34: Buying Herbs

Wu Ji City, a renowned grand city in the Eastern Wilderness, stretches for hundreds of kilometers, boasting both magnificent rivers and towering mountains, yet also filled with a strong sense of human vitality.

Qin Tian once again arrived at Wu Ji City.

"Junior Brother, please wait in the inn for now; Senior Brother has some matters to attend to," Qin Tian said, after settling Xiao Yan, then changed his appearance and left alone.

"It's been more than ten days since I left; I hope Pang's Commerce hasn't run into any problems?" Qin Tian pondered, knowing that if the commerce was exposed, it would be a huge trouble.

After Qin Tian left, Xiao Yan also quietly departed from the inn.

"Senior Yao, I previously invested over six thousand Spirit Stones in a commerce, and I believe it's time to collect them," Xiao Yan said.

"The Spirit Medicine required to restore your Qi Sea is extremely expensive, but with these six thousand Spirit Stones, you can purchase some Spirit Medicine, refine Medicinal Pills, and by repeating this cycle a few times, you might be able to gather the necessary funds," Senior Yao said.

"But I don't know Alchemy!" Xiao Yan said helplessly.

Now that he had a method to restore his Qi Sea, a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart, yet the precious Spiritual Plant became the first insurmountable obstacle.

"Don't worry, with this old man here, you don't need to concern yourself with Alchemy," Senior Yao said confidently, believing that with the Spirit Medicine, everything would be easy.

"Senior Brother, you're here," Xu Cai said, seeing Qin Tian in front of Pang's Commerce's shop, and quickly hurried out to greet him.

Xu Cai stood tall and proud, his face radiant, as he now earned one hundred Spirit Stones daily, with a monthly salary of three thousand Spirit Stones.

Every gesture exuded confidence and composure; as the executive deputy manager of Pang's Commerce, people now lined up from the street to the corner just to curry favor with him.

Who wouldn't want to invest in Pang's Commerce now? After all, a ten percent profit in ten days, with no risk involved—who wouldn't want to get involved in such a good deal?

Especially some small forces and Loose Cultivators, who saw it as an excellent opportunity to get rich quickly.

"Mm," Qin Tian nodded slightly, "How is the commerce doing recently? No one has caused trouble, right?"

"Since the Jiang family Bright Pearl invested five hundred thousand Spirit Stones, people from various grotto-heavens have successively left; presumably, they wouldn't dare to provoke the Jiang family Bright Pearl."

"The fourth batch of Spirit Stones has also been collected; as Senior Brother instructed, three million Spirit Stones were collected, two hundred thousand were paid in ten percent tax, another two hundred thousand were given to the City Lord as ten percent, and one million one hundred thousand was for the previous settlement, leaving one million five hundred thousand Spirit Stones remaining."

"Not bad; now that the Spirit Stone mine is on the right track, the speed can be slowed down. Notify them that starting from the next period, it will be changed to one period per month." Qin Tian had no choice but to change the speed, otherwise, Pang's Commerce wouldn't last for a few months.

The turnover was too fast, mainly due to the large share of tax and tribute given to the City Lord.

However, this was unavoidable; to conduct business safely, one certainly needed to pay some price, especially for such high-risk returns.

A ten percent monthly return, Qin Tian believed, would still tempt many people.

Qin Tian took away one million four hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Five Spirit Flower, Great Return Grass... these were all valuable Spirit Medicine.

As soon as Qin Tian left Pang's Commerce, Xiao Yan also arrived there.

"Senior Yao, this commerce is truly rare, actually returning a ten percent profit every ten days," Xiao Yan said, seemingly highly praising it.

After all, he had genuinely received the previous profits.

"Such exorbitant profits, this commerce has problems," Senior Yao said in a deep voice; he had lived for thousands of years and had never heard of such a commerce.

"Senior, this commerce's profits are shared by a Loose Cultivator to protect himself and rally other Loose Cultivators," Xiao Yan felt there was no problem, and instead thought that the manager of this commerce, Qin Cai, was not only generous but also extraordinarily intelligent.

"Something's not right, still not right," Senior Yao muttered to himself; although it seemed reasonable, he always felt it wasn't real.

"Manager Xu, here is my Spirit Stone voucher; please exchange it," Xiao Yan said, taking out his previous six thousand one hundred Spirit Stone vouchers.

"Guest, here are your six thousand seven hundred ten Spirit Stones; please keep them safe," Xu Cai said, handing the Spirit Stones to Xiao Yan.

These Spirit Stones were all pre-reserved; even if they weren't claimed, they would be properly stored.

"Senior, you worry too much; I've already received it several times. If it weren't for the urgent need for Spirit Stones, I would still want to keep saving them," Xiao Yan felt this commerce was truly excellent; if he left it for a few years, this sum of Spirit Stones would become an astronomical figure.

Senior Yao remained silent; Xiao Yan's easy retrieval of the Spirit Stones made him feel strange.

Although he hadn't seen any clues yet, he still felt there was a problem, but he couldn't articulate it at the moment.

"Go to the Spiritual Plant shop." With the Spirit Stones, it was time to start Alchemy; only Alchemy could quickly earn Spirit Stones.

After refining Spiritual Plant into Medicinal Pills, their value could immediately increase several times.

This was the best method Senior Yao could think of.

"Good," Xiao Yan said, without further ado, and immediately headed to the Spiritual Plant shop.

"Senior, are you saying you can't do Alchemy and want this Junior to do it?" Xiao Yan said in disbelief, "But this Junior doesn't know Alchemy!"

Alchemy was not an easy skill; Alchemists had always been a noble profession, and not everyone could become an Alchemist.

Once one became an Alchemist, they would invariably be honored guests of various forces.

"Don't worry, with this old man here," Senior Yao said confidently, "refining a mere first-grade pill is an easy task."

Xiao Yan returned to the inn with the Spirit Medicine, and Qin Tian had also returned to the inn.

"The auxiliary materials for restoring the Qi Sea are easy to find, but the three main Spirit Medicine—Great Return Grass, Five Spirit Flower, and Vein-Mending Grass—are rare Spirit Medicine, almost nonexistent in pharmacies," Qin Yu muttered.

"Senior Brother," Xiao Yan said, cupping his hands in a bow.

"Junior Brother, you're here. Come, sit," Qin Tian, who had just been looking worried, immediately smiled and motioned for Xiao Yan to sit down.

"Senior Brother, were you just worried about something? Would you mind telling this Junior?" Xiao Yan felt that Qin Tian treated him well, and now that he had Senior Yao as his reliance, he thought he might be able to help Senior Brother.

"Nothing, I just wanted to buy a few Spirit Medicine, but I've been to many shops and haven't found any."

"Guest, you're not from Wu Ji City, are you? Do you need Spirit Medicine? Why don't you go to Bai Cao Pavilion? It has the most complete collection of Spirit Medicine in Wu Ji City, all kinds of Spirit Medicine are there," the waiter said with a smile.

How many Spirit Medicine could an ordinary pharmacy have? Rare Spirit Medicine were only found in large commerce, and many were not displayed openly.

Bai Cao Pavilion? Qin Tian was puzzled, having never heard of that name.

He didn't know much about the world down the mountain.

"Let's go take a look," Qin Tian thought for a moment, then decided to go to Bai Cao Pavilion.

After getting directions from the waiter, Qin Tian took Xiao Yan to Bai Cao Pavilion.

Now that he wasn't going to Pang's Commerce, there was no need to avoid suspicion.

As Qin Tian left, he tossed a Spirit Stone to the waiter, making the waiter's mouth stretch almost to his ears.

A moment later, the two arrived at Bai Cao Pavilion.

Bai Cao Pavilion, before them, was a three-story wooden house, with ancient and natural architecture, clearly existing for some years.

Its exterior decoration was not luxurious, but rather had a simple feel.

Before even entering Bai Cao Pavilion, a strong medicinal fragrance wafted out.

The two walked into Bai Cao Pavilion; upon entering, on both sides of the walls were transparent grids, filled with various exotic flowers and plants, a dazzling array.

Azure Water Grass, Wind Origin Fruit, Golden Vein Flower, and all sorts of Spiritual Plant were available.