Luo Cheng did not know that the sudden impulse triggered by an inexplicable palpitation, which caused him to immediately leave his hometown, had actually helped him avoid a troublesome situation.
At this time, he woke up early in the morning, put on a mask and a baseball cap, wore inconspicuous casual clothes, and left the hotel where he was staying. He walked to the main street of Li'an No. 2 City, preparing to go to the shop to pick up the supplies he had ordered online a few days ago. The next morning, he would officially head into the mountains.
Although he had bought quite a few things before leaving Zhiluo No. 7 City, due to limited time, he had only purchased some of the necessary outdoor supplies, and the quantity was not large.
Because Li'an No. 2 City was more prosperous than Luo Cheng's hometown, with a relatively larger number of cultivators, it was more convenient and comprehensive to purchase such supplies here.
In a street dedicated to the sale of cultivator items, Luo Cheng, wore a black mask, with the brim of his hat pulled low. He also wore a pair of brown sunglasses over his eyes, with his head lowered as he walked into an inconspicuous shop.
This street was accessible to ordinary people in the Body Training stage with no cultivation where they could enter and buy various items. But this was limited to general goods, like basic supplies, relatively common herbs, and so on. In addition, ordinary people could also buy some unknown items sold on street stalls on both sides of the road. They were basically remnants of things whose purpose was unknown.
However, if someone wanted to purchase attack-type talismans, formations, magical tools, or other such items, they would need to have at least some cultivation level, and most of these items would require spirit stones to exchange for. Luo Cheng had no cultivation at all, and any cultivator could easily sense that. Moreover, although he had some savings, that amount of money could only exchange for a few spirit stones. In a place where formal cultivators buy things, he couldn't afford anything decent!
The shop he was aiming for was one that sold large quantities of daily supplies. He had chosen this shop after referring to the advice of adventure enthusiasts and low-level cultivators on many forums while on the road. His shopping list was also based on discussions from these online users.
A large amount of compressed water tanks,which could be embedded directly with portable houses and other spatial items. Drinking water, various flavors of sustenance pills, various detoxification and stimulant pills, and so on.
Detoxification pills didn't need any explanation, but pills for refreshing and revitalizing the mind were also very important. This was because, in certain situations, people in special locations really could not afford to sleep. Once they fell asleep, they might never wake up! Therefore, pills with a strong stimulating effect, as if having ice-cold water poured over their heads, were used in these situations.
However, it was said that these pills had other uses, such as forcing the brain to stay more awake and focused during breakthroughs. But some people might develop a craving for this sensation, leading to various strange uses.
Luo Cheng first replenished the backup water tanks for his portable house, then began to check the backup drinking water that could be stored in his Qiankun bag, with all sizes of packaging available.
And then there were the oral water pouches. These could be held in the mouth during normal times, and when needed, a slight bite with the teeth or pressure from the mouth would cause water to emerge, eliminating the trouble of taking water out from the Qiankun bag. They were generally used when one needed to conceal themselves from enemies or reduce their own movements.
These items were about the size of a grape, available in 10-liter basic versions, 20-liter intermediate versions, and 35-liter advanced versions. However, the price was not simply calculated by doubling or tripling.
The intermediate version cost ten times the price of the basic version, and the advanced version, starting at twenty times the price, increased further depending on the flavor.
Needless to say, Luo Cheng, an ordinary person with limited funds, of course only ordered ten basic ones for emergency use. He bought each costing three hundred yuan, and ten piece in one pack, which was not sold individually. Don't think how expensive it was. This item was not an ordinary water pouch, but an emergency item used to save lives at critical moments.
He then carefully checked the description of the stomach-filling pills. The taste of the stomach-filling pills could be ignored for now, what he was looking at were the effects marked on the pills.
The most basic stomach-filling pill was the kind that required one pill per meal, and the most common-flavored ones were sold at a very cheap price. A pack of one hundred pills, about a month’s supply for one person, cost only two hundred yuan. With the bulk discount, some ordinary people with poor family conditions bought this to save on food costs.
But as soon as there were any requirements for taste or texture, the price would increase accordingly.
Stomach-filling pills were actually a kind of medicinal pill, so its quality varied depending on the materials used and the alchemist’s skill. In addition to the bulk, cost-effective stomach-filling pills, there were also adventure-specific versions, which were divided into low, medium, and high grades.
But the classification of levels here is different from the “general” classification of other items. A low-grade stomach-filling pill, when eaten, could last for three months. For a whole three months, the person’s appetite would remain at 110% full. A medium-grade stomach-filling pill would last for one month, during which the person’s appetite would stay at 90% full. A high-grade stomach-filling pill, when eaten, would also last one month, but the appetite would remain at 70% full.
Why this classification? This is because when cultivators go on adventures, they must constantly face various dangers and unexpected situations. Keeping the appetite overly full for too long would instead become a negative buff, and it might even cause accidents during battle.
Moreover, when traveling outside, it was inevitable to encounter some heavenly materials and earthly treasures, spirit fruits that could be eaten directly, or meat from demon beasts rich in spiritual energy. These things were naturally best eaten as soon as possible. However, at this moment—sorry, your appetite is currently at 110% full, even drinking water must be sipped slowly. Or—sorry, your appetite is currently at 90% full, and it will take half a month for this state to disappear, so you can only take a few bites, and your stomach won’t be able to fit more.
Isn't this a scam? So, the stomach-filling pill with a seventy percent fullness effect came into existence.
The reason why the stomach-filling pill that became popular on the market was called a "stomach-filling pill" and not an "anti-starvation pill" was because its primary use was—to fill the stomach.
Even when cultivators were in seclusion, they still needed to eat. And even as their cultivation level increased, even after reaching the Golden Core stage or even the Nascent Soul stage, their bodies still needed to replenish nutrition.
Could they live without eating, relying only on spiritual energy and cultivation? Yes, they could live. The more powerful they became, the longer they could last. But that didn’t mean they could live forever without eating.
The higher the cultivation of the cultivators, the less nutrients they could absorb from food that benefited their bodies. They needed to eat food rich in spiritual energy, or even rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures. The effect of pills made from these heavenly materials and earthly treasures was the most significant and the most convenient. Therefore, many powerful beings gradually changed their eating habits to using pills to replace meals.
But if dishes like Dragon Gallbladder and Phoenix Marrow, or Immortal Melons and Immortal Fruits had appeared before their eyes, they would naturally have been willing to enjoy a feast for their appetite.
Moreover, some powerful beings, who were said to have entered the Dao through eating, had taken the lead. So, many cultivators in the Huaxia region—even though they had bought a lot of stomach-filling pills before going on an adventure for emergencies—still carried pots, bowls, and plates in their Qiankun bags, and even had outdoor camping recipes downloaded in their phone apps.
As for whether they would cook personally in the wild? If they had managed to hunt a demon beast with abundant spiritual energy, it would still have been very worthwhile to cook it on the spot. It was said that every time cultivators from Huaxia camped with foreign cultivators in the wild, they always managed to shock the others so much that they often had tears in their eyes.
However, Luo Cheng did not need to consider these things for the time being. At this moment, he was just an ordinary person. Even if he could survive in the wild, he might not have the energy to hunt. He was interested in food, but he wasn't interested in cooking.
Since his grandmother passed away, the owner of the home-style restaurant nearby had been scheming to make Luo Cheng her godson, and the aunt at the university cafeteria always scooped extra meat into his bowl. Would someone like him ever cook?
So, he carefully looked at the description and flavor details of these pills and confirmed that the flavor was the same as the one he had ordered a few days ago. Afterward, he put away the batch of medium grade, 90% stomach-filling pills he had ordered without hesitation. Then he briefly thought to himself, should he go to the frozen food wholesale store later to buy some frozen dumplings or similar convenient food?
These basic items were only a part of what he had purchased. He still needed to go to other shops to pick up the protective talismans, pills, and other items he had ordered. Because he was not yet a cultivator, all the items he bought were the limit of what an ordinary person could purchase.
Although the shop owner was somewhat puzzled as to why an ordinary person like Luo Cheng had ordered so many supplies, they didn’t pay too much attention to it. Since the recovery of spiritual energy, countless ordinary people, even though they had no talent, couldn’t open their spiritual eyes, and couldn’t afford immortality pills, still harbored the dream of becoming cultivators and wanted to give it a try.
Some of these people would go to cultivation academies or stand outside sects, hoping for a chance encounter with a cultivator. Others would boldly venture into the wilderness, hoping to stumble upon some spiritual herbs or elixirs that could help them break through their natural limitations and begin cultivating. Of course, the vast majority of them returned to the city empty-handed, their dreams shattered. Among the rest, many lost their lives in the wild. Only a rare few managed to find something truly beneficial for their cultivation, striking it rich and reversing their fate as they returned to their hometowns in glory.
Naturally, there was also a group of people who simply enjoyed camping. Even when they ventured into the wilderness, they never went too far from the town and certainly avoided areas marked as dangerous.
After purchasing these items, Luo Cheng asked the clerk who had helped him, "Do you have frozen blood bags here?"
The clerk was taken aback, seemingly surprised that an ordinary person would want to buy frozen blood bags. He quickly recovered and nodded, saying, "Yes, we do. But you can only buy ten bags, and you'll need to register your personal information."
Luo Cheng nodded. "That's fine."
The so-called blood bags referred to human blood, about 20 milliliters per bag, all sold by real people. Normally, trading in blood was considered extremely dangerous, because in the age of rampant cultivation, even a single strand of hair could be used by someone to cast a curse and cause death. How much more could blood do? And what kind of evil deeds and dark rituals could be done with blood?
But blood is still quite important to cultivators. Some spells and formations might require it, and it was also used when refining certain magical tools or treasures. Blood may even be needed for pill refining or cultivating spiritual plants!
Not to mention, some ancient ruins or formations require blood sacrifices to open. In fact, there were certain secret realms where you can’t even escape without performing a blood sacrifice!
For many rituals, the blood of other animals—such as chickens, ducks, cattle, or sheep—could be used as a substitute. However, in certain rituals, only human blood would suffice.
In a society with a well-established legal system, wantonly killing people and extracting blood is absolutely unacceptable. Even if the victim was a death row inmate. However, people could still donate blood, just as they did before the revival of spiritual energy! In the past, blood donation was a civic duty, and the blood donation vehicles would offer a small stipend to donors.
Now, with a bit more money or spiritual stones, many were willing to contribute!
But this wasn't like this before. Over three hundred years ago, an evil cultivator bought thousands of blood samples from various sources in multiple cities and performed a forbidden ritual. It caused those thousands of people to fall into deep comas with their souls sacrificed.
This incident caused a huge uproar that the trade in blood was halted for two full years. It wasn’t until a research institute developed a method to sever the connection and karmic ties between the blood and its original owner, and after this method was widely verified and accepted, that the blood trade was once again formalized and legalized.
At this moment, what Luo Cheng was purchasing were these blood bags, frozen using spell techniques. When used, all one needed to do was infuse spiritual energy or place them in 35°C warm water, and the blood would instantly warm up to human body temperature for use.
The tricky part was that even cultivators couldn’t directly order these special materials online. They had to go to the store in person and register their personal information before they could make a purchase.
He was buying these blood bags as a precaution. After all, these blood bags were frozen using special spell techniques and were meant to be emergency supplies in case of unforeseen circumstances. Nearly every official cultivator kept them as part of their standard gear all year round.
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