Chapter 65 - 65 That's Not a Problem
65 That’s Not a Problem
Night had set in.
The dark night enveloped the entire black street.
It had been more than half a month since he was here, and this place was still as gloomy and cold as ever.
On both sides of the dark street, the doors of various shops were half-closed. The passers-by were all in a hurry, and everyone there felt sneaky.
That included Lin Shen.
After learning the lesson of being recognized by the elderly man, Lin Shen put on a long black robe before entering the black street.
Apart from using the Face Changing Pill, he also wore a mask.
With such three layers of concealment, even if the elderly man stood in front of Lin Shen again, he would not be able to recognize him.
Lin Shen arrived at the shop with ease and knocked on the counter.
“I want some Condensing Liquid.”
The boss glanced at him and took out a box of Condensing Liquid from under the counter.
Lin Shen glanced at it and frowned slightly.
“Only ten liters?”
“That’s all we have,” the boss said lazily.
Lin Shen sighed inwardly, paid the boss, and took the Condensing Liquid.
“Ten liters of Condensing Liquid can increase my cultivation progress by at most 20%. The gap is still huge!”
Walking out of the shop, Lin Shen frowned.
He still had less than 400,000 spirit coins on hand. If he used them all to buy Origin Pills, he could only buy six bottles at most, which would increase his cultivation progress by no more than 12%. He was still more than 50% away from breaking through to the Long Breath Stage.
“Origin Pills are still too expensive. I wish there were other pills as cheap and useful as Condensing Liquid.”
Lin Shen thought to himself.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw a person sitting by the roadside. He turned around and saw it was Old Wu.
Old Wu was holding a pig trotter and sitting by the roadside, munching on it with relish. The beard under his chin was covered in grease.
Old Wu also noticed Lin Shen. After taking a look, he looked away and continued eating. Clearly, he didn’t recognize Lin Shen in his “full armor”.
Lin Shen had no intention of greeting the elderly man, so he continued walking. However, after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned around to walk toward the elderly man.
Noticing his actions, the elderly man was puzzled at first. Then, he rolled his eyes and chuckled.
“Young man, I see you have extraordinary bone structure. You’re a cultivation genius, one in a million…”
Lin Shen raised his hand and cut Old Wu off.
“Stop, Old Wu. I’m not buying your secret manual.”
The elderly man was stunned. He sized Lin Shen up and said hesitantly, “You are…”
“20 spirit coins and Lurking Snake,” Lin Shen said calmly.
As soon as these two keywords were mentioned, Old Wu immediately came to a realization and recognized Lin Shen.
“It’s you!”
He glanced at Lin Shen’s attire and chuckled.
“You’ve put on quite a few layers of clothes this time. From the looks of it, you probably won’t take the initiative to talk to me if you don’t have any questions to ask me. Do you need my help with something?”
Lin Shen took a long look at the elderly man. He was indeed very shrewd.
He didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
“Do you know where I can buy things like Condensing Liquid or similar pills and rare herbs in the black street?”
Old Wu was stunned when he heard this. He glanced at Lin Shen and frowned.
“Seriously? Although I don’t know your exact cultivation level, I can tell it’s definitely not lower than the sixth level of Qi Transformation. With your age, you’re already pretty good. There’s no need to use something like Condensing Liquid to increase your strength. It’ll have serious consequences.”
Lin Shen was about to speak when Old Wu raised his hand to stop him.
“Wait, don’t tell me the reason. Curiosity gets a cat killed. The more I know, the faster I’ll die. I still want to live for a few more years.”
After a pause, the elderly man continued.
“But you asked the right person. I might not be familiar with other things, but this is my area of expertise!”
Old Wu stroked his beard as if he wanted to look like a sage. Unfortunately, the pig trotter in his hand completely ruined the atmosphere.
He wanted to throw away the pig trotter, but he couldn’t bear to do it.
Lin Shen found it funny and urged Old Wu, “Alright, stop fiddling with your pig trotter. I’ll buy you dinner later. Answer my question first.”
Upon hearing that there was free food, Old Wu immediately perked up and said,
“There are many rare herbs with effects similar to Condensing Liquid, such as Blood Boiling Powder, Snake Orchid, Poison Flame Mushroom…”
Old Wu listed more than ten kinds of pills and rare herbs in one go.
“All those things can be used to assist in cultivation and temper the body to strengthen one’s vitality. However, there are also various side effects. It can either reduce one’s lifespan or damage one’s foundation, making one unable to advance to a cultivator master for the rest of their life. In serious cases, it can even cause one to become mentally deranged and develop mental obstacles. Unless one has no choice, they definitely won’t eat these things!”
Old Wu’s tone was rarely solemn, and the consequences he mentioned were each more serious than the last.
However, the more Lin Shen listened, the brighter his eyes became.
Reducing lifespan and damaging the foundation?
That wouldn’t be an issue!
It was fine as long as it could increase his cultivation level!
In any case, he wasn’t the one eating them!
Suppressing the surprise in his heart, Lin Shen hurriedly asked, “Where are these things sold on the black street?”
Old Wu’s expression froze. He didn’t expect Lin Shen wouldn’t listen to a single word he said. The young man still insisted on buying those medicinal pills and rare herbs with powerful side effects.
Despite his criticisms, Old Wu still answered honestly,
“There are a few stores that should sell it.”
“Show me!”
“I can, but…”
Old Wu chuckled and rubbed his hands.
Lin Shen took out 200 spirit coins and stuffed them into Old Wu’s hand.
With the reward, Old Wu was instantly full of energy. He immediately turned around and led the way for Lin Shen.
Old Wu didn’t seem to be a trustworthy person, but since he was paid to do so, he didn’t lie to Lin Shen. Soon, he brought Lin Shen to four or five shops and successfully obtained many of the medicinal pills and rare herbs mentioned previously.
The three bottles of Blood Boiling Powder cost 3,000 spirit coins each.
The two Snake Orchids were each worth 5,000 spirit coins.
The two Poison Flame Mushrooms cost 8,000 spirit coins each.
According to Old Wu, these things were more effective than the Condensing Liquid.
Of course, the side effects were also more powerful.
However, Lin Shen didn’t care at all. As long as he saw them, he would buy them without hesitation.
By the time the two of them had walked through four or five shops, the horizon was already getting brighter.
Seeing this, Lin Shen thought for a moment and turned around.
“Old Wu, how about we make a deal? Help me collect these pills and rare herbs, and I’ll give you spirit coins. How about that?”
He still had to focus on cultivating next and didn’t have that much time to run back and forth. He might as well spend some money to get Old Wu’s help.
Old Wu was happily counting the spirit coins Lin Shen had given him. When he heard this, he agreed without thinking.
“No problem, but you have to give me the funds to buy it first. I don’t have the money to pay in advance.”
Lin Shen nodded slightly.
Despite that, the two of them were still strangers. Lin Shen didn’t give too much money at once. He only gave 30,000 spirit coins to Old Wu. Even if Old Wu escaped with the money, Lin Shen wouldn’t lose too much.
However, in Lin Shen’s opinion, although Old Wu was greedy and liked to take advantage of others, he wasn’t the type to run off with the money.