Rent

Li Chengjie forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart and hurried away from the street where Zhang Gui was.

His most urgent task was to earn Spirit Stones! He had to resume pill refining as soon as possible.

Li Chengjie felt the eighty-five Spirit Stones he had left in his robes and headed for Hundred Herbs Pavilion, the only medicinal herb shop still open in the inner district—and also the largest.

There were not many people in the shop, but the atmosphere was heavy. The shopkeeper stood behind the tall counter, expressionless.

Li Chengjie walked up to the counter, doing his best to keep his voice steady. "Shopkeeper, may I ask what the materials for Qi Condensation Pills cost these days?"

The shopkeeper lifted his eyelids and glanced at him. His tone was flat, but the price he named made Li Chengjie's heart tighten.

"Azure Mist Grass, five Spirit Stones per bundle. Dew Condensing Flower, eight Spirit Stones per flower. Stone Marrow Powder, three Spirit Stones per portion. One set of materials costs sixteen Low-grade Spirit Stones. Minimum purchase of ten sets."

"Sixteen? Minimum ten sets?" Li Chengjie could hardly believe his ears. "Shopkeeper, this price... wasn't it only ten per set a few days ago? And why do I have to buy at least ten sets?"

The shopkeeper snorted coldly, sounding impatient. "A few days ago? So you know that was a few days ago? Look at the situation outside now. Herbs can't get in, and the risks are high! That's the price. Buy it or don't. If you're not buying, don't block the people behind you."

Looking at the icy counter, Li Chengjie knew there was no room for bargaining.

Li Chengjie calculated rapidly. Ten sets of materials would cost one hundred and sixty Spirit Stones!

He simply could not afford them! Gritting his teeth, he tested the waters. "Shopkeeper, I... I don't have many Spirit Stones. Could I buy only five sets? Or... three? I urgently need materials to refine pills."

"No!" the shopkeeper refused outright. "Rules are rules! Minimum ten sets—one less won't do! If you can't afford them, then leave!"

Li Chengjie's heart sank to the bottom.

Had the faint glimmer of hope he had just seen been strangled by these sky-high costs?

Li Chengjie stood where he was, his expression shifting. In the end, he still could not bear to leave.

Li Chengjie spoke again, his voice carrying one last plea. "Shopkeeper, please make an exception? I only need five sets. Calculate it at the ten-set price—eighty Spirit Stones. Is that all right? This is truly all I have on me..."

Li Chengjie was practically emptying out his entire fortune.

The shopkeeper frowned deeply and scrutinized him for a long while, seemingly weighing whether the deal was worth making.

In the end, perhaps deciding that eighty Spirit Stones was no small sum, he waved his hand with extreme reluctance. "Fine, fine! Seeing as you've got it hard, I'll make an exception just this once! Five sets of materials, eighty Spirit Stones. Hurry up!"

Li Chengjie felt as though he had been granted amnesty. He quickly took out all eighty Spirit Stones and piled them on the counter.

Only after counting them did the shopkeeper slowly take out five sets of materials that looked reasonably decent and push them over.

Carrying the five sets of materials that had cost him nearly all his Spirit Stones, Li Chengjie felt pressure like never before.

His costs had doubled. He had to ensure an extremely high Pill Formation rate and quality, avoiding Failed Pill Explosions, before he could recover his investment—or even double his profits.

Li Chengjie hurried back to the cramped Room Gui, tightly shut the door, and even braced it with the table.

"Azure Mist Grass, remove the dross and preserve the essence..." he murmured, casting aside all Distractions as he began carefully processing the herbs.

Without earthfire, both the success rate and pill yield were major problems. He could only rely on the spiritual power of his Mysterious Flame Art to kindle flames, his divine sense intensely focused as he controlled the weak, unstable flicker.

Time passed amid silence and tension.

Sweat soaked his forehead and back. Every fusion of medicinal properties was like dancing on a knife's edge.

"Condense!"

When he finally completed the first grueling refinement and lifted the lid of the crude medicine jar, four Qi Condensation Pills lay quietly inside. Their color was somewhat dull, and their shapes were less than uniform. Only four pills, and they were merely barely passable.

Li Chengjie looked at the five pills without feeling discouraged. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He had succeeded! Though both the quantity and quality left much to be desired, they had at least formed!

Under such crude conditions, that was no easy feat.

Li Chengjie carefully put away the pills. After taking a brief moment to regulate his breathing, he began the second refinement...

For two full days and two nights, Li Chengjie barely slept, devoting himself entirely to refining the five sets of materials.

When he used up the last set and, utterly exhausted, counted his results, twenty-five passable Qi Condensation Pills and three lower-quality defective pills lay before him.

The total cost was eighty Spirit Stones. At the current inner-district market price of at least five Spirit Stones per passable pill, twenty-five pills could sell for one hundred and twenty-five Spirit Stones, for a net profit of forty-five Spirit Stones!

Though the profit margin was far lower than before, he had at least started again!

He did not dare delay. After tidying himself up a little, he took the pills to Duo Bao Zhai, a purchasing house in the inner district that looked fairly reputable.

The clerk behind the counter lazily accepted the pills, inspected them, and quoted a price. "Passable ones, five Spirit Stones each. Defective ones, two Spirit Stones each. Selling or not?"

Li Chengjie frowned. "Fellow Daoist, pills are scarce these days. Passable Qi Condensation Pills are selling for seven or eight Spirit Stones apiece in outside shops. How about six Spirit Stones each?"

The clerk glanced at him and sneered. "That's the retail price! Of course we press the price when buying! That's the offer. Take it or leave it!"

Li Chengjie knew arguing was pointless. He urgently needed Spirit Stones to keep things turning over, so he could only nod. "I'll sell. Eighteen passable pills and three defective ones."

"One hundred and twenty-seven Spirit Stones. Count them carefully." The clerk pushed the Spirit Stones over to him. (This part was repeatedly revised, causing the quantities to become a little muddled. If it is changed, the later parts no longer match.)

Holding the one hundred and twenty-seven Spirit Stones, Li Chengjie felt somewhat reassured. He immediately returned to Hundred Herbs Pavilion. This time, he had confidence.

"Shopkeeper, five sets of Qi Condensation Pill materials." He placed eighty Spirit Stones on the counter.

Seeing him return so soon and directly purchase five sets, the shopkeeper's expression eased slightly. As he fetched the materials, he unusually took the initiative to make conversation. "Kid, your pill-refining skills aren't bad, are they? You made your money back this quickly?"

Li Chengjie gave a vague reply. "Just barely making a living." He did not want to say more. Picking up the materials, he was about to leave.

Just then, the conversation between two travel-worn cultivators who had just walked in caught his attention.

One of them, a tall cultivator, said to his companion with lingering fear, "Damn it, that trip was truly a brush with death! I nearly didn't make it back!"

His companion chimed in, "Tell me about it! We're lucky just to have crawled back with our lives! Oh, right, have you heard? That guy who disappeared a few days ago—'Black Tiger' Zhao Yizhen—seems to be alive!"

"Zhao Yizhen? The one renting a place in Lane Bing, with that terrible temper? Didn't he vanish after heading out more than half a month ago? Everyone thought he'd died outside, didn't they?"

"Heh, that's the strange part! Old Wang fled back yesterday from around Black Wind Gorge to the west. He said he seemed to catch a distant glimpse of someone whose back looked a lot like Zhao Yizhen. He was with a group of people, heading deeper into the mountains! Who knows whether he's dead or alive—or whether he joined some bandit gang!"

"Lane Bing... Zhao Yizhen..." Hearing this, Li Chengjie suddenly went stiff all over, as though his blood had frozen in an instant!

Wasn't the former owner of the Room Gui Li Chengjie rented a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator who had not returned for half a month?

Could it be... this "Black Tiger" Zhao Yizhen they were talking about?!

He wasn't dead?! He might still be alive?!

The news struck Li Chengjie's heart like a bolt from the blue.

Forcing himself to remain calm, Li Chengjie picked up his materials and practically fled Hundred Herbs Pavilion.

Back in that cramped Room Gui, he leaned against the door, his heart pounding like a drum.

The former owner might not be dead!

He might even still be alive!

That Steward Disciple had said that if the former owner returned, he would have to move out immediately!

Wouldn't that mean he—and the Spirit Stones and effort he might invest afterward—could all go down the drain?

Had this place that had only just offered him a glimmer of hope for settling down and making a living become something he would lose in the blink of an eye?

The immense uncertainty and sense of crisis wrapped tightly around him once more.

Li Chengjie forced himself to calm down. The most pressing matter was to use these five batches of materials as quickly as possible and earn more Spirit Stones!

Only with enough Spirit Stones would he have the means to deal with any sudden changes—and perhaps... find a way to secure the lease for this room once and for all!

Li Chengjie hesitated no longer and immediately began a new round of refining.

Just as he had begun processing the materials, a rapid, brutal pounding on the door rang out like a summons from the King of Hell!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Open up, whoever's inside!

It was the Leasing Steward's voice!

Li Chengjie's heart tightened, and an ominous feeling rose within him. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Standing outside was the very Steward Disciple who had taken ten Spirit Stones from him as "compensation for his trouble" that night. His face now wore an impersonal coldness, with even a trace of impatience.

"Steward, what is this..." Li Chengjie asked cautiously.

The Steward Disciple glanced at him and held out his hand directly. "Hand it over."

Li Chengjie froze. "Hand... hand over what?"

"Spirit Stones!" The Steward Disciple's tone hardened. "Why are you playing dumb? This room's original lease still has two months left. By the Rules, you need to pay the rent for those two months in full right now! Sixty Low-grade Spirit Stones. Hurry up!"

Li Chengjie felt as if he had been struck by lightning and blurted out, "Pay in full now? Steward, didn't we agree that I would pay those forty Spirit Stones once the lease expired and it was confirmed that the former owner wasn't coming back? How... how did it become sixty Spirit Stones, and why do I have to pay now?"

The Steward Disciple waved his hand impatiently. "Times have changed! There are new regulations from above. For all temporarily assigned residences with uncertain leases, rent must be prepaid in advance! To keep people from skipping out on their debts! Enough nonsense. Sixty Spirit Stones, hand them over now! If you can't, pack up and get the hell out immediately!"

Looking at the other man's unquestionable expression, then recalling the rumor he had heard at Hundred Herbs Pavilion that "Black Tiger" Zhao Yizhen might not be dead, Li Chengjie's heart went cold.

He had only just seen a sliver of hope for earning Spirit Stones and had spent his entire fortune on materials. Where was he supposed to find sixty Spirit Stones now?

Altogether, he only had a few dozen Spirit Stones left!

He forced a smile even uglier than a grimace and pleaded, "Steward, please make an exception? I... I just bought alchemy materials. I truly don't have that many Spirit Stones on me! Give me a few days. Once I refine some pills and sell them, I'll definitely make up the payment immediately!"

"Give you time? Hmph!" The Steward Disciple sneered. "Who knows what state you'll be in a few days from now? Cut the crap. Either hand over the Spirit Stones now, or get the hell out now!"