Inside the Warehouse
"Oh? Your collection is not small at all."
Staring at the vast, meticulously organized stockpiles of materials before her, Su Min could not help but raise a brow in mild surprise. The sheer volume and variety were impressive, shelves and jade containers stretching back into the dimly lit vault. It was now abundantly clear that Prince Yong's manor had spent the past twenty years with singular focus, diligently gathering every rare herb and spiritual ingredient they could locate, a hoard built specifically for this moment.
"We sincerely hope these meet your exacting standards, Senior," Cao Yuanmu said, his tone a blend of pride and respect as he gestured to the wealth around them. "With these, would you be willing to refine two Foundation Establishment Pills for us?"
"Tsk, your appetite is not small," she remarked, a wry smile touching her lips at the bold request.
She shot Cao Yuanmu a sidelong glance but did not outright refuse. The materials here were not just abundant; they were high quality, and there was even something unexpected among them, a specific aura catching her expert attention.
"Bones and blood of a Foundation Establishment demon beast?" she asked, pointing to a carefully sealed jade container radiating a faint, bestial aura that prickled against her spiritual sense.
"Yes. The very one slain by Master Hui Ming himself during the eastern marsh incident," Cao Yuanmu confirmed, his voice dropping slightly. "We paid a considerable price to the temple to retrieve and preserve it."
"A price?" Su Min arched a brow, curious about the nature of the transaction with the notoriously resourceful monks.
"The temple it had taken over, and the large, solid gold Buddha statue within," Cao Yuanmu explained with a slightly awkward chuckle, as if admitting to a slightly shady deal. He then ventured a more personal observation. "Funny thing, I remember most of the other shrines dedicated to you house only clay or wooden statues, do they not?"
His gaze lingered curiously on Su Min. He, like many in the know, was aware that the scattered, smaller temples devoted to her bore mostly humble, earthen idols. But the main temple here in the city had a radiant, golden form. He was genuinely curious how the "deity" herself would react to this disparity in her own tributes.
"All things respond to sincerity, not splendor," Su Min replied mildly, utterly unperturbed by the comparison. "Whether gold or clay, it is merely a physical vessel for the intention behind it. There is no fundamental difference in the faith itself."
She was utterly unfazed by the notion of her own idol. With the profound Great Sun Tathāgata Sutra in her possession, active incense worship was not a strict requirement, its cultivation progressed through deeper understanding and personal practice. Besides, now that she had solidly stepped into the Foundation Establishment realm, the initial, most restrictive bottlenecks were behind her. She would have centuries ahead to steadily make up for any past shortcomings at her own pace.
"Tsk. Not bad at all," she continued, her attention returning to the herbs with a practitioner's keen eye. "You even have a few fourth tier herbs here. Where in the world did you dig those up?"
"Those specifically emerged from the secret realms we have managed to access," Cao Yuanmu explained, his expression turning grim. "Securing them cost significant effort and more than a few lives."
"These," Su Min's fingers brushed over the rare, spiritually vibrant stalks with a practitioner's reverence, feeling their potent energy. "These are core ingredients for Golden Spirit Pills." She shook her head slightly, a hint of genuine awe in her voice. "Given the depleted state of today's spiritual world, such materials are almost extinct in the wild. Only the sealed environments of secret realms can still birth them. You have done very well." Her eyes scanned the rest of the stock, quickly assessing. "And you have gathered quite a substantial amount of third tier stock as well."
"With this, I can certainly prepare a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills for you. But to be honest," She looked directly at Cao Yuanmu, her gaze piercing. "I think what you and your men need more right now are Qi Gathering Pills."
"Ah. Of course. You are right, Senior." Cao Yuanmu paused briefly, the realization dawning on him. His face flushed slightly with embarrassment at his own overeagerness.
He had not even fully consolidated the ninth layer of Qi Refining yet and was not truly ready to step into Foundation Establishment. Not to mention, his two Qi Refining companions were still stuck at the mid stages. For them, the Qi Gathering Pills, which could safely elevate a minor stage within Qi Refining, would offer far more practical and immediate aid than a pill they could not yet use.
"Alright then. Qi Inducing Pills, Qi Gathering Pills, Foundation Establishment Pills. I will make you a few batches of each. I need to restock my own supply anyway," Su Min said, already mentally cataloging the ingredients and planning the sequence of refinements. She made a shooing motion with her hand. "Go wait outside. I will call for you when it is done."
"No problem! We will ensure absolute silence! No one will disturb you, I guarantee it!"
Cao Yuanmu could not contain his joy, his stern features breaking into a wide, relieved smile. These were the most crucial and notoriously difficult pills for any faction to produce. As for common Body Tempering Pills, they could theoretically pile up enough raw materials for their own low skilled alchemists to brute force the process through sheer repetition. But these higher tier pills, which required profound spiritual control and insight? Not a chance.
True, gifted alchemists were vanishingly rare. And one of Su Min's legendary caliber? They were practically unheard of. He was not going to waste another second with unnecessary words. Of course, it was not exactly a loss for Su Min, either. Prince Yong Manor had literally laid out the spoils of two decades of hunting and trading before her. With such an abundance, she could easily refine a substantial number of pills for her own future use while fulfilling their request. It was the very definition of a mutually beneficial arrangement.
"They are probably hoping I will lead them into that new secret realm," Su Min mused quietly as she began sorting through the herbs with practiced efficiency, her hands moving with sure, swift motions. "Well, that is not out of the question. The earlier stage secret realms do not pose much danger to me at my current level. As long as all the truly valuable treasures end up in my hands, it matters little who tags along to carry the loot."
Her gaze grew colder as another thought surfaced, a familiar and pressing concern.
"Besides, there is another matter. I need to craft a specific weapon, one designed to counter that old demoness. The dog emperor is no threat himself, but she,"
Su Min's eyes narrowed as her thoughts drifted toward the distant imperial palace. The emperor had started cultivating far too late in life, already over seventy and in poor health. Even with the Demon Queen's vile secret arts, likely draining the life essence of her own children to force his cultivation forward, they could only extend his lifespan. His foundation was flimsy and his actual combat strength negligible, a puppet on a gilded throne.
But that woman, she was the true danger, the spider at the center of the web.
As the old saying went: For every poison, an antidote exists within five paces.
If she had risen to power through such vile methods, there must exist a weapon or artifact imbued with properties to specifically restrain her. Su Min possessed the esoteric knowledge to craft such tools, but not the uniquely attuned core materials. A thorough scan of Prince Yong's extensive stash confirmed it; the essential, legendary ingredients were still missing, not a trace of them here.
"No rushing ahead," she chided herself, reining in her thoughts and focusing on the task at hand. "The plan is clear. Once I hit the Golden Core stage, raw power alone can crush her schemes. Stick to the sequence, pills first, strength next, then the weapon."
Her focus returning to the present, she summoned her trusty, albeit battered, alchemy cauldron. It materialized in the air before her with a soft chime, hovering steadily.
"Hah. This old Yellow grade low tier cauldron is practically charred black from overuse."
It was still perfectly functional, though, its internal formations intact. There was no urgent need to replace it just yet. It had served her well through countless furnaces.
Hours later, the darkened cauldron began to glow with a deep, internal spiritual heat. As the lid opened with a hiss of releasing energy, a rich, complex medicinal fragrance wafted out, filling the warehouse with its invigorating scent, and within the chamber, five perfectly formed pills glimmered with a soft, profound light, their surfaces smooth and flawless.
"Five Foundation Establishment Pills. A good yield."
She sorted them neatly into a cool jade vial to preserve their potency.
"Give them three, keep two for myself. But they did provide all the ingredients for this batch, so let us be generous and give them one extra."
Cao Yuanmu had only asked for two pills, but Su Min had used a significant portion of their twenty year stockpile for this and other pills. Throwing in an extra Foundation Establishment Pill was hardly a loss for her. Most of the surplus herbs from the less critical pills had already gone directly into her own spatial ring. If anything, she had profited handsomely from the transaction, securing a small fortune in high grade materials.
"As for the Qi Inducing and Qi Gathering Pills, split them down the middle. Half for them, half for myself."
Su Min's refinement success rate was, by any conventional standard, absurd. Even when she was at the peak of the Qi Refining stage, she could reliably produce Foundation Establishment Pills, a task that would make most alchemists despair. Now, firmly in the Foundation Establishment realm herself, her abilities had soared to new heights. Her spiritual awareness, her soul strength, her control over the Nanming Lihuo, everything had ascended.
With the supreme aid of her unique flame, the entire pill refinement process became near effortless. Not every batch yielded a perfect five, of course, but producing two or three high quality pills was the consistent norm, heavily dependent on the innate quality of the ingredients. Her personal supply of various pills was growing rapidly, but she was not hoarding them just for her own cultivation.
These pills would serve as the ultimate currency in the days to come. Over the last two decades, more spiritual herbs and rare ores had surely surfaced across the land. Prince Yong Manor could not possibly have monopolized them all. Other sects, hidden clans, and lone wanderers likely had a few priceless treasures tucked away. These high demand, impossible to find pills would be the key that unlocked those doors, the bargaining chip that could acquire what brute force could not.
After all, she could not very well show up to every potential trade hauling sacks of gold coin. That was far too crude and missed the point. And for goods of this spiritual rarity, mortal money was utterly meaningless.