Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 240: Chapter 240: Reassurance Pill

It was a fine day.

In the courtyard, Lanshan sat calmly, watching Bai Mo wolf down his food.

"Aren’t you going to eat?"

Bai Mo managed to ask after struggling to swallow a mouthful of meat.

Lanshan shook his head.

"Never mind. My appetite is huge these days. If I really started eating, I’m afraid you wouldn’t get to eat your fill, Shopkeeper Bai."

Only after cultivating the Winter Storage Skill did he realize how formidable a technique from a major sect could be.

For one thing, his own income wasn’t enough to fill the storage limit of this skill.

It was only after the other members of the Demon Hunting Team made concessions and adjusted the distribution of resources that he felt even slightly full.

But even that wasn’t its limit.

"Sigh. I owe my brothers a great deal of favors now. I’ll have my work cut out for me paying them back."

Lanshan asked, "Shopkeeper Bai, why did you summon me?"

Bai Mo wiped his mouth.

"It’s nothing much. I just heard that your team’s morale is a bit shaky. Since I was free anyway, I figured I’d have a word with you."

"Don’t worry about those outsiders. They’ve gone off to spar with the servants of some wealthy clan."

Wavering morale is unacceptable, Bai Mo warned seriously.

"All sorts of dangers exist in the Jade Plate Secret Realm. It wouldn’t be surprising if a tribulation manifested from your own inner turmoil. I can’t have you all going in while holding a grudge."

"This time, a senior sister of mine asked for my help. This is her first time handling such a matter, so it’s very important. I have to make sure it’s done well."

Hearing Bai Mo’s words, Lanshan’s expression turned grave.

He nodded slowly.

"It was indeed our fault this time. We’re all veterans, yet we still caused this kind of trouble. It won’t happen again."

Bai Mo’s words were also meant to put them at ease.

They were all shrewd members of the Demon Hunting Team; he understood the underlying meaning.

"Mm, how are the others doing now?"

Aside from Lanshan, Bai Mo had only checked on the other men he had recruited twice before and hadn’t paid them any mind since.

Lanshan, however, knew their situation perfectly.

"We often discuss the key points of the Winter Storage Skill together. Although there are some parts we haven’t figured out, we’ve grasped the general idea."

"Right now, everyone is trying to get more Spirit Stones to fatten themselves up for winter."

Bai Mo, feeling he was about full, stood up.

"In that case, let’s go. While I have the time, I’ll clear up some of your confusion."

Lanshan’s body jolted.

"This..."

He was about to say more, but seeing that Bai Mo was already on the move, he hurried to catch up.

Just as he stepped out the gate, Bai Mo paused.

Several large dogs of varying builds and fur colors were currently loitering outside the courtyard, drooling profusely.

Seeing him come out, they didn’t bark, but trotted away, yet lingered nearby.

Turning to see Lanshan close the courtyard gate, Bai Mo asked with a smile:

"Whose dogs are these? No one used to keep these things on this street."

Lanshan actually knew about this.

"These dogs aren’t the right breed for going up the mountains, so they don’t belong to the Demon Hunting Team."

"About half a month ago, an old man moved onto the street. He has quite a few fine-looking dogs, and some people have been thinking of buying them."

Bai Mo shook his head and started toward Lanshan’s large courtyard.

"It seems the city really has gotten better. Who had the leisure to keep dogs like this before?"

When the two arrived at Lanshan’s residence, Lanshan hesitated and said in a low voice:

"Shopkeeper Bai, to be honest, the Winter Storage Skill is already good enough for our needs. We can just study it a bit in our free time. Why the need for a special explanation?"

Bai Mo knew what he meant. ’He’s worried about my level of expertise.’

’After all, this isn’t about alchemy. My knowledge might not be better than everyone’s combined efforts.’

"Heh," Bai Mo chuckled.

"This skill isn’t as simple as it looks on the surface."

"Whether the stored essence is fully converted or the remnants turn into useless flesh—that all depends on the details."

"Going deeper, do any of you know how to constantly circulate that essence, to wash and refine it to purity?"

Bai Mo finally understood what it felt like to be a so-called genius; he had effortlessly grasped the mysteries within the Winter Storage Skill.

"When this skill is cultivated to its final stage, one can even condense Blood Crystals in the body’s acupoints as a foundation."

"But the sect was stingy and didn’t provide the final part of the technique. You can only rely on yourselves to figure it out step by step."

Lanshan’s expression grew solemn, and he no longer dared to be dismissive.

Every word Bai Mo spoke hit a critical point, leaving Lanshan no choice but to take it seriously.

Especially the part about refining the essence—they had only theorized about it; no one had dared to actually try it.

After all, it was inside their own bodies. If something went wrong with such a vast amount of essence, they could be bedridden for half a year.

As for the Blood Crystals he mentioned at the end, they had only glimpsed the term in old texts and had no idea what they were.

Lanshan turned his head and shouted, "Go get those freeloaders!"

CREAK!

In less than two breaths, a sweat-drenched Han Meng pushed the door open. He was still pulling on his clothes as he hurried outside.

Suddenly, Bai Mo caught a whiff of a strange smell.

"What’s that smell?"

It was a foul, fishy stench mixed with a sour note, which an herbal scent tried to suppress, but not entirely successfully.

Lanshan chuckled.

"It’s the smell of tanning hides."

"The smell is awful and can’t be covered up by herbs. It doesn’t dissipate easily either, so we do the tanning inside the house."

Hearing this, Bai Mo understood.

"You must have earned quite a bit, then?"

Lanshan nodded, not denying it.

"Quite a lot, actually. We used to sell the hides immediately, so we had no idea how much the price was being driven down."

"Thinking back now, we really lost out on a lot."

That was easy to say now, but they didn’t have the means back then. Spirit Stones never stayed in their hands for long.

Even when they had goods, they couldn’t afford to wait for a good market price to sell.

Once, to gather a sum of Spirit Stones for his younger sister to enter the Xuandao Sect, Lanshan had gritted his teeth and saved up for a long time, earning the admiration of his companions.

"By the way, with your insight and methods, Shopkeeper Bai, your gains would surely be immense if you entered the Jade Plate Secret Realm."

"But I heard you have no intention of going in?"

Bai Mo waved his hand at that.

"You’re flattering me. Even the senior brothers in the sect say the Jade Plate Secret Realm is dangerous."

"Besides, the benefits I get from taking jobs on the outside are no worse than what I’d get by going in."

With the Xuandao Sect’s accumulation over so many years, even the things fellow disciples took out were considered fortuitous encounters and great opportunities.

The two of them didn’t have to wait long. In about an hour, burly Cultivators began to arrive one after another.

"Haha! Going to lend a hand and getting so many benefits on top of it. This is a great deal!" one of them exclaimed.

To dare say they were "lending a hand" showed this person was quite bold.

Bai Mo looked at the group with great interest.

They were all burly. Some were so round, never mind a potbelly, you could barely see any defined muscle on their arms and legs.

It didn’t look like a gathering of Demon Hunting Team Cultivators; they looked more like fierce veterans who had retired from the battlefield to become wealthy squires.

A moment later, seeing that almost everyone had arrived, Bai Mo didn’t delay and took out the manual for the Winter Storage Skill.

...

"The Shopkeeper isn’t back yet?"

The shops on the street were closing one by one. Qin Wen saw off the last customer and closed the door with Wei An, who was tidying up the account books.

Wei An shook his head.

"He went over to the Demon Hunting Team’s place. He probably has important business."

Just as the two were about to shut the last door, they suddenly saw an old man hurrying over.

"Hey, you two, you two! Don’t be in such a hurry to close up. Please wait for this old man."

The old man’s legs weren’t very nimble, and he was holding a small puppy in his arms.

Qin Wen and Wei An exchanged a glance before speaking:

"It’s dinnertime. Shouldn’t you be drinking at a relative’s house, old sir? What brings you to our humble shop?"

"Aiya, what do you mean ’humble shop’? This establishment of yours is incredible!"

The old man finally got closer and held up the little yellow-furred puppy, whose eyes hadn’t opened yet.

"This little pup is almost grown. It’s just about time for its eyes to open, so isn’t it natural that this old man would rush over?"

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