Iron-Faced Senior Sister, you actually want to give me preferential treatment?

At the summit of Hundred Herbs Peak, Pill Treasure Pavilion.

A rich medicinal fragrance mixed with cold Death Qi rushed toward him. Lin Yuan hunched his body and slowly stepped into the pavilion, absentmindedly straightening his washed-out grey robe.

Behind the counter, Qing Tan, dressed in a green deacon's uniform, was looking down at a Jade Slip.

Her figure was tall, her face beautiful and refined, but she exuded an icy aura that kept people at a distance, causing the temperature of the entire pavilion to drop by a few degrees.

Hearing those old and sluggish footsteps, Qing Tan raised her head, her cold eyes landing on Lin Yuan.

A flicker of confusion flashed in her eyes, but it immediately returned to the calmness of stagnant water.

"It's only the middle of the month, why are you here?"

By custom, Lin Yuan always came during the last few days of the month to submit his task Medicinal Pill all at once and purchase the Spirit Medicine for the next month. Appearing at this time today was very unusual.

"Sigh!"

Lin Yuan sighed before speaking, his wrinkled old face full of sorrow and dejection.

"Don't ask. The Materials for the condensing yuan pill I bought last time—my luck was terrible. Not a single batch succeeded; they were all ruined during Alchemy."

As he spoke, he walked tremblingly to the counter.

"So... I have no choice but to buy some more, otherwise I won't be able to submit next month's task."

In a place like the Yin Corpse Sect, saying more leads to more mistakes, and doing more leads to more mistakes. Showing weakness to the enemy and disguising himself as a dying, insignificant old alchemist was the safest way to survive. Any edge that might attract covetous eyes had to be carefully hidden.

"Still need Materials for the condensing yuan pill?"

Thoughts raced through Lin Yuan's mind.

With his current skills as a Seventh-Grade Alchemist, when refining the condensing yuan pill, the worst he could produce per batch was three Low Grade and two Medium Grade pills. Although the efficacy was good, the Materials were expensive. On the other hand, the lower-tier qi gathering pill had cheap Materials, a high success rate, and he could even stably produce High Grade pills. Taking them to the market to resell, the efficiency of earning Spirit Stone was far higher than the condensing yuan pill.

Furthermore, he now had Han Shuang and Su Qingyan by his side, so the consumption of Medicinal Pill was much higher than before; he had to increase income and reduce expenditure.

He squeezed out a smile on his face that was uglier than crying, his voice dry.

"Give me twenty portions of the qi gathering pill."

"And... twenty portions of the condensing yuan pill as well!"

Lin Yuan's expression was full of heartache.

"The qi gathering pill is five Spirit Stone per portion. The condensing yuan pill is twelve Spirit Stone per portion."

"A total of three hundred and forty Spirit Stone."

Qing Tan's voice had no ripples; she was strictly professional.

Hearing this, Lin Yuan reached his withered hand into his robe and fumbled for a long time before pulling out a tattered Storage Pouch that had lost its original color.

He turned the pouch upside down and poured out a pile of Low-Grade Spirit Stone, counting them on the counter for a long time with clinking sounds until he had gathered three hundred and forty. His face was full of heartache as he reluctantly pushed the pile of Spirit Stone over.

Qing Tan expressionlessly accepted the Spirit Stone and turned to prepare the Spirit Medicine.

The moment she turned her back, a sharp light flashed and vanished in Lin Yuan's cloudy old eyes. He spoke as if inadvertently, his voice hoarse.

"Senior Sister Qing Tan... I want to ask you about something."

"Does our Pill Treasure Pavilion sell the Pill Formula for the foundation establishment pill?"

Qing Tan's movements in retrieving the Spirit Medicine paused.

She turned around, and in her eyes, which were like an ancient well without waves, a sharp light finally revealed itself.

"The foundation establishment pill Pill Formula?"

Her voice was three degrees colder than before, carrying a sense of scrutiny.

"It is a top secret of the Sect."

"If you want to view it, you must first prove to the Sect that you are an Eighth-Grade Alchemist. Then, you must pay one thousand Sect contribution points."

Proving he was an Eighth-Grade Alchemist was not difficult; he just needed to stably refine the condensing yuan pill. But that one thousand Sect contribution points...

He worked hard at Alchemy for a month, completing the Sect tasks, and could only get nine contribution points. To gather one thousand points, it would take nearly ten years.

Lin Yuan's Divine Sense quietly probed into his Storage Pouch, which contained six hundred and thirty-eight Black Butterfly coins; these were what he had saved up previously. To save up one thousand, he would have to think of other ways.

Just as Lin Yuan was calculating in his heart, Qing Tan suddenly lowered her voice and leaned forward slightly.

A cold fragrance like an orchid drifted over, accompanied by her icy words.

"However..."

"We have known each other for so many years; if it is you, I could... give you a backdoor deal."

A flash of vigilance appeared in Lin Yuan's cloudy old eyes!

This person, Qing Tan, was famous in Hundred Herbs Peak for being iron-faced, selfless, and merciless. He had dealt with her for so many years, and during transactions, she would even haggle over a single Spirit Stone.

A backdoor deal? An exception?

Having lived two lifetimes, the first iron rule of survival Lin Yuan had summarized was: pies do not fall from the sky. Even if they did, they would only be traps coated in deadly poison.

"I can find a way to waive your Sect contribution points entirely."

"I can even privately gift you a portion of the auxiliary Spirit Medicine for refining the foundation establishment pill."

"But, I need you to go to the Demon Falling Valley for me."

Demon Falling Valley!

Hearing these three words, Lin Yuan's head shook like a rattle-drum, his attitude resolute.

"I won't go! Absolutely not!"

"What kind of place is that? Rumor has it that out of ten who enter, not one comes out alive. My old bones cannot withstand that kind of turmoil."

Qing Tan seemed to have expected this reaction from him.

"Then why are you asking about the Pill Formula for the foundation establishment pill?"

"Of course... I want to study it in advance." Lin Yuan talked nonsense with a straight face. "What if my old tree sprouts new buds, and I still have a glimmer of hope for Foundation Establishment?"

"Heh."

Qing Tan sneered without any concealment.

"Refining the foundation establishment pill requires five main ingredients. Among them, the dragon blood vine, netherworld grass, and purple firmament ape heart flower have long been extinct in the current six nations of the Eastern Region."

Her gaze suddenly became deep, like two bottomless cold pools.

"In the entire Eastern Region, there is only one place where they exist."

"That is the Demon Falling Valley."

"Therefore," Qing Tan said, enunciating every word, her voice icy and bone-chilling, "if you do not enter the Demon Falling Valley, even if you get the Pill Formula, it is just a piece of waste paper."

Lin Yuan's brows furrowed slightly.

Demon Falling Valley. This name represented death and Opportunity in the Yin Corpse Sect, and even in the entire Eastern Region Cultivation World.

Legend has it that during the ancient times, there were Heavenly Demons who tore through space to invade this realm, and Cultivator suffered heavy casualties. In the end, a powerful being from the Upper Realm descended and used supreme Divine Ability to Seal the Heavenly Demons, and the Demon Falling Valley was a dead zone forcibly created during that battle.

The space inside the valley was extremely unstable, filled with invisible spatial rift, and there was also a highly toxic mist formed by the mixture of ancient Devilish Qi and Earthly Fiend Qi; ordinary Cultivator would die upon contact. Only every thirty years, when the energy tide in the valley calmed down slightly, would the outer mist briefly dissipate. The major Sect would take this Opportunity to send Disciple inside to search for Heaven And Earth Treasure that had long been extinct in the outside world.

"Whether it is our Yin Corpse Sect or the Misty Immortal Sect, whenever the Demon Falling Valley opens, we will send Disciple under our Sect to enter and search for Spirit Medicine to refine the foundation establishment pill."

"But the spatial rift inside the valley are extremely dangerous. The higher the Cultivation of the Cultivator who enters, the easier it is to trigger a spatial collapse, leading to a death without a burial site. Therefore, when entering this place, regardless of who it is, their Cultivation will be suppressed to below the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining."

"I have also been there once."

Qing Tan stared at him and slowly threw out the final bait.

"I know of an extremely hidden secret place. As long as you follow the route map I give you, not only can you avoid most of the spatial rift, but along the way, there is a high probability that you can collect those three types of Spirit Medicine that do not exist in the outside world."

"Besides the Spirit Medicine," her voice lowered even further, and those eyes like cold pools revealed a trace of emotion for the first time, "if you have confidence in your Alchemy, you might obtain other Opportunity."