Chapter 124

It was indeed a big deal.

Twenty bottles of Hua Chen Elixirs, four thousand spirit stones.

Ten boxes of An Shen Incense, one thousand two hundred spirit stones.

Added together, it exceeded five thousand.

High-grade magic tools could be bought at will, and even top-grade magic tools could be tried to be obtained.

What Liu Liu Hecai admired was that the little rogue cultivator who had to grit his teeth for a few dozen spirit stones back then could now take out five thousand spirit stones without blushing or panting.

From this, it could be seen how high his elixir refining attainments were, accumulating such a huge family fortune in a short time.

He didn't know that this was almost all of Luo Chen's current family fortune.

After buying this batch of cultivation resources, he only had a little over a hundred scattered spirit stones left on him.

"No way, for the sake of cultivation, I have made Shopkeeper Liu laugh." Luo Chen sighed.

Liu Liu Hecai seemed to understand something, waved his hand to summon a maid, and gave a few instructions.

Soon, the other party sent the corresponding elixirs.

That maid also specifically glanced at Luo Chen a few times, as if she wanted to remember his face in her heart.

After Luo Chen paid the spirit stones, Liu Liu Hecai smiled: "You are seeing that the Dahe Market is a bit chaotic recently, and you are thinking for the future, right!"

"Your eyes are like torches, old man; nothing can be hidden from you!"

Luo Chen flattered him as if money were no object; he also wanted to know some high-level news from this sect Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Under his flattery, Liu Liu Hecai was quite happy.

"Actually, there's no need to worry so much."

"Oh, how so?"

There really was inside information!

"It's a very simple truth: the Yuding Sword Sect cannot let the Dahe Market stay chaotic forever."

Just this one sentence stunned Luo Chen.

That's right, the Dahe Market is not some small market, but a large market near the million-strong Great Mountains of the Eastern Wasteland.

With abundant resources and broad prospects.

From the fact that the Yuding Sword Sect has been setting up more and more industries here, it can be seen that they value the Dahe Market very much.

Being in the game, he saw things less clearly.

Seeing Luo Chen's sudden realization, Liu Liu Hecai smiled lightly: "You bottom-level cultivators only see the chaos on the surface. But this time, the direction of the chaos is actually aimed at Foundation Establishment cultivators, and even the Core Formation cultivators who enter and exit the Eastern Wasteland Great Mountains."

The Eastern Wasteland Great Mountains have incomparably abundant resources.

Naturally, it's impossible for only Qi Refining rogue cultivators to make a living inside.

In ordinary times, Foundation Establishment cultivators will also enter and exit.

From time to time, some Core Formation cultivators will also walk through for certain medicinal herbs, ores, and demonic beasts.

This point can be seen from the fact that the auctions in the Dahe Market have resources aimed at Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators.

"That Core Formation True Person from the Yuding Sword Sect cannot live in a place with first-grade spiritual veins for a long time, right?"

"Yes."

"Then he will definitely leave, and before leaving, he will naturally clean up the mess. So, you don't have to worry so much."

While speaking, his gaze fell on Luo Chen's pile of boxes and jade bottles.

In his eyes, there was quite a bit of teasing.

Damn!

Why didn't you say so earlier? I've already paid the spirit stones.

Luo Chen really wanted to curse at the profiteer, but considering that the other party was willing to point out these things to him, he couldn't curse.

After leaving the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, Luo Chen doubted whether he looked like the crowds who rushed to buy salt on Earth.

On the way to Xieyue Valley, Luo Chen combined Shopkeeper Liu's few words and sorted out the chaotic situation in the Dahe Market recently again.

In the end, he drew a series of inferences.

The chaos started after the arrival of the Core Formation True Person, Pang Pang Renxiong.

Among them, there was the fueling of the fire by the Law Enforcement Team's inaction.

In addition, the increase in rewards for the Discussion Platform was also a point worth pondering.

Looking at it this way, this situation was caused by that Core Formation True Person.

His purpose was actually very easy to guess.

The death of Fei Bowen!

That late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from Mount Ailao Mountain died in the Dahe Market.

According to the disciples of the Xianzhuju, the cause of Fei Bowen's death was a magic treasure sword pill, and the finger was pointed directly at the Yuding sword cultivator, and even at the person with the highest cultivation base in the market at the time—Pang Pang Renxiong.

Because only he had a magic treasure-level sword pill.

For this reason, the Supreme Elder of Mount Ailao Mountain went to the Yuding Sword Sect to ask for an explanation.

Luo Chen didn't know why a Core Formation sect dared to ask a Nascent Soul sect for an explanation.

He could only understand it as there being checks and balances between sects, not just simple killing.

Especially since Mount Ailao Mountain was also powerful in the Yuding Domain, and most of the construction of markets and immortal cities had their hands in it.

After the Supreme Elder was dispatched, the Yuding Sword Sect certainly had to give a response.

This response came a bit late, half a year later.

Of course, half a year is only for Qi Refining cultivators.

For those Core Formation True Persons who often retreat for ten or a hundred years, it might just be one retreat.

Half a year later, Pang Pang Renxiong returned to the Dahe Market and stirred up chaos.

Perhaps he wanted to fish in troubled waters and find the real culprit.

Or perhaps he was putting on a show for Mount Ailao Mountain to see.

Anyway, he came, and he tried his best.

When the time came to leave, whether he found the real culprit or not was no longer important.

"If things are developing like this, then the chaos in the Dahe Market really won't last too long?"

Luo Chen was half-believing and half-doubting about his guess.

However, he suddenly thought of another question.

Was this "won't last too long" aimed at Qi Refining cultivators, or Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators?

The two have different standards for the concept of time!

"In short, buying these cultivation resources definitely won't be a loss."

Elixirs and An Shen Incense are things Luo Chen can use.

Whether there is great chaos or not, he has to use them every day.

The salary given by the Poshan Gang is only four bottles a month, and he originally had to replenish two bottles every month.

Now it's just buying a few more.

"Anyway, spirit stones don't earn interest just sitting there; they're just accompanying me in another way."

Thinking of interest, Luo Chen muttered.

Why doesn't the cultivation world have big banks?

Even mortal kingdoms have pawnshops and money shops!

When he started thinking about these things, it showed that Luo Chen's tense mind had relaxed a bit.

However, in the following days, his work attitude was much better than before.

"The Hall Master seems very serious recently?"

"Hmm? Hasn't he always been very serious?"

"No, no, no, although he was very serious before, he wasn't so attentive when refining elixirs. Even if a furnace of materials was ruined, he didn't take it to heart."

"Oh, now that you mention it, it seems so?"

As his cultivation base deepened, Luo Chen's spiritual perception became increasingly sharp.

For those conversations that didn't use sound transmission techniques, he could vaguely hear some.

Serious?

Nonsense, how could he not be serious!

His savings were all exhausted, and Luo Chen was more anxious than anyone else.

That was the savings he had prepared to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill after reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

In his life, except for when he was at the third or fourth layer of Qi Refining, he had never been so strapped for cash.

Even knowing that the 5,200 spirit stones were accompanying him in another way, Luo Chen was still a little anxious.

Therefore, in his recent elixir refining work, he was more diligent than anyone else.

Not only that, he also began to pay attention to the cultivation of Sister Mi Li and Tang Quan.

If the two could stably refine Grain-Avoiding Powder and Zhongmiao Pills, he could also obtain a share of the income in the future.

It's a pity that the two had average elixir refining talent.

Under Luo Chen's personal guidance, Tang Quan still hadn't independently refined a low-grade Zhongmiao Pill.

Grain-Avoiding Powder was simple, but Sister Mi Li could only refine low-grade ones.

Luo Chen didn't bother to take them out to sell, so he simply distributed them as benefits to the internal affairs cultivators in the Elixir Hall.

"By the way, why hasn't last month's dividend come down yet?"

Luo Chen caught Elder Sikong Elder Sikong Shoujia and asked.

Elder Sikong Elder Sikong Shoujia looked confused, "It's not the beginning of the month yet!"

"I don't care; I'm short of spirit stones recently."

"I can't help it either! For this matter, you have to go find Mi Mi Junping."

Luo Chen frowned; there was no precedent for advancing dividends.

Thinking about it, his eyes lit up.

"Come on, don't be in such a hurry to get off work today; let's take stock of the number of elixirs produced this month."

Taking stock of elixirs didn't take much effort, and Elder Sikong Elder Sikong Shoujia naturally had no objections.

Together with Gu Gu Caiyi, the three of them entered the Elixir Nourishing Room.

Before long, the number of elixirs was presented before the three.

Elder Sikong Elder Sikong Shoujia hesitated: "1,600 mid-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs, over 2,400 low-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs? Is this the number?"

"Yes, this is the number!" Gu Gu Caiyi nodded heavily.

The two looked at each other, both having a touch of disbelief.

Nothing else, based on the selling price of 50 spirit stones per bottle for mid-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs and 10 spirit stones per bottle for low-grade ones, the gross profit this month had already exceeded 10,000 spirit stones.

This was the first time it had broken the 10,000 mark!

It was no wonder they were so shocked.

"That's enough, give me the account book!"

Luo Chen snatched the account book and walked out.

Behind him, Gu Gu Caiyi and Elder Sikong Elder Sikong Shoujia still hadn't quite recovered.

Luo Chen only worked hard for a small month, and the finished elixir rate increased by so much?

The gross profit broke 10,000, so after deducting the costs, how much would Luo Chen get?

Thinking of the spirit stones Luo Chen could get next month, Elder Sikong Elder Sikong Shoujia's eyes turned red.

He had never earned so much in his life, even after fighting and killing.

Gu Gu Caiyi could only sigh, as expected of an elixir refiner!

And on Luo Chen's side, next month?

No, this month!

"I can understand you wanting to advance last month's dividend; it's just a matter of a day or two anyway."

"But, this month's dividend?"

Mi Mi Junping widened her eyes, "The elixirs you refined this month haven't even been sold yet!"

"It's not like they won't sell."

"No!"

"Then I am still the only elixir refiner in the gang; don't I even have this little privilege?"

"Still no!"

Slap!

Luo Chen pressed the account book directly onto the table and pointed to the page he had already opened.

"Just based on the results of this month, you tell me if it's okay or not!"

Mi Mi Junping looked over, and after seeing that number, she looked at Luo Chen with suspicion.

"Are you sure you didn't fake it?"

"Tch..."

Luo Chen didn't even bother to explain.

Mi Mi Junping hesitated; Mi Hearing Mi Shuhua had said that offending Luo Chen too much was not good.

Now that Luo Chen's work results were so outstanding, she didn't seem to be able to refuse him again and again.

"You wait for a day; I have to go ask my father."

Luo Chen said helplessly: "Your father is a Foundation Establishment cultivator after all; can't you prepare a few more sound transmission talismans for yourself? Such a small matter, and you still have to run back and forth."

Mi Mi Junping also rolled her eyes at him speechlessly, "How far can a sound transmission talisman fly!"

After saying that, she rushed out the door.

Luo Chen had no choice but to wait for a day.

He really hoped this would work and become a precedent!

As an elixir refiner, there was no reason to withhold his salary for a month.

As for the pressure of funds not returning?

That was the Poshan Gang's business; what did it have to do with him?

And Mi Hearing Mi Shuhua was wealthy and didn't lack these few spirit stones.

Luo Chen didn't go to the Haoyue Hall meeting at the beginning of the month, and Mi Mi Junping didn't arrive either.

The two met directly in the Elixir Nourishing Room of the Elixir Hall.

"Look, I didn't lie to you, right!"

After counting the number of Jade Marrow Elixirs again, Mi Mi Junping was still a bit dazed.

1,600 mid-grade Jade Marrow Elixirs, compared to the previous monthly output of only a little over 1,000, had increased by almost fifty percent.

Luo Chen's elixir refining attainments had actually improved so rapidly.

Taking a deep breath, she took out spirit stones from her storage bag and handed them to Luo Chen.

"Why are there only a few... ah!"

Luo Chen looked at the thirty spirit stones that were crystal clear, like gemstones, and hesitated: "Mid-grade spirit stones?"

"Yes!"

Mi Mi Junping said helplessly: "The gang doesn't have that many low-grade spirit stones; they mainly have to be used to settle the salaries for low-grade rogue cultivators. Since you want so many in one go, I can only give you mid-grade spirit stones."

"But my dividends for the two months added together should be over 3,000, right?"

Mi Mi Junping looked at Luo Chen as if he were an idiot, "Mid-grade spirit stones have a premium. If you feel it's not worth it, you can take them to the black market to exchange for low-grade spirit stones. I guarantee it won't be less than your dividends for two months."

Slap!

Luo Chen patted his own head; he had forgotten about this.

Common knowledge in the cultivation world: spirit stones are in base-100.

But when it comes to real operation, one mid-grade spirit stone is definitely worth more than one hundred low-grade spirit stones.

As for the principle, Luo Chen didn't know yet, but that's how it was on the market.

There were also people in the black market specifically targeting rogue cultivators to do this kind of exchange business.

Rogue cultivators who occasionally obtained mid-grade spirit stones were very happy to go to the black market to exchange them, just to get those few extra low-grade spirit stones.

The dividend matter was resolved, and Luo Chen was very happy.

"I hope that after the elixir output this month, it can also be settled in advance."

"Then I also hope your elixir refining attainments become more and more profound, or at least remain stable."

Leaving this sentence, Mi Mi Junping left in a hurry.

Watching her departing back, Luo Chen shrugged; he actually wanted to become more and more profound.

But after the Jade Marrow Elixir reached the master level, without the ability to refine high-grade ones on a large scale, it was impossible to reach Great Perfection in a short time.

Don't you see that the Zhongmiao Pill, which had long been at the master level, was still stuck at over 700 proficiency?

Sometimes, he even wanted to know what effect a top-grade Zhongmiao Pill would have.

After Mi Mi Junping left, Luo Chen yawned in front of everyone and returned to the stone house.

Today is the beginning of the month, the day to take stock of the number of elixirs, material consumption, and replenish raw materials.

Counting it up, it was also a rare holiday for the Elixir Hall, and more than half of the people were on vacation.

Luo Chen didn't need to refine elixirs, so he planned to use this time to improve the proficiency of those few spells.

The Wind-Riding Technique was about to reach Great Perfection!

Half a month later, the night was low, in the Mount Changyin Mountains.

In the sky, inside a cloud, Luo Chen was quite surprised.

"Is this the Great Perfection Wind-Riding Technique?"

He didn't expect that the Great Perfection Wind-Riding Technique didn't improve his speed much, but he could actually barely ride the clouds.

You must know that riding clouds is one of the representative means of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Under normal circumstances, one needs to release spiritual sense and supplement it with special techniques to ride clouds and fly.

However, the speed of riding clouds is only faster than driving flying magic tools, not as fast as magic treasures, so many Foundation Establishment cultivators don't use this means.

But he didn't expect that after Luo Chen's Wind-Riding Technique reached Great Perfection, he could actually ride the clouds.

"It seems, that's not all?"

Luo Chen's gaze fell on the attribute panel, and he was shocked to find that the name of the Wind-Riding Technique had changed, and the *Xiaoyaoyou* in the martial arts column was gone.

The two merged into one, getting a new name.

【Li Xiaoyao Wind-Riding】

"A new spell?"

Luo Chen's heart moved, and he activated it with the spiritual technique of the Wind-Riding Technique, instantly feeling something different from usual.

The flight brought by the Wind-Riding Technique in the past was not actually riding the wind of nature, but driving the spiritual power in his own body to wrap himself and fly.

Whether it was flight altitude, speed, or duration, it was extremely limited.

When Luo Chen was at the perfect level back then, his speed only improved to the speed of a normal magic tool.

After reaching the master level, it exceeded the speed of most flying magic tools, and was not even inferior to the speed of some attack magic tools famous for their escape speed.

But now, he really felt like a breeze was supporting him as he flew.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

This is the true riding of the wind!

Excited, Luo Chen increased his spiritual power output, and the gale rushed over.

His body, like an arrow off the string, flew out suddenly.

"The direction is wrong; I don't want to go deep into the Xiaoyue Mountains."

Luo Chen changed direction and began to circle around the Mount Changyin Mountains.

As he flew, demonic beasts roared one after another in the mountains.

"The commotion is a bit big!"

Luo Chen chuckled and quietly landed on the familiar hillside.

"But this speed is twice as fast as before! It's completely comparable to the flight speed of a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

If he wasn't sure before, Luo Chen could now be certain that his speed had indeed reached the level of the Foundation Establishment period.

And this change was not just because the Wind-Riding Technique reached Great Perfection, but also because it actively merged with the Great Perfection *Xiaoyaoyou*.

After the two spells merged, Luo Chen was able to control the wind in the natural world.

"However, why is there no proficiency display for the new spell?"

On the panel, *Li Xiaoyao Wind-Riding* was already at Great Perfection and could no longer continue to climb in proficiency.

"Maybe the upper limit is just like this."

After all, it was just a first-grade spell merged with secular light-body martial arts; the upper limit couldn't be that high.

Luo Chen was already very satisfied; this meant he had another means of self-protection.

From now on, as long as it wasn't a Foundation Establishment cultivator attacking him, he could remain invincible.

With another very strong means of self-protection, Luo Chen was much more composed afterward.

Whether it was cultivation, elixir refining, or practicing spells, everything was in an orderly manner.

Time passed in a hurry, and two months passed in a flash.

Luo Chen obtained elixir dividends of 1,700 and 1,800 respectively, plus eight bottles of Hua Chen Elixirs and two boxes of An Shen Incense.

However, the business of the two small snack shops was getting worse by the day.

Over the two months, they earned less than 1,000 spirit stones in total.

It was a pity that the name of the Honey Snow Ice City that Feng Xia had just spread out was about to be silenced.

Luo Chen had been mentally prepared for this long ago.

In a chaotic situation, cultivators would no longer indulge in enjoyment.

They were more willing to spend spirit stones on purchasing cultivation resources, or even magic tools and talismans.

Even the few spirit stones they didn't care about before had now become particularly precious.

Luo Chen had been waiting for the chaos in the Dahe Market to end, but he didn't expect it to intensify.

The chaos in the outer city area had reached the point where it wasn't even safe in broad daylight.

A few days ago, in the southeast district, over twenty houses were burned down, and the huge fire almost lit up the entire night sky.

Arson!

This was a major crime that would have been punishable by imprisonment or hanging on the city wall before.

But this time, the Law Enforcement Team had no reaction other than sending people to put out the fire.

The inner city was also not as safe as imagined.

Especially the city north area where Luo Chen and the others were located.

Qin Qin Liangchen personally took action and caught a thief.

He wanted to take advantage of the fact that there was no one in the courtyard during the day to sneak in and steal things.

However, most wealthy cultivators had storage bags, and their belongings were inside.

Poor cultivators were even less likely to have any belongings; a few magic tools and a magic robe, they were truly alone.

That thief was also unlucky, encountering Qin Qin Liangchen meditating at home; he was slapped dizzy on the spot.

Later, he was handed over to the Law Enforcement Team, saying he would be thrown into the Red Pillar to be properly reformed.

As for what the real situation would be, who knew?

Only now did Luo Chen realize how correct his judgment was!

The "won't last too long" that Shopkeeper Liu said was simply looking at it from the time standard of Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators.

For them, Qi Refining cultivators, three months of chaos was already unbearable.

If this continues, the Dahe Market will become uninhabitable and unsuitable for cultivation.

Rogue cultivators will think about running away.

Whether it's the safe Taishan Market, or the Snow Lotus Market which is cold but equally full of opportunities, or even the Liuguang Market in a barren land, they are all better than the chaotic and dangerous Dahe Market.

Recently, the prices of elixirs and magic tools in the city have risen to varying degrees.

He bought a large pile of Hua Chen Elixirs in advance, which was a small bargain.

"The Discussion Platform, closed!"

"What?"

Luo Chen, who rarely went home, heard this news from Feng Xia.

Feng Xia said worriedly: "It is said that the Core Formation True Person wants to retreat and intends to gather the spiritual veins of Mount Luofeng Mountain to cultivate, so it will be briefly closed for the next half year."

"So childish?"

Luo Chen was extremely surprised.

The grand formation when the Discussion Platform opened, and the huge investment of the Yuding Sword Sect, could be imagined.

Now it's closed just like that; what does this count as?

Just to give Mount Ailao Mountain an explanation, is it worth such a big fuss?

Could it be that there is some inside information he doesn't know?

Luo Chen couldn't figure it out.

The gap in cultivation base, the scarcity of connections, and the shallowness of knowledge all limited him from using his clever little brain to guess the truth.

He only knew that the closure of the Discussion Platform would have a huge impact.

Not to mention anything else, just his two small shops were basically serving the thousands of spectators of the Discussion Platform every day.

Now that the Discussion Platform is closed, which cultivator would go to Mount Luofeng Mountain for no reason?

The commercial area of Bai Shi Plaza near the gateway of Mount Luofeng Mountain will likely decline very quickly.

Looking at the worried Feng Xia, Luo Chen knew what she was worried about.

He could only comfort her: "The rent has been paid for a year, so we still have to continue operating as usual. And in these few months, we should have cultivated some wealthy repeat customers, so ensuring the most basic income should still be feasible."

Feasible is feasible, but it's likely that they really won't earn many spirit stones.

Regarding this, Feng Xia was also powerless.

Luo Chen also felt that a word from a high-grade cultivator could be a huge life-changing event for a low-grade cultivator.

Originally, Feng Xia, Yuan Xiaoyue, and other rogue cultivators in Bai Shi Plaza could earn a large amount of spirit stones by relying on the Discussion Platform.

Their little lives were quite comfortable.

But now, I'm afraid they will be beaten back to their original state.

And the impact might not just be this point.

Luo Chen's gaze fell on Duan Feng, who was silent in the corner.

"Little Duan, what are your plans for the future?"