Inside the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, two elderly men sat facing each other.

"How about one thousand one hundred spirit stones for this batch of elixir?" The shopkeeper of Celestial Terrace Ridge's Hundred Treasures Pavilion was an elderly man over sixty with prominent cheekbones and Eighth-Layer Qi Refining cultivation.

"That's a bit too low, isn't it? It's less than seventy percent of the selling price!" The elderly man with gray hair sitting opposite him expressed some dissatisfaction.

This man was none other than Zhou Xun in disguise.

With his current Divine Sense comparable to a Late-Stage Qi Refining Cultivator, none could see through his disguise unless faced by a Foundation Establishment Peak Cultivator.

And the highest cultivation in the Zhao Family of Celestial Terrace Ridge was presently only at the Seventh-Layer Foundation Establishment.

"It's just that the quantity of this batch of elixir is too large, and with larger quantities, the overall selling price will correspondingly decrease!" The skinny old shopkeeper said with a wry smile.

"One thousand two hundred spirit stones, or I won't sell them!" Zhou Xun feigned dissatisfaction.

"Alright!" The old shopkeeper pondered for a moment and agreed.

Being able to bring out so many High-Grade Elixirs suggests that this person is highly likely a High-Grade Alchemist, someone the shopkeeper was naturally willing to befriend.

The extent to which their Hundred Treasures Pavilion had grown was largely due to their extensive connections.

Then Zhou Xun took out the Demon Python materials, placing them on the ground in front of him, the huge materials occupying most of the elegant room.

"Shopkeeper, take a look and see how many spirit stones it's worth!"

"Wow! A Tier One Top-Grade Demon Beast, such large materials!" The old shopkeeper's eyes lit up as he looked at them.

Acquiring these materials could generate a lot of revenue for the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

"Seven hundred fifty spirit stones!" The old man immediately gave a price slightly higher than usual purchase rates.

Though the Demon Python materials had somewhat lower strength, their large size meant there was an abundance of materials to harvest, making their value relatively high.

"Agreed!" Zhou Xun estimated and found the price fair.

"I will go and get the spirit stones!" The old shopkeeper said with a cheerful smile.

He then rose and left the elegant room, heading to the warehouse to gather the spirit stones to hand over to Zhou Xun.

Halfway through counting, the old man's expression turned somber.

The spirit stones in the warehouse had recently been taken by the main association, leaving only what was necessary for the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's operations.

As few goods had been sold recently, not many spirit stones had been collected, so the stock was low.

If nearly two thousand spirit stones were handed over to Zhou Xun all at once, it might impact the running of the entire Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

Suddenly he noticed several treasures by the side and had an idea.

Having counted the spirit stones, the old man returned to Zhou Xun, but instead of directly handing over the spirit stones, he asked:

"Our pavilion recently acquired some excellent treasures. Would Fellow Daoist be interested?"

"What treasures, Fellow Daoist? Why not give an introduction!" With a substantial amount of spirit stones about to be received, Zhou Xun was in a rather good mood and asked with interest.

If there was truly a treasure he fancied, buying one wouldn't be out of the question.

The shopkeeper, knowing Zhou Xun's current wealth, brought out only the top-tier treasures from the warehouse.

"Please take a look!" The old man said, opening a treasure box to reveal a small, crimson sword.

"High-Grade Spiritual Artifact Fire Cloud Sword, comes with a Middle-Grade Spell, Fire Rain Technique, priced at five hundred seventy spirit stones!"

Seeing that Zhou Xun was unmoved, the old man shook his head, closed the box, and then opened the second box, which contained an umbrella-shaped Magical Artifact.

"High-Grade Spiritual Artifact Iron Luo Umbrella, a rare attack-and-defense Magical Artifact, priced at seven hundred spirit stones!" The old man's face was full of expectation as he looked at Zhou Xun.

But Zhou Xun was even less interested in this artifact.

An attack-and-defense artifact seemed useful, with the price of one artifact serving the roles of two.

However, it was actually rather useless as its attack power couldn't match that of same-tier attack artifacts and its defense the same for defensive ones.

It could only bully lower-tier artifacts.

Zhou Xun was naturally not about to fall for such fraud.

"Such merchandise, Fellow Daoist should refrain from showing!" Zhou Xun scoffed.

The shopkeeper remained unfazed by these words and continued his introductions:

"This third one is called Master Yun Lei, a replica of the famous Master Celestial Thunder in the Cultivation Realm. Though its power is only one-tenth of the original, it is still enormously powerful, comparable to a full-force strike of an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator!"

Zhou Xun had naturally heard of the power of Master Celestial Thunder, rumored even to be avoided by Fake Pill Great Powers.

Seeing Zhou Xun's interest, the shopkeeper smiled and offered a price:

"Priced at nine hundred spirit stones!"

"I'll take it!" Zhou Xun said without hesitation.

At present, this item could serve as his trump card!

The old man continued to introduce the remaining three treasures, but none aroused Zhou Xun's interest.

Thus, under the shopkeeper's regretful gaze, Zhou Xun left the Hundred Treasures Pavilion with Master Yun Lei and one thousand fifty spirit stones.

Returning to his temporary cave mansion, Zhou Xun did not venture out again.

Instead, he devoted himself to cultivation.

Half a month later, in the cultivation room.

"Hoo—"

Zhou Xun exhaled a long breath, finally reaching the Peak of Fifth-Layer Qi Refining!

When his Spiritual Root improved that day, his cultivation also surged significantly. Now, in just a few short months, he reached the fifth-layer peak.

This must be the fastest level he's crossed.

In the past, he spent several years to break through one layer, but now it took only months.

The encounters in the Cultivation Realm are truly unpredictable.

During the ensuing period, Zhou Xun lived more leisurely.

On occasion, he'd visit the teahouse and order a cup of spirit tea, sitting for an entire afternoon.

At times he also conversed with the older cultivators, listening to their past stories.

Here, no one knew him, only that a somewhat excessively elegant young cultivator had arrived.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was time for his appointment with Master Yeyun.

After collecting the pill furnace and Magical Artifacts, he would return to Qingyue Square to continue being the revered Alchemist Zhou.

As the sky grew dark, Zhou Xun, having finished his last sip of spirit tea, rose and headed towards the cave mansion.

Over the years, he had never ceased cultivating every day.

Even during bottleneck periods.

Today, however, he suddenly wanted to pause and see what a non-cultivating day would be like.

Under the night sky, the dazzling moonlight spilled over the earth.

Admiring the moonlit shadows swaying gently, he couldn't help but muse:

"Truly a relaxing day!"

Perhaps it was the change in his state of mind that stimulated his inner mana, and his Nourishing Essence Technique began to operate slowly on its own.

"This feeling.....it's going to be a breakthrough!"

Zhou Xun felt a wave in his heart, but fortunately, he was already near the inn.

Zhou Xun strode into his temporary cave mansion.

He felt grateful that he was renting a High-Grade Cave Mansion, possessing spiritual energy comparable to a Tier One High-Grade Spirit Vein, sufficient to support his breakthrough.

Zhou Xun sat cross-legged and activated the Nourishing Essence Technique.

The spiritual energy in the air was continuously absorbed with the spell's operation, then transformed into mana.

He didn't know how long had passed, but feeling the more robust mana in his body, Zhou Xun opened his eyes in satisfaction.

At this time, from the distant horizon, a sliver of dawn light emerged.

Zhou Xun stood up and softly muttered to himself:

"Finally, Sixth-Layer Qi Refining!"

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