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Chapter 48 - 48: 48: Middle Grade Pill Master, Full

Several more days passed.

The Yunwu Mountains had transitioned into winter. Heavy snow was falling, and the lives of cultivators became even more difficult.

Especially for the cultivators who went deep into the mountains to hunt demonic beasts. Due to the heavy snow, the beasts had all gone into hiding. Not only was it even more dangerous to hunt, but they couldn’t find their quarry for extended periods, leaving them with no spoils.

Of course, all of this didn’t bother Zhou Sui much. He continued to earnestly cultivate at home.

Woosh—

At this moment, Zhou Sui was sitting cross-legged on the ground. He harnessed the power of the Bookworm, allowing stream after stream of grey energy to flow into the depths of his soul, dramatically enhancing his comprehension.

A wealth of knowledge about first-stage alchemy surfaced in his mind.

Originally, he had only memorized this knowledge and not wholly grasped it. However, with the help of the Bookworm, he gained a profound understanding of this knowledge.

This sensation was as if he had studied the knowledge of pill-concocting for many years.

Vaguely, it seemed as if his soul had entered the virtual library within the Book Worm, where he continually learned how to refine spiritual medicine and concoct pills, like an alchemy apprentice of many years.

He was now familiar with alchemy, as familiar as the back of his hand.

“Mid-First-grade Pill Master.”

At this moment, Zhou Sui opened his eyes, glanced at his virtual panel. After several days of intensive cultivation, he had advanced to the realm of Mid-First-grade Pill Master.

With the help of the Book Worm’s power, after consuming the heritage jade record of a first-stage Pill Master and ingesting those pill recipes, his theoretical knowledge of alchemy was nearly perfect – completely absorbed.

Regrettably, since he didn’t have an alchemy furnace, he currently had no opportunity to practice his skills.

In simpler terms, his theory was perfect, but his practical skills were nonexistent.

But he believed that as long as he could practice hands-on a few times, he would thoroughly master alchemy.

In not too long a time, he could become a second-stage Pill Master, even capable of concocting Foundation Pills.

“The power of the Bookworm truly is mysterious,” Zhou Sui muttered with a sense of wonder.

If not for the Book Worm’s help, even if he worked hard at cultivating for many years, he might not have been able to grasp the basics.

But now, as long as the Bookworm consumes books and jade records, it could allow him to understand those topics at a master’s level. If he employs those mysterious grey energies, his comprehension could be further enhanced, deepening his understanding of this knowledge.

If he had had the Bookworm’s power back when he was on Earth, he might have become one of Earth’s pinnacle scientists, mastering all knowledge past and present from Earth.

Knock, knock, knock!!

Just at that moment, there came a hurried knocking sound from outside.

“Hmm?!”

Zhou Sui swept his divine sense over the visitor outside the door. It turned out to be Zhang Cheng, his neighbor and a Pill Master who he had not seen in a while.

Moreover, Zhang Cheng’s condition was very bad. His hair was all white, his skin exhibited strange black lines, and his body exuded a decaying wood smell, as if he was on his last legs.

Whoosh!

With this thought, Zhou Sui quickly whisked himself to the courtyard entrance and opened the front door.

“Uncle Zhang, what on earth happened to you?”

Zhou Sui was taken aback, eyeing the man before him.

He remembered that Zhang Cheng had previously followed the Immortal Mist Sect to mine in the Red Gold Mine vein, but he could hardly believe the startling change that came about within merely a few months.

“Alas, nephew, I just have rotten luck. A week ago, I was mining in the Red Gold Mine when I inadvertently encountered a Black Thread Poison Insect. I got poisoned, and the deadly poison has now invaded my meridians.”

Zhang Cheng outlined his experiences of the last few months with a bitter expression.

He explained that while there was no threat from other cultivators in the Red Gold Mine, and the original second-stage demonic beasts had been killed, there were still some terrible poisonous insects and beasts lurking within the depths of the mine.

If cultivators were not careful, they could also be attacked by these venomous insect beasts.

Among these, the Black Thread Poison Insect was one kind.

They were good at concealing themselves in the dark, and they possessed a deadly black thread poison. Once it invaded a cultivator’s body, it invaded their meridians like a malignant tumor. The cultivator’s True Yuan would then continuously decline until it becomes incurable; the only recourse was waiting for death.

Even worse, in the few months before death, they would suffer the torment of the deadly poison.

“This!”

At these words, Zhou Sui was rendered speechless. He had thought that working as a miner wouldn’t lead to significant trouble other than, at most, encountering the erosion from the Red Gold energy.

He hadn’t expected Zhang Cheng to have such appalling misfortune, encountering a Black Thread Poison Insect.

Indeed, his choice was the correct one.

Only a fool would choose to follow the people of the Immortal Mist Sect to mine. Wouldn’t it be good to stay safely in the city and cultivate?!

After all, anything unexpected could happen in the wild.

One couldn’t avoid wet shoes when trying to walk along the river’s edge.

“Uncle Zhang, I wonder what brings you here?”

Zhou Sui felt like he could guess what it was about, but he still asked.

“I came to trade with you, nephew, for some Spirit Stones to buy a superior-grade Detoxifying Pill. Only a superior-grade Detoxifying Pill can get rid of the Black Thread Poison in my body and allow me to survive.”

“Of course, I’m not asking you to give away Spirit Stones. I just want to sell this Mid-First-grade alchemy furnace that I own to you. I hope to get five thousand Lower Grade Spiritual Stones.”

Zhang Cheng spoke straightforwardly.

After all, the price of a superior-grade Detoxifying Pill was high, at least ten thousand Lower Grade Spiritual Stones, or one hundred Middle Grade Spiritual Stones.

To purchase one superior-grade Detoxifying Pill, it would mean bankruptcy for an ordinary cultivator.

“Uncle Zhang, if that’s the case, then you’ll have no alchemy furnace,” Zhou Sui exclaimed in surprise.

He knew that the market price of a Mid-First-grade alchemy furnace was at least eight thousand Lower Grade Spiritual Stones. It was being set at only five thousand now, equivalent to a sixty percent discount, which was quite a good deal.

However, Zhang Cheng was a Pill Master, and without an alchemy furnace, it was like losing his means to make a living.

It was the same as a taxi driver selling his cab, indicating he intended to change his career.

“If I don’t have it, then I don’t have it. With this Black Thread Poison in me, even using a superior-grade Detoxifying Pill, my cultivation path is ruined anyway. There’s no hope in this lifetime.”

“After the detoxification, I plan to go back to worldly life, marry a few wives, and have many descendants.”

Zhang Cheng helplessly said, a hopeless expression across his face. It seemed he had completely given up on reaching Foundation Establishment.

Once a cultivator gives up on Foundation Establishment and returns to worldly life, they could enjoy wealth and success, take a dozen or so concubines, have many children, and prosper.

In fact, it was the choice of many loose cultivators.

By the time they reached their forties or fifties, they knew their destiny and realized that their hopes of reaching Foundation Establishment in this life were futile.

Given this, they found no need to waste time; they chose to go back to worldly life and enjoy familial happiness.

Zhang Cheng was originally an ambitious Pill Master, believing that he had hopes of reaching Foundation Establishment in the future.

However, after this devastating blow, he came to terms with reality and decided to sell all his possessions, return to worldly life, and comfortably live as a wealthy landlord..