Chapter Ninety-Four: The Price of the Foundation-Building Pill

The middle-aged man unleashed his divine sense to its limit and carefully searched the surrounding mountains and forests. Before long, he found the lair of the Red-Mane Fanged Boar. It was already late, and there was no one left inside; they must have all been wiped out.

With no clue yet to the mysterious cultivator, he decided to gather the spirit herbs first. His escape light shifted, and the middle-aged man surnamed Chen headed toward the valley where the Seven-Leaf Wisteria Flowers grew.

"Hm? What is this? Someone got here first, and even established a cave dwelling here to cultivate? But why did she leave in such a hurry? Could it be that she destroyed the evidence and fled..."

A moment later, standing inside the empty cave dwelling, the middle-aged man muttered with an ugly expression.

It had only been a little over half a year since his last visit, yet not only were the Seven-Leaf Wisteria Flowers gone, even the giant python beast that ordinary cultivators would never dare provoke had been slain.

A faint trace of a young woman's fragrance still lingered in the cave, and several of the luminous pearls on the walls had not been taken down. It looked as though the owner had departed in great haste.

Could she have known someone was coming? Was that why she fled early, guilty as a thief?

The middle-aged man quickly guessed the crux of the matter. Rising on his light, he gave chase in the direction Chu Xin'er had left.

Unfortunately, because Chu Xin'er had followed Xiao Wenzi's advice and kept changing direction even while fleeing at full speed, she had twice gone so far as to use water-escape art and slip through river channels and lakes.

After pursuing her for several dozen miles, the middle-aged man completely lost all sense of her aura.

The Seven-Leaf Wisteria Flowers, though precious because they could be used to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill, were not so valuable that the entire Chen family would mobilize for them. After chasing for more than half an hour with no result, the middle-aged man sighed and chose to give up.

"Xiaowen, aren't you being a little too cautious? It's been so long, and no high-level cultivator has come after us," Chu Xin'er said as she halted her light and glanced back at the quiet night sky and earth, bright with moonlight and sparse stars.

Although Xiao Wenzi had just explained everything, and the storage pouches of her second and fourth brothers were now in her possession, would the other side really pursue them to the end over this?

What Chu Xin'er did not know was that if she had not trusted Xiao Wenzi so completely, she would already have fallen into that second uncle's hands.

"Perhaps I was worrying needlessly. Still, better safe than sorry. Xin'er, let's keep as far away as we can."

They had already flown hundreds of miles, and the worry in Xiao Wenzi's heart had eased a great deal. He answered lightly, not avoiding the possibility that he might simply be mistaken.

"Mm, that's true."

Chu Xin'er had only spoken casually; she had no intention of blaming him. After nodding, she took out two pills and swallowed them, then rose on her light and continued flying toward the distant horizon.

In any case, she had already broken through to the great perfection of the Qi Refinement stage, and the Seven-Leaf Wisteria Flowers had matured enough. There was no reason to remain in that valley any longer.

The level of cultivation in Meilin County was not much stronger than in Tiannan County. So long as one did not venture into deep mountains and vast marshes occupied by high-level beasts, or encounter demonic cultivators who killed to seize treasures, it was generally still quite safe.

Chu Xin'er kept a low profile. Before entering any town market, she would deliberately alter her appearance to make herself look utterly ordinary.

Thus, over the next half month, though she traveled and roamed while also helping Xiao Wenzi search for lone cultivators to drink their blood, she did not encounter any danger.

With system coins to exchange for pills and spiritual liquids, and no need for him to fly during the journey, Xiao Wenzi, who had remained inside the spirit beast pouch all along, saw his cultivation advance by leaps and bounds, directly reaching the middle stage of the eighth level of the Demon Qi Realm.

After unlocking the exchange for new treasures, he could also exchange for the corresponding ninth-tier heaven technique. So a few days later, Xiao Wenzi asked Chu Xin'er for permission to feed on the blood of cultivators at the eighth level.

Xiao Wenzi had grown quite a bit again and looked even more imposing. His increased strength was exactly what Chu Xin'er was happy to see, so naturally she would not object.

Only, cultivators at the eighth level were not like those greenhorns in the early and middle stages. It was not easy to capture one alive, and since they had no grievance against each other, it was inconvenient to strike ruthlessly.

Fortunately, the only poisonous herbs Xiao Wenzi still needed were Black-Mustache Snake Vine and Toad Herb. He said that as long as those herbs were gathered, he had a way to easily subdue cultivators at the eighth or ninth level.

For this, Chu Xin'er took it very seriously.

Black-Mustache Snake Vine and Toad Herb were no ordinary poisonous herbs. They were not easy to find in the wild, but if one had spirit stones, how could one fail to buy them in the market?

Thus, Chu Xin'er came at once to the Flying Cloud Market before her.

The Flying Cloud Market was located in the northern part of Panzhou Continent, no longer within the borders of the mortal kingdom of Beilin. It was the property of the Flying Cloud Sect, the largest cultivation sect within ten thousand miles.

Under the governance of the Flying Cloud Sect, the Flying Cloud Market, though crowded with cultivators of all sorts, did not have a single person bold enough to engage in coercive buying or selling.

Chu Xin'er altered her appearance and entered one shop after another to inquire about and purchase Black-Mustache Snake Vine and Toad Herb.

Because such poisonous herbs were used only by demonic cultivators, and because she did not reveal any wealth, she did not attract the attention of anyone with ill intent.

Yet after visiting four or five shops in succession, she still had not achieved her goal, which showed how obscure these two poisonous herbs were.

The pavilion ahead that sold pills and spirit herbs belonged to the Flying Cloud Sect, and it was the largest commercial building in the Flying Cloud Market. Chu Xin'er believed that if she still could not find the two poisonous herbs there, then she was truly being overly optimistic.

"May I ask whether you have Foundation Establishment Pills for sale here, and how many spirit stones does each one cost?"

Chu Xin'er's cultivation was not high, and there were many customers inside the building. When she entered, no maidservant or attendant came forward to greet her, but she did not mind.

Just then, a conversation between a young attendant and a customer in the front hall drew her attention.

The man had reached the perfect completion of the thirteenth level of the Qi Refinement stage. Inquiring about a Foundation Establishment Pill was perfectly reasonable.

But perhaps the young attendant had answered too many questions of this sort, and because such sales rarely came to fruition, he replied with some impatience:

"Foundation Establishment Pill? Yes, our Flying Cloud Pavilion naturally has such a precious pill. As for the price, it is two hundred thousand spirit stones apiece. Would fellow daoist like to buy one now?"

At the end, the young attendant deliberately paused, and a trace of faint contempt appeared in his eyes, as though to say that asking was pointless anyway; with your mere Qi Refinement stage cultivation, how could you possibly possess so many spirit stones?

Sure enough, upon hearing that a single Foundation Establishment Pill cost two hundred thousand spirit stones, waves of sharp intakes of breath rose at once from the hall. Clearly, those low-level rogue cultivators who were not qualified to go to the second floor were all stunned by such an astronomical sum.

"No, I was just asking casually." The man in his thirties flushed red and awkwardly waved his hand.

The young attendant curled his lip, the disdain on his face deepening.

So expensive, a Foundation Establishment Pill was actually this expensive. A flash of unwilling longing also crossed Chu Xin'er's eyes. With her aptitude, without a Foundation Establishment Pill it would be very difficult for her to break through the bottleneck and enter the Foundation Establishment stage even in ten years.

Truth be told, after several fierce battles, the spoils she had seized were not few. But to gather one hundred thousand spirit stones was still a fool's dream, and it was no wonder that so many low-level cultivators were trapped in the Qi Refinement stage until the end of their lives.

If not for having a master at the late Foundation Establishment stage, Sister Hong would never have obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill either.

Chu Xin'er sighed inwardly. Fate and wealth, these two indispensable conditions in the cultivation world, truly were both essential.