Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

As the autumn winds begin to blow, it's harvest time again.

The cool autumn breeze dispels the heat of the long summer.

The lush trees in the courtyard rustled in the wind.

Vast expanses of golden maple leaves resembled a shower of golden light, falling from the heavens to earth and carpeting the earth with a thick golden tapestry...

Since his last exchange of insights on alchemy and elixir-making with Du Wuxin, Li Xiuyuan has been in seclusion at home.

Through tireless practice day and night, he finally mastered the Fire Control Technique and the Mind-Clearing Pill, reaching the pinnacle of proficiency.

So much so that when he looked at the two glittering green runes deep in his sea of ​​consciousness, he would occasionally feel a strange stirring in his heart.

【Tranquilizing Pill [Green Rune]: Purifies the mind and reduces desires (Refinable)】

Fire Control Technique [Green Rune]: Incineration Fire Control (Refinable)

Including the ten 'mixed mana' runes he has already refined.

His current rune inventory is considerable.

Li Xiuyuan sat cross-legged and exhaled a breath of stale air.

He opened the panel and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

[Realm Level: Qi Refining Level 4, 90/100]

"With the help of spirit stones and 'mixed magic power' runes, my cultivation speed is improving day by day."

Cultivation knows no time; three months have passed since Li Xiuyuan began practicing the Golden Flame Burning Heaven Technique.

During this time, he continuously refined spirit stones and used the Gold-Swallowing Spirit Bowl to purify spiritual energy, raising his cultivation level to ninety points.

He can begin preparing to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Having cultivated the Golden Flame Burning Heaven Technique, there are few bottlenecks to be found in the minor realms of the Qi Refining stage.

To be on the safe side, Li Xiuyuan planned to buy a Spirit Awakening Pill and use it to purify his spiritual energy to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining in one go.

One day later.

Shanyangfang City.

Under the hazy moonlight, groups of two or three cultivators walked along the wide main road in the market.

The road is lined with antique buildings, and the fixed stalls along the street are set up by various independent practitioners, giving it a distinctly worldly atmosphere of buying and selling.

The sky was dark, but the market was brightly lit.

Above most of the stalls are huge lamps of uniform size and shape, connected together in a row.

These lamps are all made of bronze and are similar in shape to kerosene lamps.

It has an antique charm and a unique flavor.

At the center of the lamp dish, there was no flammable material such as lamp oil, but instead a fist-sized luminous mineral that resembled a luminous pearl.

The luminescent mineral continuously emitted a gentle light, far brighter than an oil lamp.

Not only were the stalls under the lights clearly distinguishable, but even the nearby streets were clearly visible under the lights.

Even though it was night, the central square of the market was bustling with people, no less so than during the day.

Every now and then, large numbers of cultivators would pour into the square and head to various parts of the market along the well-connected roads.

It was bustling with activity for a time.

Walking through the familiar streets, Li Xiuyuan arrived at the familiar shop, before he could even step inside.

A hearty laugh reached my ears: "Fellow Daoist Li, it's been a long time!"

With a cheerful smile, Pang Dehai quickly walked up to Li Xiuyuan and led him into a private room on the second floor.

He then instructed his servants to quickly brew a pot of fine spiritual tea and urged the kitchen to prepare a table of good wine and dishes in case of emergency.

"Come, come, Fellow Daoist Li, we must catch up properly. Tonight it's my treat, let's drink until we're drunk!"

Pang Dehai was sincerely grateful to Li Xiuyuan. Over the past few years, thanks to the high-quality pills sold by Li Xiuyuan, his status in Lingbao Pavilion had risen steadily.

The day before yesterday, the head of the Shanyang Market rewarded him with a bottle of pills to enhance his cultivation, and promised that if he could promote a top-grade alchemist in the next five years, he would recommend him to serve as the deputy head of another market.

This is like rising to the top in one step!

Within a few years, he rose from a minor branch manager to the deputy head of the pavilion, his status and position soared, and his cultivation resources accumulated rapidly.

He earned over a thousand spirit stones just from selling the Qi Nourishing Pills and Mind Clearing Pills refined by Li Xiuyuan!

The huge profits brought in spirit stones, and even if he didn't reach the Foundation Establishment stage, his future Qi Refining Perfection was assured!

How could this not make him respect Li Xiuyuan even more?

Therefore, he was overjoyed to see Li Xiuyuan, whom he hadn't seen for many days, come to his door in person.

He set aside his usual duties and chose to personally receive the guest, fearing he might slight this important person whose future was tied to his.

"Practicing a spell takes a lot of time, and I suddenly feel that my cultivation has improved. I plan to buy some pills to enhance my cultivation."

Upon hearing this, Pang Dehai's spirits lifted. He cautiously released his divine sense, then exclaimed in shock, "Fellow Daoist Li, you're about to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining!"

"Not bad, your cultivation has improved quite a bit recently!"

Li Xiuyuan did not deny it and nodded slightly.

Pang Dehai was surprised. In less than two years, Fellow Daoist Li was about to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

I wonder how many spirit stones and divine pills were used to achieve such rapid cultivation. Alchemists are truly rolling in money!

Upon hearing this, Pang Dehai smiled and said, "Our pavilion has recently purchased a batch of excellent pills. Fellow Daoist Li, you have quite the good fortune." He immediately sent a message to the storeroom, ordering them to fetch the pills.

In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

Bottles of pills were brought in by a burly warehouse worker dressed in a dark brown robe.

Pang Dehai took the tray and used a spell to remove the restriction on the storage bag.

He walked to the table, and a storage bag appeared on the table, along with several jade boxes of different sizes, accompanied by a flash of spiritual light.

"These are all the finest pills from our pavilion. Please take a look, Fellow Daoist Li."

With a flick of his sleeve, Pang Dehai opened three of the jade boxes and began to introduce the treasures inside one by one.

"The superior-grade Qi Condensation Pill is a mid-grade pill that accelerates cultivation. It provides one-third more Qi refining benefits to those who cultivate the Five Elements techniques."

"Five spirit stones per stone."

"The superior Yellow Dragon Pill uses a hundred-year-old Yellow Dragon Ginseng as the main ingredient, supplemented with various Qi-refining treasures, and is refined with the fire of the earth veins for three days and three nights. It can increase the Qi-refining efficiency of cultivators at the mid-stage of Qi Refining by 30%."

"Six spirit stones per stone."

"The superior Qi-enhancing pill is made primarily from two-hundred-year-old Qingling grass, combined with superior spiritual liquid, and refined with earth fire for nine days and nine nights. It contains almost no pill toxins and can greatly enhance the cultivation of mid-stage cultivators. It is the best pill in our pavilion for enhancing cultivation."

"Ten spirit stones each!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiuyuan's mind stirred. He picked up the Qi Ling Pill, uncorked it, and examined it carefully.

Taking a light sniff, one immediately feels the spiritual energy within their body become active, the efficiency of energy refining is greatly improved, and the breakthrough energy is brewing within the body.

"As expected of one of the three heroes of Qi Refining! This Qi Awakening Pill is so potent; just this one is enough for me to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining!"

Li Xiuyuan pondered to himself, his desire to refine the Qi Ling Pill growing stronger.

"That's it! Fellow Daoist Pang, give me two Spirit Awakening Pills. Also, what's the price of the Spirit Awakening Pill formula?"

Upon hearing this, Pang Dehai was initially delighted, but then his face showed worry as he said, "The Qi Ling Dan formula is not for sale by the Lingbao Pavilion. As an external alchemist, Fellow Daoist Li, I don't need to tell you this. If you can successfully advance to the intermediate-grade alchemist level, you can accept special missions. Once you pass them, you can exchange your merit points for the formula."

Li Xiuyuan nodded slightly. He was naturally aware of the matter, but he had only asked casually and had no intention of buying the pill formula with spirit stones.

Putting everything else aside, these three Qi Refining Heroes are among the top sellers on the Lingbao Pavilion's bestseller list. They're like golden goose laying golden eggs; even if he were in charge, he wouldn't easily sell the pill formulas.

This is used to win over independent cultivators and alchemists, so that they can be driven by the Lingbao Pavilion and maximize their profits.

After saying that, Li Xiuyuan handed eighteen spirit stones to Pang Dehai and accepted the pills.

After the transaction was completed, Li Xiuyuan was preparing to leave the private room.

Two cultivators, one old and one young, approached from the opposite direction.

He recognized the young male cultivator; he was a handsome young man, none other than Xiao Huo.

The middle-aged cultivator beside him had a profound and unfathomable aura and wore a simple and plain robe.

As for cultivation level, Li Xiuyuan couldn't see through it at all. He guessed that someone who could travel with Xiao Huo must be in the late stage of Qi Refining...

The man noticed Li Xiuyuan's gaze.

However, he didn't pay much attention to it, and turned his gaze away to chat enthusiastically with Xiao Huo beside him.

Li Xiuyuan withdrew his gaze.

"Your subordinate greets Your Excellency!"

At this moment, Pang Dehai, who was standing next to him, hurriedly bowed to the middle-aged cultivator with an extremely respectful expression.