Stop!

"This is it?" Li Jun frowned as he looked through his father's belongings. The universe bag contained a couple hundred gold coins and a rusty old sword—nothing else. But when he thought about it, he figured that his uncle had probably sold all the valuable stuff. He was given just a portion of the money Li Hong earned from them.

He felt cheated. He wanted some techniques and weapons. If he could have gotten his hands on the sword that his father used, he would have kept it by his side forever.

With the disappointment of what he had been given by his grandfather, he figured that he could at least go on a bit of a shopping spree, and he also wanted to check out the pill tower; he hadn't been there before, and the thought of free pills was exciting. 

Li Jun strolled through the city streets until he found himself standing at the base of a gigantic tower. It seemed to climb straight into the heavens with five floors and a pointed roof. At the front was a grand staircase with statues lining the banisters. A golden cauldron sat at the top of the steps, acting as a divider to filter people going into the tower on one side and out of the tower on the other.

It was by far the grandest building in Spirit City, but that was a given since pill refiners were the wealthiest group in the entire Empire, beside the imperial family, of course. The pill tower had set up a business in every city across the country and even some popular towns to make sure that they made the most of martial artists or sick people who had no choice but to spend their hard-earned money on medicine. 

Li Jun followed a small crowd of people up the stairs and entered the main hall. He looked around at the spectacular designs before shuffling along toward the counter. Seven workers were directing customers where to go or asking them to wait. When it was his turn, he stepped up and looked down at the woman sitting behind the counter.

"How can I help you?" she asked. Her eyes looked tired, as if she had been sitting in the same spot day and night.

"I would like twenty of the following pills," Li Jun said as he remembered what Master Shen had said. "Spirit gathering, tendon repairing, and bone forging."

The woman's eyes grew with shock.

"You want twenty of each?" She asked, unsure if she had heard him correctly.

"That's right." Said Li Jun.

"I don't think that we have that many spirit-gathering pills available." She frowned. It wasn't every day that someone came to buy spirit-gathering pills, and they were quite expensive, too. It was a waste for them to make so many in advance, especially if they weren't in high demand. 

"How many do you have?" Li Jun asked as the line behind him was becoming a little impatient. "I'll buy what you have today and return once you have more."

The woman looked down at a sheet of paper in front of her. It had a list of all the pills they sold and the number they had in stock.

"Give me a moment. I will have to check with the manager." She got up from her seat and rushed through a wooden door behind her.

Li Jun waited at the counter and glanced around at the place. 

'Why is this place so tall if they only serve people on the bottom floor?' he wondered. It was unknown to him at the time, but the first floor was more of an apothecary than a pill pavilion.

The main floor was for the average person, and it mainly stocked basic pills used by commoners. The second floor was a place for nobility to avoid waiting in line. The third floor and above were strictly for martial artists; depending on their cultivation, they could enter each floor. You would be turned away if you didn't meet the requirements. 

A few minutes later, the woman returned with an old man with long dark hair. He looked at Li Jun for a few moments and nodded his head. The woman smiled and walked back over to the counter. 

Li Jun noticed the man right away. His spiritual energy was twice as strong as that of the woman who served him, meaning he was a cultivator at the first stage of body refining.

"I'm sorry, but we can't serve you here," she said and bowed her head respectfully. Please come with me, and I will take you to the third floor."

As she said those words, it caused a bit of a commotion among the people waiting in line. They couldn't understand why a child was receiving such treatment. It was common knowledge that the upper floors were for well-respected people who didn't want to wait in line, but they didn't know that the floors above the second were only for martial artists. 

Li Jun was confused. He didn't understand the rules of the pill pavilion, but he was interested in seeing what was up there, so he followed without saying another word. He felt a little nervous as he didn't see them treat the other customers the same way they treated him. 

Once they reached the third floor, Li Jun was in awe. Everything seemed to sparkle with a layer of spiritual energy. The third floor's door seemed to act like the strange formation Master Shen had placed on his hill. The spiritual energy within the formation was twice as thick as it was outside, and not even the slightest trace escaped. 

"Thank you for doing business with us," the woman said with another respectful bow. "You can request your order from my colleague over there; your pills are currently being prepared."

The woman then closed the door and left him standing alone on the third floor. The only other person there was a man at the counter. Li Jun's gaze brushed over the man, and he sensed his power was almost at the sixth level of the body refining stage. 

'So I'm guessing this is where martial artists come for pills, ' he thought, gaining some insight into how the pill tower worked. Li Jun strode over to the man at the counter and smiled. 

"Do you know how long it's going to take? I have some business to attend to and can't stay here for long." Li Jun asked as respectfully as he could. He didn't want to cause any disagreements with someone who was quite clearly stronger than him. 

The man's face turned sour as he looked down upon Li Jun. 

"It will take how long it takes. You can either wait or leave. It's up to you." He sneered. 

Li Jun felt that this man was too arrogant for an employee of the pill tower. How could he be so disrespectful? All he had done was ask a question. 

Li Jun frowned. "Forget it then. I will take my business somewhere else." He said and began to make his way to the door. 

"Stop!" The man at the counter shouted as Li Jun's hand reached the door handle.