Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent

Chapter 26: Purchase

Li Pin avoided the alley selling the Five Elements Body-Refining Art and went to the next alley. After going around a few times, he stopped in front of a stall selling medicinal herbs.

Li Pin sensed the stimulation each herb had on his primordial qi. His movements slightly paused as he touched the Blood-Seething Powder.

"How much is this?" asked Li Pin.

"Three thousand per gram," replied the stall owner.

"Do you have Blood-Seething Grass?"

The stall owner glanced at Li Pin.

Blood-Seething Powder was extracted from Blood-Seething Grass. It could activate the qi and blood drastically, making one's qi and blood seethe. This allowed martial artists to erupt with stronger battle prowess. It was similar to a stimulant. However, a martial artist would feel weak for several days after using it.

When the stall owner heard Li Pin ask him about the Blood-Seething Grass, he assumed Li Pin wanted to save money by buying the Blood-Seething Grass and extracting the essence from it himself

The stall owner pondered for a moment before he responded, "Yes, thirty thousand for five hundred grams. It's not worth my time selling any amount less than that."

"I will take five hundred grams then."

"Sure, I'll tell someone to send it over."

The stall owner took out his cell phone and sent a message before saying, "Come pick it up in half an hour."

Li Pin nodded.

He had just sensed that the Blood-Seething Grass seemed to be very effective at stimulating primordial qi. However, he had to wait until he went back and tried it before he could come to any conclusions.

If it was as he pictured, he was about to shorten the time it would take him to break through to the foundation-building phase again.

"Do you have any aged herbs?"

"Depends on what aged herb you're looking for."

"A hundred-year-old wild ginseng."

"I do have it, but it's going to cost you. It'll cost around three thousand to five thousand per gram depending on its age," replied the stall owner.

Li Pin pondered for a moment and concluded he couldn't afford it.

A hundred-year wild ginseng would weigh around three hundred grams or more, so the price of one would be over a million yuan.

The value of the item compared to its effects was not high.

Li Pin got up and continued to browse the other stalls. He wanted to see if he could pick up anything good by relying on his gift in perception.

Just as he was about to check out another stall, he found a group of people surrounding one of the stalls. A suppressed cry faintly came from the stall.

"It's indeed an astral equipment."

"Even though it's cast from inferior Astral Crystals, it's still a piece of astral equipment."

Li Pin overheard the commotion and moved toward the group.

This stallholder didn't have anything up for sale save for an ordinary-looking small bangle.

The price tag tied to the small bangle was 2.8 million yuan.

"Astral equipment.... "

For the first time, Li Pin came into close contact with an item related to Astral Cultivators.

A martial artist could barely activate the mystical effects of astral equipment.

This was an inferior astral equipment, so there wasn't anything particularly mystical about it. However, while an Astral Cultivator might not care about this piece of astral equipment, it had an indispensable effect that martial artists needed. When martial artists were up against technological weapons, inferior astral equipment could bring about a small chance of causing the technological weapon to malfunction.

It was important to realize that even the strongest martial artist could not withstand machine guns or cannons.

Throughout the past few decades, plenty of Core Masters and Aura Force Grandmasters were killed by ordinary people with guns.

If a martial artist was equipped with a piece of astral equipment, his chances of survival would skyrocket.

The more astral equipment a martial artist wore, and the better their quality, the higher the chance that technological weapons would malfunction. If a martial artist was fully equipped with astral equipment, under certain situations, they'd be similar to Astral Cultivators in that they'd be immune to technological weapons.

This was the reason why even inferior astral equipment could be sold for a high price.

"2.8 million."

Li Pin thought of the astral crystal he had on him. While it was not a piece of astral equipment, it could be sold for a couple million yuan no problem.

This wasn't a small amount at all.

If he included the over a million yuan Red Sun Fashion would send, he could afford a place in the Jiang Province Capital City. The time he'd receive the money would also be just in time for Li Yunyao's finals to be over, so the family could move to the capital city together then.

The capital city was much safer than the county city. The capital city had a high-ranking Astral Cultivator to oversee the place.

"The fact that I killed a demonic cat is known to everyone, so it's possible for me to sell the astral crystal through legal channels."

Li Pin went around and returned to the stall selling the manual for the Dragon Form Fist.

The Dragon Form Fist could be incorporated into his Eight Enormities True Fire Force—Chi[1].

Li Pin bought the manual for the martial art that could lead to Core Formation at the price of 160,000 yuan.

After buying the manual, Li Pin returned to the medicinal herb stall to complete the purchase of the five hundred grams of Blood-Seething Grass.

Just as he was planning to browse around some more, he noticed that the crowd had thinned out a little, and some stall owners even closed their stalls early and left in a hurry. It was as if something had happened.

Li Pin observed for a moment and quickly followed the flow of people out of the alley.

A few alleys away, a group of more than ten people stood quietly with cold expressions.

However, none of them stepped into the alley.

Li Pin looked for a moment and recognized two of them.

"Five Elements Sect's Vice Sect Masters—Cao Zuoqiu and Qi Dongyuan!?"

Both of them had the Associate Senior professional title. Cao Zuoqiu had even succeeded in Core Formation five years ago.

Cao Tianyou, the Five Elements Sect's Sect Master, was an Aura Force Grandmaster. He founded the Five Elements Sect thirty years ago and single-handedly led the sect to the top position in Zanglong City. At his peak, he had ranked in the top ten in the ninth national competition, earning himself an impressive reputation.

All of that was in the past, however. Now, he had aged, and his qi and blood had deteriorated. He had moved to Jiang Province City to retire four years ago.

The prominent figures of the Five Elements Sect were Cao Zuoqiu, Qi Dongyuan, and Zhao Yuan. Zhao Yuan was Qi Dongyuan's eldest disciple who followed him to seek development in the capital city.

The overseers of Zanglong City—Cao Zuoqi and Qi Dongyuan—were both present. They were accompanied by more than a dozen people who were all accomplished experts....

They were here for the person who dared to openly sell the Five Elements Sect's core legacy.

They were only holding back and not rushing in and killing their way into the black market out of respect for the Guardian.

Following the flow of people, Li Pin stopped.

"One Core Force and one Core Formation."

At this time, an overwhelming clamor came from the black market. Right after, the man who was previously selling the Five Elements Body-Refining Art walked out slowly.

He appeared calm and collected. He didn't seem worried about the ten or more people from the Five Elements Sect at all. He was so composed that it was clear he was selling the Five Elements Body-Refining Art on purpose.

Everyone quickly left the black market when they saw that the situation didn't seem right.

However, there were still dozens of people who stayed, unwilling to leave.

A battle between Core Force experts was brewing! Moreover, it looked like it was going to be a life-and-death battle! This spectacle was hard to come by in Zanglong City.

"Wang Daoyi." Cao Zuoqiu stared at the man. "Here I am."

The man who was referred to as Wang Daoyi said, "How do you plan to die?"

Cao Zuoqiu snapped. "Fourteen years ago, my father saw right through you and felt that you're not a righteous person. He felt that in the future, your rebellious side would develop. Sure enough... you stole my, the Five Elements Sect's, core legacy as well as all its precious resources. You still dare to show up on our Five Elements Sect's turf! Do you think that we can't kill you?"

"I was the one who fought on the front lines. I was the one who fought with my life on the line. I was the one who took the blame for punishments. When it comes down to it, you won't even give me the core legacy?" Wang Daoyi snorted and put on a pair of custom-made gloves. He reached out his arms and rolled up his sleeves one layer at a time. "Come. Let me see just how far you losers that the old man had high hopes for had reached in your practice of the Five Elements Body-Refining Art."

As soon as he finished speaking, he moved.

It was one man against twelve from the Five Elements Sect. The man showed no fear at all but instead initiated the attack. When he moved, he was like thunder or like a ferocious tiger descending from the mountains. A horrifying wave of ferocious aura poured out.

Li Pin instantly knew that Wang Daoyi had killed people before, and they weren't just one or two people!

1. Referring to "a hornless dragon" or "a mountain demon" in Chinese mythology. ☜