Past life sage: This life a dual cultivator

Zhan Chen rested for a hour inside the secluded room. Then he took out the stalks of White lilies and the two stalks of Soul warming grass.

'Looks like I have to purify them myselve. Currently these are the only Soul nourishing herbs available in the Firecloud treasure pavilion. Without the proper herbs, concocting a pill is impossible. I can only concoct soul nourishing liquid out of these', Zhan Chen thought inside his mind.

He threw the stalks of the White lilies inside the borrowed furnace. The furnace was looking tattered but it was the only mid level profound grade furnace available in the Firecloud treasure pavilion. So, he had no option but to use this tattered furnace.

Faintly glowing white flame jumped out of the palm of Zhan Chen. A sound of Chi! Chi! came out from the furnace as the white flame came in contact with the tattered looking furnace.

Zhan Chen controlled the flame exquisitely and the white flame had no fluctuation while heating the pill furnace. Time gradually passed by and soon half an hour of time passed.

Beads of sweat came out from the temple of Zhan Chen as he kept heating the pill furnace. The soul fire was completely dependent on the soul and such kind of refining greatly exhausted Zhan Chen's soul energy.

"Damn it. I have never struggled this much to refine a grade four herb", Zhan Chen muttered with a frustated tone.

The energy consumption of the soul was enormous and Zhan Chen felt dizzy after enduring another period of time. When he was thinking whether he could endure for another minute, the last white lily turned into liquid.

Zhan Chen stopped igniting the soul flame. He sighed in relief after seeing the crystal clear liquid inside the pill furnace.

He took out the liquid and placed them in a jade bottle. Then he sat cross-legged and adjusted his breath. He closed off his eyes after some time and started to operate the Celestial Yang sutra.

The warm energy of sun poured into his body and Zhan Chen felt his exhaustion decreasing a little. He didn't stop channeling the Celestial Yang sutra into his body and his exhausted soul energy gradually recovered.

He stopped only after his soul energy completely recovered. He was still feeling a slight pain due to the earlier partition of his soul but he knew it would heal after he took in the soul nourishing liquid.

Zhan Chen opened his eyes and his gaze fell upon the remaining Soul nourishing herbs. 'I wonder how much time these two stalks of Soul warming grass will take', he thought inside his mind.

He threw the two stalks of Soul warming grass inside the pill furnace and started releasing his soul flame. The refinement took another period of time.

"Fortunately, it didn't take longer", Zhan Chen sighed to himself after refining the two stalks of Soul warming grass. He cultivated for another period of time and left after recovering his soul strength.

"Big sis, what about that Profound grade weapon of Grandmaster Li? Has he agreed to our proposal?", the voice of Shen Ruyan came from the main hall of the second floor.

Zhan Chen strode towards the main hall. He heard the discussion between the two woman before stepping inside.

"No miss, he is demanding too much. Moreover, he is demanding a Essence condensation pill for this transaction", The manager Yao shook her head.

"How dare he extort us this much? He is trying to taking advantage of our helpless situation", Shen Ruyan spoke as a faint trace of anger appeared on her pretty face.

Sound of footsteps came from their behind. Shen Ruyan frowned as she didn't like being disturbed while discussing about business. She stared at the door to see who was coming. Manager Yao was sensible. So, she didn't comment and waited for the individual who would definitely get a scolding from her young miss for disturbing their discussion.

A silhouette clad in deep blue entered the main hall. After seeing the person, the frown of Shen Ruyan disappeared and a small smile bloomed on the face of Shen Ruyan. Manager Yao who was near her, felt surprised to see her miss smiling. She had never seen such a sweet smile on her young miss face.

He looked at the young man clad in blue robe and looked at her young miss' face. She seemed to understand something as her mind grew blank. "Don't tell me, young miss actually love this Zhan family brat?", she thought inside her mind.

She had previously tried to guess the relationship between Zhan Chen and Shen Ruyan but neither of her guess could come close to the truth she was seeing. One was the powerful Shen family's young miss and other one was just a kid of a small family. "How is this possible?", the middle aged manager Yao exclaimed inside her mind.

"Have you come out of seclusion?", Shen Ruyan smiled at Zhan Chen. Zhan Chen nodded his head and looked at the pretty face of Shen Ruyan.

"What is the matter that you are discussing earlier? Is it troubling you?", Zhan Chen asked with a smile.

"Forget about it. That old man is trying to taking advantage of me. Just because the Huo clan has some friction with me, I can't contact with the Weapon refinement union. Otherwise, why should I have offer such large amount to that black hearted old man?", Shen Ruyan muttered while waving her hand.

"Big sis, we will talk about the grand master later. Let me see if he has any other condition. You can return to the first floor now", Shen Ruyan spoke. Manager Yao nodded and left after slightly bowing towards Shen Ruyan.

"How is your seclusion? Is it successfull?", Shen Ruyan smiled at Zhan Chen. She didn't want to make Zhan Chen worry for her. So, she sent Manager Yao away.

"It is good but I want to hear what you are discussing earlier", Zhan Chen looked at Shen Ruyan with a firm gaze. Shen Ruyan didn't want to talk about it but she surrendered infront of Zhan Chen's determined gaze.

After listening the story from Shen Ruyan, Zhan Chen understood the real situation. Shen Ruyan had offended the Huo clan young master. Huo clan was one of the five strongest clans in this land. So, he was using his power to cause trouble for the Shen clan everywhere.

There would be a important event of the entire Northern desert continent in the near future. So, there would be a large gathering of experts at that time. As a business clan, Shen clan would hold a auction at that time but the required weapons were being blocked by the Weapon refinement union due to their relationship with Huo clan. The Shen clan elders had pushed everything on Shen Ruyan to resolve. If she couldn't do so, then the failure of the auction would be on her. So, she was looking for other means to obtain weapons.

This grandmaster Li was an independent weapon refiner who could refine high level Profound grade weapons but he was looking for the Essence condensation pill which was in the sole posession of the Pill king valley. It was almost impossible to obtain such a pill from the Pill king valley. So, Shen Ruyan was now in a difficult position due to the current circumstances.

"You need an Essence condensation pill, right? I will give you as much as you want as long as you give me the ingredients", Zhan Chen spoke with a comforting tone on his voice.