Chapter 58: Departure

The next day, the Moon-Viewing City market was experiencing its final burst of frantic activity. Walking down the street, Lu Xiaotian watched the busy figures around him with a sense of profound emotion. These rogue cultivators were struggling on the path to joining the great immortal sects, much like thousands of troops attempting to cross a single-log bridge; in the end, only a tiny fraction would make it across. Those who failed would have no more than a hundred years of lifespan left—a mere blink of an eye for a cultivator.

Even more tragic were the rogue cultivators who had become nothing more than piles of withered bones within the Moon-Viewing Mountain Range.

Soon, Lu Xiaotian shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. Foundation Establishment Pills were incredibly precious; even if one managed to enter an immortal sect, where there were tens of thousands of Qi Refinement stage cultivators, one was not guaranteed to obtain them with ease. He had no leisure to worry about others.

"Selling second-tier Black-Spotted Snake skins! Excellent material for making leather armor!" A familiar cry rang out from the crowd.

"How many spirit stones for the Black-Spotted Snake skin?" Lu Xiaotian smiled as he watched Luo Qing, who was busy tending to her stall by the roadside. A fine bead of sweat had formed on her forehead, and a few strands of her hair were slightly disheveled. It seemed she had arrived quite early today and had been working for some time. He felt a flicker of goodwill toward this young girl, who struggled in the cultivation world yet managed to maintain her integrity.

"Twenty-two spirit stones. If you really want—huh, Brother Lu!" Luo Qing had been looking down, tending to the spiritual items at her stall, and answered habitually. However, upon realizing the voice sounded familiar, she looked up, saw it was Lu Xiaotian, and couldn't help but chide him, "Brother Lu, why do you have the time to come here and tease me?"

Lu Xiaotian said, "I have nothing to do now. I'm heading to report to the immortal sect, and I just happened to run into you."

Luo Qing’s face instantly lit up with surprise. "Brother Lu, you finished your immortal sect mission so quickly! Which great sect are you going to?"

"Hmm, Lingxiao Palace," Lu Xiaotian nodded.

"Brother Lu, you are truly amazing! My brother, Brother Zhang, Brother Zheng, and the others have been working for years and have only collected a portion of what was needed. I didn't expect you to do it in just a few months. Once you become a sect disciple, if you ever come back to Moon-Viewing City, please don't forget us siblings and Brother Zhang's group," Luo Qing said with admiration.

"Competition within the immortal sects is not any easier than in Moon-Viewing City; it might even be more treacherous. Naturally, I won't forget you," Lu Xiaotian smiled and shook his head. He reached to his waist, untied a storage bag, and handed it to Luo Qing. "I have to go. The pills inside are for you, and there are also a few spiritual herbs you might find useful. By the way, do not tell anyone about the pills."

"Understood. Brother Lu, please be careful at Lingxiao Palace and take care of yourself. Goodbye." Luo Qing waved obediently, watching Lu Xiaotian until he disappeared into the crowd before reluctantly withdrawing her gaze.

When she opened the storage bag Lu Xiaotian had given her, Luo Qing's small mouth fell wide open, unable to close for a long time.

"Black Infant Fruit, Cup Immortal Grass..." There were over ten spiritual herbs in total, which were the specific task items requested by the four of them. Moreover, they were some of the hardest to obtain. With these, they could save a vast amount of time and perhaps even avoid unnecessary life-threatening risks.

However, that was merely a shock; when she opened the small pill bottle, an incredibly dense fragrance caused her divine sense to tremble, nearly causing her to lose her composure.

"A top-grade Qi Gathering Pill!"

Legend had it that mid-grade pills had two medicinal veins, and high-grade pills had six. A top-grade pill had nine, representing the "Nine-Nine Supreme," signifying the absolute pinnacle. Most rogue cultivators could only afford low-grade pills; mid-grade pills were rare, and high-grade pills were almost impossible to find. As for top-grade pills, Luo Qing had never even heard of them in all her time in Moon-Viewing City.

With her current aptitude, it would take at least another year to break through from the third to the fourth level of Qi Refinement. Furthermore, every stage of the Qi Refinement period was a bottleneck; breaking through was never easy. Even for cultivators from established families, using a mid-grade pill to break through was a rarity. High-grade pills were even scarcer, likely only available to the direct bloodline of a Clan Head.

Her aptitude was considered upper-middle among cultivators. By consuming this pill, there would be almost no bottleneck moving from the early to the middle stage of Qi Refinement, and it would lay a solid foundation for her future progress. This was the true value of a top-grade pill.

"I didn't realize Brother Lu's alchemy skills had reached such a profound level. No wonder he told me not to tell anyone. Perhaps this is a little secret between him and me," Luo Qing murmured to herself.

"Damn it, what is that smell? It smells like a Qi Gathering Pill, but not quite... why does it smell so good!" A nearby rogue cultivator, who was haggling with a stall owner, twitched his nose and turned around to search the area.

"Huh? No, that's at least a mid-grade Qi Gathering Pill... no, I've taken mid-grade ones before, this must be high-grade! It would be perfect as a gift or for collection. Who on earth has such a good pill?" The young master of the Guo family, accompanied by two lackeys, had been wandering the lively market. Upon smelling the exotic fragrance, he was instantly captivated. Although he was already in the late stage of Qi Refinement, such a high-quality pill would be extremely valuable if kept to give to a beloved or used as a gift to other clan young masters.

"Ah!" Luo Qing let out a small gasp and hurriedly capped the pill bottle, tucking it back into her storage bag. She lowered her head, pretending to tend to her stall. If anyone discovered a top-grade pill in her possession, members of various families would undoubtedly use any means necessary to force her to hand it over.

After the surrounding crowd searched around in confusion for a while and found nothing, they could only leave in frustration. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was watching her, Luo Qing quietly packed up her stall and withdrew from the crowd.

"Sister, what are you doing? Why aren't you tending your stall? You ran off here looking all nervous," Luo Yuan and Zhang Guang arrived together, just as Luo Qing was glancing back repeatedly, worried someone might be following her.

"Sister Luo Qing, is someone giving you trouble?" Zhang Guang asked with a fierce expression.

"No, no, it's nothing. Brother Lu gave me some things before he left, and it wasn't convenient to deal with it on the street. Let's go back and talk," Luo Qing said, shaking her head quickly.

"Brother Lu saved me several times before, and now he has bestowed such a massive favor upon us. It seems we will never be able to repay him," Zhang Guang sighed deeply upon returning to their small courtyard and seeing the spiritual herbs in the storage bag.

"Exactly. Brother Lu gave us so many spiritual herbs. If we work hard, even if we don't enter an immortal sect this year, we can strive for next year or the year after. One day, we will surely be able to repay him," Luo Yuan said, his expression excited as he held the herbs.

At this moment, Lu Xiaotian was only about a hundred yards away from the Lingxiao Palace recruitment office. He did not seek any reward; he simply felt that Luo Yuan and the others were different from the more predatory rogue cultivators and felt inclined to lend a hand. Had he put in a bit more effort to collect more spiritual seeds and used spirit stones to accelerate their growth within a barrier, he might have been able to help one or two of them complete a sect mission directly. However, such "forced growth" was not necessarily good for them; the competition after entering an immortal sect might be even more brutal. They truly needed more experience to strengthen their own strength. For those without sufficient power, entering an immortal sect too early might not be a good thing.