The Gains
Upon hearing this, the stern-faced Cultivator didn't waste any words. He simply patted the Storage Bag at his waist, and with a flash of spiritual light, twelve Low-grade Spirit Stone were neatly arranged on the blue cloth in front of the round-faced female cultivator.
"Give me ten bottles first!"
The round-faced female cultivator was overjoyed. She quickly counted out ten bottles of Essence Replenishing Pill and respectfully handed them over with both hands. "Thank you for your patronage, Senior!"
The cold- Cultivator nodded, took the Pill, and casually checked the seal on the bottle and the appearance of the Pill. After confirming that everything was correct, he turned around decisively and quickly disappeared into the bustling crowd without saying a word.
This clean and efficient transaction left the surrounding Cultivator, who had initially been watching the spectacle, momentarily stunned.
"Really? You bought it already? Ten bottles?"
"I bet this girl hired a shill! She's actually quite convincing."
"Exactly! 1.2 Spirit Stone a bottle of Essence Replenishing Pill, when have you ever seen that price on Stall Street? If they were really this quality, they would have been snapped up by those knowledgeable Pill Shop long ago, how could they possibly be on a stall here?"
"That's right. To refine Essence Replenishing Pill of this quality, one must be at least a seasoned alchemist with many years of Dao of Alchemy and a stable success rate, or even Foundation Establishment Realm Alchemist whose 'fine' pills occasionally leak out. This girl doesn't seem like one at all."
The surrounding doubts did not subside; on the contrary, the cold and Cultivator's straightforwardness only fueled further speculation that it was all an act.
After all, Stall Street are a mixed bag, with all sorts of scams emerging, and shills being a common tactic.
Hearing the surrounding chatter, the round-faced female cultivator's face flushed even redder. She wanted to defend herself, but didn't know where to begin. She could only stand there angrily guarding her stall, feeling both wronged and anxious, hoping that a true connoisseur would appear.
But the appearance of that cold and Cultivator was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples.
Some Cultivator were originally just watching the spectacle now had a more inquisitive look in their eyes.
After all, the Cultivator had a cold and aloof demeanor, unlike a typical shill, and the cost of selling ten bottles of Pill seemed a bit high for a shill.
In this delicate atmosphere, another middle-aged female cultivator, who looked to be around forty years old and had a kind face, hesitated for a moment before walking over.
She glanced at the Pill on the stall, then at the sign that read "1.2 Spirit Stone," and asked hesitantly, "Miss, you just said... I can try one first, is that right?"
The round-faced female cultivator seemed to have grasped at a straw, and nodded hurriedly, her voice becoming clearer. "Yes! Senior, you can try it first, and buy it if you like it!" She took out another bottle of Pill, skillfully poured out one, and handed it over.
The middle-aged female cultivator took the Pill, carefully examined its quality, and smelled its fragrance. A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
Her cultivation level wasn't high, around the Qi Refining Layer Four, but she seemed to have some knowledge of Pill. She put the Pill in her mouth, closed her eyes, and carefully sensed it.
This time, the wait was a little longer.
The middle-aged female cultivator seemed to be carefully experiencing the flow of the medicinal power within her body, especially the gentle nourishing sensation on her Meridians.
A moment later, she opened her eyes, a satisfied smile on her face, even with a hint of surprise.
"This Pill... its medicinal power is pure and its nature is mild, it's really good! It's better than the Essence Replenishing Pill I bought for my twelve-year-old grandson from the shop before!"
"The key is that the Pill Toxin aura is extremely faint, putting little burden on a child's delicate Meridians. 1.2 Spirit Stone is worth it!" She said, taking out twenty-four Spirit Stone. "Give me twenty bottles!"
The middle-aged female cultivator's words were clearly more persuasive than those of the taciturn and aloof Cultivator.
"Huh? Granny Zhang bought everything? She's known for being very frugal, and she's extremely picky when it comes to buying things for her grandson..."
"Even Granny Zhang said it's good? Could this Pill really have some extraordinary properties?"
"How about... we give it a try?"
One stone stirs up a thousand waves.
The middle-aged female cultivator's purchase and review were like the first domino to fall.
The Cultivator, who had initially been skeptical, began to waver.
After all, one or two people might be planted, but for two seemingly unrelated people with completely different temperaments to endorse it, the cost and acting skills required for such a "plant" are far too high.
Gradually, a third and a fourth Cultivator stepped forward to request to try the medicine.
Without exception, after the trial, almost everyone showed some degree of surprise, and then bought five, ten, or even twenty bottles like the middle-aged female cultivator.
A small queue quickly formed in front of the round-faced female cultivator's stall.
She busily and excitedly distributed trial Pill and collected Spirit Stone, handing out bottles of Essence Replenishing Pill, her little face flushed with excitement.
Those nearly a thousand bottles of Essence Replenishing Pill were decreasing at a rate visible to the naked eye.
When the cold-faced Cultivator returned, followed by three or four other Cultivator of similar strength who appeared to be on the Fellow Daoist path, he saw only a few Pill left on the stall and customers still asking questions.
Sold out?
The cold- Cultivator frowned, a hint of regret in his voice.
He was in a hurry to leave just now because he wanted to find a few trustworthy fellow cultivators who needed a large amount of Essence Replenishing Pill to help consolidate their Fellow Daoist.
I want to share this high-quality Pill with them.
The round-faced female cultivator bowed apologetically to the cold- Cultivator and his group. "I'm so sorry, seniors, we just sold out... Next time, if I ever set up a stall here again, I'll definitely let you all know in advance, or save some for you!"
She spoke sincerely, and the fact that the products sold out today is a good start for this cold and Cultivator.
Under the disappointed gazes of several newcomers, the round-faced female cultivator quickly packed up the empty bottles and blue cloth, ending her stall trip, which had far exceeded her expectations, ahead of schedule.
As for whether someone might be tempted by the wealth and try to intercept the Spirit Stone?
This is the inner city of Heavenly Star City, on the edge of Star Luo Market.
The Star Alliance's City Guard Army patrol frequently, and there are various monitoring Magic Array.
Aside from top-tier Assassin like Su Bai, who are highly skilled, daring, meticulous in their actions, and subtly protected by a mysterious organization like the Azure Fish Hall, what ordinary Cultivator would dare to openly rob someone here?
That would be tantamount to courting death; the enforcement team of the Heavenly Star Alliance is not to be trifled with.
On the way back, the round-faced female cultivator, clutching her bulging Storage Bag, felt her heart pounding.
She found a quiet corner and couldn't wait to start taking stock of her spoils.
Su Bai gave her a total of 960 bottles of Essence Replenishing Pill (10 pills per bottle, totaling 9,600 pills).
In an effort to expand sales, she gave away ten pills for free as trial samples.
The actual number of Essence Replenishing Pill sold was 9,590.
She strictly followed the "market price" benchmark given by Su Bai, selling all of them at a price of 1.2 Spirit Stone per bottle (i. e., 0.12 Spirit Stone per piece).
Total sales revenue: 9590 pieces * 0.12 Spirit Stone /piece = 1150.8 Spirit Stone.
She rounded down the amount, and actually charged 1150 Spirit Stone.
The payment for 960 bottles of Pill that needs to be returned to Su Bai is 960 Spirit Stone, calculated at the base price of 1 Spirit Stone per bottle.
Therefore, her profit is: 1150 - 960 - 1 (stall fee) = 189 Low-grade Spirit Stone!
In just one day! She earned 189 Spirit Stone!
The number made her feel dizzy.
Of her two Senior Sister in the same courtyard, one worked as a sales assistant in Pill, earning fifteen Spirit Stone a month.
Another person works in the talisman-making workshop processing raw materials, earning twenty Spirit Stone per month.
After a year of hard work, after deducting the annual rent of 300 Spirit Stone for the cultivation academy (split equally among the three of them, 100 spirit stones each) and daily cultivation and living expenses, it was already quite difficult for them to save a few dozen Spirit Stone.
And she earned almost their entire year's savings in just one day!
This is Heavenly Star City, the land of hope for the Demon Star Sea Human Race, and also a huge crucible where countless low-level Cultivator struggle to survive.
It provides a relatively fair, at least superficially, competitive platform and countless tiny opportunities for independent cultivators and members of small Lineage from all directions.
However, the high cost of living, such as rent, Pill, and cultivation resources, along with fierce competition and ubiquitous class barriers, keeps the vast majority of people firmly at the bottom.
A round-faced female cultivator with Three Spirit Root Talent is neither the best nor the worst; she's considered quite good among independent cultivators, but she's still far from meeting the "Elite" standard that top academies like Starlight Academy would look for.
Like countless others of their kind, they could only move between Market, workshops, and shops, selling their labor or low-level skills in exchange for meager resources, struggling to maintain their cultivation, hoping that one day luck would come their way, or that they would suddenly have an epiphany and break through their bottleneck.
Today, for the round-faced female cultivator, luck seems to have truly smiled upon her!
That mysterious and powerful neighbor not only entrusted her with handling so many Pill, but also allowed her to earn a considerable profit from these high-quality Pill!
This is not just about Spirit Stone; it could be a turning point that changes the status quo!
She clutched the Storage Bag tightly, her heart filled with gratitude. She wished she could fly back to the cultivation academy immediately to hand over the Spirit Stone to her senior to express her thanks, and perhaps... secure another opportunity for cooperation!
But when she rushed back to the cultivation academy area, she found that the gate of the small courtyard where Su Bai rented was tightly closed and the Guardian array was activated, indicating that the Master had not yet returned.
The round-faced female cultivator wasn't in a hurry. She moved a small bamboo chair and sat down next to the sapling in her yard that was growing stronger day by day. She absentmindedly loosened the soil and watered the fruit tree while gazing longingly at the gate of the neighboring yard, waiting for that senior to return.
At the same time, Su Bai did not return directly to the cultivation academy.
He first went to a medium-sized spirit medicine in Star Luo Market that had a decent reputation and a relatively complete supply of goods.
"Shopkeeper, here's the Pill Formula the Yellow Dragon Pill, and twenty portions of refining materials," Su Bai said succinctly.
The shopkeeper behind the counter was a middle-aged Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. Upon hearing this, he looked up and sized up Su Bai.
Seeing his composed demeanor and the Foundation Establishment cultivator's entry token hanging at his waist, the person became more polite. "Yellow Dragon Pill recipe, twenty spirit stones."
"As for the materials... one complete set costs fifty spirit stones, twenty sets would cost a total of one thousand spirit stones." As he spoke, he deftly took out a jade slip containing the recipe for the Yellow Dragon Pill, as well as several pre-packaged material packets.
Su Bai paid 1,020 spirit stones, took the item, and scanned the jade slip with his divine sense to confirm that it was the complete recipe for the Yellow Dragon Pill, including the ingredient ratios, processing methods, detailed refining steps, and precautions.
He checked each material one by one, confirming that the quantity and quality met the standards, before nodding and putting the items into his Storage Bag.
Yellow Dragon Pill, Tier 1 Middle-grade Pill, is mainly suitable for Cultivator in the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refining. Its medicinal power is several times stronger than that of Essence Replenishing Pill.
The difficulty of refining and the variety and complexity of the materials required also increase accordingly.
The price of the Pill Formula is low, with a symbolic fee; the real cost and barrier to entry lie in the materials and refining techniques.
One set of materials costs fifty Spirit Stone, which is ten times the price of Essence Replenishing Pill.
Twenty portions would require an investment of a full thousand Spirit Stone, and that's just the cost of the most basic practice materials.
The path to Alchemist is fraught with peril, with increasingly exorbitant early costs the higher one progresses.
After purchasing the alchemy materials, Su Bai did not rush back to seclusion.
He turned and walked into a nearby bustling Tavern famous for selling various low-grade Spirit Wine brewed from spirit grains.
"A pot of Bijing Spring." Su Bai found a seat by the window and sat down.
Soon, a pot of light green wine, exuding a faint fragrance of rice and Spiritual Qi, was served.
Su Bai poured himself a drink, seemingly relaxed, but in reality, he carefully filtered out the noisy chatter and discussions inside the Tavern.
Such places, where all sorts of people gather, are often good spots to gather information and gauge public opinion.
When he was halfway through his drinks, he got up and went into a quiet teahouse across the street. He ordered a pot of Spirit Tea, which was said to have a calming effect, and slowly sipped it while listening to the conversations of the other tea drinkers.
This back-and-forth journey between two places took nearly two hours.
Based on the snippets of conversation he'd overheard in other shops, Su Bai had a general idea of the aftermath of the assassination attempt two weeks prior.
It is said that the first to arrive after the incident was the City Guard Army squad responsible for maintaining order in that area.
They sealed off the scene, but apart from the indistinguishable ash left by the special flames, and the faint Spiritual Power fluctuations and sharp Sword Qi traces remaining in the air, Great Qian by the "Shadow Dust," they found almost nothing.
Subsequently, the Golden Core Ancestor of the Shangguan Family was enraged and personally descended upon the area.
The final information revealed that he died at the hands of Azure Fish Hall assassin, and there seemed to be traces of involvement from the Immortal Palace as well.
Besides that, Nie Tianchi of the Nie Family was thoroughly investigated. However, the Nie Family also had Golden Core Ancestor protecting them, so they couldn't just directly search Nie Tianchi.
It's impossible to determine whether the Assassin were hired by the Nie Family.
The matter was ultimately dropped.