Selling Potions

A little past four in the afternoon.

Though some people were still out and about.

Others had chosen to head back.

After all, the sun would set in another two or three hours. If they did not return early, they might have to spend the night in the forest.

Few of those who valued their lives waited until the last minute to return to the Shelter.

And when they got home, they saw that someone was actually buying books. Every last one of them was stunned.

After a heated discussion, people could only conclude that Lan Qingyou had gone mad.

But some thought that perhaps the knowledge in those books really could be learned.

Still, no one followed Lan Qingyou's example and traded away the hard-earned materials they had gathered for books.

Lan Qingyou did not care in the slightest.

"Does anyone have a firestarter they can lend me? I opened a pack of Instant Noodles. I can finally eat something decent."

"As long as you have food, why do you need a firestarter?"

"Exactly. Crush them up and toss in the seasoning packets. That'll do."

"It's too dry. I can't swallow it."

"What kind of young master is this? Get lost."

"What time is it, and there are still weirdos like this?"

"Too dry, huh? Buddy, I can piss in it for you."

"Hahaha, Lao Du, you've got diabetes. Let me do it instead. Mine's yellow."

"Fuck, can you shut up? I'm eating."

"Don't mind them, buddy. I'll lend you one. I happen to have a fire going here. It took me ages to get it started, so you don't need to pay me back. It's just a fire."

"Thanks so much, bro."

"It's nothing. At a difficult time like this, everyone should help each other."

Someone in the Chat Channel had started showing kindness, and Lan Qingyou frowned at the sight.

Although she could not bring herself to treat a stranger with that kind of goodwill, she did not deny its value.

"Everyone, night's coming soon. Remember what we figured out last night, right? Stay alert tonight. At least don't sleep before midnight."

"Got it."

"Leave it to me."

"What? What? What did I miss last night?"

"You don't know?"

"I don't. I fell asleep not long after getting back last night. I was exhausted."

"I see. Then let me explain. A Ghost appeared last night. Nobody sleep tonight. Let's observe its movement pattern."

"What! A Ghost!?"

"Yeah. In any case, don't sleep. Watch from your windows until midnight and confirm whether the Ghost exists."

"Okay, I will."

A Ghost?

Seeing that message, Lan Qingyou could not help sitting up straight.

She had not seen any Ghost when she returned last night. Had she missed something?

She immediately scrolled upward, only to discover that the earliest chat records were from a little past three in the morning. There were no records at all from before midnight last night.

Does the chat get cleared every day?

Lan Qingyou was not sure, but she became more vigilant.

Originally, she had planned to go out tonight before midnight to search for treasure chests.

But now that she had heard about Ghosts, she could not help considering whether she should play it safe and observe the situation first.

After all, Ghosts were the same as her—they were both wandering spirits.

Wolves could not do anything to her, but that did not mean Ghosts could not.

If she really encountered a Ghost, how was a weak woman like her supposed to struggle against it?

She looked at the herbs in her treasure chest.

It seemed she still had enough materials to brew another batch of the same Potion as yesterday.

If you like this book and do not want to lose it next time, remember to add it to your bookshelf.

So she was in no hurry to head out.

She set up an automatic trade in her shop: five units of materials for one book, and one unit of material for a box of test tubes. Then she took out the fifty test tubes she had bought, used a liquor dispenser to scoop up the long-cooled liquid in the crucible, and began bottling it.

While she was busy working, the automatic listings in her shop made the Regional Channel even livelier.

Only, most of the comments were mocking her.

"That stupid bitch actually set up automatic trades."

"Stupid bitch? Who?"

"Lan Qingyou, the one who bought books last night. She bought a bunch more books this afternoon and has now set up automatic trades."

"She's still buying books?"

"Yeah, five units for one. She's also buying test tubes—one box for one unit of material."

"What! Five units! I picked up one today. What a score! That's five Magic Power points."

"Test tubes, huh? One unit is a little low, but better than nothing."

When Lan Qingyou quickly finished bottling the Potions and came back, she happened to see the group mocking her.

But Lan Qingyou did not care.

She even began wondering whether she should take advantage of the fact that Potions had not appeared yet and stock up on another batch.

But the moment that thought surfaced, she snuffed it out.

Mainly because she did not even know whether this batch of Potions would sell.

Although Mana Potions were consumables with undeniable market potential, her craftsmanship was simply too poor.

She should put them up first and test the market response, then establish point-to-point and end-to-end industry collaboration and connect the carriers.

Otherwise, she would lose her shirt.

With that in mind, Lan Qingyou listed the Potions, set the price at one Mana Potion for ten units of materials, and watched the blue ocean market that was the Regional Channel.

Sure enough.

About ten seconds after they were listed, the first discussion about Mana Potions appeared in the channel.

"I just saw Mana Potions for sale in Lan Qingyou's shop!"

"Is today April Fools' Day?"

"Hahaha, Kalabo, I never thought you had a sense of humor."

"No, I saw them too. There were fifty whole bottles!"

"There really are some. The attributes Desk posted say they restore one point of Magic Power per second for ten seconds. They're selling for ten units of Wood, stone, or Vine."

"Nani!"

"Holy shit, can you really learn from those books?"

"No way. I read the book too. Even though the words were unfamiliar, I could understand them. But I could only understand them one character at a time. Once they were strung together, I had no idea what they meant."

"Wait! One Gathering Art costs twenty Magic Power. One Potion restores ten Magic Power and costs ten units of basic materials. If I spend twenty units to buy two Potions, then use Gathering Art and get twenty units of materials, wouldn't that mean I'm basically working for her for free?"

A sharp-eyed fellow had spotted the key point.

Seeing that message, Lan Qingyou remained unmoved.

Alchemy was all about Equivalent Exchange. One unit of material for one point of Magic Power was already perfectly fair, okay?

Do not forget that she also had labor costs and material costs.

By that calculation, she was already losing money.

"Hey, you know what? You're right! That does make sense!"

"Profiteer! She's absolutely a Profiteer! She won't even let people earn a one-unit margin?"

"There's no way anyone will buy them."

"Damn, they're gone!"

"Didn't you say you weren't buying them? Why did every one of you move so fast!?"

"There really are idiots buying them?"

"I bought five. I went out and tried them just now. They worked pretty well, though they tasted like rust."

Of course they did. Lan Qingyou had not removed the rust from the crucible last night, so naturally the Potions she boiled had a rusty taste.

"Even if using them with Gathering Art might mean working for free, they could save your life in a critical moment if you run into those Wild Wolves."

"Exactly. I bought two as well, just in case."

"@Lan Qingyou Get out here! Why are there only fifty? Make more! I'm not short on cash!"

"@Lan Qingyou Boss, you're watching the channel, right? Add me as a friend, boss!"

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