Monarch Of Time

Chapter 1066 The second floor

Zhou Wuyi’s expression froze.

He had expected the elder in front of him to at least show something—a flicker of surprise, a flash of greed, or even a faint nod of acknowledgment. But he’d never expected that all he’d get back after showcasing three rank 7 middle-grade medicinal herbs... would be a look of disappointment.

Scorn.

The muscles at the corner of Zhou Wuyi’s mouth twitched, but he forced his expression under control. He drew in a subtle breath and let out a practiced smile as he answered,

”Of course not, senior. Our pavilion naturally has more herbs for sale, including a few high-grade rank 7 herbs that would normally be impossible to find outside an auction. If senior is interested, I will gladly lead the way.”

Zhou Wuyi’s face contorted as he turned around, and for a moment, his footsteps froze as he calmly assessed the situation. He couldn’t tell if the old man behind him was really some crazy, reclusive star-rank alchemist whose standards were so high he would sneer even at middle-grade rank 7 herbs, or if this guy was actually messing with him.

But still, there were two things Zhou Wuyi could not deny. The first was that this man had bought the ’Scarlet Vein Fruit’ for 60.000 high-grade spirit stones without batting an eye. And secondly, and more importantly, Zhou Wuyi could still not see through this person’s cultivation base.

The last point was reason enough to make even a manager of the Night Hall tread carefully.

After all, even the Hundred Fragrance pavilion, with all its resources, connections, and influence, didn’t need to provoke star-rank alchemists who’d come to do business with them.

In the end, Zhou Wuyi knew he could only continue the tour of the second floor and go straight to the high-grade herbs.

Or so he thought.

...

But Shun Long didn’t seem to share the Night Hall manager’s thoughts.

His golden eyes swept over the three counters once more as he assessed the situation.

The truth was, the three herbs in front of him weren’t really worth the price the pavilion was asking for them.

At most, Shun Long knew these herbs could only refine a batch of pills that would fetch a bit over 120.000 high-grade spirit stones. That wasn’t a small amount, of course, even for 1-star alchemists, but considering how common it was for most alchemists to fail during their pill refinement and how strenuous it was to refine star-rank pills in the first place, well...

”No wonder nobody has bought these so far. I doubt the Hundred Fragrance pavilion even intended to sell these in the first place.”

As that thought coursed through his mind, Shun Long glanced at Zhou Wuyi, whose expression was now a blank slate. The purple-robed manager seemed to be contemplating something before his gaze moved to another end of the floor, as if he was looking for someone or something.

But Shun Long didn’t say anything else.

Soon, his eyes moved back to the three herbs in front of him, before his gaze first settled on the ’Frostheart Jadeleaf’. The cluster of crystalline leaves shimmered faintly with its blue, frosty veins, while Shun Long considered its possible uses.

In reality, this herb could only be used to refine two pills.

The first one was the famed ’Frozen Dao Pill’, a pill capable of increasing a Dao Emperor’s comprehension of their ’Dao of Ice’ by a full minor realm. At first glance, a single minor realm may not sound too incredible, but at the Dao Emperor realm, every increment in one’s understanding of the Dao was an extremely tumultuous task that required not just incredible effort, but also vast amounts of talent as well as luck.

The second one was called the ’Heavenly Yin Pill’. This pill was capable of strengthening the unique physique of any cultivator below the Sovereign realm who had a Yin-centered unique physique... like Xingyi’s ’Vanishing Shadows unique physique’, and even Jiang Chen’s ’Eternal Darkness unique physique’.

Unfortunately, not only did this pill require the corpse of a peak rank 7 magic beast with incredible affinity to the Dao of Ice, but also dozens of supplementary rank 7 medicinal herbs, some of which even Shun Long didn’t have. In fact, Shun Long knew that his collection of rank 7 medicinal herbs was severely lacking, which was why he decided to take this trip to the Hundred Fragrance pavilion in the first place.

The second herb this Night Hall had for sale was a small red flower that floated above a jade pedestal. Its stem was coiled in fiery threads of fire qi that looked almost alive, while its petals looked as though they’d been woven from translucent orange silk, and every time they fluttered, faint sparks drifted down before vanishing into the air.

Shun Long only needed a glance to recognize the rank 7 ’Blazing Sunfire Lotus’.

Unlike the ’Frostheart Jadeleaf’, this thing only had one purpose. It could be refined into a pill that expelled a cultivator’s accumulated impurities from their body. It was called the ’Pure Blaze Cleansing pill’.

The pill’s effects may not sound that grand, but in the central continent, this was a pill most cultivators would immediately give an arm and leg to obtain.

...Especially if it was a top-grade ’Pure Blaze Cleansing pill’!

After all, in the entire central continent, no, in the entire cultivation world, which person hadn’t consumed high or middle-grade pills during their cultivation? It was common knowledge that only top-grade pills were truly devoid of impurities, and that even high-grade pills contained a certain percentage of them that were ultimately harmful towards one’s foundations.

But how many people could only consume top-grade pills throughout their lives? Even the heirs of the eight ancient families, and even Xuan Bo, a prince of the Tianxuan dynasty, would most likely struggle to do so. The higher one’s cultivation base, the more difficult it was to do so, since finding top-grade star-rank pills, for example, required at least the concocting alchemist to be a Sovereign.

Eventually, people would consume high-grade and even middle-grade pills. And as fate had it, those pills all contained impurities.

Impurities that were very difficult to cleanse.

That’s why the ’Pure Blaze Cleansing Pill’ was considered a heavenly pill in the eyes of most people.

Unfortunately, just like the ’Heavenly Yin Pill’, the ’Pure Blaze Cleansing pill’ also required a few overly rare supplementary ingredients to be concocted, including the beast core of a peak rank 7 magic beast with the ’Dao of Fire’.

As for the last of the three herbs, the ’Dragonvein Earthroot’... well, Shun Long was only interested in it to placate the hunger of a certain dragon inside the ’Stone of Time’. Although this Earthroot wasn’t really related to dragons, despite its name, it was a herb that magic beasts with an affinity to Earth and Fire were quite fond of.

In the end, Shun Long turned to Zhou Wuyi and said in a low, raspy voice,

”Unfortunately, neither the Frostheart Jadeleaf, nor the Dragonvein Earthroot, or the Blazing Sunfire Lotus can be used as supplementary herbs during a pill concoction. Compared to the ’Scarlet Vein Fruit’, they are a bit lacking.”

Then, he paused for a moment, and his lips curved into something not quite a smile as he continued,

”Still, I have a little glutton who’s going to enjoy eating earthroots. As for the Jadeleaf and the Sunfire Lotus... they have their own uses, as well. So, I’ll just take all three.”

...

The azure-robed elder’s words echoed like a peal of thunder through the second floor.

For a moment, even Zhou Wuyi’s practiced smile cracked before his eyes widened in disbelief.

And behind the purple-robed manager... the quiet hum of the second floor suddenly erupted into a storm of murmurs.

”Did this guy just casually say he’s going to take all three?! He is bluffing, right? Even a peak-stage Dao Emperor can’t take out 200.000 high-grade spirit stones on a whim!” Why doesn’t he just go on and say he’s the Iron Dawn Sovereign while he’s at it?”

Even some of the nearby Dao Emperors browsing around turned their gazes toward Shun Long, their expressions shifting between disbelief and cold looks of calculation.

But Shun Long didn’t spare those people a glance.

He just waved his hand, taking out a spatial ring filled with high-grade spirit stones and prepared to hand it to Zhou Wuyi.

...However, that’s when the atmosphere on the second floor unexpectedly changed.

A wave of thick, almost palpable pressure swept through every cultivator on the ’Night Hall’ before it eventually settled on the azure-robed elder, sweeping past every cultivator around him like a torrential wave.

Almost simultaneously, Shun Long turned his gaze to one of the hidden corners of the second floor, when a furious, raspy voice echoed straight into his mind,

”Enough! Fellow daoist, stop stirring up trouble in my Hundred Fragrance!”