After leaving his apartment, Li Yu headed straight for the commercial district. He hadn't brought any weapons or anything today; he was just walking along by himself.
Since it was Saturday, there were quite a lot of people out and about nearby. And with it already around noon, plenty of people were taking their lunch break, so the streets were fairly lively.
Li Yu found a restaurant near his apartment and grabbed a quick meal. The food was only so-so, though. He wouldn't be coming back.
After lunch, Li Yu set off to buy medicinal ingredients.
He still had quite a bit of money on hand, enough to buy some ingredients and equipment without spending too much.
As he walked, Li Yu thought things over. Drawing on the knowledge in his mind, he estimated the cost of making those potions.
Since most of the ingredients were ordinary medicinal herbs, a few hundred yuan would be enough to make several bottles of Mana Recovery Potion.
The shops were bold enough to charge several hundred yuan for a single bottle of ordinary Mana Recovery Potion. What the heck, those profits were huge! You didn't know until you learned, and then it knocked your socks off.
Those merchants probably made them in bulk, which would only bring their costs down and their profits up. From now on, he'd just make his own potions.
He didn't want to be a sucker. Otherwise, the materials he brought back from an outing might not even be enough to cover the cost of buying potions. No wonder so many people who liked exploring Dimensional Rifts eventually quit. They couldn't afford to keep it up!
They might spend more than they earned. Some unscrupulous merchants even liked transporting goods into Dimensional Rifts to sell, just like the prices at certain tourist attractions.
Once you went in, the prices doubled. They were just damn shady. Maybe he could make extra potions and sell them cheaply to his classmates.
Better to make that money himself than let those shady merchants have it. At the thought, Li Yu perked up. It seemed he'd found another good way to make money.
But first, he had to make the potions. There was no point talking about it until he had them ready, so he'd better buy the ingredients!
When he got to the medicinal-herb market, Li Yu began stocking up. The ingredients for Mana Recovery Potions and True Qi Recovery Potions were all ordinary medicinal herbs.
They were easy to find. He'd checked online for well-reviewed herbal medicine shops nearby, then headed to one. It wasn't far—just around the corner.
The shop, called Treasure Tree Hall, was part of a nationwide chain. It stood in the heart of the city, and when Li Yu arrived, he was greeted by a rich medicinal aroma.
The entire building seemed to belong to Treasure Tree Hall. The first floor alone was like a huge herbal market, filled with the scents of all kinds of medicinal herbs.
"Hello! What can I help you with?" As soon as Li Yu walked in, a young woman quickly came over to ask.
"Inula Flower, Violet Pill, Evening Primrose... five jin of each." Li Yu rattled off a list of ingredients. Hearing the names, the young woman understood what he was planning to make.
"You're looking for ingredients for Blue-Red Potions, right?" she asked, voicing her guess. She knew those ingredients well; they were all used to make Blue-Red Potions.
"Right. If you have them, please prepare the tools and potion pouches for me too." Li Yu wasn't surprised that she'd figured out what he was making.
If she didn't know even that much, she wouldn't be able to work here. Since he was already here, Li Yu would naturally prefer to take care of everything in one go, if possible.
"No problem. We have all of those. Would you like to use potion pouches instead of bottles? They're more convenient these days." The young woman nodded as she took down his order, then recommended the alternative.
The pouches she meant were the kind used for takeout soup or jelly. It seemed glass bottles had fallen out of fashion.
Li Yu didn't mind. The pouches were pretty handy; he wouldn't have to lug a bunch of bottles around, and glass bottles could get crushed and break.
After all, this was real life, not a game. In real life, convenience mattered. In a game, you could drink a potion and not even leave behind a shard of glass. In reality, you couldn't.
Once Li Yu had told the young woman everything he needed, she led him to the waiting area. He sat and waited quietly, looking over some of the other medicinal herbs in the meantime.
There were countless herbs that cost hundreds or even thousands of yuan per jin. Only after learning about the trade firsthand did you understand how expensive it was. Fortunately, the herbs he needed weren't too costly.
It only took a short while for them to prepare all the ingredients Li Yu had asked for. The young woman who had served him at first returned with two large bags.
"These are all the ingredients you asked for. You can check them if you like. I'll go prepare the remaining equipment and potion pouches for you." She set them down in front of Li Yu.
Li Yu didn't hesitate. He opened the bags and checked the contents. The ingredients had all been weighed and sealed in bags.
He opened a few to inspect them. They were all top-quality ingredients. There was a reason the shop had such a good reputation.
Thinking this, Li Yu sealed the bags back up and checked the rest. He found nothing wrong.
The weights were right, too. Li Yu compared them briefly; they all weighed the same, which meant the shop hadn't shortchanged him.
For someone who practiced martial arts, it was easy to tell whether the weights matched. Besides, the shop wouldn't cheat customers over something like this.
After Li Yu waited a little while, the young woman returned with a large box containing the tools and potion pouches he needed.
She set it down, opened it, and took out a case. "You can check to make sure these tools are all in good condition."
Li Yu nodded and got to it. The case held a tool that looked like an electric kettle.
It was used to extract medicine from the herbs, and it needed to be powered by magic. He took it out, channeled magic into it, and confirmed that the indicator light came on before putting it away.
He checked the rest of the items too. Once he'd confirmed everything was in order, he said, "Pack it all up for me. I'll go pay."
"All right. Here's your receipt. The register is over there!" Hearing that he was ready to pay, she hurriedly handed him the bill.
Li Yu took it and glanced over it. Seeing nothing wrong, he headed to the register. This one shopping trip had used up two-thirds of the money he had on hand.
Now he was down to only a few thousand yuan again. What a headache. Money really didn't go far. He'd better hurry home, make the potions, and sell them to Asuna!
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