“Hehe, just looking at Long Chen’s eyes, I know someone’s about to be out of luck.” Tang Wan-er covered her mouth and laughed upon seeing Long Chen’s expression.

“But of course. Do they think they can cheat me out of my hard-earned money? Speaking of which, how many points do we have now?” asked Long Chen.

“Ten billion seven hundred thousand points,” said Qing Yu.

“That many?” Long Chen couldn’t help being surprised.

“If your bracelet didn’t max out, then our points would be several times greater,” said Qing Yu.

Long Chen suddenly recalled that the numerical value on his bracelet had stopped working in the battle. The Xuan Master had said that the Dragonblood Legion could buy things at half price in exchange.

However, Long Chen had refused him. He didn’t want to take advantage of him, and he also didn’t want to owe anyone favors.

In any case, he had enough points, so why be in debt to others? However, he had obtained a special tablet. That tablet granted him access to any training region in the entire Xuantian Dao Sect free of charge. Furthermore, there was no name on it. Long Chen could lend it to others to use.

Currently, he had given it to Guo Ran, and he was using the best forging room now. Inside, there were spirit stones he could use free of charge to power his forging table.

Normally, using that top grade forging room cost a hundred thousand points a day. It was the most expensive of all the Xuantian Dao Sect’s training rooms. Giving the tablet to Guo Ran was the most efficient choice.

“Although we don’t have your points, we are still first place amongst all the factions, and by a large margin at that. When the points were distributed, I saw that Fan Song, Hu Guishan, as well as that Gao Xianyang all had a greedy light in their eyes,” said Tang Wan-er proudly, but she quickly became furious. “I bet they came up with this plot to get our points.”

The Alchemy Pavilion was related to the Law Enforcement Hall. That was no secret in the Xuantian Dao Sect. Furthermore, the Divine Beast Mansion and Hegemon Hall had a reason for their actions.

In truth, just one pill was enough for a disciple, and two pills were already extra insurance. A second pill would increase the effect by fifty percent. As for the third and fourth pill, there wasn’t much increase in effect.

But no one could say for sure that there wouldn’t be the slightest increase in effect. So by buying two sets of the pills, they could just barely get by within the realm of logic.

With this excuse and their points, as well as the collusion of the Alchemy Pavilion, this trap had been formed seamlessly.

If the Dragonblood Legion wanted the nine-ring Foundation Building Pills, they would have to buy them from the Divine Beast Mansion and Hegemon Hall. That was also legal.

A single disciple would only sell two pills. That couldn’t count as selling a large amount of medicinal pills, so it didn’t infringe upon the rules. That was what made Qing Yu the most furious, while also helpless.

She had already prepared herself to be ripped off. She just hoped it wouldn’t be too bad.

“It’s fine, such a minor matter isn’t worth you worrying about. Sister Qing Yu, I’ll handle it. I’ll go to the Elder Hall and recommend that the Elder Hall Master go take a trip to see the Tower Department Head.” Long Chen smiled.

“But they didn’t break any rules. Telling them is useless,” said Qing Yu.

“They didn’t break the rules now, but that doesn’t mean no one will break the rules in the future. I want to first cut off their path of retreat so that all their nine-ring Foundation Building Pills rot in their hands,” said Long Chen.

“You mean…”

“Hehe, yes, I can refine the Foundation Building Pill myself. To tell the truth, I saw the Alchemy Pavilion’s Foundation Building Pills a while ago, and even if you gave me such a thing, I wouldn’t want it,” said Long Chen disdainfully.

The Alchemy Pavilion’s alchemy arts could not compare to Pill Valley’s. All their high level pill formulas were purchased from Pill Valley, and they were limited to formulas below the ninth tier. If they wanted ninth tier pills, they would have to buy them from Pill Valley.

As for the eighth tier pill formulas they gave out, they were ordinary formulas with limited quality. Long Chen fundamentally looked down on these pills.

What kind of joke was that? Pill Valley wasn’t a fool. They wouldn’t give their good things away. Otherwise, how would they make money?

With his Pill Sovereign memories, Long Chen didn’t even place Pill Valley’s medicinal pills in his eyes, let alone the Xuantian Dao Sect’s amateur alchemists.

“Sister Qing Yu, tell everyone that only those that have yet to touch the barrier should continue cultivating. The rest can all take a break. Once everyone is caught up, we’ll advance together,” said Long Chen.

“Alright.” Qing Yu clearly felt much more relaxed. It was like she was another person compared to the Qing Yu that had arrived.

Once Qing Yu left, Long Chen went directly to the Elder Hall. He found the Hall Master and said he wanted to file a complaint with the Tower Department Head.

As a result, the Elder Hall Master immediately said that he would handle this matter himself and there was no need for Long Chen to do it personally. Long Chen immediately said humbly that he wouldn’t want to trouble him, but the Elder Hall Master said that the main point was that the Tower Department Head didn’t want to see Long Chen, so he had to go.

The Tower Department Head was extremely upright. If he criticized Long Chen, there was no way to know what Long Chen would do with his temper. To avoid such an awkward situation, he’d rather stay in a safer position.

Long Chen snorted upon hearing that. He didn’t bother with that and just waited for news.

When Long Chen returned to Crouching Dragon Mountain, Qing Yu told him there was already someone who had secretly contacted her and said that he could sell her nine-ring Foundation Building Pills if she needed them.

That person was one of Hu Guishan’s people. He had openly said that if the Dragonblood Legion wanted nine-ring Foundation Building Pills, they would only be able to buy some from him. If they wanted to wait until the Alchemy Pavilion refined more, hehe, they could wait until next year.

Such open peddling clearly showed they were confident in their backers. Qing Yu acted in accordance with Long Chen’s instructions and acted hesitant, in the end asking the price.

That person had immediately snickered and offered a price of thirty-two thousand for one pill. Back then, Qing Yu hadn’t been able to hold back a smile. Four times the price really was evil.

She had said that she wasn’t able to decide such a thing that she would need to discuss it with others. That person left, merely saying that she should hurry. If she took too long, the price might not be thirty-two thousand points later.

Long Chen had Qing Yu continue to stall them. All she needed to do was act hesitant.

The next day, Long Chen received words from the Elder Hall Master that said everything was settled. The Xuantian Tower Supervising Department would investigate this matter. They would keep track of all the Alchemy Pavilion’s business transactions and definitely wouldn’t allow them to return their medicinal pills.

Now Long Chen was completely at ease. He directly told Qing Yu there was no longer any need to stall. But it seemed the other side had also received some news and was urgently trying to contact Qing Yu. However, Qing Yu never revealed herself to them again.

Now, Hu Guishan and Fan Song were both a bit panicked. But they still had one strand of hope. They thought Long Chen was intentionally competing with them in terms of patience. He was hoping to get more bargaining chips to get a better price.

After all, refining nine-ring Foundation Building Pills wasn’t something just anyone could do, especially not in those quantities. That was why they had been confident enough to follow through with this plan while investing so many points.

Hu Guishan and Fan Song were acting calm but filled with worry. They had spent one billion six hundred thousand points. That was the majority of the wealth of their factions.

While the two of them worried, Long Chen was in seclusion, about to start refining pills.

The pill he was refining was called the Nine Sea Foundation Building Pill, and it was different from the Xuantian Dao Sect’s Foundation Building Pill. It had nine main ingredients and its effect was ten times greater than an ordinary Foundation Building Pill. It was even better than the Spirit Immortal Foundation Building Pill he had originally been planning on refining.

This was an ancient pill that had disappeared from the outside world. But Long Chen had long since made his preparations.

“Little fellow, let’s get to work. We’ll take it easy for the first attempt,” said Long Chen to Huo Long. This was his first time refining an eighth tier pill, and he was refining an incredibly difficult one.

“Hehe, the feeling of having money is truly good.” Long Chen took out an ancient cauldron that had runes carved all over it. It gave off a feeling of great age.

This was a top grade eighth-tier pill furnace he had bought for ten million points, and it was an inheritance pill furnace.

Other treasures were more valuable the newer they were, but this pill furnace became more valuable with age. The more medicinal pills it refined, the higher its grade would grow.

Pill furnaces were different from ordinary tools. Their item-spirits were able to help during the refinement process, increasing the chances of successful refinement. Furthermore, due to refining medicinal pills for countless years, the interior of the pill furnace would absorb the essence of all kinds of medicines. That allowed it to possess a kind of intimate energy with medicinal ingredients, which allowed it to refine their energy easier.

This was the most luxuriant pill furnace Long Chen had ever possessed. After playing with it for a while, he decided not to immediately start refining. He held the pill furnace against his chest and used his soul to nourish it. In the alchemy world, this was referred to as awakening the spirit. It was an ancient ceremony for accepting a master.

For alchemists, their pill furnaces were not just tools, but their companions. Only through perfect communication was it possible to refine higher level pills.

Buzz.

After an incense stick’s worth of time, the pill furnace’s runes slowly lit up, and a dense medicinal fragrance filled the air. Long Chen smiled.

The ten million points he had spent on it hadn’t been a waste. There was an ancient item-spirit within the pill furnace, and it had now accepted him as the master.

Flames leaped into existence in his hand. He slowly sent them into the pill furnace, and its runes once more lit up. This time it was different. The runes were lighting up one by one, like spiritual yuan flowing through acupuncture points.

The pill furnace was the same. Its runes might appear disordered, but they were carved in a set pattern. Each time a rune lit up, the pill furnace would heat up a bit more.

When the final rune lit up, the entire pill furnace began to shake, and it was like it had come to life.

Only now did the pill furnace fully wake from its slumber. Long Chen carefully increased the flame and poured in the medicinal powders he had already prepared. It was time to start his refinement.