Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

"Master Longhu? My surname is Li. I greet Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Li Xiuyuan was completely bewildered by the nonsensical title of "master," but he politely led the person in front of him into the inner room.

He instructed Chunsheng to prepare a pot of the finest spiritual tea.

"How many more Dragon-Tiger Pills does Fellow Daoist Zhou require?"

Li Xiuyuan asked in a calm tone.

"The more the better!"

The Zhou family cultivators were so confident that Li Xiuyuan was taken aback.

He didn't know why this person wanted so many Dragon Tiger Pills. These pills couldn't improve cultivation, so were their "aphrodisiac" effects really that good?

Of course, he wouldn't pry into his clients' secrets, lest he cause offense. He pondered for a moment and said, "The Dragon-Tiger Pill is quite troublesome to refine, and I don't have much in stock. I also have other pill refining tasks, which might conflict with my schedule..."

In short, you have to pay more!

"It's just spirit stones, okay? I'll increase the price by 30%, and I'll take them all you have!"

The middle-aged man looked impatient.

Li Xiuyuan's eyes lit up. Wow, he really is a big customer!

He hurriedly took out four bottles of Dragon Tiger Pills from his storage bag, one of which was of superior quality.

The middle-aged man from the Zhou family was quite generous, paying one hundred spirit stones directly, far exceeding the amount paid by competitors.

"Thank you for your trouble, Master Li. I will come again next time."

After saying this, the middle-aged cultivator hurriedly left.

"What is this person's status in the Zhou family?"

A Qi Refining Level 9 is a core position for a Qi Refining family, but not necessarily for the Zhou family.

Li Xiuyuan asked Chunsheng, who had just entered from outside the door.

"This man's name is Zhou Qiang. He originally had the hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, but unfortunately, he damaged his foundation in a battle with someone decades ago, so he has no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage in this lifetime. He is currently serving as a bodyguard for the Zhou family's direct descendant's daughter."

Although his foundation was damaged, fortunately his combat strength was still intact, and he was in the prime of his life. He had neither offspring nor a Daoist partner, and he was never short of spirit stones and flowers.

Even if he runs out of spirit stones, going into the mountains with the Zhou family's demon-hunting team and killing a circle of first-tier demon beasts on the outer perimeter will be enough to cover his cultivation expenses.

"Ever since he gave up hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, he has been spending his days indulging in pleasure at the Hehuan Tower, living a very carefree life. I suspect he bought the Dragon Tiger Pill for his own use."

As Chun Sheng spoke, a look of understanding appeared on his face, which made Li Xiuyuan finally grasp the key point.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Chun Sheng's intelligence work is really quite good. He can even find out such private information between men and women. He's really a talent. It's just that his talent for cultivating immortality is too poor. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring him under my command."

Li Xiuyuan pondered this in his heart, then got up to leave.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he realized that this person had come several times and might come again next time.

Li Xiuyuan began by instructing Chunsheng to treat him politely in the future.

"Yes, sir, I understand."

……

Since the Zhou family cultivator consecrated the Dragon Tiger Pill that day, it seems to have made a name for itself, with many cultivators coming to buy it every day.

Some people walk in openly through the main gate and immediately ask for ten bottles; others disguise themselves, afraid of being seen by acquaintances, and specifically instruct Chunsheng to enter through the back gate of the courtyard.

Quite comical, as Li Xiuyuan's team refined the Dragon Tiger Pill more and more skillfully, he gradually realized the difference between the Dragon Tiger Pill and ordinary aphrodisiac pills.

Qi cultivators, in the stage of refining essence into qi, rely on transporting and refining the free spiritual energy between heaven and earth, and then refining it for their own use, but the effect is very slow.

Therefore, they developed many pills, spirit rice, and monster meat containing a large amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

As spiritual energy circulates throughout the body, low-level cultivators often find it difficult to control themselves, and the slightest provocation will cause them to lose their essence and energy.

In order to ensure the best state of cultivation, many cultivation methods have corresponding secret techniques for locking in essence.

There are currently two known solutions for this situation:

First, after the Foundation Establishment stage, the cultivator's divine sense undergoes a transformation, enabling them to freely manipulate the spiritual energy within their body. At that time, they can lock in their essence.

Secondly, cultivators who realize their path to enlightenment is hopeless will automatically abandon the practice of locking their essence and actively immerse themselves in sexual pleasure.

This is why those cultivators who branch out and establish cultivation families in the cultivation world are all old people who have no hope of success on the path of cultivation.

They knew their own situation; they were stuck in a rut, so they automatically gave up on cultivating immortality.

Fortunately, they proactively chose to establish a family lineage, so if they have a child, it's like winning the lottery and getting a huge bonus.

A prodigy emerged from the family and was recruited by a sect, instantly elevating the entire family to prominence.

Such things are commonplace in the cultivation world.

Therefore, the Dragon-Tiger Pill, specifically designed for the sexual activities of Qi Refining cultivators, was created.

This product is made using water and fire medicinal materials, based on the principle of yin and yang in harmony.

After consuming the elixir, male cultivators can unleash their full virility without unlocking their seminal vesicles.

……

"Oh, isn't this Young Master Ye? What brings you here?"

Inside Chunsheng Hall, Chunsheng, who was sitting high at the counter recording accounts, saw a young man dressed as a playboy walking in through the door and immediately got up to greet him.

The person who could be personally greeted by Chunsheng must be someone of great importance.

This person is named Ye Hao. He comes from the powerful Ye family, a local family that has reached the Foundation Establishment stage. His father is a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Ye Hao himself also has a good spiritual root aptitude, a mid-grade spiritual root, and he wields a long sword with a powerful and imposing presence.

Some were fortunate enough to become disciples of Baihu Mountain, which is hundreds of miles outside Shanyangfang City. Baihu Mountain is a fake alchemy force.

Chunsheng naturally valued his disciples highly.

However, Ye Hao was quite worldly-wise and smooth-talking, without any airs. He bowed to Chun Sheng and said, "Shopkeeper Chun Sheng, I've heard that your Spirit Gathering Pill is quite effective."

"With the sect's grand competition just around the corner, I'm planning to further improve my cultivation and see if I can achieve good results next year. I'll take all of this month's quota!"

Chun Sheng subtly sensed with his divine sense and discovered that Ye Hao's cultivation was slightly advanced, around the fifth level of Qi Refining.

It is perfect for Gathering Spirit Pills and Refining Spirit Powder.

The waiter immediately brought over the pills that Li Xiuyuan had refined.

Chun Shen was well-versed in the principles of marketing, and he took out one of the pills refined by Li Xiuyuan.

They randomly embellished the story with exaggerated claims, saying things like the superior-grade Spirit Gathering Pill had extremely low toxicity, comparable to an ancient master reborn, and that it was in such high demand that even regular customers had to limit their purchases.

Although Ye Hao was meticulous, he was still young and couldn't withstand such a barrage of flattery.

He was so confused that he only knew to take out the spirit stone and hand it to Chunsheng.

"You can rest assured about the quality of these pills. You absolutely won't find them anywhere else. They're five spirit stones each. I'm honest and straightforward, and I will never lie to you."

what?

That's it!

If it weren't for the fact that Chunshengtang had an excellent reputation in the market during this period, with every cultivator who came to buy pills praising it highly.

Ye Hao thought he had been tricked.

But he wasn't a brainless person after all. To be on the safe side, he first bought three for fifteen spirit stones, just to experience it. Even if he was fooled, he wouldn't lose much.

……

Back at White Tiger Mountain, Ye Hao sat cross-legged and swallowed the Spirit Gathering Pill, which was translucent and had a rich fragrance, with some skepticism.

About half a day later.

Ye Hao opened his eyes again, his face full of excitement.

"This superior-grade Spirit Gathering Pill is so powerful! Just one major cycle allowed me to condense six strands of magical power!"

He had naturally taken the Spirit Gathering Pill. If it worked well, he could condense three strands of magical power after circulating his energy once; if it worked poorly, he could only condense one strand.

"Could it be the effect of my own talent? I'll try taking another one."

Ye Hao was always calm and composed; he took one pill.

Half a day has passed.

After Ye Hao finished practicing his internal energy, he could no longer suppress the joy in his heart.

"This Spirit Gathering Pill allowed me to condense six strands of magical power in one cycle; its medicinal power is truly astonishing!"

Ye Hao immediately calculated that, based on his rate of refining three Spirit Gathering Pills a day...

With another 300 pills, he can break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining next spring, and may even break through to the late stage of Qi Refining before the competition!

Late-stage Qi Refining!

Even within the Shanyang Ward, this would be considered a high-level repair!

They're all big shots living in high-level spiritual veins in the inner city!

His father, relying on his family connections, barely managed to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining at the age of thirty-five.

He's only in his early twenties, and his son is better than his father!

Moreover, if he achieves good results in this competition and enters the inner sect of White Tiger Mountain, his chances of establishing a foundation will be greatly increased!

Foundation building, foundation building!

That Qi Refining cultivator never even dreamed of crossing that realm between immortals and mortals!

"We absolutely cannot do without these Spirit Gathering Pills!"

He came to his senses and left the sect that very night, heading towards the inner gate of Shanyang Market.

Fortunately, Chunshengtang was open day and night, otherwise he would have been disappointed.

Under the strange gazes of Chun Sheng and the shop assistants, Ye Hao smashed out a bag of spirit stones with a bang.

"Shopkeeper Chun, how many of those Spirit Gathering Pills of the quality I bought during the day are left? I'll take them all!"