Chapter 22: Crisis
Li Changsheng walked directly into the valley and soon saw vast fields. However, the fields weren't planted with ordinary crops but spirit rice, which could increase the cultivation speed of cultivators when consumed.
Many spirit farmers were working in the fields. While the labor wasn't as backbreaking as farming in the mortal world, it still required meticulous care.
These spirit farmers didn't react to Li Changsheng's presence. Tunmen Marketplace was one of the most popular gathering spots for rogue cultivators in the southern region. It was common for newcomers to enter Misty Valley. As long as they had a token, they could enter and exit safely. However, without a token or a guide, it was difficult to even break through the mist array outside, and the mist array was also home to demonic beasts raised by the Wan Family of Misty Valley.
Li Changsheng didn't linger in the farmland area outside the marketplace and headed straight for the depths of the valley. The closer he got to the center of the valley, the higher the concentration of spiritual energy became. In the deepest part of the valley, on a massive mountain, the spiritual energy was so dense that it had formed a mist.
"As expected of Tunmen Marketplace," Li Changsheng murmured to himself.
Liu Qing's notes had mentioned that the entire Misty Valley was situated on a medium-sized spiritual vein. In the southern region, there were only two large spiritual veins and five to six medium-sized ones. Every force that occupied these spiritual veins was among the most powerful in the southern region.
"I'll settle down in Tunmen Marketplace first."
Li Changsheng paid a spirit stone as the entry fee and smoothly entered the marketplace.
Tunmen Marketplace wasn't large, consisting of only a street a few miles long. On either side of the street were ancient buildings two or three stories high, most of which were shops. There were also many cultivators setting up stalls along the road.
As Li Changsheng walked through the marketplace, he occasionally bought suitable items he came across, spending nearly a hundred spirit stones in a short time.
If it weren't for the hundred-plus spirit stones he had obtained from the five Qi Family cultivators, he wouldn't have dared to spend so lavishly.
However, after spending a hundred spirit stones, he only had a little over a hundred left. Since he still had other uses for them, Li Changsheng stopped shopping and directly found a shop that was up for rent. He paid six months' rent at a rate of 20 spirit stones per month and rented a modestly sized but well-located store.
Li Changsheng named his shop "Hundred Herb Pavilion," specializing in first-rank pills.
After renting the shop, Li Changsheng didn't open for business immediately. Instead, he closed the store and holed up inside, frantically refining pills.
"My cultivation level is higher than Liu Qing's, so my pill-refining speed is also much faster. This way, in just half a month, I can refine enough pills to keep Hundred Herb Pavilion running for a while."
"My biggest advantage is having the simulator. I can keep refining pills without needing to cultivate."
Half a month later, Li Changsheng's Hundred Herb Pavilion opened for business.
In the beginning, Li Changsheng couldn't even earn back the shop's rent. However, as word of mouth gradually spread, the shop started to turn a profit.
Although Li Changsheng could only refine first-rank pills, which didn't yield high profits, Tunmen Marketplace was mostly populated by Qi Refining cultivators who consumed large quantities of first-rank pills. Li Changsheng could earn nearly a hundred spirit stones each month.
Before long, Hundred Herb Pavilion had been open for a year and a half. During this time, Li Changsheng had gained a general understanding of the cultivation world in the southern region, no longer being a clueless novice.
In the southern region, there were three countries: their Qi Kingdom, the Nanzhao Kingdom, and the Moluo Kingdom. Each country was backed by a major sect with a Golden Core cultivator at its helm.
The Qi Kingdom was backed by the Sunset Sect, which had a Golden Core cultivator and was located on the large spiritual vein in Sunset Valley.
Aside from the Sunset Sect, there were no other Golden Core cultivators in the Qi Kingdom. Moreover, rumors had begun to circulate that the Golden Core cultivator of the Sunset Sect was facing some issues and hadn't been seen for decades. The Sunset Sect cultivators were also unusually low-key.
When Li Changsheng learned that the Qi Kingdom was backed by a Golden Core cultivator, he secretly felt relieved. If it weren't for the Sunset Sect's current state, he would likely already be a corpse.
...
Inside Hundred Herb Pavilion.
A fourth-level Qi Refining employee was patiently serving customers, explaining the uses of various pills.
In the backyard cultivation chamber, Li Changsheng sat cross-legged.
"Although I've saved up over a thousand spirit stones in the past year and a half, a single Foundation Establishment Pill costs at least eight thousand spirit stones. It seems I'm still a poor man!"
Li Changsheng murmured to himself.
Three months after opening the shop, Li Changsheng had hired an honest employee to help manage the store while he stayed in the backyard refining pills for the shop's needs.
"Fortunately, I'm a four spiritual roots cultivator. Even without the Foundation Establishment Pill, I still have a slim chance of successfully breaking through to Foundation Establishment."
Li Changsheng shook his head slightly.
For cultivators with five spiritual roots, it was already difficult to reach the peak of Qi Refining, let alone successfully break through to Foundation Establishment.
Although four spiritual roots cultivators had average talent, they still had a sliver of hope for Foundation Establishment. As for three spiritual roots cultivators, as long as they had a Foundation Establishment Pill, they could basically succeed.
As for two spiritual roots, mutated spiritual roots, and heavenly spiritual roots cultivators, once discovered, they were treated as treasures by major sects. Foundation Establishment wasn't an issue for them, and they even had a chance to reach the Golden Core stage.
"Although there's no Foundation Establishment Pill available now, I have the simulator. There's a chance I might be able to purchase one in the future and successfully break through to Foundation Establishment."
Li Changsheng muttered to himself.
"Recharge one thousand five hundred spirit stones."
[Recharge successful. Current balance: 1370 gold coins.]
[Would you like to use the Cultivation Simulator immediately? Each use costs 100 gold coins.]
"Use it!"
[Simulation begins.]
[At the age of 20, you diligently manage Hundred Herb Pavilion in Tunmen Marketplace, waiting for a Foundation Establishment Pill to appear.]
[At the age of 21, a Foundation Establishment Pill appears at the Tunmen Marketplace auction, attracting fierce competition from major forces. You intended to bid, but the price of the pill soared to ten thousand spirit stones, leaving you powerless.]
[Half a month later, Shopkeeper Song colludes with a group of rogue cultivators, breaks into your shop, kills you, and steals all the pills and spirit stones from Hundred Herb Pavilion.]
[You died!]
"That Shopkeeper Song is no good person!"
Li Changsheng frowned slightly. He knew of Shopkeeper Song, who managed the Heavenly Armory Pavilion not far from Hundred Herb Pavilion and was at the late Qi Refining stage.
"It seems I'll have to find a way to kill him!"
"And this is inside Tunmen Marketplace. If not for an inside man, how could Shopkeeper Song have so easily entered Hundred Herb Pavilion and killed me?"
Li Changsheng pondered.
He only earned a little over a hundred spirit stones each month, which likely didn't interest the Wan Family's experts. The only people who could break through the array protecting Hundred Herb Pavilion were either the Wan Family member who set up the array, himself, or the shop's assistant, Wu Yuan.
A sense of crisis suddenly emerged in Li Changsheng's heart.
Although he knew staying in Hundred Herb Pavilion was dangerous, he had no better way of earning spirit stones!
He still needed to reach Foundation Establishment!
...
[At the age of 20, you go into seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. You fail and die!]
...
Although he had mentally prepared himself, he didn't expect to die without any twists or turns.
"Again!"
Li Changsheng said in a low voice.
Although he was a four spiritual roots cultivator, he refused to believe that he couldn't succeed in Foundation Establishment after more than a dozen attempts.
Over the past year, he had read many ancient texts.
Many people chose to take the risk and attempt a breakthrough when their lifespan was nearing its end. If they failed, they would die, and if they succeeded, they would live. Although most people died attempting Foundation Establishment, a few survived, and even fewer succeeded.
Over the past few centuries, dozens of people had reached Foundation Establishment without the help of a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Moreover, since he was attempting the breakthrough in the simulation, even if he failed, he would only lose a few spirit stones.
"Again!"
[... At the age of 20, you attempt to break through to Foundation Establishment in a secret chamber. You fail and die!]