Chapter 21 Mark

He should first see if this matter benefits him; if there are benefits, he doesn’t mind lending a hand.

Arriving at Pill Peak, he could smell the thick medicinal fragrance in the air. He took a deep breath and felt the spiritual power within his body become a bit more active.

The surrounding Disciples hurried to and fro, discussing issues like controlling the heat during Alchemy, or how the quantity of a certain Spiritual Plant was added incorrectly.

Sometimes the two would even argue.

It inexplicably gave him the feeling of a place with a strong academic atmosphere.

He stopped a Disciple, asked for the location of the Pill Hall, and flew towards it.

“New Disciple? Come to buy Medicinal Pills?” Inside the Pill Hall, the old man lying on the lounge chair opened his eyes and glanced at him. “Medicinal Pills aren’t cheap. If you can’t afford them, you can work in my Pill Hall. You’ll receive Medicinal Pills and Spirit Stones for free every month.”

He had originally come to see if he had been afflicted by a Curse Spell, but hearing what the old man said piqued his interest.

After all, he was indeed short on Spirit Stones. Although he could accept missions to earn them, this way would certainly be safer.

Just as he was about to inquire, a loud crash echoed from not far away.

“Bang—”

The Pill Refining Room was violently bumped open by a Cultivator, who then stumbled and fell to the ground after only a few steps.

One could see large blisters covering his exposed skin, as if he had rolled around in a sea of fire.

After falling, the pustules on his face and palms burst, and disgusting mucus flowed down his face, but he couldn’t care less, only frantically scrambling up to run outside.

However, a Disciple from the Pill Hall quickly followed out behind him, grabbing the Cultivator and dragging him back into the Pill Refining Room.

“Apologies, Steward! I accidentally added too much Fire Marrow Grass for the new medicine. As long as I add some Cold Jade Stone, it will definitely be fine!” The Pill Hall Disciple smiled sheepishly toward the old man and guaranteed, “He absolutely will not bother you again!”

As the door to the Pill Refining Room closed, the Cultivator’s miserable screams could still be heard: “Spare me! I don’t want those Spirit Stones and Medicinal Pills anymore, okay! Just consider the work I did these past few days forfeit! Let me go!”

The old man: “…”

Qin Wu: “…”

“Actually…”

Without waiting for the old man to finish speaking, Qin Wu immediately interrupted him: “I didn’t come to buy Medicinal Pills. I just want an Alchemist to check if someone has cast a Curse Spell on me.”

“Is that so.” The old man looked very disappointed. He impatiently waved his hand, “Go upstairs.”

Qin Wu immediately went to the second floor and found an Alchemist who looked relatively gentle.

“Curse Spell?” She glanced at Qin Wu and placed a white jade stone in front of him.

“A common Curse Spell can be detected with a Low-Grade Curse-Clearing Jade. However, if you truly are afflicted by a spell, removing it is a separate charge.”

Qin Wu held the jade stone in his hand. After a while, the jade stone did not change color. He looked up at the Senior Sister.

“Should be fine,” the Senior Sister said. “You are only in the Early Stage of Qi Refining, right?”

Qin Wu nodded.

“Then this should be enough for you. Of course, you can use a Mid-Grade Curse-Clearing Jade to test again, but someone capable of casting a spell of that level could just kill you directly.”

“I’d better test it one more time. At least it will put my mind at ease,” Qin Wu replied.

“Fine then.” The Senior Sister took out a jade stone that looked even more translucent, extended two fingers, “That will be twenty Spirit Stones.”

Just the testing fee was this expensive; Qin Wu couldn’t help but click his tongue.

He handed over the Spirit Stones, picked up the jade stone, and moments later, wisps of gray mist appeared in the center of the jade stone. His hand back suddenly stung, and this time, a bizarre tattoo emerged.

“You really were afflicted by a Curse Spell.” The Senior Sister looked at the tattoo on Qin Wu’s hand with surprise in her tone.

“However, it is harmless to the body. It is just a mark. Many Families have this secret method to mark the murderer who killed a Family’s junior, in order to seek revenge in the future.”

Having exposed the fact that he had killed someone, the two were silent for a moment. The Senior Sister then resumed her smile: “This thing is very easy to remove, costing only one hundred Spirit Stones.”

Qin Wu took a deep breath.

If he hadn’t been so reluctant to part with his life value, he should have let Qian Tuo do the deed back then.

Half an hour later, Qin Wu flew out of Pill Peak.

He spent one hundred Spirit Stones to remove the mark, and just in case, he spent another hundred to buy a Mid-Grade Curse-Clearing Jade.

In the future, if he killed someone, he would use this to check, lest he capsize in a ditch.

Looking at the map in his hand, he flew in the direction away from Tianshui Peak. Not long after, Qin Wu landed on Miscellaneous Affairs Peak.

Entering the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, which was bustling with people, he found a Senior Brother who looked relatively idle and walked over to ask: “Senior Brother, I want to buy a Formation Plate that can transmit from the Holy Land to the outside world.”

“New Disciple?” The Senior Brother looked up at him and casually took out a Formation Plate to hand to him.

“Inside the Holy Land, Formation Plates can be used anywhere. Disciples who wish to leave the Holy Land either accept a mission or seek an Opportunity. But regardless of the reason, they must report to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.”

“It’s fine if you want to leave secretly, but if you get killed, the Holy Land will not avenge you.”

“Thank you for the guidance, Senior Brother.” Qin Wu took the Formation Plate. “How many Spirit Stones is it?”

“Ten.”

Qin Wu handed him the Spirit Stones and then added: “I also want to buy a set of defensive Formations for my Immortal Cave. Do you have any recommendations, Senior Brother?”

The Senior Brother unhesitatingly threw a set of defensive Formations to him: “New Disciples like you can only afford this one, but it can block attacks from Cultivators at the Sixth or Seventh Layer of Qi Refining without issue. One hundred and sixty Spirit Stones, pay up.”

He held his palm up, hooking his four fingers inward.

Qin Wu’s eye twitched. Since entering the sect, the Holy Land had only given him a total of five hundred Spirit Stones, and in just one day, nearly four hundred had been thrown away.

He painfully paid the Spirit Stones, then took out a dusty Storage Pouch: “How many Spirit Stones can I sell this for?”

The items inside had long since been moved to his storage ring. Unfortunately, this thing had the words ‘Taixu Holy Land’ written on it, otherwise, the Seventh Outpost would definitely offer a higher price.

“This is uniformly issued by the Holy Land, and the space is small, so it’s not worth much.” The Senior Brother glanced at it. “Five Spirit Stones.”

“Sold.”

After selling the Storage Pouch, Qin Wu didn’t rush to leave; instead, he looked at the missions posted by the Holy Land.

Most missions for the Qi Refining Stage were posted by some Disciples within the Holy Land, just like the Pill Hall heavily recruiting test-takers for medicine.

However, he noticed that missions for the First or Second Layer of Qi Refining were rare; the vast majority required cultivation around the Sixth or Seventh Layer of Qi Refining to accept.

Qin Wu had just spotted a mission for the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, with the location outside the Holy Land. Just as he was about to pick it up to examine it closely, a female Disciple walked in with an ugly expression and grabbed the collar of the Senior Brother.

“Li Yue, what is the meaning of this? Didn’t I tell you that the Immortal Cave on Tianshui Peak was supposed to be reserved for me! I already paid the Spirit Stones, and you won’t do things for me?”

“Don’t be anxious, let me explain!” Li Yue slapped her hand away, his face looking ugly. “What can I do? That person is…”

The latter part of the conversation turned into a sound transmission. The female Disciple clenched her fists, her face full of unwillingness. Li Yue helplessly returned the Spirit Stones to her.

“There’s nothing I can do. That person has such a powerful backer; what can I do?”

Qin Wu had already quietly slipped out.

This kind of private transaction regarding Immortal Caves probably wouldn’t be something they wanted others to hear.

Speaking of which, if he weren’t a Personal Disciple of the Taixu Sect, it probably wouldn’t have been so easy for him to live on Tianshui Peak.

He just didn’t know who had snatched that female Disciple’s spot.