Made a Fortune

Xiao Mingshu lowered her voice and said, "Let's not go back to the inn yet. Let's walk around the streets a few times and see if anyone is following us."

The three of them pretended to be casually strolling along the road. Xiao Mingshu's expression remained calm, but her Divine Sense silently swept across the streets and alleys behind her.

She knew that if a cultivator of the same level was following her, they would definitely not escape her detection. But if someone with a much higher cultivation level deliberately concealed themselves and followed her, she might not be able to detect their presence. She could only wander around more and see if she could find any clues.

Not far ahead, there was a medicine shop filled with the fragrance of elixirs on the street.

The three stepped inside, and immediately a young waiter in the Early Stage of Qi Refining greeted them with a beaming smile.

"Please come in, gentlemen. What kind of elixirs would you like to see?"

Shen Jingchuan walked to the counter and asked, "Do you have Qi Nourishing Pills and Qi Gathering Pills? What's the price for the mid-grade ones?"

The waiter quickly replied:

"Sir, we have them all. One Low-Grade Qi Nourishing Pill one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, ten Mid-Grade Qi Nourishing Pill one Spirit Stone; ten low-grade Low-Grade Qi Gathering Pills cost one spirit stone, and one hundred Mid-Grade Qi Gathering Pills cost one hundred spirit stones. Mid-grade pills have fewer impurities, purer medicinal power, promote faster cultivation progress, and are less likely to accumulate pill toxins."

Shen Jingchuan then asked, "What about the superior and top-grade ones?"

The waiter's smile faltered, a hint of embarrassment appearing on his face, and he replied truthfully:

"High-Grade Qi Nourishing Pill costs eighty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and a High-Grade Qi Gathering Pill costs eight hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. However, we simply don't have any superior-grade pills in stock. Not to mention our shop, you might not be able to find more than a few in the entire Spirit Creek Market."

He paused and then added:

"This top-grade pill is not only as potent as seven or eight mid-grade pills, but it is also absorbed quickly. Most importantly, it has very little toxicity, and even if taken for many years, it will not cause stagnation in the meridians."

Whenever a high-grade elixir appears, it is immediately snapped up by the major sects and immortal cultivation clans in the vicinity, and used specifically to cultivate the direct descendants of the clan and the genius disciples of the sect. Ordinary Rogue Cultivators can never even get their hands on it.

As for Exquisite-Grade Qi Nourishing Pills and Qi Gathering Pills, I've only heard of them in rumors; I've never even seen one, let alone heard of their price.

After leaving the alchemy pavilion, the three of them visited several other shops, including Law Artifact shop, a spirit herb shop, and a talisman stall, strolling around at a leisurely pace.

Xiao Mingshu secretly kept an eye on her surroundings to make sure no one was following her; Shen Jingchuan, on the other hand, used the excuse of looking at goods and asking about prices to thoroughly understand the grade and price differences of various goods in the market.

He quickly calculated in his mind:

One Low-Grade Qi Nourishing Pill costs one Spirit Stone, but if it's upgraded to mid-grade, it can be sold for ten; one Low-Grade Qi Gathering Pill costs ten, but if it's upgraded to mid-grade, it can be sold for one hundred; and the price difference for high-grade pills increases exponentially.

This Ring of mine can upgrade low-grade pills by one level. Just reselling pills by their grade is an extremely profitable business, much more lucrative than selling watches and mirrors.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became—he'd struck it rich!

There's only one thing he's unsure about—how much Spiritual Qi and how many Spirit Stones it would take to upgrade the Ring's grade. He still doesn't have a precise answer.

He secretly made up his mind that once he returned to the inn tonight, he would carefully ask Xian'er if she knew anything, and if not, he would conduct an experiment. He had just received a large sum of Spirit Stones today, so he could test the specific details of this grade-up method.

Along the way, Shen Jingchuan stopped at a medicine shop and bought two Mid-Grade Qi Nourishing Pills and Mid-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, then casually put them into his Storage Ring.

After wandering around for most of the day, the group was quite hungry, so they returned to the inn where they had stayed and went into a private room to sit down.

After the waiter finished setting out the dishes and left, Xiao Mingshu picked up her teacup, took a sip, and said calmly:

"I've been keeping an eye out; there shouldn't be anyone following us."

Shen Jingchuan picked up his chopsticks and said in a low voice, "It's better to be careful."

"No problem. The shops I chose are all long-established businesses in the market. They know the difference between making a quick buck and doing business steadily and responsibly."

She paused, then said:

"The problem is that some people might be greedy and try to trace the goods back to their source. Let's take it one step at a time."

"However, only Qi Refinement Realm cultivators would be envious of this benefit; once they reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, they wouldn't be so interested."

She looked up at Shen Jingchuan:

"While this amount of Spirit Stones isn't a small sum for them, it's not worth racking their brains to kill and rob."

Shen Jingchuan took out several brocade bags containing Spirit Stones from his Storage Ring, placed them on the table, and smiled:

"Sister, we made a total of six thousand Spirit Stones, so it's half for each of us."

He then began to repackage the contents.

Xiao Mingshu reached out to stop him, raising her chin:

"You should keep it. Everyone assumes that large sums of money should be kept by people with high cultivation levels, and they'll only be watching me. It's safest here with you; no one will suspect that the Spirit Stones are with you."

Shen Jingchuan raised an eyebrow and teased her:

"I was just worried that my sister would be uneasy. What if I ran off with the Spirit Stones?"

Xiao Mingshu looked up at him, a smile in her eyes:

"How could I not believe my brat? It's okay if you really run away, consider it a gift from your older sister."

Huan'er was standing nearby, felt her heart skip a beat and almost lost her composure. This wasn't just six or sixty Spirit Stones; it was a full six thousand! If each person got half, that would be three thousand!

Her young mistress trusted Shen Jingchuan to this extent? She pursed her lips, gave Shen Jingchuan a deep look, and then quickly lowered her head, pretending not to have heard.

After finishing their meal, the three returned to their guest room. Shen Jingchuan changed into some inconspicuous casual clothes and came out to tell Xiao Mingshu that he wanted to go out for a stroll again.

Xiao Mingshu instructed:

"There's not much danger in the market, but don't buy anything expensive that might attract attention. Just wander around and come back early."

Shen Jingchuan agreed and left the inn alone.

He walked slowly along the street, circled two streets, and turned into a Law Artifact merchandise shop that he had noticed that morning.

The shop assistant, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the customer who had inquired about the pills that morning and quickly came forward to greet him.

"Fellow Daoist, have you decided what you want to purchase?"

Shen Jingchuan walked to the counter and got straight to the point:

"I saw you had some Mid-Grade Spirit Concealing Jade here this morning, let me take a look."

The shop assistant responded, took out a wooden box from under the counter, and lifted the brocade lining inside to reveal two pale blue jade plaques:

"This Mid-Grade Spirit Concealing Jade can deceive the Divine Sense of someone a minor realm higher. It costs five hundred Spirit Stones per piece."

Shen Jingchuan picked up a coin, rubbed it a couple of times, and said calmly:

"Nine hundred Spirit Stones, I'll take both."

The waiter's smile vanished instantly.

"Fellow Daoist, you've cut the price too drastically. A hundred Spirit Stones less at once! Our small business barely makes any money; we simply can't offer that price."

Shen Jingchuan put down the jade token and turned to leave:

"Then I'll go check other stores. We can't be the only ones selling here."

"Hey, fellow Daoist, wait a moment!"

The waiter quickly stopped him, smiling apologetically:

"Please wait a moment, I'll go in and ask the shopkeeper. I can't make the decision on this price."

He pretended to run quickly into the back room, then turned back a moment later, his face beaming with a smile again.

"It's settled. The shopkeeper said to consider it making friends, so here are two Spirit Stones for you! Please patronize our shop more often in the future, and don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything."

He then carefully wrapped the two Spirit Concealing Jade pieces and handed them to Shen Jingchuan.