Chapter 43: Jade and Elixir

  The Third Update

  "What does the notice say?" Bai Qi dared not relax his vigilance and asked that White Crane True Man.

  "They say you've been taken hostage and brought away, with a reward of 10,000 taels of gold for your capture. As long as you're returned to Jinling City, you'll be the new Duke of Yu." Bai He True Person still had a relaxed demeanor, after all, Bai Qi had just entered the Huaqi stage and wasn't his match, so even if there was some abruptness in their words, he believed it wouldn't lead to a fight.

  Bai Qi felt somewhat disappointed, Bai Jian still died in battle. At the same time, there was an unspeakable pain spreading in his heart, did he still have any relatives in this world?

  His biological parents died, and Bai Jian, who regarded himself as a son, also died. And then there's Xiaoyu, right?

  But Xiaoyu was taken away by Kunlun's people, and wanting to see her is harder than ascending to heaven.

  "Do you believe it?" Bai Qi asked Bai He Zhenren, the nonsense of Jin Huang's faction, his own father would not be able to help him kill Lianqi Shi again.

  "Of course I don't believe you. I think it's the Jin Emperor who wants to capture you, so he brought you here to do a deal."

  "What business?"

  Bai He Zhenren rubbed his face, and the wrinkles on it instantly disappeared. At the same time, a head of white hair turned black and shiny, and in an instant, he transformed into a young Taoist priest.

  Bai Qi didn't understand, so Bai He smiled and said: "Brother, when traveling the world, you always have a few faces to change into. Cheating those below Golden Elixir is no problem, even if it's a strong Golden Elixir in the Returning Void stage, they can only see that I've changed my appearance, but absolutely cannot figure out who I originally was."

  "Who are you, then?" Bai Qi didn't care about the White Crane True Person's attitude, and still had a distant expression. He was also worried that if he really fought, he might not be a match for the White Crane True Person. His only skill was the Inverse Scale Spear, but even taking out the spear would only give him an advantage in close combat. If the White Crane True Person kept his distance, as soon as it got out that he had the Inverse Scale Spear in hand, there might be many cultivators who would try to kill him and steal the treasure.

  "I am Bai He Zhen Ren, Qing Yun Dao You, I said it's about doing business with you."

  "What business?"

  "I heard that the Qin King's tomb has been opened, and there should be a lot of treasures inside. You must have gone in before, I can smell the scent of corpse poison on you. Sell some to me, and I'll give you this method to change your appearance."

  Bai Qi didn't believe it, but he also couldn't refuse. He thought for a moment and said: "I'm new to traveling outside, you're an old hand. How do we make this deal?"

  Bai He Zhen Ren smiled and said: "Since it's the first time, I'll have to take advantage of you a bit. Later on, when you trade with others, you won't be at a loss."

  Bai Qi couldn't help but laugh at his words, this White Crane True Person was indeed straightforward in his speech, which suited his taste.

  "Is it safe to trade here?"

  "It's relatively safe, the city has a bunch of annoying monks and cultivators are too lazy to show up. This desolate wilderness, because of the few years of demonic disturbances, idle people won't come near either."

  "Why don't we capture the demon first and then proceed with the transaction?"

  "Heh heh, okay." The White Crane True Person whistled, and from the fake mountain flew down a gigantic golden pheasant. The golden pheasant looked at the White Crane True Person, seemingly extremely afraid, prostrating itself on the ground and trembling.

  "It's settled, this has nothing to do with you, scram." The White Crane True Person waved his hand, and the brocade rooster, as if granted a great amnesty, flapped its wings and flew over the left side of the lake, quickly disappearing from Bai Qi's line of sight.

  Bai Qi was shocked, and the White Crane True Person laughed: "This demon is of course what I put here. Like me, a loose cultivator, can't compare to those with sects, being able to cultivate to today's level, worldly wealth is also very important. I'm not cheating that merchant, do you know what that merchant originally did?"

  Bai Qi glanced at the cloud of gas on the fake mountain, although he wasn't proficient in this area, he could still distinguish the faint aura released from the fake mountain, which was something that ordinary people couldn't possess.

  "Isn't he just a big thief?"

  "How could it be otherwise? This guy has been a good man for ten years, and he buried the wealth he originally obtained by robbery in this place. If there weren't any ghosts or monsters making trouble, I wouldn't have come to slowly dig it up."

  Bai Qi's expression was strange, and Bai He True Person said: "Of course, he is an ordinary person, I am a cultivator, wanting to kill people and seize wealth, it's easy. But as a lone cultivator, I'm afraid of heavenly tribulation."

  "What does this have to do with the heavenly calamity?"

  "It didn't matter originally, but since the Heavenly Court took control of the Thunder Pool, they had another means to punish the Qi Refiners in the Lower Realm. Control the Heavenly Tribulation!" White Crane True Person said this and sighed, seemingly not wanting to mention it again.

  Bai Qi didn't ask further and said: "The things I brought out from Qin Wang's tomb are a bit of trouble."

  "It doesn't matter, even if I were a zombie it would be useless. Give me some weapons, as long as the materials are good, I can reforge them."

  "Good." Bai Qi said, taking out a pile of weapons from the Nascent Soul, including zombie bodies and even Xuance armor.

  After seeing those mysterious copper halberds, Bai He True Person's eyes shone with excitement, and he exclaimed: "The red copper of the previous dynasty is a rare thing, yet there are so many of them!"

  "What can be exchanged?" Bai Qi asked nervously, fearing that Bai He would take action and rob him.

  Good things, he didn't dare to take out either, that was taken from Yan Gongzi's body. Yan Gongzi died, the Heavenly Court may not know, there are not many Heavenly Emperor's inspectors, just above Zhongzhou, Lianqi Shi concentrated in the Dà Mén Pài, many disobedient people, under the control of the Heavenly Court, it seems a bit insufficient, so only one inspector was sent to Zhongzhou.

  The death of Yan Gongzi may not be discovered for some time, but no one will know that Bai Qi is involved. This small figure will not be noticed by the heavenly court, but if he takes out Yan Gongzi's belongings, he will definitely die.

  "What is it that you lack? Tell me and let me hear." The White Crane True Person asked very seriously.

  "Jade stone." Bai Qi replied. Zhenren wear gas, Xianren eat jade. This Yu stone that contains the heaven and earth yuan qi, in the cultivation world, is as valuable as gold and silver, can be used as currency for circulation. Although Bai Qi had no experience in trading, Yu Lin would not have failed to tell him even these things.

  "With the limited amount of spiritual stones we have on hand, if you're going to use them for cultivation rather than buying something, can I substitute with elixirs?" asked Bai He True Person.

  "Dan medicine? Do you have a dan prescription?" Bai Qi pretended to be somewhat in the know.

  Bai He Zhen Ren burst out laughing and said, "If you're not skilled in alchemy, even if I give you the dan formula, you won't be able to distinguish between my true and fake elixirs. If you're afraid of being deceived, I'll give you a free copy of the Pharmacopoeia. Study it for ten or eight years, and ordinary elixirs won't be able to deceive you."

  "Hey, what's up this time?"

  "I'd cheat you, no need for so many tricks. Qing Yuandao friend, if I were to cheat you, I'd first give you some benefits, get familiar with you, then find an opportunity to cheat you big time."

  Bai Qi thought for a moment and said: "Give me as much jade stone as possible, and replace the rest with elixir."

  He has no experience in trading and doesn't even mention the type of Dan medicine. Bai He True Person said it clearly, this time they will make a profit from him, and if there are any tricks in the transaction, they will be told to him directly.

  Bai He was delighted, and Bai Qi's trick had worked. He didn't need to use force anymore. With a swift motion, he swept away all the things that Bai Qi had taken out and put them into his own bundle. Only then did Bai Qi realize that Bai He's bundle was also a spatial object.

  Bai Qi's eyelids twitched, and the White Crane True Person had already taken out a jade stone. The jade stone was cut into ten equal parts in width and five equal parts in length, making a total of two hundred pieces.

  Bai He Zhenren smiled and said: "Divided into smaller pieces, but suitable for a cultivator of your level to use. This is the lowest grade of warm jade, which can be used even during the Qi Refining stage."

  After handing over the jade, Bai He True Person took out three jade bottles and a medical book, saying: "This is Hui Qi Dan, also for cultivation. At your level, taking it will have some effect. Each bottle contains 99 pills, take them well."

  Bai Qi picked up the Dan medicine, a pile of things, and exchanged it for this little bit of Jade Stone Dan medicine. He was somewhat dissatisfied. Then Bai He True Person said: "I only gave you one percent of the price, so of course it wouldn't be just these things. However, under the fake mountain, among the treasures buried by this great thief, there might be higher-grade jade stones. If we dig them up, we'll split them evenly; if not, consider yourself unlucky."

  "What's the method for changing one's appearance?" Bai Qi asked, inquiring further after hearing what White Crane True Person had to say.

  "Ah, Daoist friend, don't be in a hurry. This great thief of the rivers and seas may also have some good things on him. They themselves don't recognize the value, but for a loose cultivator like me, it's precisely because of these bandits that I've managed to survive." Bai He True Person was unwilling to kill White Qi and take his wealth, just as he was unwilling to kill the great thief of the rivers and seas, instead resorting to deception.

  As long as Bai Qi is satisfied, he will not be affected by the karma of his past life.

  He has no sect or school, even if he becomes an immortal in the future and ascends to heaven, he will still be a lone wolf with no companions to support each other. It's better to make fewer enemies, it will be beneficial for the future.

  The Central State has been civilized by the Great Qin for thousands of years, and the evil energy is not so prosperous. The scattered cultivators are also not as overbearing as those in several other major states. A Qi-refining master like Bai He True Person is not rare either. On the contrary, it is the Qi-refining masters with sects who are arrogant and domineering, oppressing the scattered cultivators without any scruples.

  Moreover, Bai He's insight into the overall trend of the world is quite transparent. It's likely that the Great Jin Dynasty will cease to exist, and in the Central Plains, it will gradually become like the other eight major states, dominated by Qi Refiners. By then, loose cultivators will find it even harder to survive. Although Bai Qi's rank is low, he is a worthwhile investment.

  If Bai Qi were a Jindan cultivator, even if he came up to fawn on him, it would be completely meaningless.

  Bai Qi didn't know what Bai He's true intentions were, but his impression of him was not bad. He nodded in agreement and followed Bai He around the fake mountain to a waterside corridor on the side. The corridor leaned against the fake mountain and opened up into a courtyard. Everywhere was withered branches and fallen leaves, Bai He walked in by himself, took out several talismans, transformed them into strong men over ten feet tall in the wind, and began digging into the ground.

  Bai Qi watched as Bai He's movements became more skilled, guessing that this wasn't his first time doing something like this. He waited patiently to the side as several laborers dug a hole over two zhang deep, their shovels breaking off with a loud clang against a metal surface.

  "Found it!" The White Crane True Person's face lit up with joy, and he had Li Shi remove the floating soil, revealing a small metal door.

  If there is treasure in this secret room, Bai Qi will be satisfied. If there isn't any treasure, he would have saved a large amount of elixir and Bai Qi won't have anything to say.