Translation: Aerial Rain Translation (aerialrain.com) by koffeam

The young shopkeeper moved swiftly. In an instant, he already took out a box containing the jackdaw.

“Excuse me.” Meng Qi quickly waved her hand: “The price is too high. I can’t afford it now.”

The man was stunned. For a moment, he looked at the calm expression on Meng Qi’s face and couldn’t help laughing: “It doesn’t matter, Fellow Daoist may check the item first.” The shopkeeper opened the box enthusiastically.

Inside the wooden box, about ten strands of jackdaw grass were placed neatly. The color was pure black, shaped like jackdaw feathers with many small villi on its surface. In addition, after a closer look, Meng Qi could also see several silver spots occasionally flashing on its surface.

“Our sect is the Shencao Pavilion from the Northern Realm.” The man introduced: “If Fellow Daoist needs other herbs from the Northern Realm, you can come to our shop.” A little proudly, he continued: “We have a lot of herbs and medicinal ingredients. Our products are the best in the whole Northern Realm.”

“I see.” Meng Qi nodded. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The disciple of Shencao Pavilion carefully put away the box. He then looked at Meng Qi. The girl seemed to be less than twenty, and her bearing was elegant. Her facial features were also very delicate. She had pretty brows and nose, and there were bravery and calmness rarely found on the normal girls.

Shencao Pavilion could open such a pharmacy in Beyond The Heaven. They naturally were one of the largest medical sects in the Northern Realm. The shopkeeper couldn’t help but wonder: “Why is Fellow Daoist looking for jackdaw grass?”

“I read the records about jackdaw grass in a book.” Meng Qi certainly wouldn’t tell a stranger about the little white tiger, “So I wanted to buy one to study its medicinal properties.”

“Pfft…” The young man couldn’t help laughing. Although he worked as a shopkeeper at a pharmacy inside Beyond The Heaven, he was actually one of his sect’s Golden Core cultivators.

“Really, your action seems to be one of us.” The shopkeeper pondered, “So, this jackdaw grass, if you still want to buy it, I’ll give you the price of eighteen sixth-grade spirit stones. After fellow Daoist has enough money, come and find me again.”

“Okay, thank you.” Meng Qi nodded. Even at the discounted price of eighteen sixth-grade spirit stones, her fund was still far from sufficient, and she still didn’t have the idea of how to start earning.

Meng Qi looked around. This pharmacy was relatively large in size, and it seemed that the shopkeeper wasn’t merely bragging. The Shencao Pavilion really looked like to be quite an authority. She estimated that the medicinal materials that could be sold in Beyond The Heaven should not low-grade. So, this shop’s wares could not be cheap.

“If Fellow Daoist doesn’t have enough spirit stones at the moment, we also accept bartering.” The shopkeeper said. He took quite a liking to this beautiful girl who never lost her calm look. Although Beyond The Heaven didn’t set a minimum level of cultivation to be allowed to enter its gate, the cultivators who could access this place generally weren’t weak. As far as this shopkeeper knew, the weakest cultivator that could come to Beyond The Heaven was at least around the fifth or sixth realm of the Golden Core stage.

Cultivators of Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment stage grew old normally at the same rate as non-cultivators. Their aging speed would considerably get slower after entering the Golden Core stage and revert back to normal after ten years in the Golden Core stage. In short, if a cultivator wanted to keep their appearance unchanged by aging, they at least had to reach the Nascent Soul stage.

In other words, a cultivator’s appearance would be roughly the same as when they entered the Golden Core stage. Of course, if a cultivator had limited talent, unable to break through the Nascent Soul stage after ten years, they would eventually grow old.

The male disciple of Shencao Pavilion looked at Meng Qi’s appearance. She clearly looked like a young girl in her teens. He secretly pondered, someone who managed to form her core at this age could be considered a genius. Didn’t know which great sect disciple was she. Although she might not bring many spirit stones, she should have some precious treasures. If it at least in fifth grade, it would be worth bartering.

After having this idea, the shopkeeper smiled a little bit more enthusiastically: “If Fellow Daoist has some unneeded spells, medicinal materials, refined pills, including fire control array… of course, magic tools and weapon can also be used to exchange with our herbs.”

“I understand.” Meng Qi nodded. She couldn’t buy the grass now. But she had been mentally prepared to return empty-handed today.

“Thank you.” She nodded to the young man and turned to leave the shop.

Meng Qi didn’t go to other stores either. She estimated that the result wouldn’t be much different. Before, Meng Qi never had to be worried about spirit stones. In her previous life, she didn’t have much spending before leaving Qingfeng Valley. Later, she met her master. In retrospect, cultivating on the medical path needed a large number of medical ingredients to refine medicine and curing patients, so the cultivator could be promoted into a higher realm. All in all, a lot of spirit stones were needed to support all those expenses.

Meng Qi walked slowly on the flat and wide road. She had never worried about medical ingredients and spirit stones before. Not because she was rich, but because someone else had provided for her so that she could concentrate on her cultivation without any worries.

Master…

Meng Qi silently murmured. She strengthened her resolution. No matter what, she would heal Xiao Qi. It didn’t matter whether the white robe man was her Master or not. She also didn’t care whether the little white tiger was really a family member of the white tiger sovereign Chu Tianfeng said. She simply didn’t want to miss even the slightest possibility.

She will cure Xiao Qi!

To achieve that, her utmost priority right now was to earn enough spirit stones. A strand of jackdaw grass cost twenty sixth-grade spirit stones. To dispel Xiao Qi’s poison, she would also need other ingredients. And it was only for the little guy’s external injuries. His internal damages, however, were still a complete mystery for her. So, besides earning spirit stones, Meng Qi also had to improve her cultivation as soon as possible. Qi Condensation stage was simply too weak, and second rank medical cultivation was also not enough.

Meng Qi suddenly lifted up her spirit. She lowered her head and stroked her wrist. Her bracelet storage space was still there. However, according to the staff’s explanation, inside Beyond The Heaven, the contents inside a storage space could only be displayed and couldn’t be used or delivered. To complete a transaction, the items had to be delivered via the relay stations located in Three Thousand Worlds.

“First realm pill?” The manager gave Meng Qi a surprised look. “I’m sorry. But Beyond The Heaven only accept the auction for the fourth realm and above.” He smiled politely, but the refusal was apparent. “A first realm pill is relatively easy to buy, so most people probably won’t waste their time to go to the auction house to find it.”

“Can I trouble you to let me see the person responsible for appraising refined medicine?” Meng Qi asked politely.

“This…” The man hesitated. He looked at Meng Qi. The nameplate she submitted clearly showed that today was indeed her first visit to Beyond The Heaven. But…first realm pill? It has been a long time since the last time he bought an item at such a low level. However, since this little girl could enter Beyond The Heaven, she definitely wasn’t an ordinary cultivator. The manager considered for a while before finally nodded: “Alright.”

“Thank you.”

“Please follow me.” He led Meng Qi to the place where a teleportation array was located. Besides the regular teleportation arrays that lead to different city areas, there were a few which had different colors, like this one. He walked into the array with Meng Qi, and after a flash of light, they were transported into a large courtyard.

The courtyard was quite elegant. Each and every flower and tree was meticulously chosen. White clouds seemed to be floating around them. A refreshing breeze was slowly blowing, making people felt comfortable.

Are they on one of the floating islands?

Meng Qi looked at the floating clouds and silently observed the surrounding scenery. Right now, her admiration towards the owner had reached the peak. It was impossible to create such a place unless they had a long visionary and great imagination.

The manager led Meng Qi to one of the rooms and knocked on the door: “Senior, a cultivator wanted you to appraise a pill.”

“Please come in.” A voice as gentle as the spring breeze came from the room.

“Fellow Daoist, please come in.” The manager opened the door for Meng Qi and politely gestured in, but he stayed outside.

As soon as Meng Qi entered the door, she saw a man in a blue robe sitting behind a case. The room was filled with medicinal fragrances. Two rows of tall bookshelves were standing on both sides of the wall, scattered by numerous bamboo and jade slips.

The blue-robed man looked to be in his early thirties, with the aura of an elegant scholar. He seemed to be focused on the bamboo slip in his hand. Hearing the door opened, he asked without raising his head: “Which realm?”

“First realm.” Meng Qi answered calmly.

The manager standing at the door stiffened.

The blue-robed man suddenly looked up at Meng Qi in surprise: “Which realm?”

“First realm.” Meng Qi’s expression was still calm. She took out a blue pill from her storage bracelet, put it on her palm, and showed it to the man.

“First realm?” The blue-robed man smiled. He threw away the bamboo slips in his hands and looked at Meng Qi with a smile, yet not like a smile: “If you go to any city in the Three Thousand Worlds, there is a shop named Cloud Immortal Pavillion who buy first realm pills. Their price is clearly marked, and they always fair towards their customers. Fellow Daoist may set your price according to theirs.”

“I know.” Meng Qi’s expression remained unchanged. Of course she could hear the slight irony in the man’s words.

“This Qingfeng pill is a little different from the Qingfeng pill sold in Cloud Immortal Pavilion.” Meng Qi explained with a calm and composed tone. She placed the blue pill that emitted a faint fragrance in front of the man.

“…” The blue-robed man looked at Meng Qi, then looked over to the manager standing at the door. His name was Xiang Linmo, a cultivator specializing in appraising medicinal materials and refined medicines for the Profound Auction House. Although he was only a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage, his medical cultivation had already broken through the fifth rank.

Xiang Linmo was originally a disciple from an ordinary medical sect. However, his talent in medicine was extremely high, and his sect could no longer nurture him. However, he was unwilling to accept the solicitation from larger sects. At this time, Beyond The Heaven came to recruit him. There were countless bamboo slips related to medical cultivation here. Although he was forbidden to make a copy, he could read all of them at will. In exchange, he only needed to stay on the floating island where the Profound Auction House was located for six months every year, appraising medicinal materials and refined medicines brought to be auctioned. The rest of the time, he was free to do anything he liked.

Xiang Linmo liked medical skills. For him, this offer was truly a gift from heaven. He had worked here for almost seven years and had even seen a semi-finished eight realm pill. This girl was the first person who dared to bring a first realm pill to this auction place.

“Okay.” Xiang Linmo reached out to take Meng Qi’s pill. “Let me see what’s different.”

“In the Cloud Immortal Pavilion, third realm pills already the highest. Fourth, fifth was hard to refine, even by medical cultivators with high medical cultivation level, unless their main cultivation base is equally high enough.” Xiang Linmo couldn’t see Meng Qi’s cultivation level, but he was an expert in medical skills. At one glance, he could see that the refiner who made this first realm Qingfeng pill had very low cultivation. At most, her medical cultivation was in the second rank.

Between his words, Xiang Linmo took the pill carelessly. “Well, the formula is correct. The medicinal properties are correct, and it can detoxify the poison of third-grade and below. But its efficacy for the second-grade poison is low and almost useless for the third-grade poison. It is indeed…” His lips slightly raised, and his eyes glanced over Meng Qi. The girl was elegant and beautiful, like a painting. Her expression remained calm, as if utterly indifferent to the faint mockery in his words.

“Ha-” Xiang Linmo chuckled and emphasized one word at a time: “A, first, realm, Qing, Feng, pill.”

“Can’t you see anything else?” Meng Qi asked.

“What else do I need to see?!” Xiang Linmo laughed angrily. This young girl could enter Beyond The Heaven at such a young age, and she was beautiful. But here was Beyond The Heaven. No one would coax her just because of her pretty face.

At least he, Xiang Linmo, would never!

“No matter how long I see it, a first realm pill won’t transform into a ninth realm… eh?” Halfway through his words, Xiang Linmo’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise: “Is this?!”

He looked at the Qingfeng pill in disbelief. His expression was as if it really transformed into a ninth-realm pill. “This..this is…” Xiang Linmo gaped speechlessly, his face suddenly flushed. But soon, a light of excitement burst into his eyes: “How did you do it?!”

“I can’t tell you how I make it, but can this first-realm Qingfeng pill be sold in the auction?” Meng Qi asked again.

“Sell, sell, of course you can sell it!” Xiang Lin Mo hurriedly grabbed his nameplate and shouted at the manager standing at the door, “I’m buying it!”

He soon turned at Meng Qi and carefully said: “One hundred fifth-grade spirit stones, is this price acceptable?”