Chapter 365: Revisiting the Mi Family

After Ling Zhi left, He Pingsheng tidied his clothes and went to the Red Moon Trading Society.

He went straight to the third-floor private chamber and waited for Elder Red Moon.

Not knowing whether Elder Red Moon was away from the society or otherwise occupied, He Pingsheng waited a full two hours before seeing her.

"Sorry…"

As soon as she entered, Red Moon said: "Comrade He, I—um—your humble servant was summoned by the City Lord just now, so I'm late!"

"I've kept you waiting!"

"No problem!" He Pingsheng shook his head.

Red Moon asked: "What brings you to me?"

He Pingsheng did not speak directly, but said: "Several years ago, I asked you to keep an eye out for metallic and earth elemental primordial rules—if any appeared, I'd trade other rules for them. Now that years have passed, I've come to inquire whether you have any news."

"Hehehe…"

Red Moon smiled.

The moment he spoke, she understood his intent.

"So Comrade He, you caught wind of something and came straight over?" Red Moon said, shifting to sit across from him.

The small private chamber held only the two of them.

"Earlier today, a Nascent Soul elder came to our society, wishing to consign a bottle of fourth-rank 【Concentrated Dao Pill】," Red Moon explained: "You know, when it comes to Dao-related items, I can no longer judge their value!"

"To price it accurately, I had to take it to the City Lord for inspection!"

"After that, the City Lord took charge of it."

"I'm out of it."

"Ah?" He Pingsheng felt slight disappointment. "So this bottle of 【Concentrated Dao Pill】 won't be auctioned at your society?"

"No," Red Moon shook her head. "In all these years, our society has rarely auctioned treasures imbued with Dao essence. Such items are snatched up long before they reach auction by Nascent Soul cultivators—how could they ever appear here?"

"Nascent Soul cultivators have their own circles."

"Comrade He, forgive my bluntness—waiting for such a thing at a trading society is like waiting by a tree for a rabbit to run into it."

He Pingsheng bowed. "Please enlighten me."

Red Moon said: "First, Nascent Soul cultivators all have their own circles. Their greatest concern is never boosting spiritual energy to break through physical barriers—they can simply close their eyes and cultivate to breakthrough."

"What's rare is comprehending the rules of heaven and earth."

"Some, due to limited insight, cannot comprehend them, so they must consume existing primordial rules."

"Others possess primordial rules, but they don't match their own elemental affinity—so Nascent Soul elders periodically organize exchanges within their circles for Dao rules."

"They trade different elemental rules, or 【Concentrated Dao Pills】, to fill each other's needs."

"We have no access to any of it."

Hearing this, He Pingsheng understood.

In short: connections.

Without connections, even money won't buy what you need.

"Then…" He Pingsheng still clung to hope. "What element was this fourth-rank 【Concentrated Dao Pill】 today?"

Red Moon said: "Wood element."

Hearing it was wood element, He Pingsheng actually sighed in relief.

Wood element was irrelevant—he needed metallic and earth elements.

"Thank you, Immortal Lady, for your insight!" He Pingsheng stood. "I take my leave…"

"You're welcome," Immortal Lady Red Moon said. "In the cultivation world, resources may seem abundant, but after reaching Nascent Soul, one often feels scarcity."

"Fourth-rank Dao rules are already the pinnacle of this world."

"If you hold primordial Dao rules, you'd be better off refining them into pills—then auction or trade them—far better than trading raw primordial rules."

"Otherwise, you'll get cheated."

"Hehehe… of course, this is merely my narrow view."

"Thank you for the reminder," He Pingsheng bowed again, then left the Red Moon Trading Society.

In truth, Red Moon was right.

Refining primordial rules into 【Concentrated Dao Pills】 was the fundamental path.

For example, a single ten-thousand-year ice marrow could produce four or five batches of 【Concentrated Dao Pills】.

Each batch yields twelve pills—making value division far easier in trade. Otherwise, trading a whole raw primordial rule makes fair exchange nearly impossible.

Either you lose, or the other party loses.

Not worth it.

So for the next period, He Pingsheng secluded himself in his courtyard and began refining fourth-rank 【Concentrated Dao Pills】.

In truth, 【Concentrated Dao Pills】 aren't limited to fourth rank—rumors say fifth, sixth, seventh, and higher ranks exist…

Different-rank pills require different-grade Dao rules to fuse and refine; since He Pingsheng's Dao rules were all fourth-rank, he could only refine fourth-rank 【Concentrated Dao Pills】.

Of course, Red Moon had also said that Dao rules in this cultivation world rarely exceed fourth rank.

Higher-grade rules aren't nonexistent—just exceedingly rare.

Only the 【Lustrous Nascent Soul】 of a Soul Transformation elder can refine fifth-rank Dao rules—nothing else exists.

In one month, He Pingsheng refined three kinds of Dao pills.

Ice-element 【Concentrated Dao Pills】, wood-element 【Concentrated Dao Pills】, and fire-element 【Concentrated Dao Pills】.

Two batches of each—twenty-four pills total.

He did not enhance them to supreme grade, but kept them all as superior grade—better for trading, wasn't it?

After enhancement was complete, He Pingsheng instantly teleported out of Red Stone City!

He dared not leave slowly—another encounter with watchers would be disastrous.

After teleporting out, he immediately summoned the Eight Treasures Boat and steered it west toward Mount Tianqiang.

Elder Red Moon was right: Nascent Soul circles trade solely through connections.

But He Pingsheng knew no Nascent Soul cultivators.

He knew Jingxin from the City Lord's residence, and had met Guanglong Daoist of the Free and Easy Immortal Sect once.

But approaching either was unrealistic—they wouldn't accept him. Even if they did, clinging to them went against He Pingsheng's nature.

The only person He Pingsheng knew who could reach the Nascent Soul circle was Mi Cangyuan.

He'd visit Old Mi first—see if Old Mi had any way.

If Old Mi had a way, let him take He Pingsheng along to the Nascent Soul circle.

If Old Mi had no way, He Pingsheng still had one final option: enlightenment.

That is, extend his Dao root's tendrils and forcibly comprehend the Dao from heaven and earth.

The Dao gained this way would be genuine—but the only flaw was slowness.

Gaining Dao through sheer brute-force contemplation from empty heaven and earth was painfully slow.

He Pingsheng had read in the 【Cultivation Treasury】 that even Nascent Soul cultivators with superior insight often took sixty years to break through one layer of Dao barrier.

The higher one's cultivation, the harder enlightenment becomes—by late Nascent Soul, one might not comprehend a single layer of Dao in a hundred years.

It was that absurd.