"There's no need." Chen Beiwu reached out to steady Mo Li. "You've already paid me."
Mo Li froze in place.
When had she ever paid the lord? Wasn't she only piling up more and more debts of gratitude?
"Treating typhoid requires one medicinal ingredient. I'll go pick some and come by tomorrow to treat him." Chen Beiwu turned and left, leaving Mo Li wanting to speak but stopping herself.
Back in the Cultivation Room, Chen Beiwu opened his eyes and saw Iron Egg looking listless.
"What is it? Still can't learn it?" he asked with a smile.
Iron Egg barked three times.
Chen Beiwu's expression shifted. "You mean there's too little spiritual energy in the Cultivation Room, so you can't get into a state of cultivation at all?"
Iron Egg nodded.
Some things, once experienced, could never be gone back from!
It hadn't thought the spiritual energy at home was thin before, but after following its master out to climb the mountain, Iron Egg felt as if it were now living in a spiritual-energy wasteland.
At home, let alone cultivating the Heavenly Dog Swallowing the Sun Scripture, it didn't even feel like moving.
Chen Beiwu glanced at it. "Fine. I'll take you over later. For now, keep a good eye on the house."
At that, Iron Egg perked right up.
After leaving, Chen Beiwu used Wind Manipulation to run toward the industrial complex near the back mountain in Pingchen Township.
Inside the industrial complex stood four modestly sized mechanized factories: a talisman-paper factory, a Formation Disk factory, an iron-forging factory, and a pharmaceutical factory.
Every day, these factories produced large quantities of talisman paper, Formation Disks, refined iron, and medicinal ingredients, supporting the GDP of all Pingchen Township.
The owner of the industrial complex was a local from Pingchen Township, and also surnamed Chen. When cultivators in the township wanted to buy spiritual materials and study the four arts of cultivation, they generally went to the industrial complex, where they could get discounted prices.
If Chen Beiwu remembered correctly, a mundane illness like typhoid could be cured with just one dose of [Wind-Expelling Powder].
He found the factory complex's marketplace with practiced ease and headed for the last medicine shop.
The medicine shop was small. Both sides were crammed with crude white medicine bags, and a strong medicinal fragrance filled the air.
Clearly, the ingredients packed in the white medicine bags were cheap goods sold wholesale. They weren't even First-Tier Exotic Herbs.
Above the counter in the middle of the shop sat a glass display case, filled with First-Tier Exotic Herbs of all shapes and forms.
The gilded electronic screen outside the case kept flashing, displaying the names and prices of the medicinal ingredients one by one.
As soon as Chen Beiwu entered, the bell beneath the shop's eaves swayed lightly and rang.
"Hello, fellow Daoist. What can I do for you?" A slightly stout, middle-aged cultivator came to the counter.
Chen Beiwu asked, "Do you sell Wind-Expelling Powder here?"
"Wind-Expelling Powder?" The middle-aged cultivator looked surprised.
In the past, ordinary people had needed medicine to recover from typhoid. But as the Immortal Alliance's compulsory cultivation education gradually became widespread, more and more cultivators emerged on Heavenly Abyss Star, and the constitution of their descendants, born alongside ordinary people, grew much stronger as well.
Even ordinary people without spiritual roots, who couldn't cultivate, could live to nearly a hundred years old.
Times had changed. Typhoid was no longer a serious illness for ordinary people. Even if they happened to catch it, they only needed to endure it for a week or two before their constitution helped them recover.
As a result, Wind-Expelling Powder, an unranked pill with a single purpose-treating typhoid-had become increasingly unpopular.
The shopkeeper had been running his business for a long time, but this was the first time anyone had come to buy Wind-Expelling Powder.
"We have it, we have it. One dose of Wind-Expelling Powder costs two Spirit Hairs. Buy a hundred doses at once and you get a twenty percent discount. That'll be twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones," the middle-aged cultivator said.
"Two doses will do."
Since typhoid was contagious, Chen Beiwu bought an extra dose so Mo Li wouldn't catch it and make him come back again.
"All right." The cultivator nodded and deftly gathered ingredients from the various white medicine bags to prepare the medicine.
As he paid and picked up the medicine packet, the corner of Chen Beiwu's eye caught a message appearing on the electronic screen.
[Seeking to purchase all kinds of Second-Tier Spirit Medicine at high prices. Price negotiable; rewards absolutely generous!]
"Boss, do you buy spirit medicine here too?" Chen Beiwu asked curiously.
"Of course we do." The boss's manner turned enthusiastic. "Fellow Daoist, what spirit medicine are you looking to sell?"
"Do you buy every kind of Second-Tier Spirit Medicine?" he asked.
"We buy them all, we buy them all, but the prices of some spirit medicines fluctuate quite a bit."
The boss understood what he meant and held up three fingers. "For some Second-Tier Spirit Medicines with legitimate origins, Hundred Medicines House can offer a high price. But for those with unclear origins, we have to take on some risk, so we'll lower the price by twenty to thirty percent."
What a rip-off! Chen Beiwu thought to himself.
Spirit medicine bought on the secondhand market was already discounted by twenty percent. If they lowered the price by another twenty to thirty percent, the purchase price would be almost half of what it sold for on the Immortal Alliance Official Website.
At that price, he might as well take the Second-Tier Spirit Medicine himself rather than sell it off at a loss.
"I see." Chen Beiwu left the medicine shop without looking back and, while he was at it, bought a sheet of Spirit-Testing Paper at the talisman shop next door for five Spirit Hairs.
The next morning.
As soon as Chen Beiwu pushed open the door, he saw Mo Li and her father kneeling on the ground together, kowtowing.
"Thank you, lord, for saving my life!"
This time, Chen Beiwu didn't stop them.
If kneeling in gratitude made the father and daughter feel better, then they could kneel all they wanted.
"Lord, this is for you." Mo Li stood and took a slightly warm silver coin from her clothes.
"This is the money I paid for the Blue-Crystal Exotic Herb. What, do you want to take the herb back?" Chen Beiwu asked deliberately.
"No, lord, I don't want the herb." Mo Li grew anxious.
She had swallowed her pride and accepted the money from the man who had saved her only to gather enough for her father's medical fees.
Now that her father was better, she had no face to keep so much money.
But Mo Li was poor with words. When Chen Beiwu flatly refused, she didn't know what to say to explain herself.
"All right, I know what you're thinking." Chen Beiwu waved his hand and looked into the distance. "I don't care about this little bit of money. Just keep it without worrying."
Mo Li stared blankly at Chen Beiwu, then nodded with her pretty face flushed.
Recently, a strange thing had happened in Twin Rivers Village.
Two days ago, the Mo family's girl had brought a stranger back to the village, and the village chief had knelt before him in public, calling him an Immortal.
The villagers of Twin Rivers Village were half-convinced, but they didn't dare contradict him.
There were three reasons.
First, the man was so handsome that, whenever he had nothing to do, he would lead a black dog over to lie on the bluestone beneath the locust tree and fall asleep to the sound of the village school's sonorous recitations. Like an Immortal, he didn't need to eat, drink, or relieve himself, and every now and then he would disappear for a while without anyone noticing.
The village chief said he had returned to the Heavenly Realm!
Second, Old Mo in the west of the village had fallen gravely ill and looked as though he had only a few days left to live. Yet he had recovered the day after the Immortal appeared.
Third, the village chief had strictly ordered everyone not to disturb the Immortal. Anyone who disobeyed would be severely punished, have their farmland taken away, and be driven out of Twin Rivers Village.
"Teacher, teacher, are there really Immortals in this world?" A little brat in the village school stood up to ask, his gaze repeatedly drifting toward the window.
The old tutor frowned and tapped the lectern with his ruler. "There are no Immortals in this world. You're at an age when you should be studying. Ask fewer questions about strange tales and gossip."
(The End)
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