Chapter 146 – Core Formation (3)
Before Wang Lin entered, he took out a black robe to cover his head. After entering, he looked around the first floor and found that it was mostly filled with flying swords. All the swords were of high quality and sealed in boxes with talismans on each end to prevent the sword qi from escaping.
Besides all these swords, there is a crystal pillar in the center of the room with three flying swords floating in the center with the tips of the swords pointing downwards.
The three flying swords dimmed and brightened. Sometimes they even shone brightly.
As Wang Lin looked at the three swords in the center, a worker walked over. He was about 20 years old and looked extremely brilliant. He examined Wang Lin carefully. It was natural for customers to hide their faces, as many cultivators did not want to be recognized. As for Wang Lin’s cultivation level, he had a special technique from the Treasure Refining Pavilion to examine it. The more he examined it, the more excited he became, as Wang Lin’s cultivation level was constantly fluctuating between Core Formation and late Foundation Establishment.
Although the worker was surprised, he didn’t show it on his face. He respectfully asked, “Is Senior after this flying sword?”
Wang Lin turned his gaze and looked at the apprentice. He could immediately tell that the apprentice was at the 7th or 8th layer of Qi Condensation and calmly asked, “Does the Treasure Refining Pavilion sell pill furnaces?”
The worker nodded and smiled. “Senior, I’m afraid you’ll only find pill furnaces in our Treasure Refining Pavilion, as they aren’t something ordinary people can afford. If Senior is interested, please follow me to the second floor.”
Wang Lin walked calmly toward the stairs. The worker immediately followed him, leading the way. Just before he stepped onto the stairs, he turned around and saw a farmer bargaining with a worker. He pondered for a moment before stepping onto the stairs.
After arriving on the second floor, the worker immediately went to speak with a middle-aged man in the room to the right before quickly returning downstairs.
The middle-aged man had no hair, and his eyes occasionally lit up. He stood up, clasped his hands, and asked, “What quality pill furnace does fellow cultivator want?”
Wang Lin looked at the middle-aged man and discovered that his cultivation level was at the peak of Foundation Establishment, just like his own. He was surprised by this. The first floor had a Qi Condensation cultivator, and the second floor had a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Did this mean that there was a Core Formation cultivator in charge of the third floor?
Wang Lin’s expression relaxed as he asked, “Can you take some out for me to see?”
The middle-aged man laughed and pointed to the chair beside him. “Fellow cultivator, please sit down, and I’ll get one for you.” After that, he poured a cup of tea before walking to the wall and bumping into it. Ripples of water appeared on the wall, then became increasingly illusory.
Then three beautiful girls came out, each holding a white jade tray. On each tray was a large red box, each about two feet square.
These three wooden boxes are exactly the same size, but the engraved patterns are different. Each box is also sealed.
The three beautiful girls walked up to Wang Lin and looked at him.
The middle-aged man took one of the wooden boxes, placed it on the table, and said, “Fellow cultivator, this is forged from Green Star Stone and Mysterious Mist Crystal from the depths of the Devil Sea. It took me 49 months to refine this Mysterious Green Pill Furnace. It is a rank 3 pill furnace.” With that, he tapped the box, causing it to open, revealing a fist-sized pill furnace.
Wang Lin’s expression was calm. He remembered that Li Muwan had told him that the pill furnace she brought was only a grade 2 pill furnace and that he needed a grade 4 pill furnace or higher to ensure there were no problems with the Distant Heaven Pill.
After a glance, Wang Lin withdrew his gaze. He didn’t say a word.
The middle-aged man smiled faintly. He waved his hand, and the box returned to the jade tray. He passed the second girl and directly took the box from the third girl’s tray. He gently placed it on the table and smiled. “I’m sure that fellow cultivator is refining a high-quality pill. This pill furnace is refined from the cores of 99 low-quality spirit beasts from the Sea of Devils. It’s called the Hundred Beast Pill Furnace. If you use this pill furnace to refine pills, there’s a high chance the pill will absorb some of the aura of the beast cores. This will improve the quality of the pill.” With that, he tapped the wooden box. The box slowly opened, revealing a blood-red pill furnace. If one looked closely, they would see the faces of 99 spirit beasts.
These spirit beasts looked lifelike. They even emitted a faint spiritual energy. The furnace was also closed. If opened, the spiritual energy within would surge out.
Even Wang Lin was tempted by this Hundred Beast Pill Furnace, but his expression did not change at all.
The middle-aged man touched the wooden box and said, “Fellow cultivators must know that a low-grade spirit beast is equivalent to a Core Formation cultivator. Our sect spent a lot of time and effort to craft this pill furnace. It has reached rank 5.”
Wang Lin averted his gaze. After pondering for a moment, he asked, “How much is it?”
The middle-aged man smiled and replied, “The standard price is 100,000 high-quality spirit stones, or you can take out a treasure equivalent to that price.”
Upon hearing this price, Wang Lin’s heart sank, even though he was already prepared for it. No wonder the sect head of the Fighting Evil Sect spent almost all the sect’s money on just one.
The middle-aged man still had a smile on his face as he poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and said, “This Hundred Beast Pill Furnace is indeed expensive. How about fellow cultivator consider the Mysterious Green Pill Furnace from before? Although it’s still worth 100,000 spirit stones, those are mid-grade spirit stones, which is only 10,000 high-grade spirit stones.”
Wang Lin looked at him and patted his storage bag. A piece of dragon skin appeared on the table.
“Dragon skin!” the middle-aged man said in surprise. He took it and examined it carefully, then said, “This is a medium-grade dragon spirit beast skin. How many more do you have?”
Wang Lin’s expression remained calm. He didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “How much does it cost to exchange for the Hundred Beast Pill Furnace?”
The middle-aged man lowered his head and counted for a moment before raising it. He looked at Wang Lin and said, “If the dragon is at least 1,000 meters long, then its entire skin will be enough to trade for him.”
Without a word, Wang Lin patted his storage bag and the dragon skin formed a small mountain before the middle-aged man. Wang Lin didn’t even look at the middle-aged man as he grabbed the pill furnace and walked down the stairs.
The middle-aged man took a deep breath and looked at the dragon skin. He spread his divine sense and discovered that although a small part was missing, it was not much different from a complete dragon.
A complete skin of a mid-grade dragon spirit beast. It had to be said that a mid-grade spirit beast was equivalent to a Nascent Soul cultivator. Even in the depths of the Sea of Devils, it could be considered a powerhouse. Although the middle-aged man had seen many things, he had only seen a complete skin of a low-grade spirit beast. As for the skin of a mid-grade spirit beast, he had only seen fragments. This was his first time seeing a complete skin of a mid-grade spirit beast.
When he raised his head, Wang Lin had already put the box into his bag and was quickly descending the stairs.
Wang Lin knew full well that it was unwise to flaunt his wealth to others. That was why he decided to conceal his wealth. However, he still felt unsafe. Although he didn’t understand the value of dragon skin as much as the middle-aged man, he knew that it was a rare material. If the middle-aged man started to think about other parts of the dragon and became greedy, it would be a problem.
Unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to trade the dragon skin, but the price of the pill furnace was too high. Besides the dragon skin, the only other item he had was the spirit liquid.
In comparison, if he took out something as difficult to obtain as the spirit liquid, it would cause even more trouble. After weighing his options, he decided to exchange the dragon skin and leave immediately.
He left the Treasure Refining Pavilion and glanced coldly across the street. When he went upstairs, he had already noticed someone spying on him, so he left a trace of his divine sense on that person. When he came out, he realized that the person was in the inn across the street.
There were quite a few people in the inn, including three Core Formation cultivators next to the person Wang Lin had left his divine sense imprint on. Wang Lin pondered for a bit and decided not to unleash his divine sense. After spinning around a few times, he took a step and activated his earth escape technique. However, there was a flash of white light, and he didn’t enter the ground. The entire city was covered by a formation that prevented his earth escape technique from working.
Wang Lin’s eyebrows furrowed as he leaped into the air and flew toward the city gate.
He only flew for a short while before a cultivator in black arrived at the spot where Wang Lin was attempting to use the Earth Escape Technique. He looked in the direction Wang Lin was flying and licked his lips. His eyes were filled with greed. This cultivator was one of the people who had been bidding on the first floor when Wang Lin entered.
This person was named Wei San. He was one of the Fighting Evil Sect disciples who had come to buy goods in Nan Dou. When he saw Wang Lin enter the second floor, he was tempted and took a quick glance before leaving the inn across the street. He even sent a voice transmission jade slip to a fellow Fighting Evil Sect disciple who was also in town buying goods. After a long time, he saw Wang Lin leave and guessed that Wang Lin must have obtained some treasure. Wei San couldn’t help but have some evil thoughts.
However, he couldn’t see Wang Lin’s cultivation level. Based on his guess, Wang Lin should be at the Core Formation stage. This made him want to retreat, but when his fellow disciples arrived with several elders, he was overjoyed and explained everything in detail.
Besides him, more than ten people appeared, all at varying levels of cultivation. Most of them were at the Foundation Establishment stage, but three of them were shrouded in black mist.
These three were the three cultivators that worried Wang Lin.
Wei San turned around and said respectfully, “Elders, I can’t believe the three of you are also in Nan Dou. I’m sure that person must have some kind of treasure.”
A hoarse voice filled with anger said, “Wei San, you’re exaggerating. I thought it was really a Core Formation cultivator. Hmph, how could a mere Core Formation cultivator have such a treasure? What a waste of time.”