Chapter 621: Trading with a Ghost

Boom boom boom boom……

The surrounding yin-sha energy was completely drained.

Before He Pingsheng stood a ghost king, a body a thousand zhang tall.

At this moment, He Pingsheng's left hand held a talisman, his right hand gripped a black divine spear—the Tian Que Divine Spear.

"Fellow cultivator, you must keep your promise!"

After forming his body, the ghost king lowered his head, crimson flames flickering in his eyes, as if staring directly at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng said: "Relax… I am not a murderous type. If you agree to my request, I won't harm you—I'll even give you something valuable!"

"Something valuable?" the ghost king asked: "What is it?"

He Pingsheng said: "Don't ask what it is yet!"

"I have two points!"

"First, help me test my technique—let me strike with full force and see how powerful my spear blow is?"

"No no no…" Before He Pingsheng finished speaking, the ghost king frantically waved his hands and cried out: "Fellow cultivator, don't! When you were at Soul Transformation first layer, I couldn't even withstand that blow! Now you're at Soul Transformation sixth layer—if you unleash your full strength, I'll die for sure!"

"Please, don't do this!"

"What's the difference between this and killing me?"

He Pingsheng thought for a moment, then nodded: "Fair point. Fine, I won't ask you to spar."

He estimated that if he now used the 【Ten Thousand Annihilations Return to Origin】 spear strike, this Void Refinement ghost king would almost certainly die.

But that strike would still be insufficient against a true Void Refinement human or beast cultivator.

"Phew…" The ghost king exhaled in relief and smiled: "Fellow cultivator… what do you need?"

He Pingsheng said: "To be honest, our purpose here is that Dragon Scale Undying Wood!"

"Last time, I saw you fuse it into your own body!"

"Can you give me two segments?"

"This…" The ghost king's face darkened: "Over the years, many of these Dragon Scale logs have been taken by outsiders like you. What's left is practically nonexistent. And yes—all of what remains has been fused into my body!"

"But… this material has become part of me, turned into my bones. Removing it won't be easy!"

He Pingsheng smiled and waved his hand, tossing out a vial of elixir: "Look—could this trade for two of your ribs?"

The ghost king took the porcelain vial, opened it, and glanced inside, stunned: "This… what kind of elixir is this?"

He Pingsheng said: "Sheng Yuan Elixir—and it's top-grade."

"Swallowing one can extend a Void Refinement cultivator's lifespan by a thousand years!"

"It should be useful to you."

"What?" The ghost king's eyes widened in shock: "You… you're telling the truth?"

"I don't recognize elixirs or their grades—don't lie to me!"

He Pingsheng said: "I won't lie. Swallow it and test it."

"Fine!" The ghost king immediately swallowed the elixir.

The next instant, the twin flames in his eye sockets flared violently. He gasped: "It's real?"

"Wonderful—I've gained a thousand years of life! Hahaha…"

"Wonderful, wonderful… Fellow cultivator, can you give me more of these elixirs?"

He stared at He Pingsheng, eyes filled with longing.

He Pingsheng shook his head: "Life-extending treasures are rare. They're bound by the Rule of One Encounter—swallowing one works, but a second, third, or fourth has no effect whatsoever."

The ghost king fell into despair: "Fine, fine—a thousand years is enough."

"Thank you, fellow cultivator. Wait a moment!"

The ghost king pulled two bones from his body and presented them to He Pingsheng.

The bones were large, unlike human bones—jet black, shimmering with dark light.

On their black surface were patterns resembling dragon scales.

This was the Dragon Scale Undying Wood.

The primary material for crafting substitute-dummy puppets.

These two bones were enough for He Pingsheng to forge two puppets.

If reinforced, they could make four.

"Ghost King… I have another question," He Pingsheng said: "These bones are said to be the bones of the Yin Empress, but they don't look like hers. Do you know whose bones this Dragon Scale Undying Wood came from?"

The ghost king said: "They're probably the bones of the Yin Empress's enemy—I don't know for sure."

Enemy?

Did the Yin Empress once kill a Mahayana-level beast emperor?

Is she that strong?

The ghost king continued: "After I was born, I never saw the Yin Empress—I grew up within her small world!"

"I'm only eight thousand years old!"

"The Yin Empress must have ascended tens of thousands of years ago!"

He Pingsheng nodded: "Thanks."

He had no other questions and immediately turned into a streak of light, leaving the abyss.

Half a day later, he returned to Qiao Hui Zhu's side.

Now, wait.

"Fellow Dragon Crouching…" As soon as He Pingsheng returned, the Chongming Crown Prince approached, smiling broadly: "Could you help me refine a batch of elixirs?"

"Look!" He handed He Pingsheng the materials.

He Pingsheng examined them—it was a Fire-element 【Ji Dao Elixir】, fifth-grade.

But there was only enough material for one batch.

"Fellow Dragon Crouching, can you make it top-grade…?" The boy was greedy—he demanded top-grade right away.

He Pingsheng smiled: "Top-grade… shouldn't be a problem. My cultivation has improved, and my spiritual sense is stronger. But according to the rules of the Spirit Realm, you need to provide five sets of materials for one elixir. You've only given me one—what am I supposed to do?"

The Chongming Crown Prince said: "After refining, I'll take only three top-grade elixirs—the rest are all yours!"

Crown Prince Chongming said: "After this is refined, I'll take only three supreme pills… the rest are all yours!"

Once the Dao Origin is refined into an elixir, if it's top-grade, each top-grade 【Ji Dao Elixir】 contains the same Dao content as the original origin.

Swallowing such an elixir accelerates breakthroughs in Dao barriers.

It saves considerable time.

Even taking only three top-grade elixirs would be extremely advantageous for the Chongming Crown Prince.

He Pingsheng thought for a moment: "Alright… give me a few days."

Saying this, He Pingsheng entered the 【Dual Spirit Array】 with the materials.

First step: strengthen the materials.

One set of materials was strengthened into two.

Then, refine the elixir!

First batch… failed!

Didn't work?

That surprised He Pingsheng.

But it didn't matter!

Failed elixirs can be strengthened too, right?

Proceed—second batch.

The second batch succeeded.

Two upper-grade, ten middle-grade elixirs.

He Pingsheng then placed all twenty-four elixirs into the Treasure Basin and directly strengthened them into forty-eight top-grade elixirs.

Top-grade fifth-grade 【Ji Dao Elixir】.

Three days later, He Pingsheng stepped out of the array and handed a vial to the Chongming Crown Prince: "Heh… Chongming Crown Prince, I haven't let you down."

Three days later, He Pingsheng stepped out of the formation and handed a dantian bottle to Crown Prince Chongming: "Hehe… Crown Prince Chongming, I have not failed your trust!"