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Chapter 8
Daoist, Have You Ever Heard of the Mysterious Marvel Pill?
“Cough, cough. Talking too much really dries the throat. Give me some jerky to ease my thirst.”
But Na Jin ignored him completely and began taking out all his pills from the stall.
“Elder, if one is cultivating, one must conserve resources. Only then can both you and I one day earn the title of Shangren, wouldn’t you agree?”
Elder Chen’s eyes widened in fury, his white beard trembling violently. Standing far taller than the old man, Na Jin calmly patted his shoulder.
“At the very least… we should reach the Golden Core stage, don’t you think?”
“Get lost! I’m already sixty-five—what Golden Core are you dreaming about?”
After a burst of cursing, Elder Chen exhaled heavily and forced himself to calm down, muttering self-soothing words. If he got a stress-related illness, there would be no one to replace him.
His eyes then naturally fell onto Na Jin’s stall—and a suspicious glint flashed.
“Twenty-one bottles? All Bigu Pills? Or did you actually refine something new?”
Na Jin sighed deeply, looking dejected.
“After exhausting my entire fortune, I finally managed to refine just one new pill, Elder. Isn’t life funny?”
Boom!
Elder Chen swallowed hard.
“Don’t tell me… you actually succeeded in creating a new pill from an incomplete Tier-Two formula?”
“Ah, unfortunately I am too incompetent to refine Tier-Two pills.”
“Well, of course you—”
“So I had no choice but to settle for a Tier-One pill.”
“Tier-One Jade Dew Pill?”
Elder Chen’s eyes widened.
His expression was truly expressive—alternating between shock and disbelief as though his face could not decide on a single emotion.
Na Jin clasped his hands behind his back and said solemnly:
“That is not an incomplete Jade Dew Pill formula. It is actually the secret medicinal formula of Hehuan Sect’s Yunzhong Crane—Mysterious Marvel Pill. It just happened to fall into this Great River Market during the ancient war over Jade Cauldron Region. Elder, I hope you will refrain from making careless remarks.”
Covering part of his face with a hand, Na Jin felt the morning heat intensifying as the sun rose higher. The weather of Jade Cauldron Region was becoming warmer.
And with the rising sun, more people began to appear—after all, everyone desired cheap and high-quality resources, and cultivators roaming the outer fields were always eager for bargains.
As usual, Elder Chen’s business started first. Despite being famously stingy, his talismans were well-known, and even rival merchants bought from him.
And once his business started—it meant Na Jin’s business would start too.
“Bigu Pills?”
“Not bad color and aroma. Contains faint spiritual energy too. How much?”
A customer picked up five bottles and tossed a low-grade spirit stone at Na Jin.
Five bottles contained fifty pills. One pill could keep a cultivator full for days—technically even longer under extreme conditions.
But the taste was average, and it offered no cultivation benefit. Only desperate cultivators or lone mountain wanderers would rely on it.
Just as the buyer prepared to leave, Na Jin stopped him.
“Daoist, have you ever heard of the Mysterious Marvel Pill?”
The buyer—Cultivator Zeng Wen, a Qi Refining Stage 9 cultivator who had long lived in the inner market—paused.
He had once aimed for Foundation Establishment but was injured in a conflict, destroying his foundation. Still, his combat strength remained intact, and he earned a comfortable living by hunting beasts in the outer mountains.
He spent his earnings on food, wine, and pleasure.
Recently, funds were tight, so he was preparing to head back into the mountains. Before that, he had bought some talismans, pills, and basic equipment.
As he was about to leave, he was stopped.
“Daoist, have you heard of the Mysterious Marvel Pill?”
“What is that?” Zeng Wen asked.
Na Jin lowered his voice.
“The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao…”
Zeng Wen blinked blankly.
“What… is this nonsense? Why speak in circles?”
Na Jin sighed deeply, as though reluctant to explain easily.
“Thus, one observes mystery through absence of desire… and observes manifestation through presence of desire…”
Zeng Wen frowned harder.
“…What does that even mean?”
Na Jin looked at him calmly.
“Daoist, have you heard of Yunzhong Crane, the great Hehuan expert?”
“Oh—you mean Yunhe Shangren.”
“No. I mean Yunzhong Crane.”
“Eh?”
“One must not casually speak the name of a Shangren. So we call him Yunzhong Crane instead.”
“…I see. Continue.”
Na Jin continued:
“He once cultivated the core techniques of the Hehuan Sect and reached extraordinary heights. You’ve likely heard the tale of how, at early Golden Core stage, he killed a Tier-Four beast, yes?”
Zeng Wen nodded.
Who in the cultivation world hadn’t heard of it?
Especially someone like him who frequented places like Thousand Fragrance Pavilion—he had heard that story many times.
“Yes, yes, of course I know,” Zeng Wen replied casually. “Truly an astonishing figure.”
Na Jin’s tone deepened.
“To suppress a Tier-Four beast at Golden Core stage—this proves he had comprehended heaven-shaking insight from Hehuan Sect’s core techniques.”
Zeng Wen sighed.
“Indeed. It’s a pity I was born two hundred years too late.”
Na Jin smiled slightly.
“But Daoist, even you can experience a fragment of his insight.”
“Oh?”
“The words I just spoke—those seemingly obscure principles—are said to be fragments of his enlightenment.”
Zeng Wen froze.
“…Really?”
“I cannot confirm authenticity,” Na Jin said calmly, “but I once obtained a damaged formula from Jade Cauldron Region. It originated from Heavenly Blade Peak.”
Zeng Wen’s expression changed.
“That place… wasn’t it where the Tier-Four beast once nested?”
“Indeed. Unfortunately, the formula was too damaged and later burned. But I memorized part of it—and from that, I refined this Tier-One pill.”
Zeng Wen’s breathing quickened.
“If that’s true… even its remnants must be extraordinary! What does it do?”
Na Jin lowered his gaze, almost shyly.
“It is not particularly powerful. It merely strengthens yang energy and stabilizes the root foundation.”
“Strengthening yang energy and foundation?!”
To Zeng Wen, that sounded like priceless treasure.
A cultivator who had lost his foundation yet still retained strength suddenly felt as though he had found hope for his remaining life.
“Is it this one?” Zeng Wen pointed.
Inside the stall lay a single exquisite jade bottle.
Na Jin nodded.
“Yes. I spent my entire life researching this and managed to produce only one bottle. If you wish to glimpse even a fraction of Yunzhong Crane’s Dao, I’ll sell it cheaply.”
“Eight low-grade spirit stones—no, since we’re acquainted, five will do.”
Without hesitation, Zeng Wen picked it up and opened the bottle.
A fragrant medicinal aroma poured out instantly.
It pierced into his chest like a living current of energy. His lower abdomen trembled slightly.
As he inhaled again, pure spiritual energy surged like waves crashing against a shore.
Inside, a deep crimson pill rolled like a bead of flesh.
Zeng Wen’s eyes widened.
“Yin and yang harmonizing… water and fire in balance… this truly matches what those courtesans at Thousand Fragrance Pavilion once said about Hehuan Sect techniques!”
He nodded firmly.
“I’ll take it. Five spirit stones, correct?”
He placed the payment down.
Na Jin quickly accepted the stones and bowed slightly.
“Safe travels, Daoist. I will be here next month as well. If you need more—or if anything seems imperfect—feel free to come back. I will improve it with full effort.”
