Chapter 36: The Kind-hearted Man

"Today is the second day of the fourth month. I can't even remember the specific year, it's all a mess. Ever since I relaxed last night, I don't know why, but the thought 'Nothing to do today, why not go to the pleasure house to listen to music' keeps popping into my head. How shameless."

I didn't even finish the task of refining ten more Bigu Pills; I stopped after only three. However, I didn't dare slack off on the progress of cultivating Three Yin True Qi; after all, one's own cultivation is the foundation.

In this world, above Qi Refining is Dao Foundation, above Dao Foundation is Golden Core, and above Golden Core there is still Longevity. Based on my years of experience as a failing writer in my past life, I suspect there might be other paths beyond Longevity, but that's unknown for now—I'm digressing.

Actually, if you want to live happily, it's best to be a miscellaneous rogue cultivator like Shi Sanniang, neither too high nor too low.

You don't have to think about improving your cultivation—it's useless anyway—and you can still be accepted as an Immortal in the eyes of mortals, living a carefree and comfortable life, occasionally throwing a party, living a life without bounds.

Speaking of Shi Sanniang, why hasn't she sent those wild beasts over yet? Since I have nothing to do, why not go to the pleasure house in the county tomorrow to listen to music? No, is that a place for a decent person to go?

Besides, I'm starting this diary to urge myself to practice the pill method more, and stop thinking about listening to music in pleasure houses all day. How base. Anyway, I, Chen, am truly a decent person."

"Fourth month, third day. Refined one Bigu Pill. At this rate, when will I ever be able to improve my cultivation of the Small Heavens Qi Absorption Pill Method? If the pill method doesn't succeed, how will I make money? If I don't have money, when will I ever be able to sleep with a fairy or a demoness... *cough*."

"Fourth month, fourth day. Refined one Bigu Pill."

"Fourth month, fifth day. Refined one Bigu Pill."

Chen Ci, oh Chen Ci, how could you be so degenerate? You can't go on like this. Have you forgotten your ambitions?

Don't look at the Bigu Pill as not being very valuable—one pill is only two taels of silver—but a catty of refined rice only costs eight wen. The rate of return is so high it's criminal. Damn it, no wonder pill masters are all filthy rich. Go refine pills!"

"Fourth month, sixth day. Refined one Bigu Pill."

Chen Ci lifted his brush to write, looked at the records from the previous days, and felt like he was about to crack.

Why is it that when others transmigrate, they get to dominate the heavens and the earth and the Immortals, but he is refining the most basic Bigu Pill to the point of wanting to vomit? May I ask where the 'Flower Blooms Wealthy' sister is? He doesn't want to work hard anymore.

"Bang, bang, bang~"

"Master, Shi Sanniang has arrived outside the temple and is waiting for you."

Chen Ci's heart jolted. True Qi erupted in his hand, shredding the diary and the brush into powder, leaving not a single trace behind.

What decent person writes a diary?

Pfft, how... base!!!

"Tell her to wait for me a moment; I'll be right there."

Chen Ci rubbed his face, sweeping away the foul air of diary-writing, then leisurely walked out of the courtyard to the outside of Sanyin Temple.

Good heavens, as soon as he stepped out of Sanyin Temple, he saw a mountain-like, ten-foot-long old bear, lying listlessly on a large cart, unable to move, covered by Shi Sanniang's handkerchief Dharma Artifact.

There were also three mountain deer, an old wolf, and a wild boar, all tied up tightly.

In these nearly twenty days, Yunshi Shan had only caught these living creatures. To be honest, Chen Ci was a little disappointed.

However, he also knew that unless one had thousands of skilled men surrounding the mountain, it was difficult to catch many live wild beasts.

Chen Ci estimated that these few large beasts were worth about one hundred and sixty taels of silver. The bulk of that was the old bear, whose life force was quite robust and looked like it had lived for quite a few years. He simply rounded it up to two hundred taels of silver to avoid Shi Sanniang begging and pulling at him later.

"I'm losing out, I'm really losing out."

Shi Sanniang cursed and grumbled: "I don't know why, but there are far fewer wild beasts on the nearby hills. These few big ones were caught by me leading people into the deep mountains myself. I'm losing out! Having to catch these things alive and move them out of the mountains—Master Chen, I want to raise the price!"

"You delivered them so late. If you delayed it by two more days, you would have ruined my important business!"

Chen Ci scolded her coldly, then tossed over the one hundred Bigu Pills he had prepared long ago: "Seeing that you've worked hard, I'll give you twenty extra. There won't be such good fortune next time."

Refining Essence is not something you can do just by opening your mouth; it takes time. If it were two days later, unless he went himself, he wouldn't be able to make the deadline for the offerings to be sent to Fuhu Altar before the fifteenth of the month.

"Master Chen, please give this concubine some more supplies."

Shi Sanniang was desperate; she clamped onto Chen Ci's arm and wouldn't let go: "My subordinates also put in a lot of effort. I can't let them return empty-handed, or I won't be able to command them next time."

After much back and forth, Chen Ci gave them another two thousand catties of grain and ten catties of Frost Sugar, worth about a hundred taels of silver, which finally satisfied Shi Sanniang.

Hmm, anyway, when Shi Sanniang left, her legs were weak.

Chen Ci rubbed his fingers. Though soft, it was vulgar and lewd.

"Hurry up and process these wild beasts. Three hundred taels of silver worth of big game—I wonder how much Essence Refining I can extract. I really am too kind-hearted. After being swayed by that Shi Sanniang, I was stiff, but my heart softened."

Chen Ci did some mental math and sighed: "But fortunately, the cost is low. The grain, Frost Sugar, and Bigu Pills are all my own products. The actual cost is probably less than twenty taels of silver, so it's not too much of a loss."

Hmm, Master Chen can be renamed Master Chen the Kind-hearted.

"Still too little."

Chen Ci shook the Spirit Nourishing Bottle and sighed. He had cut off the rations for the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag for several days just to barely scrape together three hundred drops of Essence Refining. He had even starved the child thin.

Eight death-row prisoners, fifty-six drops.

Six wild beasts, thirty-one drops.

The giant bear alone provided twenty-two drops of Essence Refining, making it the creature with the most single-source Essence Refining so far.

Livestock, two hundred and thirteen drops.

This wiped out most of the livestock Chen Ci had painstakingly raised—a full two hundred and sixty-plus head. In Changping County, where meat prices were rising daily, they were worth three thousand taels of silver!

That's about three catties of Five Elements Divine Sand.

Chen Ci's body swayed; he almost jumped up.

"Damn it, the monthly offering of three hundred drops of Essence Refining is impossible to afford by normal means!"

"Unless I subsidize it with my own Frost Sugar profits, otherwise, relying solely on the income from Sanyin Temple, I wouldn't even last a year, even if I started selling the fields!"

Moreover, the number of large livestock in a single county is limited. Even with Sanyin Temple buying them up aggressively, many county residents are raising livestock, but it takes time for them to be ready for market.

At this critical juncture, Longhu Mountain even sent a high-ranking Daoist to inspect Xishan Prefecture. It really is wolves in front and tigers behind; I'm in a dilemma.

"Hoo~"

Chen Ci exhaled a breath of turbid air and calmed down: "I don't believe those cheap fellow apprentices can keep up this rat race forever. I'll grit my teeth and hold on for two more months to see which side, Longhu Mountain or He Mountain Sect, has stronger methods before making further plans."

The so-called 'gun hits the bird that sticks its head out,' and it also hits the blind.

Chen Ci dares not be the one at the back, nor will he be the one leading the rat race. He'll hide in the middle and see the situation clearly first.

Two months... tighten the belt, live a bitter life, and it will pass.

Chen Ci put away the Spirit Nourishing Bottle. The day after tomorrow is when his eldest Apprentice, Niu Ji, will follow the Huang Family Caravan to Xishan Prefecture. He can let him quietly inquire about the situation in other counties.

Having made up his mind, Chen Ci walked out of the backyard and happened to bump into his own Apprentice, Niu Ji. But before he could give any orders, the cheap Apprentice knelt down hurriedly: "Reporting to Master, the Head of the Family of the Wang Family and the Head of the Family of the Huang Family are requesting an audience. Judging by their appearance, they seem to be in quite a hurry."

"Hmm?"

Chen Ci was also surprised; why would these two come to visit him together? It was somewhat strange.

(End of this chapter)