“Not at all! Those Medium Grade Sky Origin Medicinal Pills, bundled five bottles for one Spirit Stone, are of much lower quality. If you sell your Advanced Spirit Origin Medicinal Pills too cheaply, it will be hard to raise the price later. Let’s do it this way!” Elder Lin said.
Following Elder Lin’s suggestion, Qin Chu arranged the Medicinal Pills and set their prices.
As soon as the Advanced Medicinal Pills appeared, the trading area became lively, but after seeing the prices, many people shook their heads. After all, Spirit Stones were scarce, and no one could use them like ordinary stones.
Qin Chu didn’t mind; he would sell the Medicinal Pills if he could, and if not, he would just give up. What annoyed Qin Chu a bit was the constant stream of people coming to consult. He wanted to Cultivate in meditation, but he couldn’t find peace, which wasted a lot of his time.
Just as Qin Chu was feeling anxious and didn’t know how to handle it, Lang Lang, dressed in a white robe, arrived. “Alchemist Qin, are you also here to do business?”
“No choice. If I don’t sell Advanced Medicinal Pills, some people will cause trouble. In this situation, I can’t Cultivate in peace, which is also vexing!” Qin Chu said, feeling a bit depressed.
“Vexing… I understand. You need a shopkeeper now. Brother Lang will take care of this for you. You can meditate here or go back to sleep; leave the rest to Brother Lang!” Lang Lang patted his chest and said.
Qin Chu smiled. “Alright! Let’s go for a drink later.”
After a brief chat with Lang Lang, Qin Chu took out a cushion and went to the back to meditate. He felt confident leaving the counter to Lang Lang.
Before Qin Chu could enter a meditative state, Lang Lang’s business had already begun.
According to Lang Lang, Advanced Cultivators simply had to use Advanced Medicinal Pills; it was a matter of status, of prestige… In short, anything below Advanced Medicinal Pills was trash.
Amidst the angry glares of other Alchemists, Lang Lang managed to sell all the Medicinal Pills from Qin Chu’s counter, converting them all into Spirit Stones.
“Alchemist Qin, do you have more Medicinal Pills? Let’s continue!” Lang Lang was addicted to selling Medicinal Pills.
“Continue what! This is all I have for the day. Once they’re sold, we close up shop. Let’s go, to the tavern across the street for a drink!” Qin Chu said.
Lang Lang asked Qin Chu to wait. He went to a nearby stall to borrow a pen and ink, then wrote an announcement stating that Advanced Medicinal Pills were in high demand but short supply, with only a limited amount available each day. Those who wanted Advanced Medicinal Pills should come early tomorrow. After the announcement was ready, Lang Lang and Qin Chu left.
“Brother Lang, you are so talented! Please continue to help me tomorrow. What kind of Medicinal Pills do you need? I’ll refine them for you,” Qin Chu said.
Lang Lang thought for a moment. “I don’t need Medicinal Pills that assist Cultivation. Get me a bottle of Grain Abstinence Medicinal Pills and a bottle of Detoxification Medicinal Pills.”
“No problem, they’ll be ready by tomorrow,” Qin Chu said with a smile.
After eating and drinking with Lang Lang, Qin Chu returned to the Alchemist Guild, went back to his courtyard, and began to Cultivate. The upcoming Azure Cloud Ranking Tournament was a Dragon-and-Tiger struggle, and if he could improve his cultivation, he would naturally seize the opportunity.
At noon, Elder Lin arrived at the trading area. He had intended to chat with Qin Chu for a while, but he didn’t find Qin Chu there. He asked the manager and learned that Qin Chu had left after selling all his Medicinal Pills, which greatly surprised Elder Lin.
“Could it be that the price was set too low?” Elder Lin muttered to himself, suspicious. According to his estimation, they shouldn’t have sold so quickly.
“Elder, it’s not a matter of price. It was that Lang Lang who helped Qin Chu sell them. That fellow is too good at bluffing. According to him, not using Advanced Medicinal Pills means being low-class, an unpresentable Cultivator! What status, what prestige, what Spirit Stones are all external things; Medicinal Pills are the Dao, and so on—all sorts of reasons, all sorts of bluffs,” the manager of the trading area reported to Elder Lin.
Elder Lin smiled. He knew Lang Lang. His origins were unknown, but he had a good friendship with Ji Xin. Recently, Ji Xin had asked Lang Lang to protect Qin Chu, and now he was mixed up with Qin Chu.
In the small courtyard of the Alchemist Guild, it wasn’t very convenient for Qin Chu to Cultivate Sword Intent and Battle Intent, but Cultivating Origin Qi and swordsmanship wasn’t hindered, as the movements weren’t large.
After Cultivating all night, Qin Chu refined one batch of Grain Abstinence Medicinal Pills and one batch of Detoxification Medicinal Pills. He then went to the Alchemist Guild hall, took two mission slips, and headed to the trading area.
When Qin Chu arrived at the trading area, Lang Lang was already waiting. “Why aren’t you in a hurry? I’ve been waiting for you for a while!”
“Haha! I was refining Medicinal Pills for you, so I’m a bit late!” Qin Chu gave Lang Lang a bottle each of Grain Abstinence Medicinal Pills and Detoxification Medicinal Pills.
Lang Lang accepted them without ceremony, but he took out some Materials and placed them on the counter.
“Brother Lang, that’s not necessary. You’ve helped me a lot; two bottles of Medicinal Pills are nothing!” Qin Chu said.
Lang Lang smiled. “If I were an Alchemist, do you think I’d give them to you? It’s just because I can’t use them, so you take them! Oh, right, someone came to collect taxes just now. Selling Medicinal Pills here requires paying taxes. We left quickly yesterday, so today they want us to pay up.”
After looking at Lang Lang, Qin Chu collected the Materials Lang Lang had brought out. He could tell that Lang Lang was a passionate person but definitely not affected.
After collecting the Materials from Lang Lang, Qin Chu took out some Medicinal Pills and placed them on the counter, then stepped back, leaving the stage for Lang Lang to perform.
Yesterday, Lang Lang had already laid a solid foundation for selling goods, and today’s round of bluffing went even more smoothly. In a short time, he sold all the Medicinal Pills Qin Chu had brought out: thirty bottles of Advanced Spirit Origin Medicinal Pills, ten bottles of Advanced Sky Origin Medicinal Pills, two bottles of five-tier Grain Abstinence Medicinal Pills, and one bottle of Detoxification Medicinal Pills were all sold out.
Qin Chu went to pay the supplementary tax, which was one-tenth. He had earned forty-six Spirit Stones in two days. The manager rounded down the change and collected four Spirit Stones.
“Qin Chu, you’ve earned over forty Spirit Stones in these two days, and the cost didn’t even reach ten Spirit Stones. This is robbery!” Lang Lang said, looking at Qin Chu.
“You helped me rob; it wasn’t me alone!” Qin Chu said with a smile.
“I’ll… ” Lang Lang started to curse, but he stopped halfway. If Qin Chu was robbing, then he was an accomplice, and a major one at that.
Qin Chu pulled Lang Lang to a restaurant, ordered two jars of good wine for Lang Lang, and accompanied him by drinking tea.
“Alchemy takes a lot of time. Don’t neglect your Cultivation. There are indeed many novices competing for the Azure Cloud Ranking, but the ones who consistently rank at the top are truly formidable individuals,” Lang Lang said, looking at Qin Chu.
“Thank you, Brother Lang. I refine Medicinal Pills relatively quickly; one or two hours of Alchemy each day is enough. The rest of the time I use for Cultivation, which doesn’t affect much. It’s just that this Cultivation has a bit of a problem,” Qin Chu sighed.
Lang Lang put down his wine glass. “What’s the problem?”
“Living in the Alchemist Guild, Cultivating swordsmanship and Origin Qi is fine, but Cultivating Sword Intent is not. The fluctuations are too great and would affect others. If I were to live elsewhere, I don’t know how many people would want to kill me,” Qin Chu said.
“Many people genuinely want to kill you. If you move out, you’ll have to choose a suitable place, an area where your opponents wouldn’t dare to act recklessly. Inns won’t do; they’re too chaotic with a mix of all sorts of people. Buying a separate residence… that would require a lot of Spirit Stones. You hurry up and earn Spirit Stones, and I’ll choose a place for you,” Lang Lang said, looking at Qin Chu.