"Brother Qi, have you heard? A mysterious alchemist has arrived at our Qingshi Market."
On the second morning, Qi Ping arrived at the Qingshi Market. Before he could even exchange a few words with Boss Gao, the chubby manager leaned in with a secretive air.
Qi Ping looked at him with surprise. After confirming that no one had gone to Peak 007, he had come to the market to purchase seeds and materials for his new home. The journey hadn't been entirely smooth; midway, he had encountered a swarm of mid-stage first-rank Fanged-Bone Golden Tortoise Demon Insects, which the High-speed Ring-cutter Bees had made short work of.
Since entering the market, he had heard people mentioning an "alchemist" more than once. Now that Boss Gao had brought it up specifically, he wondered if a second-rank alchemist had arrived. While ordinary first-rank alchemists were rare in Qingshi County, the three major families still possessed a few.
"I haven't heard. Is this mysterious alchemist particularly impressive? Would you mind telling me more, Boss Gao?" Qi Ping asked, playing along with the manager's enthusiasm. He also wanted to use this opportunity to fish for news regarding recent events in the county.
Seeing the curiosity in Qi Ping's eyes, Boss Gao immediately grew animated and began his vivid narration.
"The rumors say this female alchemist is as beautiful as a celestial being. That charm... tsk tsk... they say no woman in our Qingshi County can compare to her, hehe."
"But what's truly attracting people isn't her beauty, but the Soul-Nurturing Pills she's selling at half price!"
'Soul-Nurturing Pills? And at half price?'
Qi Ping was internally startled but also confused. Soul-Nurturing Pills were a highly sought-after rarity. Most cultivators in the cultivation world found that their soul strength began to lag behind once they reached the late stage of Qi Refinement. Late-stage cultivation was already difficult, and having to spend a massive amount of spiritual energy to nourish the even slower-developing soul caused many cultivators to stall.
As a high-grade first-rank soul-enhancing medicine, the Soul-Nurturing Pill solved this exact problem. Because soul-type medicines had low production rates, their prices were extremely high. Qi Ping could easily imagine the stir caused by a half-price Soul-Nurturing Pill. No wonder everyone was talking about it!
"Soul-Nurturing Pills are a hot commodity, right? Even at a ten percent discount, they would fly off the shelves. Isn't her doing this... irrational?" Qi Ping asked. One wouldn't do this unless they were insane.
"You're right, Brother Qi. This mysterious alchemist has a condition for selling the pills at half price: you must provide unusual information regarding recent events in Qingshi County or offer strange and ancient items that she deems useful."
"Isn't 'useful' a bit hard to define? Aren't people afraid of having their information stolen for nothing?"
"There's no need to worry about that. The mysterious alchemist swears a Heavenly Dao Oath before every transaction."
"I see..." Qi Ping nodded. "But what could our Qingshi County possibly have that's worth such a price to her?"
"Who knows? Actually, the Soul-Nurturing Pills are just a hook. The mysterious alchemist has been here for nearly ten days, and she's only sold two or three pills at half price. However, she has purchased a vast amount of intelligence and strange objects."
At this point, Boss Gao's expression suddenly turned solemn.
"Brother Qi, there's something I don't know if I should say..."
"Please, Boss Gao, speak your mind!"
Noticing Boss Gao's grave look, Qi Ping realized that this was the real reason the man had brought up the alchemist. Boss Gao took a moment to organize his words before slowly speaking.
"Brother Qi, we've been trading for a long time, and I truly admire your character. Last time, it was thanks to you that I became one of Lord Meng Yan's subordinates. I remember that favor."
"As for your recent transactions... the difference between your past and your present self is something you know best. I didn't want to bring it up because I just want to do business."
"However, this mysterious alchemist... I feel there's a possibility that her actions might affect you. All transactions within Qingshi County are monitored by the management, so someone might collect data on 'unusual' trade patterns and hand it over to her."
Saying this, Boss Gao pulled a manual from his storage bag and placed it in Qi Ping's hand. The manual bore five large characters: Bone-Shrinking Face-Changing Art.
"I don't know what will happen, but that mysterious alchemist is definitely not someone to be trifled with."
"Even though she isn't a Qingyuan Sect cultivator, Lord Meng Yan seems quite wary of her. She has many late-stage Qi Refinement guards, and there might even be Foundation Establishment cultivators protecting her from the shadows. If she targets you, it will be dangerous."
"The last few years have been too unusual. I feel that something big is bound to happen in Qingshi County or even the entire Qingtian Domain."
"I've probably said too much, Brother Qi. Please don't take offense."
Qi Ping stared at the manual in his hand for a long time before clasping his hands and bowing deeply to Boss Gao. "Thank you, Boss Gao. I will remember this kindness."
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Just don't pass this manual to others, or it might cause trouble. I won't nag you further. So, Brother Qi, what brings you here today?"
Boss Gao felt he had said enough and quickly changed the subject. He didn't want to pry into Qi Ping's affairs; he simply didn't want to see Qi Ping fall into danger. In his heart, he wanted to continue their cooperation. He also believed Qi Ping was a smart man who understood the stakes and would know how to use the Bone-Shrinking Face-Changing Art.
"I came to sell some things..."
Qi Ping spoke as he brought out the ordinary demon insect corpses he had collected, along with a sixty-year-old Blood Ginseng. He had carefully weighed the risks of selling the ginseng. A single sixty-year-old specimen would solve his immediate financial needs and was within his tolerable risk range, as long as he didn't sell any more in the future.
Once he rented a piece of mid-grade first-rank spiritual land in District B, he could plant large quantities of ordinary spirit flowers and sell common Golden Marrow Honey to earn spirit stones. With his current strength, selling Golden Marrow Honey carried no risk. Only selling the high-grade honey from the Brewer Pot-bellied Bee required caution.
Fortunately, the Bone-Shrinking Face-Changing Art would help him avoid many risks. Qi Ping remembered seeing this art sold at the larger merchant guilds for a price as high as three hundred spirit stones. Even though this was a copy made by Boss Gao himself, it was still incredibly precious.
"Brother Qi, five hundred and seventy-two spirit stones in total. How does that sound?"
"No problem. I'll also need to trouble you to buy some Day-Sun Flower and Moon-Sleep Flower seeds. Aside from those, do you know if there are any other spirit herbs in the market that grow very quickly? The value doesn't matter much."
"Something that grows fast? Let me think... would Hundred-Spirit Grass work? It's low-grade first-rank. As long as there's spiritual energy, it grows incredibly fast—almost like a weed. But its medicinal properties are muddled and its value is extremely low. Usually, it's just used to feed spirit cattle."
"That's perfect! I'll take it!"
Qi Ping was overjoyed. Why hadn't he thought of that? On a Grade B spiritual land, Hundred-Spirit Grass would grow at an incredible rate! For a cultivator, the grass was almost worthless, but as bee food, it was more than sufficient. And if given to the Brewer Pot-bellied Bee, there might even be a surprise!
With the Brewer Pot-bellied Bee's [Grand Brewer] talent, extracting and merging the medicinal properties of Hundred-Spirit Grass should be well within its capabilities!