Plans and Making Money

After the fierce battle, the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion's hired team rested and recuperated at camp for the night. For the remainder of the journey, aside from occasionally encountering a First-tier magical beast, they faced no further danger. By noon, they reached their destination: a basin filled with medicinal herbs.

After collecting an entire cartload of medicinal herbs from the basin, the team gathered and headed back to Qingshan Town. Because they had additional cargo, the return trip took a full two days, half a day longer than the journey there. When they arrived at the entrance of the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Before long, the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion's accountant settled the mercenaries' wages. Golden coins were placed into their hands, and smiles appeared on every face. Though there had been casualties this time, that was the fate of mercenaries in the Monster Mountain Range. Living with a blade at one's throat was more than just a saying. The Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion did not take a single Rock Wolf corpse left behind by the pack. After all, the mercenaries had killed them, and processing the corpses would earn the mercenaries another sum of money.

If the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion forcibly claimed a share, word would spread through Qingshan Town, and no one would be willing to accept employment from them in the future unless they increased the pay. Even then, those they hired might show up without putting in any effort.

Seeing that the wages had been settled, Xiao Yi Xian and Xia Mo carried the medicinal herbs they had gathered into the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion's storeroom. Boss Yao followed behind them. As he watched one batch of premium medicinal herbs after another enter storage, his face bloomed like a chrysanthemum. Thus, Yao the Skinflayer did not dock Xiao Yi Xian and Xia Mo's pay.

"You did well. The medicinal herbs were preserved excellently, better than many veteran physicians could manage. I'll give you two an extra bonus later." Clearly, he intended to give them a sweetener so Xia Mo and Xiao Yi Xian would gather more herbs for him in the future.

Hearing Yao the Skinflayer's words, Xia Mo curled his lips. If it hadn't been for me this time, everyone would have died. And Xiao Yi Xian and I are so young—do you even realize you're exploiting child labor? Still, Xia Mo said nothing more. After all, he still needed to stay here for a while longer.

After receiving their pay, Xia Mo and Xiao Yi Xian planned to return to their rooms and rest. On the way back, Xia Mo said to Xiao Yi Xian, "Sister Xiao Yi Xian, don't lock your door later. I have something to tell you."

"Alright. And as for this payment, keep five—no, one gold coin for yourself. I'll hold on to the rest for now and return it to you when you're older."

"Alright. I'll ask you for it whenever I need it." Xia Mo did not object to Xiao Yi Xian's words. This little bit of money could not do much anyway.

After returning to his room and taking a bath, Xia Mo planned to discuss the treasure with Xiao Yi Xian. There were hundreds of thousands of gold coins and a large quantity of medicinal herbs in that cave treasure. Still, given its scale, Xia Mo felt that the senior who left it behind should have had a Storage Ring. When they went to retrieve the treasure, he would have to search carefully for it.

When he reached Xiao Yi Xian's door, Xia Mo raised his hand and knocked. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Xia Mo."

About a minute or two later, Xiao Yi Xian opened the door and let Xia Mo into her room. Once inside, Xia Mo turned around and locked the door.

Seeing this, Xiao Yi Xian knew Xia Mo must have something important to tell her, so she led him behind a curtain and sat down with him.

Only after sitting down did Xia Mo have a chance to look over a girl's room. After examining it, he found Xiao Yi Xian's room rather distinctive. There were no decorations, unlike an ordinary girl's room. Behind the curtain was a stone platform, presumably where Xiao Yi Xian prepared medicinal powders. As expected, "research types" really were different.

Xia Mo turned to look at Xiao Yi Xian and found that she was looking at him as well. He gestured to her, and the two slowly bent closer together, looking sneaky, as though they were about to do something bad.

"When we went into the Monster Mountain Range to gather herbs, I found a cave. There's definitely treasure inside. Let's find a chance to go treasure hunting," Xia Mo whispered to Xiao Yi Xian.

"What? Where?" Xiao Yi Xian's voice rose in surprise. Fortunately, she knew better than to shout.

Xia Mo quickly shushed her. "Keep it down. Don't let anyone hear. It's on a cliff face where we ran into danger."

"How do you know there's treasure in the cave? The two of us were never apart," Xiao Yi Xian asked.

"Racial talent. I sensed treasures inside, probably precious medicinal herbs. When there's a chance, I'll go retrieve the treasure. But we don't have a Storage Ring, so we'll have nowhere to hide it after taking it out. If we can't hide it, trouble will definitely never end for us," Xia Mo said.

"Storage Ring... Storage Ring..." Xiao Yi Xian muttered.

"What did you say, Sister Xiao Yi Xian?"

"Nothing. Even a low-grade Storage Ring costs at least tens of thousands of gold coins, and the price varies depending on its space. With what the two of us earn at the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion, there's no way we can afford one," Xiao Yi Xian sighed.

"Sister Xiao Yi Xian, don't think about it. I only wanted to share this good news with you. I'll find a way."

Hearing Xia Mo say that, Xiao Yi Xian did not say anything more.

Xia Mo returned to his room, lay on his bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling. What method is there to make money quickly? What could it be? This is giving me a headache. The Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion, medicinal herbs, pills... right, pills are the most valuable, and they're consumables too.

Xia Mo thought about it. The formula for Blood Coagulating Powder seemed to be one Blood Condensing Grass, one Vitality Fruit, and two Poppy Flowers. Use flames to refine the essences from the medicinal herbs, then fuse them together. But he did not know exactly how to do it, so he could only find an opportunity to experiment. Fortunately, all three herbs were fairly common.

Xia Mo had the talent of an Alchemist. Within his body, he possessed Beast Fire—the Dragon Phoenix Flame. And because this flame was innate, it was easier for him to control. But without a teacher, without an Alchemical Formula, and without a cauldron, he was nothing.

Still, Alchemists had an Alchemist's methods, while physicians had a physician's methods. Xia Mo decided to discuss it with Xiao Yi Xian tomorrow. As he thought, he gradually fell asleep.

The next day, Xia Mo told Xiao Yi Xian about the matter. For the following month, the two of them conducted frantic "research." Finally, on the last night of the month, they used Blood Condensing Grass, Vitality Fruit, and Poppy Flowers to brew a formula they called Blood Coagulating Paste. They specifically tested it on a rabbit, and the results were particularly gratifying. Though it could not compare to the Blood Coagulating Powder refined from medicinal essences by an Alchemist, it was absolutely a life-saving medicine for mercenaries active in the Monster Mountain Range.

Afterward, the two of them took the Blood Coagulating Paste to Boss Yao to discuss a partnership. Yao the Skinflayer truly lived up to his name, demanding an eighty-twenty split the moment he opened his mouth. After a full hour of "peaceful" negotiations, they finally agreed on a sixty-forty split. Yao the Skinflayer took sixty percent, provided the medicinal herbs, and received exclusive sales rights for the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion. Xia Mo and Xiao Yi Xian were responsible for production and received forty percent.

The three then set the selling price of the Blood Coagulating Paste based on its production cost: seventy-five gold coins per portion.

Boss Yao of the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion truly deserved his reputation as a famous merchant of Qingshan Town. Within a month, he had made Blood Coagulating Paste popular throughout the entire town. Nearly every mercenary group passing through would visit the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion to buy medicine, increasing its business by thirty percent.

Xia Mo had already been in this world for over a year. Through their cooperation with the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion over the past few months, he and Xiao Yi Xian had each bought a Storage Ring and obtained a Dou Qi Continent savings card—a gold card. After all, the two of them could now be considered moderately wealthy in Qingshan Town. He just did not know how the gold card worked.

Because Xia Mo and Xiao Yi Xian had created considerable wealth for the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion, Xia Mo no longer needed to make house calls or gather medicinal herbs. Boss Yao did not care what Xia Mo did every day, as long as he made the Blood Coagulating Paste for him. Xiao Yi Xian, meanwhile, continued treating illnesses and saving people at the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion. In the six months since returning from the Monster Mountain Range herb-gathering trip, Xia Mo had advanced from a Two-star Dou Zhe to a Seven-Star Dou Master. Moreover, because he frequently entered the Monster Mountain Range to fight magical beasts, he had also mastered the Dou Technique Ancient Dragon Fist.

With Xia Mo's tough magical-beast physique, his Seven-Star Dou Master cultivation, and the Profound-tier high-grade cultivation method inherited from the Ancient Dragon Clan, defeating a Two-star Dou Shi was now effortless. After all, Xiao Yan, with his Nine-star Dou Zhe cultivation and Yellow-tier cultivation method, could defeat Mu She, a Two-star Dou Shi. He just did not know where his own limit lay.

Everything was ready. Once he obtained the treasure, he could proceed with the next stage of his plan.

Treasure, here I come.