Liang Ningwan had never imagined in her wildest dreams that Chen Zhuo wasn't a pharmaceutical representative.
He was dealing in physical spirit stones.
What was there to fear about physical spirit stones?
You could casually claim it was a family heirloom, something you found on the road, or a gift from a friend—who was going to bother checking?
Unless you owned a spirit stone mine.
Still, as much as Liang Ningwan wanted to roll her eyes and grumble, physical spirit stones were undeniably useful. One could directly absorb spiritual energy from them to boost their cultivation.
In a sense, spirit stones were essentially a crude form of medicinal pill.
"How many do you want to sell?"
Liang Ningwan took a deep breath, restoring her previously aloof composure as she addressed Chen Zhuo. "As long as the price is under thirteen spirit coins each, if you only have one or two, I'll take them all."
Chen Zhuo pondered for a moment before speaking up. "I have four. More than half the spiritual energy in one of them was drained, so I can let it go for cheap. As a bundle of four, forty spirit coins."
Upon hearing this, Liang Ningwan nodded slightly. "Done. I'll take them all."
Three and a half physical spirit stones, while relatively rare at the Qi Refining level, were hardly enough to cause a sensation.
Chen Zhuo nodded, continuing, "Pleasure doing business with you. If you need more in the future, you can come find me."
A distinct flash of astonishment crossed Liang Ningwan's eyes.
*Come find you again?*
*What do you mean—do you still have more in stock?*
Liang Ningwan's interest was piqued.
Yet she refrained from prying further. After all, everyone had their own secrets.
She was no exception.
"Alright, then it's a deal."
Liang Ningwan produced her spiritual communication jade slip. "I'll transfer the funds to you right now."
A moment later, Chen Zhuo's spiritual communication jade slip vibrated.
[You have received a transfer of 40 spirit coins from 'Liang Ningwan.' Current balance: 49.83 spirit coins.]
Chen Zhuo rejoiced internally.
His Immortal Dao potential had increased!
Though not by much, it was a good start.
Chen Zhuo handed the three and a half spirit stones to Liang Ningwan. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two parted ways.
Back in his cave dwelling, Chen Zhuo looked at the balance displayed on his spiritual communication jade slip, in high spirits.
"Forty spirit coins, plus the eight-odd I had before—that makes over forty-nine. While that's still a far cry from clearing my debts, at least I have a steady channel to liquidate assets now!"
Chen Zhuo calculated his options. *Once the heat dies down in the Spirit Bead World, I can head over to gather more resources. I'll need to keep some physical spirit stones for personal use, since they might be even more useful over there. As for the herbs and ores, I can sell them off gradually.*
*The top priority right now is still boosting my strength!*
*Only with greater strength can I explore the Spirit Bead World safely and obtain even more resources.*
Chen Zhuo stowed away his spiritual communication jade slip and sat cross-legged, preparing to cultivate.
Naturally, he wasn't about to use this money to repay his debts.
Chen Zhuo was no fool. Unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator showed up on his doorstep with a blade to his throat, no one was getting him to pay up.
He had twenty years anyway.
Before he graduated from college, nobody could force him to pay a single coin!
Chen Zhuo even contemplated taking out a few more microloans to further boost his Immortal Dao potential.
It was just that, for the time being, he had already exhausted almost all legitimate credit lines.
Unless he could pay off that three-hundred-spirit-coin 'Xiuxiu Loan,' which would likely unlock a higher limit of four hundred spirit coins next time.
Right now, however, that clearly wasn't practical.
"I need to figure out a way to raise my Immortal Dao potential..."
Chen Zhuo let out a long sigh, feeling that his hopes ultimately lay in the ancient cultivation world.
Aside from that, he currently faced another major dilemma.
Namely, this Qi Condensation Pill.
With that in mind, Chen Zhuo retrieved the Qi Condensation Pill that the lecturer had deemed a failure in class.
Its pill toxin content had not been tested, but it was very likely over fifty percent.
Perhaps even sixty, or upwards of eighty percent.
What kind of high-grade product could novices possibly refine?
If it didn't kill someone upon ingestion, they were already honor graduates.
Was he truly going to swallow this thing?
Chen Zhuo hesitated.
Truth be told, Chen Zhuo had fought tooth and nail to enroll in the Elixir Appraisal major precisely for moments like this—to leverage waste pills to advance his cultivation.
Back then, he had harbored no real hopes of reaching Foundation Establishment; his only goal had been to earn some spirit coins and cultivate to the peak of Qi Refining, eventually landing a job within the Immortal Mansion. Perhaps with some fortuitous encounter down the line, he might have fluked his way into Foundation Establishment.
Now that he had opened up a black-market smuggler's avenue through the ancient cultivation world, however, he found himself hesitating, reluctant to swallow these waste pills.
*Whatever. Pill toxins can also be purged with detox agents...*
Chen Zhuo thought to himself, then called up his spiritual communication jade slip to search for the price of a detox agent.
Five hundred spirit coins per vial.
And it could only purge five hundred spiritual energy units of pill toxin.
Outrageously exorbitant.
Chen Zhuo exhaled. After wavering for quite a while, he finally opened his contacts on the jade slip and located 'May Lightning Strike Whoever Encouraged Talisman Crafting': "Hey, classmate, are you there? I need two more Golden Armor Talismans and Sword Qi Talismans. Do you have any left in stock?"
The Golden Armor Talisman and Sword Qi Talisman were indeed extraordinary.
With those two talismans, Chen Zhuo could go toe-to-toe with middle-stage Qi Refining cultivators. In the ancient cultivation world, he genuinely needed powerful disposable talismans like these for self-defense.
If he wanted to purchase a magic tool, his current spirit coin balance wasn't nearly enough. To match that level of power, even the cheapest magic tool would cost at least several hundred spirit coins!
Not long after Chen Zhuo sent the message, the other party replied promptly.
[May Lightning Strike Whoever Encouraged Talisman Crafting]: Yes, yes! Fellow Daoist needs more talismans? Same old price—eight spirit coins each!
[May Lightning Strike Whoever Encouraged Talisman Crafting]: But since you're a returning customer, I have a few left in stock. If you take them all, it's twenty spirit coins for four Golden Armor Talismans and fifteen spirit coins for three Sword Qi Talismans—thirty-five spirit coins total. You can take the whole batch!
Seeing such a rapid response, Chen Zhuo was startled, then immediately overjoyed.
At such a steep discount, was the seller that eager to offload them?
Yet Chen Zhuo was also apprehensive. He immediately typed back: "Brother, be honest with me—you aren't trying to sell me scrap paper, are you? At this price, I'm almost scared to buy..."
[May Lightning Strike Whoever Encouraged Talisman Crafting]: I don't have a choice! The next exam is starting soon, and I'm still short on material fees! Talisman paper, cinnabar, animal fur—I haven't gathered enough of any of it! Sigh, so I can only liquidate my current stock on the cheap.
Talisman crafting was indeed a money-burning trade.
Before one reached qualified proficiency, it didn't earn a single cent.
Seeing this explanation, Chen Zhuo bought the entire lot without hesitation.
At eight spirit coins apiece, four would have cost thirty-two spirit coins.
Now, seven talismans cost only three spirit coins more. It was an undeniable bargain.
After all, this concerned his very life!
Once the deal was struck, Chen Zhuo closed the spiritual communication jade slip and let out a soft breath.
With these talismans in hand, his safety in the ancient cultivation world would improve considerably.
Although he had managed to slay a cultivator at the fourth layer of Qi Refining last time thanks to talismans, the sheer tension of life-and-death combat still left lingering dread in his heart.
Before long, a bamboo crane arrived, delivering the talismans.
Next, Chen Zhuo went online and purchased two sets of cheap, ancient-style robes, spending 0.5 spirit coins.
They were by no means magic tools, merely ordinary garments.
Mortal-made products were worth very little.
Having completed all these preparations, Chen Zhuo looked at the Qi Condensation Pill on the table. After pondering for a moment, he ultimately swept it into his storage bag.
*Better not eat it!*
Chen Zhuo told himself mentally. *Accumulating pill toxins isn't worth the cost. It's safer and far more reliable to advance through my own cultivation.*
With that resolve, Chen Zhuo sat cross-legged and began circulating the Changchun Art, breathing spiritual energy in and out.
Although spiritual energy was thin in the Immortal Mansion's world, it had the virtue of being safe.
And so, Chen Zhuo attended classes and cultivated by day, practiced military boxing by night, and occasionally exchanged cultivation insights with Meng Yan and Liang Ningwan.
They were all spiritual root implantees; the acquired helping the acquired—if you know, you know.
Just like that, four or five days slipped by in the blink of an eye.
Over these days, Chen Zhuo turned into a gluttonous Taotie, devouring every bit of the spotted leopard's meat until nothing remained but a skeleton that still retained a faint trace of spiritual energy.
On this day, Chen Zhuo opened his eyes, feeling the increasingly abundant spiritual energy within him. He was merely a half-step away from the third layer of Qi Refining.
*The timing is about right.*
Chen Zhuo thought to himself. He changed into one of the ancient-style robes, then gripped a Golden Armor Talisman and a Sword Qi Talisman in his hand, ready to activate them at a moment's notice.
Next, he retrieved the black net magic tool from his storage bag and, following the control methods he had looked up online over the past few days, channeled a sliver of spiritual energy into it.
*Buzz!*
As the spiritual energy entered, the black net magic tool vibrated faintly before collapsing into a bundle of black threads that coiled around Chen Zhuo's left wrist.
Chen Zhuo nodded in satisfaction.
With these three layers of protection, plus the ability to trigger the Boundary-Breaking Bead to flee at any time, he should be able to handle most emergencies.
Then, with a shift of Chen Zhuo's intent...
Black light flickered.
The next instant, Chen Zhuo's figure vanished from the cave dwelling, reappearing once more amidst those verdant mountains and crystal-clear waters.
Chapter 17