Eternal Life Begins with Learning

Three Spirit Stones, one stall, and the right to use it for twenty-four hours.

On the stall lay a volume of *Alchemy Basics* and a Pill Recipe for the Grain Avoidance Pill.

In the end, faced with the choice between morality and reality, Chu Mu chose reality.

He couldn’t bring himself to risk his life to defend his own moral principles.

Even if he himself found his actions somewhat despicable.

Chu Mu sat cross-legged behind his stall, closing his eyes to rest his mind.

A price was already swirling in his mind. The *Alchemy Basics* was truly foundational. It included not only the alchemy inheritance left by Elder Li but also his own knowledge of people and medicine from the secular world.

Whoever obtained it, as long as they had a brain, would have absolutely no problem stepping through the gates of the art of alchemy.

Once he decided on a price, Chu Mu’s attention shifted to the Blood Killing Order he carried.

He had just wandered around the Marketplace, and using the information stored within the Blood Killing Order, he had already pinpointed the location of the Blood Killing Pavilion’s contact point.

It was located in the Northwest corner of the Marketplace, a very inconspicuous building with its door ajar. He wasn’t sure if anyone was inside.

What Chu Mu was even more uncertain about was this: though the information in the Blood Killing Order said it recognized the token and not the person, was that actually true?

Furthermore, if he really went to claim this Blood Killing Order, would there be some kind of mandatory rules?

Right now, he was just a paper tiger—one poke and he’d fall apart.

Against the vast majority of Cultivators, he could only fight with his life on the line, and even then, he wasn’t guaranteed to win...

Chu Mu silently weighed the pros and cons. But no matter what, if this Blood Killing Order truly recognized the token and not the person, and if the Blood Killing Pavilion behind it was truly a massive organization...

Then, the value of this Blood Killing Order was bound to be immense.

This was especially true for him.

After all, an organization was bound to have reward and punishment measures for its members.

The rewards would surely include knowledge and materials that were hard to come by on the market. Otherwise, given the self-serving nature of Cultivators who prioritize their own benefit, they would never be willing to be controlled.

And if the Blood Killing Order’s trait of recognizing the token, not the person, was true, it meant the organization’s rules must be relatively lax.

A lax organization, coupled with the fact that it possessed knowledge and materials rare on the market—wouldn’t that be a perfect fit for him?

There was another point that couldn’t be ignored: the Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World was the territory of the Longevity Sect...

What kind of relationship did the Blood Killing Pavilion, hiding so furtively within it, have with the Longevity Sect?

Chu Mu’s eyes opened. He touched his cheek, unable to feel the Illusionary God Mask at all, and fell into thought.

"How many Spirit Stones for the *Alchemy Basics*?"

A Cultivator had stopped to ask.

"Five hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones."

Chu Mu was a man of few words. The price was extremely reasonable in this Black Market.

After all, this volume of *Alchemy Basics* was truly basic. It could even be said that it just barely touched upon the gateway to the Alchemy Skill, without going any deeper.

The only Pill Recipe, for the Grain Avoidance Pill, was one he had figured out himself by buying and studying Spiritual Food.

The man asked, "Does that include the recipe for the Grain Avoidance Pill?"

Chu Mu glanced at the man before him. "Including the Grain Avoidance Pill recipe, that’ll be seven hundred Spirit Stones."

The man asked again, "Can you go any lower?"

Chu Mu shook his head. "The price is firm. I can cover the Libra Pavilion’s transaction fee. You’ll have to swear an oath not to leak the contents."

"Too expensive."

The man shook his head and turned to leave.

Chu Mu glanced at the surrounding street, feeling the hidden, prying gazes on him, but his mind was calm.

Knowledge is wealth, but the most important prerequisite is being able to protect that wealth after converting the knowledge into it.

This was true whether one was selling the knowledge directly or selling the products derived from that knowledge.

The unseen warnings were very clear.

The moment he had set out this volume of *Alchemy Basics* at his stall, a good number of malicious gazes had gathered.

Chu Mu was certain that whether he successfully sold it or not, if he were to leave the Black Market so openly, what awaited him would surely be multiple deadly ambushes.

"I’ll take these *Alchemy Basics*."

A voice rang out. Chu Mu looked up to see a young woman in a white and purple Moon Tail Skirt standing before his stall, already holding out a Spirit Stone Bag.

He reached out and took it. Under his Divine Sense Perception, the five hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones were crystal clear, as were the Magical Power fluctuations of a Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation from the young woman.

Chu Mu nodded, picked up the book, and handed it to the young woman before him.

Chu Mu asked tentatively, "Would you like to have it appraised at the Libra Pavilion?"

"No need. Just give it here."

The young woman was full of confidence. She snatched the book, seemingly not at all worried about being scammed.

"You need to swear an oath not to leak the contents."

Chu Mu added, then said no more. He glanced around. The hidden, prying gazes from before seemed to... shy away at the young woman’s arrival?

The young woman was clearly aware of the non-disclosure rule. She raised a hand and recited a few lines of an oath, then began to casually flip through the *Alchemy Basics* book. After reading a few pages, she looked at Chu Mu and asked, "Are you an Alchemist?"

Chu Mu froze for a moment, then shook his head. "Not yet."

The young woman blinked and pointed at the book in her hand. "Did you write what’s in this book yourself?"

Chu Mu shook his head, still a man of few words. "N-no."

As if no one else was around, the young woman continued flipping through the book, even offering a commentary of sorts: "The descriptions are quite clear. I suppose it’s worth the price..."

Chu Mu remained silent. ’Such a high-profile display means she’s either a fool or she has nothing to fear.’

’Spending five hundred Spirit Stones without batting an eye... she’s obviously not a fool. That only leaves... having nothing to fear.’

"Ling’Er, look."

"What do you think of the Pill Furnace Daddy just bought for you?"

Just as Chu Mu was speculating, his gaze—and indeed, the gaze of more than half the street—was captured by a voice from not far away.

The reason was simple: a Top Grade Magical Artifact-rank Pill Furnace was being carried in the hands of a middle-aged man.

The man had a full head of silver hair and a Long Sword on his back. His bearing was originally stern and murderous, but now his face was all smiles as he strode over.

With a single glance, it wasn’t just Chu Mu; all the gazes on the street that had been drawn to the man immediately shifted away. The original clamor of the street turned deathly silent with his appearance.

A Top Grade Magical Artifact was great, very tempting, but the terrifying Magical Power fluctuations the middle-aged man wasn’t even trying to hide were even more frightening!

’Peak of Foundation Establishment? A Fake Pill realm expert?’

Chu Mu swallowed, not daring to take a second look. Recalling the terrifying Magical Power fluctuations he had just sensed, his heart surged.

"This Pill Furnace is so ugly! It’s not pretty!"

The young woman closed her book, pouting with dissatisfaction.

"How is it ugly? Don’t all Pill Furnaces look like this?"

The middle-aged man pinched the girl’s cheek and said with a chuckle, "If Ling’Er isn’t satisfied, Daddy will have one custom-made for you later."

"Daddy’s the best!"

The young woman hooked her arm through the middle-aged man’s, acting cute.

The corner of Chu Mu’s mouth twitched. He really couldn’t resist another glance at the Top Grade Magical Artifact-rank Pill Furnace.

’How is it ugly?’

’A Top Grade Magical Artifact Pill Furnace that costs nearly three thousand Spirit Stones... how could it be ugly? How could it possibly be ugly...’

Chu Mu clutched his Spirit Stone Bag. The huge sum of five hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones suddenly didn’t seem so impressive anymore.

Fortunately, this scene that inspired envy, jealousy, and hatred didn’t play out in front of Chu Mu for too long. Seemingly having spotted something else, the girl in the Moon Tail Skirt tugged the middle-aged man along and disappeared from Chu Mu’s sight.

Only then was the deathly silence that had enveloped the street slowly broken, and the clamor gradually returned.

And at this moment, the five hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones in Chu Mu’s possession immediately became the target of everyone’s attention.

The prying gazes that had dissipated almost immediately returned from all directions. Some of them were even brazenly unconcealed.

Chu Mu frowned, but he wasn’t too panicked. ’With a huge sum of five hundred Spirit Stones, I don’t need to be flustered. If worse comes to worst, I can just stay here for a few more days.’

The Marketplace was so large. When the time came, he could just hide in a random corner, change his appearance, and he would be a different person.

’But leaving the Black Market... that’s something I’ll have to plan carefully.’

’These Spirit Stones... I should also buy a temporary Storage Talisman to hold them. Otherwise, they’re too conspicuous...’

After a moment of thought, Chu Mu closed his eyes to rest his mind again.

’Five hundred Spirit Stones... still two hundred short.’

’If I can sell this Grain Avoidance Pill recipe, I’ll have seven hundred Spirit Stones. If I use them sparingly, that should be about enough.’

For the next several days, Chu Mu remained seated at his stall.

Although the Hundred Skills of Cultivation Immortal were very tempting to Cultivators, the reality was clear for those who couldn’t access them.

After all, knowledge was expensive, and the process of converting that knowledge into wealth was even more so. The costs involved were bound to be enormous.

This was a price that the average Cultivator absolutely could not afford.

Over the next few days, Chu Mu didn’t encounter another big spender like the young woman. Although many Cultivators came to ask, the high price dissuaded every single one of them.

However, the number of prying gazes, rather than decreasing, actually increased.

Five hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones and a copy of the basics of alchemy were enough to stir the hearts of many, many Cultivators.

On the sixth day, after spending twelve Spirit Stones on stall rental fees, Chu Mu finally sold the Pill Recipe for the Grain Avoidance Pill.

With the Spirit Stones in hand, Chu Mu didn’t linger at the stall for a second longer. He stood up and, under the many prying gazes, began to spend his Spirit Stones throughout the Black Market.

A slightly damaged Lower Grade Magical Artifact Pill Furnace cost two hundred and sixty Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

A Storage Talisman with a one-month time limit cost thirty Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

He also spent Spirit Stones on various other alchemy necessities—Spiritual Charcoal, Spirit Oil, Spirit Grain, and so on—and stuffed them all into the Storage Talisman.

In the end, he spent a total of six hundred and twelve Spirit Stones to complete the alchemy preparations he had been dreaming of.

He was left with eighty-nine Lower Grade Spirit Stones, which was the fallback plan Chu Mu had left for himself.

Eighty-nine Spirit Stones was enough for him to stay in this Black Market for eighty-nine days!

Stopping in front of a Human-shaped Puppet, Chu Mu sensed the prying gazes as his thoughts churned. He then took out ten Spirit Stones, handed them to the Puppet, and once again extended his stay in the Black Market.

What he had to do now was figure out how to save his own skin under all these watchful eyes and get out of Fengming Mountain alive.

If he made it out alive, the world would be his oyster. If he didn’t, he would have just been paving the way for someone else.

After his experiences these past few days, Chu Mu seemed to understand why Elder Li, despite possessing alchemy skills, had stayed cooped up in the secular world.

Without a background, without support, without powerful Cultivation or means to defend oneself, the wealth gained from knowledge was like a child carrying gold through a busy market—purely an act of suicide!

And now, he too was dancing on the edge of a blade. A paper tiger, torn with a single poke...

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