novelapdf Chapter 36 Strengthening the Storage Bag
Chapter 36 Strengthening the Storage Bag
Zhang Lin stored the acquired medicinal herbs in the warehouse, pondering his next move.
Although these medicinal herbs are of poor quality, they can be transformed into superior-grade ones through system enhancement.
Whether you refine pills or sell them directly, it will be a sure-fire way to make a profit.
However, before that, he still needs a real alchemy furnace.
Thinking of this, his gaze fell on the alchemy furnace behind the counter.
It's called an alchemy furnace, but it's actually just a ceramic pot.
This was a low-grade magic weapon that he bought from the market for two spirit stones. After strengthening it into a medium-grade magic weapon, he originally intended to use it to try alchemy.
But even if a pottery jar becomes a magical artifact, it is still just a pottery jar, not a real alchemy furnace.
These past few days, he has been trying to refine the Qi-nourishing pills using a ceramic jar.
The first time, he used his inner energy to control the fire, put the elixir into the pottery jar, and carefully controlled the heat.
However, the ceramic pot was made of poor material and could not withstand the temperature of the true energy. It cracked in less than a quarter of an hour, destroying all the medicinal materials and filling the shop with a burnt smell.
The second time, he used a different earthenware pot, reduced the heat to the lowest setting, and carefully added the elixir, slowly simmering it.
This time, the pottery jar did not crack.
But when he opened the jar, he saw several dark pills lying at the bottom. They were irregularly shaped, mottled in color, and had a burnt smell mixed with the medicinal fragrance.
Inferior quality, mediocre medicine.
Zhang Lin picked one up, smelled it, tasted it, and frowned.
The efficacy is less than 30% of that of a normal Grade One Peiyuan Pill.
Even if such pills were sold, they wouldn't fetch a good price; they wouldn't be worth as much as the spiritual herbs he had wasted.
Moreover, the medicine is of poor efficacy and contains many impurities, making it harmful rather than beneficial to take.
"We must buy a real alchemy furnace."
Zhang Lin put down the inferior Qi-Nourishing Pill, already having made up his mind.
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The next day, he disguised himself as Lin Xuan and went to Heming Hall.
Sun He was fiddling with an abacus behind the counter when he saw Zhang Lin come in. He put down the abacus, stood up, and bowed.
"Fellow Daoist Lin, it's been a long time. What brings you here?"
Zhang Lin sat down at the counter, took the teacup handed to him by Sun He, took a sip, and got straight to the point.
"Fellow Daoist Sun, I would like to ask if there are any fellow Daoists in Qingyun Town who sell alchemy furnaces?"
Sun He stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and said, "An alchemy furnace? In a small place like Qingyun Town, who would sell such a thing?"
He paused, then asked, "What's wrong? Is Fellow Daoist Lin's alchemy furnace broken?"
"It exploded." Zhang Lin said without changing his expression. "I didn't control the heat well when refining pills yesterday, and the furnace exploded."
Upon hearing this, Sun He gasped.
An explosion in the alchemy furnace is a major incident.
At best, the pills will be destroyed; at worst, people will be killed. It is extremely fortunate to escape unscathed.
"Is Fellow Daoist Lin alright?"
"It's alright," Zhang Lin waved his hand. "It's just that the alchemy furnace is destroyed, and I don't have any suitable tools on hand. Does Fellow Daoist Sun know where I can buy an alchemy furnace?"
Sun He pondered for a moment and said, "Qingyun Town doesn't have it, but Qingxuan City does."
"This is a large border city in the Southern Wilderness Continent, more than 800 li away from Qingyun Town," Sun He said. "The market in the city is more than ten times larger than that of Qingyun Town, with shops selling magical artifacts, elixirs, and talismans—you name it."
"Alchemy furnaces are definitely sold in the magic weapon shops in Qingxuan City."
"There's a teleportation array in Qingyun Town that leads directly to Qingxuan City," Sun He said. "It costs fifty spirit stones per trip."
Fifty spirit stones.
This price isn't cheap; it could buy a 20-year-old orchid, but it's not expensive either.
The journey of over 800 li would take at least three to five days to cover on foot.
With a teleportation array providing direct access, saving time and effort, it was worthwhile for Zhang Lin, who had plenty of money, to spend those fifty spirit stones.
"Does Fellow Daoist Sun know which magic artifact shop in Qingxuan City has the best alchemy furnaces?"
Sun He thought for a moment and said, "There are three long-established magic weapon shops in Qingxuan City: Tiangongfang, Baiqige, and Xuanluzhai."
"Tiangongfang is known for its crafting of magical artifacts, Baiqige mainly deals in the sale of magical artifacts, and Xuanluzhai specializes in alchemy furnaces and cauldrons. In terms of the quality of alchemy furnaces, Xuanluzhai is undoubtedly the best."
He paused, then added, "However, the alchemy furnaces at Xuanluzhai are quite expensive; even the cheapest one costs several hundred spirit stones."
"If it's a high-grade alchemy furnace, it can easily cost thousands of spirit stones, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people."
Zhang Lin nodded, already having made up his mind.
Hundreds of spirit stones were no problem for him.
The key is that the alchemy furnace must be of good quality, at least enough to support the refinement of first-grade pills.
"Thank you for your guidance, Fellow Daoist Sun." Zhang Lin stood up and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Fellow Daoist Lin is too kind," Sun He said with a smile. "If Fellow Daoist Lin goes to Qingxuan City, you might as well visit Tianbao Pavilion."
"Tianbao Pavilion is a business owned by the Ye family, the largest spirit stone trading company in the world, and it also has a branch in Qingxuan City."
"Fellow Daoist Ruolin is short of spirit stones. You can use your treasures to exchange for some spirit stones at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion."
Zhang Lin's heart stirred. It was indeed difficult to sell top-grade magic weapons like the Azure Scale Armor and third-tier spells in places like Qingyun Town.
Tianbao Pavilion, Ye family.
One of the five major surnames, the Ye family of Dongshengzhou, passed down their business acumen and controlled the largest spirit stone trading company in the world.
Tianbao Pavilion's business spans the entire world, with branches even in small border towns like Qingxuan City.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Sun. I will remember this."
After bidding farewell to Sun He, Zhang Lin returned to his shop, sat cross-legged in the backyard, and began planning his trip to Qingxuan City.
The trip to Qingxuan City will take at least a day or two. Besides spirit stones, I also need to strengthen my storage bag, otherwise I won't be able to fit too many things in it.
Zhang Lin summoned the system light screen and placed the storage bag in his palm.
The light screen flickered slightly, and text appeared:
Storage bag (low-grade spatial artifact)
Capacity: Three feet square
Space stability: Average (retrieval may be delayed when too many items are stored).
Concealment: None (the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the storage bag can be detected with spiritual sense).
It can be enhanced. Consumes 500 spirit stones. Enhanced effect: Superior spatial magic artifact, with two new random traits.
"strengthen."
Zhang Lin had a sudden thought.
Five hundred spirit stones flew out of the storage bag and hovered in mid-air, their milky white spiritual light gathering like fireflies.
The system's light screen trembled slightly, and five hundred thin beams of spiritual light shot towards the dusty gray storage bag simultaneously.
The light spread along the lines of the bag opening to the body of the bag, and wherever it passed, the dusty bag surface seemed to have been washed with water, losing its old color and revealing a deep navy blue.
The texture of the silkworm silk becomes fine and tight, and the originally loose silk threads are rewoven. Between the warp and weft, there is a faint flow of spiritual light.
The patterns on the bag's surface were no longer chaotic, but instead formed a rune-like pattern, which was the external manifestation of a spatial array.
The whole process lasted about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.
As the light faded, a brand new storage bag lay quietly in Zhang Lin's palm.
Storage bag (superior spatial artifact)
Capacity: One zhang square
Spatial stability: Stable, with no delay in storing or retrieving items.
New Feature: Mind Reception
New feature: Anti-spying
Zhang Lin tied the enhanced storage bag to his waist and with a thought.
The bag opened slightly, and a gentle suction force emanated from it, drawing in the spirit stones, pill bottles, and magical artifacts scattered on the stone platform.
He tried to take multiple items at the same time.
A medicine bottle appeared in his left palm, and a spirit stone appeared in his right palm at the same time.
No delay, no interference, now I don't have to take things out one by one.
He then tried hiding the storage bag inside his robe.
With the aura-gathering property activated, the spiritual energy fluctuations on the bag almost disappeared.
He placed his hand on the bag, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed it, but could only detect a very faint trace of spiritual energy. If he didn't deliberately investigate, he wouldn't notice it at all.
Zhang Lin nodded in satisfaction.
This is the characteristic that Zhang Lin is most satisfied with.
In the cultivation world, murder and robbery are common occurrences.
To determine whether someone is worth taking action against, the first thing to do is to look at their storage bag. The stronger the spiritual energy emanating from it, the more wealthy the person is.
However, with its anti-peeping properties, when others use their spiritual sense to examine this storage bag, they can only perceive ordinary miscellaneous items and a few scattered spirit stones.
Anyone who saw this would think he was a poor, rogue cultivator, not worth fighting.