“Where’s that tree?”

  “I don’t know. But it’s not in the Divine Realm. If you want to find it, you’ll need to find Weak Water first.”

  Lauren raised a brow. “And what the hell is Weak Water?”

  “Water so heavy that even a feather won’t float.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, right. That doesn’t sound real at all.”

  Edmund didn’t answer, so Lauren dropped it for now.

  After resting, she went back to talisman drawing.

  She practiced steadily, moving from low-grade to mid-grade, and finally to high-grade. After more than three hundred talismans, her technique sharpened to perfection.

  Only then did she attempt a third-grade Explosive Spirit Talisman.

  The results were… disastrous. After just three pitiful attempts, she was dizzy, nauseated, and on the verge of puking.

  Edmund burst out of her core, panicked. “Stop! You’ll kill yourself at this rate. I’ve never seen a human so hell-bent on self-destruction.”

  Lauren sighed. She had only wanted to test her limits. Now she knew them.

  If she wanted to throw talismans around like grenades, she needed unlimited mental energy. Which… she didn’t have.

  “Fine. No more for tonight. I’ll rest, and tomorrow we’ll go down the mountain to buy supplies for your retreat. Need me to grab anything for you?”

  “I’ve got high-level demon beast cores,” Edmund said casually. “And human Nascent Souls. You can take one.”

  “…No thanks.”

  “A lower-level demon beast core, then. It’s still better than a human Nascent Soul.”

  “Huh?”

  Edmund expined, “Most demon beasts cultivate by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. Their inner cores are pure. Unlike you humans—eating everything in sight, filling yourselves with filth.”

  Lauren’s mouth twitched. At least that meant he wouldn’t constantly fantasize about eating Nascent Souls. Because that would be horrifying.

  After a full night’s rest, Lauren felt refreshed and made her way down the mountain to prepare for her upcoming retreat.

  The most important things on her list were Spirit Gathering Pills and Dust-Reducing Pills—both crucial for increasing her chances of forming a pill.

  She’d always wanted to try her hand at alchemy herself, but for now, that dream had to be shelved.

  Without fire spiritual roots or a unique fme, a cultivator could only rely on Spirit Fire Talismans to refine pills. It was slow, costly, and ultimately not worth it.

  And besides—she didn’t have the time.

  With tens of thousands of contribution points in her possession, Lauren went straight to supply hall to redeem what she needed.

  She hadn’t expected the shelves to be so bare.

  There were only a little over a hundred Spirit Gathering Pills left in stock.

  “Only this few?” she muttered under her breath.

  The middle-aged cultivator watching the counter chuckled. “You’re lucky, girl. These were just delivered. If you’d come any ter, you’d be staring at empty shelves.”

  Lauren raised a brow. “That popur?”

  “Of course. The Hidden Mist Secret Realm just ended. Everyone’s rushing to form their core, and demand is through the roof.”

  That made sense. Without wasting another second, she handed over her jade token and exchanged for all the pills avaible. A hundred was better than nothing.

  “Do you have Dust-Reducing Pills?” she asked.

  “We do. How many do you want?”

  Lauren tilted her head. “How many does one usually prepare for Core Formation?”

  The cultivator smiled knowingly. “They’re expensive. The first one has the strongest effect; after that, the effectiveness drops sharply. Most people prepare one to three pills. But the cautious ones, if they can afford it, buy more.”

  “And the really rich?”

  His smile deepened. “Ten. That’s the limit. Any more than that won’t make a difference.”

  Lauren slid her token back across the counter. “Then ten.”

  The cultivator froze, blinking at her.

  His eyes narrowed as recognition dawned. He suddenly remembered the day the Hidden Mist Secret Realm expedition set off. Immortal Master Drake himself had descended with a little girl by his side.

  This was her.

  He straightened immediately. “Ah, forgive my poor eyesight. Greetings, Ms. Lauren”

  Lauren’s expression stiffened. “Keep your voice down. I’m just here to buy some pills.”

  “Of course, of course. Please wait.”

  No wonder she was so generous—she was that Lauren.

  Soon, the man carefully packed a pouch with over a hundred Spirit Gathering Pills. The Dust-Reducing Pills were delivered in ten elegant cquer boxes, each cradling a single pill.

  Compared to the pin bundles of Spirit Gathering Pills, these were high-end luxuries, worlds apart from anything sold at a street stall.

  Lauren stowed everything away, watching as more than two thousand points disappeared from her bance. Pricey, but necessary.

  “Do you have any demon beast inner cores?” she asked next.

  “Yes. What kind are you looking for?”

  “What do you have in stock?”

  “First- and second-tier inner cores are the most plentiful. Third-tier and above are rare—and expensive. The higher the grade, the more valuable.”

  “Do you have a price list? Let me see.”

  “Right away.”

  Ordinary disciples usually earned their keep by trading herbs and inner cores harvested from demon beasts. With so many active hunters, the sect kept a steady supply of lower-tier cores and common medicinal pnts.

  Lauren scanned the list, noticing even first-tier inner cores varied in price. Among the five elements, gold and fire types fetched the highest rates, while earth types were the cheapest.

  Her contribution points didn’t come easily, and she had no intention of wasting them. After a moment’s thought, she decided to stock up on the more affordable earth-type first-tier cores.

  Just as Lauren was about to speak, Edmund’s dry voice cut into her thoughts.

  “Spread evenly across the five elements. Don’t just buy one type.”

  “...” Lauren pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. Five kinds. Give me…”

  Before she could finish, Edmund added, “If you’re buying first-grade demon beast inner cores, you’ll need a hundred of each.”

  Lauren’s mouth twitched.

  She did some quick math in her head. A hundred each across all five elements? That’d run her more than two thousand points. Her heart ached just thinking about it.

  “How many?” the middle-aged cultivator prompted.

  Lauren gritted her teeth. The talisman inheritance Edmund had given her wasn’t something she could ignore. If he said she needed them, she needed them.

  “One hundred each.”

  Painful, but manageable. She could always sell first-grade talismans ter to recoup some points.

  The cultivator’s eyes widened at her decisiveness. So wealthy. So generous. He quickly arranged the order, packing five hundred demon beast inner cores neatly into a storage bag and handing it over with both hands, his expression deferential.

  At the same time, he deducted over two thousand points from her bance.

  Lauren hadn’t even turned to leave when the cultivator asked again, “Do you require anything else?”

  Lauren shook her head. “No. But—do you accept talismans here?”

  The cultivator blinked. “You can draw talismans?”

  Lauren raised a brow. “Of course. My master is almighty. There’s nothing I can’t learn.”