Chapter 38: Myriad Beast Blood Refining Method, Mysterious Maiden

Lu Chen had just turned and walked a few steps when he suddenly felt a familiar ripple in his sea of consciousness—the Empress had awakened.

"Is this the Ghost Market?" Looking around at the shabby scene, the Empress's tone carried obvious dissatisfaction, "How can it be so impoverished?"

Back when Lu Chen and she had discussed the Ghost Market, she hadn't yet fallen into complete slumber, so she naturally knew where the two of them were.

Upon noticing the Empress's awakening, Lu Chen immediately told her his recent discovery.

"Soul Jade?"

The Empress's spirit form flew in the direction Lu Chen indicated, and indeed she saw that soul jade on the old man's stall.

She quickly flew back to Lu Chen's side, her face showing a hint of joy:

"This item is effective for restoring my soul; you must get it into your hands."

Saying that, she glanced again at Lu Chen's expression.

She probably guessed what had just happened.

"If this person won't give it, just kill him."

"If you don't dare to act, let her do it."

The Empress had long noticed the difference between Lu Chen and ordinary demonic cultivators.

Compared to ordinary demonic cultivators, he doesn't like wanton slaughter, and he never cultivates certain special techniques.

Rather than call him a demonic cultivator, he's more like an orthodox cultivator who follows an unorthodox sword path.

That's why she added that second sentence.

But what she didn't know was that Lu Chen had already planned this.

After all, since the incident with Mei Qianxue, his mindset has undergone a slight change.

"I do have that plan, but let's wait a bit longer—there are many people here."

Lu Chen gave a slight nod.

The Empress scanned the surroundings again; if it were her, she would have already had Su Qian kill all these cultivators.

"Never mind, do as you wish—anyway, we must get the item."

"When the time comes, I can teach you another killing technique."

"If we don't get it, I'll hold you responsible!"

Just as the Empress was preparing to return to continue her slumber, she suddenly noticed a distant aura.

"Fortunately this Female Yama King's soul is weak and she likes to sleep; otherwise, given her temperament, I would have had to slaughter everyone in the demonic sect's territory."

"I increasingly suspect she died because she offended too many people back then and was besieged to death."

"Cough." Lu Chen gathered his thoughts and followed Su Qian deeper inside.

He hadn't forgotten his purpose for coming to the Ghost Market, but after wandering through most of it he still hadn't found anyone selling the Imprisoned Spirit Pill.

But although he didn't find the Imprisoned Spirit Pill, he did see a technique he currently needed.

【Demonic technique detected, Myriad Beast Blood Refining Method!】

【Original effect: Take the living blood of a demonic beast, ingest it to merge into the bloodstream, refining it into one's own essence blood. After refinement, one's blood may be contaminated by residual beast blood, ultimately leading to muddled consciousness.】

【Reversed effect: After refinement, residual beast blood no longer affects the mind; as the number of refinements increases, the mind becomes clearer.】

"Extracting the blood of a living demonic beast—no wonder it's a demonic cultivator's method."

"But it is indeed the technique I currently need most."

The owner of the technique stood before the stall, watching Lu Chen linger without speaking, and tentatively opened his mouth:

"Young friend, are you interested in any technique?"

Saying that, he suddenly glanced sideways with his peripheral vision at Su Qian beside him.

Earlier, when Lu Chen was at that old man's stall, he had been observing the expressions of Lu Chen and his companion.

Although his cultivation level isn't high, he still knows how to read people's expressions.

He was quite sure that the old man had definitely caught Lu Chen's eye.

"If I also opened my mouth wide like a lion, with this Grand Condensed Spirit Cultivator present, I probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow..."

"Forget it, these techniques originally carry huge side effects in cultivation; might as well sell them cheaply."

"Well, name your price for this Myriad Beast Blood Refining Method."

Lu Chen had prepared himself for the other party to make a lion's demand.

As a result, the other party stretched out a hand and showed one finger.

"One hundred bottles of mid-grade killing qi?!"

Lu Chen startled—could this guy's appetite be even bigger than that old thing just now?

"No, for this technique I only sell one bottle of mid-grade killing qi."

"One bottle?" Lu Chen obviously sensed something.

However he didn't say more, naturally producing a bottle of mid-grade killing qi and exchanging it with the other party.

"Take your time, young friend—come again when you have the chance!"

After Lu Chen and Su Qian left, several familiar cultivators nearby gathered around him.

"Old Ghost! When I initially offered twenty bottles of mid-grade killing qi for this technique you wouldn't sell, yet today you give just one bottle to someone else?"

"Exactly! If you'd said it was that cheap earlier, I would have bought it!"

Listening to the remarks of those nearby, he didn't respond, merely feeling relieved to have avoided a disaster.

He walked all the way to the deepest part of the Ghost Market, yet still saw no sign of the Imprisoned Spirit Pill.

Just as he thought this trip would likely turn up empty, he suddenly caught a strong scent of medicinal aura.

This medicinal aura wasn't the usual fragrant smell of normal pills; instead it also carried a strong rusty and bloody odor.

"A pill master—perhaps there could be an Imprisoned Spirit Pill!!"

Following this strange elixir qi, Lu Chen and another arrived at a cave at the edge of the valley.

Finally, in an inconspicuous corner, they saw a huge alchemy furnace.

At that moment, the furnace fire emitted a greenish gloom, casting a distorted human face that looked extremely hideous.

However, although that human face looked extremely twisted, the sound it emitted was like that of a girl.

"You came to buy pills?"

Noticing Lu Chen's arrival, a girl walked out from behind the furnace fire.

"This... how is it a woman?"

Without the furnace fire's illumination, the girl's true appearance quickly appeared before Lu Chen.

That was Zhang Qingxiu's lovely face, completely different from the twisted face just now.

The girl looked about eighteen or nineteen, short in stature, with her hair tied up, her eyes lively and spirited, and several obvious storage bags hung at her waist.

However, a hint of gloom seemed to linger at the corner of her eyes, and together with her gray‑black attire, she looked somewhat strange.

"How so?" the girl tilted her head, the corner of her mouth curling into an arc, "You discovered that the alchemist is actually an inexperienced woman—are you disappointed?"

Hearing this, Lu Chen withdrew his surprised gaze and hastily clasped his hands: "Junior really didn't expect that someone capable of refining such a pill would be a young lady—my apologies."

He called himself junior because he sensed that the girl's cultivation level was above his own.

Looking at her young age, she already possessed the cultivation of late Elixir Storage stage.

"I never thought such a gifted talent would be hidden in this tiny Ghost Market."

Lu Chen thought to himself.

At that moment, the girl glanced at Su Qian, noticed she was shorter than her, secretly stepped back, then let out a soft hum: "What pill do you want? Make it clear first—my pills don't come cheap."

"Do you have Prison Spirit Pill?" Lu Chen asked, clasping his hands.

"Prison Spirit Pill?" the girl's eyes flickered, "I do have it, but......"