Chapter Fifty: The Difficulty of Dan Medicine

  "In my heart, my sister is a princess, but she lives in poverty just like me. A few months ago, after hearing that Ming Xin Academy was recruiting students, she had always wanted to come, but she didn't want to tell me about it because she was afraid I would worry. The only thing I could do to help her was to sell everything at home and accompany her here for the selection."

  "What if your sister doesn't get selected? We don't have anything at home?" Ning Cheng asked, but what he was thinking about wasn't this young man and his sister's selection. He thought of himself and Ruo Lan, how he had given up everything at home to take care of his sister Ruo Lan and followed her to Jiangzhou.

  This young man is very much like him.

  When Ning Cheng asked him, the young man said affirmatively, "As long as someone is selected, my sister will definitely be selected. No one is better than my sister."

  Ning Cheng did not refute the young man. A person who loves his sister so much, saying such words would only resonate with him and would not provoke his disgust at all.

  "This time my sister will definitely be selected into the Mingxin Academy, I'll help her get this pair of pearl flowers, it might be the last thing I can do for her. So, I'm asking you to agree with me. Although I don't have much gold coins, I'll try to give you as many as possible." The young man's tone was already filled with pleading. He obviously wasn't a fool and knew that once his sister entered the Mingxin Academy, he would no longer have any connection with her.

  Ning Cheng didn't say anything else, he just took out the pair of pearl flowers and handed them to the young man, saying: "I also love my sister very much, you can give this to your sister. Your sister is fortunate to have a brother like you."

  Zhu Hua was sent away, and Ning Cheng also sighed in his heart. He suddenly envied this young man. At least his sister could still be seen, still under the same sky.

  "Ah......" The young man had never thought that Ning Cheng would be so easy to talk to, he had already lost hope, but Ning Cheng gave the pearl flower to him.

  It took him a while to react, and he hurriedly wanted to take out the gold coins. Ning Cheng waved his hand and said, "I don't want your gold coins, to me, gold coins are just redundant things. The reason I gave you the pearl flower is because I also have a younger sister, she likes this kind of pearl flower..."

  "Ah, this...this..." The young man was a simple-minded person, he knew that this was taking away someone's loved one. Was his sister a sister, but other people's sisters weren't sisters? But he couldn't bear to return Zhen Hua to Ning Cheng, and for a moment, he became entangled.

  "Why don't we each give one? You can also give one to your sister." The young man hesitated and handed a pearl flower to Ning Cheng.

  Ning Cheng pushed the hairpin away, saying, "No need to, this pair of pearl flowers was originally a set, it's better not to separate them. Moreover, in this lifetime, I may never see my sister again. If I keep the pearl flower on me, it will only add to the sadness, so give it to your sister instead."

  The young man was inarticulate and did not know how to comfort Ning Cheng.

  Ning Cheng smiled slightly, "Let's not talk about the Pearl Flower anymore. You mentioned earlier that you knew why the Five-Star Academies of Huazhou held competitions? What does 'winning first place' mean?"

  Young people see Ning City, the topic is actively opened, and then they take a deep breath, hurriedly put away the pearl flower to explain, "I heard that the high-level continent of Yixing decided to support a six-star college in Huazhou to improve the strength of the low-level continent. This six-star college will become the only six-star college in the three major low-level continents. However, there are five five-star colleges in Huazhou, so it becomes a problem which one of the five-star colleges will be promoted to a six-star college."

  In the name of fairness, the high-ranking continent of Yixing decided to choose through a competition. The five five-star academies all sent their most outstanding disciples to compete, and the academy with the best results would be supported to become a six-star academy, while the other four five-star academies would listen to the dispatch of the six-star academy.

  The young man scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed as he said, "These are all things my sister told me, and they were told to her by people from the Ming Xin Academy. Actually, the students recruited by the Ming Xin Three-Star Academy will also go through another selection process. Only the most outstanding and core disciples have the possibility of being selected to go to Hua Zhou. After arriving in Hua Zhou, those five-star academies will continue to screen once again."

  "I understand, thank you." Ning Cheng nodded his head, he finally understood what was going on. It seemed that the Three Star Academy's selection of disciples wasn't just about the Mind Three Star Academy alone. Last time, the Fallen Star Five Star Academy had come to select disciples, perhaps it was to curry favor with Pingzhou's number one expert Lian Huoyan, and then take away some excellent disciples in advance.

  The young man seemed to feel that his answers to the two questions were not enough to repay Ning City's gift of pearl flowers, so he added another sentence and said, "Big brother, if you are here to participate in the selection of Mingxin Academy, you need to go to the outer square of Mingxin Academy, Mingpu Square, to test your spiritual roots first. Only then will you be qualified to enter the academy. My sister and I will take the test tomorrow, and half a month later, Mingxin Academy's formal recruitment of students will begin."

  Ning Cheng thanked him again and prepared to leave to find a place to stay first.

  The young man handed the handkerchief in his hand to Ning Cheng and said, "This portrait is yours, so return it to you."

  Ning Cheng pushed the handkerchief back with a mixture of laughter and tears, "I don't need it anymore, I'll take my leave now. Good luck to both you siblings, may you both be selected into the academy."

  He is someone who has been in love before and would never be as rude as this young man, casually asking for a woman's handkerchief.

  All the way until he was far away from Ning City, the young man still stood in his original spot muttering to himself, "This person is really a good person."

  Ning Cheng wasn't just anyone, he saw his own shadow in this young man, which is why he took the initiative to hand over the two pearl flowers.

  At this time, Ning Cheng was finding a place to stay in Nan Yuan City. He planned to go to the Ming Pu Square after finding a place to stay and see if he could test his spiritual roots.

  Ning Cheng was very clear, it's not easy to see An Yi. An Yi is in the Ming Xin Academy, no one can bring him in, and he definitely can't get in on his own. If you want to see An Yi, you can only wait until the Ming Xin Academy recruits students, then sneak in with the crowd to take a look.

  The inns of Nanyuan City were already packed, and Ning Cheng was still far away from the Mingxin Academy, he found a place to stay for nearly ten times the price.

  Found a place to stay, Ning Cheng didn't stay in the residence. This time he came to Nan Yuan City, apart from seeing An Yi, there were many things to do. The most important thing was to refine the Seven Day Ice Needle and find the Condensed True Dan.

  Whether it was refining the Seven Day Ice Needle or exchanging the Golden Cicada Fruit for the Condensed True Pill, Ning City did not dare to be careless.

  ……

  Fei Yan Dan Medicine Pavilion is one of the three major medicine shops in Nan Yuan City. However, its location is relatively remote, located on the northern edge of Nan Yuan City.

  Nan Yuan City is now crowded with people everywhere. Even Fei Yan Dan Yao Ge, which is a bit remote, has many cultivators coming and going.

  Ning Cheng wore a hooded monk's hat, carrying a black package on his back, and walked into the Fei Yan Dan Medicine Pavilion. In Nan Yuan City, people dressed like him were not uncommon.

  Some people really don't want to be recognized, and some are intentionally pretending to be profound. For Ning Cheng, either way is better, at least he doesn't stand out so much.

  "I want a bottle of Huiqi Ling liquid."

  "Give me a bottle of Shaoxing wine."

  ……

  As soon as Ning entered the city, he heard all sorts of noisy voices. Most were asking to buy various spiritual liquids, some were buying dan pills, and others were haggling over prices.

  Compared to Chang'an City and Mangguo City, Nan Yuan City is relatively standardized, at least they don't call Danwan as Dan Yao.

  Ning Cheng listened for half a day and roughly knew some prices. A bottle of Qi Ling liquid costs ten Qi Gathering Stones, which can only restore part of the true energy of a Qi Gathering beginner. Xiao Huan Ling liquid is a healing liquid, also priced at ten Qi Gathering Stones, but it can only heal ordinary injuries.

  As for the more effective elixirs, their prices skyrocket. Ning Cheng walked towards a fellow who had just finished his work and asked, "Excuse me, do you have any high-grade pills for sale here?"

  Ning Cheng was very careful, he looked at the things sold here were mostly spiritual liquids and dan pills, and had some doubts about whether he could buy the Condensed True Pill in Nan Yuan City.

  "High-grade elixirs? What kind of elixir do you want? Revival Elixir? Rejuvenation Elixir? Restoration Elixir?" The shopkeeper asked Ning Cheng instead, and after asking, he said with great pride, "The elixirs that cannot be purchased at the Flying Swallow Dan Medicine Pavilion, even if they are available in other places in Nan Yuan City, you will not be able to purchase them. Of course, if you want to buy Restoration Elixir, a high-grade elixir like this, you need to provide identification, otherwise it will not be sold."

  Fu Zhen Dan is just a pill that restores the original true yuan of a cultivator in the early stages of condensing reality. Such pills require proof, so wouldn't it be even harder to obtain this more precious Fu Zhen Dan? Ning Cheng finally understood that in places like Nan Yuan City, having spirit stones and spiritual herbs wasn't enough to buy pills, fortunately he didn't act rashly.

  He said with a bit of exaggeration, "According to your way of speaking, when I buy the Cong Zhēn Dān and the Zhu Yuán Dān, shouldn't I bring my family tree along?"

  The monks around heard Ning Cheng's words and burst into laughter.

  "This fellow, however, said indifferently, 'You should all be foreign cultivators, and many of you don't understand the rules of Nan Yuan City. The elixirs in Nan Yuan City are not easy to come by, so they must be sold at a high price. As for the Condensed True Elixir, I won't even mention it - even our Flying Swallow Elixir Pavilion doesn't have any for sale. And as for the Foundation Establishment Elixir, I'm afraid you can't buy it anywhere in Pingzhou."

  "If that's the case, then even if I found a pile of Golden Cicada Fruits, I still wouldn't be able to get my hands on the Condensed True Dan?" Someone chimed in with a snicker, helping to ask the question that Ning Cheng had been most wanting to ask.

  The fellow continued to speak in a calm and unhurried tone, "If you can really get the Golden Cicada Fruit, then there's no need to worry about the Condensed True Dan. Our Dan Pavilion will make the connections, and the alchemists from the Ming Xin Academy and the Ming Yi True Country will definitely help with the refining of the dan. Of course, the refining fee is unavoidable."

  (Second update is online, seeking recommendation votes and collection support!)