Chapter 128 - The Counterfeit Dust and the Pill Gathering
Chapter 128: Chapter 128 - The Counterfeit Dust and the Pill Gathering
The Azure Hall banquet lasted until deep into the night.
By the time the music faded and the last cups of spiritual wine were put away, the eastern sky had already begun to pale.
The younger generation left with different expressions.
The old monsters left more slowly.
They had spoken, laughed, probed, and drunk wine for half the night. On the surface, everyone had enjoyed themselves. Beneath the surface, everyone had gained something.
After all, in the cultivation world, a banquet was rarely just a banquet.
...
The Radiant Sky Sect group returned to Quiet Jade Inn together.
Su Bai walked quietly behind Lu Canghai.
His thoughts remained on the gray stone now stored inside his system inventory.
The Petrified Calamity-Magnet.
The more he thought, the more questions appeared.
By the time they reached Quiet Jade Inn, Su Bai stopped thinking.
There was no answer for now.
Thinking without information was only polishing anxiety.
For the moment, he only needed to remember one thing.
Inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, the Petrified Calamity-Magnet would be incredibly useful.
After returning to his private room, Su Bai sat by the window.
Outside, Azure-Jade City was slowly waking. The night lamps faded one by one, replaced by morning mist and the dull murmur of cultivators returning from the banquet.
There was no fixed schedule for the day.
The City Lord Mansion had given all factions a rest period.
The next day, negotiations for Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills would officially begin.
Those who could refine the pills would present their terms.
Those who needed pills would prepare materials, spirit stones, favors, or all three.
Radiant Sky Sect would not openly compete there.
Liu Meng knew the recipe.
Su Bai had Cold-Forging.
Li Xuanzong and Lu Canghai only needed to find a way to gather enough materials at a reasonable price.
Until then, the disciples were free.
Su Bai decided to cultivate.
But before that...
"System, sign in."
A clear system sound rang in his mind.
[Ding! Signed in at Azure-Jade City.]
[Reward: Counterfeit Parasite-Dust.]
Su Bai paused.
Then he read the description.
[Description: A cheap illegal filler material used by street scammers to forge fake spirit stones. It is a parasitic mineral dust. If a cultivator absorbs it by mistake, the dust clings to their Golden Core like barnacles, throwing off its balance. As the Golden Core spins, the uneven weight causes violent core wobble, meridian backlash, internal bleeding, Qi deviation, and extreme circulation failure.]
Su Bai stared silently for a moment.
Then he slowly lowered his gaze to his stomach.
His hunger was still there.
After a long pause, Su Bai smiled.
"Finally."
He took out a cup from his storage ring.
Then clear water.
Then the Counterfeit Parasite-Dust.
For ordinary cultivators, brewing illegal spirit-stone filler into a drink would be an act of madness.
For Su Bai, it was breakfast.
The grayish dust sank into the water at first. Then it spread faintly, forming tiny metallic specks that clung to the inside of the cup as if looking for something to infest.
Su Bai watched it for a breath. Then he lifted the cup and took a sip.
The taste was... bizarre.
But the moment it entered his body, his hunger finally quieted.
Su Bai’s shoulders loosened. ’Comfort. At last.’
The Counterfeit Parasite-Dust moved instinctively. It tried to search for a Golden Core.
But Su Bai’s condition was not ordinary.
His Golden Core was not merely a sphere sitting quietly inside his dantian.
To the parasitic dust, Su Bai did not look like a cultivator with a core.
He looked like a core pretending to be a person.
The dust became confused.
Then it tried to cling to everything.
Tiny specks spread along his meridian network, attempting to create uneven weight and circulation drag.
The Reversal Body activated.
The harmful cling became anchoring.
The uneven weight became stabilizing counterforce.
The circulation drag became controlled resistance.
The Macro-Taiji Engine turned once.
Then again.
The parasitic dust, which should have caused wobbling, was pulled into a rotating pattern around the meridians.
Instead of disrupting the Golden Core’s balance, it formed countless tiny resistance points along Su Bai’s circulation route.
Each point tried to make the flow unstable.
But the Macro-Taiji Engine absorbed those pulls and turned them into counter-rotation.
A strange internal layer formed.
Every time Su Bai’s Qi circulated, the dust resisted it.
Every time it resisted, the Macro-Taiji Engine forced the circulation to become smoother, denser, and more precise.
The Black-Ice Core cooled the excess friction.
The Golden Yang Sun burned the resulting pressure.
The Crystalline Tree Spirit Root distributed the burden.
The Void Ring swallowed the unstable vibration.
The result was not a simple power increase.
It was a Counter-Rotation Stabilizing Layer.
Su Bai opened his eyes slightly.
After reversal, the dust created artificial resistance throughout his circulation.
That resistance forced his Macro-Taiji Engine to stabilize every breath.
The more stable it became, the more power his body could circulate without losing shape.
It was like training while carrying invisible weights.
Only the weights were trying to kill him.
Very considerate.
Su Bai took another sip.
The effect deepened.
His hunger quieted further.
His meridians began to hum faintly.
His body could temporarily sustain several times its usual circulation intensity during cultivation without immediate spiritual exhaustion.
Su Bai looked at the cup.
His expression became satisfied.
"Illegal filler material."
He took another sip.
"Very useful."
If the scammers who used this dust to forge fake spirit stones knew someone was drinking it to cultivate comfortably, they might abandon fraud and question reality.
Su Bai placed the cup aside.
Then he began cultivating.
...
The day passed quietly.
Azure-Jade City outside became lively, then bright, then golden under the setting sun.
Su Bai did not leave his room.
He circulated the Binary Void-Sun Supreme Method again and again.
When night came, he opened his eyes.
The cup was empty.
The Counterfeit Parasite-Dust had been fully consumed.
His cultivation had not broken through, but the flow inside his body had become more stable.
More importantly, he had learned something.
His hunger could be managed.
Su Bai sighed softly.
"This diet is becoming expensive in dignity."
...
The next morning arrived.
The factions of Azure-Jade City began moving again.
This time, they gathered for business.
Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills.
After Yue Cangyu’s warning, no faction dared treat the matter lightly.
If one high-grade pill might only last half a day in stronger Ashen-Blood Miasma, then every group needed more.
Much more.
The pill negotiation gathering was held in a side hall arranged by the City Lord Mansion.
Tables were arranged in sections.
Those who could refine the Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pill sat to one side.
Those seeking pills sat opposite them.
City Lord Mansion officials stood nearby to witness contracts.
This was necessary.
When survival pills were involved, verbal promises were too fragile.
If a pill failed inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary, the buyer might die.
If materials were mishandled, the refiner might lose reputation.
If either side lied, the dispute could become bloody.
Soul contracts prevented many ugly things.
The Tang Clan sat in one corner.
They did not need to shout their terms. They did not need to boast.
Their reputation was enough.
Many factions looked toward Tang Yuyan’s side first, then looked away with aching hearts.
The Tang Clan’s price was fair.
That did not mean it was cheap.
Some smaller forces could not afford them after already paying the one million spirit stone contribution for the Fallen-Star Sanctuary opening.
Those forces had no choice but to consider cheaper refiners.
Soon, several alchemists and pill halls presented their terms.
Some offered lower prices but lower guaranteed grade.
Some asked for more materials but promised higher yield.
Some demanded future herbs from the Fallen-Star Sanctuary.
Some wanted priority claim on certain mutated lotus roots.
Everyone calculated.
Everyone bargained.
Everyone smiled politely while trying not to bleed too visibly.
Lu Canghai stood near the Tang Clan’s side.
He was smiling. Very brightly.
Tang Yuyan noticed.
Her eyes narrowed.
Whenever Lu Canghai smiled like that, someone was usually about to suffer.
This time, she suspected it might be her.
Throughout the morning, faction after faction delivered materials to the Tang Clan.
Spirit herbs. Lotus-heart roots. Purification dew. White jade marrow. Miasma-cleansing flowers. Small sealed boxes of rare auxiliary ingredients.
The piles were not small. Because the risk was not small.
Everyone was willing to suffer now because the return from the Fallen-Star Sanctuary could be enormous.
If one successful trip could return ten times the investment, then painful preparation became reasonable.
After the agreements were confirmed, soul contracts were formed.
The Tang Clan was thorough. Nothing was left vague.
Verbal agreements were full of holes. The Tang Clan preferred sealed doors.