Chapter 16: Purchasing a Pill Furnace

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It was unclear whether Qin Chengming's talisman was too advanced or the fox demon's spiritual sense was simply too weak. Qin Chengming stood less than a hundred meters away from the fox demon, yet he remained undetected.

The fox demon paced the alley several times, twitching its nose as if trying to trace someone by scent. But in the end, that method failed as well!

Qin Chengming watched quietly, finding the demon’s repeated, limited tricks rather dull. Seizing a moment when the demon wandered off, he simply walked out of the alley and continued his stroll through the city, completely unaware of the panic he’d caused in the hearts of the three others.

Those three were still searching for him in the alley, while the person they sought had already arrived at the Taihua Road Herbal Market.

This so-called herbal market was, in truth, a gathering for anything related to alchemy. There were single-ingredient prescriptions, books detailing herbal properties, minerals for refining, beast cores and blood with medicinal value—everything imaginable. The quality of the goods, however, was left to luck.

Qin Chengming’s alchemy skills were nothing to scoff at! Back in the Foundation Establishment to Nascent Soul stages, his cultivation level had been too low to venture into dangerous places. During that time, all his cultivation resources had been earned by selling pills he’d refined.

The moment he passed through the archway labeled "Taihua Road," a wave of noise assaulted his ears.

"Rare herbs from the undersea secret realm, selling cheap!"

"Spirit grass from the Wenxing Mountain secret realm—tenfold compensation if it’s fake! Come and see for yourselves!"

"Medicinal stones and herbs from the Eastern Sea floor, all at bargain prices! We have..."

The cries of peddlers were chaotic, but Qin Chengming noticed something odd: not once did anyone call out the actual name of what they were selling. Everyone simply shouted the source or where it was harvested. It was peculiar indeed!

Glancing around, Qin Chengming spotted a shop selling pill furnaces and stepped inside. He wasn’t lacking pill furnaces himself—he owned some, though most were either too advanced or had already absorbed strange flames. The lesser ones had long since been gifted to the younger generation as meeting presents. Right now, he simply wanted to test the alchemy methods of this world; a cheap, ordinary furnace would suffice.

The shop was rather large, selling not only pill furnaces but also cinnabar, talisman paper, blank formation plates—an odd assortment of items.

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When Qin Chengming entered, the shop assistant merely nodded and smiled, lacking the excessive enthusiasm of other shops. This assistant wasn’t an ordinary mortal but a young man at the second level of Qi Refinement. In fact, he was the owner’s son, serving as an assistant only because he’d made a minor mistake and was being punished for a few days. Qin Chengming knew nothing of this, nor would he have cared even if he did.

Pill furnaces occupied nearly half the shop, ranging in size and style from ornate to austere, all displayed on wall shelves. Qin Chengming looked over the selection but found none to his satisfaction. Having seen many fine items, his standards were high. Though plentiful, the furnaces here were of mediocre quality—the best was only slightly superior to common wares.

He frowned and turned to the shopkeeper. "Are all your pill furnaces here? Do you have some of better quality?"

The shopkeeper was momentarily stunned, but before he could answer, the assistant interjected, "We do have better ones, but can you afford them? We only accept spirit stones here, not your so-called treasures of gold or jade."

Qin Chengming was momentarily speechless but not angry. He simply pulled out the few top-grade spirit stones left in his storage pouch. "Spirit stones I have—these are all that remain. See if I can buy a decent pill furnace with them."

The assistant had spoken so boldly before only because Qin Chengming appeared to be a mere mortal. Now, seeing spirit stones produced from thin air, he realized this was a cultivator—one whose cultivation he couldn’t discern. Such people were not to be offended.

The assistant quickly smiled and said, "I was blind and ignorant just now, Senior. Please forgive me! Since you’ve chosen our humble shop, it’s an honor. How about this: we’ve just acquired a batch of pill furnaces excavated from a secret realm. Most can’t be properly appraised, so their prices haven’t been set. Though you have few spirit stones, I can make an exception and let you pick one as you please. How does that sound?"

Qin Chengming marveled inwardly. Wasn’t it said that one top-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for a thousand mid-grade stones, and one mid-grade for a thousand low-grade? With six top-grade stones, that meant 6 million low-grade stones. Yet even that wasn’t enough for a pill furnace? What currency did they use for better items—spirit stone mines?

Maintaining a mysterious expression, Qin Chengming said, "Very well. Where do I look? Lead the way."

The assistant, seeing he’d agreed and seemed unoffended, was delighted and led the way. "This way, please. It’s the warehouse in the back—there are more items there, though the environment isn’t the best. Please forgive us."

"Mm," Qin Chengming merely grunted and followed in the indicated direction.

Though the front of the shop had seemed large, the rear was even more so. They crossed a corridor to a row of seven or eight warehouses. Three stood open; workers sorted items in the first two, while the third had two guards at its door. The rest were locked.

The assistant brought him to the warehouse with the two guards. As they approached, the guards glanced up, recognized the assistant, and said nothing.

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The warehouse was cluttered with various items, pill furnaces heaped in one corner. Qin Chengming inspected them closely—some were missing legs or arms, some were rusty, some lacked lids; all were damaged in some way, with not a single intact furnace among them.

He glanced at the assistant, who hastily explained, "Don’t be put off by their appearance! These were all brought out of secret realms, genuine relics used by ancient cultivation sects. With a bit of repair, they’re still far superior to the common goods outside."

Qin Chengming looked again at the heap of furnaces resembling a pile of junk. "I can pick any from this pile? Are there any I can’t choose? Best point them out now, so you don’t refuse after I’ve made my selection."

"You may choose any pill furnace in this room; they’re all unpriced and none is special. Please, take your time!" The assistant spoke and stepped back a few paces.

Qin Chengming had already set his sights on a few as he entered. One was a heavy furnace with a chipped edge—once a top-grade piece, forged with a touch of stardust sand. Melting it down for re-forging wouldn’t require much material.

The second was a purple-yellow furnace missing a leg, made of fine material, though likely crafted by a fool with both poor vision and skill. Two excellent but incompatible materials had been combined in one furnace; it hadn’t exploded only because the impurities hadn’t been removed. With some work and added materials, it could be remade into two superior furnaces—though it would be troublesome.

The third was the one he favored most: a pitch-black furnace without a lid. Its material was unidentifiable, but the design was one he’d glimpsed in a book on the fifth floor of the library pavilion—rare volumes, never common goods.

Qin Chengming picked up the pitch-black, lidless furnace and said to the assistant, "This one will do. It’s not damaged—just needs a lid to be usable." He showed it to the assistant, then with a flip of his hand, stored it in his ring.

"Farewell," he said, and without waiting for a response, retraced his steps to the store front.

Though the assistant believed such experts would not stoop to petty theft, he nonetheless signaled to the two guards to take inventory. He himself followed behind Qin Chengming.

Before they even reached the front of the shop, the guards reported back: everything in the warehouse was accounted for, except the pitch-black pill furnace.