Chapter 244

"I've got it!"

He Pingsheng took a deep breath and said: "Here's the plan—tomorrow, we'll go over every stall in this square."

"Of course, just a quick pass."

He Pingsheng was now at the third layer of Foundation Establishment; his spiritual sense extended about a thousand zhang.

This spiritual sense was roughly equivalent to that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator at the third or fourth layer.

A thousand-zhang spiritual sense was just enough to cover the entire square.

But to examine every stall and every item on them? That would be difficult.

Fine-detail scanning drained spiritual sense immensely.

The key problem was, not everyone displayed all their treasures.

This made acquiring Tianxiang Doukou even harder.

"I'll use my spiritual sense to scan the whole area first," He Pingsheng said. "Then, we'll set up our own stall here—while offering to refine pills for others, we'll also offer high prices to buy Tianxiang Doukou. This will be far faster than slowly wandering the stalls!"

Qiao Huizhu nodded. "Alright, but husband, scanning every stall with your spiritual sense will tire you out."

"No problem," He Pingsheng said. "I have a method."

Early the next morning, He Pingsheng secretly pulled out a Double-Spirit Pill—top-grade—and swallowed it whole.

Boom…

Instantly after swallowing, his spiritual sense surged violently.

The range his spiritual sense could cover expanded.

One thousand zhang!

Two thousand zhang!

Three thousand zhang…

He Pingsheng had once used a top-grade Double-Spirit Pill at Divine General Mountain.

He knew it lasted fifteen days and multiplied spiritual sense tenfold.

Back then, his spiritual sense had been only five hundred zhang; after swallowing the pill, it rose to five thousand zhang—equivalent to the peak of Foundation Establishment.

Now, having refined the Xuanmen Jingxin Zhenjue to the third layer of the Foundation Establishment section, his spiritual sense had reached one thousand zhang.

Tenfold that? Ten thousand zhang.

Sssss…

A ten-thousand-zhang coverage range far exceeded even Golden Core cultivators.

And the duration remained fifteen days.

That was more than enough!

Once his spiritual sense slowly climbed to ten thousand zhang, He Pingsheng closed his eyes, and his powerful soul surged outward—he felt utterly unreal.

His mighty spiritual sense swept across the entire square.

In less than half a stick of incense, he had scanned nearly every item on every stall.

Good news: he saw someone selling a Grade Three Talisman.

Bad news: he saw no Tianxiang Doukou.

"How was it?" Qiao Huizhu asked.

He Pingsheng shook his head. "Nothing."

Qiao Huizhu showed no disappointment; she chuckled. "It's fine—I'm still far from Nascent Soul. We'll wait patiently. I don't believe in hundreds of years we can't find Tianxiang Doukou?"

"Husband… don't rush!"

"Cultivation is the true path. Too much obsession risks falling into demonic ways!"

She was the one comforting him now.

He Pingsheng smiled. "You're right—it's certain we'll find Tianxiang Doukou in hundreds of years. Come on, let's go out and take a look."

The two left the small hut and returned to the square.

Without hesitation, He Pingsheng led Qiao Huizhu straight to the stall where he'd seen the Grade Three Talismans.

Behind the stall was a young Young Master, elegant and refined in appearance.

But He Pingsheng's spiritual sense swept over him and discovered the man was at Golden Core sixth layer.

Damn, He Pingsheng was startled.

He was startled—and the stall owner was even more startled.

The owner had clearly sensed that the person scanning him possessed far stronger spiritual sense.

Yet when he looked at He Pingsheng's cultivation, it was only Foundation Establishment third layer?

Sssss… This guy must be pretending to be weak to lure in prey.

The stall owner firmly believed He Pingsheng was at least a Golden Core Grand Elder. Thinking this, he bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Daoist!"

He Pingsheng was taken aback by this "Daoist" greeting.

But he quickly returned the bow. "I dare not. Elder, you humiliate me!"

The Golden Core stall owner nodded. "Good… take a look at what you need."

He was even more convinced He Pingsheng was Golden Core.

Why?

Come on—if you weren't Golden Core, how could a mere Foundation Establishment third-layer cultivator see through my cultivation? If you couldn't see it, how would you know to call me Elder?

Golden Core—definitely Golden Core—and a big one at that.

"This is a Grade Three Golden Thunder Talisman, right?" He Pingsheng picked up one talisman and asked.

The stall owner thought: Of course—he's Golden Core. Only a Golden Core would spot this Golden Thunder Talisman at a glance. Only a Golden Core would care about it.

"Yes…" The stall owner, though his mind raced, spoke respectfully: "Do you… want it?"

"Yes!" He Pingsheng said. "I want two Grade Three Golden Thunder Talismans!"

"How many spirit stones?"

Back in Dingxiang City, He Pingsheng had attended an auction with Wang Dun and remembered a low-grade Golden Thunder Talisman selling for 240, 00 spirit stones.

"Alright," the stall owner said. "Normally, I sell them for 250, 00 spirit stones each."

"Since you want two, I'll give you a discount."

"Two low-grade Golden Thunder Talismans—pay me 480, 00 low-grade spirit stones."

"Or forty-eight mid-grade ones."

He Pingsheng nodded.

The price matched the auction almost exactly—reasonable.

He glanced at Qiao Huizhu; she nodded too.

His wife came from a family of talisman makers. Though she couldn't craft Grade Three talismans, she knew their base market value.

He Pingsheng waved his hand lightly and withdrew forty-eight mid-grade spirit stones from his invisible storage bag.

One mid-grade spirit stone equaled ten thousand low-grade ones. (Some readers say this exchange rate is unreasonable—well, the book already established this. Can't change it now. I'll remember for next time…)

"Daoist, take care!" The stall owner bowed deeply as he watched He Pingsheng and Qiao Huizhu leave.

After leaving, Qiao Huizhu looked at He Pingsheng. "Husband… you're so rich?"

He Pingsheng said: "Isn't being wealthy basic for a pill refiner?"

"Alright, I'll tell you the truth—I'm the personal, last disciple of Grand Void Ancestor. You know that, right?"

Qiao Huizhu nodded. "I know."

He Pingsheng said: "Before he died, he left me his entire fortune. Do you think I'm poor?"

"Oh…" Qiao Huizhu said. "So that's why!"

As they spoke, they reached the edge of the square.

He Pingsheng laid out a meditation mat on the ground, then pulled out the sign he'd prepared the night before and stood it behind him.

On the sign was written: High Price for Grade Two Material: Tianxiang Doukou.

On his stall, he had placed several elixirs.