Chapter 179: Refining Second-Tier Pills

"Do you have spirit-gathering pills?"

He Pingsheng said while looking at the alchemy shop.

The alchemy shop's storefront was very small, less than ten zhang in area, with only a few shelves and some arrays inside.

Of course, it was understandable.

Because the pills commonly used by cultivators in the cultivation world were only those few types, which didn't take up much space, so there was no need to make it too big.

"Yes!" The child said to He Pingsheng: "However, you have to wait a moment. I cannot sell second-tier pills; I have to call my Master over!"

He Pingsheng nodded and said, "Go ahead and call him!"

The youth picked up a Heart-Connection Talisman and sent a signal. Before long, a tall, burly, and very upright old man walked out. This person had white hair and a white beard, but a youthful face.

He Pingsheng scanned this person with his spiritual sense.

A customer scanning a shopkeeper was not considered impolite.

But he actually couldn't scan him?

He Pingsheng was shocked in his heart: This guy's cultivation was either at the peak of Foundation Establishment or had already reached the Golden Core stage.

"Hehehe... welcome, fellow Daoist!" The white-haired old man said: "I am Xuanyuan Changgeng. Do you want spirit-gathering pills?"

Saying this, He Pingsheng could also infer that the other party's cultivation should be at the peak of Foundation Establishment, the tenth, eleventh, or twelfth layer.

Because if it were the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, He Pingsheng would have been able to see it; he couldn't see anything above the ninth layer.

Just now, the other party called him 'fellow Daoist', so that meant he was at the Foundation Establishment stage.

"Yes!" He Pingsheng said: "I came to ask about the price!"

"Good, good, good... please..." Xuanyuan Changgeng invited He Pingsheng inside and said: "There are spirit-gathering pills here, but not many. Currently, there are only three bottles, and they are only low-tier..."

Low-tier was naturally exactly what He Pingsheng wanted. He asked: "How much per bottle?"

Xuanyuan Changgeng said: "Two thousand spirit stones, fellow Daoist. This is the lowest price. In the entire Dingxiang City, you might not find a lower price than mine!"

He Pingsheng was not shocked.

After all, these were second-tier pills.

Back then, the low-tier 【Sharp Metal Talisman】 he bought at the Fenghua Manor in the Matou Mountain market cost three thousand spirit stones each.

A bottle of spirit-gathering pills for two thousand spirit stones was also normal.

Second-tier items were many times, hundreds of times, more expensive than first-tier items.

There was no helping it!

Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation were naturally worlds apart.

"Alright..." He Pingsheng said: "I'll take one bottle... Also, may I ask, fellow Daoist Xuanyuan, do you have materials for spirit-gathering pills for sale?"

"Yes, I do!"

Xuanyuan Changgeng said: "Over here... they are all sold by the portion... The main materials consist of 【Earth Yellow Root】, 【Condensing Night Purple】, and 【Mandala Lotus】, and there are thirteen types of auxiliary materials, totaling sixteen types of materials!"

"Four hundred spirit stones per portion!"

He Pingsheng nodded.

Actually, when refining pills like 【Spirit-Gathering Pill】, the materials were not fixed.

For example, the main material 【Condensing Night Purple】 was a type of spiritual liquid, the morning dew condensed by a certain spiritual plant. Because it contained misty energy, it appeared purple, hence the name Condensing Night Purple.

If this thing wasn't available, other second-tier spiritual liquids could be used as substitutes.

Also, for example, this 【Earth Yellow Root】; in the absence of Earth Yellow Root, using some second-tier 【Ginseng-type】 herbs as substitutes was also possible.

The final spirit-gathering pills refined might have differences, but the effects were almost indistinguishable.

And the auxiliary materials could be replaced in large quantities, and so on.

Four hundred spirit stones per portion, so five portions would be two thousand spirit stones, which was about equal to the value of a bottle of pills.

And a bottle of pills contained twelve pellets, which was one batch.

So... this selling price was strictly sold according to the iron rule that five batches of materials equaled one batch of finished pills.

In fact, five batches of materials to one batch of finished pills was the average level of alchemists in the cultivation world.

Most alchemists were at this level.

"Alright!" He Pingsheng said: "Give me ten portions of this too!"

Xuanyuan Changgeng beside him had a dark face and said: "Uh... this... fellow Daoist, I don't have that many for the moment, only five portions!"

Small shops were like this; sometimes resources were insufficient.

He Pingsheng didn't mind and nodded: "Five portions will do. Give me some firewood for alchemy, and I'll pick it out!"

Xuanyuan Changgeng said: "That's no problem!"

After picking the wood, He Pingsheng asked again: "Does fellow Daoist have second-tier poison pills here?"

"No!" Xuanyuan gave a bitter smile and said: "This thing is generally not needed by anyone. Fellow Daoist, are you a poison cultivator?"

He Pingsheng nodded, which was considered an admission.

Since the other party didn't have poison pills, he had to leave.

There was no need to go to those large chambers of commerce.

Because when He Pingsheng went to those large chambers of commerce before, he had also paid attention to the prices of pills, and they were indeed much more expensive than the pills in the Xuanyuan Alchemy Shop.

Since that was the case, there was no need to go.

After returning to his small courtyard, He Pingsheng poured out all the wood from his storage bag with a clatter.

There was no helping it; he still had to use wood for alchemy now.

Otherwise, where would he get fire?

He couldn't use fire spiritual power to support it; if he did that, the fire spiritual power would run out before a batch of pills was refined.

It would be a loss that outweighed the gain.

Of course, disciples at the Golden Core stage could use pill fire to refine pills.

But pill fire was also extremely unstable, and when refining pills, one had to divert spiritual sense to control the transmission of spiritual power and the size of the flame, which was extremely exhausting to the spiritual sense, so even at the Golden Core stage, very few cultivators used pill fire to refine pills.

It was rumored that only cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above could use their own spiritual power to derive flames to refine pills.

The first step of alchemy was to familiarize oneself with the pill formula.

The pills He Pingsheng refined before were all first-tier 【Spirit-Gathering Pills】; he had never refined second-tier pills before!

He took out a book: Thirty-Six Alchemy Formulas.

These Thirty-Six Alchemy Formulas were a strengthened alchemy technique, recording a total of thirty-six common first-tier and second-tier pill formulas in the cultivation world.

That's right, only first-tier and second-tier pills.

Nothing higher.

Of course, He Pingsheng didn't need higher-quality pills for now.

He found 【Spirit-Gathering Pill】.

While contemplating the pill formula, He Pingsheng used the Treasure Basin to strengthen these 【materials】.

A few days later, the five portions of materials were strengthened into ten portions by him.

At the same time, the bottle of twelve low-tier spirit-gathering pills was also strengthened into top-tier by him.

They became twenty-four pellets!

After thoroughly understanding the refining method of this Spirit-Gathering Pill, He Pingsheng began to burn fire and refine pills.

"Open..."

He gave a light shout, and the small tripod was supported by spiritual power, turning into the size of a foot, suspended above the flame.

Then, according to the method recorded in the Thirty-Six Alchemy Formulas, He Pingsheng began to put the materials in one by one and refine!

Time passed slowly.

About half an hour later, a huge explosion sound came from the small courtyard.

Heat waves spread outward in visible fluctuations.

A burnt medicinal fragrance came over.

He Pingsheng's face darkened: The furnace exploded.

The lid of the alchemy furnace was blown three zhang away.

Inside the alchemy furnace, besides some black dregs, there was nothing.

Not even waste pills were left.

He Pingsheng took a deep breath. He was not discouraged but picked up the alchemy furnace and cleaned it carefully.

It was his first time refining second-tier pills; it didn't matter if he failed. ===== CHAPTER 180 =====