Blue Cloud City sprawled at the base of the sect's mountain, a bustling metropolis where the mortal world and the cultivation realm collided. It was a city fueled by spirit stones, where wandering rogue cultivators, wealthy merchant caravans, and sect disciples mingled in a chaotic dance of commerce.
Lin Mo descended the mountain just as the morning sun began to gild the city's tiled roofs. He had taken great care to hide his identity. Using the foul-smelling ash from the Scrapyard, he had darkened his skin, masking the healthy, metallic sheen the Marrow Cleansing had given him. He had also stolen a massive, ragged black cloak from a scarecrow in the mortal farmlands, pulling the deep hood low over his face so that nothing but shadows could be seen.
Finally, he used a basic Qi manipulation technique to constrict his vocal cords, ensuring his voice would sound like a raspy, ancient rasp—like dry leaves scraping against a tombstone.
He didn't look like a sixteen-year-old Fire Servant. He looked like an eccentric, dying old rogue cultivator. And in a place like Blue Cloud City, eccentrics were either easy prey, or monsters you never wanted to cross.
Lin Mo navigated the crowded streets, ignoring the hawkers selling low-tier spirit beast meat and fake martial arts manuals. He had only one destination in mind: The Myriad Treasure Pavilion.
Located in the very center of the city, the Pavilion was a towering, five-story pagoda constructed entirely from fragrant Spirit-Sandalwood and white jade. It was backed by a massive merchant union from the capital, making it a neutral, untouchable ground even for the Blue Cloud Sect's elders.
Lin Mo stepped through the massive bronze doors. The interior was breathtaking. Soft, glowing pearls illuminated the hall, and the air was thick with the calming scent of expensive incense that naturally accelerated Qi circulation. Cases of tempered spirit-glass displayed glowing weapons, rare herbs, and exquisite jade slips.
It was a place of extreme wealth. And Lin Mo, in his ragged, mud-stained cloak, stuck out like a sore thumb.
He walked silently toward the main appraisal counter.
The clerk behind the crystal counter was a young man in pristine silk robes, humming with the aura of a Fourth Level Qi Condensation cultivator. He was currently polishing a mid-grade spirit sword, looking incredibly bored.
As Lin Mo approached, the clerk glanced up. His nose immediately wrinkled in profound disgust, taking in the soot and the frayed edges of the black cloak."Halt," the clerk commanded, not even bothering to hide his contempt. "Listen, old beggar. We don't run a charity here, and we certainly don't buy junk. If you want to sell rat meat, rusted horseshoes, or whatever garbage you scavenged from the gutters, go to the outer street market. Get out before I have the array guards throw you out."
Lin Mo didn't get angry. In fact, beneath the hood, a cold smile touched his lips. This was exactly the kind of arrogant stupidity he was counting on.
He didn't argue. He didn't unleash his aura. He simply reached into his ragged cloak, pulled out a cheap, heavily chipped jade bottle—the kind used to hold mortal medicine—and placed it onto the pristine crystal counter with a soft thud.
"Appraise it," Lin Mo commanded. His constricted voice grated heavily against the quiet hum of the pavilion, sounding incredibly old, tired, and carrying a hint of absolute, unquestionable authority.
The clerk sneered, slamming his polishing cloth down. "Playing games, are we? You rogue cultivators are all the same. Think you've found an ancient immortal's inheritance in a ditch?"
He aggressively grabbed the cheap bottle, intending to dump its contents on the floor to humiliate the old man. "Let's see what kind of trash you—"
He carelessly popped the wooden cork off.
Whoosh!
It didn't just smell good. It was an explosion.
A visible wave of incredibly pure, dense spiritual energy erupted from the tiny bottle, instantly blowing the clerk's silk hat right off his head. The rich, intoxicating fragrance of the pill washed over the entire first floor of the Pavilion like a tidal wave.
The chaotic chatter of the merchants, the haggling cultivators, and the wandering disciples instantly died down. A suffocating silence fell over the hall. Everyone turned their heads simultaneously, their nostrils flaring, sniffing the air like a pack of starved wolves that had just smelled divine blood.
"Heavens... what is that density?" an older cultivator whispered, his eyes wide with greed. "I feel my bottleneck loosening just by breathing!"
Behind the counter, the clerk's voice choked entirely in his throat. His arrogant sneer dissolved into an expression of pure, unadulterated horror. His hands began to tremble so violently that he nearly dropped the bottle.
He carefully, agonizingly slowly, tilted the chipped jade.
A perfectly round, translucent blue pill rolled out, coming to rest on the black velvet appraisal tray. It glowed with an inner sapphire light. And swirling around its smooth surface were three delicate, cloud-like patterns that seemed to be breathing, actively absorbing the ambient spiritual energy from the air itself.
"P-Pill Veins..." The clerk gasped, all the blood draining from his face. His knees completely gave out, and he collapsed heavily onto the floor behind the counter, staring at the pill as if it were a god. "One hundred percent purity... Heavens! A Perfect Grade Pill!"
The entire first floor erupted into a frenzy.
"A Perfect Grade Qi-Gathering Pill?!" "Who is that cloaked man? A Grandmaster?!" "Guards! Close the doors! Don't let anyone send a sound transmission!"
"What is the meaning of this commotion?!"
A cold, melodic voice, carrying the terrifying, crushing pressure of a Foundation Establishment expert, echoed from the spiraling redwood staircase. The chaotic crowd instantly froze, terrified of the aura.
A stunning woman in a crimson silk dress descended gracefully. It was Madame Su, the enigmatic owner of the Blue Cloud Pavilion branch. She possessed a mature, devastating beauty, her eyes sharp and calculating like a hawk's. She was known to be ruthless in business and utterly unapproachable.
But her cold, composed demeanor completely shattered the moment her beautiful, sharp eyes landed on the blue pill resting on the velvet tray.
She didn't walk; she practically blurred across the room, ignoring the fallen, trembling clerk entirely. She gripped the edge of the crystal counter, her chest heaving heavily as she stared at the three veins on the pill.
She was a high-tier appraiser. She knew the legends. Only an alchemist who had touched the true essence of the Heavenly Dao could forge a pill without a single trace of impurity. Such figures did not exist in this barren province. They were monsters from the central continents, or perhaps even the Upper Realms.
When she finally managed to tear her gaze away from the pill and look up at the ragged, cloaked figure, all of her previous aristocratic arrogance was gone. In its place was absolute, terrifying reverence.
"Senior," Madame Su bowed deeply, the curve of her crimson dress pooling on the floor. Her voice, usually so commanding, was actually trembling with excitement and fear. "Please forgive my subordinate's profound blindness. He is young and ignorant of true greatness. Would Senior do me the immense honor of speaking in the highest VIP chamber upstairs?"
Beneath the hood, Lin Mo's golden eyes glinted. He gave a slow, barely perceptible nod.
The bait was taken.
The VIP chamber on the fifth floor was a sanctuary of luxury. The walls were lined with sound-isolating arrays, and the furniture was carved from thousands-year-old Spirit-Nourishing Wood.
Yet, the room was entirely silent, save for the soft sound of Madame Su pouring a cup of glowing, emerald Thousand-Year Spirit Tea. Her hands, usually so steady when negotiating deals worth millions, were visibly shaking.
She placed the teacup respectfully before the cloaked figure, who hadn't moved an inch since sitting down.
"Senior," she began, her tone incredibly careful, as if speaking to a sleeping dragon. "I will not insult your intelligence with petty haggling. Our Myriad Treasure Pavilion is willing to offer one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones for this single Perfect Grade pill. Furthermore, we will issue you our supreme Black Gold VIP Token. Anything you purchase here will be at half price, and our information network will be at your disposal."
One hundred thousand spirit stones!
Lin Mo's heart skipped a beat, hammering furiously against his ribs. A Fire Servant only earned two stones a month. That was enough wealth to buy the entire Outer Sect! With that money, he could buy the best cultivation arts, defensive treasures, and explosive talismans in the city.
But he knew he couldn't show a shred of weakness or greed. He was playing a role.
Beneath the cloak, his posture remained relaxed, almost bored. He let out a low, raspy chuckle that sounded like grinding stones.
"Spirit stones?" Lin Mo scoffed, his voice dripping with ancient disdain. "Do you think this old master lacks such mundane, heavy rocks? I came to this remote, barren city because I heard the Myriad Treasure Pavilion had a vast, interesting collection. It seems I was mistaken. You operate like mortal merchants."
He reached out from beneath his cloak—his hand purposely coated in dark ash to hide his youth—and moved to take the pill back.
Madame Su's face paled drastically. Panic flashed in her sharp eyes. To offend a Grandmaster who could casually toss out a Perfect Grade pill was a catastrophic failure.
She quickly bowed again, her forehead nearly touching the table. "Wait! Please, Senior, forgive my ignorance! I spoke out of turn. What is it that you truly desire? Heavenly herbs? High-grade weapon blueprints? Ancient martial arts? As long as it exists within the Blue Cloud Province, I will mobilize all our forces to get it for you."
"Trash," Lin Mo said simply.
Madame Su blinked, her mind going blank. She thought she had misheard him. "E-Excuse me, Senior?"
"I want the things you deem useless," Lin Mo continued, tapping his ash-stained finger rhythmically on the table, projecting an aura of absolute boredom. "The shattered fragments of ancient, rusted artifacts that your appraisers cannot fix. The corrupted, venomous spirit seeds that no one dares to plant because they drain life force. The toxic ash and slag left behind by your failed alchemists."
He leaned forward slightly, the shadows of his hood swallowing his face. "Give me all of it. Empty your garbage vaults, your failed experiment wings, and your corrupted storage rings into my possession. Do that, and this pill... is yours."
Madame Su stared at the cloaked figure in absolute, mind-numbing shock.
He wants... toxic waste and broken iron? For a Perfect Grade Pill?
Her sharp merchant's brain spun wildly, trying to find the logic. And then, a terrifying, awe-inspiring thought struck her. She remembered an obscure, ancient legend recorded in the Pavilion's secret archives.
It was said that true Divine Grandmasters—entities who had transcended the mortal understanding of alchemy—no longer needed rare spiritual herbs to forge miracles. They practiced the 'Dao of Rebirth.' They could extract the purest essence of the universe from the most corrupted, shattered, and decayed remains of the world. To them, creation and destruction were one and the same.
Could this person in front of her be... one of those mythical monsters?! Was he testing her?!
"I... I understand completely, Senior!" Madame Su swallowed hard, a cold sweat breaking out on her back. Her eyes were now filled with absolute, fanatical reverence. "The Pavilion has three underground vaults dedicated solely to storing highly toxic alchemical runoff and shattered, cursed artifacts we couldn't destroy. I will have them all transferred into a high-capacity storage ring for you immediately!"
She practically ran out of the room to issue the orders, terrified that the 'Eccentric Senior' might change his mind.
Left alone in the luxurious VIP room, Lin Mo finally allowed himself to take a breath. He reached out and took a sip of the Thousand-Year Spirit Tea.
Beneath the dark hood, his lips curled into a wide, predatory smile.
He didn't just get a fortune. He had just secured a limitless supply of raw materials for his Heavenly Forge System, completely free of charge. He was about to become the most terrifyingly well-equipped cultivator in the Blue Cloud Sect.
It was time to head back to the sect. The Outer Sect Tournament was starting today, and Young Master Zhao was waiting for him.