Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 264: Chapter 264: Bountiful Harvest

A month had passed since the start of the grand autumn hunt.

Demon Hunting Teams had started to come down from the mountains, their short, tense expeditions concluded.

The teams from the great clans should also have been emerging from the mountains by now.

The majority of their members were Dao-slaves, whose combat prowess was lacking. Their supplies had been heavily depleted, so this was as long as they could last.

Only the elite Cultivators of the Demon Hunting Teams ventured truly deep into the mountains.

The number of Demon Beast parts circulating in the markets of Immortal Arrival City reached its peak, attracting countless merchants from other lands.

Many who had been preparing for this, who normally kept their finest goods hidden, now brought out their private collections to dazzle potential buyers.

If they could catch the eye of a wealthy patron, they stood to make a handsome sum.

After waves of bulk buying, the merchants turned their attention to the Cultivators returning from the mountains.

That was where the newest and most complete stock could be found.

And so, the men of the Demon Hunting Teams had no time to even catch their breath upon returning to the city before they were swarmed by customers at their doors.

Only after their hauls were bought out did they divide the remaining scraps amongst themselves and head home.

As a result, the streets were now filled with clusters of disheveled vendors.

The merely travel-worn were the better-looking ones; many were splattered with patches of blood on their faces and bodies.

Some were even worse, looking just like wildmen. From a distance, you might mistake them for man-bears who had wandered into the city.

People looked down on their ragged appearances but drooled over the Demon Beasts laid out on the ground.

Qin Wen had brought Wei An out to see the world. Amidst the bloody stench that filled the streets, he spotted a familiar-looking wildman.

In front of the wildman’s stall lay two Demon Beasts, their internal organs still intact and even faintly twitching.

But more than the powerfully resilient organs, Qin Wen was concerned about the wildman himself.

"Liu Yaozi?"

He took a few steps forward, his voice filled with surprise.

The wildman before him had disheveled hair, the strands hanging in front of his face matted together. He was draped in animal pelts.

He was filthy from head to toe and gave off a foul stench.

If it weren’t for Qin Wen’s sharp eyes, he would have never recognized the man.

Without even looking up, Liu Yaozi rattled off:

"The meat’s not for individual sale. Comes with the prime organs. Three hundred Spirit Stones, price is firm."

"Hah!"

Qin Wen and Wei An gasped, almost turning to leave on the spot.

"No wonder no one’s stopping by. What an outrageous price!"

Dazed, Liu Yaozi finally recognized their voices. He lifted his head and saw the two of them.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Shouldn’t you be watching the shop?"

Wei An shook his head.

"We left it to Senior Xu and Brother Hou."

"But you... you look completely drained. Why are you still manning the stall?"

Liu Yaozi sighed, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I already sent someone to tell my wife, but who knows why she hasn’t shown up yet."

"So, what do you think of these Demon Beast organs? It’s been a while since the kill, and they’re still twitching. That shows you the quality is top-notch..."

"Ignore him."

Qin Wen sneered, seeing that he would even try to rip off acquaintances.

"It’s just a common Demon Beast. At best, its organs are a bit resilient, and he dares to charge such a ridiculous price for it."

"Give it a few days. We’ll see if anyone is willing to buy them once the organs stop twitching and aren’t fresh anymore."

According to tradition in Immortal Arrival City, for peculiar items like this, sellers usually wait for an out-of-towner to get curious and pay a high price.

No local would be that much of a sucker.

Liu Yaozi didn’t seem to mind Qin Wen’s attitude, only asking him to keep his voice down.

"Whether I feast or starve depends on this sale. Don’t ruin this for me, my friend."

Wei An was curious about something else.

"What about Senior Lanshan and his team? We’ve been walking for a while and haven’t seen any of them."

Liu Yaozi shook his head with a sigh.

"They’re still pushing deeper into Celestial Barrier Mountain. The last time I saw them, they seemed to be discussing an assault on a Demon Beast nest."

Of the first wave of people who entered the mountains, those still remaining in Celestial Barrier Mountain are the city’s finest.

’So Lanshan’s Demon Hunting Team has grown that strong without me even realizing it.’

Qin Wen glanced at the man’s meager haul. ’In past years, a month in the mountains would have certainly earned me more than this.’

"Lanshan was willing to have you on his team. It’s your own fault for not accepting his kindness."

But Liu Yaozi was unconcerned.

"I’m used to working alone. Whatever I find is mine to keep. What’s not to like?"

"If I hadn’t run into some trouble, my haul today wouldn’t be so pathetic."

Seeing as no one else was around, he began to recount his experience.

"There’s a great ravine in Celestial Barrier Mountain that leads to a desolate pool. All along it, you’ll find plenty of beasts and Demon Beasts coming to drink."

"I was making my way carefully up the ravine, hoping to scout out some prey to bring back. Unfortunately, someone ambushed me. I fell into the ravine and nearly drowned."

"The current slammed me against the rocks, leaving me badly injured. I had no choice but to pull out."

"Luckily, right as I was leaving, I stumbled upon two Demon Beasts. They were both already seriously injured, so I got to finish them off easily."

He lowered his voice.

"And here’s the strange thing. The one who attacked me leaped up from *within* the ravine and knocked me into it with a heavy blow."

"The current is so turbulent, with powerful undercurrents. A normal person who fell in wouldn’t be able to get back on their feet until they were carried far downstream."

"Who could have that kind of power?"

He racked his brains but couldn’t recall ever offending such a powerful expert.

After thinking for a long time, his suspicions finally fell upon the out-of-town Cultivators in the city.

"Son of a bitch! It must have been them!"

Qin Wen and Wei An exchanged a few more words with him before taking their leave.

Bai Mo had given them clear instructions: find several specific types of Demon Beasts and bring them back to the shop to be air-dried for use as medicinal ingredients.

They weren’t just out for a casual stroll, after all.

The two walked for another hour before finding a Cultivator who had cleared out a nest of sand snakes.

The man was lucky to have encountered such a rare species. Each snake was as long as a person’s arm.

As Wei An started on his way back, he instinctively glanced over at the stall where the vendor was still waiting for customers.

Liu Yaozi stood there alone, looking drowsy.

His wife still hadn’t arrived, and neither had his ideal customer.

...

After a month, Bai Mo had finally, more or less, finished absorbing the medicinal power of the Jade Flower Pill.

The great river and lake of energy within his abdomen, no matter how vast, had finally run dry.

As the last wisp of warmth vanished, Bai Mo opened his eyes.

The meditation chamber was pitch-black.

’A long time has passed. As expected of a Pill that can get you all the way to Foundation Establishment. Truly profound.’

During the days he spent refining the Pill’s power, the Spiritual Qi in his body felt as if it were swept up by a great torrent, circulating endlessly through his meridians for countless cycles.

A single night of this was equivalent to several days of his normal cultivation.

Effortlessly, Bai Mo felt he had reached the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining.

At this thought, Bai Mo felt a surge of eagerness.

"Hiss!"

’Although refining this Pill is incredibly expensive and takes a tremendous amount of effort...’

’...it’s undeniably a shortcut for raising one’s cultivation realm!’

Bai Mo pushed the door open, stepping out to a sky full of stars.

A gust of night wind carried the thick scent of blood.

’Looks like it was a bountiful harvest.’

’I wonder how the Demon Hunting Teams fared...’

After searching around and calling out a few times without seeing his assistants, Bai Mo knew they must have gone out to the market.

’At this time of year, the bizarre Demon Beast corpses in the city were quite a sight to behold.’

’I wonder if they’ve gathered the materials I asked for. It shouldn’t have been too difficult...’

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