"Please, have a seat and some tea. It won't take long."
The shop boy went to fetch the herbs, while the Shopkeeper gestured for Xu Yang to sit and poured him a cup of tea.
Xu Yang took a small sip and asked, "Pardon my asking, Shopkeeper, but do you know of any shops in Cyan Yang City that buy elixirs?"
Refining the Blood Coagulation Pill was no longer an issue. The real challenge for him now was selling the finished elixirs.
He could go to the black market with small quantities, but he was planning to refine them in large batches. He couldn't just set up a stall at the black market every day, nor could he sell so many there.
A place like the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion would likely buy them, but he didn't dare sell there.
The Shopkeeper's interest was piqued. His smile grew warmer as he asked, "Could it be that you, my good sir, are a Pill Master?"
Looking again at Xu Yang's conical hat and mysterious attire, he became more convinced that he was in the presence of a Pill Master.
'Pill Masters... They're even rarer than Martial Artists. If a family has a Pill Master, it's virtually guaranteed they'll never fall into decline.'
Xu Yang's voice turned a bit cold. "If you are unwilling to say, Shopkeeper, then pretend I never asked."
"My apologies, I was too forward."
The Shopkeeper, startled, realized his question had been out of line. He quickly apologized, "My Zhu Family also purchases elixirs. If you have any you wish to sell, sir, you are more than welcome to bring them here. I guarantee a price that will leave you satisfied."
"Mm."
Xu Yang nodded, putting on an inscrutable expression, and said nothing more.
'Of course, I didn't just pick a random pharmacy. I did my research. The Zhu Family has a good reputation. Their ancestor was a Pill Master from the Purple Sun Sect, and they are still in the elixir business.'
The herbs were soon ready, and Xu Yang left with his purchase. The Shopkeeper saw him all the way to the door, only turning back reluctantly after he was gone.
"Shopkeeper, should I follow him and see where he goes?" the shop boy asked.
Zhu Bin jumped in fright. "Are you looking to get killed? Tailing a Pill Master? The Zhu Family runs a legitimate business; don't do anything that breaks taboos.
If this Pill Master wants to sell his elixirs, he will come back on his own."
Carrying the herbs, Xu Yang took a few detours to make sure no one was following him before finally returning to his rented courtyard.
He washed the copper pot he had bought earlier, laid out the herbs in order, and started a fire to begin the alchemy.
His movements were practiced and flawless, as if he had refined the Blood Coagulation Pill countless times. The herbs went into the pot one by one.
Six hours later, a layer of red paste formed at the bottom of the pot. Xu Yang removed the pot from the fire at the perfect moment, circulated his Gang Qi to protect his fingers, and scooped out a handful of the paste. He began to knead it, and soon, a longan-sized Blood Coagulation Pill took shape in his hands, emitting a faint, pleasant scent.
He repeated the process, rolling all the paste into pills. In the end, eleven longan-sized Blood Coagulation Pills sat before him.
"Eleven refined pills!"
Xu Yang beamed. 'Eleven pills! To achieve such a high Pill Formation Success Rate with just a copper pot and firewood... If word of this got out, it would drop a lot of jaws.'
'Time to see how effective it is!'
He popped a Blood Coagulation Pill into his mouth, closed his eyes, and began circulating his Gang Qi to absorb its medicinal energy.
A warm current seeped into his limbs and bones. His previously dormant qi and blood began to surge, growing a little stronger.
"It works better than a Qi Replenishing Pill!"
Xu Yang's eyes lit up, but then he had a second thought. 'I've taken so many Qi Replenishing Pills that I've built up a tolerance. This is my first time taking a Blood Coagulation Pill, which is why it feels stronger. In reality, their medicinal potencies are probably about the same.'
The main reason the Blood Coagulation Pill wasn't a mainstream elixir was its poor cost-effectiveness compared to the Qi Replenishing Pill. Pill Masters preferred to refine the cheaper Qi Replenishing Pills, which was why Blood Coagulation Pills were rarely seen on the market.
'As long as I price my Blood Coagulation Pills the same as Qi Replenishing Pills, they should sell.'
'It takes six hours to refine one batch, so I can make four batches a day. With my Pill Formation Success Rate, I get at least ten pills per batch, which means forty pills a day.
Even if I only make two silver taels of profit per Blood Coagulation Pill, that's still eighty taels a day. Over a month, that comes to two thousand four hundred silver.'
Xu Yang calculated silently, a wide grin spreading across his face. 'I finally have a way to make my own money.'
'Of course, the math isn't that simple. I can't spend all day on alchemy and neglect my cultivation. Besides, the profit on each pill should be more than two taels. I estimate it's closer to four.'
'After all, the market price for a Qi Replenishing Pill is ten taels of silver each. If I sell to a pharmacy, I should get at least eight taels per pill. There's no way the shop takes the bigger cut; a Pill Master's labor isn't that cheap.'
'And with my skill in refining the Blood Coagulation Pill, I could probably handle two batches at once. I'll just need to set aside a few days each month for alchemy. Earning a few hundred silver will be enough. Cultivation is what's fundamental; I don't need that much money.'
The sky had already grown dark. Xu Yang had no plans to return to the Purple Sun Sect, so he washed the dregs from the pot and immediately began another round of alchemy, refining his last set of herbs.
"Junior Brother Kong Yu, we should go back."
At the base of the Purple Sun Sect's mountain, Li Xu finally tried to reason with Kong Yu. They had waited until nightfall, but Xu Yang still hadn't appeared.
"He must be staying the night in the city, or he took a different route back to the Sect. The man is incredibly cautious."
Kong Yu's face was livid. With no other outlet for his anger, he began to furiously attack the surrounding trees.
'He had wasted an entire day, and for what? He hadn't even caught a glimpse of Xu Yang.'
BOOM! BOOM!
Several trees as thick as water buckets were snapped in two by his blows, sending up clouds of dust and debris.
"Damn it! Let's go."
Fuming, he led Li Xu back to the Purple Sun Sect. He asked around and learned that Xu Yang hadn't taken a detour—he simply hadn't come back at all.𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
"Get some men to watch the paths. I'll make sure he doesn't make it back this time," Kong Yu seethed.
...
[Learned Blood Coagulation Pill. Points +10]
[Martial Arts Longevity Points: 12]
The next day, the first thing Xu Yang did upon waking was to look at his status panel. The trigger was successful; he had received his reward.