Chapter 166

He Pingsheng did not enter the guild immediately but continued wandering among the outdoor stalls.

As the middle-aged cultivator said, poison pills, even if obtained, are rarely extracted.

They have little use!

Except for some poison cultivators.

So He Pingsheng thought that even if he went to the guild, he might not gather enough—if he could find one or two at the stalls, that would be best.

But unfortunately, after spending half an incense stick's time, he had nearly visited every stall and found no poison pills.

Some stall owners even asked him innocently, "What's a poison pill?"

He Pingsheng had no choice but to keep walking, entering the guild district.

He looked up and saw a familiar guild: Fenghe Zhuang.

Originally, under the order of Ku Mu True Person, he had come to Mount Matou to sell Yangyang Flower pollen here.

Let's go inside and take a look!

Liu the Shopkeeper glanced at He Pingsheng from behind the counter, not even using his spiritual sense—but judging from He Pingsheng's clothing, age, and demeanor, he had already assumed He Pingsheng was merely a Qi Refining disciple, and didn't even rise, only giving a casual greeting: "What would the esteemed guest like?"

He Pingsheng said nothing, gently extending his spiritual sense to sweep over Liu the Shopkeeper.

Foundation Establishment fourth level.

The key was, after He Pingsheng did this, Liu the Shopkeeper showed no reaction at all.

He Pingsheng was instantly startled: No way, not even a flicker of response?

Try again.

He Pingsheng swept over him once more.

Liu the Shopkeeper's face instantly darkened: "Kid, once is enough—what's the meaning of scanning me twice?"

Uh…

He Pingsheng's face flushed with embarrassment.

It wasn't that the man hadn't reacted—it was that as a shopkeeper, he was scanned so often daily, he'd probably grown numb.

He Pingsheng smiled apologetically: "My apologies, Senior Brother—I was just curious. Please forgive me!"

Liu the Shopkeeper's pupils shrank slightly; he quickly extended his spiritual sense to scan He Pingsheng again—and was instantly stunned: "Hey… Younger Brother… you you you… my apologies, my apologies—you're a Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

Liu the Shopkeeper hurriedly rose from his seat, bowing: "My apologies!"

"What would you like, Younger Brother?"

Foundation Establishment, though not a high realm, already commanded due respect in a world teeming with Louyi.

"Uh…" He Pingsheng glanced around the guild, "I'm looking for poison pills—do you have any?"

"And I need second-rank poison pills!"

"Poison pills?" At the mention, the shopkeeper stiffened, his sharp gaze returning to He Pingsheng, now tinged with caution.

In his view, anyone asking for poison pills was a poison cultivator.

And poison cultivators? None were easy to deal with—they'd poison you on a whim, and you wouldn't even know how you died.

"I'm sorry, Younger Brother," Liu the Shopkeeper forced a bitter smile. "Our shop doesn't carry such items—not even first-rank, let alone second-rank."

"To be honest, even if we received them, they'd be hard to sell."

He Pingsheng asked: "Do you know where I might buy them?"

How could Liu the Shopkeeper offend a poison cultivator? He hurriedly replied: "Younger Brother, these are not easy to come by. As far as I know, not only our shop, but all the guilds here likely don't have any!"

"I don't know where they can be bought."

"But if you urgently need them, you might try the Black Frontier."

"The Black Frontier always has cultivators coming and going—you'd likely find them there."

He Pingsheng shook his head.

He wouldn't go to the Black Frontier.

Too far.

And how would he collect them?

He couldn't just camp there and set up a stall saying, "I'm buying poison pills."

"Senior," He Pingsheng bowed, "do you offer a consignment service? Post a request, and someone will bring you poison pills later."

"Hmm…"

Liu the Shopkeeper nodded: "We do offer this service."

"But I'd suggest pricing them at fifty spirit stones each."

"Though most cultivators see poison pills as useless, they're still substances from second-rank beasts—not every beast carries one."

"So fifty spirit stones each is reasonable."

He Pingsheng nodded: "Fine."

"How many do you need?" Liu the Shopkeeper asked again.

He Pingsheng said: "Collect one hundred for me first—and if you find third-rank poison pills, hold onto them too."

"One hundred?" Liu the Shopkeeper's mouth dropped open in shock. "If it's just one, I'll waive the service fee—but one hundred? Younger Brother… there's still a service fee."

He Pingsheng nodded: "How much?"

Nothing in the world is free.

Paying a little is normal.

Liu the Shopkeeper said: "Normally we take ten percent—but given the volume you need, I can personally reduce it to five percent."

One hundred poison pills would cost five thousand spirit stones to collect; ten percent fee was five hundred, five percent was two hundred fifty.

He Pingsheng said: "Fine, no problem!"

He reached into a storage bag.

It was the lowest-grade storage bag, used only for show.

He Pingsheng upended the bag onto the shopkeeper's counter.

At first, Liu the Shopkeeper thought He Pingsheng was dumping spirit stones—but then he froze.

Low-grade magic treasure swords, mid-grade magic treasure swords!

Swords!

Spears!

Dao blades!

A pile of various magic treasures.

Altogether, over a dozen items.

"Sssss…" Liu the Shopkeeper sucked in a sharp breath.

Who the hell carries eight swords on them?

Just use your ass to think—it's obvious these weren't his; he must've slain countless cultivators to gather them.

Damn, poison cultivators really aren't to be trifled with.

"Shopkeeper, check these out—how much are they worth altogether?" He Pingsheng gestured casually.

"Yes yes yes…" The shopkeeper began sorting.

Low-grade magic treasures weren't worth much.

Altogether, the dozen or so items totaled barely two thousand spirit stones.

He Pingsheng added more to make up the difference.

"Done!" Liu the Shopkeeper said. "Take this Twin-Soul Talisman—when the poison pills arrive, I'll notify you to collect them. Keep this jade tablet; if you can't come yourself, send a disciple."

"Good." He Pingsheng took the Twin-Soul Talisman and jade tablet.

"Do you need anything else?" The shopkeeper looked at He Pingsheng with even greater respect.

He Pingsheng said: "I'll take a look."

He wanted to buy other items for self-defense.

Hmm… preferably talismans.

In every fight, He Pingsheng had always escaped using talismans—so the more he could buy, the better.