After a long rest, Lu Tiandu finally passed through the illusionary formation and entered his own herb garden. He was preparing to refine another batch of Dingyan Pills.
The upcoming Yanyue Sect's five-yearly auction presented a significant opportunity.
Just as he entered the garden to search for the right spiritual herbs, he stumbled upon a sleeping little golden monkey. The creature was holding a half-eaten 200-year-old Polygonatum odoratum.
It was obvious the other half had already been devoured!
Lu Tiandu's face darkened.
His garden only had a dozen or so hundred-year-old spiritual herbs. Previously, due to limited spirit stones, he had only used the Little Green Liquid to accelerate the growth of the herbs during the first batch of Dingyan Pills.
This particular Polygonatum odoratum had only reached 200 years of age during the first test of the Little Green Liquid, and yet it had been ruined by the little golden monkey.
"Huh? That's not right! My garden is set up with an illusionary formation. How did this little creature get in?"
Lu Tiandu suddenly remembered. This was why he had let the little golden monkey roam freely.
He had set up this illusion array around the medicine garden after entering this world, fearing wild beasts might destroy it.
He'd neglected it, leaving it standing forever, only replacing spirit stones twice a year. Logically, a level-one spirit beast wouldn't be able to penetrate the illusion array, so how had the little monkey gotten in?
"Could it be that this little creature's nose can not only detect auras but also track the scent of spiritual herbs? If that's the case, then the illusion array is useless. It walked right in with its eyes closed..."
Lu Tian's eyes welled up at the thought.
He shook the little golden monkey, but it showed no sign of waking. Apparently, it had fallen into a deep sleep after consuming a tonic, so he had to give up.
If it truly had the ability to track spiritual herbs, then this little creature would be truly remarkable, and the benefits it would bring him were undeniable.
Lu Tian then shuttled back and forth between the cave's stone furnace and the medicine garden, expending three thousand spirit stones to transform the green liquid. Once the herbs were fully prepared, he rested and began refining the second batch of Dingyan Pills.
Having learned from the previous experience, the success rate increased significantly this time. Only two pills were wasted, for a total of twenty-two intact pills.
After packing them one by one, Lu Tiandu rested for several hours before leaving the temporary cave and flying towards the Yanyue Sect.
A few days later, Lu Tiandu circled a small city several times before turning south. After flying nearly two hundred miles, he found an inconspicuous, nameless hill, where he built a temporary cave and set up his formations.
A few hours later, Lu Tiandu changed into black clothes, donned a ethereal conical hat, and headed for the Yanyue Sect's market.
This market was comparable to a small city, more imposing and majestic than any other market Lu Tiandu had seen before. The dozens-foot-high walls of Qingliu rock were covered in various formations. The constant patrols of cultivators above the walls and the constant flow of people in and out all demonstrated the prosperity of the market of Yue Kingdom's most powerful immortal sect.
A flicker of surprise flashed in Lu Tiandu's eyes. He had heard rumors of the Yanyue Sect's pre-eminent strength among the six sects, but seeing is believing.
This magnificent market town also revealed some of Yanyue Sect's strength.
After entering Tianyue City, Lu Tiandu casually strolled around.
Soon, a young man named Feng Xingzi approached him. Lu Tiandu, eager to learn more about the city, invited him to follow his lead.
After more than two hours, Lu Tiandu tossed Feng Xingzi a low-level spirit stone and headed off alone to the southern part of the city.
The most imposing structure in Tianyue City was undoubtedly the Tianyue Tower, nestled in the center of the city.
Standing hundreds of feet tall and enshrined in mysterious yet formidable restrictions, it towered like an iron tower in the heart of the small city, making it a striking sight.
The Tianyue Tower was not normally open, serving as the main venue for the small auctions held every five years and the large auctions held every twenty years.
It was the eve of the small auctions, and the flow of visitors was much greater than usual.
From time to time, Foundation Establishment cultivators would pass by on the main road, but Golden Core cultivators were rare, often arriving at the last possible moment or concentrating their cultivation, making it difficult for lower-level cultivators to detect them.
It was said that even Nascent Soul cultivators would appear at the grand auction held every twenty years.
The northern district of Tianyue City is primarily occupied by the Yanyue Sect's own shops. Shops in the east and west districts are leased long-term to disciples, affiliated families, and affiliated factions. The southern district is reserved for independent cultivators or those who need to sell something temporarily.
Small shops are available for temporary rental, while a free space is also provided for cultivators struggling with spirit stones to set up shop—a truly thoughtful gesture.
This generous act has also brought an extraordinary influx of visitors to the Yanyue Sect's market, ultimately benefiting the most as the landlord.
Lu Tiandu recalled the one-street market in Huangfeng Valley and shook his head.
No wonder, in the entire Yue Kingdom's immortal cultivation world, only the Yanyue Sect can afford to hold an auction; the other six sects are still too small-scale—if you don't build a good fish pond, how will the fish come?
After walking through several streets, Lu Tiandu arrived at the Yanyue Sect's office specializing in temporary store rentals in the southern district and easily secured a small space. For two spirit stones a day, Lu Tiandu rented it for a month.
Holding a token marked with the characters Geng Thirty-Eight, Lu Tian found the corresponding shop and casually tossed it into the air. He chanted a few incantations and struck the token, sending a beam of black light emanating from the black token and instantly disappearing into the shop's door.
The gate's barrier then opened, and Lu Tiandu stepped into the small shop. He carefully inspected it with his spiritual sense, finding nothing unusual. He then pulled a wooden plank from his storage bag and casually wrote a few large characters:
"Low-priced, mid-level talismans for sale. Limited to fifty per day. Hurry!"
Placing the sign prominently at the door, Lu Tiandu created a menu and tossed it onto the counter before closing his eyes to rest.
Indeed, he had arrived at the Yanyue Sect market over a month in advance, intending not only to attend the auction but also to sell some mid-level talismans.
He previously had five hundred low-level talismans, all crafted in his spare time over the past six months. He had originally intended to use the Creation Divine Furnace to refine them and then sell them for a small profit on the eve of the Ascension Conference. But now that he had a better platform, he naturally decided to make a killing.
Before arriving at the market, he had spent five hundred spirit stones to refine all five hundred low-level talismans and upgrade them to mid-level talismans.
As for the hundred or so mid-level talismans and twenty or so high-level talismans, all of which he had crafted himself and had never been refined, he had enough spirit stones to refine them this time, preparing for future needs.
After the refinements were completed, Lu Tiandu collected the hundred or so high-level talismans and the twenty or so mid-level low-level talismans.
Refining a low-level mid-level talisman to a low-level high-level talisman still cost ten spirit stones each, but upgrading a low-level high-level talisman to a low-level low-level talisman required fifty spirit stones, a surprising fact.
However, after careful consideration, he finally understood.
After all, drawing intermediate-level talismans requires at least Foundation Establishment cultivation. Qi Refining spiritual energy is simply insufficient to cast intermediate-level spells, let alone draw them onto talisman paper.
Therefore, using Qi Refining mana to draw an elementary-level upper-level talisman requires refining it to reach Foundation Establishment mana, which can only be used to draw an intermediate-level lower-level talisman. This spiritual energy consumption is indeed a significant problem.
The cost of fifty spirit stones is understandable.
Fortunately, he was wealthy at this time and had over two thousand spirit stones to spare.
However, this also dissuaded him from secretly selling intermediate-level talismans for profit using the Divine Furnace.
Because his own success rate in drawing upper-level talismans was only 30% to 40%, Lu Tiandu had originally planned to secretly acquire a batch of elementary-level upper-level talismans and then use the Divine Furnace to upgrade them to the intermediate-level lower-level, making a fortune.
The extremely high remelting fee (50 Spirit Stones) ultimately dissuaded him from the idea. Purchasing a high-level talisman in bulk would cost at least 40 Spirit Stones, and he had to do it covertly. He then spent 50 Spirit Stones on upgrading, and only managed to sell it for around 100 Spirit Stones. All in all, he made a pittance.
Drawing lower-level talismans and remelting them to the mid-level would be much more profitable and easier.
By then, Lu Tiandu understood that the Fortune Furnace's remelting ability within each level allowed him to profit significantly, but if he crossed levels, he could only use it for personal use, forget about making money!
So, in the end, it was crucial to keep up with his cultivation and techniques to best utilize the Fortune Furnace.
[Creation is hard, cheer me up! VOTE for me!Like it ? Add to library!Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.]
(End of Chapter)