Chapter 479

"The Heart-Seeking Talisman is a third-rank talisman specially bestowed by the Golden Core true cultivators of our palace for this journey."

"Unless this Wang friend is also at the Golden Core realm, once this talisman locks onto him, if he answers my questions with falsehoods, it will spontaneously ignite—and then you and I will have no choice but to act." As the young man spoke, he flicked his sleeve, and suddenly a talisman appeared in his hand; though its surface bore only simple pale-gold spiritual runes, it radiated an indescribable aura of mystery.

"A third-rank talisman? Even if it were just an ordinary attack or defense talisman, its value would instantly increase tenfold or more. The Heart-Seeking Talisman is arguably the most useless of all third-rank talismans." The old man glanced at the golden talisman in the youth’s hand, his expression tinged with regret.

"What are you thinking, brother?"

"Our Bi Shui Palace has only one third-rank talisman master—Master Zhu. He spends most of his time cultivating and in seclusion. Unless the palace master personally requests it, Master Zhu wouldn’t spend even a moment longer than necessary on talisman crafting."

"The Heart-Seeking Talisman, the simplest of all third-rank talismans, is already the one Master Zhu has crafted the most for the palace." The Yan youth sighed in reply, then flipped his palm, and the golden talisman vanished.

"True. Without the Heart-Seeking Talisman, my brother wouldn’t have been casually granted a third-rank talisman. But since Wang friend passed its test, his origins are likely not problematic."

"Still, what do you think of his claim that he’s a second-rank alchemical artisan?" [11] "Since he volunteered this, it’s likely true. Otherwise, such a claim would be too easy to expose. But even a second-rank alchemical artisan in a major sect wouldn’t hold a low position." [13] "Such a low bone age—and a second-rank alchemical artisan? If he can also gain insight from that talent artifact, then he’s almost certainly going to..." Zhang Xiufu was startled.

"Could it be an exaggeration? Perhaps he merely understands a bit of alchemical crafting and said so to raise his value in our eyes—after all, the Heart-Seeking Talisman’s effect should have worn off by then." Zhang Xiufu asked hesitantly.

"Since he volunteered this, it’s likely true. Otherwise, such a claim would be too easy to expose. But even a second-rank alchemical artifact master in a major sect wouldn’t hold a low position."

"More importantly, I sense his bone age isn’t very high—he’s probably under fifty. This Wang friend was clearly no ordinary disciple in his original sect; he almost certainly held a True Disciple position." The Yan youth replied slowly, his eyes flickering.

"Such a low bone age—and a second-rank alchemical artifact master? If he can also gain insight from that talent artifact, then he’s almost certainly going to..." Zhang Xiufu was startled.

"Yes. With such talent and potential, even our Bi Shui Palace wouldn’t easily let him go. This Wang friend will almost certainly become our fellow sect member—at the very least, he’ll be an Inner Disciple." The youth mused in reply.

"Inner Disciple? If he were a lone cultivator, the probability might be high. But according to your guess, he’s already a True Disciple from some sect in the Southern Continent. Would it be appropriate for him to become an Inner Disciple of our Bi Shui Palace?" The old man frowned slightly in reply.

"True. Though there’s no written rule against major sects accepting disciples from other sects, it’s still somewhat improper."

"But our Bi Shui Palace is a top-tier sect with a Nascent Soul elder in residence. If we decide to do this, who dares object? The rules we set are the true rules of the Chaotic Spirit Region."

"Besides, this Wang friend has already drifted from the Southern Continent to our Eastern Wilderness. Whether his original sect even still exists is uncertain." The youth replied indifferently.

"True. With our Bi Shui Palace’s strength, unless another Nascent Soul-level sect dares to interfere, who would dare meddle with us?" The old man thought for a moment, then chuckled silently.

…

Two hours later.

Under the respectful farewell of an old man, Wang Yu stepped out of the front door of a seemingly grand herbal shop.

He walked a few steps, then turned back to glance several times at the sign above the shop reading "Miao Zhi Tang," before walking away calmly.

In this short time, he had thoroughly investigated every herbal shop in Han Lan Market, purchasing some unique Eastern Wilderness pills and pill formulas, even a batch of alchemical ingredients.

He wasn’t worried about Zhang Xiufu and the others becoming suspicious—he was now a minor power lord himself; gathering pill-related resources for Mi Shan Sect was perfectly normal.

Though Han Lan Market was a small market with only a few herbal shops related to pills, Wang Yu still noticed clear differences between the pills of the Chaotic Spirit Region and those of Wu State.

If pills in Wu State and the Southern Continent primarily used spiritual herbs as raw materials, the pills of Eastern Wilderness and the Chaotic Spirit Region mostly relied on demon beast cores—even some used bone and blood from beasts.

The effects of the two types of pills also differed markedly.

Pills crafted in Eastern Wilderness, even of the same type, seemed more potent, but their nature was also more aggressive, with greater side effects and higher tolerance thresholds than those of the Southern Continent.

For example, a certain second-rank cultivation pill from the Southern Continent might grant a Foundation Establishment cultivator three months of progress per pill, but after ten pills, tolerance rendered them ineffective.

A similar second-rank lower-grade pill from Eastern Wilderness, made with demon beast cores, might grant four months of progress per pill—but tolerance set in after only seven pills.

And since demon beast cores were the main ingredient, the crafting methods naturally differed from those of the Southern Continent. He’d need time to adjust and adapt if he wanted to successfully craft second-rank pills here.

Yet he also learned good news from the shopkeepers.

Because the main ingredient of these pills was demon beast cores, not just in the Chaotic Spirit Region but across all Eastern Wilderness regions, many cultivators risked entering demon beast territories to hunt large numbers of beasts—not just Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators, but even Golden Core true cultivators among the lone cultivators did this.

Thus, in terms of high-rank pill ingredients, this region of Eastern Wilderness was far more abundant than the Southern Continent. Many high-rank pills lacked no demon beast cores—only skilled pill masters were scarce.

Think about it: a spiritual herb capable of serving as material for a second-rank pill must grow for at least a hundred, even several hundred years, and requires extremely strict growing conditions. Most can only be cultivated in tiny quantities—even one or two plants.

Unlike most demon beasts, with their thick hides and tough flesh, they reproduce in litters to ensure survival, eat almost anything, and mature rapidly within twenty to thirty years, beginning to form demon beast cores.

Moreover, during his days in the Chaotic Spirit Region, Wang Yu had already learned how Eastern Wilderness cultivators viewed demon beast territories.

Compared to the eight human-occupied regions, demon beast lands were virtually infinite, their beasts seemingly endless. No one knew whether behind each known human-identified demon beast territory lay more lands, or even stronger demon beasts or demon clans lurking.

That’s why, despite the Eastern Wilderness human sects being so powerful—with over twenty Nascent Soul elders openly acknowledged—they still dared not launch a full-scale war against the demon beasts, contenting themselves with slowly expanding human territory bit by bit.

But these matters were distant to Wang Yu, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator. He cared more about the dozen or so new pill formulas he’d bought from these shops.

Most were first-rank formulas, but three were second-rank—this had surprised him.

After all, all of them were complete formulas—even the three second-rank ones.

This suggested that high-rank pill formulas in Eastern Wilderness weren’t strictly controlled by major sects like Bi Shui Palace. Was it because the true enemy of the region’s cultivators wasn’t other human lone cultivators, but demon beasts and demon clans?

Wang Yu could only think so in his mind.

At that moment, he entered another weapons shop outside "Bi Jin Ge."