Making a Killing

"Do you sell Revival Pills?"

In the Dark market, Chen Fei had changed his appearance once more and approached a stall, asking tentatively.

"Yes, twenty-five taels each." The stall owner glanced at Chen Fei and answered lazily.

"That expensive?"

Chen Fei was somewhat surprised. He had looked into it two days ago, when they had still been twenty taels apiece. He had not expected the price to surge madly again.

Before the rebel army arrived, the market price of Revival Pills had actually been only ten taels each.

"Don't complain that it's expensive. You know Pingyin County's current situation. Most medicinal pills have been handed over. Being able to keep even a little is already no easy matter."

Seeing that Chen Fei had not simply walked off after asking, the stall owner perked up slightly and explained.

"That makes sense."

Chen Fei nodded, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Then do you buy Revival Pills?"

"You want to sell?"

The stall owner had been reclining sideways in his chair, but he abruptly sat upright and looked at Chen Fei. "What quality are they? Forget it, quality isn't important. How many can you provide each day? If the quantity is large, the price is negotiable."

"I can guarantee twenty or thirty pills a day."

"Good! If you can guarantee that amount, I'll give you this price per pill."

The stall owner made a gesture. Chen Fei looked at it, then shook his head slightly. "You sell them for twenty-five taels, yet only offer fifteen to buy them? That's too little."

"Fifteen taels isn't little. We have plenty of costs to bear too." The stall owner chuckled.

"Fine, then I'll consider it."

Chen Fei said no more. He smiled and turned to leave.

"Hey, don't go. The price is negotiable."

Seeing Chen Fei about to leave, the stall owner hurriedly stopped him. These days, every alchemist in Pingyin County was refining pills at high capacity. Those who could still be found outside were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

If he could acquire an additional twenty or thirty Revival Pills every day, it would definitely count as a major merit.

Chen Fei stopped and looked at the stall owner without saying a word.

"Name your price." Seeing Chen Fei stare at him, the stall owner said helplessly.

"Twenty-three taels."

"That price is over the line." The stall owner shook his head like a rattle-drum.

"The price of pills changes every few days. Perhaps in a few days, you'll be the ones making money."

"What keeps rising forever? Very few people can afford twenty-five taels. I'm buying these mainly to hand over to my master's family, just in case."

"Then how much are you offering?"

"Sixteen taels. That's quite a suitable price..."

After a round of haggling between Chen Fei and the stall owner, they finally settled on a purchase price of twenty taels.

Chen Fei appeared somewhat regretful on the surface, but inwardly he was already bursting with joy. Before the rebel army came, he had sold Revival Pills for only eight taels each, and he had even needed to procure the medicinal ingredients himself.

Now, the Zhao Family provided the ingredients, while the price of Revival Pills had soared. Counting both sides of the deal, Chen Fei was simply making a killing.

With Chen Fei's current Great Perfection Revival Pill refinement skills, he could sell around twenty-five pills a day in the Dark market, earning five hundred taels of silver per day.

Compared with before, this was a direct leap up a massive step.

"Take a look at the pills. There are around a hundred in total."

Chen Fei took the medicine bottles from his bundle. The stall owner did not dare be careless. Though he had said earlier that quality did not matter, better quality would naturally be even more ideal.

As the stopper was removed, a medicinal fragrance drifted out. The stall owner carefully poured out one pill. Seeing the smooth, round surface of the Revival Pill, a smile could not help appearing on his face.

For Revival Pills of this quality, paying that price would not be a loss. When the time came, the master's family might even praise him for having a good eye!

"Keep this money safe."

After checking the quantity and confirming there were no issues, the stall owner hurriedly counted out the silver and placed it before Chen Fei.

Two thousand taels of silver were quite weighty, pressing down on the counter with a dull thud.

Transactions in the Dark market had always been settled in hard silver, with silver notes rarely used. Now, because of the rebel army, no one dared use silver notes anymore.

Chen Fei slung the bundle of silver over his back, then looked at the stall owner and asked, "Do you buy Light Spirit Pills?"

"You have Light Spirit Pills too?"

The stall owner's eyes widened involuntarily. This was far too pleasant a surprise. The former market price of Light Spirit Pills had been fifteen taels, but they had long since skyrocketed.

As a result, few martial artists now used Light Spirit Pills for cultivation. Even those in the Bone Forging Realm only used Revival Pills.

Yet on the rebel army's side, demand for Light Spirit Pills remained extremely strong. Sometimes, if there were enough Light Spirit Pills, they could offset part of the required number of Revival Pills and Blood Qi Pills.

"I can refine them, but my technique is ordinary, and the yield is low. If you trust me, you provide the ingredients, and we split the proceeds by proportion."

The Light Spirit Pill ingredients Chen Fei had prepared himself were nearly used up. Ingredients could no longer be bought in Pingyin County, and Chi Defeng could not find refugees to gather them either.

Chen Fei could only turn his attention to these vendors. After all, many of them had aristocratic families within Pingyin County standing behind them.

"One set of ingredients must yield one Light Spirit Pill. That is the bottom line."

The stall owner looked at Chen Fei and pondered for a moment. "How about this? We provide the ingredients. One set in exchange for one Light Spirit Pill, and we'll also give you three taels of silver for your labor. What do you say?"

"That's a bit low. Six taels. I like that number." Chen Fei smiled.

"Fine. Consider it the price of making a friend."

The stall owner thought it over and agreed. The main reason was that there were only a handful of alchemists in Pingyin County capable of refining Light Spirit Pills. Even if they wanted to train more now, it was already too late. Ingredients were too scarce to permit waste.

Exchanging one set of ingredients for one Light Spirit Pill was already not a loss. If it had been before, this would have been an insane profit. But now that the value of medicinal ingredients had risen in a straight line, it could only be called fairly decent.

"Give me three sets of ingredients first. I'll come find you again tomorrow."

"Alright, please wait a moment."

The stall owner went to the back hall, instructing someone to fetch the ingredients while also reporting the matter.

An incense stick's time later, the ingredients arrived in Chen Fei's hands. Chen Fei examined them and found no problems. He cupped his hands to the stall owner, then left the Dark market directly.

Along the way, Chen Fei deposited all the silver into the panel, and his back immediately felt lighter.

No little tail appeared, which somewhat exceeded Chen Fei's expectations. It seemed the aristocratic family behind that stall owner sincerely wanted to cooperate with him. Or perhaps it was only the first day, and they were not in a hurry yet—they wanted to observe a little longer.

After cautiously circling around Pingyin County several times, Chen Fei finally returned to the courtyard he rented.

Rather than immediately refining pills, Chen Fei rested for a while before taking out a secret manual.

Primordial Archery Technique.

It was an archery manual. Chen Fei had bought three such manuals from Chi Defeng in total. When he wanted more, there were none left.

There were few martial artists who used bows in the first place, so even fewer manuals had spread outside. More bow users could be found in the military, but manuals from there were even harder to find beyond its walls.

Chen Fei wanted to cultivate archery not because he thought swordsmanship was weak, but simply because he wanted another means to fight enemies, especially a method of injuring them from afar.

Training in hidden weapons would also have been good, but their range was too short. Chen Fei's movement technique had already achieved some success, and in the foreseeable future, he would certainly continue investing heavily in it.

Thus, at close range, Chen Fei could fully compensate with his movement technique. But when the distance was too great, or the enemy was too strong and Chen Fei was unwilling to engage them in close combat, a bow would come into play.

Another reason Chen Fei had begun cultivating archery was that he had recently raised all the techniques in his hands to the Great Perfection level.

The time for cultivating Internal Energy was fixed, and Chen Fei could not spend the entire day refining pills. Not to mention that there were not enough ingredients. Even if there were, Chen Fei would not keep refining endlessly.

Making money made people happy, and the panel required silver too. But all of it was for the sake of increasing his strength. Chen Fei could not put the cart before the horse. Therefore, after handling everything else, he had to ensure that his strength did not stagnate.

Grinding proficiency and watching his strength grow bit by bit had already become part of Chen Fei's life. He simply could not quit.