Immortal Cultivation: Starting as a Fortune Cultivator - Chapter 18

At the stall, Hong Miaomiao gave a sweet smile and looked at Ye Qingxuan, saying:

“So, Junior Brother wants to refine Qi Guiding Pills?

The herbs for Qi Guiding Pills generally cost three low-grade spirit stones per set in the market. Senior Sister can give you a bit of a discount! How about twenty-five low-grade spirit stones for ten sets of Qi Guiding Pill herbs?”

Hearing the price, Ye Qingxuan quickly calculated in his head.

One set of Qi Guiding Pill herbs normally yields five to ten pills, and one Qi Guiding Pill has a market price of one low-grade spirit stone.

There was some profit, but not much.

The main reasons were that the Qi Guiding Pill was too easy to refine, and the materials were very common and cheap, which drove the price down.

However, he was just using them for practice, so he wasn’t concerned about profit at this stage.

The herbs at this stall were very fresh, and the price wasn’t high, so he decided not to bother checking other stalls. Ye Qingxuan said:

“Please give me thirty sets of Qi Guiding Pill herbs!”

“Alright, Junior Brother!”

Not hearing him call her ‘Senior Sister’ again, Hong Miaomiao was a bit unhappy. She emphasized the word ‘Junior Brother’ heavily, as if reminding Ye Qingxuan of something!
On the surface, Ye Qingxuan didn’t seem to catch on, but a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes.

After handing over seventy-five low-grade spirit stones to Hong Miaomiao, Ye Qingxuan took the herbs and examined them. They seemed to have been harvested very recently.

Curious, Ye Qingxuan asked:
“Senior Sister, where did these herbs come from? They’re so fresh?”

Hearing the address ‘Senior Sister’, Hong Miaomiao’s eyes curved happily into smiles, thinking to herself:
‘I don’t really want to say where the herbs came from, but he called me Senior Sister! So conflicted!’

Seeing Hong Miaomiao squinting and spacing out, Ye Qingxuan found it rather puzzling and called out softly:

“Senior Sister? Senior Sister? Are you alright?”

Hearing his voice, Hong Miaomiao snapped back to reality instantly, her face slightly flushed with embarrassment, but she still responded:

“Ah! Junior Brother, Senior Sister is fine!”

Then she sneakily glanced around, confirmed no one was paying attention to them, and beckoned Ye Qingxuan closer.

Blinking, Ye Qingxuan moved closer to Hong Miaomiao, curious.

Seeing him approach, Hong Miaomiao leaned in and whispered by his ear:
“These herbs? I gathered them from some of the smaller peaks in the Xuantian Mountain Range. Senior Sister is only telling you, okay? You mustn’t tell anyone else!”

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan’s eyes widened in surprise.

“This is allowed? Isn’t this just taking advantage of the sect?”

Ye Qingxuan thought to himself, and his gaze towards Hong Miaomiao became somewhat strange.

Noticing his look, Hong Miaomiao quickly defended herself:
“The sect hasn’t made any rules forbidding me from picking herbs in the Xuantian Mountain Range! Besides, the real resource sites in the Xuantian Range have protective formations set up by the sect or are guarded by disciples.”

“What’s left are all places the sect doesn’t care about. Is it so wrong for Senior Sister to make use of the leftovers? Hehehe!”

By the end, Hong Miaomiao couldn’t help sounding quite pleased with herself.

A slight smirk played on her lips; there weren’t many clever people like her around.

Hearing her words, Ye Qingxuan was momentarily speechless. Thinking of the many peaks near the Fortune Cultivator courtyard, he felt a stirring of temptation.

However, after glancing at the herbs on Hong Miaomiao’s stall, he cooled down a bit.

Most of these herbs barely met the threshold of being spiritual herbs and weren’t very valuable. Specifically seeking them out seemed like more trouble than it was worth for him.

After putting away the herbs Hong Miaomiao gave him, Ye Qingxuan cupped his hands in thanks:

“Thank you for telling me, Senior Sister. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Seeing he was about to go, Hong Miaomiao quickly stopped him:
“Ah, Junior Brother, how about we exchange communication tokens? You can find me if you need herbs in the future!”

Ye Qingxuan thought for a moment, then agreed:
“Alright, Senior Sister!”

It wasn’t any loss for him, and he might need the connection someday.

After the two took out their disciple tokens and exchanged communication marks, Hong Miaomiao happily introduced herself:
“Junior Brother, Senior Sister’s name is Hong Miaomiao, remember? But you can only call me Senior Sister, not by my name!”

As she spoke, she waved her small fist, as if threatening him.

Looking at Hong Miaomiao, who acted like a child, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but smile and nodded:

“Okay, Senior Sister! Then I’ll be going now! Farewell!”

With that, Ye Qingxuan left Hong Miaomiao’s stall and headed deeper into the market.

He had acquired the materials for practicing with Qi Guiding Pills, but materials for other pills were still not secured.

Having come all the way to the market, he naturally wouldn’t just buy herbs for one type of pill.

However, Ye Qingxuan hadn’t yet decided which specific pills to refine.

His initial funds were limited. To accumulate resources quickly, he could only choose pills with high profit margins.

As for the difficulty of refining? Over the years, Ye Qingxuan had grown quite confident in his comprehension ability.

But which pills had the best profit margins?

His family’s alchemy legacy contained many first-order pill formulas, but most had overlapping effects.

Ye Qingxuan had shortlisted four main types of pills:
First-order Antidote Pill: Could counteract most poisons affecting Qi Refining realm cultivators.
First-order Energy Recovery Pill: Could speed up the recovery of spiritual energy for Qi Refining realm cultivators.
First-order Grass Recovery Pill: Could heal injuries caused at the Qi Refining realm level.
First-order Qi Gathering Pill: Could increase the speed of absorbing spiritual energy by fifty percent for Qi Refining realm cultivators. Only slightly better than Qi Guiding Pills!

But Ye Qingxuan wasn’t satisfied with these four options.

Most Qi Refining disciples in the Xuantian Sect were assigned tasks within the sect. Except for those who specifically applied to go out for training, others didn’t have many opportunities for intense combat.

Therefore, the market for first-order Antidote Pills, Energy Recovery Pills, and Grass Recovery Pills within the Xuantian Sect wasn’t very large.

While the Qi Gathering Pill was more effective than the Qi Guiding Pill, the improvement was limited, and the profit margin wasn’t great.

While lost in thought, Ye Qingxuan’s attention was suddenly captured by a shop that came into view.

“Hundred Treasures Pavilion?”

Seeing the shop’s sign, Ye Qingxuan’s eyes lit up.

The Hundred Treasures Pavilion covered an area of about three hundred square meters and had five floors in total.

Upon entering, Ye Qingxuan found the interior space to be about ten times larger than it appeared from the outside.

Clearly, spatial expansion arrays had been set up inside the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, enlarging the internal space.

There were quite a few people inside. As soon as Ye Qingxuan entered, a shop assistant wearing the Hundred Treasures Pavilion uniform approached him with a smile and inquired:

“Honored customer, how may I assist you?”

Although just a shop assistant, this person had Foundation Building realm cultivation. Moreover, despite Ye Qingxuan only being at the Qi Refining realm, the assistant’s attitude remained very respectful.

This greatly increased Ye Qingxuan’s favorable impression of this newly encountered Hundred Treasures Pavilion!

Therefore, Ye Qingxuan also smiled and said:
“Hello, I’d like to learn more about medicinal pills.”