Chapter 699 Spring Mist Pavilion A week into the process, Alex decided not to rush through the whole thing and get himself burnt out. So, after going through 10 of the ingredients. He decided to take the rest of the 2 weeks going through 1 ingredient each. The process was as simple as it could get by now since he had done it over 20 times already. Alex would first go through each ingredient and find out the shape of each and every iteration. Then, once he knew in detail all the shapes of the powder, he would try to combine the different shapes in such a way that it would fit perfectly without any gap in the pill. The combination was what held the energy once it was finalized. One such combination needed to be duplicable for the rest of the pill as well. The less gap there was, the better the pill would store energy. So, the shape of the overall combination also needed to be able to come together to make as little gap as possible. Alex didn't worry about the overall combination, but rather the individual ones which he would have to do manually until he figured out a way to understand the perfect technique he had in his mind. For that, however, Alex needed to learn the Dao of Technique, which didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon. So, Alex decided to do what he should have done a long time ago. He decided to go buy a Pill forming technique. After asking a few of the staff, he came to know about a large store owned by a merchant that hosted any and all sorts of techniques. They let him know that alchemists have also bought pill-forming techniques from there. Alex remembered pill-forming techniques back in the library of the Hong Wu sect, but those were either Common or Earth rank techniques, something that would never enter his eyes. Not even his master made him study those as she knew that wasn't necessary. Especially since he had a spiritual sense from the start, so there was no need to use a technique to form a pill. Most of those techniques were simply meant to find every little bit of the powder and clump it into a ball anyway. The only difference between most would be how they found every little bit. Alex made his way through the city towards the northwestern side which was where most people entered the city. So, for the sake of convenience, this area was also the commercial sector of the city while the ones closer to the mountains were treated as the residential area, even though there already was one outside of the walls. After 20 or so minutes, Alex reached the building that the staff told him about. The Spring Mist Pavilion. Alex looked at the tall, pagoda-like building that was equally as wide as it was tall. It was like a supermarket to his eyes where anything and everything was sold. Alex went in and looked around only to realize that the ground floor was for common folks that did not cultivate. It consisted of stores that sold food, drinks, clothes, furniture, and every other thing a regular person might require. Then, Alex noticed a stairway that went to the next floor. After going atop it, Alex finally noticed a slew of cultivators all doing their own things. The floor seemed to be divided into 6 or so different sections each with massive names hung atop each. Artifacts and Weapons as well as Cultivation books and techniques took up nearly half the entire area. The rest of it was occupied by Pills, Formations, Talisman, and Miscellaneous. The very first room he was greeted by was pills to his left and talismans to his right. Alex chuckled as he realized this was not a random placement and was placed here since most people would regularly come here for these items after all. Only rarely did anyone want to buy techniques or artifacts when compared to pills and talismans. Alex curiously walked over to the right where the Miscellaneous store was past the Talisman store and saw that it was full of beasts, paintings, puppets, and various types of treasures that one wouldn't normally find in any of the other sections. Alex walked past it and the artifacts section to reach the skill section that was on the complete opposite side of the stairs. As he was walking past the artifacts, Alex saw various items and objects that piqued his interest and he stopped to check. Swords, spears, shields, armors, amulets, masks, shoes, and various other things were laid in plain sight for everyone to see. Alex thought of sensing what formations they were possibly using to keep it all safe while so easy to reach and steal, but decided not to. When he was about to leave, his eyes fell on something that made him stop touch subconsciously touch his left arm. 'Should I get one?' he thought to himself when he saw the fake arm. Alex was starting to doubt another Blood Spirit Ginseng would become available for him to purchase. The last time one was available to buy, it lasted nearly 4 whole years before someone bought it. Given such a lack of necessity for the ingredient, it was likely no one would bother selling it. Even if they did, for the sake of speed, they would sell it in auctions. As a normal person, he couldn't be in every auction in every place at the same time. Aside from the pill, even the royal princess was losing his trust more and more to fix his arm. Alex shook his head and got rid of the thoughts. "If I want one, I will get one later," he thought and went to the skill section of the store. Alex was about to ask for a technique when he noticed something weird. He looked at the various figures standing around the section as well as the people working on it and realized that none of them were in the True realms. 'A coincidence?' he thought. "Hi, do you have Heaven-grade techniques here?" Alex asked. Immediately, all the people turned to look at him like they had just seen a clown. "No, dear guest. This floor is only for Common grade techniques. If you want better techniques you will have to go a rank higher," the store clerk said. Alex said his thanks and left the place to go up a floor again. Once he reached there, he quickly asked to find out that this one was for everything Earth grade only. Alex had to go one floor above again. Finally, reaching the 4th floor of the pagoda, Alex looked around. As a pagoda, the pavilion's width got smaller and smaller as it went higher. So, by the time he was on the 4th floor, the total area of the stores had dropped to a third of its original size. Alex didn't bother with the other 5 and directly went to the room with the books and techniques. The floor got more majestic and well maintained the higher it went. On this floor, the entire floor was tiled with pristine white marble that Alex could see his reflections on. The store was also not a mess with customers as there was more staff here than people coming to buy. The moment Alex arrived a girl walked up to him. "Whatever you need, honored guest, this He Yin is here to help you," the beautiful store clerk said to him. "Hi sister Yin, I'm looking for a pill forming technique. Would you guys happen to have one?" Alex asked. "Pill forming technique? Let me check," the girl said as she brought out a medallion and looked through it. After a while, she opened her eyes and looked at Alex. "We have 3, honored guests. Let me get them for you," she said. Alex nodded and watched her go. He found a sofa in the corner and sat there to wait. There were also other people already on it who too seemed to be waiting for their staff to return. After 5 minutes, He Yin returned with 3 different books in her hand, all of which were sealed with a talisman on top. Without breaking through the talisman, one couldn't read the book. If it was torn, they would know. Fortunately, it allowed the buyer to read the technique's name and what it was about. [Sublime Pill Convergence Technique] [Earth Aligned technique that creates a small pocket of gravity to move the powder throughout the cauldron, while absorbing all the energy. Once done, it pulls all the powder in the cauldron to immediately form a pill. This technique is usable after you have properly mixed the energy.] Alex shook his head. This wasn't it. [Golden Star Pill Forming technique] [Metal Aligned technique that puts extra metal energy onto the pill and then pulls it into one solid pill before destroying the metal energy. In the process, it also absorbs all the energy in the cauldron. Suitable for after the energy of the ingredients is processed.] Alex sighed and took the third one, this was his only hope now. [Summer Breeze Pill Forming technique] [Wood Aligned technique that used the wind to pull ingredients…] Alex didn't even bother finishing it when he realized it was the same thing. None of these techniques creators gave a hint of knowing what Combinations and Structures were for a pill. "Are there any more?" Alex asked. "I'm afraid this is it, honored guest," He Yin said. "I see. Thank you," Alex said and turned left. This trip had been a massive waste of time. He walked over to the stairs to go down when he noticed something he had been too focused to notice before. There was another staircase that led to a floor above.