Zhao had a domineering and perfect dream.

  He was already a Cong Dan period high-ranking official in the dream, holding the Qian Kun treasure tripod, and beating up a group of foundation-building cultivators, making them flee in disarray. Especially a certain Lu surname cultivator who looked shriveled and in his forties, was tortured by him until he was on the verge of death, constantly kowtowing and begging for mercy...

  Zhao Di woke up from his beautiful dream and hastily opened the lid of the small cauldron.

  A block of blue, slightly translucent spirit stone lay quietly in the small cauldron, and from the water spiritual energy it emitted, it was dozens of times higher than a low-grade water-attribute spirit stone!

  Zhao Di suppressed his excited emotions, covered the lid of the cauldron, and continued to upgrade this piece of water spirit stone that he didnt know whether to call low-grade or mid-grade.

  About a day and night later, Zhao Di found that the water spirit stone in the cauldron had become somewhat transparent. Although he had never seen a mid-grade water spirit stone before, it was certain that the water spirit stone in the cauldron now possessed spiritual power that was by no means inferior to that of an ordinary mid-grade water spirit stone.

  The experiment has not stopped yet, and whether the Ling Stone still has room for improvement, Zhao continues the experiment with such doubts.

  The spiritual power of the Ling Stone has been increasing, seemingly without end.

  Five or six days later, Zhao Di held a deep blue, sparkling and semi-transparent spirit stone in his hand, carefully examining it.

  "Could this be the legendary High-Grade Spirit Stone? Indeed, its spiritual energy is extremely refined and vast!"

  Zhao Di held the Ling Stone in his hand, and with just a slight mobilization of the spiritual energy within him, he felt a powerful surge of spiritual energy entering his hand from the stone, then circulating throughout his body. Zhao Di quickly activated the "Chasing Wave" technique to harness this energy for himself.

  More than ten minutes later, Zhao Di finally refined the spiritual energy, and his whole body felt extremely comfortable. This was equivalent to the results of his usual meditation for three or four days. If he spent some time refining the spiritual energy in this water spirit stone, wouldnt it save him several years or even over a decade of hard work?

  After Zhao Di obtained this high-grade water spirit stone, his mood actually calmed down. This rare and precious treasure of a high-grade spirit stone was not something that a Qi Refining stage cultivator like him could possess; if someone were to discover that he had it, he would likely immediately invite disaster upon himself.

  The obvious truth of "carrying the guilt" is something Zhao Di has no reason not to understand. Believing in the high-ranking spiritual stones position and value in the cultivation world, even a famous Golden Core stage cultivator would absolutely not dare use it casually.

  The cases of murder and robbery in the Immortal Realm are countless. It can be said that, except for those who have reached the end of their lifespan and normally ascend to immortality, most cultivators die due to this reason. If it werent for the strict prohibition on inter-cultivator combat in Flowing Clouds City, as well as several Foundation Establishment cultivators responsible for maintaining order every year, with the Liu Family, Yun Family, and Lihuo Sect pulling the strings from behind, low-ranking cultivators like Zhao Di wouldnt dare to appear.

  Even so, once outside the Flowing Clouds City, if one were to fall into a solitary situation and be targeted by some high-ranking cultivators, it would often be a case of more harm than good.

  Although all parties claim to severely crack down on this kind of murderous robbery, as long as they are not caught in the act and there is no evidence, it is impossible to find out who the murderer is. The so-called severe crackdown is just empty talk.

  Next, Zhao Di calmly thought about how to utilize this heaven-defying Qian Kun Ding.

  The earliest idea was to use it to upgrade Dansha, which would obviously be a waste of the treasures effect, and Zhao Di also worried that other cultivators could see some clues from this unusual talisman, so he gave up after a little thought.

  If used to upgrade low-grade spirit stones to high-grade spirit stones, it would indeed be a lucrative deal. However, the high-grade spirit stones are too precious to be taken out and used, and using them for meditation and cultivation is not bad either. But with his current level of cultivation, the spiritual energy of one high-grade spirit stone would require him to meditate and refine it for several months. This way, he wouldnt be able to maximize the use of the small cauldron either.

  If its a mid-grade spirit stone, Zhao Di can still barely use one or two to buy items at the market, but he cant do it too frequently and draw attention. To know that generally, the cultivators in the Refining Qi stage have all their assets worth only 100 to several hundred spirit stones, and only a very small number of cultivators in the 12th or 13th layer of the Refining Qi stage can own over a thousand spirit stones as capital, and these people are all core disciples of large immortal sects or families.

  To accurately grasp the magical effects of the small tripod, Zhao Di carefully experimented with several pieces of low-grade spiritual stones. He found that no matter what attribute the low-grade spiritual stone was, it could be strengthened by the small tripods spiritual power, and the speed at which the spiritual power increased became faster and faster. From a low-grade spiritual stone to a mid-grade spiritual stone required only one day and night of effort, while from a low-grade spiritual stone to a high-grade spiritual stone took merely seven days and nights.

  However, once a low-grade spirit stone becomes a high-grade spirit stone, no matter how long it is cultivated in the small cauldron, the spiritual energy will not increase again, but only maintain the standard of the high-grade spirit stone. It seems that the cultivation ability of the small cauldron has an upper limit.

  After mastering the enhancement effect of the small cauldron, Zhao carefully cultivated a batch of mid-grade spirit stones and several high-grade spirit stones, embarking on a unique cultivation path.

  He first went to Yunxianju and paid five years rent in advance, explaining that he intended to retreat for a period of time and did not want to be disturbed.

  Then he went to the market, bought a cloak with a black veil and a new storage bag. This black cloak was not an ordinary object, but a clever artifact, whose only function was to block the monks divine consciousness from entering, covering up the true appearance of the monk under the veil, without being recognized.

  In the city of Liuyunfang, there are quite a few people who wear this cloak. These people either worry about encountering enemies or have unusual appearances and do not want to be seen in their true form. Spending twenty spirit stones to buy such an artifact is also worth it.

  As for the new storage bag, the original one was a bit worn out and the capacity was not enough. This new storage bag is quite expensive but also very necessary.

  He spent dozens of spirit stones like this, which was the most he had ever spent at one time. He didnt dare buy anything else and returned to his own mansion first.

  In the mansion, he changed into a set of gray long robes and a pair of not-so-well-fitting long tube leather boots, then put on a black cloak, letting the veil cover his face. This way, Zhao Di immediately became the common image of a cloaked scholar in the Flowing Clouds City, believing that no one would recognize him.

  Liuyunfang City has two larger Chinese medicine shops, "Miaodan Hall" is one of them. The owner of Miaodan Hall, Zhang Yun, is a man in his sixties, but he looks like hes only in his fifties. He also has the nickname "Zhang Ping Dan".

  Although he himself was not an alchemist, his cultivation was only in the Qi Refining stage of 7 or 8 layers, but since childhood, he had been fond of reading some alchemy classics and had a very comprehensive understanding of alchemy and the effects of various spiritual elixirs. As a result, he was hired by the owner of the Myriad Elixirs Hall as the shopkeeper, and he did it for over 40 years. Over these decades, countless elixirs had been sold through his hands, and he was also recognized as the number one connoisseur of Dan Dao in Flowing Clouds City. It is said that any spiritual elixir, as long as Zhang smelled it, he could immediately identify its name, effect, ingredients, and quality.

  On this day, a person wearing a black hood and a grey robe with their face covered by a veil came to the Miao Dan Hall and asked in a low voice if they had Qing Ling Pills for sale.

  Zhang Yun glanced at the grey-robed man with his eyes, finding that he was a cultivator in the fifth layer of the Refining Qi stage. Indeed, the Clear Spirit Pill was very suitable for him. Without haste, Zhang Yun reported a price of twenty spirit stones per pill.

  The man in grey hesitated for a moment, then asked hoarsely: "Can I exchange one more with a mid-grade spirit stone?"

  I didnt expect the other party to be a wealthy person, and they even had mid-grade spirit stones. Generally speaking, the exchange price of mid-grade spirit stones is one hundred and five low-grade spirit stones. Using one mid-grade spirit stone to buy only five Qingling pills would indeed be a bit of a loss. However, if you give the gray-robed man one more pill, Myodan Hall will earn less.

  Zhang Jue thought for a moment, then replied briskly: "Alright, fellow Daoist can use mid-grade spirit stones to buy five Clear Spirit Pills. Our shop will return seven low-grade spirit stones to you as a small profit sale. Or if fellow Daoist needs more elixirs, one mid-grade spirit stone can not only exchange for five Clear Spirit Pills but also get twenty Clear Spirit Pill secondary elixirs."

  "Whats next?" The grey-robed persons voice was a bit sharper, clearly showing great interest.

  (Vote for recommendation, collect this book!)