After I left the sect, the entire sect knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

Chapter 88 Alchemist Levels? I don't know, I haven't tested it.
Lin Yan held her breath and focused her mind, forming hand seals. Spiritual fire followed her movements, flying towards the alchemy furnace. The prepared materials were also thrown into the furnace, where spiritual energy permeated them, rapidly breaking them down into essence.

Mu Feng watched intently from the side, his expression focused, afraid of missing any detail.

Before we could even get enough of her, she had already reached the final stage of pill condensation, her pill refining speed was astonishing.

Soon, a batch of pills was refined. While Mu Feng was still in surprise, she had already taken the pill box and put the pills away. Fifteen pills were neatly arranged in the box. Each pill was round and smooth, with no blemishes on its surface. Without testing, one could tell that the pills were of very high quality just by looking at them.

Mu Feng was so surprised that he couldn't speak. After a long while, he hurriedly took the box and placed it on the testing instrument to test it.

—Top-grade!
Although it is a basic pill, it is not difficult for an intermediate alchemist to refine. However, Fellow Daoist Lin refined it too quickly and easily. Not only is the quality high, but the success rate is also so high. Basically, not a single essence was wasted, and it was all condensed into pills.

...Clearly, Fellow Daoist Lin had asked me for advice on alchemy before.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, if I may ask, what is your current alchemy level?"

"Alchemy level? I don't know, I haven't tested it."

His silence was deafening!
"Fellow Daoist Lin, are you going to take the alchemist level test later?"

Lin Yan shook her head without hesitation. The association's certified alchemist level wasn't that important to her. Things that weren't important weren't worth the time.

"Alright, fifteen top-grade pills, you can hand them in now. Do you need to return the remaining materials?"

Mu Feng shook his head. "Use the alchemy materials provided by the association to refine pills. As long as you submit the required number of pills, the rest is all yours. It's also to give alchemists extra income."

"Oh, the alchemists at the Alchemy Association have pretty good benefits."

As a member of the association, Mu Feng suddenly felt a strange sense of pride when he heard others praising the association. He scratched the back of his head foolishly and led her to the place where the pills were submitted.

After registering, he took out the communication jade disc to contact Qi Yang.

Little Alchemist Mu Feng: Ah Yang, I'm going to the black market with Fellow Daoist Lin later, are you coming?
Qi Yang didn't reply, presumably he was refining pills in the alchemy room. After putting away the communication jade disc, he said, "Fellow Daoist Lin, let's go first."

"Aren't you going to wait for your Daoist partner?" After she finished speaking, Mu Feng's face turned bright red, and he stood there stunned, like a boiled crab.

He and Qi Yang weren't very high-profile in public; at most, they'd hold hands. Good friends often hold hands too...

Although it's not uncommon for male cultivators to form Daoist couples on the Canghai Continent, it's rare. Some cultivators even look down on couples who are both male. Judging from Fellow Daoist Lin's tone, it seems he doesn't find their union heretical; it's as if their union is perfectly normal.

Mu Feng asked somewhat helplessly, "Don't you...don't you think it's strange for male cultivators to become partners?"

Lin Yan looked puzzled beneath the veil. How could he think she found it strange for male cultivators to unite? They were all cultivating immortality; if they met someone they liked, they should just be together. Why be so concerned about gender?
"Not surprising. If two people are in love, they get married; if their feelings fade, they separate. Why should gender restrictions matter?"

Mu Feng agreed with this statement and couldn't help but feel that Lin Yan's image had become more impressive.

“Fellow Daoist Lin is right! My Daoist partner is refining pills, let’s go first.”

The two left the Pill Association and headed towards the black market.

The black market is in the eastern district. Once you reach the alley, you'll be greeted by a puppet. You'll need to pay a low-grade spirit stone to receive a pass and a mask.

You need to wear a mask and have a pass to enter through the secret door.

Mu Feng said excitedly, "Fellow Daoist Lin, the black market in Sun City is different from black markets in other places. We should definitely take a good look around!"

Lin Yan thought that no matter how different the black market was, it was just like a chamber of commerce, selling all sorts of things. Perhaps, the black market was even created by various chambers of commerce to sell things that they couldn't conveniently sell themselves. Only after entering the black market did she realize the difference Mu Feng had mentioned.

Unlike the somber atmosphere of other black markets, this place resembled a fairyland. A river ran along the outer edge, providing direct teleportation from the entrance to the bridge. Numerous rare and exotic flowers bloomed along the riverbank, each one exquisitely beautiful, their fragrance filling the air with a gentle breeze.

At the center of the black market stood a towering tree, with pavilions and towers built around it. Everywhere, head-sized luminous pearls served as lighting, emitting a soft yet bright light that illuminated the black market as if it were daytime.

Lin Yan, who had always assumed the black market would be gloomy and gloomy, was stunned. This was the black market of Sun City? How could it be built on such a grand scale, even larger than the Chamber of Commerce?

"Fellow Daoist Lin, I haven't asked you what you've come to the black market for yet."

Lin Yan didn't hide anything and said frankly, "I came to buy Zhengu Pills and did some shopping while I was at it."

"Does the fairy want to buy the Bone-Suppressing Pill to help the female cultivator rescued from the Peach Blossom Sect conceal her physique?"

"Ah."

Upon hearing this, Mu Feng's expression hardened, his eyes filled with admiration. He clasped his hands in a fist salute, "I admire you! Fellow Daoist Lin not only saved those female cultivators, but also considered their needs so thoroughly. If it were me, I would have sent them out of the city as soon as possible after rescuing them, to avoid causing myself any more trouble."

Lin Yan was embarrassed again, her toes practically digging out a three-bedroom apartment. Fortunately, she was covered by a veil and a mask, so no one could see her embarrassment.

“I’m not that kind either. Let’s go, let’s not stand here chatting on the bridge.”

Mu Feng had never bought Zhengu Pills before, but he had been to the black market and knew which direction the stalls selling various pills were in, so he led the way.

Upon arriving at the stall selling pills, Mu Feng didn't even glance at the bottles and jars displayed on the stall, and went straight to asking, "Do you have any Bone-Soothing Pills?"

The stall owner answered no and went straight to the next stall, emphasizing efficiency and avoiding unnecessary chatter.

After asking several stall owners, I finally stopped in front of a cultivator dressed in a black robe, whose eyes were the only part of his face visible.

The stall owner quoted a price of 10 high-grade spirit stones for one bone-soothing pill.

Mu Feng frowned slightly: "So many? Can you make it cheaper?"

Good heavens, it's so expensive! Even the ingredients for the Bone-Suppressing Pill aren't this expensive; it's just a bit more troublesome to refine.

The stall owner scoffed, "Buy it or don't, it's up to you!"

He was furious! Why was this stall owner so rude? He was driving away all the customers; how could he possibly make any business? There were so many stalls selling pills on the black market; he refused to believe that this was the only one that had them.

"How about we go to another stall to buy?" Mu Feng muttered to himself.

"Row."

The stall owner said, "The other stalls don't have it, only I have Zhengu Pills."

"You're lying to us, aren't you!" Mu Feng didn't believe it.

"One of the basic ingredients for the Bone-Suppressing Pill is the Sand-Controlling Grass, which only grows in the yellow sandy lands. The sandy lands are in turmoil and under lockdown, so the supply of Sand-Controlling Grass has naturally been cut off. The Bone-Suppressing Pill isn't a popular elixir; who would pay a high price to buy Sand-Controlling Grass to refine it!"

(End of this chapter)