Chapter 169: Tuo Ku

Looking at the Exquisite Hill in his hands, Su Mo could not help but be in awe. This was the inferior Primal Core spirit weapon of which there were just two on the whole Ziyun planet? And from that moment on, including the Exquisite Hill in his hands, there was one more inferior Primal Core spirit weapon on the Ziyun planet.

"Master, how... how did you do that? The metals that you bought from the weaponry were all rare and expensive metals, but they are all materials that could be obtained with money, so are not considered the rarest items on the Ziyun planet." Su Mo, the shock on his face clear, looked at the young man in front of him dressed in white. "Just using those materials, you were able to forge the third inferior Primal Core spirit weapon on the Ziyun planet?"

"To forge a spirit weapon, of course the materials are important, but they are not the most crucial, " said Zhou Donghuang flatly. "The spell that is placed on it is the most important. Of course, only inferior Primal Core spirit weapons can be forged out of metals that can be bought with gold or silver; in order to produce even better Primal Core weapons, one has to obtain the materials from another method, using metals that even gold and silver cannot purchase."

As Zhou Donghuang spoke, his eyes flashed. "At the black market, besides getting another batch of the spirit stone, I also plan to get the materials to forge a spirit weapon of even better quality."

"Master, are you truly confident of being able to defeat the seventeenth elder of the Divine Light Sect, the middle Primal-Core-stage adept Liu Xuanyu?" Su Mo could not help himself from asking, "If Master is not fully confident, I don't think there's a need to take the risk. After all, the thousand spirit stones that you bought previously would be enough for Master to use for a while longer. They should be able to last long enough to enter the middle Primal Core stage."

"That thousand pieces of spirit stone?" Zhou Donghuang shook his head. "I used them all two days ago."

Utilizing the spirit stones to set up a spell used so many resources that it was what was used by just absorbing the spirit energy the spirit stones contained. The problem was that the former was more efficient. Even if it was wasteful, it was worth it.

Now Zhou Donghuang was equivalent to the fusion of two early Primal-Core-stage adepts, because he had two Primal Cores within him. The energy emitted from either of the Primal Cores was not less than what any ordinary early Primal Core stage adept emitted.

"What?!" Su Mo was shocked. "Used ... used it all?!" This was something that he had not anticipated.

Now that he thought about it, his Master had achieved extraordinary progress in a short half a year, achieving the late Connate stage then skipping two levels to achieve the Primal Core stage in that short time. In light of this amazing progress, it seemed reasonable that he had used up a thousand spirit stones.

"Master, you don't intend to bring this inferior Primal Core spirit weapon to the black market to exchange for spirit stones, do you?" Su Mo looked at the Exquisite Hill in his hands, a flash of worry in his eyes. "If you are thinking of doing so, I do not advise it. In the eyes of the Divine Light sect, this inferior Primal Core spirit weapon is worth much more than just four thousand spirit stones! Such a weapon is enough to make the Divine Light sect willingly accept punishment and hand over four thousand spirit stones to the other four big sects, " said Su Mo.

"No." If Su Mo had thought of it, Zhou Donghuang would already have considered it. "Tomorrow, when I go to the black market, I will use other methods to obtain the materials I need, as well as the spirit stones." As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang's eyes shone.

This time, if he could amass the materials he required and forge the spirit weapons that he wanted, by the time he left the black market, he would be capable of defeating anyone within Ziyun planet!

...

The next day.

Zhou Donghuang left the Yuntai inn early in the morning. He left alone, without Su Mo, because he felt that there was no need to bring him. When they had reached the black market, the two of them would have had to split up anyway.

Once Zhou Donghuang left, he attracted the attention of an old man who was stationed nearby the main door of Yuntai inn. This old man was one of the trusted men of Liu Xuanyu, the seventeenth elder of the Divine Light sect and the elder of the black market. This old man was an early Primal-Core-stage adept of the sect.

In the Divine Light sect, only if one entered the middle Primal Core stage and became an elder could one enjoy the good treatment. Of course, there were also some disciples who were being groomed by the Divine Light sect. Even if their level of skill was low and they had not achieved much growth, the sect would also invest great resources in these disciples. The resources invested in these favorite disciples would make even the sect elders go green with envy. The premier ones in the Divine Light sect were all disciples who had been groomed with the help of all these resources since they were young.

"Just him?" The old man frowned as he turned behind to one of the two people behind him and said, "You go back and inform seventeenth elder that just the young man left the Yuntai inn. To avoid alerting that middle-aged man, I do not intend to touch him right now." The disciple left.

After leaving Yuntai inn, Zhou Donghuang went straight to the black market and walked right into an empty wooden hut. Of course, by this time Liu Xuanyu, the seventeenth elder of Divine Light sect, was already aware that Zhou Donghuang was coming, but could not be sure which was him.

"Just the young man is here? I want to see for myself if he will create the ruckus he did half a year ago when he came with the middle-aged man."

Zhou Donghuang did not disappoint.

"The recipe for a Qi-gathering elixir that can heighten the senses by twenty times ... the cost of the raw materials for a pot of this elixir is less than ten liang of gold. Is this for real?" As soon as Zhou Donghuang placed a sign outside the wooden hut, a huge group of people gathered around the hut.

These people, who were all dressed fully in black, spoke in whispers. "Till today, the best Qi-gathering elixirs in the market could only heighten the senses by twelve times. The best was released just half a year ago, and its price was high. After all, the raw cost is very high as well."

"The recipe for a Qi-gathering elixir that can heighten the senses by twelve times was released in a black market too. The cost of producing a pot of it is more than ten liang of gold. How can this one be cheap, with such high costs?"

"If there really is such a recipe, three thousand pieces of spirit stone is not expensive."

"Indeed. To obtain the recipe for such a Qi-gathering elixir would allow one to monopolize the market for superior Qi-gathering elixirs in the Ziyun planet. Furthermore, if any of the premier sects obtain it and keep it to themselves, their future disciples will be able to grow at much faster speeds, making them able to set themselves apart from the disciples of the other four sects."

"Not sell it to others? That is not feasible. Once such a Qi-gathering elixir appears on the market, the other four sects will certainly exert their pressure on the one sect that has the elixir to force them to either share the recipe or sell the elixir to them."

...

Inside the wooden hut, Zhou Donghuang was also dressed in full black, his face shielded by a large black hat. He sat patiently in front of a wooden table. On one side of the wooden table, the worker from the black market, a Connate-stage adept from the Divine Light sect, looked at the man dressed in black in front of him, his eyes filled with suspicion. He doubted that this black-robed man could produce such a recipe.

Despite his suspicion, since the man had requested to place a sign, he could only do as the man wished. If someone wanted to purchase the elixir recipe, and this man could not produce it, it was the man who would be in trouble, not him.

"It is elder Tuo Ku!"

Outside, a bald old man in a silver gown walked toward the hut, flanked by two middle-aged men. A group of black-gowned people opened a path as some of them recognized the man in the middle. He was the manager of the black market and the third elder of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Ku.

Tuo Ku was one of the late Primal-Core-stage adepts of the Divine Light sect and was a silver core adept.

"That is the fifteenth elder of Divine Light sect, Zheng Yong, and the seventeenth elder, Liu Xuanyu ... my goodness! The head of the black market and the two supervisors are all here personally!"

"This is normal. After all, if there really exists such a good recipe for the Qi-gathering elixir, the level of progress of the Qi-gathering adepts in the Ziyun planet would be able to increase drastically. If they spend less time in the Qi-gathering stage, they will attain the Connate stage more quickly, and have more time to try to achieve the Primal Core stage, or even the Dharma Laws stage!"

...

As the group of men in black discussed this, the three of them, led by Tuo Ku, the third elder of the Divine Light sect, had already entered the wooden house.

"Third elder, fifteenth elder, seventeenth elder." As the three of them stepped in, the worker inside, who was a disciple of the sect, hurriedly bowed in greeting.

"You may leave." Tuo Ku glanced at the young man. He had already backed out of the door respectfully and closed the door behind him.

Tuo Ku sat in front of the wooden table opposite Zhou Donghuang. As he looked at Zhou Donghuang, he asked seriously, "Sir, do you really have the recipe for a Qi-gathering elixir that can heighten the senses by twenty times?"

"Otherwise, what would I be doing here?" retorted Zhou Donghuang.

"This voice..." Just as Zhou Donghuang spoke, Liu Xuanyu, who was standing behind Tuo Ku, was surprised as his eyes narrowed." Such a young voice! It looks like he is most likely the man who sold the recipe for another Qi-gathering elixir to one of our Divine Light sect disciples."

"Your voice is really youthful, " said Tuo Ku as he looked with surprise at Zhou Donghuang. "Looks like you are helping your elder to sell the recipe?"

"Think what you like, " replied Zhou Donghuang flatly.

Just then, another voice came from outside. "Third elder, Alchemist Xu is here."

As Tuo Ku responded, an elderly figure pushed open the door and entered. Tuo Ku stood up as he eagerly led the other two men to greet the newcomer. "Alchemist Xu."

"Show me the recipe." The old man nodded to Tuo Ku as he came in front of Zhou Donghuang, his eyes flashing.

Just as they thought that the man in the black robe would hesitate, he simply took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to the old man. The old man was none other than Xu Fu, the top alchemist and core-forging master in Ziyun planet.