[This is a new story with no connection to previous one which I’ll upload here as I said in earlier Chapters. Hope you’llsupport this one too]

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Cave Abyss Sect, Dan Yuan.

Inside the Pill Chamber, a pair of clean hands held a white porcelain bottle, moving it over the Pill Furnace and pouring out some liquid medicine ground from Spirit Medicine.

The flames in the furnace changed, and a section of emerald green fruit pulp, liquefied by Spiritual Qi, was thrown into the furnace.

Song Yan’s clear eyes suddenly opened amidst the misty vapor, fixed intently on the Pill Furnace in front of him, a clear spiritual liquid suspended in his right hand.

His internal Spiritual Qi was exhausted, and sweat dripped from his forehead, but there was no hint of panic on his face.

His breathing was calm and long, as if even the airflow in the Pill Chamber was afraid to disturb it in the slightest.

The furnace fire suddenly flared, and the clear spiritual liquid was also poured into the furnace. A medicinal fragrance wafted out, invigorating the mind.

Song Yan held a Spirit Stone in his left hand, Spiritual Qi flowing slowly through his body like a thin stream, but his finger movements did not stop, and the fire in the Pill Furnace continuously surged.

Pill Condensation.

The furnace fire instantly extinguished. He breathed slightly, the Spirit Stone in his hand already dull and shattered, not a trace of Spiritual Qi left.

He did not rush, slowly breathing to recover his Spiritual Qi, and only rose when the residual heat of the furnace had stabilized the pill shape.

Opening the furnace and taking out the pills, all in one go.

"Seven Qi Nourishing Pills."

Song Yan’s expression was pleasantly surprised. He murmured to himself, "This time, there isn’t even a single waste pills.

Seven light green Medicinal Pills hung above the Pill Furnace, one by one being placed into a pill bottle.

The pill records stated that spiritual items like Medicinal Pills and Spiritual Plants would begin to dissipate their Spiritual Qi once they were taken out of the furnace or picked. Even when placed in a Storage Pouch, the same would happen.

They needed to be stored in special containers to prevent the loss of Spiritual Qi.

"Even the worst Pill Chamber in this Dan Yuan doesn’t have too much impact on the success rate of Qi Nourishing Pills."

Song Yan muttered to himself, calculating in his mind.

"Purchasing Dragon Liver Melon and Ning Spirit Grass cost two Low-Grade Spirit Stones, enough to refine about two batches of seven pills. Renting a Pill Chamber for a full day requires four Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Adding some miscellaneous costs, that’s also about two Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

"Two bottles of five Qi Nourishing Pills each can be sold for twelve Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

"Refining pills for one day can earn four Low-Grade Spirit Stones. If I’m lucky, the extra Qi Nourishing Pills can be kept for personal use."

Although the earnings weren’t much, it was far better than a mountain Loose Cultivator with little income.

Previously, his Alchemy techniques were not yet mature, and he dared not be overconfident with even the lowest and simplest Qi Nourishing Pills, always choosing slightly better Pill Furnaces.

Now, he could finally reduce some costs.

Because his Alchemy skill improved, he started using a lower-grade Pill Furnace instead. If this matter were to spread, it would probably leave people bewildered.

He nodded with satisfaction.

At three-quarters past 7-9 PM, Song Yan, dressed in a grey robe, walked out of the Pill Chamber.

The Spirit Stones had been paid beforehand. He walked onto the street of the Dan Yuan and looked up.

"What a world of immortal Dao."

In the distant sky, occasionally, streaks of Cultivator’s escape light cut across the clouds. He murmured to himself, his eyes filled with fervent desire.

Song Yan was originally an ordinary Chinese student on Blue Star, who by chance transmigrated to this great world of immortal Dao, becoming an abandoned orphan in Shiliang Town by the Wuxi River.

More than ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

Counting the days, it had been a year and a half since he joined the Outer Sect of Cave Abyss Sect.

Unfortunately, his three Spiritual Root Cultivation Aptitude was not good at all. Without Spirit Stones or Medicinal Pills, he had only reached the fourth level of Qi Refinement Stage. Now, he barely managed to accumulate some Cultivation resources by refining some Entry-Level Medicinal Pills.

"In another six months, I’ll have to take on Sect missions outside. Before that, I need to improve myself well."

"..."

On the Dan Yuan street, one could often see Sect Disciples coming and going, either in green robes or white robes, with special patterns and designs on their sleeves.

Every time he saw Disciples dressed like that, he envied them greatly.

Inner Sect Disciples received a fixed quota of Spirit Stones and Medicinal Pills every month.

When he first joined the Sect, among the same batch of Disciples, there were Geniuses with two Spiritual Roots and single Spiritual Roots, who were immediately admitted into the Inner Sect, and even taken as Personal Disciples by Elders.

"Just having excellent innate Spiritual Root Aptitude can spare us the painstaking efforts of working day and night like this."

However, his life had to continue; he was not a pessimistic person.

Adjusting his mood, he stepped into the storefront of a small shop in a secluded corner of the Lingyuanze Market.

"Relief Grocery Store."

In the entire Lingyuanze Market, there were probably no less than thirty or forty such small shops.

The front of the small shop was for business, and the back was for living. They sold all sorts of insignificant trinkets. The best items displayed on the counter were some basic Talismans, and some were even semi-finished.

In any case, Song Yan was not there to buy anything. On the contrary, he was there to sell things.

The shop owner was a charming woman.

At this moment, she was lazily lying on a chair, her pair of fair bare feet crossed and resting on the edge of the counter, faintly revealing a section of her snow-white, lotus-root-like calf.

She held a pipe in her left hand and played with a small jade seal in her right, looking utterly leisurely.

As he entered, she merely glanced at him.

"Ye Sheng is here."

Ye Sheng was Song Yan’s courtesy name.

"Granny Qin."

They were old acquaintances. He nodded, acknowledging her, "These are this month’s Medicinal Pills."

With a flick of his finger on the small leather pouch, six white porcelain bottles appeared on the almost dusty counter.

Storage Pouch, also known as qiankun bag, was a spatial bag used by Cultivators to store various items.

"Six bottles, a total of thirty pills. Please count them."

Granny Qin slightly raised her eyebrows, opened one of the porcelain bottles, poured out a Medicinal Pill, and held it between her slender jade fingers, examining it carefully.

When buying and selling Medicinal Pills, it was generally taboo to directly take pills from the bottle for identification. Usually, the pill’s fragrance and color were completely sufficient.

But this was Granny Qin. To Song Yan, she was the one who had literally kept a "homeless person" alive, so he naturally didn’t mind.

"In just nine months, your Alchemy skill has become even more refined, young man."

Granny Qin put the pill back, sealed the pill bottle with a flick of her jade finger.

"Seven Spirit Stones per bottle, I’ll take them all."

A bottle of five Qi Nourishing Pills usually cost about seven Spirit Stones on the market, but when selling to a small shop, one always had to leave some profit for the other party, so they were generally bought for six Spirit Stones.

It had always been this way with Granny Qin.

Song Yan frowned, then waved his hands repeatedly, "Granny Qin, just go by the market price, there’s no need to take such special care of me."

Qi Nourishing Pill was one of the lowest-grade Medicinal Pills in this immortal Cultivation world, within his knowledge.

Although it was a Medicinal Pill for Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators to consume and increase their Spiritual Qi, its medicinal Spiritual Qi was extremely low.

As its name suggested, it was usually for Cultivators who had just drawn Qi into their bodies but had not even reached Qi Refinement Stage Level 1, a pill for "Qi Nourishing."

"Hahahahaha, I’m not being polite with you, Granny. Your Qi Nourishing Pills are gentle in Spiritual Qi yet not weak, almost reaching the level of Medium Grade Medicinal Pills."

Song Yan raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

An Outer Sect Disciple who had just joined the Sect a year and a half ago would not have the Opportunity to come into contact with any Medium Grade Medicinal Pills, let alone such low-grade Medicinal Pills that yielded almost no profit from refining, which were inherently rare.

"Am I so bored? Why would I lie to you."

Granny Qin rolled her eyes at him, then collected all the pill bottles herself. With a flash of spiritual light, a small bag of Spirit Stones appeared on the counter.

"Take the Spirit Stones and scram, don’t disturb my peaceful Cultivation, Granny."

Granny Qin was good in every way, except that her mood changed faster than flipping a book.

"Thank you, Granny."

Song Yan took the Spirit Stones without counting them, bowed, and left the shop.

"This kid..."

After he left, Granny Qin lay back in her old rattan chair. A pill flew out of the porcelain bottle in the bag, which she held in her hand and examined carefully.

"Leaving aside the Spiritual Qi contained in the Medicinal Pill, its pill shape is round and full, with very few Impurities. Even a genuine Medium Grade Medicinal Pill is no more than this."

"The factors affecting the pill shape are nothing more than the quality of the Pill Furnace and the Alchemist’s Divine Sense."

Ye Sheng naturally couldn’t afford a good Pill Furnace; she knew this all too well.

"..."

Qin Xijun pondered, a strange glint in her eyes, "This kid is clearly only at Qi Refinement Stage Level 4."

...

After leaving the Relief Grocery Store, Song Yan did not immediately return to the Outer Sect Disciple’s residence but walked to another part of the Lingyuanze Market.

Artifact Refining Workshop, Fire Worker Village.

Similar to the Dan Yuan for the Sect’s Dan Yuan, this Artifact Refining Workshop was a complex of buildings constructed and controlled by the Artifact Refining lineage of the Cave Abyss Sect.

It mainly served for Inner and Outer Sect Disciples and some Cultivation families affiliated with the Cave Abyss Sect to purchase Magical Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts, or to trade items.

Compared to the center of the market, Fire Worker Village was located in a remote area and rarely visited.

Because this was where various markets piled up their trash.

Failed Medicinal Pills, broken Magical Artifacts, wrongly drawn Talismans, damaged Formation Plates.

There were even some strange books that both male and female Cultivators loved to read.

Whatever Song Yan could or couldn’t imagine, he could find it here. If nothing else, it was certainly an eye-opener.

Waste pills were useless to him, and he currently knew nothing about Magical Artifacts and Talismans.

So he was just here to collect some Formation Materials.

"Manager Xu."

Manager Xu was a stern middle-aged Cultivator. Seeing the young man approach, he nodded slightly, which counted as a greeting.

The work at Fire Worker Village was not complicated; one person was enough, so Manager Xu was the only one there.

Song Yan said no more pleasantries, simply handing over a Spirit Stone.

Xu Wenxuan took the Spirit Stone, looked at the young man’s back, and gently reminded him, "I remember there are some residual Formation items near the market area."

He had come here several times, always picking out Materials for basic Formations, which was why Xu Wenxuan offered this tip.

A surge of joy in his heart, "Thank you for the guidance, Manager Xu."

These trash items, once a certain amount accumulated, would be uniformly moved by the Manager into the Jiangyan Furnace behind Fire Worker Village, which connected to the Sect’s underground, and melted completely clean.

For Xu Wenxuan, these things were going to disappear anyway, so he might as well do a favor for these low-level Disciples who struggled without Cultivation resources.

Among these Outer Sect Disciples, who hadn’t started as Mortals without resources or background? He would help if he could.

Moreover, he could also gain an extra Spirit Stone for his Cultivation. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"This is also an Entry-Level Formation Plate. The copper corners are still intact. It’s a pity the Formation Stone is damaged."

Song Yan dug out a broken Formation Plate from the trash pile. The Formation Beads were scattered somewhere unknown.

"Repairing the remaining Formation Stones... seems sufficient."

"The Materials for the Small Spirit Gathering Array have been mostly collected. If I can barely form the array, I might try to Break through the bottleneck of Qi Refinement Stage Level 4 and reach the Realm of Qi Refinement Stage Level 5 before taking on missions."

"Look for Formation Beads."

These things were truly hard to find mixed in with this trash.

There were too many spherical objects in the trash pile. Besides other things, there was a pile of waste pills.

Waste pills were either black from exploding the furnace or white after losing Spiritual Qi. Formation Beads were generally also these two colors.

Fire Worker Village was not only open to Song Yan. It just so happened that there weren’t many people coming and going today. At this moment, in the large Fire Worker Village, apart from Manager Xu, he was the only one.

However, some piles of residual items were sparse, indicating that someone had already rummaged through them earlier.

"Waste pill."

"Another waste pill."

Song Yan even went so far as to activate his Spiritual Qi, taking all objects of similar size within his sight from a distance.

Fortunately, whether it was waste pills or Formation Beads, they were small trinkets and didn’t consume much Spiritual Qi.

"Formation Bead."

"Waste pill."

"Formation Bead."

His hand hadn’t even stroked the one he held, but his mind had already made a judgment, and he casually tossed it into his Storage Pouch.

"Eh?"

But a strange sensation caused a wisp of doubt to surface in his mind.

His outstretched hand retracted.

He took it out of the Storage Pouch again and held it in his hand, examining it carefully.

This Formation Bead...