Back at the wooden cabin.

Yu Changsheng had no idea he was being watched.

He took out the Qi Gathering Pills he had gotten from Luo Lesheng and fed the rest to the Red Snake King, gaining a total of over 60 Essence points.

Currently, aside from the fixed 135 Essence points he received daily from feeding the Spirit Chickens, his only other source of Essence was from feeding the Red Snake King.

During this time, the Red Snake King had also grown quickly, approaching the Tier One Mid Stage.

"HSSS! HSSS!"

The Red Snake King rapidly swished its tail nearby, training its body and breathing in nature’s spiritual energy. Before long, it was exhausted and collapsed, unwilling to move.

’To speed up the Red Snake King’s cultivation, I need to raise its racial limit again. The complete Red Refining Snake form requires 4,988 Essence points, which is 22 points less than before.’

’This progress is minuscule. No wonder it can take some Demon Beasts over a decade to transform into their complete forms. Without the system’s help, I wouldn’t be able to afford raising one at all.’

Yu Changsheng looked away from the Red Snake King and opened his character panel.

[Name: Yu Changsheng]

[Realm: Qi Refining Fourth Heaven]

[Physique: Spirit Beast Affinity]

[Cultivation Techniques: Chang Chun Technique (Skilled: 5/10,000), Refining God Technique (Skilled: 2,012/10,000), Beast Taming Technique (Beginner: 15/1,000), Three-coin Fire Refining Technique (Skilled: 1/10,000)]

[Magic: Fireball Skill (Mastery: 5/10,000), Wind Travel Skill (Mastery: 10/10,000), Wood Shield Skill (Mastery: 15/10,000), Rainwalking Skill (Beginner: 10/100)]

[Skills: Tier One Spirit Plant (5/1,000), Tier Two Alchemy Dao (6/50,000)]

[Spirit Pet: Red Snake King]

[Essence Remaining: 870]

This month, he’d spent four thousand Essence points upgrading the Refining God Technique, the Three-coin Fire Refining Technique, and the Tier Two Alchemy Dao.

As a result, his Divine Sense had reached a terrifying range of over 240 meters—wider than that of a Qi Refining Peak cultivator and equivalent to a quarter of a Foundation Establishment Divine Sense!

The Three-coin Fire Refining Technique and the Refining God Technique were of a similar tier, but the Alchemy Dao was unique—upgrading from Tier Two to Tier Three required fifty thousand Essence points!

However, his current progress in Alchemy was sufficient, so there was no need to allocate more points for now.

If all went well, he would have saved up enough Essence by next month to make the Red Snake King transform again.

’But making it transform consecutively in just a few months... wouldn’t that attract too much attention?’

At this thought, Yu Changsheng grew wary.

Steward Wang of the Affairs Hall and Elder Wei from the Beast Taming Peak’s Beast Garden both knew he had chosen a Red Snake as his Spirit Pet.

Transforming once in a few months could perhaps be explained away as good luck.

But twice? Even a fool would know something was wrong!

’The Red Snake King’s current bloodline purity is enough for it to cultivate to Tier One Peak. It won’t be too late to have it transform then. At worst, its cultivation speed will just be a little slower. I’m still young; I have plenty of time!’

’I must reflect on my actions daily. I have to be cautious and not do anything too shocking.’

’Since the Red Snake King can’t transform anytime soon, I can acquire and raise another Demon Beast. Thanks to my strengthened Divine Sense from the Refining God Technique, my Inner Realm has already expanded to sixty square meters. Forming a contract with another Spirit Pet won’t be a problem!’

At this thought, Yu Changsheng mentally high-fived himself for his cleverness.

The Red Snake King must be lonely working so hard by itself. Having a companion to strive with would create some healthy competition. Not only would this maintain its fighting spirit, but it would also divert the attention of outside Cultivators.

His mind was made up.

A few days later, after feeding the Spirit Chickens, he made his way to the Fish Market.

The Beast Garden on Beast Taming Peak was open to the peak’s disciples. They could only go there to choose their Initial Imperial Beast, and it was free of charge.

Since Yu Changsheng was not yet an Outer Disciple of Beast Taming Peak, his only option for getting a new beast was to go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Tower.

However, he was a little tight on cash and needed to first exchange the Elixirs he had just refined for Spirit Stones.

"Get out, get out, get out! Take your worthless Elixirs and get lost!"

"With quality like this, you dare try to sell to us? Don’t you know where you are? This is the First-Grade Medicine Hall, not some shantytown stall for Loose Cultivators!"

Just as Yu Changsheng arrived at the Medicine Hall, he saw a blue-robed attendant drive a Loose Cultivator out.

Faced with this treatment, the man gave an indignant flick of his sleeves and left without another word.

Such scenes were not uncommon. The First-Grade Medicine Hall was one of the top apothecaries in the Fish Market, and the prices it offered for refined Elixirs were much higher than what one could earn selling at their own stall.

Elixirs from Loose Cultivator stalls were cheap, but the quality was often subpar. If you were unlucky, you might even get diarrhea. That was why well-off Cultivators always preferred guaranteed quality from established medicine halls.

"He should’ve taken a good look at his own trash before trying to sell Elixirs here," the blue-robed attendant spat at the man’s desolate-looking back. Then, upon seeing Yu Changsheng, his expression instantly changed.

"Immortal Master, please, come in! What can I help you purchase today?"

The blue-robed attendant was so polite to Yu Changsheng for no other reason than the fact that he had been here before, and his disguised Realm was at the Qi Refining Peak!

So, having strength was crucial—even if it was fake!

"Selling Elixirs. Qi Gathering Pills."

A hoarse voice emerged from beneath Yu Changsheng’s mask.

"Selling Elixirs requires our owner to personally inspect the quality. This way, please."

The blue-robed attendant, plastering a smile on his face, led him to the counter where a refined and scholarly-looking middle-aged man stood.

This owner’s name was Xi Wenyu. He was from the Xi Family of Bright Moon City, located outside the Cloud Mist Mountain Range. His own strength was at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, and he had connections with certain disciples within the Wanxiang Sect.

The shops on this inner street all had connections, more or less; they were the fruits of centuries of family management.

A Qi Refining Clan like the Yu Clan, established less than two hundred years ago, was much weaker. They were considered second-rate in Bright Moon City and lacked the capital to get a foothold in the Fish Market.

"Shopkeeper Xi, here are the Qi Gathering Pills I’ve refined over the last few days. I wonder what they are worth?"

Yu Changsheng wasn’t intimidated by him; after all, a Qi Refining Eighth Layer’s Divine Sense was not enough to see through his disguise.

Xi Wenyu opened the medicine vial and poured the contents onto a white cloth. He was instantly taken aback.

"They all have One Pill Pattern?"

He looked up, his gaze fixed on Yu Changsheng, and immediately smiled. "Fellow Daoist, you are truly skilled. My attendant mentioned you only bought the Pill Formula for the Qi Gathering Pill a few days ago. I never expected you to be able to refine so many with Pill Patterns already."

At the same time, he was making a quick calculation in his head.

’Three sets of materials, fifteen pills... he must have succeeded with two of the sets. And all of them have One Pill Pattern. His Alchemy Skill is at least at the Tier One Peak Level, or he might even be a Tier Two Alchemist!’

At this thought, Xi Wenyu’s expression became much more enthusiastic. He said, "Our standard purchase price for a bottle of six Qi Gathering Pills is twenty-one Spirit Stones. But your Elixirs have One Pill Pattern and are of exceptional quality. I can make an executive decision and offer you seventy-five Lower Grade Spirit Stones for them."

This price was within Yu Changsheng’s expectations. It averaged out to five Lower Grade Spirit Stones per Qi Gathering Pill. Regular Qi Gathering Pills sold by Loose Cultivators went for four Lower Grade Spirit Stones each. The addition of One Pill Pattern increased the price by twenty-five percent.

Of course, he could earn more if he set up his own stall, but Loose Cultivators didn’t have much purchasing power and loved to haggle. It could take days to sell them all. It was much more straightforward to sell directly to the First-Grade Medicine Hall.

Thus, Yu Changsheng nodded. "That number is fine. Please prepare another three sets of materials for me."

"Of course." Xi Wenyu shot a look at the blue-robed attendant, who immediately went to fetch the materials.

Meanwhile, he took out sixty-five Lower Grade Spirit Stones and handed them to Yu Changsheng.

"Here are your Spirit Stones, Fellow Daoist."

Yu Changsheng accepted them, a bit surprised. Three sets of materials cost twelve Lower Grade Spirit Stones. After deducting that, it should have been sixty-three, but the man had given him two extra.

Xi Wenyu smiled. "I just rounded it up. Consider it a small token of goodwill."

"I wonder if you would consider becoming an Honored Guest Alchemist for our First-Grade Medicine Hall and engaging in a deeper level of cooperation with us?"