Void Cultivation-Chapter 220- Missing!

When Grey entered the shop, his nose was immediately assaulted by a chaotic blend of medicinal fragrances. Bitter, sharp, and faintly sweet scents mixed together in the air, forming a heavy atmosphere that clung to the senses.

This medicinal shop was not well known. It was tucked away in a quiet corner of the street, far from the bustling main roads. Inside, the lighting was dim, with only a few spirit lamps illuminating the shelves. Bottles of various sizes lined the walls, each containing herbs, roots, or strange plant matter suspended in preserving liquid.

The medicinal fragrances Grey smelled did not come from dried herbs alone, but from medicinal pills that were being concocted at that very moment somewhere within the shop.

Just the smell alone was enough to neutralize traces of corrosive substances lingering in the air. If someone who was in the middle of mutation entered this place right now, they would find that their mutation would be forcibly suppressed, if not partially reversed.

If Grey still had corrosive substance lingering inside his body, he would have been extremely tempted to buy large quantities of these pills. However, ever since the purple crystal shattered and transformed into countless shards embedded within his chest, his body had become completely pure of corrosive substance.

If any corrosive substance were to enter his body now, it would be devoured almost instantly by his shadow.

Even though the shadow harbored deep contempt for him, it could not suppress its instinctive urge to swallow corrosive substance. That instinct was engraved into its very existence.

This only made the shadow hate him even more.

Yet, it did not dare to show it.

Grey calmly swept his gaze across the shop, scanning the shelves with a practiced eye. Here and there, he spotted poisonous herbs displayed openly. However, most of them were extremely common, plants that any low-level alchemist or poison cultivator would recognize at a glance.

When Grey arrived at the counter, he finally saw the shopkeeper.

The man was middle-aged and wore a pair of square glasses that rested neatly on his nose. Fine wrinkles spread across his face, giving him an aged appearance, yet his eyes were bright and sharp, containing a piercing brilliance that did not match his ordinary demeanor.

The moment the shopkeeper’s gaze focused on Grey, Grey felt as though he was being carefully examined, almost scanned from head to toe.

Yet, that should have been impossible.

The man did not emit the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy. He was clearly not a cultivator.

The only reason Grey felt such pressure was because the intelligence hidden within the man’s eyes was simply too great.

When the middle-aged man noticed Grey, he merely nodded once in acknowledgment, neither warm nor cold.

Grey nodded back before speaking.

"I’d like to see your list of poisonous grasses and herbs."

The shopkeeper said nothing. He simply turned around and retrieved a jade slip from beneath the counter before placing it in front of Grey.

Grey released a thin strand of divine sense and scanned the jade slip swiftly. A few moments later, the contents of the slip were fully revealed within his mind.

’For such a simple medicinal shop... they actually possesses some surprisingly potent poisonous herbs.’

Grey could not help but nod inwardly. Most of the herbs listed were extremely toxic, to the point that they needed to be sealed inside special vessels to prevent their poison from leaking out.

Even then, those special vessels would gradually corrode over time.

"I’ll take these... those two... and fifteen stalks of Blood Sacroma Veins," Grey said calmly.

The middle-aged man only nodded and began retrieving the items one by one. His movements were practiced and efficient, as though he had performed this task countless times before.

From his expression alone, it was obvious that he was completely unfazed, especially since Grey initially only selected relatively common poisonous herbs.

However, after noticing the shopkeeper’s indifference, Grey continued speaking.

"Weeping Spider Will Flower... Deserted Rain Fields... Surrogate Abyss Yin Flower..."

At the sound of those names, the middle-aged man’s movements paused for just a fraction of a second.

He lifted his head and gave Grey a brief, scrutinizing glance before letting out a quiet sigh.

In his mind, this young cultivator was someone who had learned a bit about the Dao of Poison and was now eager to experiment recklessly.

Reluctantly, he finally spoke.

"The Weeping Spider Will Flower will corrode your mind the moment it leaves its special vessel," he said evenly. "If you are not prepared to use it immediately, it will affect you."

Grey paused for a few seconds before nodding. He knew the shopkeeper was right.

"In that case," Grey said, "can you also sell me the special vessels you use to store these herbs?"

When the shopkeeper heard this, he could only sigh again before nodding.

"Twenty spirit stones per vessel."

Grey nodded and continued listing additional poisonous grasses and herbs without hesitation.

By the end of it, the middle-aged man no longer bothered speaking.

In his eyes, Grey was nothing more than an ambitious fool attempting to toy with poison. Judging from the energy fluctuations around him, Grey had not even reached the Foundation Establishment realm.

Some of these poisons were terrifyingly potent. If mishandled, they could easily kill Foundation Establishment cultivators, let alone someone still in the Qi Accumulation realm.

Grey would die before he even finished concocting anything.

But who was he to refuse the spirit stones of a slightly wealthy fool?

In the end, Grey purchased a massive amount of poisonous herbs along with numerous special vessels, spending several thousand spirit stones in total. Even with his considerable wealth, the loss still made his heart ache slightly.

However, it was for the sake of the future.

Poison... was one of his trump cards.

And unlike others, Grey possessed an advantage no poison cultivator could match, the purple crystal within his body. It could completely neutralize poison, ensuring that he would never be harmed by his own creations.

To avoid drawing suspicion, Grey also bought several medicinal pills and ordinary herbs before leaving the shop.

After securing everything, Grey quickly made his way back toward the mountain. Along the way, however, he noticed a small restaurant tucked beside the street.

Realizing that he had not eaten proper food in quite some time, Grey muttered a few words to himself and stepped inside.

He enjoyed a warm breakfast of coffee and fried eggs. The simple meal filled his stomach and eased his mind. After eating to his satisfaction, Grey paid with spirit coins and left.

For cultivators at higher realms, eating was no longer a necessity. Their bodies could be sustained entirely by spiritual energy.

Yet Grey still ate.

He enjoyed the satisfaction, the warmth that spread from his stomach throughout his body, grounding him in reality.

That feeling... was something he had no intention of giving up.

Grey returned to the cave abode on the mountain with a faintly satisfied expression. After stepping inside, he activated the arrays and inscriptions he had previously set up, layers of defensive light briefly flickering across the stone walls before fading away.

Once everything was secured, Grey checked his storage ring. After confirming that all his items were intact and nothing was missing, he nodded to himself. Only then did he bring out the storage bag Bao had thrown to him earlier.

’He said my magic ship is inside...’ Grey thought.

The reason he still held onto that magic ship wasn’t merely because it was useful, it was because the captain had personally given it to him. Back then, the captain had said he no longer needed it, and so the ship had naturally become Grey’s.

But that wasn’t the only reason Grey cherished it.

This magic ship contained divinity.

When Grey had still been in the Qi Accumulation realm, that divinity had allowed him to kill cultivators who were in realms far above his own. It had been one of his most reliable trump cards, a silent blade that struck without warning.

Moreover, the quality of the magic ship itself was exceptional. If Grey wanted to purchase a new magic ship now, it wouldn’t even come close to this one.

At best, what he could afford would be something known as a magic canoe.

A magic canoe was inferior in every aspect and would need extensive upgrades before it could even approach the level of Grey’s original ship. In Sky Mist City, a magic canoe cost one hundred spirit stones, but the price of upgrading it was far more terrifying.

When Grey took out the bottle that contained the magic ship, he couldn’t help but gasp.

The ship inside was completely unrecognizable.

It now possessed ten massive masts that towered menacingly, giving off an oppressive aura. The bow was wide and reinforced, while the entire hull had grown significantly longer and more imposing. Yet, despite these changes, the most striking feature wasn’t the expanded deck or the reinforced structure...

... it was the overwhelming divinity pouring out from it.

The divinity was far stronger than before, so intense that it gave Grey a faint sense of danger just from observing it. He could only imagine how terrifying its power would be once fully unleashed.

For a moment, Grey felt an irresistible urge to release the ship from the bottle and examine it more closely. However, the thought quickly vanished. If the ship expanded to its full size, it would completely destroy his cave abode.

Suppressing his excitement, Grey continued to inspect it through the transparent glass.

As he did, his desire to kill Bao diminished rapidly.

After all, the man hadn’t just repaired his magic ship, he had significantly upgraded it. No matter how much Grey disliked him, it was difficult to maintain murderous intent toward someone who had done this much for him.

In the end, Grey let out a reluctant sigh.

Bao’s name was temporarily crossed off his mental killing list.

Just as Grey was about to put the magic ship away, his jade slip suddenly vibrated. A voice transmission came through, it was from Ange.

Only then did Grey remember that he still hadn’t gone to see her.

Putting the magic ship back into his storage ring, he activated the jade slip and accepted the transmission.

However, the very first words he heard made his expression change instantly.

"Caster is missing!"