Chapter 103: Initial Absorption of Yellow Sprout, Fellow Apprentice Comes to Question

"This Yellow Sprout Pill is indeed much more palatable, quite a bit better than the Xiaohuan Dan."

Chen Ci pinched the pill bottle and looked at the bottom, where there was a red-inked seal with the character 'Guo'. The style of the seal's markings carried a distinct personal flair, indicating that this bottle of Yellow Sprout Pill came from the hands of an alchemist surnamed Guo. It counted as a simple trademark in the alchemy world; although the method was crude, it was actually quite useful.

After all, the alchemy trade was highly regional. Once you left the familiar markets, practitioners in other places wouldn't recognize your brand. The brand effect in the markets of the cultivation world was far stronger than one might imagine. Even if spirit pills in formal alchemy pavilions were more expensive, if something really happened, everyone was still more willing to trust a formal brand.

There was a reason for the high price; after all, 'reputation' and 'safety' were very valuable.

While Chen Ci pondered how to design a flamboyant seal for himself, he glanced at his own Gold Finger panel.

Three Yin Qi Consumption Method: 40/100

One of these Yellow Sprout Pills could equal two days of effort, only slightly better than the Xiaohuan Dan. However, perhaps because the main ingredient included Yellow Bud Spirit Rice, the taste was quite good. A bottle of twelve pills cost about seven Spirit Pearls, enough to assist in cultivation for four days.

One shouldn't take too many spirit pills daily. Taking too many caused the medicinal properties to accumulate, which not only harmed the body and kidneys but also easily diminished the efficacy—that is, creating so-called drug resistance.

However, if one took the spirit pills according to the pill-taking method paired with the pill formula, keeping the medicinal properties in mind, one could minimize the accumulation of medicinal properties. This pill-taking method, besides clarifying the medicinal guides, also included dosages and usage; it was actually an instruction manual.

"If one day I, Chen, can cultivate while holding a spirit pill in my mouth, gripping divine sand in my left hand, and holding a spirit pearl in my right, I certainly won't lose a single bit to those heaven-gifted geniuses on the path of cultivation, hmph hmph."

After reading the pill formula a few more times, Chen Ci scanned the progress of his Small Heavens Qi Absorption Pill Method.

Medicine Absorption Spell: Entry/32/100

Fire Control Method Spell: Entry/8/100

Qi Observation Spell: Entry/7/100

Condensing Pill Incantation: Entry/1/100

"No child cries every day, no alchemist loses every time. Let's gamble once!"

Chen Ci rubbed his hands together, picked up a catty of Yellow Sprout Rice, and prepared to give it a try to see if he could extract the Yellow Sprout essence. His Medicine Absorption Spell should count as having reached small success within the entry level. Although the success rate wasn't high, it wasn't too low either; at least he had the experience of extracting essence from the five grains to fall back on.

Medicine Absorption Spell, activate!

Yellow Sprout Rice, -1.

Looking at the pile of impure powder on the table, Chen Ci felt an inexplicable heartache. Those ten taels of gold really just went 'poof' with a soft sound, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Chen Ci waved his sleeve to brush the pile of impure powder aside, touched his chin, and pondered for a moment. Although he failed, fortunately, he didn't come away empty-handed.

Medicine Absorption Spell: Entry/32/100 (Extracting this spirit material, twelve into one)

This meant that with his current level of Medicine Absorption cultivation, he could extract eight portions of Yellow Sprout essence from these one hundred catties of Yellow Bud Spirit Rice.

And one portion of Yellow Sprout essence could yield one Premium Bigu Pill, which had a market price of twenty taels of gold.

Just by processing the Yellow Bud Spirit Rice, Chen Ci had lost eight and a half catties of Five Elements Divine Sand, nearly nine thousand taels of silver!

"No wonder rogue cultivators often laugh that staying away from alchemy, gambling, and drugs is the way to eternal happiness. I haven't even started alchemy yet, and I can already feel my money pouch leaking cash."

Chen Ci rubbed his face. Essence materials were hard to preserve and generally required the alchemist to extract and use them on the spot. He finally understood why among the miscellaneous cultivators of the side paths, several would each learn one method and cooperate in alchemy. What was this called? This was called specializing in one item and sharing the risk.

However, the disadvantages were also obvious. In his past life, even forming a team to play games was often difficult, and you couldn't call enough people for half a day. This cooperative alchemy would surely be troublesome; even close fellow apprentices would likely have things to squabble over. It was a case of gains and losses.

"One portion of Yellow Sprout essence is enough to start a furnace of Yellow Sprout Pills. Although Yellow Sprout Rice is one of the main ingredients, it isn't the biggest expense. I still need to find some Yellow Dragon Grass and Earth Bright Stone. Next time, I'll ask Shi Sanniang to help inquire; that might lower the cost a bit more."

Chen Ci exhaled a breath of turbid air: "Besides, my Gold Finger has another benefit: it allows me to estimate the approximate level of my own alchemy. This Yellow Sprout Pill is still worth a shot. If it were like that Nourishing Qi Green Ganoderma Pill, where even just the Corpse Ganoderma had a success rate of one in a hundred, then I might lose everything before even successfully refining a single furnace."

As it stands, if he refines the Yellow Sprout Pill, the price is the same as in Fuyun Market, and profit or loss is still a toss-up. If he sells it at half price in Xishan Market, he would definitely lose money.

Fortunately, he is still an Outer Transmission of the He Mountain Sect. If he has the chance to sell it at a sect gathering, he could probably sell it for seventy or eighty percent of the price.

"If I don't refine spirit pills, my alchemy will be hard to master."

Chen Ci shook his head. It was time to play a high-end game. At the very least, if he didn't refine spirit pills, this Condensing Pill Incantation really wouldn't make any progress.

"What the hell, a letter from Fuxiang Temple?"

Chen Ci held his teacup, somewhat surprised: "What's the source? Who sent it?"

Fuxiang Temple—he hadn't even heard of it. Why would they send him a letter for no reason?

"Reporting to Master, the person who delivered the letter said his master is True Person Xiao of Fuxiang Temple in the neighboring Xiang Shan County."

Niu Ji explained carefully: "He said he is a fellow apprentice of yours from the He Mountain Sect, and he has written a letter to discuss something with you, Master."

Oh, so it's a cheap fellow apprentice from the next county.

Chen Ci put down his teacup, feeling slightly suspicious. A fellow apprentice with whom he had almost no interaction suddenly sending a letter felt as abrupt as a classmate he hadn't seen in years asking him 'Are you there?'. By the way, there shouldn't be a custom in the cultivation world of giving money gifts for weddings or funerals, right?

These fellow apprentices and Daoists, each one lives a long time and has so many issues; who could afford to give gifts?

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ci took the envelope and asked casually: "What about the person who delivered the letter? Did he say what it was about?"

"No, that Daoist left in a hurry after delivering the letter. I wanted to invite him in for a cup of tea to avoid being impolite."

Niu Ji thought for a moment and said: "But looking at his expression, he seemed quite anxious."

"Hmm, you may go."

Chen Ci nodded and opened the envelope. The content of the letter was brief, and he finished reading it in a few glances. But after reading it, Chen Ci chuckled and looked directly at the signature.

Xiao Yucheng of Fuxiang Temple.

"Are you kidding me? What kind of status do you have to dare to send a letter to question me, Chen?"

Chen Ci squeezed slightly, shredding the envelope, and sneered. No wonder the messenger left in a hurry; it seems he knew the style of the He Mountain Sect master and was afraid that if he left too slowly, he wouldn't be able to leave at all.

The letter wasn't about anything else; it was still related to the matter of 'relieving the people'.

Grain prices in Xishan Prefecture were soaring. In fact, if it could really be managed, the problem wouldn't be too big in the short term. But once someone wanted to take the opportunity to get rich, the grain prices would skyrocket, and the common people below would suffer.

But people can run.

Among the mortals, they could be 'people', or they could be 'spirit souls', 'Essence Refining', 'yin ghosts', 'materials', or 'objects for cultivation methods'. Especially in times of disaster like this, having hundreds or thousands of people die was as easy as child's play, and no one would come to manage it.

If they really wanted to manage it, Longhu Shan Jiuzhuan Guan wouldn't have let the grain prices in Xishan Prefecture rise like this.

As for the words of Hutou Daoren, other He Mountain Sect Deacons in other counties might not have taken it seriously, instead taking the opportunity to secretly refine some Essence Refining and practice some Evil Methods, living their lives quite comfortably.

But Changping County was actually providing disaster relief. Refugees who couldn't survive in neighboring counties were sneaking over here. Take Xiang Shan Xian, for example; it is said that several thousand refugees have already run over. You must know that in such remote counties, the population is only a little over one hundred thousand at most, and some only have a few tens of thousands. In the eyes of that man surnamed Xiao, these fleeing refugees were all money. He couldn't let Chen Ci take advantage of them, so he wrote a letter asking Master Chen to find a way to drive the people back, and then dismissed Master Chen with words like 'let's visit each other more often in the future', which didn't even count as a hollow promise.

Bah!

The further the Outer Sect Deacon of the He Mountain Sect is from the Xishan Prefecture, the more remote the temple they establish, and the lower their cultivation. What kind of high-end goods could there be next to Chen Ci's Changping County? If it weren't for the fact that they were both disciples of the He Mountain Sect, that fellow would have already been courting death for this letter.

However, this letter also gave Chen Ci a hint: if all the refugees came to Changping County, even if he were a wealthy landlord, he couldn't save so many people. Being able to manage his own little plot of land in Changping County was already the result of Master Chen's kindness.

Truly troublesome.

"If I were a bit more ruthless, this wave of refugees alone could feed all my Dharma Artifacts; I'm afraid this year's Essence Refining tribute could be paid off in one go."

Chen Ci shook his head; the bottom line of the He Mountain Light must be maintained. This thing called a bottom line is just like integrity—once you lose it, you can never truly pick it back up.

Five days later.

Chen Ci, who was practicing his arts in the backyard, suddenly opened his eyes and let out a soft sound of surprise; he inexplicably sensed that his Five Ghosts had become a bit more agile, as if they had undergone some changes.

He subconsciously looked at his Gold Finger panel.

Five Ghosts Transportation Method: Proficient/1/100 (Refining Essence five drops daily, can advance one, subdue the heart ghost, spirit ghost naturally born)

(End of this chapter)