Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 263: Chapter 263: Grand Spectacle

"How did you make it back, old man?"

Qin Wen leaned against the shelves, watching the old man check out, and asked.

Yesterday, the old man had been outside selling a batch of puppies, swindling people out of a good number of Spirit Stones. Today, he was here to spend his earnings.

The old man wasn’t annoyed by the question. He simply sighed and said,

"Well, I did make an effort to cooperate. Besides, back when I was young in the Beastial Sect, I only ever focused on studying beast-rearing techniques. I never got involved in any wrongdoing."

"That’s how I managed to escape with my life."

"From now on, I’ll just live out my retirement here in Immortal Arrival City."

Qin Wen smiled but didn’t entirely believe him.

’If he was really so uninvolved,’ Qin Wen thought, ’the *Distant Mountain Cold Fishing Painting* that housed a Nascent Soul grand cultivator would never have fallen into his hands.’

With a sweep of his hand, the old man tucked the Feeding Pills he had just bought into his robes.

"Where’s your Shopkeeper?"

"Business is this good, and he doesn’t come to see it for himself?"

Wei An shook his head.

"It’s just business. Why would it warrant the Shopkeeper’s personal attention? This is our job."

The old man rubbed his hands together.

"As expected of Pill Masters, you rely on your skills to make a living. Not like me. If I lose my trade, I can’t even put food on the table."

He had no capital left. All of his Demon Dao-related Magical Artifacts had been confiscated.

The puppies he had raised were tainted with a Demon Dao aura because he had used an accelerated growth method on them to save his own skin.

The Xuandao Sect had cleansed them, so there was obviously no chance of him getting them back.

Apart from a few silver coins, he was left with nothing.

Because of this, he had no choice but to go to the dog market and pick up a batch of decent-looking puppies to try and recoup his losses.

The old man sighed mournfully.

"Who knows how long it will take to restore my reputation..."

Qin Wen glanced at him.

’I originally thought the puppies he sold were just a little unusual.’

’Now that I know who he is, I have to re-evaluate him.’

"You’re a craftsman yourself. I’ve never heard of a craftsman starving to death in Immortal Arrival City."

The old man waved his hand dismissively and left, lost in thought.

Wei An and Qin Wen exchanged a look but didn’t give it much thought.

Qin Wen turned his attention back to the customers. Business was booming, and they didn’t have much time to be idle.

Bai Mo sat cross-legged in the quiet chamber.

After meditating for several hours, he had adjusted his condition to its peak.

He took out a brocade box and opened it. Two Jade Flower Pills lay quietly inside.

Bai Mo picked one up, gave it a look, and tossed it into his mouth.

BOOM!

A jolt went through his mind as the pill dissolved in his stomach, unleashing a torrent of medicinal power.

The power was like a tidal wave. Before Bai Mo could even begin to guide it, it had already surged into his meridians.

Just like that, his cultivation was forcefully propelled forward a notch.

Bai Mo grunted, finally understanding why An Caiwei had told him to be careful.

Consuming the Jade Flower Pill was like swallowing a massive lake; the waters within roiled ceaselessly, battering against the walls of his stomach.

Bai Mo’s aura destabilized. Not daring to be distracted, he focused all his attention on absorbing the pill’s power.

The unattended candle in the quiet chamber suddenly flickered violently before going out.

The quiet chamber plunged into darkness.

Meanwhile, Immortal Arrival City was bustling with activity.

Wealthy Demon Hunting Teams hired performers and ritualists, and after selecting an auspicious day, led their members into the mountains.

The Lanshan Demon Hunting Team was one of them.

The group stood with solemn expressions. At Lanshan’s command, they marched into the mountains with great fanfare.

Liu Yaozi trailed closely behind the group.

A sharp-eyed acquaintance spotted him and let out a whistle.

"Liu Yaozi, you damned bastard! Aren’t you a lone wolf? What’s this? Lost your nerve?"

Liu Yaozi spat on the ground and sneered,

"If I weren’t afraid of running into some out-of-towner scum in the outer areas and getting ambushed, would I need to tag along with you lot?"

"Just you wait. Once we get deeper in, I’ll be back to my old self!"

Some in the crowd jeered, but Liu Yaozi paid them no mind, marching on with his head held high.

With large numbers of Cultivators entering the mountains, Immortal Arrival City emptied out considerably, only to be refilled by newcomers from other lands.

Some merchants who came annually were taken aback.

They used to trek here because, during this season, Immortal Arrival City always had the finest Demon Beast pelts and other various materials.

But now, with so many buyers in the city, acquiring goods would no longer be as cheap as it once was.

Amidst this grand spectacle, the first batch of Demon Beast carcasses were brought back to the city, sparking a frenzy of buyers.

These came from the Cultivators who had returned from the mountains, defeated and broken.

Some had scrambled down the foothills in disarray. Others were chased to the banks of the Azure Dragon River, where they threw themselves into the water and handed over all their money to boatmen just to be ferried back to the docks.

In any case, all of them returned in less-than-glorious ways.

The majority of these were out-of-town Cultivators, and they were in a pitiful state.

Their casualties were heavy. Those who didn’t make it back were left in the mountains forever.

With the Demon Hunting Teams hunting on such a large scale, none of the Demon Beasts in the outer mountain regions knew a moment’s peace.

The resulting rampage of Demon Beasts taught the more naive out-of-town Cultivators a brutal lesson about the ferocity of Celestial Barrier Mountain.

The foreign Cultivators in the city, who had been clamoring to form their own groups, finally fell silent.

A burly man came into the shop, took out a few herbs, and placed them on the counter.

"Excuse me, could you take a look? How many Spirit Stones are these worth?" the man asked with a grin.

Wei An gave them a cursory glance and said,

"This stuff isn’t worth much. If you’re really selling, I can give you two Spirit Stones for the lot."

Qin Wen, who was standing nearby, watched the man.

"At a time like this, you went into the mountains and only brought back this little bit, Fellow Daoist?"

The man sighed helplessly and spread his hands.

"Just bad luck. I ran into a dying Demon Beast. I thought it would be an easy kill, but I didn’t expect that even a starved camel is bigger than a horse."

"Look at the state it left me in..."

He lifted his sleeves and collar, revealing areas covered in bruises and swelling. More severe wounds were wrapped in cloth strips.

Qin Wen nodded slightly.

"No wonder you smell of medicinal herbs. It seems you won’t be getting rich this year, Fellow Daoist."

At these words, the man broke into a strange smile.

"Don’t be so quick to say that."

"Look..."

He pulled up the hem of his tunic, revealing several exquisite brocade pouches.

Qin Wen looked closer. The pouches were finely crafted, a stark contrast to the man’s rugged appearance.

"Found ’em in the mountains. Pretty great, huh? There’s a lot of valuable stuff inside. At the very least, I’ve made back enough to cover my recovery costs."

"Then I’ll sell it all off, do a bit of second-hand trading. I’ll still make a profit."

’At first, I thought this son of a bitch had actually managed to ambush and kill some of the out-of-town Cultivators,’ Qin Wen mused. But after asking, he learned the truth was quite different.

"Those out-of-town Cultivators don’t know what they’re doing. They act recklessly. On top of that, the great clans’ Dao slaves are worthless, so they’re sent into the mountains like chum."

"It attracts countless Demon Beasts looking for a meal. You can find pieces of corpses in every nook and cranny."

"If you see one who was well-dressed, you just go over and have a look. If you’re lucky, you’ll find something."

Wei An and Qin Wen were left speechless. After this event, the fiery ambition of many in the city would likely be extinguished.

After the man left, Wei An recalled Bai Mo’s instructions before he entered seclusion and turned to Qin Wen.

"It looks like more and more Demon Beast materials are circulating in the market."

"Brother Qin, why don’t you go take a look around? See if you can find what the Shopkeeper asked for."

Qin Wen nodded. "Alright."

He had connections among the Demon Hunting Teams, which would make it much easier to procure the Demon Beast materials.

Plus, with Lanshan and his group returning soon, the shop was bound to get some new stock. He estimated that should be just about enough.

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