Chapter 2: Five Spirit Stones a Month
The next day, early morning.
Luo Chen woke up early and divided the pills on the cutting board, placing them into five jade bottles, ten pills per bottle.
He put on his only presentable low-grade robe, grabbed his low-grade flying sword, and hurried out the door.
He had to get to the city early; otherwise, when daylight rose, the better rogue cultivator stalls would already be taken, and there'd be no spot left for him.
Perhaps due to the heavy rain the day before, the roads in the outer district were quite muddy. The closer he got to the center of the outer district, the stronger the mixed smells became—an overpowering blend of urine, medicinal herbs, and the scent of both humans and spirit beasts.
The earthy scent of the mud made it even more unbearable but Luo Chen was used to it.
Two hours later, he arrived at the city gates. As he stepped into the inner city, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.
As expected, the air in the inner city was much fresher!
"I've heard that the inner city is built on a first-tier spirit vein, which is beneficial for Qi-Refining cultivators. Once I have enough money, I must buy a house here!" Luo Chen encouraged himself and headed straight to the rogue cultivator area in the southwestern corner.
In front of a slab of bluestone, mostly covered with yellow talisman and beasts hides, an old man was busy arranging his goods there. As he finished laying out the beast hides and stretched his back, he happened to notice Luo Chen.
"Fellow Daoist Luo, you're a bit later than usual today."
The old man's name was Chen Xiuping, a cultivator at the sixth stage of Qi-Refining and a long-time resident of Dahe Market. He had lived there for decades, making a living with his remarkable skills of crafting talismans and tanning beast hides.
With his income level, he could barely afford to rent a place in the inner city. However, the old man was quite frugal. He preferred to live in a wooden house in the outer district for one low-grade spirit stone a month, rather than pay ten times the price for a stone house in the inner city.
Even when it came to selling his goods, he meticulously calculated every detail, from setting up his stall to each transaction.
The rogue cultivator stalls required rent to be paid to the market management. A stall would cost one spirit stone per month. Since the stall was spacious enough to display talismans and hides with some room left, he decided to share that extra half-square meter with Luo Chen, splitting the rent between them.
Was Luo Chen getting a bad deal? Not really. Renting a stall on his own would have cost him one spirit stone a month anyway. Moreover, most cultivators didn't like sharing a stall with others. So, Luo Chen wasn't really losing out, but Old Man Chen was definitely benefiting.
After a brief greeting, Luo Chen set up his goods at the stall. He had twenty bottles of fasting pills!
When Old Man Chen noticed the quantity, he was surprised and remarked, " Fellow Daoist Luo, your pill refinement skills have improved again, haven't they?"
He had a good reason for saying that; Luo Chen would usually set up his stall once every seven days. Each time, he sold around fifteen or sixteen bottles of fasting pills. This time, however, he had brought out twenty bottles!
It was clear that Luo Chen had made significant progress in refining fasting pills.
Indeed, that was the case.
Of the seven-day cycle, one day was reserved for setting up the stall and buying materials. That left him six days, and he spent half of that time preparing materials and the other half refining pills. That meant he had only three days of actual pill refinement.
Previously, Luo Chen could only manage two batches a day, about five bottles of fasting pills, mainly due to high material wastage. But yesterday, his skill had advanced from Perfection to Grandmaster level. The last batch alone produced five bottles!
Combined with a stroke of luck and reduced material wastage, he had managed to refine twenty bottles this time.
"Oh, it's nothing. Practice makes perfect," Luo Chen responded modestly, though there was a hint of pride in his tone.
After all, reaching the Grandmaster level in refining fasting pills was no small accomplishment.
Chen Xiuping shook his head. "There are a few others selling fasting pills, but none of them can make twenty bottles in five days like you."
He reached out to grab one of the nearest bottles. "You didn't mix any flour into these to bulk them up, did you? As your senior, I have to check, just to make sure our stall's reputation doesn't get ruined."
Luo Chen grinned and while watching the old man reach for the pills, he picked up a talisman painted with red lines in his own hand.
"I heard someone bought one of your qi-concealing talismans last time, but it didn't work, and they ended up getting half their butt bitten off by a spirit beast. Perhaps I should take one back and study it, just to make sure that our stall's reputation stays safe?"
Old Man Chen panicked, immediately dropping the pills and snatching the talisman from Luo Chen's hand.
"Your five bottles of fasting pills only sell for one spirit stone, and you want to trade them for my three-spirit-stone qi-concealing talisman? Give it back! Give it back!"
Luo Chen chuckled as he watched Old Man Chen carefully place the talisman back in its most conspicuous spot. The qi-concealing talisman was Old Man Chen's signature product. His other low-tier talisman sold for one spirit stone each, while the qi-concealing talisman was priced at three spirit stones.
In fact, the demand for the qi-concealing talisman was always high, especially among cultivators who hunted spirit beasts in the mountains. This talisman, which could mask blood and qi for two hours, could save one's life in critical moments, making it just as valuable as a defensive talisman.
Sometimes, Luo Chen envied Old Man Chen. With just a few casual sales, Old Man Chen could easily earn over a hundred spirit stones a month.
On the other hand, Luo Chen worked himself to the bone just to earn twelve spirit stones a month. After deducting costs, he was left with only six or seven. Then, subtracting a spirit stone for rent and the stall fee, and one for daily living expenses left him with just four or five.
And that was after a year of hard work since he transmigrated over to this world. It was hard to imagine how the old Luo Chen had survived in the early days.
Envy was just a passing feeling. Luo Chen knew that each of the four mainstream paths of cultivation—alchemy, talisman-making, weapon forging, and array creation—all had its own challenges.
Alchemy was about volume and higher profits, but it was difficult to master each recipe. Countless batches of pills had to be wasted in practice to reach proficiency.
Talisman-making was about precision. Every talisman required the cultivator's full concentration, and even the slightest mistake could ruin the entire process. Moreover, talisman makers often had shorter lifespans, though no one really knew why.
Take Chen Xiuping, for instance. He looked old, but he was only in his sixties. Well, actually, that was still pretty old... But Qi-Refining cultivators could lived for a hundred twenty or a hundred thirty years, so sixty was technically considered young.
Switching to talisman-making was out of the question for Luo Chen. He couldn't imagine spending his life writing talismans every day. Pill refinement, making little round pills, was far more suitable for him.
Moreover, Luo Chen knew his own matters best. With his recent advancement to the Grandmaster level in refining fasting pills, his earnings were about to double.
While ten spirit stones a month still wouldn't be enough to sustain his cultivation for longevity, at least things were heading in the right direction.
Besides, he was about to start a new project, wasn't he?
As Luo Chen dreamed about his promising future, Old Man Chen tugged at his sleeve.
"We've got customers!"
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