This was Long Chen’s third trip to the Ten Thousand Pill Hall. The one attending him was still that maiden. She was extremely polite, but she always maintained a certain distance from him.

“I came to buy some Earth Flames,” said Long Chen.

“We have a total of seven Earth Flame seeds here, they are…” She gave a quick introduction of their wares.

Earth Flame seeds referred to Earth Flames whose consciousnesses were erased, leaving behind only their core energy. Other people could control and raise them.

“Are there no Earth Flame Beasts?” asked Long Chen.

Although Earth Flame seeds were decent, they weren’t what Long Chen needed. He wanted Earth Flame Beasts that Huo Long could directly devour. That way its power would increase faster.

If he used Earth Flame seeds, it would require a long time to raise them, and he didn’t want to wait.

“We had some before, but now we don’t,” she said with a strange expression.

What was that supposed to mean? Looking at her odd expression, he suddenly asked, “It couldn’t be that the Dao Sect only had those two Earth Flame Beasts?”

Long Chen’s Huo Long had devoured four Earth Flame Beasts, and they had all come from Que Xinyan. Devouring those Earth Flame Beasts had allowed Huo Long’s power to skyrocket. Now that Long Chen had money, he wanted some more.

“Yes. Normally, Earth Flame Beasts aren’t very useful, because not just anyone has the ability to subdue them. Those two Earth Flame Beasts were imprisoned by the Xuantian Dao Sect for a long time. For normal flame cultivators, Earth Flame seeds are better,” she said.

Long Chen thought about it and understood. Subduing an Earth Flame beast was very difficult, and the danger of a backlash was extremely high. Even if someone was willing to take the risk, they might not have the qualifications.

On the other hand, Earth Flame seeds were most suitable for disciples. Although it took longer to raise one, it was safe, and controlling it would be easier.

“Then how many points do the Earth Flame seeds cost?” asked Long Chen.

“They cost more than the Earth Flame Beasts, and they cost more the greater their ranking. The cheapest one is fifteen million points, while the most expensive one is eighty million points,” she said.

Long Chen swore. That was even more expensive than a King item. But then thinking about it, the wealth an alchemist could make after they subdued an Earth Flame far surpassed the investment. It could just barely count as reasonable.

“Which one do you want?” she asked.

“All of them,” said Long Chen.

In any case, there was no way to bargain over the price, so he couldn’t be bothered to waste the time. For the moment, he had plenty of points, so he decided to just directly buy them all.

Although those seeds weren’t very useful, he could raise them like raising pigs. Once they were nice and fat, he could feed them to Huo Long.

“Alright, then I’ll…” The maiden immediately ordered someone to go get them.

“Wait a moment.” Suddenly, an Elder walked in. That person was the same one who had tried to stop him from buying the Iron Spruce Oaks, the Elder from the Alchemy Pavilion whose head Long Chen had almost lopped off.

The Ten Thousand Pill Hall was the Alchemy Pavilion’s business, and so it was naturally run by them. They had the authority to modify what medicines or items they sold.

“Old thing, is your neck itchy?” Long Chen glared at him. He had guessed this matter would once more cause some waves.

“How arrogant, you dare to be rude to an Elder?” he raged.

“Do you think threatening me will work? I dared to cut off your head once, so what would I not dare to do? The Xuantian Dao Sect really has been too peaceful for idiots like you to appear. If you were on the battlefield, vermin like you wouldn’t be able to survive even a single day. If you have something to say, say it, but if you give me some bullshit excuse like someone else reserved them, I won’t mind slapping your face rotten!” In front of that maiden’s stunned gaze, Long Chen gently patted the Elder’s face.

An icy killing intent appeared in Long Chen’s eyes toward the end, one that made the Elder immediately shiver. It was like a death god had suddenly appeared before him, and he was frozen in place.

He felt like a blade of death was already pressed against his shoulder. If he moved, his head would immediately fly. So even though Long Chen touched his face, he didn’t dare to move.

This Elder had relied on alchemy since childhood and had never gone onto the battlefield. As soon as Long Chen released his killing intent, he couldn’t bear it.

“What… what do you think you’re doing?! I’m… I’m warning you! Don’t do anything crazy!” he cried, his voice shuddering.

“It’s not what I’m doing, but what you’re doing,” said Long Chen.

The people working in the Ten Thousand Pill Hall were all dumbfounded. This was their first time seeing a disciple pat an Elder on the face while speaking to one.

“There is a clear clause in the rules. Alchemy disciples can only possess one Earth Flame. After buying one, they can’t buy more,” whispered the Elder nervously. He wished he could talk louder, but he wasn’t able to.

“Senior apprentice-brother, don’t make things hard on Elder Sun. This truly is one of the rules. I’m sorry, but I just forgot about it, wasting your time. Please don’t make things hard on me,” implored the maiden.

Long Chen looked at her. Although she was being sincere, Long Chen’s mouth curled. It was once more this routine.

She clearly knew that he wouldn’t do anything to her, and so she intentionally put the blame on herself. After being helped out, the Elder would definitely form a good opinion of her, and her chance of being promoted would increase.

However, she had won. Long Chen truly did recall that there seemed to be such a rule. Alchemy disciples could not possess two kinds of Earth Flames at once.

To alchemists, an Earth Flame was like their life. This rule had been created to avoid wasting resources.

“Fine, forgive disciple for his rudeness. However, my temper isn’t good. I get emotional easily, and when I get emotional, I get impulsive. When I get impulsive, well, you know what happens. It’s normally accompanied by the deaths of a bunch of idiots in the Xuantian Dao Sect. It has happened several times, and although quite a few idiots are gone, I’m still standing tall. So I’d advise you to use your brain instead of carelessly being used as a scapegoat.” Long Chen patted the Elder on the shoulder before leaving.

Once Long Chen left, the Elder and disciples still didn’t dare to make a sound for a long time. Finally, after his expression changed several times, the Elder sighed and left.

He was still terrified. Long Chen was right; the number of people that had targeted him was as high as the number of people that had died in the end. Even after all the trouble he had caused, Long Chen was still alive and well.

Now he had learned his lesson. He told the Ten Thousand Pill Hall’s disciples to keep this matter secret, and he directly returned to the Alchemy Pavilion to enter seclusion. He had another Elder temporarily take charge of the Ten Thousand Pill Hall.

Long Chen had gained nothing from his trip to the Ten Thousand Pill Hall. But when he returned to Crouching Dragon Mountain, he received a pleasant surprise.

“Brother Wenlong, you’ve come!” Long Chen was delighted to see Zheng Wenlong. Qian Duoduo was currently talking to him.

“Haha, congratulations on advancing to the Foundation Forging realm. I even heard you’re in a league of your own in the Xuantian Dao Sect now.” Zheng Wenlong laughed and cupped his fists toward Long Chen.

“Haha, you’re making fun of me, aren’t you? You’ve already advanced to the second Heavenstage of Foundation Forging. Don’t you think this slap is a bit too resounding?” Long Chen was surprised to see that Zheng Wenlong had advanced even faster than himself.

“Brother Long must be unaware, but once the Huayun Sect disciples reach Foundation Forging, they will no longer have to rely on cultivating to advance. Our cultivation base will rapidly advance on its own, but our actual combat power will be very weak,” said Zheng Wenlong.

“Why is that?” Long Chen was stunned.

“Previously, I’ve mentioned that all the Huayun Sect’s disciples are the most devout followers of the grand Wealth God. Once we reach the Foundation Forging realm, our accumulated faith energy will allow us to undergo a transformation. After receiving the blessing of the Wealth God, our cultivation bases will easily advance with no bottlenecks, but our actual combat power will drop precipitously in comparison to others in the same realm,” explained Zheng Wenlong.

“The Wealth God? Faith energy?”

Long Chen’s heart shook slightly. If there was such a thing as faith energy, then that meant the Wealth God was still alive. But why was it said that there were no gods or immortals in this world anymore?

He thought of that woman who looked like Leng Yueyan. The Xuan Master had confirmed that she was a god, one that came from another world. With all that had happened, Long Chen found that he understood less and less about the world.

“I’m sorry, brother Long Chen, but since you aren’t a follower of the Wealth God, it isn’t convenient for me to tell you too much about the Wealth God,” apologized Zheng Wenlong upon seeing Long Chen sink into thought.

Zheng Wenlong was a devout follower of the Wealth God. He was extremely dedicated to his belief, and no matter how good his relationship was with Long Chen, he couldn’t expose some things.

“No, I just thought of some other things. I’m not unhappy at all.” Long Chen smiled.

The two of them chatted. Long Chen had Qian Duoduo go get some simple refreshments. Drinking a few cups of tea, they had a long conversation. Last time, Zheng Wenlong hadn’t even had time to sit before leaving. This time, Long Chen couldn’t neglect his duty as the host.

Zheng Wenlong was clearly more relaxed than last time. They finally had a chance to randomly talk, and Long Chen asked how his situation was over there.

Zheng Wenlong bitterly smiled and said that he felt like he was about to die. He wished he could split himself into two people.

But after this period of adapting, he had learned some tricks, as well as groomed some trusted aides to split the pressure. He was feeling much better.

Long Chen couldn’t help but feel that it was a bit funny. Their situations were actually a bit similar. When they first arrived in the Central Plains, everything was foreign, but after some tempering, they slowly got used to it.

“Ah, speaking of which, do you have any new projects this time?” asked Long Chen. He knew that since Zheng Wenlong was so busy, for him to personally come, he had to have something important to discuss.

“Yes, there are some new projects to discuss. But before that, I need to tell you that the secret matter you asked me to handle is already taking shape,” whispered Zheng Wenlong.

“Really?” Long Chen was delighted.