Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 218 Core Formation Elixir
For several days in a row, Li Ji'an and Yan Qingwan explored almost the entire Tianhe Immortal City, gaining a thorough understanding of the market in Tianyuan Prefecture.

Many resources that are strictly controlled by the Biyun Sect in Cangyun Prefecture can be freely traded here.

Moreover, the price is relatively low.

Even the third-tier spiritual herbs that were almost exclusively monopolized by the Biyun Sect in Cangyun Prefecture could be found from time to time.

“Aunt, this string of fire crystal beads should be of great benefit to you.” As night fell, after the two returned to the inn, Li Ji’an took out a string of nurturing magical artifacts from his storage bag.

"Fan'er!" Yan Qingwan took the beaded string, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

These past few days, as Yan Qingwan strolled around the Immortal City, she felt as if she were a child from a mortal community visiting the Immortal City for the first time. The dazzling array of cultivation supplies of the second rank and above overwhelmed her.

However, even if the supplies here are cheap, second-tier items are still beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators.

As the Foundation Establishment Ancestor of the Yan Family, she had not planned to come beforehand and had less than three thousand spirit stones on her. She could only temporarily suppress her desire to buy and wait for the grand event to begin so that she might encounter some spiritual resources that would be of great use to the family.

She had been admiring this string of fire crystal beads for a long time the day before yesterday, and she was indeed tempted by it, but the price of one thousand spirit stones made her reluctantly give it up.

Unexpectedly, Li Ji'an was so thoughtful in understanding her feelings and gave her a pleasant surprise.

"Fan'er, how can I accept this?" Yan Qingwan looked at the beaded string, a hint of shame on her face.

Sixty years have passed since she first met Li Fan. The eight-year-old child back then has now become a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, whose status, wealth, and position have far surpassed that of his elder.

Because of Brother Li, and because she was destined to have no children in this life, she treated Li Fan as her own son from the beginning, only thinking of helping him as much as she could, as a way of repaying Brother Li's kindness.

However, ever since Li Fan successfully established his foundation, he traveled thousands of miles to deliver the Foundation Establishment Pill, helping the Yan family to produce its third Foundation Establishment cultivator and solidifying the Yan family's position in the wasteland.

Later, as the number one alchemist in Golden Glory Immortal City, he helped the Yan family gain face in front of the other three families' ancestors in the wasteland.

This also helped her establish a relationship with Master Qin and the Qishilin Taoist Temple.

I had previously given her premium anti-aging pills...

“Aunt, I don’t have many relatives in this world, so there’s no need for us to say these things. Just consider this a small token of my respect to you.” Li Ji’an smiled slightly. Over the years, he had accumulated considerable wealth by taking advantage of the Biyun Sect. In addition, he had received a gift from that Tribulation Cultivator in Jinhuang Immortal City, so his total assets easily exceeded 100,000 spirit stones. He didn’t care about a mere thousand or so spirit stones.

In the end, Yan Qingwan accepted the beaded necklace, and at the same time made up her mind that she would not go out with Li Ji'an for the next few days.

It was already past midnight when Qin Henian and his grandson returned, looking travel-worn.

The two of them had tried almost everything they could in the past few days, but still could not meet the president of the Surabaya Chamber of Commerce.

With the Tianhe Grand Event about to begin, they grew increasingly anxious.

“Senior, this is the jade talisman with the map of the Great Swamp Cultivation World that I purchased today. Please take a look at it.” Li Ji’an first poured tea for Qin He’nian, and then activated a jade talisman in his hand.

A water curtain map immediately appeared inside the room.

This is the only map of the entire territory that Li Ji'an has selected in the Immortal City these past few days that seems relatively credible.

On the water curtain map, the Tiancang Domain is prominently located in the eastern part of the entire map, below which lies the Xuanxiao Cultivation Domain, a cultivation domain with Nascent Soul level forces.

To the west lies the Wanshang Domain, marked only as a medium-sized cultivation domain. It contains no fourth-order spiritual veins and no cultivation grounds suitable for Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

To the north are two domains: the Yellow Heaven Domain to the northwest and the Boundless Domain to the northeast, both of which are defined as Demon Domains by the Myriad Laws Palace.

The area where the war in the cultivation world is said to have occurred is in the west of the rumored area, which is in the central part of the map.

According to the map, there are four large cultivation domains. These large cultivation domains are those with more than two fourth-order spiritual veins within their area, and some are even of the highest grade fourth order, making them sacred places where late-stage Nascent Soul Quasi-Heavenly Monarchs can be born.

Qin Henian has been paying close attention to the situation in the central region these days, and has visited many fellow Daoists at the True Person level to learn more about it.

However, as a pseudo-Dan family in Cangyun Prefecture, he has always been subject to information blockade by the Biyun Sect. Not to mention the situation in the far central region, he is not very clear about the situation in the cultivation domains surrounding Tiancang Domain.

Regarding the map that Li Ji'an asked him for advice on, he could only assess the situation in the surrounding cultivation domains; he was powerless to do anything about those that were too far away.

With Qin Henian's guidance, Li Ji'an nodded in satisfaction. He no longer expected to understand the whole world; it was enough for him to understand his own location and the surrounding situation.

One day, he will surely be able to personally measure this world.

"The flying crane pities the frog at the bottom of the well, but it doesn't know that it is just a caged bird. Without becoming a true elixir, it can only be confined to a corner in the end." After Li Ji'an put away the map and jade talisman, Qin Henian couldn't help but sigh.

A cultivator's entire life is filled with regret, yet he never gets to see the whole cultivation world.

Unfortunately, those who are not true cultivators cannot freely traverse the barren spiritual lands; they can only cross realms by relying on large spirit ships. Ninety-nine percent of cultivators are merely frogs in a well.

The next morning, Qin Henian's grandson went again to try to meet the president of the Sishui Chamber of Commerce.

Yan Qingwan said she needed to meditate and cultivate for a few days and could not accompany Li Ji'an out for a stroll.

After leaving the inn, Li Ji'an completely let loose and lived life to the fullest.

With the divine sense of a pseudo-core cultivator and the exquisite regulation of qi and blood, after disguising himself, it is difficult for anyone other than a mid-stage True Core cultivator to see through his disguise. Even if Qin Henian were face to face, he could only sense that he was disguised. As for cultivators below the pseudo-core level, they could not sense that he was disguised.

"Shopkeeper, would you mind spending 1,000 spirit stones on this jade lotus?" He first went to a spirit herb shop he had his eye on yesterday and asked directly about the jade lotus planted in a jade pot on the top shelf.

The Azure Jade Lotus Pod is a second-tier spiritual medicine, a key ingredient in refining the main elixir for late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation. It cannot be traded within Cangyun Prefecture and is basically only possessed by the Biyun Sect and the former five great families.

If Li Ji'an were to exchange it using contribution points, it would require 600 contribution points.

In this place, it is considered an ordinary spiritual herb, with a market price of around 1,200 spirit stones. However, the shopkeeper's herb is nearly 500 years old. Yesterday, someone came to inquire about the price, and the shopkeeper asked for 1,500 spirit stones, but the deal was not made.

Based on their perceived value, it's unlikely a deal will be made unless someone is in urgent need of the product.

After all, the Jade Lotus Pod can be used as medicine after 300 years of medicinal age. An additional 200 years of medicinal age will not help the medicinal properties of the pill, so it is not worth spending an extra 300 spirit stones.

"If you are truly interested, 1,300 spirit stones is the bottom price. Please do not try to bargain further." The shopkeeper seemed to be having some trouble with this green lotus. After all, the Heavenly River Gathering was approaching, and if another batch of green lotuses appeared at that time, the market price might drop. So he wanted to get rid of it in advance.

In fact, it wasn't just him; all the merchants in the entire Immortal City, including the stall owners in the street market, had been lowering their prices almost every day recently in order to avoid the impact of the Heavenly River Festival. The prices were much lower than usual.

"Deal!" Li Ji'an paid the spirit stones without further hesitation.

Only after Li Ji'an put the jade lotus seedpod, pot and all, into his storage bag did he finally stop suppressing his joy.

At first glance yesterday, he didn't notice anything amiss. It wasn't until the shopkeeper revealed his acquisition of the land while haggling with the man that Li Ji'an carefully examined the rootstock.

The problem has finally been identified.

According to the ancient third-tier alchemist's inheritance obtained from the underground cave in the Dazeshan Ruins, the formula for the Crystal Condensation Pill contains another key ingredient: the Immaculate Lotus Seed.

Before it matures, the Immaculate Lotus Seedpod is very similar to the Jade Lotus Seedpod, with the biggest difference being the color of the rootstock.

Another difference is their growing environment. The lotus seeds of the Wugou lotus pod are clear and pure after maturity, and they also have the effect of washing away impurities. However, the lotus pod grows in muddy swamps and places with black water and decay.

In the ancient formula for the Crystal Condensation Pill, there are many third-tier spiritual herbs that Li Ji'an had never heard of in Cangyun Prefecture. Of the twenty-one kinds of herbs, Biyun Sect only has seven kinds. He has already exchanged for five kinds. This time, when he came to Tianhe Immortal City, he saw seven or eight more kinds. By comparing them with the spiritual herb catalog in the Immortal City, he found that there are at least three kinds that are not recorded in the spiritual herb catalog of Tiancang Domain.

It's unclear whether it hasn't been discovered yet or if the practice was interrupted in later ancient times. The Immaculate Lotus Seed is one of the three.

Thus, we are one step closer to achieving the Crystallization Pill.

"I wonder if we can gather them all at the Heavenly River Gathering?" Li Ji'an remained optimistic about the medicinal herbs that were recorded in the Heavenly Cang Domain, but he did not have high hopes for the other two that were not recorded.

After leaving the house, Li Ji'an glanced at the Mysterious Forest of Illusions in the northwest.

Yesterday, the shopkeeper said that the jade lotus seedpod he acquired was harvested from a blackwater swamp nearby.

Li Ji'an kept it in mind.

Then, changing his appearance, Li Ji'an took all the ingredients for the Crystal Condensation Pill that he had seen in the past few days.

Third-tier spiritual herbs are twice as expensive as second-tier spiritual herbs. A single auxiliary herb can cost more than two thousand spirit stones. In addition to the Immaculate Lotus Seedpod, Li Ji'an also bought eight other kinds of Crystal Condensation Pill ingredients, spending a total of more than thirty thousand spirit stones.

"To gather the remaining ingredients for the Crystal Condensation Pill, I'm afraid I'll need more than 30,000 spirit stones." In Cangyun Prefecture, there were spirit stones that had nowhere to go, but now, because of the ingredients for a single Crystal Condensation Pill, he was worried that he wouldn't have enough spirit stones.

After all, the Crystal Condensation Pill is a substitute for the Core Formation Spirit Treasure, with a grade of at least mid-third level. Given his situation, the pill fire provided by the second-level Fire Spirit is barely enough for him, but as for his soul, he would need to advance to the late Foundation Establishment stage to have any chance.

Overall, it was somewhat of a stretch.

Moreover, the method of refining the Crystal Condensation Pill in that inheritance is not simple. He was unsure how many times he would have to fail before he could succeed, so one batch of medicinal materials was definitely not enough.

Finally, disguised as an old man, he went straight to the Sishui Chamber of Commerce, intending to sell some of his retired talismans to recoup some losses.

Second-tier talismans are more expensive than pills, and because they are produced in large quantities, purchasing agents may not be able to handle them all, so the prices offered by the merchant guild are naturally not as good.

As soon as Li Ji'an stepped into the Chamber of Commerce hall, he saw Qin He'nian and his grandson sitting there drinking tea.

Last night, their plan was to wait here, hoping to catch up with Master Yuxiao.

At that moment, Fu Yuanjiang happened to be present in front of Qin Henian and his grandson, and was chatting with Qin Henian with a smile on his face.

After several days of tracking and observation, Fu Yuanjiang has completely put his mind at ease.

Master Wang is right. The Sishui Chamber of Commerce has already made arrangements, and Qin Henian will not be able to see Master Yuxiao.

Without paying attention to the situation between the two sides, Li Ji'an went straight to the counter.

"What kind of service do you need, sir?" the clerk behind the counter asked with a professional smile.

"I sell talismans," Li Ji'an said in his aged voice.

The servant smiled and nodded: "If you need to sell talismans, senior, you can go to any shop in the Immortal City. All of them are our guild's purchasing channels, and the prices are uniform."

Li Ji'an frowned slightly, and decided not to waste any more words. He simply took out a jade box from his storage bag and said, "I have quite a few talismans."

"Oh, so you're a merchant, senior. Please forgive me. In that case, please have some tea and wait while the vice president personally inspects and receives you." The servant saw a jade box of talismans, suddenly realized, and hurriedly bowed to show him.

Soon, a waitress from the hall hurried over and bowed, inviting Li Ji'an to take a seat.

Then, a spiritual tea was served.

Li Ji'an glanced at Fu Yuanjiang next to him, then drank his tea expressionlessly.

The Qin family, grandfather and grandson, on the other side of the table simultaneously glanced at Li Ji'an.

Qin Chuan's spiritual sense was insufficient to detect anything unusual about Li Ji'an, and he assumed that Li Ji'an was a peer who was in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

Qin Henian's pseudo-core divine sense immediately detected that the person in front of him had used a disguise technique, but he could not see through the disguise, so he concluded that the person was at least a pseudo-core cultivator.

Qin Henian bowed slightly.

Fu Yuanjiang turned his head and glanced at Li Ji'an. Like Qin Chuan, he thought the other party was just an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, and found Qin Henian's initiative to show goodwill quite amusing.

"Is the Qin family out of options, trying to curry favor with everyone they meet?" Fu Yuanjiang thought to himself, leaning back in his chair and looking at Li Ji'an.

"How many talismans did you acquire this time, fellow Daoist?"

"Not much." Li Ji'an closed his eyes to rest, not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Fu Yuanjiang, however, perked up: "Since you don't have many, why don't you sell them all to me? I'll buy them all at a 5% premium. How about that?"

The Sishui Chamber of Commerce is currently in dire need of talismans, and in an effort to curry favor with the Chamber, the Fu family has recently acquired a considerable number of talismans.

However, there were too many middlemen buying for the Surabaya Chamber of Commerce, and their purchase prices were not very competitive, so the quantity they bought was not very large, and much of the quality was substandard.

Upon hearing Fu Yuanjiang's words, Qin Henian sighed inwardly.

We were truly unprepared for this grand event in Tianhe.

Originally, it was just to test the waters, mainly to purchase some Core Formation materials for Qin Chuan, but unexpectedly, they encountered the Central Plains Cultivation War and the major actions of the Sishui Chamber of Commerce.

A few days ago, he had considered meeting the Sishui Chamber of Commerce in the same way as Fu Yuanjiang, but acquiring talismans was no small matter, and they did not have enough spirit stones.

After the Tianhe Grand Gathering, the president of the Sishui Chamber of Commerce will be heading to the central region, and there will be no more opportunities. He will not even have time to send spirit stones from his clan.

"Not for sale!" Li Ji'an said succinctly.

Qin Henian's eyes lit up, and a smile naturally appeared on his face. He nodded to Li Ji'an again to show his goodwill.

Fu Yuanjiang frowned slightly, especially when he saw Qin Henian's gloating attitude, which made him even more displeased.

"Ahem~ I am Fu Yuanjiang, the head of the Fu family of Guanshan Bamboo Sea. May I ask your esteemed name, fellow Daoist?" Fu Yuanjiang announced his name.

Li Ji'an turned slightly, his back to him: "I am not fond of words."

Fu Yuanjiang's face instantly darkened even more.

"Hahaha~" Qin Henian couldn't help but laugh as he watched from the other side.

"Esteemed seniors, our vice president invites you." Just then, a steward came to invite them.

"Hmph!" Fu Yuanjiang glared at Li Ji'an, then turned and left.

Qin Henian hurriedly stood up and clasped his hands in greeting to Li Ji'an: "I am Qin Henian. Now that you have finished this matter, would you mind having a drink with me?"

It wasn't that he was at his wit's end, as Fu Yuanjiang claimed, and that he had no other choice but to target a traveling merchant; rather, he genuinely felt that the other party's style of doing things suited his taste.

Li Ji'an slowly stood up, nodded to Qin Henian, but did not agree to keep the appointment. He then followed the steward toward the inner hall.

(End of this chapter)