Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 1211: Chapter 652: An Appointment

Li Shiming saw the headquarters of the Central State Commerce, an area built like a town.

This place was different from a typical sect, with many cultivators crossing paths, resembling a marketplace.

He landed outside the headquarters and walked slowly into its territory.

The buildings on both sides of the road were workshops for various cultivation professions, such as Artifact Refiners, Alchemists, and Talisman Makers, almost all cultivation professions could be found here.

Possibly due to the higher status of alchemists, the alchemists’ buildings were relatively closer to the core area.

Everything here was unfamiliar to him, and he observed while proceeding forward.

On the Guest Official Jade Plate were the locations of the Treasure Pavilion and the Book Collection Pavilion, which were his destinations.

While walking, Li Shiming stopped his steps, discovering that a shop by the roadside specialized in producing Pill Furnaces.

He became interested immediately. Although he had obtained the method of refining Pill Furnaces from the inheritance of the Hundred Refinement Sect, he hadn’t found suitable materials due to their scarcity.

Moreover, he normally had two Fourth Grade Pill Furnaces for alchemy, which was sufficient for him to perform his skills, so he hadn’t been in a rush to refine any more Pill Furnaces.

He entered the shop, where hundreds of Pill Furnaces were displayed, most of them being first, second, or third-grade furnaces, with only three Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces in sight.

”Senior, what style of Pill Furnace are you looking to purchase?” A middle-aged Golden Core cultivator dressed in Pill Boy attire approached and bowed to inquire.

Don’t wonder how a middle-aged Golden Core cultivator could be dressed in Pill Boy attire. Such attire is specifically for cultivators serving alchemists, and the term ’Pill Boy’ is merely a title, unrelated to age.

Of course, many alchemists prefer younger Pill Boys to serve them for the convenience of identifying talented individuals, and some alchemists even emerge from among Pill Boys.

”Are there only these three Fourth Grade Pill Furnaces?” Li Shiming glanced at the three Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces and asked.

The three Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces were of poor quality, all at the Fourth Grade Lower Stage.

Although the quality of a Fourth-grade Pill Furnace doesn’t greatly affect the quality of Spirit Pills he refines, higher quality furnaces can better reduce his consumption during alchemy.

Don’t underestimate the consumption during alchemy; when refining Great Cultivator Spirit Pills, it usually takes more than forty days. During this period, reducing consumption at every moment allows for more energy to continue refining.

And for other Alchemy Masters, higher-quality Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces result in higher-quality Spirit Pills, which complement each other.

”Is Senior dissatisfied with these three Fourth Grade Pill Furnaces?” the middle-aged Golden Core cultivator asked with slight surprise, quickly realizing his mistake and hurriedly explained, ”Our shop’s Artifact Refining Master crafts a Mid Fourth Grade Pill Furnace every few years, but those are designated for auctions at the commerce’s headquarters and aren’t sold in the shop!”

Li Shiming nodded, aware that crafting Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces was complicated, involving many aspects, and true Artifact Refiners capable of making them were rare.

With the scarcity of materials for Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces, the opportunities to practice refining were even fewer, making quality furnaces above mid-grade hard to come by.

And at the Central State Commerce headquarters shop, its service targets ought to be the headquarters’ alchemists, while truly high-level Alchemy Masters within Central State Commerce had alternative channels to obtain high-quality furnaces.

”How are your Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces paid for here?” Li Shiming thought and asked.

”Senior may use sect contribution points or other equivalent value Spiritual Objects for payment!” The middle-aged Golden Core cultivator noticed Li Shiming’s intention and realized he was a genuine customer, responding with a broader smile.

”I have some Fourth-grade Spirit Pills here; see how many it would take to purchase these three Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces?” Li Shiming placed several jade bottles on the counter and asked.

He wasn’t worried about arbitrary pricing from the other party, knowing that this was not just any outside shop but the headquarters of the Central State Commerce.

Not to mention his Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivation, even within the internal ranks of Central State Commerce, his status wasn’t something a mere Golden Core Realm could provoke.

”Please wait a moment, Senior!” The middle-aged Golden Core cultivator looked at the stack of jade bottles, suppressing his inner astonishment as he spoke.

He carefully opened each jade bottle, assessing the quality of the Spirit Pills inside and calculating their value.

The fact that a cultivator could produce so many Fourth-grade Spirit Pills, whether Li Shiming had refined them himself or gained them as trophies from other cultivators, suggested he was someone not to be trifled with.

The Fourth-grade Spirit Pills Li Shiming retrieved were trophies from some time ago, which neither he nor his avatar, Li Yuanba, would consume due to their subpar quality, and with both having advanced to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, the Fourth-grade Spirit Pills for Nascent Soul Early Stage were even more useless.

The contribution points from Central State Commerce were still valuable to him, while these Fourth-grade Spirit Pills were otherwise worthless rubbish, usable only as currency for transactions.

”Senior, the value of these Fourth-grade Spirit Pills is about the same as that of the three Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces; please verify!” The middle-aged Golden Core cultivator carefully set some Fourth-grade Spirit Pills aside and bowed as he spoke.

”Then, let’s make the deal!” Li Shiming waved his hand, storing away the remaining jade bottles as he spoke.

The middle-aged Golden Core cultivator picked up the jade bottles from the counter, approached where the three Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces were stored, and cast a spell to disable the Defensive Array, placing the three Fourth-grade Pill Furnaces in front of Li Shiming.