Fellow Daoist, Care to Hear About the Myriad Wonders Pill?

"When you need a favor, it's 'Uncle Chen'; when you don't, it's 'Daoist Chen'!" Old Daoist Chen gave his beard a huffy blow, then launched with relish into his favorite form of entertainment: gossip. He had always been like this. Miserly, petty, and ever eager to take advantage, he never let himself take a loss when selling goods, even going so far as to split the stall fee down the middle with a greenhorn at the third layer of Qi Refinement like Luo Chen. The only thing he was genuinely willing to share for free was the lore he had accumulated over his sixty-odd years of life. "Yun Zhonghe? You must mean Master Yunhe!" "Ask an ordinary person and they probably wouldn't know a thing, but this old Daoist happens to know a detail or two." "Out of the Thirty-Six Domains of the Eastern Wasteland, our corner lies at the absolute eastern fringe, bordering the Million Mountains. Because the six nearby domains all border the Million Mountains, they share an alternate name: the Far East Six Domains." "Every grand domain contains countless sects, but only a great sect that has produced a Nascent Soul Zhenren has the prestige to bestow its name upon an entire domain." "Master Yunhe hails from the Hehuan Domain, and his sect is the strongest in the entire territory—the Hehuan Sect!" Luo Chen listened with rapt attention. This was the first time he had ever learned about the world beyond Dahe Market. He asked casually, "Then by that logic, isn't our grand domain called the Jade Cauldron Domain?" "Spot on. The strongest sect around here is the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, which is why we're called the Jade Cauldron Domain." Old Daoist Chen answered before continuing, "The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect is renowned for its martial prowess, which is why it sits closest to the Million Mountains. Beneath its jurisdiction, several large markets serve as bridgeheads for launching offensives into the Million Mountains, and Dahe Market is one of them." As he spoke, he sensed something was off. Blowing his beard and glaring, he barked, "Brat, don't change the subject! We were talking about Master Yunhe." "The Hehuan Sect is world-famous for its dual cultivation arts, and its specialty businesses are scattered across all six domains. For instance, the Tianxiang Pavilion here in our market is merely one of their trivial, negligible establishments." Tianxiang Pavilion was enormous, raking in bucketloads of high-grade spirit stones every single day, yet it was considered a negligible establishment? Luo Chen's interest was piqued. A massive enterprise flush with both wealth and beauties sounded like an ideal goal to strive toward! "People across the world claim the Hehuan Sect strays from the proper path, produces nothing of real value, never dominates through sheer force of arms, and relies solely on the flesh trade, completely sullying the reputation of us Daoist cultivators. Yet three hundred years ago, a genuine anomaly emerged!" Luo Chen clapped his hands together. "That was Yun Zhonghe, wasn't it!" "It's Master Yunhe! For a Core Formation cultivator, you must address him with the honorific of Master!" Old Daoist Chen scolded him sharply before resuming his tale. "That Master Yunhe cultivated the core technique of the Hehuan Sect to its absolute pinnacle. Not only was he exceptionally dashing, but his battle prowess was unmatched." "Back when the Jade Cauldron Domain was first being carved out, although the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect led the vanguard, the other five domains dispatched many experts to assist, and Master Yunhe was among them." "At that time, he was still an unknown, nothing more than an ordinary early Core Formation cultivator. Yet in that very war, relying solely on his early Core Formation cultivation, he managed to capture a Rank 4 demon beast alive!" "Do you have any idea what a Rank 4 demon beast represents?" Luo Chen first widened his eyes until they were the size of bull's eyes. Then he sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, making a monumental contribution to global warming. Next, he swallowed hard, letting out a loud gulp. Finally, he exhaled a long breath of turbid air—the sort of foul sigh that smelled as if it could drag an eavesdropping cultivator down an entire cultivation realm. "A Rank 4 demon beast... doesn't that put it on par with a human Nascent Soul Zhenren?!" Old Daoist Chen was immensely satisfied with his listener's dramatic reaction. He stroked his beard smugly, looking as proud as if he had performed the feat himself. "Precisely. You do have a bit of worldly knowledge after all. A Rank 4 demon beast is also called a Beast Emperor; its combat strength generally surpasses even that of a human Nascent Soul Zhenren of the same rank." Luo Chen asked in confusion, "Isn't fighting across realms supposed to be extraordinarily difficult? Senior Yun Zhonghe was only at early Core Formation back then, so how could he possibly achieve such a glorious victory?" "The exact truth behind it isn't something juniors like us could ever know. Some claim he caught that Demon Crane Emperor while it was weakened after crossing a heavenly tribulation, while others say a Nascent Soul Zhenren of the Hehuan Sect intervened. But the end result was that Master Yunhe rose to fame in a single battle, establishing his name through that very Demon Crane Emperor and securing his title as Master Yunhe!" At this point, Old Daoist Chen raised a finger and pointed into the distance toward an embroidered pink pavilion in the heart of the inner city. "Across the Far East Six Domains, various industries intertwine. Even an outfit as wealthy and imposing as the Medicine King Sect has only managed to open shops across four domains. Only the Hehuan Sect has expanded its establishments throughout all six, to the point where even in an out-of-the-way corner like our Dahe Market, a Tianxiang Pavilion is filled with revelry and music every night." "A considerable portion of that success belongs to Master Yunhe, the foremost figure beneath the Nascent Soul realm!" Master Yunhe, the foremost figure beneath the Nascent Soul realm. What a title, and what a story! Luo Chen couldn't help casting a grateful glance toward Wang Yuan's stall in the distance. Reading that *Record of Customs Across the Six Domains* for free had certainly been worthwhile. Once he had the money in the future, he would definitely buy a copy and study it thoroughly. "*Ahem*, young Luo, talking so much has left my throat a bit dry. Give me a piece of beef jerky to quench my thirst." Luo Chen paid him no mind, instead arranging all his medicine bottles across the stall. "Daoist Chen, it's time to earn resources for cultivation. Given enough time, who's to say you and I might not bear the title of Master as well?" Chen Xiuping's eyes bulged, his grizzled beard trembling with rage. Taking advantage of his height, Luo Chen patted the old Daoist on the shoulder. "I only hope that when we meet again in the Core Formation realm someday, calling each other 'fellow Daoist' won't feel so bitter!" "Get lost! This old man is already sixty-five. To hell with any Core Formation dream!" After barking the curse, Chen Xiuping took a deep breath. *Don't get angry, don't get angry; if I make myself sick from rage, no one will suffer in my place.* Out of habit, his gaze drifted onto Luo Chen's stall, and his eyes suddenly narrowed. "Twenty-one bottles? Are they all Fasting Powder, or did you actually manage to brew a new medicine?" Luo Chen sighed and put on a dejected expression. "This junior's aptitude is clumsy and dull. I exhausted all my family savings just to barely refine a single bottle of a new medicine. I've made a fool of myself before Daoist Chen." *Gulp!* Old Daoist Chen swallowed hard. "You couldn't have actually refined that incomplete Rank 2 recipe, could you?!" "Alas, this junior is incompetent; I couldn't refine a Rank 2 elixir." "Makes sense. With a lad like you..." "So I could only settle for the next best thing and deduce it down into a Rank 1 medicine." "A Rank 1 Jade Dew Pill?" Old Daoist Chen's eyes flew wide. This old fellow was certainly full of dramatic expressions—first swallowing hard, now bulging his eyes. Surely he wouldn't suck in a sharp breath of cold air next! Luo Chen clasped his hands behind his back and spoke with solemn gravity. "That was never an incomplete Jade Dew Pill recipe. It was actually the Myriad Wonders Elixir, a secret pill recipe belonging to Master Yunhe of the Hehuan Sect. It was simply lost here in Dahe Market during the great war that carved out the Jade Cauldron Domain. Fellow Daoist, you mustn't go spouting nonsense about it in the future!" *Hiss—!* Luo Chen covered his face with one hand. He could practically feel the Jade Cauldron Domain's climate growing warmer! In truth, the temperature really was rising, because the sun had finally climbed over the horizon. With the sun up, foot traffic naturally began to build. Many cultivators enjoyed browsing the rogue cultivator quarter; after all, everyone harbored hopes of purchasing inexpensive, high-quality resources or stumbling upon an overlooked treasure. As usual, Old Daoist Chen was the first to make a sale. He had run a stall here for years. Miserly as he was, his reputation was rock solid. Not only did people buy his talismans, but some of his peers in the trade who found the preparation tedious even bought talisman parchment from him so they could draw their talismans directly. Old Daoist Chen making a sale signaled that Luo Chen's business was about to start picking up as well. "Fasting Powder?" "The color and aroma are quite good, and there's a respectable amount of spiritual energy sealed inside. Superior quality! How much?" A customer casually picked up five bottles and tossed a low-grade spirit stone to Luo Chen. Five bottles meant fifty pills of Fasting Powder. One pill could satisfy a person for a full meal; if stretched conservatively, the batch could last fifty days! Of course, that was an extreme scenario. Under normal circumstances, it was enough to keep a cultivator fed for half a month without touching ordinary food. Still, the flavor was bland at best, and consuming it offered no benefit to one's cultivation. Unless someone was genuinely destitute, in seclusion, or venturing into the mountains to hunt beasts and gather herbs, virtually no one treated it as a regular diet. Having paid the spirit stone, the chubby cultivator turned to leave, but Luo Chen called out to stop him. "Fellow Daoist, care to hear about the Myriad Wonders Pill?"