Chapter 161: The Golden Pill and Meridian Protecting Powder

Inside the feather was a world of fire, deep and bottomless. And in this searing sea of flames, Qin Haoxuan vaguely saw a giant bird, a full ten feet long. Its entire body was made of fire, and strands of flame coiled around it like small snakes. As it slowly beat its burning wings, countless embers scattered from its body. What surprised Qin Haoxuan was that this giant bird had no feet.

Although a bird relied on its wings, he had never seen or heard of one without feet. Generally, a spirit beast or spirit bird with such a strange and unique appearance had to be extraordinary. Qin Haoxuan was certain that these feathers were a great treasure. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he couldn’t use his spiritual sense for too long. He immediately decided to buy the bundle of feathers and study it later.

“What’s the price for this bundle of feathers?”

Hearing that he was interested, the stall owner’s spirits lifted. He had noticed Qin Haoxuan’s brief moment of stiffness when he had used his spiritual sense and knew that this new disciple needed these feathers. So, he shamelessly quoted a high price, “One hundred low-grade spirit stones!”

“Too expensive,” Qin Haoxuan replied without hesitation. “It’s not worth that much.”

“Hehe, Junior Brother, these are the feathers of a Bifang! Do you know what a Bifang is? It’s an extremely powerful spirit bird. A Bifang’s body is a treasure trove. I’m only selling this bundle at such a discount because I’m in urgent need of spirit stones. Otherwise, I wouldn’t sell them to you for a hundred stones a piece.”

As the shopkeeper rambled on, Qin Haoxuan, still reeling from the shocking vision, confidently entrusted the haggling to Xing.

Xing did not disappoint. The moment he stepped up, he crushed the price to the lowest possible point. “One low-grade spirit stone!”

“One stone… how is that possible? These are the feathers of a Bifang!” the stall owner cried out excitedly.

Xing sighed with a click of his tongue. “If they were really the feathers of a Bifang, a hundred stones would be a fair price. But are you sure they are? I’ve heard that a Bifang is a high-level spirit bird. Unless it has died of old age, even a Spirit Tree Realm expert would have to think twice before provoking one.”

The stall owner hadn’t expected Xing to be so sharp. His face flushed slightly, but he still said stubbornly, “How much can you offer? This… this is a Bifang feather, there’s no mistake!”

Xing paused. “Five low-grade spirit stones.”

“No way!”

Xing said very directly, “Ten. If you don’t want to sell, then you can keep your bundle of bird feathers.”

The stall owner was inwardly ecstatic, but he put on a look of helplessness. “Alright, seeing as you’re a new disciple, we senior brothers will take a small loss to help you out.” His shamelessness was so great that even Xing felt a sense of inadequacy.

After the transaction was complete, Qin Haoxuan held the bundle of feathers, his heart joyful. I’ve found the catalyst for the Thousand-Mile Talisman!

An ordinary disciple of the Taichu Sect could barely earn ten low-grade spirit stones after a month of hard work in the fields, yet this fellow had earned that much with just a few words. It was truly enviable.

After paying, Qin Haoxuan left with the feathers to continue searching for the other materials. As they walked away, some of those who knew the inside story began to mock them.

“What a spendthrift! No wonder the Nature Hall is in decline, recruiting a batch of disciples with no vision, no aptitude, and no strength. How could it not decline?”

“Exactly! That kid, Jia San, told me earlier that he just picked up a pile of Fire Sparrow feathers from the back mountain for fun and was planning to use them to scam a sucker. I even laughed at him for his wild idea. A Fire Sparrow doesn’t even have spiritual energy; it’s not even a spirit bird. Yet he claimed it was a Bifang, and some sucker actually believed him!”

The three of them wandered the stall area for a long time. This time they didn’t get so lucky and had to spend a full two thousand low-grade spirit stones to purchase the rest of the materials needed for the Thousand-Mile Talisman.

Seeing Qin Haoxuan’s mad shopping spree, buying all sorts of materials he couldn’t possibly use at his current stage, the people who had been mocking him were stunned.

“What’s that fool’s background? How does he have two thousand spirit stones? My entire net worth is barely over a hundred…”

“Two thousand… could it be that the Nature Hall gave him all of its assets?”

“Don’t you know? His name is Qin Haoxuan. He’s very close with the Unsurpassed Purple Seed, Xu Yu…”

“Xu Yu… oh, I remember now, she’s the one who sells the Qi-Circulating Powder… Tsk tsk, so he’s that Qin Haoxuan. He really knows how to latch onto a powerful backer!”

Back in his room, Qin Haoxuan laid out the materials. He pointed to the bundle of feathers and said to Xing, “You kept urging me to buy these, but I don’t feel the slightest bit of spiritual energy in them.”

“These feathers are from a spirit bird called the Footless Fire Bird, a specialty of our Netherworld,” Xing explained. “Unlike ordinary spirit birds, it has no feet.”

Ye Yiming, who was widely read, had never heard of such a thing. “Then how does it rest?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“The Footless Fire Bird begins to fly the moment it is born and doesn’t stop until it dies. The moment it touches the ground, it will die. Its entire life is spent in persistent flight.”

Qin Haoxuan looked at Xing and sighed pointedly. “The creatures in your Netherworld are all abnormal.”

Just as he was about to retort, there was a knock at the door. It was Xu Yu, Luo Jinhua, and Murong Chao.

“Sister Yu, aren’t you cultivating at the Hundred Flowers Hall? What brings you here?”

“Brother Haoxuan, I came especially to see you,” Xu Yu said with a warm smile.

Luo Jinhua’s sharp eyes immediately fell on the various materials on his table. Aside from the bundle of feathers, none of them were cheap. Her expression immediately darkened. She was certain that Qin Haoxuan was squandering Xu Yu’s money. She gave him a condescending lecture. “Junior Brother Qin, you must be focused in your cultivation. Do not be blinded by material things, or you will stray from the correct path.”

Qin Haoxuan knew what she meant, but he couldn’t explain that the spirit stones were his own, nor could he tell her of the life-or-death crisis he would be facing in twenty days. He could only give a wry smile and turn to Xu Yu. “Sister Yu, you didn’t just come to see me, did you? Is something the matter?”

Xu Yu said with a mock-serious expression, “Firstly, of course I came to see you. Secondly, I came to bring you the Qi-Circulating Pills and the Meridian Protecting Powder.”

With that, she took out two bags of the powder and two golden pills. “Senior Brother Chang made a total of four bags of powder, and Senior Sister Luo happened to refine four pills, so I brought some for you, brother.”

Luo Jinhua’s already unhappy face grew even gloomier. She had spent two months refining those four pills. They were of a much higher quality than what she usually made. Because Xu Yu had asked her to refine them, she hadn’t even kept one for herself. She never expected Xu Yu to turn around and give two of the precious pills to this weak seed. What a waste of a heavenly treasure.

Murong Chao, who had been silent behind her, watched with burning eyes, secretly vowing, I will make Xu Yu treat me this well one day.

Qin Haoxuan accepted the items. “Thank you, Sister Yu.”

Before they could chat any longer, a disciple from the Nature Hall came running up. “Junior Brother Qin, the Master requests your presence on Nameless Peak.”

“Oh, right away.” Qin Haoxuan gave the others an apologetic smile. “My Master is summoning me. I must go.”

Xu Yu instructed him earnestly, “Brother Haoxuan, you must cultivate diligently!”

Seeing the hidden worry in her eyes, Qin Haoxuan was moved and nodded.