201: Chapter 201 Hot Commodities

Watching the crowd bustling in front of Li Qing's stall and considering the wealth Li Qing possessed, Yin Tiancheng felt like a man who had just entered the bridal chamber, only to find his bride was having her period!

As long as this batch of Medicinal Pills sold today and word of mouth spread, in a few days, every low-level Cultivator in Heiyuan City would know that a highly skilled and reasonably priced Alchemist had arrived at the marketplace.

By then, the people seeking to buy Medicinal Pills, request Alchemy services, or curry favor with Li Qing would trample over his threshold.

Looking at himself, he had waited in vain for half a year, gained nothing, and instead had inexplicably created a powerful enemy with deep Foundations and a limitless future.

Yin Tiancheng clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white, filled with regret and hatred.

He knew perfectly well that from today on, Li Qing had firmly established himself in Heiyuan City.

He was no longer the nameless Loose Cultivator that could be targeted or plotted against at will.

All his previous schemes and thoughts of revenge had become a joke in the face of the other party's identity as an Alchemist.

Watching the still-booming scene in front of the stall and Li Qing's calm and indifferent demeanor, Yin Tiancheng took a deep breath, suppressing all the negative emotions in his heart.

He dared not linger any longer, silently turned around, and retreated quietly, having thoroughly given up on his plans.

Provoking a highly skilled Tier 2 Alchemist was too costly and too dangerous.

From now on, in Heiyuan City, he would have to give Li Qing a wide berth!

At this moment, Li Qing paid no attention to Yin Tiancheng, who had left in dejection from the corner.

He was only focused on selling Medicinal Pills in an orderly manner, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he watched the continuous stream of Spirit Stones being recorded.

The bustle of the Heiyuan City marketplace continued for the entire afternoon.

In front of Li Qing's Medicinal Pill stall, the crowd surged from beginning to end, packed so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through.

Low prices, high quality, and medicinal effects far exceeding similar Medicinal Pills in the marketplace—these three advantages, when combined, hit the pain points of all Loose Cultivators.

Every Cultivator who came to the stall was impressed, and those who had bought Medicinal Pills praised them endlessly, immediately recommending them to their Sect-mates and friends.

Word spread from one to ten, then to a hundred.

In just a few hours, the entire Heiyuan City marketplace, from veteran Loose Cultivators at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage to novice Cultivators who had just entered the gate and barely managed to guide Qi into their bodies, all heard an explosive piece of news.

A super young newcomer had arrived at the marketplace, and he was a Tier 2 Alchemist!

The prices were even cheaper than those on the market!

This news seemed to have grown wings, spreading rapidly throughout Heiyuan City.

Before long, not only the Cultivators in the marketplace but also those in the streets, alleys, various cultivation strongholds, and resource gathering sites throughout the city knew about this matter.

For a time, everyone was discussing this mysterious Alchemist who had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

In ordinary cultivation cities, it was common for Cultivators to fight, compete for resources, and engage in skirmishes; Cultivators who could fight and had high cultivation levels were a dime a dozen and not rare at all.

Heiyuan City was originally a lawless place where Loose Cultivators gathered, a mixed bag of people where killing never ceased; the city was least short of ruthless people who dared to fight and lick blood from the edge of a blade.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators walked everywhere, Qi Refining Cultivators were as common as dogs, and even encountering a Core Formation Cultivator was not considered huge news.

However, capable people skilled in the hundred arts of cultivation were extremely rare treasures in Heiyuan City!

Alchemists, Artifact Refiners, Talisman Masters, and Formation Masters—these Cultivators who mastered unique skills were the true Foundation of a cultivation city.

This was also the biggest gap between a wild, lawless city like Heiyuan City and the orthodox Ten Great Sects!

Ten Great Sects had deep Foundations, with everyone in the Sect performing their own duties. They had abundant talent in Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and Talisman making, and their resources were internally self-sufficient; Disciples never had to worry about Medicinal Pills or Magical Artifacts.

In contrast, Heiyuan City, while backed by a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor and seemingly large in scale with countless Cultivators, actually had an extremely weak Foundation.

There were almost no high-level Alchemists in the city who could hold their own. Most Rank 2 Medicinal Pills circulating in the market were either resold by outside Cultivators or were defective products barely refined by a few old Alchemists.

Not only were the prices falsely high and the quantities scarce, but the medicinal effects were also uneven. Many Cultivators saved Spirit Stones for over half a year, only to buy Medicinal Pills with mediocre effects that were simply insufficient to support their Breakthrough to the next Realm.

For a long time, the shortage of Medicinal Pills and the scarcity of high-level Medicinal Pills had been the biggest bottleneck restricting the overall strength improvement of Cultivators in Heiyuan City.

Precisely because of this, the title of Tier 2 Alchemist carried terrifying weight.

In the entire Heiyuan City, it was a status capable of crushing over ninety percent of Cultivators; they were truly top-tier, scarce talents.

The news of Li Qing revealing his skills as a Tier 2 Alchemist was reported layer by layer within just half a day, directly landing on the desks of the four top powers in Heiyuan City.

Heiyuan City seemed chaotic and disorderly, but it actually had a strict power hierarchy. All resources, marketplaces, and territories in the city were controlled by the four top powers: the three Core Formation Perfection Families and the Heiyuan Manor, which managed the city's order.

These four forces were the true ceiling of Heiyuan City, firmly suppressing all Loose Cultivators and small-to-medium forces in the city.

The three veteran families were the Wang Family, Huang Family, and Su Family. Each possessed a Core Formation Perfection Old Ancestor, had a Legacy spanning hundreds of years, possessed deep Foundations, and had industries spread throughout the city, monopolizing most of the cultivation resources in Heiyuan City.

As for the Heiyuan Manor, it was the official controlling force of Heiyuan City. It was directly managed by the only Nascent Soul Old Ancestor in the city and was responsible for coordinating city rules, mediating disputes between major forces, and controlling core resources. It was the top power with the highest status and the most weight in Heiyuan City.

At this moment, the four major forces received complete intelligence regarding Li Qing almost simultaneously.

The intelligence was detailed and flawless:

Li Qing arrived in Heiyuan City alone half a year ago, with no Sect, no background, no followers—a pure, lone Loose Cultivator.

After entering the city, he did not linger in the low-end marketplaces to survive; he directly rented a high-end exclusive Immortal Cave at West Mountain No. 17 with a large sum.

One must know that the high-end Immortal Caves of West Mountain were top-tier cultivation Immortal Caves in Heiyuan City, with extremely high rent that ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators could not afford, and even Disciples of small-to-medium families could not bear to rent for the long term.

This point alone was enough to show that this person had ample Spirit Stones and a not-so-simple background.

In addition, the intelligence also marked two key pieces of information that made the power-holders of the four major forces pay attention immediately.

Li Qing was a dual-wanted criminal by the Houtu Sect and the Du Family of the Luoshui Sect!

Half a year ago, he killed Second Elder Du Jiang of the Du Family in the Yunling Mountain Range, completely offending the Du Family of the Luoshui Sect.

During Qi Refining, he killed Deacon Han Pei of the Houtu Sect and was issued a wanted order by the Houtu Sect, with a bounty for his pursuit.

If it were an ordinary Cultivator, carrying wanted orders from two major Sects, they would have long been hiding, living in constant fear, and would never dare to show their face.

But Li Qing was completely different. After hiding in Heiyuan City, this lawless place, he did not hide or cower; he cultivated peacefully, and now he had even high-profilely revealed his skills as a Tier 2 Alchemist.

Upon seeing this intelligence, all the high-level officials of the four major forces had the same thought in their hearts—this is a hot commodity!

For the local forces of Heiyuan City, a Sect-wanted criminal was not just a trouble; it was actually the greatest advantage!