"Brother, with these dozens of Dew-Condensing Pills, not only do I have a chance to break through to the second layer of the Qi Refining stage quickly, but you also have the hope of reaching the third layer of the Qi Refining stage in a short time. This is wonderful! Perhaps by October, we can venture into the Grand Canyon together." "Deal. As long as you reach the third layer of the Qi Refining stage by then, brother will take you to challenge that Grand Canyon." Zhang Zhe and Zhang Qiao, brother and sister, secured the Dew-Condensing Pills, speaking with delight, and quickly transferred them into the pill bottles.

It must be understood that this Copper Sand Alchemy Furnace was not easy to sell. Most cultivators in Xian Yuan City were rogue cultivators, and ordinary rogue cultivators had no need for such a fine crucible. Meanwhile, the alchemists from established cultivation families usually already possessed their own furnaces and would never come to the market stalls to purchase one.

They had been waiting stubbornly at this market stall for over ten days, even lowering the price, yet hardly anyone had even inquired. Today, they finally managed to sell the Copper Sand Alchemy Furnace, and in return, they acquired the spiritual pills they desperately needed for their cultivation.

Zhang Qiao's stall held only miscellaneous raw materials of very low value, which, even summed up, were probably not worth more than a few low-grade spirit stones. The only item on Zhang Zhe's stall, the Copper Sand Alchemy Furnace, had finally been sold.

With these spiritual pills in hand, the siblings no longer wished to remain at the stalls. They packed up their wares, intending to invite Ye Qin back to the inn where they were staying for a chat.

"Brother Ye, why don't you simply join us in our cultivation endeavors? From now on, any refining materials we acquire, we will entrust to you for alchemy, helping you advance your skills," Zhang Qiao said, her face flushing slightly with excitement as she spoke to Ye Qin.

"That’s right!"

Zhang Zhe also offered a generous invitation: "Brother Ye, my sister and I, along with two other partners who recently arrived in Xian Yuan City, are cultivating together at a small inn here, exchanging insights on our immortal path. Why don't you consider moving to that inn and joining our collective?"

Ye Qin was somewhat bewildered by their "intense" enthusiasm.

He did intend to seek out some cultivators in Xian Yuan City to familiarize himself with the local environment. However, there was no urgent need to pool resources for cultivation right away.

Seeing Ye Qin hesitate, Zhang Zhe immediately laid out the crucial point.

Xian Yuan City was teeming with rogue cultivators, yet very few possessed advanced alchemy techniques. Most rogue cultivators found it difficult to amass large quantities of refining materials and rarely had the opportunity to practice alchemy themselves. Consequently, the failure rate for their attempts was naturally very high. If one managed to acquire a set of medicinal herbs but lacked the confidence to refine them into spiritual pills, the best course of action was to hire skilled alchemists for a substantial service fee.

This arrangement benefited both parties. The provider of the herbs had a higher chance of obtaining the desired pills, while the alchemist not only gained more raw materials to improve their technique but also earned some extra money.

In the view of the Zhang siblings, a "rogue cultivator" like Ye Qin, operating alone, would struggle to acquire materials, and the improvement of his alchemy level would naturally be slow. Partnering up would be advantageous for Ye Qin and beneficial for the Zhang siblings alike.

Zhang Zhe exclaimed excitedly, "If we had the support of new brothers, things would be different. We will do our best to help Brother Ye search for refining materials. Once you push past this early, obscure stage and establish a reputation in Xian Yuan City through your alchemy, in a year or two, many people will seek you out. Brother Ye’s life will be much easier then, and we’ll benefit too."

Ye Qin, conversely, appeared even more hesitant.

He wished to associate with cultivators in Xian Yuan City and make some like-minded friends to aid his cultivation. However, his goal was not to earn money through alchemy. He could cultivate enough spiritual herbs within his own Violet Mansion to refine pills, not requiring others to provide materials. Furthermore, he had no desire to build a reputation through alchemy; drawing too much attention would be highly inadvisable. His sole aim was to improve his own cultivation and secure the ability to protect himself in this world of cultivation. Cultivating in partnership with others often attracted unnecessary trouble.

Thus, the warm invitations from the Zhang siblings failed to sway Ye Qin.

Ye Qin gently declined, "I prefer cultivating quietly alone and wouldn't want to disturb your group. It would be better for me to find separate lodging. Of course, if you gather refining materials and wish to attempt alchemy, I don't mind lending a hand."

Just as Zhang Zhe was about to persuade him again,

"Old Zhang, packing up so early today?"

A rough, booming voice echoed from not far from the market entrance.

The three halted their conversation and looked toward the source of the sound. A burly man, clad in a coarse short shirt, strode purposefully from near the market gate and approached Zhang Zhe's stall, greeting the trio.

The man's chest was bare, revealing sturdy, bronze-colored muscles that lent him a fiercely rugged appearance. However, a closer look at the dark-faced man's expression revealed a hint of annoyance.

A strange look flickered across Ye Qin’s face. This burly man seemed to be the same one he had encountered at the city gate—the one pursuing the old Daoist priest with the dog-skin robe to collect a debt. Did this dark-faced man know the Zhang siblings?

Zhang Zhe immediately smiled at the burly man, "We sold the furnace to this young brother. Old Hei, did you manage to get your spirit stones back?"

"No, don't even mention it. Today, I spotted that dog-skin Daoist cheating people at the city gate again and chased after him. Damn it, that old man is as slippery as a ghost; he darted into an alley and escaped. Next time I catch him, I’ll skin him alive."

The dark-faced man shook his head repeatedly. He suddenly noticed a living person standing beside the stall, pausing briefly. He stared at Ye Qin, "Hey, I think I've seen you before. Didn't you buy something from that dog-skin Daoist at the East Gate?! You look somewhat familiar?"

Ye Qin smiled, "I didn't sell any secret manuals to that Daoist; I only sold him one 'Xian Yuan City Map' scroll for half a spirit stone."

Hearing this, the dark-faced man exploded, "I knew that dog-skin Daoist wasn't trustworthy; he specializes in robbing people of their wealth. Let me tell you, that map scroll, in any scroll workshop in the city, you can buy at least four for one spirit stone. He deliberately marked the price up by double!"

Ye Qin frowned in confusion, "But the price was clearly marked as half a spirit stone on the scroll, wasn't it?"

The dark-faced man retorted in frustration, "That's what I thought at the time too. I only found out later that the script inside those map scrolls can be tampered with by any cultivator skilled in scroll making. Doubling the price is a simple trick for them."

Ye Qin froze for a moment, offering a wry smile, speechless.

Zhang Zhe chimed in with a comforting tone, "Forget it, it was only half a spirit stone. Newcomers are bound to run into scammers like that. Just be more careful next time to avoid being duped."

The dark-faced man gripped his chest in pain, saying urgently, "The pile of junk secret manuals I bought cost me a full three low-grade spirit stones, enough for me for quite a while! How can I just let it go like that! No, tomorrow I’ll have to search around every city gate and drag that unscrupulous old merchant out; he can't be allowed to harm anyone else. Oh, right, did this young man buy that Copper Sand Furnace?"

"That's correct."

"Let me introduce you. This is Xia Lao Hei. He began cultivating by chance in his youth and later became a famous master blacksmith in the Nan Liang Kingdom. He only arrived in Xian Yuan City a month ago and is one of the partners we siblings cultivate with. This is Brother Ye, whom we just met; he's an alchemist from a cultivation family in a very distant country."

Zhang Zhe quickly introduced Ye Qin and Xia Lao Hei.

Ye Qin was slightly startled. A master-level secular blacksmith—that was no small feat. Although he was now a cultivator, he still considered himself merely an "herb gathering apprentice" when it came to acquiring ingredients, lagging several tiers behind a 'Master.'

A master-level figure like this deserved respect. He immediately cupped his hands in a martial greeting, "Greetings, Brother Xia!"

The dark-faced man hastily waved his hand dismissively, "No, no. I, Old Hei, never mingled in martial circles; I can't handle all that etiquette you folks use. Just call me Old Hei. There’s nothing much to boast about being a master blacksmith. I just used a few immortal techniques to forge some slightly sharper weapons to impress common military men—it’s an undeserved reputation. If actual artifact refining cultivators saw it, they’d laugh me out of existence."

Ye Qin smiled and dropped the formality, not taking offense. Xia Lao Hei's blunt nature suited his own disposition; he had no desire to engage in constant rituals either.

"Old Hei, I was just about to invite Brother Ye to join our group. What do you think?" Zhang Zhe asked the dark-faced man.

"Invite Little Brother Ye to join us? What layer of Qi Refining is Brother Ye at? If he’s too low, we can’t take him in, or he’ll drag us down when we go to the Ling Wu Grand Canyon."

The dark-faced man seemed displeased, noting Ye Qin’s youth.

Zhang Zhe laughed, "Brother Ye’s cultivation is definitely not low; it's even higher than mine!"

The dark-faced man was astonished and immediately used his Spiritual Eye technique to probe Ye Qin's cultivation. This look confirmed his shock; his eyes widened as he pointed at Ye Qin in disbelief, "Ah! You are only seventeen or eighteen, already at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, the same as me, Old Hei! How did you reach this level at such a young age? Did you start cultivating from the womb?"

Zhang Qiao, who had been standing quietly beside them, now pouted and interjected, "Brother Old Hei, didn't my brother say Brother Ye is an alchemist from a family? With the aid of family spiritual elixirs, his cultivation speed is naturally faster than ordinary cultivators. What’s so strange about that?"

She even started counting on her tender fingers, saying, "Brother Ye is at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, Brother Old Hei is at the fourth layer. My brother will also break through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining soon after getting that bottle of Dew-Condensing Pills. Plus, Old Brother Fan, the poor fellow who stays at the inn all day, is also at the fourth layer of Qi Refining. And I'm almost at the third layer. If we add Cousin Xu Qing, who is at the sixth layer of Qi Refining..."

She stuck out her tongue. "If we count it up, these five or six of us are 'almost all' above the fourth layer of Qi Refining. If we go challenge the Ling Wu Grand Canyon together in October, we'll be much more confident."

Third update of the day complete. .