale?"

He wanted to ask about the market price of Dragon Blood Pills.

"Dragon Blood Pill?"

"That's a specialty elixir for Martial Arts Grandmasters. As soon as it's refined, there are Grandmasters waiting for it. It practically never makes it to the medicine hall counters."

The pharmacist shook his head at the thought.

"I see."

Lin Chang'sheng's eyes showed thoughtful consideration.

.......

Four hours later.

A dozen miles behind Jishi Medicine Hall, Lin Chang'sheng had rented out a secluded courtyard: three connecting houses with two floors, a small forest behind. The place looked peaceful and hidden.

Alchemy furnace, Black Line Flood Dragon's remains, and auxiliary ingredients for the Dragon Blood Pill—all prepared.

Lin Chang'sheng had even bought extra auxiliary ingredients to practice with.

He placed the Black Line Flood Dragon's carcass on the ground. With a wave of his hand, he sent a stream of fiery magical power to envelop the remains and began extracting Flood Dragon Blood using the techniques from the Dragon Blood Pill formula.

A large porcelain plate sat off to the side.

Lin Chang'sheng's magical power squeezed the remains again and again, and thin streams of blood dripped from the snake's body into the porcelain plate.

About half an hour passed.

The plate was now full of Black Line Flood Dragon Blood.

"Not bad, enough for about six doses of Dragon Blood Pill!"

Lin Chang'sheng looked at a full plate of flood dragon blood, satisfied enough.

That made it about two hundred taels of silver per dose of Dragon Blood Pill material.

Now then—

Lin Chang'sheng used some auxiliary ingredients to get a feel for it first.

Once he felt comfortable, he started up the three-legged double-eared pill furnace with his magical power. The Snow Ginseng, Purple Peony Vine, Hundred Returns Powder, and other ingredients were dissolved and their essences extracted. He set them aside. Thanks to the perfect insights he'd merged for the Dragon Blood Pill, he felt more and more at ease with every step.

At his side, the little white fox sat watching, nibbling a pear, clearly interested in Lin Chang'sheng's alchemy process.

.......

At the same time—

Jinyong City.

North City.

In a stretch of woods, a man in a black robe and bamboo hat, face hidden, waved his hand. A small triangle flag appeared. He formed a seal with his fingers, sending a streak of black magical power into the flag.

Immediately, the small triangle flag shook, flickering with black light, spinning rapidly—but unable to point in any definite direction.

"Damn it! The vessel's gotten much stronger. All I know is, he's somewhere inside Jinyong City!"

"Hmph! You're not escaping!"

Qi Hui grunted coldly, then turned toward the city center.

.........

Lin Chang'sheng's rented courtyard.

The little white fox sat beside Lin Chang'sheng, eyes big and blinking as it looked up at him.

Lin Chang'sheng sent ribbons of fiery magical power to envelop the three-legged double-eared pill furnace. Inside, Black Line Flood Dragon Blood, snow ginseng, purple peony vine, Hundred Returns Powder, and the rest of the essential liquors were mixing together!

Using his perfected Dragon Blood Pill insights and skills, he merged them with the pill furnace flame!

At this point—

A fist-sized sphere of blood-red medicinal essence rolled, solidified, and fused under Lin Chang'sheng's magical control!

Powerful waves of medicinal fragrance wafted from the pill furnace, drifting around the entire room.

The final step was the most critical—driving off all moisture, fusing the medicinal essence, and forming pills. A tiny misstep meant failure or even an explosion. Even with all the techniques and insights fused into him regarding Dragon Blood Pill refining, this was still Lin Chang'sheng's first attempt, so he moved with painstaking care.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!"

About a quarter of an hour later, Lin Chang'sheng swept out his magical power—four blood-red elixirs landed in the porcelain plate he'd set aside earlier.

"Only four pills formed?"

Lin Chang'sheng's eyes lit up at his results.

Even though it was just four, for a first try, it wasn't bad at all. If Tian Ci saw this, he'd be shocked speechless. After all, Tian Ci had refined Dragon Blood Pills for years—most runs gave him five or six at best, with a success rate of only about sixty percent!

Meaning, he'd fail four out of every ten batches.

"Ying ying ying!"

At that moment, the little white fox sitting to the side wriggled its nose and cried out as if it wanted to eat.

"Just eat your pears. These pills are staying with me for now—they're important!"

Lin Chang'sheng gave the white fox a look and started preparing to refine the next batch of Dragon Blood Pills, ignoring the fox's aggrieved little face.

.......

"Not bad at all."

Three hours later, Lin Chang'sheng looked at the porcelain plate in front of him, fifty-one freshly refined Dragon Blood Pills laid out. Satisfaction glinted in his eyes.

The first batch—four pills; the second—eight; the third—nine; by the last three runs, he was getting the hang of it, producing ten Dragon Blood Pills per batch—all perfectly refined!

"Wonder how many Spirit Stones these could get me?"

Lin Chang'sheng packed all the Dragon Blood Pills into the white porcelain bottles he'd bought, five per bottle, sealing each with a red cloth-wrapped cork, then careful placing them in his pack.

These Dragon Blood Pills were targeted for Martial Arts Grandmasters. From Zhu Zhishan, he'd learned that lower-tier cultivator pills were Qi Condensing Pills, which were even more effective than Dragon Blood Pills!

However, penniless loose cultivators sometimes took Dragon Blood Pills instead.

"May as well eat one myself!"

Lin Chang'sheng sat cross-legged, grabbed one smooth, blood-red Dragon Blood Pill, and tossed it into his mouth. Boom!

Suddenly, he felt a vast force of medicinal power explode, surging through all his meridians!

Quickly, Lin Chang'sheng activated the Fire Cloud Technique to refine this medicinal force and transform it into his own magical power.

After a short while—

He'd completely refined every bit of medicine from the Dragon Blood Pill. He glanced at his status screen.

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Stage (Third Layer 985/4000)]

"Huh? A single Dragon Blood Pill only gives me 70 Experience Points? That's not much. Better trade some Dragon Blood Pills for Spirit Stones, then simplify Fire Cloud Technique and Fire Bomb Technique to strengthen myself!"

Lin Chang'sheng took stock of his increased experience points and considered his plan.

His requirements were modest. Just exchange some for Spirit Stones to simplify his cultivation techniques. Once he streamlined Nourishing Spirit Pill, Spirit Stones would come far easier in the future.

........

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the fifteenth—the day the independent practitioner marketplace opened for business.

[Purple Lightning Flying Needle (Perfection)]

These past few days, Lin Chang'sheng had endlessly practiced, even embroidery for hand dexterity, pushing his Golden Bell Shield to the Seventh Level, and the Purple Lightning Flying Needle to perfection!

"Daoist Wei!"

Just then, Zhu Zhishan's voice sounded from outside the courtyard.

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