Chapter 836: Materials Assembled

"This…"

Elder Dong opened the storage bag and glanced inside, utterly stunned.

One hundred pieces—all Jipin spirit stones.

Yaozhidao ， Zailingjiezhizhong ， Jipinlingshisuiranbushitebiexiyouzhiwu ， Queyebingbuduo 。

Spirit stones are derivatives of spirit veins.

Spirit veins can produce spirit stones.

Jipin spirit stones require at least a high-grade spirit vein to obtain.

To acquire a Jipin spirit stone, you must shatter the spirit heart of that high-grade vein and extract it from the deepest core.

As for a Jipin spirit vein, breaking its spirit heart yields roughly ten Jipin spirit stones!

It's that extravagant!

In short, extracting one Jipin spirit stone requires destroying at least one high-grade spirit vein.

Originally, He Pingsheng had left five Jipin spirit stones with Mo Sang, and received a Spirit Treasure-level alchemy furnace in return.

The price of Jipin spirit stones is obvious.

"Besides these, I also want other items!" He Pingsheng said: "For example, do you have seventh-grade talismans?"

He Pingsheng's current cultivation base allows him to easily slay Foundation Establishment cultivators, and with all his strength, he can kill those in the mid-stage of Body Integration.

As for late-stage Body Integration, he'd need to plan carefully—and even then, success isn't guaranteed.

In short, his combat power matches that of late-stage Body Integration cultivators 【Level 7–9】.

As for peak Body Integration cultivators, he truly cannot defeat them.

To kill them, he must rely on other means.

For instance, seventh-grade talismans.

"None!" Elder Dong gave a bitter smile. "Seventh-grade talismans are usually kept as last-resort life-saving items; few ever sell them. Moreover, among the same level, talisman-making is harder than alchemy or artifact forging!"

"So even our guild rarely has seventh- or eighth-grade talismans!"

"Of course, sometimes someone will consign one for auction, or bring one to a trade fair."

"To be honest, brother, if we had such items, they'd be sold out the moment they arrived!"

"Not to mention—I'd be the first to buy one for my own survival if the price were right!"

He Pingsheng nodded: that made sense.

The higher the grade, the greater the talisman's utility and the more pronounced its effect.

It seems acquiring higher-grade talismans will be extremely difficult from now on.

If Sister Qiao were still here, it would be better.

Should I learn talisman-making myself?

"Understood!" He Pingsheng nodded: "Then… do you have any writings on talisman-making? The higher-grade, the better—and…"

"Classics on array formation!"

Now, as his cultivation deepens, his knowledge in these areas is falling behind.

He Pingsheng once owned two talisman classics, but he gave them both to Qiao Huizhu and kept no copies.

As for the array classics 【Heavenly Moon Divine Array】 and 【Great Sun Divine Array】, the arrays recorded in them only reach up to sixth grade.

No matter how long he meditated, he could not advance further.

He was falling behind.

Fortunately, 【Taiqing Golden Elixir Scripture】 and 【Jingui Can Tong Qi】 were still usable.

These two alchemy classics could sustain him all the way to Mahayana Emperor Realm in the Spirit Realm.

"Er…" Elder Dong felt uneasy. "How about this—friend, come with me and take a look!"

"I don't know exactly how high you mean by 'higher-grade'!"

"Alright!" He Pingsheng followed Elder Dong back to the third floor of the guild.

He looked around.

The guild's collection of classics was still insufficient.

He Pingsheng browsed a while longer, then made an excuse to leave.

"Friend Tai Xu Zi!" Elder Dong saw him to the door. "In one month, our guild will hold an auction. Come then—you'll not only be able to participate in our auction, but you might also find unexpected surprises, and obtain your reserved 【Seven-Colored Holy Lotus Seeds】!"

"Alright!" They agreed, and He Pingsheng departed.

After leaving the 【Shanquan Guild】, He Pingsheng visited other guilds in the imperial city.

He found no higher-grade array or talisman classics.

But after wandering around, he finally gathered all the materials for 【Seven-Colored Holy Lotus Tea】.

Except for the Seven-Colored Holy Lotus Seeds.

That was good news.

The next steps were simple: strengthen the materials, then enhance some spirit stones.

He Pingsheng instantly teleported out of the city, found a desolate mountain outside, and entered seclusion deep within.

In a flash, a month passed.

All the materials had been strengthened into double quantities.

This day, the agreed date with Shanquan Guild arrived.

He Pingsheng teleported again, arriving precisely at the entrance of Shanquan Guild.

As soon as he entered, a Soul Transformation female elder led him to Elder Dong.

"Friend Tai Xu Zi has arrived… Excellent… Please come in!"

"Your items have arrived!"

"But I'm sorry—I could only secure five Seven-Colored Holy Lotus Seeds for you!"

Five seeds.

Though few, having them is better than nothing!

As they spoke, they entered a private chamber.

After activating the array, Elder Dong handed He Pingsheng a jade box. He opened it and confirmed: five Seven-Colored Holy Lotus Seeds, exactly as promised.

Finally, all materials for brewing 【Seven-Colored Holy Lotus Tea】 were assembled!

"Friend Tai Xu Zi, tonight our guild holds an auction!" Elder Dong smiled and handed him a jade slip. "Welcome to attend—here are the confirmed auction items; you may review them."

He Pingsheng took the jade slip and examined it.

He wanted to see if any talisman-making classics were listed.

Unfortunately, none.

No talismans either.

But one item caught his attention.

A shop.

According to the jade slip's description, a shop located in the imperial city's bustling district was up for auction.

Its usage term: one hundred years.

He Pingsheng immediately became interested.

His current cultivation was Void Refinement Level 11, stuck at a bottleneck.

It was extremely awkward!

He couldn't advance in cultivation, dared not use heavenly treasures to break through, and finding a way forward was difficult.

Either face life-or-death trials, experience sudden enlightenment, or undergo extensive trials in the mortal world.

If it was trial through experience, He Pingsheng thought opening a shop would be a good choice.

Running a shop meant interacting with many people, which would help temper his inner state.

Moreover, running a shop to brew elixirs could let him collect unexpected materials and receive unexpected rewards.

Hmm…

Not bad.

Should I buy it and give it a try?

He Pingsheng was very familiar with this.

Back in the cultivation world, he had once run a shop!

Back then, Xiaohe helped manage it.

Now Xiaohe was gone, but Feng Wu was still around.

Perfect.

Let's do it.

"Also!" Elder Dong continued: "After the auction, as per tradition, we hold a small-scale trade fair the next morning—you may also join that, Friend Tai Xu Zi!"

He Pingsheng smiled.

The trade fair following the auction was practically standard practice.