I Shall Seal the Heavens - Volume 1 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Hello, Elder Sister Xu

The scene, which had attracted the attention of the other nearby Cultivators, caused their expressions to change . Many seemed to be at a loss, unsure of exactly what had happened . But now, they all knew that Meng Hao was not someone to provoke .

Even though they didn’t know exactly what had happened, Meng Hao’s trembling first customer did . His heart pounding madly, he slapped his bag of holding and produced six Spirit Stones, which he respectfully handed over . He regretted having hesitated in front of the Pill Cultivation Workshop in the past . By fretting over his Spirit Stones at that time, he’d ended up with no medicine . And now, he didn’t have any Spirit Stones to go buy anything for himself .

Meng Hao accepted the Spirit Stones, produced a Blood Coagulation pill and Skeletal Relaxation Pill, and gave them to the man .

“Many thanks for your patronage,” he said with a wide smile . “Come back again soon . ” Once again, he looked weak and feeble . But to the Cultivator standing in front of him, he was a vicious beast in sheep’s clothing . Trembling, the man made his exit .

As he left, Meng Hao decided not to return to his spot on the rock . He grabbed the Pill Cultivation Workshop Outlet banner and began to stroll about the Public Zone . He stopped next to two battling disciples, sticking the banner into the ground .

“Brother, it seems you’re injured,” he said, stepping forward . “You also seem somewhat listless . You don’t seem to be in the right state to be fighting . ”

The two disciples stared at him in amazement . Having just seen him knock someone out, they hesitated, and at the same time, both backed up a bit .

“I happen to have some Spirit Refreshment Pills from the Pill Cultivation Workshop . Take one, and you will be completely reinvigorated, your victory guaranteed . Since today is our opening day of business, it only costs one Spirit Stone . How convenient!” Meng Hao continued to walk forward, his face filled with sincerity .

“I already have some medicinal pills,” said the man he had been giving his sales pitch to . He slapped his grab of holding, and a Spirit Refreshment Pill appeared, which he popped into his mouth .

Upon seeing this, Meng Hao sighed . He had watched his first customer for some time before determining that he had no medicinal pills . With a light cough, he looked at the second man standing in front of him . The man gave a cold harrumph, then produced his own medicinal pill and swallowed it, sighing inwardly .

But Meng Hao wasn’t disheartened . He circled back to the boulder, continuing to watch the two of them . As time passed, they seemed to be looking worse and worse off . Soon, it was clear they were out of medicinal pills, and the critical juncture in the fight had arrived . Victory and defeat would be decided .

His spirits risen again, Meng Hao hefted the banner and approached them again .

“Brothers, the moment of life or death has arrived . You don’t have any medicinal pills left, but don’t worry, I have some right here .

“At this critical juncture, buy one of my Soul Congealing Pills . It will restore your energy in a flash, and even recover your spiritual energy . Brothers, you’re not buying a medicinal pill, you’re buying spiritual energy . Aiyo, you’re injured!” Meng Hao’s words distracted the Cultivators . A flying sword hit one of them in the arm, sending out a fountain of blood . He retreated backward with a scream .

Meng Hao was even faster than him, following and continuing his speech, looked as weak and scholarly as ever .

“Brother, now is the time . You’re bleeding profusely . Quick, buy a Blood Coagulation Pill . If you don’t, the danger is just too great . ”

“Get out of here!” the man’s opponent roared at Meng Hao . He charged his injured opponent .

“Give me a pill,” said the injured Cultivator, his face pale . Retreating several paces, he gritted his teeth and pulled out a Spirit Stone . A Blood Coagulation Pill shot from Meng Hao’s hand onto the wound on the man’s arm . The blood flow began to slow . He focused his attention, then leaped back into the fight .

“Aiya, Brother, it seems you’re out of medicinal pills . Look, I have plenty . Now that your opponent bought one, he’s bursting with energy . But you’re injured . Why don’t you buy a Blood Coagulation pill?

“Oh no, you got slashed again . You must be really tired . Take it slow, and don’t be discouraged . Brother, I still have a Skeletal Relaxation Pill .

“One Spirit Stone for one pill . You should buy pills quickly . The sages said, Spirit Stones have a price, but a life is priceless . ” Meng Hao slowly circled them . Sure enough, they were out of medicinal pills, and soon, they began buying . Feeling pressure from each other, they bought quite a few . The battle grew more serious . Their fighting today was more intense than four or five normal battles .

Originally, it had been a fairly simple fight, but with the Pill Cultivation Workshop Outlet here, things were complicated . With dangerous fighting, comes injury . The two cannot be separated .

Flop . Flop . The two men had finally exhausted every scrap of energy . They dropped to the ground, unconscious, Spirit Stones spent and medicinal pills eaten up . Even their magical items were destroyed in the battle, seemingly together along with their wits . How tragic .

As far as Meng Hao was concerned, he had saved their lives . Or at least one life . Hefting his banner, he once again strolled around the plateau, and once again found two Cultivators locked in devastating combat . From the look of it, even if they had healing medicine, it was gone by now . Eyes glistening, he stood the banner up next to the two of them .

“Brothers, your complexions seem bad, and you’ve received some serious injuries . But fear not, I have medicinal pills . One Spirit Stone buys one pill; your recovery is guaranteed .

“How come you aren’t saying anything? Don’t tell me you don’t trust me? Just now another disciple bought some of my pills . The result for his opponent was death . ”

Shortly, each of the men bought a pill, then again, and again, until they had no more Spirit Stones left . After much bitter battling, they ended their fight in a tie, with nothing to show for it except empty bags of holding .

Meng Hao shook his head, picked up the banner and found a new place to do business .

By the time the sun set, Meng Hao had been everywhere in the Public Zone, selling medicinal pills . In the end, wherever he went, the battling would instantly cease, and the participants would leave . Eventually, Meng Hao stared out over an empty Public Zone . Contentedly patting his bag of holding, he left .

It was late at night when he arrived at the Immortal’s Cave . He sat down cross-legged and excitedly began to take inventory of his spoils .

“One, two…” He grew more and more excited as he counted . “Altogether I have fifty-three . I’m rich . This method is much faster than robbing people . It’s also much safer . No need for killing . ”

“I don’t have many medicinal pills left, so tomorrow I’ll go to the Pill Cultivation Workshop and buy some more . If I want the business to do well, I should buy out all of this month’s healing medicines . If I don’t have enough Spirit Stones, I’ll just buy as much as I can . The scarcer the pills, the easier they’ll be to sell . ”

Meng Hao opened the bag of holding he had taken from the unconscious Cultivator . Inside were a few Spirit Stones, two Spirit Condensation Pills, and a pink-colored medicinal pill .

He held the pill up and examined it . He recognized it as one of the Pill Cultivation Workshop’s Cosmetic Cultivation Pills, an expensive pill . It was worth about ten Spirit Condensation Pills, and could be considered one of the most expensive products available .

“This pill is designed to maintain one’s physical appearance . It would be a waste for me to use it on myself . ” He figured the previous owner must have been trying to ingratiate himself to a female disciple . Not thinking any more on the subject, he put the pill into his bag of holding .

As he was looking down contentedly at all the Spirit Stones and medicinal pills, the main door of the Immortal’s Cave suddenly creaked and began to open . It happened so quickly, Meng Hao had no time to gather up all his spoils .

A woman entered, surrounded by a halo of moonlight . She was beautiful, but cold and expressionless . She wore a long silver robe that made it seem as if she had donned the moon itself .

It was none other than the Reliance Inner Sect’s Elder Sister Xu .

As she entered the Immortal’s Cave, moonlight fell onto the Spirit Stones and medicinal pills which lay in front of Meng Hao . A sliver of astonishment suddenly cut through her cold demeanor .

“Greetings, Elder Sister Xu,” said Meng Hao, scrambling to his feet . His right hand swept up the Spirit Stones and medicinal pills . He stood there, looking embarrassed .

Elder Sister Xu didn’t say anything . She just looked at Meng Hao, nodded, then turned to leave .

Look surprised, Meng Hao followed after her .

“Elder Sister Xu, you took the trouble to come here, why not stay a bit?”

“There’s no need,” she replied coldly . “I’ll be going into secluded meditation starting tomorrow, and I just wanted to check in on you . ” She looked him over, then walked out of the cave .

Meng Hao felt embarrassed, regretting having not collected up the Spirit Stones more quickly . In that case, he would have looked a bit worse off, and perhaps Elder Sister Xu would have been willing to help him out some more .

At the same time, he felt a bit of warmth in his heart . Elder Sister Xu appeared cold and indifferent, but she had come here to see him, which meant she remembered him . His heart thumping, he slapped his bag of holding and produced the pink-colored medicinal pill .

“I’ve been wanting to thank you, Elder Sister Xu . I saved up quite a bit of Spirit Condensation Pills so that I could trade them for this Cosmetic Cultivation Pill . Please accept it . In my eyes, only you are worthy of such a pill . From the moment I entered the sect, I’ve had a dream, that you would stay young forever, and be eternally beautiful . ” Without so much as a wink, he solemnly and respectfully held out the pill .

Elder Sister Xu stopped walking and looked back at him . She glanced silently at the pill in his hand, then accepted it .

“Even though Spirit Condensation Pills are common in the sect, they are only effective up to the fifth level of Qi Condensation . We Cultivators place much importance on our Cultivation base . We live in the world of Cultivation, a place where life and death hang in the balance . You can’t be like this in the future . You may be intelligent, but you need to work more on your cultivation . ” This was the first time Meng Hao had heard Elder Sister Xu speak so much . As she spoke, he nodded respectfully .

“As long as Elder Sister Xu likes it, I’m willing to trade for it,” he said, lowering his head and blinking . He looked a bit shy .

“This pill… I’ll accept it this time, but next time don’t trade your pills like this . ” She put the pill away, hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a pink-colored jade pendant which she handed to Meng Hao .

“This is a magical item,” she said . “You need to protect yourself . ” She began to walk down the mountain .

“Many thanks, Elder Sister Xu,” said Meng Hao . “Would you allow me to accompany you while you walk? I haven’t seen you for so long, and I have some questions regarding Cultivation that I hope you can clear up for me . ” He knew that this was an important opportunity . This was the only person he had to rely on, so he needed to get close to her . If he could walk with her through the Outer Sect and be seen by others, perhaps fewer people would be willing to mess with him in the future .

Elder Sister Xu hesitated . She was an indifferent person, and usually didn’t say much . She had never spent time with male sect members, and it felt a bit strange to have Meng Hao standing there next to her . She was about to refuse, but after he finished speaking, she thought bashfully of the Cosmetic Cultivation Pill he had given her, and she nodded quietly .

The moon shone down gently on the two of them as they walked .

Just then, at the peak of the North Mountain, a tall old man stood up, clad in a gray robe . As he looked down on the scene, a look of admiration appeared on his face .

“Excellent . This pup Meng Hao isn’t bad at all . He truly grasps the correct interpretation of the Reliance Sect . He knows how to find someone to rely on . And he also knows that if he protects his relationship with that person, then he will always have someone to rely on . ” This was the same old man who had expressed admiration for Meng Hao on Pill Distribution day . The more he learned about Meng Hao, the more he liked him .