Chapter Seventy-Seven: Market, Dictionary

“The key right now is to consolidate the foundation, which means liquidating the True Essence!” Although Yang Wuyue has the Heavenly Tree to absorb the celestial energy and refine Nascent Soul Pills, he has nearly exhausted it in the previous battle. If he were to follow the standard practice of cultivation and accumulation, it would take at least several years, if not decades, to fully complete the transformation into liquid True Essence. The main issue is that the refining ability during the Qi Refining stage is relatively poor.
“It seems I still need to get a Foundation Establishment Pill; at least I know what kind of essential energy is required!”
Yang Wuyue possesses powerful essential energy from the immortal realm, which can be transformed into low-level essential energy, allowing for the condensation of different types of essential energy needed for various pills to produce different effects.
This is similar to using medicinal herbs, but the alchemy level of the immortality method is more advanced, as it purifies the essence of plants into primal energy. Common methods of extraction and condensation of elixirs still contain impurities; only pure primal energy is free of impurities, which also means there is no elixir poisoning.
The Foundation Building Pill is a special elixir used to transform true essence, capable of converting magical power into true essence. Such a pill does not exist in the Everlasting World, and thus Yang Wuyue will not have it either.
"Let's go stroll around the market!"
The skills and methods collected by the sects are mostly stored in the Yue Lu Hall, which requires the guarantee of a Foundation Establishment cultivator to enter. Yang Wuyue doesn't hold much hope and decides that going to the market is faster.
The marketplace in Huangfeng Valley is located to the southeast. After acquiring a flying artifact, the journey of several dozen miles takes no time at all. This marketplace is not much different from a secular town, with a wide road running north to south and small shops selling various goods on either side.
These are all the industries of Huangfeng Valley, but only a small portion is still directly managed by the disciples of Huangfeng Valley; the larger part is rented out to cultivating families and loose cultivators who do business here year-round.
There is also a small square area for scattered cultivators to set up stalls and sell their goods, along with inns that provide convenience for daily living. It looks even more like a bustling city, with probably over ten thousand people gathering here every day.
After wandering around, Yang Wuyue was greatly disappointed by the Five Elements Bookstore. The collection consisted only of basic Five Elements cultivation techniques and some secret recordings of cultivation stories. While it could indeed broaden one's perspective, it was of no use to him.
Arriving at a small stall, the other stalls are filled with various items, including elixirs, talismans, and materials, but this particular stall is completely dedicated to martial arts techniques. Some are inscribed on jade slips, while others are simply written on strips of animal hide.
The Qi Refining Stage generally focuses on the fundamental techniques of the Five Elements, with no particular special traits; their power is roughly the same. It mainly depends on the practitioner's familiarity and application of the spells, as well as the quality of their equipment.
其他的就是一些特殊功法，比如鬼道，魔道，炼尸这些极为邪门的功法。不过那些大多是魔宗势力范围内才会出现的东西，在越国并不常见。越国七宗大多不分正邪。以五行功法为主。可也不会让魔功大肆流传。
This stall owner is a young and slender man, but he looks quite shrewd, clearly a skilled master of street vending.
“Little brother, are you looking for cultivation techniques or spells??” The stall owner enthusiastically engages in conversation. Those who sell cultivation techniques usually have one-time transactions, as return customers are few; after all, once a technique is chosen, it is not easily changed. Moreover, cultivation techniques can be replicated and are not very valuable.
“Find some introductory books on talisman crafting and alchemy!” Yang Wuyue explained his intention. The true collection of Huangfeng Valley would not be kept in Yuelu Hall; this was not only the case for Huangfeng Valley but also for other sects. The real treasures are all stored in the private caves of the masters who have reached the Golden Core stage.
Rather than rummaging through those garbage piles in the Yuelu Temple, it’s better to come out and try your luck.
“Amulets and alchemy, those are indeed hard to find. Ordinary items are just these.” The vendor quickly produced three books: "Basic Amulet Techniques" and "Introduction to Alchemy." “They’re also available in the bookstore. Would you like them?”
“I already have them!” Yang Wuyue said, having purchased these two books at the bookstore: "Basic Talisman Dao" and "Introduction to Alchemy." These are both entry-level books, very basic, purely intended for newcomers to the field, and they offer little in terms of practical applications.
“Hehe, I knew you wanted something different. I have plenty of good stuff here.” As he spoke, the stall owner began rummaging around, tossing book after book to Yang Wuyue. To be honest, these jade slips do look quite old.
“Qiye Danlu, this is alchemy!”
“Fuyun Dan Shu, this seems to be good too!”
“Qingyun Fudao Detailed Explanation, ah, found it, this is the best book on talisman making here, and it's the only copy!”
Yang Wuyue was stunned for a moment when he glanced at the Seven Leaf Dan Record. It actually contained alchemical techniques, and they were remarkably advanced, called the Seven Leaf Condensation Dan Technique. It even recorded several special pill formulas, including the Foundation Establishment Dan formula that he was seeking.
However, he soon discovered something strange: "Demon cores as medicine? Are these all useless ancient prescriptions?"
In this era, there are no more demon cores. Even if there are, they can only be found in overseas regions close to the ocean or in certain secret realms. Moreover, regular demon beasts do not usually condense demon cores.
“Hehe, a disciple from Huangfeng Valley, good taste!” the vendor said, “These are ancient alchemy recipes. The materials inside are basically extinct for a while now. Otherwise, do you think you could buy them? Is that possible? Although the recipes can’t be used, they can still serve as references.”
Yang Wuyue watched for a while longer, but the subsequent content abruptly stopped, clearly under a restriction to prevent peeking.
The situation with the Floating Cloud Dan Technique is similar; only the first half can be seen, but it actually has some reference value.
The detailed explanation of the Qinyun Talisman Way is indeed interesting; it is the insights of a talisman maker. Although the maker is not exceptionally skilled, they have recorded many unique techniques for sketching talismans.
“These seem to be ancient items; where did you get them?”
“Well, it’s a long story!” The vendor was quite talkative and confident: “My ancestors came from the Great Jin. They probably couldn’t make a living and were chased by enemies, so they brought some family books over here. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know. Anyway, I inherited this pile of old books from my old man.”
“上古功法要吗？独一份的那种。”
“上古功法？”阳无月笑了笑：“拿来我看看！”
若真是上古功法，他还真感兴趣。不过他这些功法纯粹就是扯淡了，什么万花真解，什么至阳乾坤功吹得名头很响，实则也就比基础功法稍强一些。
However, Yang Wuyue was quite enlightened; the ancient martial arts were vastly different from the techniques here, but unfortunately, it was not a suitable time for cultivation.
“Huh? What is this?” Suddenly, Yang Wuyue discovered a unique jade slip. It didn't seem like a martial art technique; rather, it felt more like a collection of documents, and there were many unfamiliar symbols. Most importantly, it had what appeared to be some sort of tadpole script on it.
“This, this is a dictionary!” the small vendor said with a cheerful smile. “You see, the top part contains ancient characters that are somewhat different from the current human characters, and the middle section is in demon script. As for the ones at the bottom that look like tadpoles, who knows what kind of writing that is.”
“Dictionary?” Yang Wuyue's eyes lit up. “Is this actually used for translation?”
“Yes!” the stall owner said. “If you buy these few books, I recommend you get this one too. After all, there are still some differences between ancient characters and modern ones. Having a reference will ensure you don't make any mistakes.”
Yang Wuyue rolled her eyes; this was purely a money trap. The changes in ancient characters were not significant, except for a few obscure ones. It was like traditional and simplified Chinese characters; one could guess pretty accurately.
However, he still decided to buy it. The demon text was one thing, but he suspected that the writing beneath it was the Silver Script passed down from the Spirit Realm. If it truly was that type of script, it inherently carried a certain special charm.