অধ্যায় ১৩৯: নির্বাণ ভেষজ

पलake blinking, three months passed.

Miao Yongyuan could feel the growth of his own cultivation base, but the boundary divisions of the "Phoenix Nirvana True Classic" were too general, leaving him unable to accurately pinpoint his exact realm. Eventually, he sought out Huang Xiaoru to measure it, and it was calculated to be roughly between the third and fourth layers of the Dongxuan stage.

Ever since Steward Wu used his overwhelming pressure three months ago, Miao Yongyuan learned that Huang Xiaoru also practiced the "Phoenix Nirvana True Art." The only difference was that he practiced the Fire Phoenix, while Huang Xiaoru practiced the Ice Phoenix. However, Huang Xiaoru had the personal instruction and guidance of a master; her vision and insight were simply incomparable to someone like Miao Yongyuan.

Though, strictly speaking, he did have a master as well—his third grand-uncle, who had imparted the "Hunyuan Sword Classic" to him. Yet, Earth lacked spiritual energy, and many things were beyond even his third grand-uncle's comprehension; the elder knew how it was done without understanding why.

During these three months, aside from the enhancement of his cultivation, Miao Yongyuan had harvested one thousand seven hundred spirit stones within the Creation Space. At first, there were only a hundred spirit stones per month. But after boarding this Tianxing Sect's war fortress, the output reached three hundred in the first month, six hundred in the second, and just now, eight hundred in the third month!

There were two reasons for this: first, the spirit stones' natural yield had indeed increased; second was because of the spirit stones sent by Steward Wu. As it turned out, the spirit stones sent by Steward Wu were standard ones, about the size of a chicken egg. Previously, Miao Yongyuan had used top-grade spirit stones, which were the size of a fist, as his standard. Ever since he learned the standard size of a spirit stone, Miao Yongyuan had arranged for his avatar to cut and polish the acquired spirit stones, which naturally drove the quantity up.

As for the leftover scraps, they were either buried underground to enrich the foundation of the Creation Space or ground into powder and sprinkled across the fields. The vegetables grown this way tasted increasingly better, and most importantly, they were brimming with spiritual energy—almost rivaling some low-grade spiritual herbs. This turned out to be an unexpected harvest.

After three months of cultivation, Miao Yongyuan was starting to feel a bit restless. Even though the valley was filled with spiritual energy and picturesque scenery, growing accustomed to it for too long led to aesthetic fatigue. Everyone else had ventured outside before, some even going out two or three times, but he had never stepped out even once.

Perhaps driven by a desire to move after a long period of stillness, Miao Yongyuan greeted the others, left the valley, and headed north.

A hundred or so miles to the north of the valley lay a small city, a place for passengers to relax and socialize. Of course, passengers who couldn't afford to rent an entire mountain or valley could also rent houses to live in within the small city, saving the expense of setting up protective arrays. Naturally, the majority of the people living there were actually from the Tianxing Sect—some were disciples and followers, while others were the family members of those disciples and followers.

This Tianxing Sect was a peculiar sect; their entire war fortress was essentially their sect itself. It was said that the Tianxing Sect excelled particularly in flying and escaping techniques, which was why they took "Tianxing"—meaning walking the heavens—as their name.

A distance of a hundred or so miles was not considered too far for Miao Yongyuan. If he used his full speed, it wouldn't even take half an hour. However, for someone "stepping out" for the very first time, and with no particularly urgent matters, he naturally strolled along leisurely.

Along the way, he discovered a total of three locations with array formations. Clearly, at least three different groups of people were stationed there, though it was impossible to tell how many individuals each group contained.

Finally, after more than two hours, Miao Yongyuan arrived at the small city.

Though called a small city, it didn't actually have any city walls and was entirely open. Its size was around ten miles in radius—truly a small city. In reality, it was more appropriate to call it a small town.

Miao Yongyuan strolled through it, entering the main central street. Both sides were lined with shops of all kinds, looking no different from small towns anywhere else. Come to think of it, the Tianxing Sect certainly knew how to do business. Aside from the money collected for boat tickets, they could make another fortune through these shops—perhaps even earning more from them than from the tickets themselves.

Aside from those of profound cultivation who entered deep meditation, where years slipped by in the blink of an eye, wouldn't everyone else want to stroll around and spend some money? If nothing else, people still needed to eat.

Miao Yongyuan walked and looked around, unconsciously arriving at a shop bearing the sign: "Elixir Shop." Well, that was direct enough!

Miao Yongyuan stepped inside. Behind the counter sat a person reading a book. Raising his head to glance at Miao Yongyuan, the person asked, "Does the guest need any elixirs?"

With that, he put down his book and stood up. He was a young man around Miao Yongyuan's age, though his cultivation base wasn't much to speak of, estimated to be around the third or fourth layer of the Ningyuan stage.

"May I ask, fellow Daoist, do you accept custom orders for elixirs here?"

Miao Yongyuan practiced the "Phoenix Nirvana True Classic" and was currently at the third layer, making him suited to use the Nirvana Return Pill. He hadn't yet found the time to have anyone refine it, so seeing an elixir shop here made him want to try his luck.

The young man replied, "As long as it's not a pill that is too advanced or obscure, we accept custom orders. I wonder what kind of elixir the guest needs refined?"

Miao Yongyuan knew that names of elixirs might vary across different places, so he didn't directly name the Nirvana Return Pill. Instead, he recited the entire medicinal formula from memory.

After listening to the formula recited by Miao Yongyuan, the young man smiled and said, "So it's the Nirvana Return Pill of the Phoenix clan! We actually have finished products in the store; no need to customize."

Without waiting for Miao Yongyuan to ask for the price, he continued, "The Nirvana Return Pill is quite obscure, but since my Tianxing Sect travels everywhere across the cosmos, we have collected some. There are twenty pills per bottle, not sold individually, and each bottle is worth ten low-grade spirit stones."

Such a price! Compared to the Ningyuan Pill, it had multiplied N-fold.

However, for Miao Yongyuan, no matter how expensive it was, he had to buy it. This concerned major matters of his cultivation. Besides, given his current wealth, it was a mere trifle.

Miao Yongyuan nodded and said, "Give me ten bottles. Also, let me ask if you have the Nirvana Truth Pill here?"

The young man shook his head and said, "I'm truly sorry, we only have six bottles of the Nirvana Return Pill here. Furthermore, because the Phoenix Blood Grass used to refine the Nirvana Return Pill can only be found among the Phoenix clan, it cannot be custom-made unless the guest provides the Phoenix Blood Grass yourself. As for the Nirvana Truth Pill, that is an elixir exclusive to the Phoenix clan; we certainly don't have it here. If the guest happens to possess the formula for the Nirvana Truth Pill, we would be willing to acquire it at a high price."

How could Miao Yongyuan possibly have Phoenix Blood Grass? As for the formula of the Nirvana Truth Pill, hearing the other person constantly mention the Phoenix clan, he didn't dare to casually blurt out the recipe, lest he invite unnecessary trouble.

In any case, he had no current use for the Nirvana Truth Pill, so there was no rush; he would deal with it later.

Paying a hundred and twenty spirit stones and putting away the six bottles of Nirvana Return Pill, he asked again, "Do you have Lesser Return Pills here?"

The Lesser Return Pill was something Miao Yongyuan prepared for Miao Yue. Little Miao Yue was still in the Qi-guiding stage, making it a perfect fit.

Unsurprisingly, the shop genuinely stocked Lesser Return Pills, and they weren't expensive either—ten bottles cost a mere single spirit stone.

After finishing his purchases of elixirs, Miao Yongyuan departed.

The shop actually carried various other kinds of elixirs as well, but Miao Yongyuan didn't go on a massive shopping spree. After all, the place wasn't far; he could always come back if he needed anything. Besides, throwing money around and spending vast amounts of spirit stones in an unfamiliar place could hardly be considered a prudent course of action.