Demoness, Stop! - Chapter 39 - Chapter 39 – Purchase Restrictions

On Zixiao Peak.

In a rest area somewhere in the marketplace, Li Yu spent twenty spirit coins to order two cups of spirit wine. He sat with Chen Ming in a scenic pavilion, looking down at the lush green forest below, and asked, “How have you been lately?”

Chen Ming smiled and said, “I’m a bit tired, but my cultivation is improving fast. On my own, I probably wouldn’t have reached Qi Refining stage two even after ten years. Now, I’ve gotten there in just two months. If it were before, I wouldn’t have even dared to imagine it…”

There was a trace of exhaustion on Chen Ming’s face.

But Li Yu could tell he didn’t regret it.

After speaking, Chen Ming looked at Li Yu and asked, “How about you? I heard you became an alchemist. What’s your cultivation level now?”

Li Yu replied, “I’m still Qi Refining stage one.”

He didn’t lie. Although he had five spiritual veins, not a single one had reached Qi Refining level two.

Chen Ming comforted him, “You have so many Meridian Clearing Pills, you’ll surpass me in no time. And with Senior Sister Jiang by your side, you’ll reach Foundation Establishing soon enough…”

Li Yu didn’t explain and instead asked, “What are your plans? Are you going to keep going like this?”

Chen Ming chuckled, “She only has less than twenty years of lifespan left. She said if I stay with her for ten more years, all her inheritance will be mine. She also promised to help me reach Foundation Establishing quickly. Good luck like that, many people beg for it but never get it…”

Li Yu could only clasp his fists and say, “I really admire you.”

Chen Ming exhaled and said, “Li Yu, you’ve got to know, not everyone’s as lucky as you. Elder Sun was right—things like dignity and pride are illusions. Only immortality is eternal. Looks, beauty or ugliness, are just skin and bones underneath. Appearance and glamour make no difference—once the blanket’s over you, it’s all the same. Just endure it, twenty years will pass in a blink…”

Compared to a lifespan of over two hundred years, twenty years is indeed very short.

Li Yu silently reflected. Elder Sun’s words from back then—Chen Ming was probably the only one who had truly taken them to heart.

For a person like that, he could only admire.

..

After a while, the two parted ways on Zixiao Peak. Chen Ming had to return to his dual cultivation partner, while Li Yu went back to Danding Peak, closed the courtyard gate, and entered the alchemy room.

On the stone platform before him lay thirty Meridian Clearing Pills.

Using Elder Sun’s lifelong savings, Li Yu had briefly achieved freedom in Meridian Clearing Pills.

Unfortunately, for him, it didn’t go as far as one might hope. Those thirty pills—enough to boost a regular disciple’s cultivation by nearly three or even four layers—barely got him through a single one. With five spiritual veins to feed, the effects were spread thin.

Meridian Clearing Pills worked evenly across all spiritual veins, preventing any one from lagging behind. After consuming thirteen pills, all five of his meridians—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—each unlocked eight acupoints, all reaching the peak of Qi Refining stage one simultaneously.

At this moment, Li Yu truly grew into a well-balanced pentagonal warrior in terms of ability.

But taking thirteen pills in such a short span had seriously taxed his body. He didn’t consume the remaining pills right away. Instead, he sat down and entered meditation to stabilize his current cultivation.

Not until the next day, after adjusting his state to peak condition, did he continue taking the pills.

After consuming the remaining seventeen Meridian Clearing Pills, all five of his spiritual veins successfully broke through Qi refining level one and reached Qi refining level two. Among them, the fire, earth, and metal veins opened eleven acupoints each, while the water and wood veins opened twelve points each.

Although his cultivation now was only Qi refining level two, the depth of his spiritual power was comparable to Qi refining level eight.

After all, others only had nine levels in Qi refining, but he had a full forty-five levels.

…

After a brief meditation, Li Yu left the underground alchemy room and came out into the courtyard.

He had just sat down on a stone bench when he heard Wu Tong swearing loudly from the neighboring courtyard, “What kind of bullshit rule is this?! I finally scraped together ten thousand spirit coins for a proper binge, and they tell me you can only buy three pills a month?! And you have to take them on the spot?! What moron of an elder came up with this crap?! Must’ve been kicked in the head by a donkey…”

Li Yu was first surprised that Wu Tong had saved ten thousand spirit coins in such a short time, then realized the other matter he mentioned.

He walked into Wu Tong’s courtyard and asked, “What’s going on?”

Wu Tong waved at him and said, “Don’t even mention it. I went to Danxin Pavilion to buy Meridian Clearing Pills, and the junior sister there told me the sect issued a new rule: each disciple can only buy three Meridian Clearing Pills per month, and they have to take them on the spot—no taking them away. What kind of ridiculous rule is that…”

Li Yu was stunned too. He hadn’t left home all day—and now Meridian Clearing Pills were being rationed?

Wu Tong was still talking nonstop, “I don’t know who bought thirty Meridian Clearing Pills at once, clearing out all the new stock at Danxin Pavilion. Many disciples waited half a month without getting any, and there were lots of complaints. Someone even reported it officially to the sect. An elder at Golden Core stage in charge then issued this regulation…”

Li Yu covered his mouth and coughed lightly, saying nothing, then quietly returned to his courtyard and shut the door.

At this moment, the new pill purchase rule spread throughout Kunlun Cave Heaven.

From today on, all Kunlun disciples can purchase at most three Meridian Clearing Pills per month by verifying their identity jade tokens, and they must take the pills immediately on site—no taking them away.

Allegedly, this rule was meant to address some long-standing issues within the sect.

Kunlun’s alchemy techniques reigned supreme in the cultivation world. With more alchemists than any other sect, the price of Meridian Clearing Pills within the sect was naturally cheaper than in the outside world. As a result, many outsiders had long been using Kunlun disciples as proxies to buy pills cheaply and resell them at high prices—profiting off the difference.

This time, by enforcing real-name purchase limits and requiring on-site consumption, the sect had effectively eliminated that possibility altogether.

For the vast majority of Kunlun’s low-level disciples, this rule was basically irrelevant because they usually took months to save enough spirit coins for even one Meridian Clearing Pill. The monthly limit of three had no real impact on them.

The real impact was on the sect’s Foundation Establishing elders, and disciples or descendants of Golden Core elders.

Their position in the sect was awkward: not elite enough to receive the exclusive pills reserved for the descendants of Nascent Soul ancestors, but too well-off to be lumped in with ordinary disciples. Their only option for acquiring Meridian Clearing Pills was through official sect channels.

However, compared to ordinary disciples, their wealth was much greater, so they could usually buy several Meridian Clearing Pills monthly. With this new rule, they were restricted to just three, which severely slowed their cultivation progress.

The sect’s intention with this move was to crack down hard on pill reselling and redirect more pills toward regular Kunlun disciples. Among low-ranked disciples, the rule was wildly popular. But among the so-called “second-gen immortals,” curses were muttered through gritted teeth.

Some people quickly learned the full story through their connections.

Indeed, cracking down on Meridian Clearing Pill reselling was a long-term sect plan, but the real trigger for this new regulation was a small personal conflict.

A descendant of a Golden Core stage elder in the sect, who was usually arrogant and domineering, took advantage of his status to insult and provoke a newly admitted disciple in Danxin Pavilion. Unexpectedly, that new disciple turned out to be the favored person of Junior Sister Jiang Li…

According to witnesses at the scene, that handsome and elegant Junior Brother Li was humiliated by this descendant of the Golden Core elder, so he immediately took out thirty thousand spirit coins and bought up the entire new batch of Meridian Clearing Pills, leaving not a single one for that Golden Core elder’s descendant.

Many disciples had long been disgusted by those second-generation bullies and secretly applauded this.

Although Li Yu was a new disciple, no one found it strange that he casually produced thirty thousand spirit coins.

After all, he had Junior Sister Jiang backing him. Anyone in the know understood that this month’s several hundred Meridian Clearing Pills had been withheld specifically for her—and those spirit tickets must’ve been hers, too.

Originally, the matter would have ended there, but that second-generation immortal was unwilling to accept it and reported the incident to the Golden Core elder. This elder, having some power within the sect, used the excuse of cracking down on Meridian Clearing Pill reselling to propose restricting the purchase of Meridian Clearing Pills.

After the sect elders discussed it, they thought his suggestion made sense and immediately issued this order, winning widespread praise from the lower-level disciples.

But it was a different story for the other second-generation immortals. This measure greatly slowed their cultivation progress. They didn’t hate Li Yu but despised that foolish second-generation immortal and had already started secretly plotting revenge. It’s said that, in an effort to protect his descendant, the Golden Core elder had already sent him out of Kunlun Cave Heaven…

As for Li Yu, the man who single-handedly bought Meridian Clearing Pills to the point of purchase limits, he earned a new nickname in the sect:

The King of Soft Rice.

Other disciples who wanted to exchange for thirty Meridian Clearing Pills had to endure for years or even decades, but Li Yu only needed one day.

Even some direct disciples of Nascent Soul ancestors didn’t have such treatment.

Within the sect, some male disciples who relied on their bodies and looks to curry favor with sect elders for cultivation regarded him as a life role model. It was just a pity that their faded and ruined bodies probably would never attract a genius disciple like Junior Sister Jiang…

(T/N: “Soft rice” is slang for a man who lives off a woman’s wealth or status.)