Longevity begins with alchemy master

In front of the main gate of Gujin Pavilion.

A figure stepped out, a satisfied look on his face.

It was Luo Chen.

After selling the stolen goods, he successfully purchased two talisman puppets from Gu Yuan.

There weren't many of them, and even the talisman puppets weren't of a high grade; in terms of strength, they were at most equivalent to Core Formation cultivators.

But it cost him a full ten top-grade spirit stones!

Gu Yuan only sold it because Luo Chen was a major client.

After acquiring it, Luo Chen studied it briefly in the Ancient and Modern Pavilion. With Gu Yuan's explanation, he gained a certain understanding of this thing.

Unlike ordinary puppets, the talisman puppets of the Ancient and Modern Pavilion have the advantage of extremely strong autonomy.

Once you've planned out what the talisman puppet needs to do, it can complete the task perfectly.

At the same time, a large amount of information can be input into the talismanic pill, allowing it to make the correct response in different environments.

In this way, it can become a good helper in the daily life of a cultivator.

For example, there are tasks such as appraising and valuing treasures at the Ancient and Modern Pavilion, as well as daily tasks such as tending the herb garden, feeding spirit beasts regularly, and even patrolling the cave.

Throughout the entire process, cultivators only need to be slightly more meticulous in the initial setup of their divine sense; there is no need to expend any divine sense to control it afterward.

This is much more convenient than controlling ordinary puppets.

Although Luo Chen does not have a fixed cave dwelling now, as his cultivation level increases, his seclusion time often starts at a hundred years.

Often, they are unable to focus on anything else.

Preparing talisman puppets in advance is always a good idea.

Before leaving, Gu Yuan also gave Luo Chen an invitation.

It was an invitation to a large-scale trade fair that Gujin Pavilion would be holding soon, and as a Gold Glory VIP, he could attend directly.

Luo Chen noted this down, intending to go and see for himself when the time came.

As for now?

Luo Chen glanced at the sky; today's events had taken quite a long time, and it was already evening.

But it's not time to go back to the Ye family's place in Kunqiu Immortal City to rest.

This immortal city of Kunqiu can be considered a city that never sleeps in a sense. During this grand gathering at Yaochi, a large number of transactions also take place at night.

According to Ye Zhengchun's intelligence, Luo Chen left the Ancient and Modern Pavilion and headed southwest.

Soon after, he arrived at a seemingly ordinary tall building.

"Taibai Palace, there should be a trade fair being held here, lasting about three days. I think I've arrived just in time."

After taking a quick look around, Luo Chen stepped inside.

The armored soldiers guarding the gate blocked their way.

"I'm sorry, this trade fair is only open to cultivators at the Void Refinement stage, and you need to verify your qualifications in advance. You can only participate the following day."

Luo Chen's expression remained unchanged, and his aura vanished in a flash.

Instantly, the guards' expressions changed, and they no longer treated him as a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Moreover, after Luo Chen took out the Ancient and Modern Pavilion Golden Token, the other party immediately made way for him.

"Please come in, senior. Would you mind if I arranged a private room for you?"

Luo Chen waved his hand and entered the Taibai Hall on his own.

As the light and shadow shifted, a completely different world emerged.

A steady voice drifted over.

"A Soul-Slaying Blade, a spirit treasure, capable of slaying vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts, but less effective against a cultivator's primordial spirit. I wish to exchange it for a pot of ancient demon blood, preferably from a water-type ancient demon. I wonder which fellow Daoist would be willing to make the exchange?"

As soon as Luo Chen entered, he heard someone take out a valuable treasure to make a deal.

He looked in the direction of the sound, but could not see the source of the sound.

The only visible sight was a cluster of orbs of light sitting in various places amidst the vast expanse of white light, their true faces hidden from view.

The Taibai Trade Fair does a good job of keeping its guests' privacy.

Even with Luo Chen's divine sense, he couldn't penetrate those white lights.

It's likely that, in the eyes of others, he was just a ball of light.

Luo Chen calmed down and found an empty seat to sit down.

As for the Soul-Slaying Blade suspended in the air, he examined it carefully for a moment, and finally shook his head.

The effect is somewhat lackluster.

If it could also have a powerful effect on the primordial spirit of cultivators, then even without the essence blood of the ancient water demon, he would still have to spend a great deal to trade for it.

But if it's only targeting vengeful spirits and evil ghosts, then there's no need for that.

Its own Celestial Magnetic Divine Thunder is far more powerful than any magic-exorcising artifact in dealing with evil spirits.

Many of the strong individuals present shared similar thoughts.

Those who have cultivated to their level all have more or less specific means to deal with evil spirits, so there was no scramble for the Soul-Slaying Blade.

Some people wanted it, but couldn't produce the ancient demon blood. They tried to exchange it for spirit stones or other resources, but after several rounds of discussion, they eventually gave up.

Through this transaction, Luo Chen became familiar with the trading patterns among high-level cultivators.

Unlike the Mountain and Sea Realm, where spirit stones were the primary form of currency, they placed greater emphasis on barter.

Cultivators often offer things that are useless to them in exchange for resources they desperately need.

This is actually a positive for him.

This is because he still possesses a wealth of resources, including rare items like the blood of ancient demons.

This was certainly not something he hunted himself.

It was the collection of those thousand Blood Gods!
Those people were mostly notorious rogue cultivators on the Blood Rain Continent, who had a history of killing and robbing.

Even though they offended some powerful demons, they were not afraid of being found by others by concealing their whereabouts.

After Luo Chen sat down, he began to pay attention to the resources that were brought out later.

I sat there for most of the day!

Throughout the entire process, very few resources could tempt him.

It wasn't that the items these Void Refinement cultivators brought out weren't valuable enough, but rather that they were simply not enough compared to his current collection.

Either Luo Chen already has a substitute, or he doesn't need one.

As night fell, Luo Chen's eyes suddenly lit up, and his spirits lifted slightly.

A lump of ore radiating brilliant golden light appeared in the center of the venue.

"Star Gold, I don't need to elaborate on its value! All you need is a piece of ten-thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood to take it away."

When the ore appeared, the previously quiet venue suddenly became lively.

Powerful divine senses surged forth, constantly probing the ore.

"Such a rich golden energy, it truly is the legendary meteorite gold!"

"If added to a sword or similar natal magic weapon, it would greatly enhance its sharpness."

"It's just that the weight is a bit insufficient, only about the size of a fist, and it seems to contain quite a few impurities. This fellow Daoist wants to exchange it for ten-thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood, I'm afraid he's being a bit greedy."

"Yes, lightning-struck wood is common, but those that can survive for more than ten thousand years are all powerful tools used by us Void Refinement cultivators to overcome the Heavenly Tribulation of Integration. Exchanging it for such a piece of Star Gold is a bit of a loss."

The True Lord's divine sense continued to spread throughout the hall, which made the owner of the Star Gold look rather unpleasant.

What angered him even more was the list of items offered in exchange by the divine thoughts that were eager to make a deal with him.

"Are you all ignorant? Look closely, the other things in this ore are not impurities, but faint traces of other fundamental elements. In other words, this stone is not far from the legendary Star Crystal!"

The difference between "gold of the stars" and "crystal of the stars" is only one word.

But they are worlds apart!

Upon his reminder, all the True Lords of Refining Emptiness in the hall looked over carefully.

This observation indeed proved the man's words to be true. But sighs followed one after another.

"It's a bit of a mishmash."

"Yes, both Star Gold and Crystal Core are top-grade refining materials, but this thing has a little bit of both on it, so it can't go up or down and is stuck here."

"Unless you have extremely advanced weapon-refining skills, this piece of ore is really not very useful."

"To exchange this for a ten-thousand-year-old lightning-struck tree is not an equal exchange!"

Upon hearing this, the owner of the Star Gold nearly vomited blood. Had he made a fool of himself?
as predicted.

Subsequently, the number of people interested in this item decreased significantly.

Even when people inquired about prices, the items they offered did not meet his requirements.

Just as he was feeling utterly disappointed and was about to take back the ore, a divine thought came through.

"I have a nine-thousand-year-old lightning-struck tree here. Would you like to take a look, fellow Daoist?"

“Nine thousand years old? Forget it, it’s not old enough…” Just as this person was about to refuse.

The voice came again.

"Fellow Daoist, don't be in such a hurry to refuse. Take a look first."

"Oh?"

The man hesitated for a moment, then decided to wait and see.

The next moment, a streak of dark light flew up from the entrance of the main hall below and entered his private room.

He looked around and saw a piece of charred wood covered with silver patterns.

There are nine in total, and they are indeed lightning-struck trees that are about nine thousand years old.

Just as he was frowning, he suddenly paused, startled.

Beneath the lightning-struck tree, roots still remained.

This means that the wood can still be cultivated.

If watered with a secret method, it might be able to mature to the level of ten thousand years ahead of schedule!
In this way, it would barely meet his required standards.

"How about it? Can we exchange this nine-thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood for that piece of Star Gold containing impurities?"

After pondering for a moment, the True Monarch of Refining Emptiness finally nodded.

"make a deal!"

Then, under the watchful eyes of many, the piece of star gold landed on a seat at the entrance of the main hall.

Everyone knows perfectly well what this means.

Deal done!
This left some people who were hoping to find a bargain quite disappointed.

At the entrance, Luo Chen played with the heavy ore in his hand, a look of satisfaction on his face.

This material is indeed not top-grade Star Gold, and it would be quite troublesome to use it in refining magical artifacts.

Compared to the star crystal core, it is far inferior.

But for him, it had a different use.

The final step in the Vacuum God Gu's successful transformation was absorbing a star crystal core.

Star Gold and Star Crystal Core are of the same origin, so they should also be of some help to the Vacuum Divine Gu.

Previously, in order to escape the pursuit of the Great Vehicle Celestial Venerable, he recklessly urged Kong Kong'er in the void turbulence. Although he eventually escaped the void turbulence, it also severely damaged Kong Kong'er's vitality.

It is currently still dormant.

With this item to make up for it, and by collecting more space-related resources similar to Kongya Crystals, it might be able to help Kongkong'er awaken quickly.

As for that nine-thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood?

It is merely a part of the legacy of the Blood God Child.

It was specially cultivated by a cultivator specializing in Void Refinement, to prepare them for dealing with the Heavenly Tribulation of Integration in the future.

This item is useful to Luo Chen, but it's somewhat of a double-edged sword.

Because Luo Chen possesses another treasure called the Thunder-Drawing Needle, which, when used with the array plate, can be used to set up the Eight Desolate Thunder-Drawing Array, greatly reducing the power of the Integration Heavenly Tribulation.

Although this item is specifically for demon cultivators to use during their tribulations, it also has a certain auxiliary effect on Luo Chen's physical body, which is also cultivated by demons.

For the lightning-struck wood to reach the level required to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation of the Integration Realm, it would still need about a thousand years.

Luo Chen didn't have that much time to train.

A lightning rod is sufficient as a substitute.

In exchange for this, he could obtain a resource that might help Kongkong'er awaken, allowing Luo Chen to regain control of the Vacuum Divine Escape technique as much as possible.

For him, this is the most reasonable plan!

As for the Heavenly Tribulation of Integration, that can only be discussed later.

After this exchange, Luo Chen had no immediate plans to make a move; he simply observed from the sidelines.

Luo Chen didn't make his move until the third day of the Taibai Trade Fair.

Instead of actively exchanging other people's treasures, he took out three items.

A short sword with shimmering water, at the level of a spiritual treasure.

A silk handkerchief, of the Lingbao level.

A piece of animal bone, containing a rich aura of the source of water.

When these three items appeared, there was a slight commotion in the room.

Spiritual treasures are one thing, but cultivators who can reach the Refinement Void stage have basically cultivated their natal magic treasures to the level of spiritual treasures, and some even reach the Heavenly Spiritual Treasure stage.

Having two magical treasures only shows that this person is quite wealthy.

But that piece of animal bone was quite tempting.

"The aura of the Azure Dragon?"

"Having reached the Void Refinement level, how could someone be able to slay such a powerful water-type demon? Aren't they afraid of offending the Azure Sea Clan?"

"If this is used in medicine, it may greatly increase the chances of a water-type Nascent Soul cultivator condensing a phantom form!"

Seeing the reactions in the room, Luo Chen nodded slightly, noting that the experts here were indeed quite knowledgeable.

Without further ado, he declared loudly, "With these three items, we can exchange them for resources containing spatial attributes, as well as Star Gold like the one we just discussed. Alternatively, if there is any news about the Nirvana Fruit, we can choose one of them."

These words immediately elicited a reaction within the hall.

Several streaks of light flew out and arrived in front of Luo Chen.

Luo Chen extended his divine sense and revealed a satisfied expression on one of the items.

"This Insightful Sand is quite good; how about exchanging it for this short sword? I wonder if you would agree?"

The cultivator who gave the Insight Sand grunted and reached out to grab the magical short sword.

As for the other treasures, Luo Chen didn't even notice them.

The others were disappointed, but they didn't insist.

As for the so-called news about the Nirvana Fruit, no one provided it.

Just as Luo Chen was about to reclaim the remaining two treasures in disappointment, a familiar divine thought came through.

"I do have news about the Nirvana Fruit. Could you part with the Azure Dragon Beast Bone?"

"Oh?"

Luo Chen blinked and recognized the divine sense as belonging to the owner of the lightning-struck wood he had just traded with.

"The matter here is complicated and cannot be explained in a short time. Fellow Daoist, could we discuss it privately after the trade fair?"

After thinking for a moment, Luo Chen said, "In that case, let's discuss the Azure Dragon Beast Bone in detail before handing it over to you, fellow Daoist!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Chen withdrew the two beams of light.

In a luxurious private room at the Taibai Palace, an old man stroked his beard and chuckled as he scolded:

"He's the kind of person who won't act until he sees a clear benefit." (End of Chapter)