Ling Xu came out of the library with a general idea of how this world worked after reading for several hours.
Also, he understood why the guard had recommended him to know about Formless Sword Sect. After all, he had heard in the entrance line that they were about to start selecting new disciples.
Entering a sect meant acquiring a direct route for getting resources and increasing the cultivation speed, so he was very eager to try and see for himself what benefits this Formless Sword Sect could bring to him.
Fortunately, he met the criteria to enter as anyone below twenty-five years old and above the third stage of Blood Qi could enter as an unofficial disciple, doing menial work for the sect.
There were also a few who could enter the outer sect directly as outer disciples, but they had to be above the third stage of Blood Qi and below fifteen years of age. Until now, Ling Xu had not seen one to have reached the third stage between those who looked young.
When reading in the library, he understood that the method used in this world to first awaken their blood qi and enter on the path of cultivation was actually very hard.
There were currently three used methods that could allow one to enter the Blood Qi Realm. The first method is to train the body to the limit, the second is to be in a situation between life and death, and the third is to meditate and awaken the blood qi by sensing it in the body.
"It seems I will have to try being an unofficial disciple first."
Being currently twenty years old, Ling Xu had to go through the lowest kind of status in the sect if he wanted to get the resources and benefits they offered. Still, he didn't despair as he had an amazing ability that always gave him confidence.
…
"Greetings customer, how may I help you?"
Entering a medicinal store that had a signboard saying that it also bought medicines and pills, Ling Xu wanted to sell one of his blood tempering pills so he could get a place to sleep for the night.
"Do you accept high grade blood tempering pills?"
"I would need to look at their quality first."
Taking out a pill he had already separated from the bottle containing ten of them, Ling Xu handed it to the shopkeeper.
While the shopkeeper observed the quality of the pill, Ling Xu looked around the store seeing several kinds of medicinal herbs in display. They had all different kinds of appearances, making him very curious about each one of their effects.
But he didn't distract himself from the reason he came here and focused on the shopkeeper who had already seen the pill's quality.
"This blood tempering pill is of very good quality between those of high grade, I can offer you eighty-five teals of silver for it. It's market price is one low grade spiritual stone but I need to have a margin to make profit."
Spiritual stones is the currency used to exchange between cultivators. There are low grade spiritual stones, middle grade spiritual stones and high grade spiritual stones.
The higher the grade of the spiritual stone the higher the value. One high grade spiritual stone is equal to a hundred middle grade spiritual stones, and one middle grade spiritual stone is equal to a hundred low grade spiritual stones.
There also are the silver teals, which are used by mortals and cultivators in the Blood Qi Realm who need to efficiently use every low grade spiritual stone they have. One low grade spiritual stone is equal to a hundred silver teals.
After remembering the value of a low grade spiritual stone, which he had learned on the library, Ling Xu thought about the margin the shopkeeper was taking and decided that it was fair.
"That's okay, eighty-five teals it is."
"Do you have more of these high grade blood tempering pills?"
"That was the only one."
Obviously lying, Ling Xu turned around and was about to leave when he thought of something.
"Do you happen to know when the disciples selection for the Formless Sword Sect takes place?"
…
Ling Xu came out of the store with a small pouch with eighty five silver teals and headed to the closest tavern.
"Waiter, do you have any rooms available?"
"Greetings benefactor, we have only one room left at five teals of silver the night."
Thinking about the answer the shopkeeper gave him, Ling Xu gave the waiter fifteen teals of silver. It was enough to stay in the room for three nights before the disciples selection took place.
He then took the token that acted as the key for the room and after trying the best dish of the tavern, which cost him another three teals including a cup of whine, he went to sleep.
Although Ling Xu wasn't used to drink wine on Earth and its taste was barely acceptable, he had nostalgic memories because the first time he tried it was with his mother.
He remembered how he got embarrassed after his mother teased him for getting dizzy and how he couldn't walk properly.
The night fell for a few hours and Ling Xu was finally asleep, he had a bit of difficulty at getting asleep as he was very nervous.
Although everything until now seemed to be going well and Ling Xu had found a place to stay, he missed Earth as he remembered his life there.
The next day, Ling Xu had already woken up and ate on the first floor of the tavern where food was served as the second one contained a few rental rooms.
He then went to the main street of the town and followed the path while asking directions to a place he had read about in the library.
After an hour he was already in front of the biggest store of the town which was full of all kinds of medicinal herbs, pills, weapons and other items necessary for cultivation.
Looking at a wide variety of pills exposed to the public, Ling Xu recognized a few of them he had already gotten into contact with in the mission store.
"Benefactor, is there something you are interested in?"
"I want to know about the pills you have in the store."
"Right away, sir."
Ling Xu received a list full of different names for every pill that was in the store. He also observed their different prices as he found out the high grade blood tempering pill.
"The shopkeeper of the medicinal store didn't lie, it is true that one high grade blood tempering pill costs one low grade spiritual stone. Let's see the rest."
He only searched for the high grade pills as those were the ones who would have the best effect with his current cultivation level.
The blood condensing pill was on the list as it had its price set at two spirit stones.
This was a very expensive pills as a normal cultivator in the Blood Qi Realm would have less than ten low grade spiritual stones, unless he came from a big family.
But it made sense as Ling Xu finally found out its description which was written on the list. The blood condensing pill is extremely valuable because of its function which is purifying the blood qi.
This is extremely valuable as the higher the purity the stronger the blood qi and also the faster the body can be refined, meaning the progress in the Blood Qi Realm can become faster by consuming this pill.
He also found out the blood replenishing pill and an item similar to the wound ointment he had in his ring. The biggest difference was that this one also had a strong healing effect for interior wounds, so its price was the same as the blood tempering pill.
There also was the blood cleansing pill which helped taking out the impurities formed in the body from consuming too many pills.
"This is the crimson veins pill that I read about in the library."
Ling Xu read its name and instantly thought about the information he had read.
The crimson veins pill was the reason why this town was named Lesser Crimson Town, as more than a hundred years ago an alchemy refiner developed its recipe and started its mass production, selling to every town in the periphery of Profound Roots Mountain Range.
With it, Lesser Crimson Town became what it is today as it increased its annual income just from the production of this pill.
"The effect of the pill is to fasten the blood qi circulation speed, increasing the power of the person by at least a stage in the Blood Qi Realm. It has even helped someone in the ninth stage of Blood Qi to withstand several blows against a Qi Refining cultivator."
The effect of this pill was incredible for any person in the Blood Qi Realm. But this pill didn't come without side effects, once the effect of the pill ended it would severely damage the veins of the body.
Even after recovering for several months it would be impossible to completely set off the damage done to the body.
But with such an impressive effect its price was still very high, surpassing even the blood condensing pill with a cost of four low grade spiritual stones.
After reading about a few other pills, Ling Xu's curiosity went elsewhere.
He observed several pieces of equipment especially made for cultivators in the Blood Qi Realm. Almost every one of them looked different from the ones Ling Xu had acquired in the tutorial.
But after a short while, he saw a sword that had a similar appearance on the metal blade as his current refined short sword.
Ling Xu observed that their prices were a bit higher than the other semi-treasure weapons so he asked why it was that way.
"These few weapons are of higher quality than the average semi-treasure as they were naturally refined by merging their blades with a special stone called luminous stone."
Hearing about something familiar, Ling Xu became curious as he continued hearing the explanation.
"This stone is very rare and it has the amazing ability to take out any impurities from the blade and refine it even further. There are two kinds of luminous stone used for refining a weapon, middle grade and high grade, each one of this can increase the grade of the weapon once."
Ling Xu heard the end and felt that it made sense as that was what he observed happened when he used the luminous stone on the missions.
Seeing something from there appearing at Lesser Crimson Town made Ling Xu suspect that the places he was at in the missions could have been here in the Skyless Realm.
He then thanked the assistant from the store and continued looking around.
Several minutes passed and Ling Xu observed a wide variety of medicinal herbs that he had no knowledge about. The quality seemed to be higher than the ones in the medicinal store where he had sold his pill yesterday.
"This is…!"
His attention was completely caught by the white fruit he had in front.
"It looks exactly like the ones I got from the tree in the center of the mission, there must be a description so I can figure out what its use is for."
Ling Xu went right away to the same worker in the store and obtained another list which contained the materials from heaven and earth that the store had on the first floor.
For now, Ling Xu only had been on the first floor as it was where the store sold the products for Blood Qi Realm cultivators. The second floor was restricted to him as only Qi Refining cultivators could be there.
He read for a few minutes, passing a few pages from the list when he finally found the item he was searching for.
"This is the White Blooming Fruit, it is a spiritual fruit born after a hundred years of condensing inside a spiritual tree. It takes so long to condense because it slowly absorbs the pure energy coming from the tree so it doesn't affect its growth."
When Ling Xu found the White Blooming Fruit inside the tree he obtained a pair of them but he saw remnants of a third one which was probably used by the mutant whirling ape.
So that means the three fruits he found where three hundred years old as they all came from the same spiritual flower which resided inside the tree, condensing one fruit every hundred years.
Ending the explanation, he continued reading its effect as that was what he cared the most about. Up until now, Ling Xu couldn't give it proper use but if he found out its effect he would be able to benefit from it.
"This spiritual fruit is the key to entering the Qi Refining Realm as it is the safest method to condense the blood qi in the body into pure qi."
Ling Xu's eyes were glowing as he realized how amazing the spiritual fruit he had in his spatial ring was.
Although he still had no clue how he would enter the Qi Refining Realm, he had already gotten a spiritual fruit which greatly increased the chances of successfully entering it.
And it wasn't just one but two White Blooming Fruits he had, so Ling Xu could only feel ecstatic about the news. He was even more in awe of its effect as it was the most expensive item he had seen on the store so far.
By now, Ling Xu had observed that a low grade semi-treasure costs five low grade spiritual stones. A middle grade semi-treasure costs ten low grade spiritual stones and a high grade semi-treasure costs twenty low grade spiritual stones.
Their price was already incredibly high for a normal cultivator who only had a few spiritual stones saved up in a year.
But then, he saw the White Blooming Fruit's price on the list which said it costs a hundred low grade spiritual stones.
Ling Xu may have been in the Skyless Realm for just a day, but he already had a general perspective about the currency here.
With just the two fruits laying inside his ring, he already had the total earnings a normal cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm had in a year.