Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 283: Chapter 283: Getting Business

"Haha, is that Junior Brother Bai?"

The man who came with Jin Jiang was quite enthusiastic.

The man was scruffy, his stubble reaching his ears. With his thick eyebrows and large eyes, he had a gallant air about him.

He strode forward, grabbed Bai Mo’s hand and wouldn’t let go, eager to chat.

As it turned out, he had heard of Bai Mo before; a friend of his had done business with him.

Jin Jiang pulled his boisterous senior brother away, offering a wry smile as he cupped his hands.

"Junior Brother, we meet again."

Bai Mo smiled.

"Perfect timing. I just set up my stall and haven’t had any customers yet."

"You two will be my first."

The disciple with Jin Jiang clapped his hands and exclaimed.

"Excellent! Excellent timing!"

Grinning, he pulled out a yellowed, old piece of paper and held it out to Bai Mo.

"Junior Brother Bai, take a look. Can you refine this?"

Bai Mo took it and read it over before looking up a moment later.

"What should I call you, Senior Brother?"

"The name’s Lv Mang. Don’t be a stranger, Junior Brother. Just call me Brother Lv!"

Jin Jiang looked exasperated.

"Senior Brother, Master wouldn’t approve of you acting like some wandering rogue."

"It’s one thing when you’re outside, but please be more mindful within the sect."

Hearing Jin Jiang’s words, Bai Mo knew this man was also from the War Peak. He offered a formal greeting.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Senior Brother Lv."

"I can refine this Pill. It will take two days. When it’s ready, who will be coming to pick it up?"

At a busy time like this, the person who placed the order might not be free to pick it up themselves when it was ready. Having someone else retrieve it was also an option.

Lv Mang’s spirits soared. He didn’t care what Bai Mo called him and just nodded eagerly.

"I’ll come get it myself, of course!"

Overjoyed, he took out a palm-sized gourd, drank straight from it, and then produced a brocade pouch.

He held the pouch and gave it a shake. A pile of sparkling Spirit Stones tumbled out with a CLINK.

Lv Mang let out a little "Ah," a look of embarrassment crossing his face as he asked tentatively...

"I only have a little over a hundred Spirit Stones... Junior Brother, do you think you could make three Pills with this?"

Bai Mo swept the Spirit Stones away with a wave of his hand. At roughly fifty Spirit Stones per Pill, he was already making a hefty profit.

"Just come pick them up when they’re ready, Senior Brother."

Lv Mang was instantly overjoyed.

"You’re a true master of your craft, Junior Brother! Those other guys... they’re just a bunch of kids studying under famous masters with no real passion for the art. All they see is money!"

"They had the nerve to ask me for three hundred Spirit Stones!"

Bai Mo asked, a little curious...

"Who did you go to, Senior Brother?"

"Who else? A few Pill Peak disciples recommended by an acquaintance."

"God knows if they were just trying to fleece me. They looked greasy enough for it..."

Jin Jiang quickly gave him a nudge, cutting him off.

"If you’re so hard up for cash, where did all your Spirit Stones go, Senior Brother?"

Lv Mang took another swig from his gourd.

"Spent it on a decent set of weapons and leather armor. Now I can’t even afford to drink the good stuff."

Jin Jiang shook his head in exasperation and stepped forward.

"Junior Brother, I’m making a group purchase for several of our peers. What’s your price for fifty pills?"

He handed over a Pill Formula. It wasn’t for a particularly rare Pill.

"Marching Pill?"

Bai Mo glanced at it and said...

"You should know, Senior Brother, taking too many of these Pills can damage the very foundation of your physique."

Marching Pills aren’t uncommon in the mortal world. Imperial armies often use them. They’re made from a mixture of grains, bone meal, and Spiritual Objects.

A single one can stave off hunger for half a month.

But the version from the War Peak was another matter entirely.

According to the formula’s description, this version not only kept a Cultivator full of energy but also maintained their physique at a peak state, their blood and qi constantly surging.

That was an effect even many Secret Techniques couldn’t achieve.

Jin Jiang nodded.

"We’re well aware of that."

"But what’s at stake is too important. We don’t have the luxury of worrying about the consequences."

Bai Mo didn’t press the matter, understanding they had their reasons.

’To push one’s body to such an extreme... the damage wouldn’t be light. I wonder what kind of reward could possibly justify it.’

"For fifty Marching Pills, I’ll charge you four hundred and fifty Spirit Stones. That’s a fair price."

Jin Jiang seemed surprised.

"That’s very fair!"

He had clearly looked into the market rates before coming. He knew Bai Mo wasn’t overcharging; in fact, the price was on the low side.

With a flick of his wrist, he produced the Spirit Stones out of thin air.

"Then I’ll leave it in your hands, Junior Brother."

Bai Mo saw them off, watching the two depart into the distance.

"You’re too kind. Come back for the Pills in five days, Senior Brother."

With the two of them gone,

An Caiwei’s eyes were sparkling.

"Is it really this easy to make Spirit Stones?"

Bai Mo was noncommittal.

"Putting Senior Brother Lv’s Pill aside for a moment, that Marching Pill formula is from the War Peak. Out in the world, it’s a secret recipe that Cultivators would fight over."

"It’s difficult to refine. Not just anyone can earn Spirit Stones this way."

At this, An Caiwei immediately grew suspicious.

"Then for Senior Brother Lv’s Pill... the Pill Peak disciples quoted three hundred, but you, Junior Brother, only charged one hundred... one hundred fifty Spirit Stones?"

"Are you deliberately lowballing your price to build a reputation?"

"Not at all."

Bai Mo remained unhurried. He picked up a brush and wrote down the two disciples’ orders on bamboo slips.

"If you don’t master several different Alchemy techniques and study them in depth, refining that Pill would involve a great deal of waste. Two or three hundred Spirit Stones would be a reasonable price."

"Of course, it’s also possible they really were just trying to rip off Brother Lv."

’But according to Lv Mang, it was a recommendation from an acquaintance. Maybe those Pill Peak disciples weren’t really trying to extort him.’

’Who knows?’

An Caiwei gasped. "So you know how to do it."

"What’s your cost to make it?"

Bai Mo said leisurely...

"Seventy Spirit Stones is more than enough."

With that, he stuck the two newly inscribed bamboo slips into a bamboo tube.

An Caiwei was stunned.

"More than half of it is profit! You alchemists really know how to make a killing!"

No one could argue with money earned through genuine skill.

Bai Mo simply said, "Just log it in the accounts."

As they had agreed, they would split the profits sixty-forty, with Bai Mo taking the sixty percent share. Accounts were to be settled every half-month.

An Caiwei did as he said and picked up her brush.

"By the way, that Pill for Senior Brother Lv, what does it do?"

Bai Mo said softly, "It’s exactly the kind of ’practical’ Pill you were talking about, Senior Sister."

"It’s called the Bear Arm Pill. Taking it grants inhuman strength to one’s arms, enough to kill a Demon Beast with your bare hands."

"The effects last for a full hour. For a Cultivator from the War Peak, it’s an unparalleled tool for shattering enemy formations!"

An Caiwei had grown accustomed to the catch with these kinds of Pills, so she casually asked:

"What’s the drawback?"

"Afterward, your arms feel like they’ve been shattered. The skin swells, feeling like it’s about to burst, and there’s a risk of passing out from the pain."

Bai Mo added, "The liquor Brother Lv was drinking... I caught a medicinal scent. It was probably a painkiller."

"I imagine they’re already used to it."

A Pill like this also requires some very obscure ingredients.

"Senior Sister, you’ll need to help me find the Heart’s Blood of a Shen Demon, Rhino Horn Powder, and the flesh of a Jiao Fish from the lake."

"They don’t have to be top quality; just getting them is enough. If he wanted high-quality ingredients, the cost would be over five hundred Spirit Stones."

An Caiwei’s expression turned serious as she noted down everything Bai Mo listed.

She was about to head out when she thought of something, turning back to ask:

"Oh, right. Junior Brother, since your prices are already on the low side, why not raise them a bit?"

"It’s not like the sect disciples are short on Spirit Stones."

Bai Mo waved his hand.

"You must be joking, Senior Sister. I have my reasons for pricing things this way."

"You have to understand, the value of certain Pills can’t be measured by market price. When those opportunities come, what amount of Spirit Stones couldn’t we earn back then?"

"There’s really no need to get hung up on such details."

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