Trading

To obtain the two-star healing pill that he needed, Ren Ying had to interact with that guy, Liu Mingli. Originally, if he wasn't injured up to this point, Ren Ying could use other methods, such as snatching. But due to his injuries, he could only choose between buying or trading for that healing pill.

There weren't many things that Ren Ying could use to trade for it, since the old Ren Ying looked down on simple things; he didn't bother collecting things that weren't extraordinary. This placed him in a tough spot, and after all, the two-star healing pill was quite valuable yet not as valuable as his stuff.

If he wanted to trade for that two-star healing pill, he would have to overpay for it. Since the items in his possession that he could use for trading were only the two-star sword that old Ren Ying used to make up for his lack of attacking technique.

Therefore, he would have to downgrade his capability to attack if he wanted to trade for it. Besides, what Ren Ying hated the most was overpaying people. However, he had no other choice in this situation; it could be said that this chance was the only opportunity that he had to pull himself out of this situation quickly.

Ren Ying took out the two-star sword and took a last look at it before putting it back.

As he had made up his mind to do this trade with that lucky guy for the healing pill, Ren Ying stood up and walked outside.

...

The moment he walked out of the door, his face was instantly hit by the sunlight, blinding his eyes for a second.

After a while, his vision returned to normal, and he looked around curiously.

His surrounding were exactly the same as what he saw in the old Ren Ying memories. The surrounding temperature was low due to the headquarter being located on the mountain peak.

From time to time, he could see white cloud flying past him, leaving the cold breath behind, giving him a sense of freshness when he breathed in. The buildings weren't any different from each other because the sect territories were divided into different places: for outer disciples, for inner disciples, for core disciples, for elders, for the sect leaders, and many other forbidden locations that doesn't open up to normal people.

Despite every building looking like one another, it still wouldn't change the fact that the one who drew it were definitely an expert. Not only that, the plants and trees growing around it made the house look peaceful, which would be beneficial for anyone staying inside.

The building's design and location were all possible only because, in this small region, the sect was the strongest third-rate righteous sect, known by many as the Peak Garden sect.

Peak Garden sect was known for their righteous, respectable, and honorable behavior. They would always help to repel the demonic sect every time they went on to slaughter normal people.

The reason why the Peak Garden sect was called that way was because the sect was built on the peak of a mountain, and the sect mainly consisted of earth-type cultivators. Though the lethality possessed by its cultivator was relatively low, its defense made up for it.

When attacking, they would use the advantage of numbers to drown you; if they lacked the quantity during a certain time, they would delay time for reinforcement by defending.

Not only that, the earth-type cultivators were so useful in terms of auxiliary use; they can be used for building, planting, and changing terrain however they like.

There were also different types of cultivators, other than earth-type, inside the sect. Naturally, as one of the strongest third-rate sect in the region, they would keep a variety of cultivation methods and techniques for other type of cultivators depending on the rarity of their attributes.

For the common ones like fire, water, and air, they had a bunch of copies for them. For the rarer one, on the other hand, they were not so lucky.

If the sect doesn't have any resources for them, then why would those with a rare attributes joined them?

Simple. It's because they had no other choice. The region where Ren Ying stood at was called the Desolate Mountain.

Desolate Mountain was a region that didn't have many people residing in it since the purity of Qi here wasn't as good as in any other region, making it an unpopular region.

In such an unpopular region, how would you expect a sect that focuses on rare attributes to exist? 

Thus, the old Ren Ying could only cultivate slowly by finding his own resources via his innate pupil's abilities one by one.

While recalling the information about the sect, Ren Ying finally arrived in front of the market stalls.

He looked around for a while to find people with good luck that he could snatch and use for himself later on, but unfortunately, all of these people's opportunities had nothing to do with him, a thunder-type cultivator.

Seeing no suitable opportunity, Ren Ying walked directly to a stall that was selling some talismans. When he reached the stall, the shopkeeper sitting behind the counter's eyes lit up slightly as he asked, "Are you here to buy talismans, fellow disciple?"

Ren Ying smiled awkwardly as he extended his hand toward the shopkeeper for a handshake and introduced himself. "No. Greeting fellow disciple, my name is Ren Ying." 

Hearing this, the shopkeeper's eyes turned back to normal as he replied, "You can call me Song Honghui."

"Do you need anything from me?" Song Honghui asked cautiously.

"By any chance, do you happen to know a guy named Liu Mingli?" Ren Ying asked politely.

"Liu Mingli? What business do you have with him?"

"That... I can't tell you the specific details; all I can tell you is that I just want to exchange some stuff with him, so I want you to take me to Liu Mingli." 

"Wait, let me send a message to Liu Mingli to see if he is okay with it or not."

Song Honghui then took out a communicating tailsman and sent a message to Liu Mingli.

They stood there for a while awkwardly without talking as they waited for Liu Mingli to reply.

After 5 minutes of waiting, which felt like an hour, the communication talisman lit up. Song Honghui immediately received the message.

Ren Ying, on the other hand, could only look at him while praying that he could get his hand on the healing pill; otherwise, it would be troublesome for him to heal his injuries. 

"Okay, follow me, I'll take you to Liu Mingli." Song Honghui then walked off to a disciple's residence area.

...

Eventually, they arrived in front of a house that looked like any other houses. Song Honghui knocked on the door several time and waited.

Without waiting for too long, the door was opened, followed by greeting from Liu Mingli "Long time, no see, man."

"Yeah, it's been a while." Song Honghui replied.

"Why don't you two come inside and drink some tea."

"I won't be polite then." Song Honghui entered the house and sat on the chair. Ren Ying sat next to him and said nothing.

Liu Mingli came back with a teapot and cups, placed them down before the 3 of them as he sat down.

"So, you're Ren Ying, right?" Liu Mingli looked at him curiously.

"I am indeed Ren Ying. Sorry to interrupt you so suddenly, but I have some business to do with you." Ren Ying got straight to the point without beating around the bushes.

"Oh, what type of business?"

"A business that worked best, if no one else were to know of it." He said this while turning to Song Honghui intentionally.

Seeing this, Song Honghui seemed to get the hint. He stood up and said, "I suddenly remember that I have some matters to attend to. So, sadly, I can't continue to accompany you guys."

"Be sure to invite me later on to enjoy the tea together, Liu Mingli." Song Honghui stood up and said.

"I will definitely invite you the next time you're free for a tea, Song Honghui." He smiled helplessly as he escorted him outside.

When he returned, he got directly to the point and questioned, "So, what business is it that you wanted to do with me, Ren Ying."

"Now that it's just us, I will say it directly."

"I wanted to exchange my two-star weapon for your two-star healing pill that you luckily obtained during the time that you went outside on a mission." Ren Ying started off with his purpose in order to avoid a misunderstanding.

"Two-star healing pill? Why am I not aware that I possess such a thing?" Liu Mingli denied hurriedly as he panicked.

How come this guy knew that he possessed a two-star healing pill? Despite it not being as valuable as a weapon, people still wanted to get their hands on it; after all, who would say no to having a life-saving sleeve card?