Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

Inside an inconspicuous general store in the market.

After bowing, the young man with yellow skin and black eyes smiled and said, "My name is Chunsheng, and I greet Master Li Dan."

Li Xiuyuan waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to be so polite.

Without much formality, sitting in the general store, Li Xiuyuan specially took out two bottles of Mind-Clearing Pills: "Fellow Daoist Chunsheng, this is your reward. No need to give me change, just give me the Body-Tempering Grass!"

The young man with yellow skin was first startled, then overjoyed: "The Mind-Clearing Pill, thank you so much, Alchemist Li!"

Without any hesitation, he put away the Mind-Clearing Pills on the table and went inside to fetch spiritual materials.

Watching his busy figure, Li Xiuyuan recalled the contents of Huang Dali's letter.

This man's name was Chunsheng, and he was Huang Dali's sworn brother.

He is a local from Shanyangfang City. His ancestors were all ordinary people. This generation finally had a spiritual root, but it was a low-grade spiritual root, so he had no chance to enter a celestial sect or family to cultivate.

Inferior spiritual roots are also known as miscellaneous spiritual roots.

Cultivators with such spiritual roots not only have an incredibly slow cultivation speed, but also face far greater limitations in breaking through bottlenecks than cultivators with superior or earth-grade spiritual roots.

Without a fortuitous encounter, even a lifetime of cultivation would only get you to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Chun Sheng was no exception. With a low-grade spiritual root and no elders to help him cultivate, his path to immortality was extremely arduous.

Fortunately, he was a local from the market town, familiar with the surrounding environment, and accustomed to the interpersonal relationships and deceit among cultivators.

They set up a stall outside the market to do business, specializing in buying supplies from demon hunters. Over time, Huang Dali and Huang Dali became sworn brothers.

Thanks to Huang Dali's connections among demon hunters, low-level cultivators dared not harass him, allowing him to live a peaceful life and give full play to his business talent.

Over the years, his business grew bigger and bigger, from a small stall vendor to a shop owner, and even his cultivation level reached the third level of Qi Refining.

Given his talent, the fact that he could improve so quickly must mean he must have taken a lot of pills to enhance his cultivation.

This is still limited by his spiritual root aptitude; otherwise, it wouldn't be impossible for him to cultivate to the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Huang Dali went to the outer sect of the Blazing Fire Sect with his grandson to enjoy himself, and the task of purchasing herbs for Li Xiuyuan fell to Chunsheng.

This letter from Huang Dali was about Chunsheng acquiring a first-tier body-tempering grass from a rogue cultivator; it was of exceptional quality.

As agreed by the two, a message was sent to Li Xiuyuan to arrange the transaction in person.

……

"Master Li, here's the Body Tempering Grass you requested!"

Chun Sheng walked out of the backyard with a fawning expression, holding a quantity of Body Tempering Grass that far exceeded the value of two bottles of Heart-Clearing Pills.

Li Xiuyuan smiled and shook his head, not taking it all, but taking only a portion: "That's too much. I'm not a greedy person!"

Seeing this, Chunsheng immediately became anxious and addressed Li Xiuyuan more intimately: "Brother Li, I didn't have time to congratulate you on your breakthrough to the Alchemist realm. These few herbs are just a token of my respect, but you won't accept them?"

Li Xiuyuan smiled and shook his head, raising his hand to stop Chunsheng from continuing.

Seeing that Li Xiuyuan refused to accept it, Chunsheng had no choice but to give up.

He couldn't help but feel impressed; Master Li was indeed as Brother Huang had said, sincere and never using his power to oppress others.

He was thoughtful and had plenty of opportunities to get closer to this fellow Daoist Li, given that they had a long history of dealing with each other.

……

Li Xiuyuan returned to his cave, ground three first-grade low-level body-tempering herbs into a liquid, smeared it on a piece of roasted low-grade demon beast meat, and then tore it apart and swallowed it.

He then began practicing the Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic) in the room, constantly circulating his Qi and blood. His original Qi and blood rapidly increased, and his tendons, meridians, and bones relaxed.

"Boom!"

A booming sound, like gongs and drums, emanated from his body.

"Qi and blood are in turmoil!"

At the same time, a continuous warmth emanated from his lower abdomen.

This warmth is like the winter sun, gentle and lasting, like a slowly flowing stream that flows through the body.

Heart, liver, lungs, kidneys... every organ is nourished by this warm current.

Li Xiuyuan took a deep breath and clearly felt his original qi and blood rapidly growing stronger.

Clench your fists and feel like you have inexhaustible strength!

Li Xiuyuan maintained his rhythm with each move, taking short breaks in between. An hour later...

Li Xiuyuan finished his practice and exhaled a breath of stale air.

At the same time, the panel changed.

[Yi Jin Jing: Old Tree's Roots (Great Completion), 320/500]

"The combination of three Body Tempering Grasses and demon beast meat directly increased my strength by 150 jin. If it were refined into a Body Tempering Pill, the effect would double!"

Feeling his body becoming increasingly full of qi and blood, Li Xiuyuan lay down on the ground and closed his eyes to rest for a moment.

He was practicing the Lesser Forging and Refining Fire Technique; cultivation was fundamental and could not be neglected.

Early in the morning, as soon as Li Xiuyuan opened his eyes, he heard a slow, deliberate knocking on the door.

This area is inhabited by cultivators who are associated with the Lingbao Pavilion. They are not strangers to each other, but not many people take the initiative to knock on the door.

Li Xiuyuan got up and opened part of the restrictions on the cave.

A stranger stood outside the cave.

He was in his early twenties, with a handsome appearance and wearing a jade crown. He was dressed in the robes of a contracted cultivator from the Lingbao Pavilion.

He had an exquisitely crafted storage bag tied around his waist and held a folding fan, looking every bit the young master.

He had never seen this person before; at least, he didn't recall such a person.

The other party spoke first, cupping his hands in greeting: "Excuse me, fellow Daoist, my name is Xiao Huo, and I just moved next door."

Xiao Huo turned to the side and winked at the rather large cave dwelling next door that had been empty for a long time.

Li Xiuyuan glanced at it and found that the array restrictions of that cave seemed to have been refined by someone, and the aura of the restrictions was similar to that of the person in front of him.

It seems to be a newly joined cultivator of the Hundred Arts in the Lingbao Pavilion.

"Li Xiuyuan greets Fellow Daoist Xiao!"

Li Xiuyuan nodded and gave a brief response.

Xiao Huo laughed heartily, "I've heard that Fellow Daoist Li has spent decades refining ice in the furnace, and in one day, he broke through to a higher level by refining the Heart-Clearing Pill. I greatly admire him. I've just arrived here and we're neighbors, so I've come to pay him a visit!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Please come into my humble abode for a chat!"

Li Xiuyuan originally did not want to talk to this person in detail, but seeing that this person was frank and sincere, and had a clear spiritual aura, he did not seem to be a heretical cultivator.

Adhering to the principle of not hitting a smiling person, Li Xiuyuan opened part of the cave's restrictions and stepped aside to invite him inside.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Fellow Daoist Li!"

Xiao Huo smiled and nodded, then strode after Li Xiuyuan.

The two sat by the stream and bridge, savoring the spiritual tea.

After a long pause, Xiao Huo asked, "How many Qingxin Pills does Fellow Daoist Li have left? I'll take them all!"

Li Xiuyuan was taken aback upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged.

"This person is quite arrogant and has an unknown background. It's not advisable to offend him. Let's test him first."

Li Xiuyuan said with a regretful expression, "My talent in alchemy is dull. I have already sold a lot of Qingxin Pills to meet the needs of the pavilion, and I am also short of money. I am afraid it will be difficult to meet your needs."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Huo's relaxed expression turned serious: "Fellow Daoist Li, five spirit stones for a mid-grade Mind-Clearing Pill—that's significantly above market price!"

A low-grade first-tier pill usually sells for two spirit stones on the market, and even a mid-grade one won't cost more than four.

This limit would only be broken if prices in the market skyrocketed.

"Five spirit stones? That's a fair price. How many do you need, fellow cultivator?"

A hint of hesitation flashed in Li Xiuyuan's eyes. It would be a good thing if he could make a fortune.

However, those who can enter the Lingbao Pavilion are, on the surface, people with clean backgrounds and are definitely not demonic or evil cultivators.

Without further ado, Li Xiuyuan took out a small, emerald-green bottle from his storage bag and handed it over. Then, smiling, he looked at the handsome young man: "Fellow Daoist Xiao, I only have these six mid-grade Mind-Clearing Pills. What do you think?"

Xiao Huo didn't hesitate. He took the Heart-Clearing Pill, examined it carefully, and after confirming that it was correct, he smiled and handed over the spirit stone bag.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Li. If you ever want to buy Blood Spirit Rice in the future, just come find me next door!"

……

A moment later, Li Xiuyuan stood outside the gate to see Xiao Huo off.

Only after seeing his figure disappear into the protective barrier of the adjacent cave did he turn and leave.

"A spirit plant master? Interesting!" Li Xiuyuan smiled as he walked into the house, pondering today's transaction.

"I sense that this person's cultivation level is shrouded in a faint mist. He either practices some kind of technique to conceal his cultivation or possesses a magical artifact to disguise his aura."

"Regardless of the type, any cultivator who can cultivate the first-tier mid-grade spiritual plant Blood Spirit Rice is worth befriending."

Li Xiuyuan quickly determined Xiao Huo's origin and cultivation level: no less than the third level of Qi Refining, or even a mid-stage cultivator, and felt a slight sense of arrogance.

"He is quite wealthy, and may be like Master Liu Zhen, a disciple of a powerful force who has gone out to travel and hone his Dao heart."

The fact that he spent thirty spirit stones was enough to make Li Xiuyuan look at him in a new light.

"But this Blood Spirit Rice looks familiar; I feel like I've seen it somewhere before?"

Li Xiuyuan came to his senses and then quickly opened the storage bag and searched through it.

A manual appeared in his hand; it was the familiar "Complete Guide to Basic Knowledge of the Cultivation World".

Li Xiuyuan quickly flipped through the pages and found a few pages in the middle.

Blood Spirit Rice, a mid-grade first-tier spiritual plant, produces rice paste that is as red as blood, and greatly enhances a cultivator's qi and blood after consumption.

This item is not only comparable to the precious medicines and elixirs needed by body-refining cultivators, but also an excellent spiritual object for cultivating blood-path techniques and supernatural powers. It is extremely rare and hard to come by!

This item requires a large amount of demonic beast blood to irrigate it, along with the nourishment of spiritual veins day and night. It takes ten years to mature, and the longer the aging process, the better the body-refining effect!

"This item is suitable for my body tempering; it might be a good opportunity to get closer to Fellow Daoist Xiao!"

……