Yang Jing felt assured. He knew the plan was already halfway to success.
"Oh? What Elixir is it? The Yellow Bud Pill? I've tried that one. It didn't work either."
He feigned disappointment and shook his head.
"Of course it's not an Elixir like the Yellow Bud Pill. It's the Evil Exorcism Pill!"
Wang Tong said, enunciating every syllable.
Yang Jing laughed to himself, but his expression flashed through a series of emotions: fear, shock, and finally, greed. The Evil Exorcism Pill was incredibly famous. Any Cultivator who had even dabbled in Alchemy would know of it, so feigning ignorance would seem too suspicious.
"You mean *that* Evil Exorcism Pill?"
Wang Tong unhurriedly poured himself a cup of Spirit Tea.
"Is there any other kind of Evil Exorcism Pill in this world?"
Yang Jing drew in a sharp breath. He glanced around before cautiously lowering his voice to ask,
"You have a way to smuggle Elixirs past the Six Passes Defense Line?"
Wang Tong took a sip of his Spirit Tea, calm and unhurried.
"Ah, Brother Yang, that's not something you need to concern yourself with. Just refine enough Evil Exorcism Pills, and the Spirit Stones will come rolling in."
Yang Jing stared at Wang Tong, his voice hoarse with feigned tension.
"Do you have a way of getting a Foundation Establishment Pill?"
Wang Tong felt a wave of relief, finally letting his guard down around Yang Jing.
"Of course. Our capabilities are beyond your imagination."
Yang Jing stroked the jade teacup.
"Give me the Pill Formula. How many Spirit Stones will I get for each Evil Exorcism Pill?"
"For each Evil Exorcism Pill, you'll get a cut of five Spirit Stones. I'll provide all the materials. As long as you can produce two or more pills per furnace, you won't be charged for the ingredients at all. How about it?"
For an Alchemist, these terms were incredibly generous. Almost no one would be able to refuse.
"Deal. But I want to exchange part of my Spirit Stone payment for the Spirit Medicines needed for the Bone Marrow Transformation Pill. Compared to the Evil Exorcism Pill, the Bone Marrow Transformation Pill would surely earn far more Spirit Stones if sold in the Demon Country, wouldn't it?"
Yang Jing said, his gaze fixed on Wang Tong.
Wang Tong laughed to himself. He hadn't expected Yang Jing to still be fixated on the Bone Marrow Transformation Pill.
"Of course. For each Bone Marrow Transformation Pill, you'll get thirty Spirit Stones. As long as you succeed in refining them, the cost of that batch of Spirit Medicines will be waived."
As he spoke, he took out a Storage Bag and placed ten sets of Spirit Medicines for the Bone Marrow Transformation Pill inside. He then produced a small Jade Bottle and pushed both items across the table to Yang Jing.
"Inside are the Spirit Medicines for fifty Evil Exorcism Pills and ten Bone Marrow Transformation Pills. As for this Jade Bottle, it contains one and a half *dou* of Heart's Blood. Use it as you need. The bottle has a Restriction placed on it to ensure the potency of the Heart's Blood is preserved."
Yang Jing pressed the Storage Bag to his forehead, using his Divine Sense to inspect the Spirit Medicines inside, then opened the Jade Bottle.
A strong, sanguine stench spilled out of the bottle.
The Mutton Fat Jade Bottle was pure white and flawless, yet it contained Heart's Blood, squeezed from the organs of murdered victims. 'An entire *dou* of Heart's Blood… I can't imagine how many mortals had to be killed to produce this much,' he thought.
Because the Jade Bottle had a Spatial Restriction, it couldn't be placed inside a Storage Bag. So, Yang Jing simply tucked it into a hidden pocket inside his robes.
Back at his Cave Mansion, Yang Jing took the Spiritual Materials from the Storage Bag and had Iron Head bring over the Profound Gold Tripod. He then started a fire for Alchemy. The Evil Exorcism Pill was only a Lower Grade Spirit Pill, and Iron Head succeeded on its first attempt, producing a batch of nine.
The Evil Exorcism Pills were a translucent, pale blue. Instead of a foul stench, they possessed a delicate, sweet fragrance.
Yang Jing walked over to the large boulder, pried open the mouth of the Qi Kingdom's Crown Prince, and fed him all three Evil Exorcism Pills.
A sliver of clarity flashed through the jiao-dragon eyes of the Qi Kingdom's Crown Prince, but it was instantly scattered by the Evil Qi. Yang Jing's resolve hardened. 'The Evil Exorcism Pills refined with mortal's Heart's Blood are still too weak. But if I use a Cultivator's Heart's Blood, it should work.'
A plan had already formed in his mind.
The next day, Yang Jing, wearing a veiled Conical Hat, stepped into Fukang Tower. He first purchased thirty assorted Talismans, placing them in his Storage Bag before asking,
"Do you carry Demon-slaying Swords?"
Demon-slaying Swords were weapons designed specifically to kill Demons. Most were forged from Iron Essence mixed with other Spiritual Golds. They were incomparably sturdy, and their blades were engraved with Restrictions meant to dispel Demon Qi.
There were also corresponding Demon-slaying Sabers, Demon-slaying Spears, and Demon-slaying Bows. This class of weaponry was generally sturdier and heavier than ordinary Magical Artifacts.
Low Tier Magical Artifacts were of limited use against large Demons with thick hides. Thus, Cultivators had specifically designed a class of heavy weaponry like the Demon-slaying Sword, which was both cheaper to produce and more threatening to Demons.
"But of course. Here at Fukang Tower, we have contracts with several Artifact Refining Masters. We have a full range of Magical Artifacts."
The Fukang Tower attendant spoke as he retrieved a Storage Bag from behind the counter. He took out more than a dozen Demon-slaying Swords and laid them out on the counter.
The Demon-slaying Swords were all similar in design. Their blades were about four *chi* long—a full *chi* longer than a standard one-handed sword. The blades were long and narrow with a rounded spine, like the back of a turtle shell, and were engraved with intricate Forbidden Talismanic Script. The edges were incredibly sharp, and a weighted, hammer-like pommel made them well-balanced for both slashing and thrusting.
Yang Jing unsheathed and examined each of the Demon-slaying Swords before picking the heaviest one, which weighed more than thirty *jin*. The sheath was made of simple, undyed Demon Fish Hide, and the hilt was wrapped in the same material, giving it a comfortable grip.
"You have a good eye, sir. This particular Demon-slaying Sword was forged a thousand times from Iron Essence and Cold Iron. It's exceptionally sharp and won't be damaged even when clashing with a Tier One Upper Grade Demon. It's yours for fifty Spirit Stones."
Aside from the final step of engraving the Restriction, all other stages of crafting a Demon-slaying Sword could be handled by an Innate Martial Artist. Even in the case of failure, the materials could easily be melted down and reforged. As a result, they were much cheaper than Magical Artifacts.
"Deal."
Yang Jing placed a bag of Spirit Stones on the counter and slung the Demon-slaying Sword onto his back.
The Huangyuan Mountain Range stretched on, full of rolling hills and valleys. It benefited from the residual Spiritual Qi of the Marketplace's Spirit Vein, and even more undiscovered Spirit Veins lay deep within its peaks, making the ambient Spiritual Mechanism abundant.
For this reason, even after four years of harvesting by nearby Independent Cultivators, the mountains had not been stripped bare of Spirit Medicines. As long as one was brave enough and had decent luck, a trip into the mountains would always yield some reward. There were even occasional tales of lucky souls finding Tier Three Spirit Medicines, causing a massive stir each time.
But Yang Jing was different from an ordinary Independent Cultivator. His mastery of Alchemy gave him an intimate knowledge of Spirit Medicines, and his Bright Qi Talent allowed him to perceive changes in the Spiritual Mechanism. His harvest was therefore quite bountiful; after traveling just over ten *li* into the mountains, he had already gathered more than ten stalks of Spirit Medicine.
However, gathering herbs was not his main reason for coming to Huangyuan Mountain. While his Bright Qi Talent allowed his eyes to perceive Spiritual Qi in a more direct, visual way, his sense of smell had a much wider range.
He used his Elevation Skill to move swiftly over the rocky terrain, deliberately sticking to the leeward slopes. As he collected Spirit Medicines, he had Iron Head use its sense of smell to analyze the Spiritual Qi carried on the wind.
In terrain as complex as the Huangyuan Mountain Range, perceiving Spiritual Qi by scent was more advantageous than by sight. With its Bright Qi Talent, Iron Head could pick out a target's unique Spiritual Mechanism from the jumble of ambient Spiritual Qi, even from more than ten *li* away.
Just as he stepped onto a large boulder in a mountain stream, Iron Head finally caught the target's scent: a thick, venomous trace of Blood Evil.
A Cultivator's Divine Sense is far more powerful than a mortal's. When a Cultivator is killed, their Divine Sense merges with their residual Spiritual Qi and Magical Power, transforming into a vengeful strand of Blood Evil that clings to their killer.
Yang Jing placed his hand on the hilt of his Demon-slaying Sword.
"Let's go."