Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World

Chapter 328: Chapter 185: Shadow Concealment Skill, Breakthrough!

After arriving at Spirit Pill Peak, Gu Sheng went straight to the Scripture Pavilion.

The Scripture Pavilion on Spirit Pill Peak was not large. Unlike the one at War God Peak, it did not contain Martial Arts cultivation techniques but rather pill recipes and some alchemy insights compiled by elders.

At the entrance of the Scripture Pavilion sat an elderly man with white hair. Reclining in a rocking chair, he held a wine gourd in one hand and a large roasted chicken drumstick in the other, leisurely enjoying his snack.

Despite his clothes being stained with grease and his hair resembling a messy bird’s nest, Gu Sheng did not show any disrespect. Instead, he bowed and greeted him politely, ”Outer Sect Disciple Gu Sheng greets the honorable steward. I am here to retrieve the detailed guide to alchemy basics and the herbal compendium.”

The elderly man glanced at Gu Sheng briefly, then pointed inside the pavilion with the hand holding the drumstick. ”It’s on the counter to the left. Take it yourself. If you want to retrieve pill recipes, just use your Identity Token to scan it.” He then paid no further attention to Gu Sheng as he continued devouring his meal.

Gu Sheng expressed his thanks before walking into the Scripture Pavilion.

The pavilion covered an area of about a hundred square meters, with three bookshelves and a counter inside.

The first two bookshelves had wooden plaques engraved with the conspicuous characters ”No Grade,” while the last bookshelf bore the words ”Yellow Level.”

Gu Sheng headed to the left counter, where two stacks of hand-bound booklets lay on the countertop. He took one from each stack and moved on to the shelf marked ”No Grade.”

The shelves were divided into compartments, each containing a brocade box. A layer of restrictions covered the surface of the boxes.

The restrictions were inscribed with the name and general effects of the pill recipes inside. Additionally, star ratings indicated the difficulty of refining, which was divided into five levels.

The easiest One-star pills were primarily used by Refining Skin Realm Martial Artists or for minor healing and blood-stopping purposes. Blood Refining Realm pills generally reached Three-star difficulty. Among them, Gu Sheng noted that the Bone Protecting Pill was rated Four stars, while the Bone Strengthening Pill was Five stars.

Since Gu Sheng himself had yet to step into the alchemy field, he naturally didn’t dare to covet those higher-difficulty recipes. Instead, he chose a One-star recipe for Hemostatic Pills from the available options.

Using his Spirit Pill Peak Identity Token to scan the restriction, the brocade box popped out automatically.

Gu Sheng picked up the box and began studying the recipe scroll inside.

The Hemostatic Pill required only two ingredients and had a relatively simple refining process, as clearly outlined in the recipe.

After reading the recipe for a few minutes, the restriction in front of him suddenly flashed red with a burst of dazzling light, accompanied by an urgent *beep beep beep* alarm sound.

The elderly man outside the pavilion, visibly annoyed, came inside and kicked the side of the bookshelf, returning the restriction to normal.

”You can’t take these recipes out—only transcribe them. If it’s not returned within five minutes, the alarm will be triggered. The counter has materials for transcribing. Hurry up, don’t interrupt my peace!”

Upon hearing this, Gu Sheng immediately went to the counter, took the transcription tools, copied down the recipe, and returned it to its original place. He then bowed and apologized to the elderly man before leaving the Scripture Pavilion.

Watching Gu Sheng’s retreating figure, the elderly man’s lips curled into a smile. ”Haven’t seen such a polite young lad in years—good kid.”

After leaving the Scripture Pavilion, Gu Sheng headed to the Merit Hall on Spirit Pill Peak, where he approached the steward and explained his purpose.

When the steward heard that Gu Sheng wanted Elder Wang to refine pills for him, he helpfully advised, ”The elders’ fees for pill refinement are quite high. You might want to consider asking an Inner Sect senior to do it instead.”

Although Inner Sect Disciples were at least low-grade Yellow Level alchemists, the refinement of pills inherently carried a significant failure rate. With only one Bone Cleansing Flower available, Gu Sheng preferred to spend more for a higher chance of success and chose Elder Wang for the task.

Lin Miaomiao had mentioned before that Elder Wang’s success rate for refining Bone Cleansing Pills was exceptionally high.

”I want to refine the Bone Cleansing Pill. I don’t mind if the cost is higher.”

When the steward heard Gu Sheng’s firm decision to refine the Bone Cleansing Pill, he stopped trying to dissuade him. After all, Elder Wang was specialized in producing these pills for external sale within the Sect and had vast experience, making failure nearly impossible. He understood Gu Sheng’s reasoning.

Gu Sheng took out the Bone Cleansing Flower. ”I can only provide the primary ingredient, the Bone Cleansing Flower. Please convert the auxiliary materials into money directly.”

The steward quickly created a list that detailed more than ten auxiliary materials needed, with the price of each listed beside it.

These auxiliary materials, being ungraded herbs, weren’t overly expensive. The total for all ten-odd materials was just over 32,000 taels. However, the refining fee, which amounted to a staggering 300,000 taels, left Gu Sheng slightly flabbergasted.

”The fee for refinement is ridiculously high! How much would it cost if I asked an Inner Sect senior to do it?”

The steward chuckled, ”Elder Wang’s success rate and pill output rate for Bone Cleansing Pills are exceptionally high, meaning the cost is naturally steep. This is even our internal price—if someone from outside seeks his expertise, it would cost as much as 500,000 taels! If you were to ask an Inner Sect Disciple, it would only be 100,000 taels, but their success rate and pill output rate wouldn’t be guaranteed.”

”Phew! No wonder people say alchemists are all filthy rich! Now I get it!”

Amid his amazement, Gu Sheng resolved to diligently practice alchemy, considering how lucrative the field was. After all, as one’s cultivation advanced, the expenses for martial training would only keep rising. High-grade pills and treasures would cost no less than millions of taels. Without a fast-money-making avenue, the gap between oneself and others would only widen in the future.

Fortunately, Lu Junyi had lent Gu Sheng 300,000 taels in advance; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to fork out such a sum right now.