“Could you please tell me about the prices of mid-grade and high-grade Dao pills?” Lan Xiaobu asked cautiously. The shop assistant replied, “It depends on the item and which Dao Saint refined it. An ordinary mid-grade Dao pill can be purchased for 100,000 high-grade Dao crystals, but better ones can sell for hundreds of thousands or even a million high-grade Dao crystals. As for high-grade Dao pills, the minimum price starts at a million high-grade Dao crystals.”
Lan Xiaobu remained silent. After dealing with Qu Peng with Mo Wuji, he had accumulated hundreds of high-grade Dao veins and tens of millions of high-grade Dao crystals. Now, it seemed his Dao crystals were not much. A single high-grade Dao pill cost a million high-grade Dao crystals—why not just rob someone?
Bringing two Dao pills back to his cave abode, Lan Xiaobu immediately took out the ungraded Dao pill and let his divine sense penetrate it.
The Dao pill was slightly yellow. Though ungraded, holding it in his hand, he could feel a vast aura of the Great Dao’s principles. The Dao pills he had previously refined only contained traces of his Longevity Dao charm at best, far from this clear aura of the Great Dao’s principles—and this was merely an ungraded Dao pill.
Swallowing the pill, Lan Xiaobu sensed the crystal-clear fire attribute rules. At that moment, he was certain that if he went into seclusion, his strength would improve significantly.
Lan Xiaobu sighed. Compared to this ungraded Dao pill, the ones he had refined…
To be honest, he hadn’t even managed to refine a true Dao pill yet. The ones he considered Dao pills didn’t even reach the ungraded level.
Taking out the low-grade wood attribute Dao pill and swallowing it, Lan Xiaobu immediately felt the distinct wood attribute principles.
As his cultivation technique circulated slightly, the boundless wood attribute vitality in the space was frantically drawn to him. In just a few breaths, his strength had increased slightly.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t continue cultivating, but his heart was quietly shocked. If a low-grade Dao pill had this effect, it was indeed worth 10,000 high-grade Dao crystals.
What impressed Lan Xiaobu the most was that the Dao Saint who refined this Dao pill had only infused the wood attribute principles into it, without leaving any trace of their own Dao charm. That was true skill. If he had refined it, the Dao pill would inevitably carry traces of his Longevity charm.
Lan Xiaobu pondered for a long time. He felt that Dao crystals were not enough to spend freely here, unless they were top-grade Dao crystals. Top-grade Dao crystals were likely very rare, and his main wealth was probably not the tens of millions of Dao crystals but the thousand-plus Dao veins.
Whether low-grade, mid-grade, or high-grade Dao veins, their value here was extremely high. In contrast, Dao crystals seemed to be just a transactional currency with relatively lower value.
It seemed he absolutely couldn’t stay in this small place like Chenwu Market. He had to leave and head to a bigger place to pursue the fourth step of the Great Dao. Otherwise, he would fall further behind the powerhouses here.
In the following days, Lan Xiaobu didn’t go out. He cultivated in his cave abode for nearly a year until the lease was about to expire, then left.
After a year of seclusion here, Lan Xiaobu’s strength had greatly increased, and his Dao principles had fully integrated with the cosmic rules of this world.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t wander around the market again. Although the resources here were enough for him to stay in seclusion for many years, even allowing him to directly achieve the fourth step, he still felt this place was too remote, and cultivating here had limitations. He absolutely couldn’t use high-grade Dao veins to set up under his cave abode, and as for the single top-grade Dao vein, he didn’t dare touch it. Without asking, Lan Xiaobu knew that a top-grade Dao vein was one of the most supreme cultivation resources in the Great Universe, capable of attracting top-tier powerhouses.
This showed that Qu Peng, whom he had killed, had an extraordinary background. Otherwise, how could he possess a top-grade Dao vein? Lan Xiaobu didn’t even dare to inquire about it now. He guessed Qu Peng was also from the Great Universe, though he didn’t know from which world. Once he became more familiar with this place, he would cautiously investigate Qu Peng’s background.
Given that Qu Peng cultivated the Burial Dao technique and the Great Universe technique, it was certain that his backing was significant. A little inquiry should reveal his origins.
Lan Xiaobu headed to the teleportation plaza, planning to go to Tianmo City, the largest Dao city in the Moru World. Since he wanted to step into the fourth step as soon as possible, he had to cultivate in the best place. Staying here to reach the fourth step might take several times longer than in Tianmo City, and he might even miss some opportunities. Moreover, in Tianmo City, he might hear information about cultivators of the Great Universe technique.
Though Chenwu Market was just a small market, its facilities were quite impressive. It had not only a teleportation plaza but also a flying boat hall.
Despite the sparse crowd, the teleportation plaza was very spacious.
Lan Xiaobu approached the ticket window of the teleportation plaza and asked, “Excuse me, how many Dao crystals does it cost to go to Tianmo City?”
The ticket seller was a young female cultivator. Hearing Lan Xiaobu’s words, she looked at him in surprise. After a few moments, she replied, “I’m sorry, there’s no direct teleportation to Tianmo City.”
“Isn’t Tianmo City the foremost Dao city in our Moru World? Why is there no teleportation?” Lan Xiaobu asked, puzzled.
Chenwu Market had plenty of fourth-step powerhouses, and though he hadn’t seen any fifth-step ones, they likely existed. With fourth- and fifth-step powerhouses, was it difficult to set up a teleportation array to Tianmo City? As for the cost, a market like this could surely afford it.
Without waiting for her reply, Lan Xiaobu continued, “Then please tell me, where can I teleport to that would allow me to go directly to Tianmo City?”
The female cultivator was quite patient and answered gently, “Tianmo City is a Heavenly Court Dao city, a necessary stop to reach the Moru Heavenly Court, so not just anyone can go there. You need to meet certain conditions to enter Tianmo City. If you want to visit a major Dao city, you could go to Jiubian Sea City. Apart from Tianmo City, it’s one of the top Dao cities in our Moru World.”
A Heavenly Court Dao city—somewhat like the legendary South Heaven Gate, Lan Xiaobu thought. He was about to ask about the conditions for entering Tianmo City but then decided it wasn’t necessary. Once he reached Jiubian Sea City, as the female cultivator mentioned, he could find out. “In that case, please help me buy a teleportation ticket to Jiubian Sea City.”
The female cultivator replied apologetically, “There’s no direct teleportation array to Jiubian Sea City either. Such a long-distance teleportation array is very difficult to set up. To reach Jiubian Sea City via teleportation, you’d need to transfer through hundreds of arrays. It might save a little time, but the cost would be nearly a hundred times more than taking a boat. You’d be better off buying a boat ticket to Jiubian Sea City. It costs only ten million high-grade Dao crystals, and it takes about fifty years at the fastest, or no more than a hundred years at the slowest.”
Lan Xiaobu gasped. Even the fastest route took fifty years—this was…
After a while, he calmed down. He was no longer in a mid-level or low-level universe but in the vast, boundless Great Universe. He wondered how long it would take to use his Seven Realms Stone.
However, Lan Xiaobu estimated that the speed of the boat probably wouldn’t be much slower than his Seven Realms Stone. Though he hadn’t used the Seven Realms Stone here, he could guess that its speed in this place would definitely be slower than in the void or a low-level universe.
The Seven Realms Stone’s speed depended on the rules of the world. If the rules of the world were too high-grade, the Seven Realms Stone’s speed would definitely slow down. Moreover, in this place, the Seven Realms Stone couldn’t traverse space.
He wondered if the post-chaos treasure, the Chaos Path, could traverse space here.
With this in mind, Lan Xiaobu also realized that setting up ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays in the Great Universe was likely very difficult, mainly due to the influence of the cosmic rules.
“Do you need a boat ticket to Jiubian Sea City? There aren’t many tickets left for the boat departing in two years,” the female cultivator gently reminded Lan Xiaobu.
“Two years from now?” Lan Xiaobu was stunned. He had just finished using his one-year cave abode lease, and now he had to wait two more years?
The female cultivator smiled, “Yes, if you miss the boat in two years, you’ll have to wait four years. The boat to Jiubian Sea City comes every two years.”
As Lan Xiaobu frowned and considered his options, an abrupt laugh sounded, “Friend, if you want to go to Jiubian Sea City, you don’t have to buy a boat ticket here and waste time, or even wait two years to board. You can go to Xueru Dao City and take a faster boat. It will definitely reach Jiubian Sea City in forty years. What’s more, the price is only six million high-grade Dao crystals.”
