The next morning, a young man stood at the gates of the Spirit Herb Pavilion, braving the swirling snow. He waited patiently, unmoving, until the doors finally creaked open. Without hesitation, he stepped inside.0

“Five bottles of Dust Transformation pills and one box of calming incense,” he said calmly.0

The sleepy-eyed attendant behind the counter blinked in surprise, still half-lost in her early morning daze. She automatically began to respond, “Dust Transformation pills are two hundred spirit stones per bottle, and calming incense is one hundred and twenty per box.”0

The young man placed a pouch on the counter with a soft clink. “One thousand one hundred and twenty spirit stones. Please count them.”0

The attendant snapped fully awake at the sound. “Oh—yes, sir! Please wait a moment!”0

Even after the customer had left, she stood there in a daze, staring at the empty space where he had stood. Wealthy rogue cultivators were rare, and this one had just purchased five whole bottles of Dust Transformation pills without batting an eye.0

Dust Transformation pills, such high-quality medicine, are generally only purchased by late stage Qi Refining cultivators, and even then, only one bottle at a time. But that person earlier actually bought five bottles at once. The attendant thought.0

“Are rogue cultivators this rich nowadays…?”0

***0

Luo Chen didn’t know about anyone else’s wealth, but he knew one thing—qi-nourishing pills were no longer effective for him. 0

Now that...0