Chapter 38: Cross-Version Reselling

South of Mount Wu, in the Yushan Market three hundred li from Qinggu Market—

Lu Yan stepped out of a store. Everything he had looted from the seven rogue cultivators—magical tools, pills, talismans, and spiritual materials—had now been exchanged for spirit stones.

Including the spirit stones he already had, the combined wealth of those two late-stage and five mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators added up to a staggering eleven hundred spirit stones—enough to nearly fill a low-grade storage pouch.

You had to understand: unless they had a special skill, most Qi Refining cultivators had to risk their lives gathering herbs or hunting beasts in the mountains. Between spending on talismans to stay alive and daily cultivation needs, most of their earnings would be burned away.

Even late-stage cultivators might not have much to show for it in terms of spirit stones.

To be able to scrape together over a thousand spirit stones from just seven people spoke volumes about how wealthy these bandit cultivators truly were.

Considering those seven were likely somewhat known in Qinggu Market, their magical tools could probably be recognized. Lu Yan had made the cautious decision to come all the way to Yushan Market to sell the items.

Although he got lowballed a bit on prices, Lu Yan didn’t really care—after all, it was all loot. He had no need to fuss over minor losses.

“No wonder novel protagonists are so fond of sting operations. Taking out these bandit cultivators isn’t just guilt-free—it’s incredibly profitable.

The only thing you have to watch out for is whether the fish you’re trying to catch ends up dragging you into the water instead.”

Chuckling to himself, Lu Yan made his way toward a pill shop in the market.

There weren’t many people inside. To most rogue cultivators, pills were a luxury.

Even when they bought pills, it was usually the cheap ones for healing or restoring spiritual power—not the officially ranked elixirs.

As soon as Lu Yan stepped in, a clerk came up to greet him. The clerk was a fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator, even stronger than Lu Yan.

However, he showed no arrogance or disrespect despite Lu Yan’s lower cultivation and politely asked:

“May I ask what kind of pills the honored guest is looking for?”

Lu Yan took a glance around. The faint medicinal fragrance in the air brought a subtle clarity to his mind.

“Do you have any pills that can speed up cultivation or assist in breaking through bottlenecks?”

“Is the guest purchasing for yourself or someone else?” the clerk asked with a smile.

“Is there a difference?” Lu Yan asked curiously.

“Different levels of cultivation are suited to different types of pills.”

The clerk retrieved three jade bottles from the counter.

“For someone of your cultivation, we have three options: Qi-Gathering Powder, Jade Spirit Pill, and Spirit-Nurturing Pill.

The Qi-Gathering Powder is unranked, best suited for early-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

The Jade Spirit Pill is a First-Grade Low-Rank pill ideal for mid-stage cultivators. It enhances the efficiency of spiritual power refinement. While early-stage cultivators can take it, much of the medicinal strength would be wasted.

The Spirit-Nurturing Pill is a First-Grade High-Rank pill, capable of assisting in breaking through bottlenecks, but it’s only suitable for those under late-stage Qi Refining. Naturally, it’s also the most expensive.”

As he explained, the clerk opened the bottles so Lu Yan could examine the pills.

The Jade Spirit Pill was just as its name suggested—smooth, emerald green, and almost gem-like.

Lu Yan immediately recognized it as the same pill he had used in the Apocalypse Version.

Three Jade Spirit Pills, along with the rich spiritual energy of that world, had helped him break through from First Layer to Fourth Layer Qi Refining.

What puzzled him, though, was that back then he hadn’t felt any waste of medicinal power, even though he had only been at First Layer.

“Could it be because I absorbed moonlight spiritual energy back then?”

Lu Yan didn’t dwell on it and instead asked:

“How much are the Jade Spirit Pill and Spirit-Nurturing Pill?”

The clerk’s expression brightened noticeably, sensing a sale was imminent.

“The Jade Spirit Pill is priced at seven spirit stones per pill.

The Spirit-Nurturing Pill, being a breakthrough-assisting elixir, is priced at one hundred and eighty spirit stones.”

Lu Yan clicked his tongue in surprise.

Seven spirit stones just for an auxiliary cultivation pill. That was no joke.

Sure, he had felt great effects from it in the past, but that was because it was meant for mid-stage cultivators, and he had taken it during early-stage, where the impact naturally seemed stronger.

At a rate of one pill every three days to assist cultivation, that’d be seventy spirit stones a month. Even a major sect disciple would struggle to afford that.

As for the Spirit-Nurturing Pill—it was only effective in breaking through from mid-stage Qi Refining, yet it cost a whopping one hundred and eighty spirit stones. Even all the loot from those mid-stage rogue cultivators wouldn’t have been enough to buy one.

Still, expensive or not, Lu Yan went ahead and purchased five bottles—twenty-five pills—of Jade Spirit Pills, along with one Spirit-Nurturing Pill for breakthroughs.

In addition, he bought one bottle each of Beauty Pills and Rejuvenation Pills.

The Beauty Pill was a downgraded version of a Second-Grade Anti-Aging Pill, popular among female cultivators for improving appearance.

The Rejuvenation Pill was a weaker version of an elixir for prolonging life. It didn’t actually extend one’s lifespan, but it did invigorate the body and gave the illusion of vitality, especially to the elderly.

Naturally, Lu Yan didn’t buy these for himself—they were for the upcoming version transition.

The loot bundles in the last Apocalypse Version had shown him just how different worlds could be. Alchemy was a specialty of the Immortal Cultivation Version, and who knew what such items might fetch in another version?

In fact, he was also planning to buy a batch of unique Immortal Cultivation-style storage pouches to “dazzle” the natives of other versions.

He was particularly curious about what would happen to these items from the Cultivation Version once they passed through a version update. How would they change?

The pills he purchased this time cost him a total of four hundred spirit stones. The amount was enough to warrant the personal attention of the shopkeeper.

As a bonus, the shopkeeper even gifted Lu Yan a bottle of Blood Qi Pills worth ten spirit stones.

After leaving the pill shop, Lu Yan immediately departed Yushan Market.

He flew for dozens of li, occasionally pausing midair to check if any greedy cultivators had come to rob him.

Unfortunately for him, the pill shop’s shopkeeper had truly kept their lips sealed—not a single soul seemed to know that a low-stage cultivator had just walked out with hundreds of spirit stones worth of pills.

Without anyone trying to rob him, Lu Yan’s little plan to recover some of his funds with another “sting operation” fell through.

With some regret in his heart, Lu Yan changed direction and flew toward Qinggu Market.

Though Yushan Market had a pleasant environment, the quality of its spiritual veins didn’t compare to Qinggu. For cultivation, the latter was clearly better.

More importantly, Lu Yan wanted to dig up more information about the Red Lotus Devil Sect from He Dongsheng.

Half a day later, Lu Yan gently landed outside Qinggu Market.

Just as he stepped through the entrance, he suddenly felt a probing gaze.

“Could those seven still have allies?”

He frowned slightly, but on the surface, his expression remained calm as he proceeded toward the cave dwelling area.

Right then, the probing gaze grew closer.

A voice—part surprise, part delight—sounded behind him.

“Isn’t that Fellow Daoist Lu?”

(End of Chapter)