It was noon and the sunlight was intense. It was hard for mortals to look directly at the sun hanging high in the sky.
Just like Gu Muqing, who was standing under the sunlight. She was extremely radiant, like a fairy.
Although the light orange Daoist robe covered her figure, the excellence of her body wasn't something that the robe could completely conceal. The curves were prominent and one could imagine what kind of delicate figure was hidden under the robe.
That soft jade-like arm that was exposed outside her sleeve, her beautiful and smooth neck, and her long black hair that was like a waterfall. Coupled with her exquisite, smooth, and tender jade-like skin, she was like the embodiment of beauty.
When this beautiful scene fell into Zhang San's eyes, his expression became a little dazed and his face turned red. However, Xu Qing, who was standing in the dark, didn't have any changes in his expression. His gaze coldly sized up the woman's neck.
Whether this woman was beautiful or not wasn't important to Xu Qing. This wasn't the first time he had seen her. He hadn't seen many core disciples in the main city, so he could tell at a glance that she was the girl he had met outside the medical shop a few months ago.
Back then, they had only brushed past each other but the other party had now called out his name. This caused Xu Qing to be extremely vigilant. He had to confirm if the other party had the strength to threaten his life.
After sweeping his gaze over, Xu Qing made a judgment in his heart. If he really attacked, he was confident that he could kill the other party quickly. The other party's cultivation was alright but regardless of whether it was her standing posture or vigilance, she was far inferior to the rogue cultivators of the Sea Lizard Island.
As for the other party's identity as a core disciple of the Second Peak, considering that the Second Peak focused on alchemy, Xu Qing instinctively scanned his surroundings to see if there were any traces of poison.
"Junior Brother Xu Qing, you don't have to be surprised. I learned of your name by accident." Gu Muqing smiled sweetly. Her voice was clear and pleasant to the ears.
Zhang San's heartbeat sped up. He felt that this woman was indeed worthy of being the publicly acknowledged heavenly maiden of the Second Peak. Such a person calling him senior brother made him feel extremely comfortable.
He laughed and was about to say something when Xu Qing's calm voice rang out.
"I'm not surprised."
"Uh…" Zhang San glanced at Xu Qing and sighed inwardly. 'Xu Qing, oh Xu Qing. She is already so proactive, but why don't you have any reaction?' If it were him, he would definitely go forward and chat with her immediately. Wouldn't it be like fate?
Gu Muqing smiled lightly and took out a pill, handing it to Xu Qing.
"Junior Brother Xu Qing, all of your white pills were sold to my shop. I've studied your pills for a long time and am very curious why the purity of these pills is so high."
Xu Qing swept his gaze over and recognized that these were indeed his alchemy pills. After some thought, he didn't answer the other party's question, but took out a few sets of sea lizard skin.
"Eighth level of Qi Condensation sea lizard skin, 530 spirit stones; ninth level of Qi Condensation sea lizard skin, 960 spirit stones; and 1,430 spirit stones for the perfected Qi Condensation sea lizard skin. How many do you want?"
Xu Qing's offer was the selling prices of the shops. He felt that he probably wouldn't be able to get such a price if he sold it to the shops. Since Gu Muqing wanted to buy it, selling it to her was more profitable.
Gu Muqing looked at the sea lizard skins and her eyes lit up. However, she didn't buy them immediately. Instead, she continued to ask about what she had said earlier. It was as though her interest had shifted from the sea lizard skins after she recognized Xu Qing.
Xu Qing frowned slightly. However, when he thought about how the other party's shop had accepted a lot of his white pills and was about to buy his sea lizard skins, he patiently spoke.
"During the concoction stage, add some Night Corpse Leading Ox. It will increase some purity."
The young girl revealed a look of contemplation. After a long time, she questioned politely. However, the impatience in Xu Qing's heart rose. From what he knew, one couldn't obtain knowledge for free.
The other party's actions were a little too much.
Senior Sister Ding understood this very well. Every time she asked, she would give him something of a certain value.
Hence, Xu Qing didn't answer. Instead, he asked about the Dao of medicine.
"Is there a way to increase the toxicity and preserve the blue blood of the Ghost Desires for a longer time?"
Gu Muqing thought about it and spoke seriously.
"I've never thought about this. What Master taught me is all about healing medicine. Let me think… If it was me, I would add the living tea and use its depth to increase the toxicity of the Ghost Desire."
Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. After pondering for a moment, his state of mind fluctuated slightly. The other party's words opened up some ideas for him, so he asked again.
"The living tea itself is a neutralization agent but it also contains a certain amount of poison. How can I turn the poison into a medicinal catalyst?"
"Ah? Poison again? Let me think… Maybe you can use the golden button grass to force it out?" Gu Muqing said uncertainly but her words still inspired Xu Qing.
This caused Xu Qing's interest to increase. He began to communicate with Gu Muqing about the Dao of Medicine. The conversation between the two of them was a little strange. Xu Qing mostly asked about the Dao of Poison, and Gu Muqing mostly asked about the Dao of Medicine.
However, it didn't affect anything, instead, there was a faint sense of corroboration between them. In fact, the more they communicated, the more they understood. In the end, Gu Muqing simply walked into the shade and continued to communicate with Xu Qing.
Time passed.
Under the sunlight, the two people in the darkness -the handsome man and the exquisite woman- made a beautiful scene. Only Zhang San, who looked like a farmer, seemed to be a little out of place in this scene.
At this moment, Zhang San was dumbfounded as he stared blankly at the two of them. After a long while, he let out a long sigh and thought to himself that being handsome was really too much of an advantage.
His heart skipped a beat again as he wondered if this business would be ruined. However, when he thought about how Xu Qing had just returned from the sea and there was a high chance that he wouldn't go out again, he heaved a sigh of relief. However, he still couldn't help but speak.
"Um… Junior Brother Xu Qing, why don't you give me the magic boat first? I'll refine it for you. I think your conversation will last for a while."
When Xu Qing heard this, he cupped his fists toward Zhang San and took out the swift boat.
Zhang San subconsciously raised his hand and took the small bottle containing the flying ship. His eyes suddenly widened as he stared blankly at the thin and broken swift boat in the bottle. He was stunned for a moment.
"Where's the magic boat? Isn't this the swift boat I placed in your magic boat?"
"It shattered," Xu Qing calmly said. He then continued to ask Gu Muqing about the Dao of Poison.
Zhang San took a deep breath and looked at the small bottle in his hand. He already realized that Xu Qing had probably encountered a life-and-death situation on this trip to the sea.
Just like that, four hours passed.
The afterglow of the setting sun scattered down and the darkness on the ground blended with the light from the outside world. Under Gu Muqing's unsatisfied gaze, Xu Qing ended the conversation and completed the transaction of the sea lizard skins with the other party.
"Junior Brother Xu Qing, thank you for clearing my doubts. It's a little late today, so I'll take my leave first. I'll go back and try the method you mentioned. However, I feel that there's a high chance that it will still be very difficult to succeed. In reality, I've tried many times before but I can only occasionally reach that purity."
Gu Muqing said in distress.
Xu Qing thought about it. On one hand, he felt that this should be related to the concoction method taught by Grandmaster Bai. On the other hand, it might also be related to the fact that his body didn't have any anomalous substances.
When he was refining pills, he didn't emit any impure aura that fused into the pills.
However, he naturally wouldn't say this.
Gu Muqing shook her head and left with a pondering expression.
Xu Qing bowed slightly with a serious expression. He had benefited greatly from this exchange and had gained a deeper understanding of the Dao of Poison. A faint idea of how to refine poison appeared in his mind.
Seeing that Gu Muqing had left, Zhang San came to Xu Qing's side and sighed with a worried expression.
"Xu Qing, that boat of yours… isn't easy to refine. I can't put that many spirit stones on it. It will be the same as building another one. It's too expensive."
Xu Qing didn't say anything. He looked around and took out one of the three pieces of divine lizard skin.
Zhang San only glanced at the lizard skin from the corner of his eyes before his entire body trembled. In that instant, all his worries disappeared. His eyes widened as he looked at the golden light on the lizard skin, and gasped.
"What…" Just as he said this, he grabbed Xu Qing and headed straight for his warehouse. After entering the warehouse, he shakily took Xu Qing's lizard skin.
After examining it carefully as though it was a treasure, his breathing became increasingly hurried. After a while, he looked at Xu Qing.
"Divine lizard skin!"
"It's even a Foundation Building lizard skin. Moreover, it contains a trace of the aura of Golden Core. The value of this thing is too high. If this matter is revealed, it will definitely cause a large number of fights and killings. How did you obtain it?!"
"I snatched it. Is it enough to forge a new magic boat?" Xu Qing calmly asked.
Looking at Xu Qing's expression, Zhang San's eyes narrowed. He could hear the thick bloodlust in those words and finally understood why he went out on a magic boat and returned on the swift boat.
"It is more than enough. The magic boat forged from this thing will reach an astonishing level. I need some time to prepare. Come and collect it tomorrow!"
Zhang San turned his head to look at the divine lizard skin, and his eyes revealed an intense light. He felt that the magic boat forged from this item would be his most outstanding work in the past few years.
Xu Qing nodded and took out some spirit tickets worth about 5,000 spirit stones. After placing them to the side, he thought about it and took out the spirit stones in his storage bag. Altogether, there were 10,000 spirit stones.
Many of those spirit stones were stained with blood.
These spirit stones caused Zhang San's eyes to narrow again. His heart skipped a beat and his expression became increasingly strange. He couldn't help but ask.
"How many people did you kill this time?"
"Not much." Xu Qing shook his head.
"If you use all your spirit stones to refine the magic boat, what will happen to your cultivation needs? Also… do you trust me that much?" Zhang San looked at Xu Qing.
"Someone still owes me a few thousand spirit stones. I'll go and ask for them tonight. As for trust, I feel Senior Brother's things here add up to more than my harvest."
Xu Qing spoke seriously and cupped his fists at Zhang San. He then turned and left cleanly.
It was dusk outside and the world was getting dark. Zhang San looked at Xu Qing's back view as he walked away, his heart filled with emotions.
"There's actually someone who dares to owe this person spirit stones? Also… since you trust me so much, it won't be good for me to secretly take some of it. Since I've invested in you, I'll persevere to the end!"
At the same time, in an inn on Panquan Road, the old man was happily smoking a pipe with a smug expression.
"I'm rich this time. The mid-stage Foundation Building lizard skin is worth 5,000 spirit stones. It's a pity that I didn't manage to obtain the divine lizard skin."
"However, that poisonous brat probably won't have it easy either. He might even end up empty-handed."
"I'm so happy when I think about how he didn't gain anything. Haha, I haven't opened for business for many days. There will definitely be many people coming to stay today. Double joy."
Just as the old man was feeling smug, a huge force rushed over.
It was that large snake. At that moment, it ruthlessly slammed into the old man's body and let out an indignant gurgling sound.
The old man glared and was about to teach it a lesson when he saw the large snake's sad expression. His heart softened and he sighed.
"Sigh, that kid is very cunning. Seeing that the situation isn't good, how can he not run? He won't die, he won't die."
When the snake heard this, its emotions eased a little. However, it was still a little dispirited and curled up in a corner.
The old man's heart ached and he comforted it. When the sky outside completely darkened, the figures of guests in the distance could be seen.
"I'll get you some snacks later. Let's not talk about it for now. We're going to open for business."
The old man hurriedly walked out and looked at the guests who had arrived in the distance. A smile appeared on his face but at the next instant, his expression suddenly changed.
A dagger that shone with a cold light whistled over like lightning from afar the instant the night fell. It directly pierced through the neck of the wanted criminal who was about to enter the inn and nailed him to the wall at the side.
The force was so great that the wall let out a loud sound and blood splattered everywhere.
A mournful cry rang out before stopping abruptly!
Only the sound of footsteps could be heard from afar.
