"The situation seems to be getting more stable!" Li Jizhou, after skimming through the report, not only failed to find any trace of unusual behavior from the Celestial Secret Pavilion but also felt the overall situation at Inverted Mountain seemed even more stable.
In fact, if the Thunder Spirit Crystal Mine continues to operate, it might even curb the surrounding cultivator conflicts due to the oppressive influence of the Core Formation seniors.
"Too abnormal!" The behavior of the Celestial Secret Pavilion did not match the actual circumstances at all.
Strange occurrences often indicate hidden factors, making Li Jizhou increasingly cautious.
"Could there be some overlooked, inconspicuous information!" Li Jizhou picked up the report again, examining it line by line, word by word.
Suddenly,
A piece of inconspicuous information caught his attention!
[A Qi Cultivation Third Level loose cultivator wasted eight Tier One Middle Level talismans, resulting in a severe loss due to a mistake in mining three batches of Melted Spirit Sand instead of recognizing the Thunder Spirit Crystal, causing the price of spirit paintings to skyrocket, and the Thunder Spirit Crystal paintings sold out overnight!]
This information had nothing to do with the bigger picture but was very relevant to Li Jizhou.
Melted Spirit Sand is a product of the rapid cooling and deposition of core crystals spewed out by underground magma over thousands of years, extremely rare, harder than gold and jade, and impossible to melt with fire.
Thus, despite the efforts of countless geniuses over generations, there was no practical use found for it.
Gradually, Melted Spirit Sand became a useless item.
However, coincidentally, in a previous life, Li Jizhou came across a secret technique, a very domineering body refining skill!
At that time, he had luckily succeeded in entering the Foundation Establishment stage, full of ambition, riding a flying sword, ready to indulge in the grandeur akin to 'one day seeing all the blossoms of Chang'an from horseback', but accidentally passed by a place where some people were engaged in a battle of spells.
Lacking experience then, with little worldly insight, having achieved Foundation Establishment in the small Cultivation Country of Liang Kingdom, he was called 'senior' everywhere he went, gradually losing himself in such greetings.
Upon encountering the spell battle, instead of immediately distancing himself, he even thought to unhesitatingly offer advice as a 'senior'.
This advice resulted in the death of one side of the battling parties.
Moreover, it turned out that side was primarily a body cultivator using body refining skills, far more powerful than him.
He was then contemptuously called an 'ant' by the victorious side and was killed with a wave of the hand!
If not for having a life-saving pill given his identity as a Pill Master, there would have been no future.
However, before dying, the defeated side silently tossed him a jade talisman.
The jade talisman contained some matters.
He then learned that both parties engaged in the magical duel came from a mysterious Holy Land level force in the far Eastern Desolation Central Domain!
The Holy Land had a special body refining technique, claimed to attain the Undying Golden Body at the ninth layer of body refining!
However, the divine-grade body refining technique was only passed on to the Saint Heir!
That person went to great lengths to steal the Saint Heir's refining technique code and escape, ultimately being pursued over endless miles.
The divine-grade body refining technique utilized the unmelting Melted Spirit Sand as material, merging it into one's flesh and blood!
In his previous life, Li Jizhou had also exhausted every possible means attempting to refine his body with Melted Spirit Sand.
Unfortunately, it was extremely rare in the world, and useless to most cultivators, so no one had bothered to mine it, and it was hard to find on the market.
Ultimately, he never mastered it.
But now, within that Thunder Spirit Crystal Mine, there actually seemed to be Melted Spirit Sand.
Judging by the situation, perhaps in significant quantities!
"The Spiritual Sand Body Refining Skill!" Li Jizhou's gaze was erratic.
Cultivators rely on Qi Cultivation, but the body is a shortcoming, and in every battle of spells, they need to protect themselves with magical power.
The protective magic shield not only consumes magical power but also requires a steady mind, and if attacked stealthily or suddenly, delaying the activation of the shield is perilous.
If one could achieve supreme physical cultivation, rendering the body comparable to a demon beast, overall safety would significantly increase!
With the situation around the Thunder Spirit Crystal Mine gradually stabilizing, it seemed just right for a small early-stage Qi Cultivator like Li Jizhou to try his fortune....
"I can plan for it!" Li Jizhou finally firmed his resolve.
However, this had to be predicated on the actual safety of the Thunder Spirit Crystal Mine.
Furthermore, the central issue remained the overall situation at Inverted Mountain!
He went through everything again meticulously, still finding no clue that could influence the actions of the Celestial Secret Pavilion.
"Let's wait a few more days for Shopkeeper Lu!"
The reason Li Jizhou paid such close attention to the Celestial Secret Pavilion's abnormal behavior was that it was an intelligence agency, and it was said their influence extended beyond Qi Kingdom, even having intelligence channels in the Central Domain.
If any storm was about to brew somewhere, they would be the first to respond.
If nothing concrete or reasonable emerged to explain the Pavilion's behavior in a few more days, Li Jizhou planned to keep them under close watch.
If necessary, he even considered taking risks and using his trump cards to flee the Inverted Mountain.
"Pharmacist Zheng, save us! Please save my Dao companion!"
At this time, an anxious voice called out in the courtyard.
Three months after inheriting everything from Pharmacist Zheng, the first patient finally arrived.
"Snap~"
Li Jizhou opened the restriction array.
A male cultivator carrying a female cultivator rushed in in a hurry, both of them small fry at early-stage Qi Cultivation.
"Please, Pharmacist...Daoist, quickly invite Pharmacist Zheng out, my Wan'er is injured in her internal organs by villains, she's not going to make it."
"Bring her in, lay her on the bed!" Li Jizhou glanced at the female cultivator, indeed witnessing her five internal organs shattered, at the brink of death.
"Where is Pharmacist Zheng?" The male cultivator scanned Li Jizhou, more anxious with a louder cry.
"Pharmacist Zheng has already integrated with the Dao. If you don't want her to die, you'd better do as I say!" Li Jizhou said bluntly.
"Pharmacist Zheng is dead? And you are?" The male cultivator looked at Li Jizhou with shock and worry.
"Pharmacist Li!" Li Jizhou introduced himself.
"Please, Pharmacist Li, save my Wan'er, you will be generously rewarded in the future!" The male cultivator quickly embraced reality, promptly laying his Dao companion on the indoor bed.
Having practiced both Medical and Poison Scriptures for three years, the Poison Scripture had been applied before, but it was the first time for the Medical Scripture.
The Eternal Spring Magical Power, in combination with the Medical Scripture technique, though somewhat unfamiliar, yielded remarkably effective results.
In just a quarter of an hour, the shattered internal organs of the female cultivator were reconnected.
Her life was saved, and even the convalescence period significantly shortened.
Li Jizhou slowly withdrew his hand, quite satisfied.
"Thank you, Pharmacist Li! You will certainly be rewarded handsomely in the future!" Feeling the peace in the female cultivator's breath, the male cultivator was overwhelmingly grateful, promptly thanking Li Jizhou.
"No need! A fair price, one Spirit Stone! I save her life, you pay me a Spirit Stone, an equivalent exchange, unrelated to cause and effect." This was basically standard pricing and perhaps considered cheap given Li Jizhou used his magical power for healing rather than merely administering medication like Pharmacist Zheng.
"Well...Pharmacist Li, I... To be honest, my wife and I have no Spirit Stones now; we spent everything we had on buying several mid-level talismans to take a chance,
but on the way back, we were ambushed by scoundrels inside the mine, who not only robbed us of the Thunder Spirit Crystals we painstakingly gathered but also severely wounded my Wan'er.
I really have no Spirit Stones now!" The male cultivator was extremely embarrassed, even unlocking the restriction on his storage pouch for Li Jizhou to inspect.
Li Jizhou paid no heed to his sad expedition tale and showed no empathy towards his plight, directly opening the storage pouch and probing with his spiritual sense.
Indeed they were poor.
It only had a few basic talismans left, nearly penniless.
Then, suddenly, in the corner of the storage pouch, he saw a small pile of sand-like particles, his eyes slightly narrowing.
It was indeed Melted Spirit Sand!
"The report was accurate; the Thunder Spirit Crystal Mine had quite a bit of Melted Spirit Sand mixed in; while collecting Thunder Spirit Crystal, it's easy to inadvertently collect some of it too."
"According to what he just said, he and his wife exhausted their family wealth to buy mid-level talismans intending to collect Thunder Spirit Crystal in the mine, but were ambushed by cultivators lying in wait in the mine, robbing them of the Thunder Spirit Crystal, leaving only the Melted Spirit Sand they incidentally gathered!"
"Low-level storage pouch, valued at twenty grains of spirit sand."
"Three basic Dust-removal Talismans, fifteen grains of spirit sand."
"Two basic Restriction Talismans, ten grains of spirit sand."
"Five non-tier-level ... Joy Talismans, five grains of spirit sand."
"Total comes to fifty grains of spirit sand; you still owe me fifty grains, payable within a month." Li Jizhou calculated every item's worth, completely ignoring that small pile of Melted Spirit Sand in the corner of the storage pouch.
"Thank you, Pharmacist Li, I will repay promptly!" The male cultivator respectfully expressed gratitude before carrying his Dao companion away.
The deep night was silent, the moonlight enchanting.
Li Jizhou secured the array, instructing Guagua to stay on alert.
Then he retreated into his bedroom, clutching half a basin of Melted Spirit Sand, recalling the Spiritual Sand Body Refining Skill he stumbled upon in a previous life!