Chapter 36: Forming a Gang

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Alchemists among rogue cultivators were already extremely rare, and the people in this entire small courtyard had never encountered a single alchemist before. Once the spiritual pills used in the mountains or healing pills were exhausted, they could replenish them nearby, which was incredibly convenient. Even buying pills from Lu Xiaotian required spirit stones, but they were always somewhat cheaper than those from commercial firms. For them, every little bit saved helped; in the long run, not only could their cultivation speed increase significantly, but they could also save a substantial amount of expenses.

"That works. Brother Luo, you know many people. Help me inquire about the pill recipes used in the middle and late stages of Qi Refinement. Healing recipes would also work. It would be best if I could obtain them before entering the Wangyue Mountains," Lu Xiaotian said.

"Brother Lu, has your mastery of alchemy already reached such a level?" Luo Yuan asked in shock.

"Big brother, you are truly muddled. The scent of Qi Gathering Pills when we entered just now was clearly much more intense than the ones we used before. Brother Lu must have refined mid-grade Qi Gathering Pills. Naturally, he can attempt to refine higher-grade pills. In the future, we might have to rely on Brother Lu for all our pills," Luo Qing said, her beautiful eyes shifting.

"Currently, the yield rate for Qi Gathering Pills is a little over thirty percent, not quite forty percent. With better luck, I can indeed refine mid-grade Qi Gathering Pills. If I can refine the pills needed for the middle and late stages of Qi Refinement in the future, you two siblings can come to me to buy them. The price will be slightly lower than the market rate."

Lu Xiaotian had a good impression of these two siblings, and over the past six months, they had indeed provided him with a lot of useful information. As the only two people he knew in Wangyue City, he didn't mind giving them a hand.

"A yield rate of over thirty percent... Brother Lu's talent in alchemy is astonishing." Luo Yuan couldn't help but gasp. Even for alchemists trained by great families, reaching such a yield rate was extremely rare, and they were invariably veterans with decades of experience. It was as if Lu Xiaotian had started refining pills in the womb; such talent was simply too incredible. However, hearing Lu Xiaotian's promise, Luo Yuan was instantly overjoyed and patted his chest, saying, "Don't worry, Brother Lu. Leave this to me. I will definitely find out about the pill recipes for you."

There were several types of pills used in the middle and late stages of Qi Refinement; Qi Nourishing Pills and Vitality Pills were just representative examples, and there were several other recipes with good effects. Since there were still four months before the immortal sects began recruiting disciples, they should be able to inquire about them if they prepared for a while before heading into the mountains.

"Thank you, Brother Lu," Luo Qing said happily, her eyes narrowing into crescents as she thanked him.

Lu Xiaotian smiled faintly. In fact, because he had been refining Qi Gathering Pills continuously for the past six months, his yield rate had already increased to nearly fifty percent. He had produced mid-grade pills over a dozen times and high-grade pills twice. If these two siblings knew these numbers, he wondered what kind of expressions they would make.

The Luo siblings rushed off to inquire about the pill recipes. After disguising himself as a coarse-faced man, Lu Xiaotian also left the courtyard and set up a stall by the roadside, placing a wooden sign next to it that read "Qi Gathering Pills for Sale."

As the recruitment period for the immortal sects approached, the number of rogue immortals gathering in Wangyue City was significantly higher than before. As a necessity for cultivation, pills were the most popular item among rogue cultivators. Although many families in Wangyue City operated pill shops, there were two issues: first, the spiritual herbs grown in the spiritual fields were limited and harvested only once a year; second, alchemists were extremely scarce. Consequently, pill prices were nearly ten percent higher than usual, yet demand still outstripped supply.

Not long after Lu Xiaotian set up his stall, more than a dozen people gathered around him one after another. Because his prices were the same as before—ten percent lower than the current commercial firms—the dozens of Qi Gathering Pills on his stall were quickly snapped up. After collecting over a hundred various spirit stones, Lu Xiaotian packed up his stall, changed into another disguise, and moved to a different street.

After repeating this several times, he had accumulated over three hundred spirit stones within his barrier, which was undoubtedly a windfall for a Qi Refinement stage cultivator.

There were still two bottles of pills left at the stall. After a moment of hesitation, Lu Xiaotian put the two bottles of Qi Gathering Pills away, preparing to end his day of selling.

"Excuse me, are the Qi Gathering Pills in your hand still for sale?" A somewhat youthful voice rang out.

Lu Xiaotian looked up to see a thickset youth dressed in ordinary linen clothes looking at him somewhat cautiously. His cultivation was at the third level of Qi Refinement. "Fine, you are the last one for today. I still have seven Qi Gathering Pills left. Four low-grade spirit stones each."

"I don't have enough spirit stones. Can I exchange them for something else?" the thickset youth asked hesitantly.

"What do you have?" Lu Xiaotian asked.

"I have a set of formation flags that can form the Guardian Yuan Formation. It can trap a peak Qi Refinement expert for about an hour," the youth said in a low voice. "However, the first time the formation is used, it consumes twenty spirit stones. The second time requires forty, and so on, increasing cumulatively. After about four or five uses, the flags become useless."

"Formation flags? Do they have any offensive power?"

Lu Xiaotian asked, his heart tightening. In the cultivation world, alchemists were a rare group, but formation masters were even rarer than alchemists.

This was because advancing as a formation master was much harder than alchemy. More importantly, studying formations consumed a vast amount of energy and time, meaning their cultivation levels were usually not very high. However, once they crafted a formation, its destructive power was often something ordinary cultivators could not compare to.

"No, they don't," the youth murmured.

Lu Xiaotian was momentarily speechless. A formation that cost an extra twenty spirit stones each time and could only be used five times—even if it could be used more, the cost would reach one hundred and twenty spirit stones after five uses, making it unaffordable—and it could only trap an opponent for about an hour with no offensive power. It was truly a useless item. Buying this set of flags required an expenditure; with those spirit stones, one would be better off buying more talismans.

"The materials I used to craft this set of flags cost twenty-three low-grade spirit stones. I... I only need five Qi Gathering Pills."

The youth seemed to know that the flags he had made had little practical use. He had been setting up a stall in the city for months without many people asking; occasionally, someone would inquire, but upon seeing the cost of using the formation, they would shake their heads and walk away without a second thought.

Lu Xiaotian originally thought it was useless, but on second thought, he currently possessed no powerful spiritual tools. If he truly encountered a formidable opponent, being able to trap them to buy time to escape would be worthwhile. Furthermore, the youth before him looked honest and steady, appearing inexperienced in the ways of the world; making an acquaintance with a formation master might be helpful in the future. For an alchemist like him, Qi Gathering Pills could be refined at any time.

With this thought, Lu Xiaotian poured a single Qi Gathering Pill from the bottle and handed it to the youth. "You are currently at the third level of Qi Refinement. Pills are especially important for breaking through to the middle stage. There are six Qi Gathering Pills in here; I hope they help you reach the fourth level."

"Th-thank you, Big Brother! My name is Wang Mo. May I ask your name?" The youth said, becoming incoherent with excitement.

"My name is Lu Xiaotian."

Taking the four azure, foot-long formation flags handed over by Wang Mo, Lu Xiaotian chatted with him for a few moments and learned that Wang Mo came from a small cultivation family under the jurisdiction of the Ye Qin Kingdom. His family had lasted for several generations, and after his parents' lifespans were exhausted, Wang Mo decided to come to Wangyue City to seek an opportunity to join a cultivation sect.

Lu Xiaotian fell silent. Even for a Qi Refinement cultivator, if they could not reach the Foundation Establishment stage, they were no different from ordinary mortals.

Many preparations were needed before heading to the Wangyue Mountains. Lu Xiaotian put away the formation flags and first went to a talisman shop to replenish dozens of low-grade talismans. Now that he was slightly more well-off, the talismans he purchased were slightly better than before. He then spent over sixty spirit stones to purchase a spiritual sword.

With a sufficient supply of pills, at his current cultivation speed, he could reach the sixth level of Qi Refinement in about a year. If he obtained new recipes, the speed would be even faster. Therefore, he had to consider the issue of new cultivation techniques.

The newly purchased spiritual tool was a golden short sword, a mid-grade spiritual tool. After admiring it with great fondness for a while, Lu Xiaotian inquired at two shops that sold technique manuals along the way, but he could not find the second volume of the *Hunyuan Sutra*. He did not give up and walked through two more streets until he reached the largest technique shop in Wangyue City.

"If this place doesn't have it, I'll just choose another technique," Lu Xiaotian decided as he stepped inside.

As expected of the largest technique shop in Wangyue City, it contained over a dozen rows of ancient bookshelves. A rough estimate suggested there were at least tens of thousands of manuals. There were ten mortal clerks responsible for assisting buyers, and many people were currently selecting suitable techniques by the shelves or inquiring with the shop assistants.

"Immortal Master, what kind of technique are you looking for? Our shop carries tens of thousands of various techniques; I believe we must have what you desire."

As soon as Lu Xiaotian entered the shop, an assistant greeted him warmly.

"Do you have the *Hunyuan Sutra* here? The portion for the late stage of Qi Refinement," Lu Xiaotian asked.

"*Hunyuan Sutra*? I haven't seen any immortals choose such a technique; it is quite obscure. Please wait a moment, Immortal Master, I will look for it."

The assistant rested his chin in his hand for a moment, then led Lu Xiaotian to the innermost bookshelves. The shop's techniques were categorized by elements—Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Ice, Wind, Thunder—and within each attribute, the techniques were further divided into early, middle, and late stages.

The Five Elements were the most common spiritual roots. Lu Xiaotian had not tested his own spiritual root value, but his speed in learning any branch of the Five Elements spells was equally fast. Ice, Wind, and Thunder were slightly inferior. No matter how high a cultivator's spiritual root value was, it would not exceed one hundred points; a value below thirty was considered inferior, while above fifty was considered excellent.

Lu Xiaotian estimated that he possessed all five elemental roots and that they were very balanced. Even at a maximum, no single element would exceed twenty points, making him definitely a member of the inferior category. Thus, he couldn't be bothered to perform a test.

Most cultivators chose techniques that focused on a single spiritual root. While there were people who chose techniques like the *Hunyuan Sutra* that had no specific attribute requirements, they were extremely rare.

(End of Chapter)