Li Mingli took his first few steps inside the city and took a look around the different vendors. Some were selling monster parts, clothes, cultivation pills and items, books, and most importantly food!
As he gravitated towards the food, he could smell the intense aroma that permeated through the air from the delicious, mouth watering meat. He went up to the nearest street vendor that sold meat and bought lamb kebabs that were still sizzling from the heat in exchange for 1 silver coin. He received a surprising look from the vendor before receiving 80 copper coins back in exchange. Li Mingli wasn't sure if he was scamming him, but he didn't care as all this thoughts turned towards the pieces of meat he received.
The first bite was heavenly, and the second one nearly took him there as his eyes started watering from how tasty they were. Li Mingli would have even let out some moans if it weren't for the many people around him. As he savored every last bite, he quickly finished his lamb kebabs but was still hungry. So he took the 80 copper coins he received in exchange and bought 4 times the amount of lamb kebabs from before. In an instant, he gobbled them all up and appeared satisfied.
After walking around and looking a little too happy, Li Mingli browsed around the place and looked for somewhere to stay. He recalled the Blossom Inn that Qing Feng told him about and turned to people to ask about it. Luckily, it was nearby so he made his way there to the receptionist. As he looked at the inn, there was a sign in plain letters that said "Blossom Inn" with a flower blossom right next to it. The inn was bigger than the residential buildings surrounding it and inside, the lobby was crowded with people eating meals as it was time for dinner.
Li Mingli stepped inside and then went to the receptionist to find a place to stay. As the receptionist saw Li Mingli heading in her direction, she let out a warm smile.
"What room would you like to stay in? A single or a double or perhaps our premium room?"
"How much does a single room cost per night?" Li Mingli asked as it was probably the cheapest room.
"It costs about 15 copper coins per night. If you're willing to include breakfast, lunch, and dinner during your stay, it will cost about 30 copper coins per night." The receptionist fairly explained.
Li Mingli then recalled how much he spent on the lamb kebabs a few moments ago.
"Damn, I got scammed by that vendor." He thought to himself.
"I'll stay for 6 nights including the full day's meals." Li Mingli replied and handed her 2 silver coins from his pouch.
"Thank you." The receptionist took the silver coins and then gave 20 copper coins in exchange and also a key to his room numbered 221.
"Ah, also do you know anyone by the name of Qing Feng? He looks like a merchant and he told me that he'd stay here." Li Mingli said before he forgot to ask about his acquaintance.
"A merchant? Oh, I saw one come here before you just a couple moments ago. He should be in room 233."
"Thank you." Li Mingli gave her 10 copper coins in exchange for the information before leaving.
The receptionist looked surprised at receiving the coins before taking and putting them in her tip jar which was mostly empty.
Li Mingli then headed upstairs to go straight to his room to check it out. Inside his room, there was a single bed with a window that showed the bustling street outside. There were plain curtains on the window that could close in case you didn't want the light inside. Next to the bed was a small cabinet that could be used to store things inside.
Curious about the cabinet, Li Mingli opened the drawers and found a couple useless seeming items inside. In the first drawer there were a couple black shaped balls the size of a marble with a note that said "Useless". They had a slight luster on them which made them stand out. The second drawer had nothing and so did the third and last drawer.
When he picked up the black marble-like objects, he noticed a profound aura coming from them.
"These are probably pills, why would someone leave them here and put a note saying they're useless?" He thought out loud.
After observing them from different angles a couple moments longer, Li Mingli decided to bring these pill-like objects to Qing Feng who might know what they are. Leaving his room and locking the door, he trotted toward the end of the hallway where the numbers were increasing. Finally he found the room numbered 233. Shortly after he knocked on the door, Qing Feng opened the door with his eyes open in surprise, not expecting Li Mingli to find him so quickly.
"Hello Qing Feng, can we talk inside your room? Otherwise we might attract unwanted attention."
Qing Feng nodded his head before leading Li Mingli into his single sized room. It was nearly identical to Li Mingli's with the exception of a cabinet and a couple other objects placed around the room. After Qing Feng closed the door and locked it, he puzzledly looked at the powerful man he met not long ago.
"So soon to find me? Is there something you need senior Li?"
"I found something in my room's cabinet as I was checking my room out." Li Mingli held out his hand which revealed 3 black shaped balls with a luster on their surface.
Qing Feng's face was slightly puzzled before realizing what they were, causing his mouth to drop wide open and eyes to almost bulge out.
"What? What are they to cause such a reaction?"
"S-Senior might not care, but they are high quality qi refining pills! If someone in the Qi Gathering stage consumes them, even with 30% absorption they can increase their cultivation by almost an entire minor realm! They are very valuable pills and you say they were found in your cabinet?" Qing Feng looked utterly in disbelief.
"Ah, qi refining pills. What would happen if someone in the Mortal realm decided to take them?" Li Mingli subtly asked.
"...They would either burst from the amount of qi contained or have their prospects of forming their dantian disappear. Why do you ask senior?"
"Someone I know happens to be at the mortal realm." He replied by lying and to create an excuse to ask a bit more about cultivation.
"Do you happen to have any books on cultivation? I want to give him one as a gift from me. In exchange I can give you one pill which will act as interest from the 5 silver coins you gave me."
Qing Feng had a gleaming expression on his face but also inwardly felt a pang of jealousy. Whoever had managed to gain the favor of Senior Li Mingli was extremely lucky.
"I don't have one on me right now but I know a place where we can buy good quality cultivation manuals."
"After that, I can introduce you to the scholar I talked about."
Li Mingli nodded and gestured for Qing Feng to lead the way.
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"Here we are. This store has good cultivation manuals for mortals to cultivate."
"I personally recommend the Dantian Path method as it is very efficient out of all the others at creating a dantian."
"Is there any other more efficient cultivation manuals for mortals?" Li Mingli inquired as he remembered his "Heavenly-reforming talent".
"There is, but I don't recommend you get it. It is much more difficult than the others and even though it is cheaper, the risk of failing and permanently becoming a mortal is quite high."
"What is it? The person I know has quite high talent so they would probably benefit from it."
"It is called the Forging Path method but I'm not sure if they have it here, so I'll ask." Qing Feng went to the book store receptionist and asked if they had the Forging Path method.
The receptionist replied yes and showed Qing Feng the corner of the store before taking out a book near the bottom of the shelf. He then gave it to him and told him the price before he came back to Li Mingli.
"This is the Forging Path method and it costs 10 silver coins which is quite cheap."
Li Mingli nodded: "Yes, this seems quite suitable as a gift. I'll give you the qi refining pill after you buy it."
Qing Feng then went up to the receptionist and bought it before coming back to exchange the items. Li Mingli gave his qi refining pill for the cultivation manual and looked quite pleased in return. He then stuffed it in his clothes as to not attract any thieves who could easily take his manual.
"Are you now going to take me to the scholar?"
"Yes, follow me. He is only a li further away in the city." Qing Feng opened the door and started trotting down the street.
The two of them quickly arrived at the scholar's place which appeared relatively run down compared to the other residential buildings. Qing Feng went up to the door and started knocking on it.
"It's me Qing Feng, open the door. I have someone to introduce to you." Qing Feng rapidly knocked on the door.
Soon the door opened up and a middle aged man appeared. He had a ragged appearance with graying hair and had a scholarly vibe around him with his less than plain clothes.
"Someone to introduce to me Qing Feng? Who?"
"His name is Li Mingli. He is an impressive cultivation expert at the Qi Refining stage, so don't offend him."
The scholar nodded before Li Mingli went up to meet him.
"I heard you are quite knowledgeable, even more than Qing Feng. What is your name?"
"My name is Zhao Mu, senior Li." Zhao Mu bowed towards him with an expression of admiration.
"I hope we will get along with each other as I have a lot of questions. Even though I am at the Qi Refining stage, I am a relatively secluded hermit that recently went out of seclusion, so I lack some common sense that others might have." He explained as to not have any burgeoning questions.
"Yes, senior Li. I will explain things to the best of my ability if you ask me something you don't know."
Li Mingli smiled: "Then I hope we will meet again soon. I have to bring something over to a friend I know before I can come back."
"I hope you return safely." Zhao Mu respectfully bowed again to Li Mingli.
He then set off with Qing Feng to return back to their inn.
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"Phew, today was so exhausting, especially when having to act as some expert when I don't know the slightest thing about cultivation. I better start cultivating as being merely at the Mortal realm will surely bring disaster for me sooner or later!" Li Mingli exclaimed to himself.
He then took out his cultivation manual from inside his clothes and read the cover Forging Path before starting to read the whole book. It was not very thick, only a few centimeters wide so it only took a couple hours to finish reading. While he was reading, Li Mingli could feel himself comprehending everything inside the book which explained detailly on how to move qi through the channels to create a dantian. He then began to start cultivating when his system appeared in front of him again.
< Reward: ???>>
"No hint this time?" Li Mingli became slightly disappointed but the appearance of the mission mitigated that.
The system then disappeared and he began to cultivate and moved his qi the way it was described in the book. He had to circulate it through his body and start to accumulate it at the center to around the size of a marble. If not done carefully it could cause qi to be dispersed whenever trying to accumulate it. Li Mingli did it tedious, step by step like the book described almost as if he was rock climbing. In just half an hour he was able to break through the the fourth stage of the Mortal realm. He was only 1 step away from constructing an actual dantian, so he continuously kept cultivating after stabilizing his body. After about another half hour he was finally able to construct his dantian according to the book and he could feel that qi was flowing very efficiently.
"Yes! Now I just need to gather some qi and I'll be able to reach the Qi Gathering stage!"
Li Mingli started gathering his qi in his dantian through circulating the qi from the meridians to his dantian, but he felt something was wrong. No matter how much qi he gathered, it felt like it barely filled up his dantian at all. According to the book, it said that you should be able to feel the qi filling up your dantian but he did not feel that at all. After thinking for a moment more, he decided to go to the scholar Zhou that Qing Feng introduced him to.
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knock knock knock
Li Mingli knocked the door in rapid succession like Qing Feng did, and the middle aged man soon opened the door. He gestured at the doorframe to follow him and Li Mingli did just that. After they arrived at his room that looked somewhat dilapidated and haphazard, Zhao Mu sat down on his chair to his desk before inviting Li Mingli to sit right next to him.
"How may I help you senior Li?"
Li Mingli sat down: "Yes, shortly after I gave a cultivation manual to my mortal friend, he started cultivating it and was able to reach the fifth stage of the Mortal realm. However, when he tried accumulating qi inside his dantian, he said that it didn't fill up at all which I don't know why."
Zhao Mu was thinking for a moment before looking like he came to a realization.
"Ah, didn't you mention that your friend had a very high talent? It's most certainly because of that. When geniuses create a dantian, it requires more qi to fill them compared to an average person. That is probably why he can't fill up his dantian."
"How do you resolve this issue? Does he need to consume a cultivation pill to fill up his dantian unlike the normal person?"
"Yes, that is why geniuses require much more resources compared to normal people. To solve this issue, he would most likely need to consume a qi gathering pill to meet the qi requirements for the Qi Gathering stage."
"What about a qi refining pill?" Li Mingli asked as he did not have a qi gathering pill.
"A qi refining pill might work, but even for geniuses it would most likely be too much for them to handle. Unless qi gathering pills don't work, he should consume a qi gathering pill to avoid any risk."
"How much do qi gathering pills cost?"
"Low to medium quality ones cost around 10 silver coins. If you want a high to peak quality pill, it would cost around 30 silver coins."
"So many silver coins for just a qi gathering pill?"
"Cultivation pills are very expensive especially when it's of at least high quality. Starting from qi refining pills is when they get really expensive."
"So how much does a single high quality qi refining pill cost?"
Zhao Mu thought for a bit: "Probably around 5 to 10 gold coins."
Li Mingli's face wanted to jaw drop right there, but he resisted the urge as otherwise it would give away his impression. Instead he began to ask other questions related to cultivation to keep his composure. The two of them chatted for a while and Li Mingli was able to learn a lot. Before he left, Li Mingli gave him his thanks and gave him his sincere smile. Zhao Mu received it gladly as payment, for the favor of such an expert outweighed anything else he could give him.
Li Mingli then left and quickly returned to his inn heading to room 233. After knocking on the door, Qing Feng opened and this time preparedly led him inside his room. Quickly explaining his situation to Qing Feng, Li Mingli asked for a qi gathering pill to which Qing Feng agreed to Li's assurance.
"With this I will reach the Qi Gathering Stage." He thought.