Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 202: Chapter 202: On the Right Track

The pills refined by Xue Ning and the other were quickly stocked in the shop.

The two young lads Bai Mo had brought back were now obediently studying under them.

Though they didn’t speak much, they were now willing to talk. They had also abandoned their former names and were now called Li Shou and Li Xing.

They were quite willing to listen to Wei An, who also supervised them in their spare time.

With the help of these few people, Wei An’s schedule freed up considerably, and he now had more time to chat and laugh with regulars.

"See? Just as I said. These people can’t tell who refined which pills at all."

Watching a cultivator joyfully pick out pills, Xu Ruyuan covered his mouth and whispered to Wei An.

"In a pinch, we could just buy some pills from another shop to pad our inventory. Who would ever know the difference?"

Wei An shot him a helpless look.

"Senior Xu, with an attitude like that, it’s hard for me to trust the quality of the herbs you deliver."

Xu Ruyuan hastily waved his hands. "That’s not what I meant at all."

"I never swindle my own people."

Just then, the cultivator who had finished selecting his pills waved him over. Wei An had no choice but to go and package the pills for him.

"That will be five Spirit Stones, please."

The cultivator promptly paid with the Spirit Stones, then poured the pills out to examine them closely, looking a bit disappointed.

"Do you have other alchemists working in your shop now?"

Wei An was a little confused by the question.

"What makes you say that?"

The cultivator held the pills up to his face.

"Look. Today’s pills are just as perfectly round, and their color and luster are good. There’s nothing to find fault with."

He sighed.

"But compared to the ones from before, I can’t help but feel that something is missing. This clearly isn’t the work of the same person."

"I can’t quite put my finger on it, but someone with a discerning eye could probably tell."

Wei An put away the Spirit Stones, his expression turning serious.

"Rest assured, sir. The quality of all pills sold in our shop is guaranteed. Shopkeeper Bai himself oversees everything."

"Haha," the cultivator said with a wave of his hand, not seeming to mind.

"As long as the pills and their price haven’t changed, it’s fine. One can’t expect a great Pill Master to spend his entire life refining pills for the likes of us..."

The other customers who overheard this all chuckled as well, but no one else made a comment.

Wei An checked them out one by one. After a brief flurry of activity, things finally quieted down, and he couldn’t help but wipe the sweat from his brow.

Returning to the counter, he shrugged at Xu Ruyuan.

Xu Ruyuan gave a sheepish grin.

"Well, I guess folks aren’t fools after all."

Wei An recalled what the Master had said about his dealings with Xu Ruyuan back when he first settled in the Immortal City.

This senior was not an honest man, but thankfully, he had never tried to deceive Wei An himself.

As he thought this, he picked up a brush and recorded the last few transactions, which he would need for the evening’s bookkeeping.

Since Xue Ning and his partner had started refining pills, the shop’s daily revenue had dropped slightly, which was a bit disheartening.

With their level of Alchemy Skill, the costs hadn’t decreased and the production volume hadn’t increased. This was the best they could do for now.

Wei An understood the Alchemy Dao, so he knew he couldn’t blame Xue Ning and the other man for the situation. After all, their skill level wasn’t bad at all.

...

"There’s always a difference between the pills we refine and the Shopkeeper’s. We’re off by a hair’s breadth and just can’t close the gap. Why is that?"

Xue Ning asked, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect, his confusion evident.

He had been personally refining pills for a month now. He knew he’d put in a great deal of effort, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t produce pills with the same unique luster as Bai Mo’s.

They had now grown accustomed to following Wei An’s lead and addressing Bai Mo as "Shopkeeper".

Hearing his question, Bai Mo merely lifted an eyelid and said casually,

"Ultimately, there is a gap between your Alchemy Skill and mine."

"In my pills, the medicinal energies have fused to such a degree that a unique phenomenon naturally occurs, manifesting on the pill’s surface."

"This manifestation, which emerges from within, is what I call ’Pill Luster.’ It is not easily achieved."

Xue Ning and the other man were filled with awe and admiration.

The three of them stood in the Alchemy Room, which was stuffy and hot, filled with swirling smoke from the furnaces.

Bai Mo gestured with a nod of his head.

"Go ahead and start two more batches. I’ll watch. If there are no issues, I’ll head out."

After watching for an hour and seeing that the two had gotten the hang of it completely, Bai Mo pushed open the door and left.

Outside the door, Li Shou and Li Xing were waiting respectfully.

"Shopkeeper!"

Bai Mo nodded.

"Go on in. And be quick about it."

The two boys quickly lowered their heads and entered. They were indeed hardworking.

Bai Mo left them to sweat profusely in the Alchemy Room and returned to his own meditation chamber.

In front of his meditation cushion sat a Pill Furnace—the very one that had accompanied him for many years, which he had now moved here.

The ones Xue Ning and the other man were using in the Alchemy Room were two old, used Pill Furnaces that Bai Mo had acquired elsewhere.

There was nothing special about them; they were just sturdy. He had scrubbed the verdigris clean, and they worked without any issues.

The stall owner had originally asked for a hundred Spirit Stones apiece, but Bai Mo managed to haggle him down to sixty-five before sealing the deal.

It was mainly because no one else wanted to buy them that Bai Mo was able to negotiate such a low price.

’Hmph. I still underestimated this Pill Formula from my Senior Brother.’

Bai Mo spread the Pill Formula out again. A ’Pill of Metal and Gold’ that caused the user’s skin to become like metal and stone—it was truly bizarre.

But the most ingenious part was the underlying methodology.

’To create something from nothing, to deduce an entire pill recipe from thin air...’

’Such a level of attainment... it’s terrifying.’

Bai Mo’s heart pounded in his chest.

’I wonder how this master’s thought process even worked. If I could unravel and study his methodology, the gains would be immense!’

But trying to find the starting thread from a finished piece of linen and trace its entire path was no easy task.

After just a short while, Bai Mo’s head grew heavy and dull. A feeling of mental exhaustion he hadn’t experienced in a long time washed over him.

Only then did he finally grasp the faintest of clues.

Around noon, just as he was feeling quite drained, Qin Wen returned.

His skin was burned a dark red from the sun, and faint wisps of white steam seemed to rise from his body.

Bai Mo shook his head to clear the grogginess and went out to take the pills Qin Wen had brought back.

"I followed the Green Dragon River downstream and bought up all the pills from the shops along the way."

"I even made special trips to the more distant ones. I’m certain I didn’t miss a single one."

Bai Mo took the satchel from his hands and opened it. Inside was a collection of various bottles and jars.

They didn’t look like much, but they were worth nearly a hundred Spirit Stones.

"Excellent."

Bai Mo poured out all the pills and examined them one by one.

’There are quite a few high-quality ones here. They could pose a challenge.’

’But there aren’t many cultivators with this level of skill in the Alchemy Dao locally. These pills must have come from out of town.’

’Their pills must have changed hands several times to get here; who knows how many times the price has been marked up.’

’In that case, they won’t be able to compete with us.’

Qin Wen cupped his hands. "Shopkeeper, your Alchemy Skill is superb. No one else can possibly compare."

Bai Mo waved his hand dismissively.

"Don’t flatter me. Loose Cultivators are sensitive about their Spirit Stones. They can spot even the slightest price inflation."

"When our goods start moving downstream, the competition will ultimately come down to the quality and price of the pills."

With that, he dismissed Qin Wen.

"Go and help Wei An keep an eye on things."

"My martial siblings will be coming to find me today. Let me know when they arrive."

Qin Wen agreed and left as instructed. He had been out walking all this time and still hadn’t eaten.

The main reason was that the sun had been so vicious it had killed his appetite. It was a good chance to have Wei An get him a few slices of meat to tide him over.

Not even an hour later, the martial siblings Bai Mo had spoken of arrived.

"Where’s your shopkeeper? Quick, tell him to come out!"

A young girl shouted as she skipped cheerfully into the shop.

Forgetting the meat slices in his hand, Qin Wen called out, "One moment, please!" and ran to inform Bai Mo.

The other disciples followed her into the shop, looking around with considerable curiosity.

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