Cautiously Cultivating Immortality in a Strange World

Chapter 15: The Incomplete Manual

Although Chen Lin knew he had been swindled, he still felt very frustrated about losing twenty spirit stones to the scammer.

It was all because of his own lack of talent; if he could just learn the simplest Object Manipulation Technique, he wouldn't have been blinded by the Enlightenment Pill's formula.

Standing in the cold wind, he casually opened the paper scroll.

"Huh?"

Chen Lin let out a surprised cry.

He had thought it would be a blank paper or some random scribbles, but it was not what he expected.

The paper was not only filled with writing but was densely packed with ancient script!

And it wasn't just ordinary writing, but rare ancient script that few people could recognize.

As the original owner was from a small cultivator family, Chen Lin had some knowledge of ancient script and could barely make out the writing.

"Three drops of Pointed Spirit Grass juice, two coins of Blue Light Screw Stone powder, one piece of Three Fragrant Mushroom, three drops of Wood Attribute Spirit Beast blood…"

After carefully reading through it, Chen Lin's face showed a puzzled expression.

The formula listed the materials needed, followed by the step-by-step brewing method, and even included notes, making it look like a real pill formula.

"Could it be that this formula is real?"

For a moment, Chen Lin was unsure.

Although he couldn't believe that twenty spirit stones could buy a real formula, his gambler's mentality still made him clench his teeth and head towards a store.

It's like a lottery player who always thinks he can win the jackpot and always thinks he will be that special case.

Before long, Chen Lin walked out of the store with a strange expression on his face.

The materials listed on the formula were all available for purchase, and at an extremely low price.

The main reason was that the formula required only a small amount of each material. For example, a bottle of Pointed Spirit Grass juice cost twenty spirit stones, but it had dozens of drops, making three drops almost negligible.

He estimated that the materials for one batch of the formula would cost around twenty-thirty spirit stones.

It was a ridiculously low price!

But how could such cheap materials possibly be used to brew the Enlightenment Pill?

No matter how much Chen Lin felt that he was the destined protagonist, he still couldn't believe it was true.

He laughed at himself, shaking his head as he walked out.

Just as he was about to leave the market, he stopped again.

"Why not give it a try?"

"It's not like it'll cost a lot of spirit stones."

"That person even took the Oath of Heart Demon."

"If it succeeds, the gains will be huge."

"And if I don't try, the spirit stones I spent on the formula will be wasted!"

Chen Lin, who had just warned himself about the dangers of gambling and swindling, was now tempted again.

After a while, he walked out of a store with a bulging backpack.

He had almost bought all the materials needed for the formula, except for one auxiliary medicine called Eight-Section Root.

However, this medicine wasn't rare at all, and he could buy it at multiple stores, even at street stalls.

As expected, he soon found it at a street stall after walking a short distance.

He spent only two spirit stones and bought over ten roots.

With all the materials ready, Chen Lin wasn't in a hurry to leave, and instead decided to take a stroll around the inner city, buying some reserve resources.

The reward from brewing the Soul-Restraining Talisman had filled his pockets, and after deducting his previous expenses, he still had a lot left.

Actually, he was still puzzled by the generosity of that rich young master from the Lu family, as fifty middle-grade spirit stones was a huge sum of money.

The other person could have easily not given him anything, or even killed him to silence him, but instead, they not only gave him the spirit stones but also let him leave first, without any worries.

It seemed like they didn't even follow him.

Such a straightforward and generous cultivator was truly rare.

But his doubts didn't affect his spending habits.

After all, he had changed his appearance, and even if the other person had ulterior motives, they couldn't find him now.

"Hey?"

As he browsed through a small, unassuming stall, Chen Lin's footsteps halted, and he looked at a book on the stall.

The stall owner was a pale and thin female cultivator, likely in her twenties or thirties, with a Qi Refining cultivation level of stage two.

The stall only had a few items on display, each with a mediocre sales pitch.

As soon as Chen Lin took a glance, he knew that this female cultivator was definitely from the outer slums, and not a resident of the inner city. Those who lived in the inner city wouldn't be in such a malnourished state.

"What's the price of this book?"

Chen Lin squatted in front of the stall and picked up the book.

The book was very thick, but unfortunately, it was already damaged beyond repair, with many worm-eaten holes.

The cover was only half remaining, barely legible with the two ancient characters for weapon refining.

It was precisely because of these two characters that he stopped in his tracks.

Since he possessed the "Hit Every Ten Times" talent, he couldn't just limit himself to alchemy and talisman-making. He should explore all skills related to refining, otherwise, it would be a waste.

"Ah, fellow Daoist, do you want to buy this? This is a precious weapon refining manual, a family heirloom passed down through generations. If you want it, I'll give it to you for thirty spirit stones."

The female cultivator, who was dozing off, suddenly brightened up when she heard someone asking about the price.

"Family heirloom, haha, are you a descendant of an weapon refining family?"

Chen Lin sneered, not believing her nonsense. If she were truly from a noble family, she wouldn't be in such a pitiful state.

Even if she were, she would be a fake like Zhao Zhengyuan.

Unexpectedly, the female cultivator became flustered when questioned, and said with some annoyance, "I am indeed from an weapon refining family, how could I not be?"

"It looks like it, very much like it. But my friend, your family heirloom has not been well preserved. Look at the book pages, they're almost all damaged. Since it's a family heirloom, you must have a copy, why not bring out a new one to take a look?"

Uh-oh.

The female cultivator was taken aback and her face reddened.

"I only have this one. You can take it or not. But this is not an ordinary book. It contains the methods of refining rare treasures. If I were not in urgent need of spirit stones, I would not sell it to you no matter how much money you offer."

After being rebuked, the female cultivator quickly regained her composure and became aggressive again.

A female cultivator who could survive in the slums wouldn't be a kind person, and Chen Lin didn't bother to argue with her. He continued to carefully flip through the book, afraid of damaging the pages and being accused of cheating.

After flipping through every page, he put the book down with a disappointed expression and shook his head.

"What, fellow Daoist doesn't want it? If you want it, we can negotiate the price."

Seeing Chen Lin stand up, the female cultivator hastily opened her mouth.

"Almost all the pages of your book are missing, and the handwriting is blurred. Not to mention it's a low-level weapon refining book, even if it's a secret book of divine skills, it's useless!"

After finishing, he turned to leave.

"Wait a minute!"

Seeing Chen Lin was really about to leave, the female cultivator quickly stood up.

Chen Lin turned around, looking a little unhappy.

"What, fellow Daoist wants to force a sale? This isn't the outer city, there's the Five Families' Law Enforcement Team here."

The female cultivator waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no, I just want to ask fellow Daoist, if you're willing to buy it at a lower price. Moreover, not all the content in this book is missing, there are still some spiritual treasures' refining methods that can be roughly seen."

Chen Lin chuckled and shook his head, "Fellow Daoist, as a descendant of an weapon refining family, you should know that whether it's alchemy, talisman-making, or refining methods, the content requires precision, and a single mistake is not allowed. As the saying goes, ‘a slight deviation can lead to a thousand miles of error'. This kind of thing can't be approximated!"

The female cultivator smiled awkwardly, unable to respond.

Chen Lin was right, otherwise, she wouldn't have been unable to sell this treasured book for so long. This time, she came to the inner city just to try her luck, and if she didn't get any income, she would have to go on a wild adventure.

Seeing the female cultivator had lost her temper, Chen Lin changed his tone and suddenly spoke in a different manner, "Alright, I see you're not doing very well either. We're all people who are down on our luck. I'll buy this book from you, but I can only give you ten spirit stones."

Originally, he wanted to say five spirit stones, but he was afraid the other party would get angry, so he gave a price that was certain to make her agree.

Although the book was severely damaged as he had said, it did indeed contain the refining methods of two spiritual treasures that could be roughly seen. He wanted to try it out and see if his talent could refine them.

If he could refine them, that would be a huge bargain!