Chapter 131 – The Talent ‘Living Buddha’: What Does It Mean to Have an Affinity with Buddhism?
by spirapiraJin Congxue nodded slightly after hearing this and said:
“Don’t worry. Since this matter has reached my ears, I won’t speak of it to anyone without your permission.”
With Jin Congxue’s breadth of experience, she naturally understood the gravity of this matter.
Su Xing nodded. He trusted Jin Congxue deeply.
But thinking about the enormous profits that longevity pills could bring, he asked:
“If I really produced a pill capable of extending life by three to five years, and had you auction it, how much do you think you could sell it for?”
Jin Congxue thought for a moment, then shook her head slightly:
“Something of that caliber can no longer be measured in money. If you absolutely had to put it in terms of yuan, a single pill would be worth ten billion to certain people — and that wouldn’t be an exaggeration!”
“And if we’re talking about barter — legendary-grade treasures, Tier-4 exotic metals… even other rare and precious items could all be traded for it!”
Su Xing now had a rough sense of the influence longevity pills held in this world.
Immortality had always been humanity’s ultimate dream.
Even for those mighty beings capable of moving mountains and filling seas, this was no different.
Especially in this world, where truly unstoppable powerhouses existed — this tiny fraction of people controlled the vast majority of society’s wealth.
The bosses of these commerce groups would spare no expense to extend their lifespans!
After a moment of deliberation, Su Xing said to Jin Congxue:
“I’ll give you a list. Go collect the herbs on it — the more the better!”
“Ginseng aged eight hundred years or more — the older the better…”
“Polygonum multiflorum aged over a thousand years — likewise, the older the better…”
“And also lingzhi, Chinese yam, rhodiola…”
Su Xing took out a sheet of paper and wrote the herbs on the list. Jin Congxue accepted it carefully.
After parting ways with Jin Congxue, Su Xing took the week’s goods and returned to the Blessed Spirit Field.
Su Xing first converted the large quantity of dungeon props he’d purchased that week into simulation energy.
With that, Su Xing’s simulation energy surged to nearly 75 million points!
“Exchange for Three-Tailed Phoenix Grass and Snow Bone Jade Ginseng!”
Su Xing silently commanded.
【You successfully brought out ten stalks of Three-Tailed Phoenix Grass (300-year), costing 15 million energy. Remaining energy: 60,333,600 points.】
【You successfully brought out thirty stalks of Snow Bone Jade Ginseng (mature stage), costing 15 million energy. Remaining energy: 45,333,600 points.】
As the simulator’s notification faded, dozens of herb stalks appeared beside Su Xing.
The spirit herb Three-Tailed Phoenix Grass, with its petals splitting into three tails shaped like a phoenix’s plumage.
The Snow Bone Jade Ginseng, white as jade, yet with red threads seeping through at the roots.
Both were exceedingly precious herbs. Su Xing held them near his nose and took a gentle sniff, immediately sensing a spiritual fragrance entering his nostrils.
Carefully producing a jade box, Su Xing placed the Snow Bone Jade Ginseng inside. This stuff could only survive in extremely cold climates, and only by storing it in a jade box could he prevent its medicinal properties from evaporating.
He then went into the spirit field, found a spot rich with spiritual energy, and planted the Three-Tailed Phoenix Grass there.
After finishing all this, Su Xing didn’t rush into a simulation. Instead, he stroked his chin and pondered.
“These longevity pills are definitely a brilliant way to make money, but they also carry certain risks!”
“Even though I now possess Martial Emperor-level strength, if I handle this poorly, it could bring me a great deal of trouble and headaches…”
With Su Xing’s current strength, he naturally had nothing to fear from the bosses behind those commerce groups when it came to brute force.
But the problem was, unless martial force reached a certain overwhelming level, it couldn’t solve everything.
If those commerce groups came seeking longevity pills from Su Xing and he couldn’t produce them, they’d likely scheme against him and set traps behind the scenes.
Beyond that, he also had to guard against certain old monsters nearing the end of their lifespans who might do something utterly deranged for the sake of longevity pills…
And apart from the various human factions, if the Advent Cult learned that Su Xing could refine longevity pills, he’d really be in trouble then.
After thinking it over, Su Xing devised a compromise.
“I can bring out the longevity pills, but I can’t say I refined them myself. I could say they came from a dungeon, in limited quantities… That would save me a lot of trouble!”
Su Xing nodded to himself.
Before he possessed absolute power, Su Xing had no intention of making longevity pills his primary source of income — the risk was simply too great!
Longevity pills were different from Beauty-Preserving Pills.
The Beauty-Preserving Pill’s buyers were mostly wealthy young ladies, or even playthings kept by powerful figures.
These people had money but no real power — they posed no threat to Su Xing.
But longevity pills would truly draw out those figures with overwhelming authority and influence.
Once exposed, although Su Xing wasn’t afraid of being captured and turned into a pill-refining machine, the trouble would be unavoidable.
This didn’t align with Su Xing’s cautious nature.
“Besides, refining longevity pills isn’t as simple as I imagined!”
Su Xing sighed.
According to the pill formulas, longevity pills required mostly precious spirit herbs of extreme age.
While the refining process itself wasn’t particularly difficult, the herbs were hard to come by. Su Xing didn’t have these materials on hand either.
However, the lowest-tier Health-Nourishing Pills and Life-Sustaining Pills required somewhat more common ingredients — they could be refined from aged traditional medicinal herbs.
Health-Nourishing Pills couldn’t extend one’s lifespan through a single dose. Instead, they were taken monthly to preserve the body’s vital essence and blood.
Generally speaking, as long as an elderly person was free from illness and disease, they could take a maximum of twenty-four Health-Nourishing Pills, extending their life by two years.
Compared to Health-Nourishing Pills, Life-Sustaining Pills were far more direct and powerful!
A single pill, taken once, could grant three additional years of life to someone on death’s door!
The specific effect was: even if you were at the very end of your lifespan and about to die that afternoon, as long as you took one at noon, you’d be alive and kicking for another three years.
Used together, the two types of pills could potentially extend life by as much as five years!
But Su Xing didn’t plan to refine Health-Nourishing Pills — he wanted to refine Life-Sustaining Pills.
After all, producing a few Life-Sustaining Pills was easy enough to explain away as having obtained them from a dungeon.
But pulling out hundreds of Health-Nourishing Pills? That would be much harder to justify…
“I’ll play it by ear for now. These longevity pills can serve as a quick-money scheme — if I’m ever short on energy, I can sell one or two!”
Su Xing had his plan mapped out.
By this time, the simulation cooldown had finished. Su Xing quietly called up the simulation panel.
New Era, May 13th, 2024. Su Xing began his 36th simulation.
“Begin simulation!”
Su Xing commanded silently.
【Ding! This simulation consumes 3,600 energy points. Remaining energy: 45,330,000 points. Remaining simulations: unlimited.】
【Simulation begins!】
【Drawing a green talent costs 1,000 energy. A blue talent costs 10,000 energy. Drawing a purple talent costs 100,000 energy. Would you like to draw?】
“Draw a purple talent!”
【Congratulations! You have obtained the purple talent: Living Buddha】
【Living Buddha】: Your every action radiates the radiance of Buddhist nature. You possess an innate comprehension of Buddhist scriptures and teachings that far surpasses ordinary people. Like a reincarnated living Buddha, you can often achieve profound understanding of Buddhist philosophy. Should you devote yourself to spreading Buddhist teachings, you will gain countless devoted followers.
Upon seeing the newly drawn talent, Su Xing immediately gritted his teeth.
“Damn it, how many times has this been now? For crying out loud… I’m just fated to have an affinity with Buddhism, is that it?”
“I, Su Xing, swear — even if I starve to death, even if I jump off Demon-Sealing Pass… I will never convert to Buddhism!”
Su Xing let out a cold snort. He truly had zero interest in going bald!
Wouldn’t it be better to just be a good-looking guy? What’s wrong with that?
Though the talent draw was disappointing, Su Xing still held great expectations for this simulation.
【In the Blessed Spirit Field, you realize you are in a simulation.】
【You touch the top of your head. A few strands of fine hair fall away.】
【Expressionless, you begin refining pills, calmly awaiting the right moment.】
【A month passes quickly. Jin Congxue has found quite a number of the herbs you previously mentioned — thousand-year ginseng, polygonum multiflorum, lingzhi…】
【With these herbs, you can now attempt to refine Life-Sustaining Pills.】
【You follow the pill formula. The refinement of Life-Sustaining Pills isn’t particularly complex, and within a single month you’ve reached the beginner level.】
【But you’re not satisfied with this. At the beginner level of pill refinement, your success rate is only about thirty percent.】
【So you continue having Jin Congxue collect these herbs for you. However, Jin Congxue explains that these herbs are far too precious, and gathering them will require a great deal of time.】
【Left with no choice, you can only temporarily give up and hand the few Life-Sustaining Pills you’ve already refined over to Jin Congxue.】
【When Jin Congxue learns of the Life-Sustaining Pill’s effects, she makes no effort to hide her shock. But you tell her casually to take one pill and see if she can use it to arrange a meeting with Baili Qi.】
【Jin Congxue does as instructed. Three days later, you meet the travel-worn Baili Qi, along with the withered and fading master of the Baili Commerce Group — Baili Tu.】
【Upon hearing that you possess life-extending medicine, Baili Tu has come personally from thousands of miles away. Baili Qi goes further, declaring that as long as you’re willing to give him the Life-Sustaining Pills, you can name any condition, and you will forever be an honored guest of the Baili family.】
【You seize the opportunity to state your demand — you want the dungeon props that Baili Qi has been collecting.】
【To your surprise, Baili Qi — who was just thumping his chest making guarantees — suddenly looks hesitant. He asks if you could change your request, saying those dungeon props are his lifeblood!】
【You turn your gaze to old master Baili Tu. Upon hearing this, the old man is so furious that he raises his cane and whacks Baili Qi on the head several times.】
【Yet Baili Qi still grits his teeth, seemingly placing tremendous value on the dungeon props. He argues that the old man has lived over five hundred years and has more than gotten his money’s worth, but if he loses those dungeon props, the second half of his own life will be devoid of purpose!】
【You find this quite curious — why would Baili Qi rather let his own father die than part with these “useless” dungeon props? Could there be some earth-shattering secret hidden among them?】
【Later, you discover that the dungeon props are indeed quite ordinary. It’s simply that Baili Qi’s greatest lifelong wish is to collect every rare object in the world… namely, dungeon props.】
【This is precisely why Baili Qi is so reluctant to part with them — he has essentially made dungeon props his spiritual anchor.】
Su Xing was rendered speechless by this. He never would have guessed that the eldest young master of the Baili Commerce Group would have such an eccentric obsession — a certified junk collector…
This reminded Su Xing of certain otaku from his previous life who treated plastic figurines as more precious than life itself.
He turned his gaze back to the simulation panel.
【Seeing Baili Qi so stubborn, you can only negotiate with him. In the end, Baili Qi agrees to part with one-third of his “collection” in exchange for your Life-Sustaining Pill!】