Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 289: Chapter 289: Feather Peak

The days flowed by like water.

Inside the Stone Lodge, the Earth Fire roared, filling the air with ash.

A scorching heat permeated the valley air. Even the wind had lost its coolness, turning scalding hot.

A disciple from Feather Peak, who prided himself on his jade-like refinement, could not endure such conditions.

The newcomer held an umbrella. He was tall, dressed in feathered robes and holding a white fan, exuding a gentle, jade-like grace.

He wore a white robe, its hem weighted by a green pendant. His long hair was tied back, fastened with a simple jade hairpin.

Even An Caiwei, a woman herself, felt outshone in this senior brother’s presence. Steeling herself, she said,

"Brother, please don’t be upset. Junior Brother Bai is already working at full capacity. He might be able to take a look at your Pill Formula in the last two days before the deadline..."

The disciple from Feather Peak sighed.

"Junior Sister, don’t try to fool me. Even if he finds time in the last two days, how could he possibly succeed in refining it for me?"

"I’m just curious. Those few from Golden Jade Peak arrived at the same time I did. They’re so crass and vulgar. How could he possibly accept a Pill Formula from people like them?"

As he finished speaking, his previously casual, unfocused gaze suddenly locked onto An Caiwei’s face.

HISS!

An Caiwei gasped. ’How could this senior brother say such venomous things with such a placid expression?’

"Brother Yin, you may not be aware, but a disciple from the Golden Jade Peak has known Junior Brother Bai for a long time. They had already made arrangements."

"They only just delivered the Pill Formula today as planned."

Yin Zhen’s face immediately fell, his interest gone. He turned and started to leave.

"Never mind, then."

An Caiwei quickly hurried after him.

"Wait! Brother Yin, your Pill Formula and Spirit Stones..."

But Yin Zhen just waved his hand dismissively.

"Consider them a gift for Junior Brother Bai. If he ever feels inclined to try and actually succeeds, he can just have someone send a pill to Feather Peak."

The moment he finished speaking, flower petals materialized and swirled around him on the wind. In the next instant, he was gone.

An Caiwei was left fuming.

’Why is everyone from Feather Peak so insufferable?’

From not far away, a surprised voice called out.

"Who was that!?"

"What an incredible Body Technique! That must be someone important!"

A few burly disciples had arrived together. After spotting An Caiwei and taking a closer look at her face, one of them spoke.

"Junior Sister, are you also here to ask Junior Brother Bai for Alchemy services?"

"Might we ask where he is?"

An Caiwei shook her head.

"He’s inside the Stone Lodge performing Alchemy. I’m standing guard."

"I should let you all know, by the time Junior Brother Bai finishes his current batch of orders, the Secret Realm will likely be open."

After hearing this, the disciples who had come seeking his services grew pensive.

"We don’t necessarily have to be the first ones to enter..."

They conferred in low voices for a moment before turning back to An Caiwei.

"Alright, we’ll go back and think it over. If we decide to go ahead, we’ll come back!"

An Caiwei saw them off.

"I await your return, Senior Brothers!"

With all this welcoming and sending off, she had started to sound just like a shop attendant.

Before dusk, the great door of the Stone Lodge swung open, releasing a blast of hot air and black ash.

Bai Mo emerged, seemingly oblivious to it all.

After handing a bag of pill vials to An Caiwei, Bai Mo downed several cups of tea.

"How have the last couple of days been?"

An Caiwei looked somewhat troubled.

"I thought we’d have to find a way to build our reputation, but I never expected that word-of-mouth alone would bring in more clients than we can handle."

Bai Mo shook his head.

"This isn’t a business like the Spiritual Cuisine Tower, where customers flock from all over and there’s a constant stream of people coming and going during a single mealtime."

"For someone like me, running three furnaces at once just to handle one group’s order is already a rare feat."

With all this effort, Bai Mo wanted to know the specific returns he had gained.

"Since we started working here, what’s our total revenue?"

At the mention of this, An Caiwei grew quite excited.

"A little over ninety-three hundred! If you keep at it, breaking ten thousand will be a piece of cake!"

’Almost ten thousand,’ Bai Mo muttered to himself.

’It’s still not enough to rent a Spiritual Aperture for two months...’

"You can’t look at it that way!" An Caiwei said with a laugh.

"Spiritual Apertures are one of the sect’s main money-makers. They’re incredibly expensive. Even among the inner sect disciples, very few would dare say they rent them often."

Bai Mo remained unconvinced. After a moment of thought, he said,

"Let’s do that. For any more disciples who show up, just tell them I’m mentally and physically exhausted. Any new Alchemy jobs will have to wait until after the Secret Realm opens."

"Huh?"

"I need to rest for a day or two, don’t I? Besides, I can’t miss the grand opening of the Secret Realm."

An Caiwei finally understood and slapped her forehead.

"That’s true!"

The bamboo tube for holding order tallies was already full.

An Caiwei quickly set out a meal.

After eating and drinking his fill, Bai Mo took the bamboo tallies and began looking through the various orders from his fellow disciples as night fell.

"TSK, TSK."

"So many outer sect disciples are pulling out all the stops. I can only imagine what a scene it will be in the Secret Realm."

But An Caiwei, who was beside him, threw a bucket of cold water on his thoughts.

"Nearly thirty percent of them won’t even last ten days. For them, entering is just a formality."

"When the Secret Realm opened last year, the Demon Beasts inside deliberately hunted the disciples who entered. In less than five days, every peak suffered disastrous losses."

"I expect this year will be much the same. If people like the Demon Hunting Teams can last until the seventh day and clear a path for the rest of us, we’ll be lucky."

Bai Mo was stunned to hear this, only now realizing how brutal it was.

Lost in thought, he suddenly noticed a transaction clearly recorded in the ledger that didn’t have a corresponding bamboo tally.

"Huh? What’s this transaction about?"

An Caiwei glanced over.

"Oh, that’s from a senior brother from Feather Peak. His name is Yin Zhen. I heard he’s a Prince from some dynasty."

She explained what had happened earlier that day and took out a silk pouch containing a Pill Formula embroidered on a piece of brocade.

The Pill Formula was embroidered with golden thread.

Bai Mo held the brocade and studied it for a long while.

"Tsk, very generous. A thousand Spirit Stones."

"If I don’t refine the pill, doesn’t this Pill Formula for the Immortal Pill become mine for free?"

An Caiwei was surprised to hear that.

"What Pill Formula?"

It seemed she hadn’t read the contents yet. Bai Mo pointed to the brocade and said,

"Here. The Immortal Pill. It says here that the Pill Formula was obtained by an ancestor of the Yin family through a fortuitous encounter."

"After founding a great dynasty, that ancestor consumed this Pill and broke through the worldly plane to ascend."

"Good heavens!" An Caiwei couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Many of the sect’s own Cultivation Techniques don’t even claim to have such an effect. These unorthodox formulas are so bold with their claims!"

"Hey! This is no unorthodox formula."

Bai Mo folded the brocade and put it away.

"It’s no worse than a Lesser Creation Golden Core Pill. This is a top-tier Pill, and the method is completely orthodox."

What was even rarer was that the Pill Formula was complete and verifiable.

An Caiwei was startled.

"Then he really is generous. With a gift like this, could it be a strategic retreat, meant to obligate you into performing Alchemy for him?"

"You’re joking," Bai Mo said dismissively.

’Never mind whether I could even gather all the ingredients. Just deciphering the key aspects of the formula would take me several days.’

’There was no way he was going to start on it right away.’

"Besides, this fellow disciple doesn’t seem to understand how these things work."

"Even if a major merchant guild were handling it for him, gathering all the rare materials from the far corners of the world would take at least half a month..."

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