Lin Haoming collected the pills, Guo Xin's thirty spirit stones, and several other miscellaneous items the man had been carrying. It was enough to completely make up for the cost of the talismans he had used.
Many onlookers were envious of the rewards Lin Haoming had gained. However, most of the managers realized they wouldn't have high-grade, low-level talismans in their own possession anyway; such items were generally beyond the reach of ordinary outer disciples.
Two more duels followed. Zhou Zhiye's side lost again, resulting in a total defeat for his faction. Frustrated, Zhou Zhiye didn't even stick around for the third match and stormed off. Before leaving, he shot Lin Haoming another glare—a clear warning of things to come.
Lin Haoming found the situation absurdly ironic. He had initially planned to join Zhou Zhiye's faction, yet in a heartbeat, they had become mortal enemies. The thought of an inner disciple coming after an outer disciple like him made his skin crawl. While Situ Ping had promised protection, Lin knew that was likely just polite talk. Situ Ping wasn't going to act as his personal bodyguard twenty-four seven.
He felt a growing resentment toward Zhou Zhiye. You were the one who placed the bet; now you hate me because you lost? Having already killed once, a streak of ruthlessness had been awakened in Lin Haoming. If the chance comes, I'll definitely take this guy out.
---
Breaking Through to the 8th Level
After distributing the month's stipends and collecting the spirit blood from the Mountain Armored Beasts, Lin Haoming retreated into his stone room. He resolved not to emerge until he reached the 8th level of Qi Refining.
Zhou Zhiye truly hated Lin now and had people keeping a constant eye on him. However, he couldn't just kill him in front of everyone without cause—even an inner disciple would face punishment for that. He decided his best chance would be the next Grand Month duels.
It took Lin Haoming eighty days to reach the peak of the 7th level, but for some reason, he couldn't break through the bottleneck to the 8th. In desperation, he consumed a mid-grade Heqi Pill.
The mid-grade pill was extraordinary. It had far fewer impurities than the Qi-Gathering Pills and significantly more spiritual power. While people said a Heqi Pill was worth three Qi-Gathering Pills, Lin felt the effect was at least five times stronger. Mid-grade medicine was truly on another level.
The moment he swallowed it, the trickle of spiritual energy in his meridians turned into a raging torrent. The bottleneck shattered instantly.
Entering the 8th level brought him great joy, but reality quickly set back in. He had exhausted nearly all his Qi-Gathering Pills. Without them, reaching the 9th level would take at least two or three years under current conditions. He didn't have that kind of time, especially with Zhou Zhiye looming over him. He needed to be prepared.
---
The Shopping Spree
Over the past few months, Lin had finished charging the initial three hundred spent spirit stones and had collected another three hundred from his subordinates. Carrying over six hundred spirit stones, he headed back to the market.
His previous deal with Wang Chen had gone well. He knew the shop was secretly owned by Xie Ruolan, but he didn't care. His disguise wasn't perfect—a Foundation Establishment cultivator could see through it instantly—but such experts were rare in the outer market, making it safe enough.
"Welcome back, Junior Brother!" Wang Chen recognized him immediately as the big spender who had dropped a hundred stones last time and led him into the back secret room. "Congratulations on your breakthrough!"
Lin Haoming didn't hide his cultivation. "I want to buy a storage bag, two magic tools, and then some talismans and pills."
Wang Chen was taken aback. It wasn't unusual for someone to spend hundreds of stones, but usually, those were inner disciples trying to curry favor with Xie Ruolan. Lin was the first outer disciple to show this kind of wealth.
"Don't worry, I'll find whatever you need," Wang Chen smiled. "This is a low-grade Storage Bag. It's about ten square feet inside—top tier for its grade. Fifty spirit stones."
Lin checked the space, nodded, and immediately bound it with his Divine Sense, transferring his belongings into it.
"What kind of magic tools are you looking for?" Wang Chen asked. "I only carry up to mid-grade. High-grade tools are rare; even inner disciples don't all have them."
"A mid-grade flying sword and a mid-grade defensive tool," Lin replied.
"I have a few swords. How about this Sub-Mother Sword? The mother blade conceals a sub-blade. If your opponent isn't careful, the sub-blade can strike them down when they least expect it. Once refined, you can also use it for flight."
"How much?"
"One hundred and sixty spirit stones."
A standard mid-grade sword usually cost one hundred twenty. For a set like this, one hundred sixty was fair. Lin agreed immediately.
Wang Chen then pulled out a tortoise shell. "This is the Tortoise Shell Shield. Mid-grade. Nothing fancy, just extremely sturdy—nearly as tough as a high-grade tool. One hundred fifty stones. If you take both, I'll make it three hundred even."
Lin swept both items into his storage bag and produced six hundred fifty spirit stones. "Use the remaining three hundred for Qi-Gathering Pills. I'll skip the talismans for now."
"A pleasure doing business with you," Wang Chen said, "though I'm a bit short on those pills. I only have two hundred on hand. I can give you forty Heqi Pills to make up the difference."
Lin calculated that he'd actually come out slightly ahead and agreed. After leaving the shop, he stopped by the outdoor stalls to buy another five hundred spent spirit stones before heading back to his grotto.