After Ye Qingxuan placed his order through his disciple token, the spirit herb seeds he needed for his tasks, along with the alchemy furnace and the materials for the talisman brush he had exchanged for, were delivered promptly.
Next, Ye Qingxuan asked Bai Wenyang for a price catalog of the various materials currently available in the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. With limited funds for now, he planned only to acquire the materials necessary for refining second-tier pills, as well as mid and low-grade magical artifacts.
After reviewing the purchase prices and selling prices for the spirit herb portions required to refine various second-tier pills, Ye Qingxuan quickly did some calculations and selected five types of second-tier pills to produce. These included:
Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pills and Second-tier Spirit-Fusing Pills, which aid in boosting cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Second-tier Grass-Restoration Pills, which heal injuries inflicted at the Foundation Establishment stage; Second-tier Spirit-Cleansing Pills, which purge negative energies within the Foundation Establishment range; and Second-tier Spirit-Returning Pills, which rapidly restore the spiritual energy of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pills function similarly to their first-tier counterparts, enhancing the spiritual root’s efficiency in converting ambient spiritual energy. However, the second-tier version is more potent and suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Second-tier Spirit-Fusing Pills accelerate the fusion of spiritual energies, speeding up the process of condensing spiritual energy and transforming it into liquid form for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
While there were many other second-tier pills with similar effects, Ye Qingxuan chose the five with the greatest refining difficulty and, consequently, the highest profit margins.
The current market rates within the Profound Heaven Sect for these five pills were as follows:
The spirit herbs for both Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pills and Second-tier Spirit-Fusing Pills cost 100 low-grade spirit stones per portion.
The herbs for Second-tier Spirit-Returning Pills cost 230 low-grade spirit stones per portion, while those for Second-tier Grass-Restoration Pills cost 360 low-grade spirit stones.
The spirit herbs for Second-tier Spirit-Cleansing Pills cost 800 low-grade spirit stones per portion.
Within the Profound Heaven Sect, the normal market price for a single Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pill or Second-tier Spirit-Fusing Pill was 100 low-grade spirit stones.
A single Second-tier Spirit-Returning Pill cost 500 low-grade spirit stones, a Second-tier Grass-Restoration Pill cost 800, and a Second-tier Spirit-Cleansing Pill cost 2000 low-grade spirit stones.
This, in fact, represented the normal price level for pills that assist cultivation, restore health, or recover spiritual energy.
Previously, within the Profound Heaven Sect, why were cultivation-assisting pills like the Spirit-Increasing Pill the most expensive among first-tier pills?
This was solely due to the sect’s abundance of low-tier spirit herbs and the fact that Qi Refining stage disciples didn’t need to undertake external expeditions, creating that peculiar market situation for first-tier pills.
However, in the broader external market, the true market price for various pills generally sees cultivation-assisting pills at the lowest price, while pills with other utilities typically command higher prices.
This is because cultivation-assisting pills only play a supplementary role and contain minimal energy, naturally leading to lower prices.
In contrast, pills for healing, restoring spiritual energy, or purging foreign energies require immense energy reserves to achieve their intended effects, justifying their higher cost.
This very pricing structure allows many cultivators in the wider world to consistently use cultivation-assisting pills to advance their cultivation. If such pills were prohibitively expensive, the external world would not be as stable as it currently is.
As for low-tier pills that directly boost cultivation, they have essentially been phased out in the Di Xuan Realm.
Unless they are high-tier pills infused with World’s Origin essence.
Otherwise, those pills that directly enhance cultivation contain vast amounts of energy. If this energy isn’t refined through one’s spiritual root, the resulting spiritual power cannot be fully mastered by the cultivator, severely limiting their future potential.
Therefore, in today’s Di Xuan Realm, low-tier cultivators primarily rely on cultivation-assisting pills.
Only high-tier cultivators, who can obtain spirit herbs containing World’s Origin essence, can refine pills that directly boost cultivation without side effects.
This principle aligns with how the origin essence feedback from the upgrade of Ye Qingxuan’s Grotto-Heaven blessed land could directly and safely elevate his cultivation.
As for the purchasing price offered by the Hundred Treasures Pavilion for these second-tier pills, it would be a 30% discount off the market price!
This significant difference exists because for any shop operating within the market district, the Profound Heaven Sect levies a tax equivalent to 20% of the transaction value.
Having decided on the pills to refine, Ye Qingxuan tallied his remaining spirit stones: a total of 43,575 low-grade spirit stones.
Feeling the pinch of his limited funds, Ye Qingxuan planned to initially purchase:
20 portions of herbs for Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pills,
20 portions for Second-tier Spirit-Fusing Pills,
20 portions for Second-tier Spirit-Returning Pills,
20 portions for Second-tier Grass-Restoration Pills, and
30 portions for Second-tier Spirit-Cleansing Pills.
While Second-tier Spirit-Increasing and Spirit-Fusing Pills offered the highest profit margin per pill, refining a single cauldron of Second-tier Spirit-Cleansing Pills yielded more spirit stones in absolute terms.
Furthermore, the current primary use for Second-tier Spirit-Cleansing Pills is purging demonic energy from Foundation Establishment cultivators on the Extraplanar Battlefield, creating high demand. This made it Ye Qingxuan’s primary product for accumulating initial capital.
Since second-tier pills offered him no personal cultivation benefit, his choice to procure herbs for Spirit-Increasing and Spirit-Fusing Pills was solely for practice, to master the refining process for these two types.
Once he had accumulated sufficient capital, it would be time for Ye Qingxuan to enter the third-tier market.
With the remaining three thousand-plus spirit stones, Ye Qingxuan intended to purchase first-tier spirit ores and materials needed for crafting mid and low-grade magical artifacts, preparing for his foray into artifact refinement.
After finalizing his procurement list, Ye Qingxuan sent the order via his disciple token to Bai Wenyang.
He then instructed the Ye Zhaohong and Ye Zhaoyu brothers to take his entire savings of 43,575 low-grade spirit stones to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to complete the transaction with Bai Wenyang.
At the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, Bai Wenyang looked over the list Ye Qingxuan had sent. His gaze lingered on the final items—the spirit ores and materials required for crafting mid and low-grade magical artifacts—and he muttered to himself,
“Could it be that Junior Brother Ye also plans to delve into artifact refinement?”
He found it hard to believe that his junior brother, who showed such astonishing talent in alchemy, could also smoothly master the basics of artifact refinement.
Shaking his head slightly, Bai Wenyang dismissed the thought and headed to the warehouse to prepare Ye Qingxuan’s order.
Although the process took some time, it proceeded smoothly. That very evening, Ye Zhaohong and Ye Zhaoyu returned with all the purchased materials.
The next day, Ye Qingxuan began refining Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pills.
Being at the Purple Mansion stage and having fully mastered his Immortal Soul—with his consciousness integrated into the essence of his vital, energy, and spiritual forces—his comprehension had ascended to another level.
Consequently, his very first attempt at refining Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pills was successful.
The first cauldron yielded 3 pills, the second 5 pills, and the third 7 pills.
Ye Qingxuan was currently using a top-grade magical artifact-level alchemy furnace, which was more than sufficient for refining second-tier pills.
However, as pill grades increase and they contain more energy, not only does refining difficulty rise, but the number of pills yielded per batch also gradually decreases.
Even with Ye Qingxuan’s exceptional comprehension and precise control over spiritual energy and divine sense, he could only stabilize the yield of Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pills at 9 pills per cauldron.
This output essentially represented the maximum possible yield from a single portion of herbs.
Subsequently, Ye Qingxuan spent less than a month refining all the herbs for the five pill types into finished products.
From 20 portions of Second-tier Spirit-Increasing Pill herbs, he produced a total of 168 pills.
20 portions of Second-tier Spirit-Fusing Pill herbs yielded 172 pills.
20 portions of Second-tier Spirit-Returning Pill herbs resulted in 135 pills.
20 portions of Second-tier Grass-Restoration Pill herbs produced 132 pills.
30 portions of Second-tier Spirit-Cleansing Pill herbs yielded 175 pills.
The lower total yields for Second-tier Spirit-Returning, Grass-Restoration, and Spirit-Cleansing Pills were primarily due to the immense energy these pills contained.
For a single portion of Second-tier Spirit-Returning Pill or Grass-Restoration Pill herbs, Ye Qingxuan could only stabilize the yield at 7 pills per cauldron.
For Second-tier Spirit-Cleansing Pills, he stabilized at 6 pills per cauldron.
