"This is Fellow Daoist Sang Feng, he has come seeking pills!" Yu Ancestor introduced him to Li Shiming.
Ancestor Sang Feng looked at Li Shiming and showed suspicion towards Yu Ancestor.
It’s not surprising that Ancestor Sang Feng was skeptical; considering Li Shiming’s age, having reached this level is already genius-level for a cultivator, and possessing the skills to refine fourth-grade spirit pills as an alchemy master is indeed somewhat exaggerated.
"Fellow Daoist Sang Feng, if it weren’t because of our good relationship, I wouldn’t have brought you here. The fourth-grade demon pill from the last mission has already been refined into three fourth-grade spirit pills!" Yu Ancestor proudly took out a jade bottle to show Ancestor Sang Feng.
The fact that he’s showing Ancestor Sang Feng now is to solidify the favor and to do it in front of Li Shiming.
"Mr. Yu, why are all three fourth-grade spirit pills in your hands?" Ancestor Sang Feng straightforwardly asked when he discovered the issue.
This indicated to Li Shiming that Ancestor Sang Feng and Yu Ancestor had a very close relationship, otherwise this question would be more of a confrontation.
"Master Li was having trouble selling something at the auction, so he exchanged a fourth-grade spirit pill for spirit stones!" Yu Ancestor replied in a somewhat boastful manner.
No matter how many top-grade spirit stones were spent, purchasing a fourth-grade spirit pill with top-grade spirit stones is quite difficult.
Even in Li Shiming’s presence, he couldn’t contain his pride.
"Master Li, don’t take offense, please refine pills for me!" Ancestor Sang Feng hesitated no longer, bowed to Li Shiming in apology, and placed a jade box on the table.
Li Shiming picked up the jade box, and upon opening it, saw there was a fourth-grade demon pill.
"Come back in ten days, my payment is best in terms of Nascent Soul resources. Nascent Soul resources that satisfy me can serve as payment for multiple pill refinements!" Li Shiming took the opportunity to voice his payment requirements.
"Master Li, Nascent Soul resources are strictly controlled by various forces, and I haven’t prepared much; this time I’ll use a box of fourth-grade spirit tea as payment!" Ancestor Sang Feng shook his head and said.
He took out a small jade box containing twenty fourth-grade spirit tea leaves.
"I’ll accept this payment this time!" Li Shiming nodded in agreement.
His ambiguous statement made Ancestor Sang Feng feel that if he couldn’t provide Nascent Soul resources as payment next time, it would be difficult to get pills refined by Li Shiming.
However, he wasn’t worried as everything depended on the results of Li Shiming’s pill refinement this time.
Similarly, Yu Ancestor was also waiting, although Li Shiming had already refined a batch of fourth-grade spirit pills for him, one batch couldn’t fully prove Li Shiming’s pill refinement level.
Perhaps it was just luck that succeeded in refining three fourth-grade spirit pills at once.
Li Shiming was slightly moved, realizing he might have been too demanding by asking for Nascent Soul resources as payment.
At least he felt that demanding Nascent Soul resources as payment was excessive.
However, upon observing Ancestor Sang Feng’s attitude, he realized perhaps Nascent Soul resources were not as difficult to obtain in the Dongqi Continent, or possibly it was not impossible for a Nascent Soul Ancestor to obtain.
Ten days later, when Ancestor Sang Feng received two four-grade junior spirit pills, his eyes sparkled.
Having a stable alchemy master capable of refining fourth-grade spirit pills, all of which were full pills, would bring great opportunities to his cultivation.
Even Yu Ancestor, who accompanied him, showed a different gaze, as one full batch could be considered luck; consecutively having two full batches proved true skill.
"Master Li, I’ve already contacted a cold ice spirit conrong, I hope to use the cold ice spirit conrong as payment for three batches!" Ancestor Sang Feng excitedly said.
He now regarded Li Shiming as his hope, and Nascent Soul resources, though precious, could still be purchased in Dongqi Continent with enough top-grade spirit stones.
Nascent Soul resources didn’t guarantee Nascent Soul formation, they merely increased the chance slightly.
As he mentioned, the ’cold ice spirit conrong’ is a fourth-grade spiritual medicine growing from the icy mountains that can be consumed directly during Nascent Soul formation without refinement, enhancing the spirituality of the Nascent Soul and indirectly increasing the success rate.
Even though he hadn’t acquired the ’cold ice spirit conrong,’ his tone suggested it was already within his grasp.
"Alright, I agree!" Li Shiming suppressed his joy and nodded.
The Dongqi Continent was indeed rich, considering Wuqing Mountain alone had two Nascent Soul Ancestors, still a force of loose cultivators, suggesting Nascent Soul resource quantities far exceeded those on Beishu Continent.
Li Shiming relied on his capabilities to gather a pile of Nascent Soul resources on Beishu Continent and looked forward to showcasing his alchemy skills on Dongqi Continent.
"Wait for a while, I’ll come with the ’cold ice spirit conrong’!" Ancestor Sang Feng suppressed his excitement and said.
He considered himself to have gained an advantage and even contemplated how to gather more Nascent Soul resources.
Yu Ancestor, standing aside, didn’t speak but thought about how to acquire Nascent Soul resources.
Though his channels were numerous, the Nascent Soul resources he acquired were all prepared for grand auctions.
However, even grand auctions served him, gaining more benefits for him and another Nascent Soul Ancestor while seeking cultivation resources.
Now the better opportunity lay ahead, so he naturally considered prioritizing paying Li Shiming’s alchemy fees.
Li Shiming’s pill refinement requirements allowed him to restore a peaceful cultivation life.
At the same time, his reputation spread within a certain range.
Although, unbeknownst to him, his idea of broadcasting payment requirements fell through as both Ancestor Sang Feng and Yu Ancestor quietly collected Nascent Soul resources.
At least until they had sufficient Nascent Soul resources, they wouldn’t disclose Li Shiming’s payment requirements for pill refinement.
They even held back the news of Li Shiming refining pills publicly, waiting until their fourth-grade refining materials were refined into fourth-grade spirit pills before saying anything.
A period of Nascent Soul Ancestor’s time was somewhat long, two months passed, and during that period, Li Shiming also refined pills for late-stage Golden Core cultivators, earning some top-grade spirit stones.
That day, Li Shiming inspected his cave dwelling, where eight fourth-grade array flags were long placed within.
Eight fourth-grade array flags plus three hundred sixty-five third-grade array flags formed a complex formation, protecting his cave dwelling.
This is the new formation designed based on all the formation knowledge he acquired, analyzed and researched by his true treasure IBMz15 against the cave dwelling formation foundation.
Due to the use of fourth-grade array flags, even against attacks by Nascent Soul Ancestors, it could resist several attacks, enough for Li Shiming to react and respond.
He exited the cave dwelling, leaving behind a clone, Li Yuanba, inside, and taking Venerable Huijing in the machine room space.
He was invited by late-stage Golden Core cultivator Yang Fu, to attend a small gathering. It’s said that this gathering would feature a bottle of fourth-grade spiritual spring water.
This was told by Yang Fu, using fourth-grade spiritual spring water to brew fourth-grade spirit tea could maximize the effects of the tea.
He had some fourth-grade spirit tea at hand and needed fourth-grade spiritual spring, so Li Shiming decided to attend the gathering.
The gathering was held in a tearoom on the mountainside, and Li Shiming gained considerable fame in Wuqing Mountain, with many cultivators, acquainted or unacquainted, greeting him upon entering the tearoom.
After sitting down, he noticed something was amiss; among the attendees, only Jiang Nan was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, while the rest were early-stage Golden Core cultivators.
He harbored no prejudice against early-stage Golden Core cultivators; it was just that late-stage Golden Core cultivators, due to resource and strength discrepancies, operated in almost a different realm from early-stage Golden Core cultivators.
Late-stage Golden Core cultivators formed their own circle, rarely including early-stage Golden Core cultivators in interactions, making this gathering feel quite hasty.
Especially in his exchanges with Jiang Nan, he discovered Jiang Nan, like him, only received Yang Fu’s short notice before attending.