Chapter 38

Dressed in black clothes and trousers, with a black gauze mask over his head, Luo Chen stepped into the courtyard gate, looking behind him cautiously.

In the dim and quiet alley, there was not a sound.

Luo Chen walked behind the door and stood there silently for a while.

"No one is following me."

Luo Chen confirmed that he hadn't been followed home, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Low-level cultivators actually don't have many concealment methods, and their tracking methods are even more pitifully few, often requiring the help of talismans or magic tools.

Therefore, as long as one is a little careful, it is quite easy to discover whether someone is following them.

Since he had already been noticed by people from the Great River Gang, Luo Chen made up his mind that he must be careful, careful, and even more careful when going out and coming in from now on.

Just as he turned around, Luo Chen suddenly went stiff all over, his hair standing on end.

In the corner of the wall, a figure with long hair reaching the waist, dressed in white, was standing there quietly.

Luo Chen swallowed a mouthful of saliva; it couldn't be a ghost, could it!

But soon, he relaxed.

It was a person!

"Why hasn't it sprouted after two months?"

The woman in white seemed to be talking to herself.

"Could it be that the herb gatherer gave me fake Ziyang Flower seeds?"

"Ahem."

A coughing sound rang out from the doorway, and the woman turned around.

"Fellow Daoist Luo Chen?"

"Fellow Daoist Fu Xiuxiu?"

"Mm."

So it was the neighbor from the east wing!

Luo Chen walked to her side and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

Fu Xiuxiu said distressfully, "I bought Ziyang Flower seeds for one spirit stone and planted them two months ago. Coming home this time, I thought I would be able to see flower seedlings, but there is nothing."

Luo Chen followed her gaze and looked suspiciously at the area in the corner of the wall.

Isn't this where he usually practices Fireball Art and Entanglement Art?

Seeds?

He had already replaced the soil and stones dozens of times!

With a dry laugh, Luo Chen said dryly, "Maybe it's not suited to the soil and water!"

Fu Xiuxiu sighed and could only nod helplessly.

"The Yin energy here is a bit heavy; several flowers and plants I planted aren't growing well. Plus, I'm often not home, so they're almost dead."

Luo Chen blinked, "Is that so?"

"That must be the reason; usually, they should be taken out to bask in the sun more." Fu Xiuxiu was helpless.

After skipping this topic, she looked curiously at Luo Chen's attire.

"Fellow Daoist Luo, what have you been doing?"

"Just call me Little Luo! Wearing these clothes isn't for anything; I'm just used to wearing black."

Being called "Fellow Daoist" left and right by a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator, Luo Chen still felt a bit uncomfortable.

Seeing that Luo Chen didn't want to say, Fu Xiuxiu didn't ask further.

She looked at the night sky and extended an invitation to Luo Chen.

"It's rare for me to come back once, so I plan to invite the neighbors to have a meal together. Little Luo, are you coming?"

Someone inviting him to dinner, and such a good thing?

Then he, Luo Chen, would definitely be duty-bound!

Sitting on a child-sized swing in the courtyard, Luo Chen, having changed into a different set of clothes, calculated his next plans while waiting for Fu Xiuxiu to prepare dinner.

Raw materials costing four hundred spirit stones were his biggest expenditure ever!

This time, failure was not an option.

Therefore, before refining the elixir, he had to consider every aspect.

First was the new alchemy equipment—the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace.

The difference between refining elixirs with a spirit iron pot and a magic tool alchemy furnace was definitely huge.

He first had to familiarize himself with this magic tool, the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace, to avoid making mistakes during the refining process that he couldn't remedy in time.

Secondly, it was the processing of some raw materials.

He couldn't use the old methods anymore.

The spirit iron pot was small in volume and not heat-resistant, so he could only use slightly smaller firepower to refine elixirs; with small firepower, the time would inevitably be long.

During the long refining process, the processing of medicinal materials also tended to be conservative.

But the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace didn't have such concerns; as a magic tool, it was enough to withstand scorching high temperatures.

In this way, the processing methods for those few raw materials could be completely bolder.

Finally, it was the construction of the alchemy room.

Yes, Luo Chen planned to partition an alchemy room in the back room he rented.

The Purple Cloud Copper Furnace occupied a huge area, and when burning firewood, it also required a special fire pit, and heat-insulating bricks had to be laid underneath to avoid loss of firepower.

For the surrounding walls, it was best to use cloud sand bricks with good breathability.

Otherwise, if medicinal gas leaked and he was poisoned unconscious inside, it was also possible.

Thinking about one thing after another, Luo Chen felt a bit overwhelmed.

Next, he would have his hands full!

"Hey!"

A petite figure suddenly jumped in front of him.

Luo Chen greeted her helplessly, "Miss Xiao Ling, you're off work?"

Isn't that nonsense? The person is already in front of him.

But in reality, greetings are often like this.

For someone eating, one says, "Eating?"

For someone off work, one says, "Off work!"

He just hated it when meeting a friend in a public restroom, and the friend says, "Taking a dump?"

Nonsense, why else would one be squatting in the stall if not to take a dump!

Bai Meiling naturally couldn't imagine that so many random thoughts were jumping through Luo Chen's mind; she stretched out her fair, tender hands.

"What for?" Luo Chen asked strangely.

"Where is the elixir you refined? Let me see if it's a demonic elixir!"

"You really are nosy!"

Bai Meiling put her hands on her hips, "As a seventh-level Qi Refining neighbor, can't I manage you?"

Damn, the thing he hated most in this life was people using their cultivation realm to pressure others!

Luo Chen took a deep breath and shamelessly took out an elixir.

Bai Meiling took it curiously, "Grain-Bigu Pill? No, it's Grain-Bigu Powder; the grade is actually okay, it's even top-grade."

She looked Luo Chen up and down for a while and couldn't help but nod.

"You kid are a quiet one, but it seems you're quite capable. It's a pity, if you had the recipe for the Grain-Bigu Pill, with a little practice, you could actually take it as a livelihood."

Luo Chen had originally planned to fool this woman and be done with it.

But hearing the other party say this, he instantly became interested.

He had always known that the Grain-Bigu Pill he refined was actually just Grain-Bigu Powder.

Otherwise, why would five bottles of Grain-Bigu Powder, totaling fifty pills, only sell for one low-grade spirit stone.

The orthodox Grain-Bigu Pill was a first-grade elixir no less than the Qi-Nurturing Pill.

Ten pills per bottle, selling for one hundred spirit stones—that would truly be a business with ten thousand times the profit!

If he knew how to refine the real Grain-Bigu Pill, wouldn't he be rich?

"Do you have the recipe for the Grain-Bigu Pill?"

Facing Luo Chen's thirsty gaze, Bai Meiling spread her hands.

"I definitely don't! These kinds of recipes are all controlled by the major sects; how could I possibly have them."

Luo Chen rolled his eyes; then what was she talking about.

He wasn't too disappointed, though.

Or rather, he had never held much hope for the recipes of such mainstream elixirs.

Not only the Great River Market, but even the entire Yuding Region and the six regions of the Far East strictly controlled the recipes for mainstream elixirs.

If there was the slightest leak, sect cultivators would use all kinds of means to get them back.

Buying with money, robbing by force, or recruiting alchemists who knew how to refine mainstream elixirs.

Regarding this, Luo Chen's evaluation was, "Monopoly dogs, may you die a horrible death!"

He could actually understand the practices of these sects.

This world's resources were extremely abundant; whether it was the regions where humans lived or the wild mountains and great marshes where demonic beasts lived, there were countless heavenly treasures.

In a situation where raw materials couldn't be restricted, controlling the recipes became the best means.

In this way, mainstream elixirs could only be refined, distributed, and sold by the sects.

Consequently, the major sects could ensure that their income was far higher than that of immortal cultivation families and rogue cultivators.

If it weren't for this, where would the major sects get such good benefits, giving disciples free magic tools, Daoist robes, and even precious storage bags at every turn.

"Little Ling, Little Luo, time to eat."

A gentle voice came, and Luo Chen hurriedly walked into the east wing, which was Fu Xiuxiu's home.

Bai Meiling followed behind, but after walking two steps, she felt something was wrong.

"Can Fire Dog Whip also be used to refine Grain-Bigu Powder?"