CH 20

In the main hall of Menghua Inn, apart from the cultivators who were playing with the spiritual pets and chatting earlier, there also were the Tianxuan Sect and Qingling Sect disciples. It was rather lively and crowded.

“En, let’s go to the room first.” Chu Qi nodded.

He didn’t really want to continue standing there to be watched by others.

Seeing that the Tianxuan Sect disciples were going to rest, Ling Wu of the Qingling Sect tactfully bid them goodbye before going back to settle the shidi and shimei of his sect.

—

Menghua Inn had four floors, and the Tianxuan Sect disciples were all arranged to live on the fourth floor.

After pushing open the door and entering, the view of the decor inside was unobstructed. Luminous pearls were placed inside glass lamps for lighting, looking very refined and elegant. The tea tables were also exquisite, and they were located in the center of a spirit-gathering array so that when cultivators sat down to rest, they could be in the place where spiritual energy was most concentrated.

Unlike the inn in Yicheng, Menghua Inn had a much more comfortable atmosphere.

Even the seats for meditation were mats made from spiritual jade, rather than a cushion fashioned out of spiritual grass.

Chu Qi looked around, then stepped into the room.

The abundant aura in the room was no worse than when he was cultivating on Zhongling Peak.

It’s no wonder that this inn cost five hundred spiritual stones per day, it was indeed worth its reputation.

Chu Qi was sighing in his heart when he heard Yan Jiuge follow him into the room. Remembering how Yan Jiuge paid for the entrance fees into Huacheng and for their rooms just now, he couldn’t help but ask him, “How many spiritual stones did the sect give us for our excursion this time, ah?”

Yan Jiuge: “…”

The matter of the sect’s allowance was actually brought up so casually by him.

Tianxuan Sect disciples had a fixed monthly allowance. Anything extra had to be earned through completing sect assignments. But Tianxuan Sect wasn’t like the other immortal sects who did business on the side, and they didn’t have much in their treasury. Even calculating the savings from no longer needing to purchase medicinal pills, it wouldn’t be enough to make up for the cost of the rooms for all the disciples.

Now that he was being questioned by Chu Qi, Yan Jiuge thought about it and decided to tell him a similar amount, “Twenty thousand spiritual stones.”

“So many!” Chu Qi was shocked at first, and then remembered Yan Jiuge’s aura of raising the price with others in the main hall just now, and how the twenty thousand spiritual stones were thrown away.

“If it wasn’t for the innkeeper’s discount, we wouldn’t even be able to stay for a few days at the original price.”

Chu Qi sighed, then took out his qiankun bag and began to count his savings.

A total of a thousand and twenty-three spiritual stones!

Chu Qi handed them all to Yan Jiuge, “Take these first. I’ll go to the apothecary later to see if I can sell some refined medicine.”

???

Doubt appeared in Yan Jiuge’s eyes, “What are you selling medicine for?”

“To make money! We don’t have many spiritual stones left now, and staying at the inn is another expense. Before we even enter the Yunxi Secret Realm, we’ll be out of money. That won’t do.”

Yan Jiuge: “…”

But there really were a lot of spiritual stones in his qiankun bag.

“Although you’re a young master from a rich family and you may have some savings from before you came to Tianxuan Sect, with how you spend money like water, you should think about how to earn some back.”

Chu Qi persuaded earnestly.

Yan Jiuge lowered his eyes. He still hadn’t told Ah-Qi about the Yan family. Before entering Tianxuan Sect, he only said that he was an unfavored person who didn’t care about his family.

As a result, he had accumulated all these spiritual stones in his qiankun bag, and didn’t have the chance to take them out.

He had to find an excuse. Say that he found a vein of spiritual stones somewhere, then Ah-Qi wouldn’t have to worry about these things.

Yan Jiuge thought to himself.

However, the spiritual stone mines in the distance couldn’t solve the ‘lack of money’ crisis in front of him now, so Yan Jiuge had no choice but to nod in agreement with Chu Qi and let him sell medicine.

The two of them lived in the same room, so they didn’t disturb the other disciples when they went out.

At this time, the sky was tinged with the scattered light from the setting sun. Soon, it was twilight.

—

The street where Menghua Inn was situated was very busy. Not far from the gate was a restaurant, and half a street away there was an apothecary.

As the opening of the Yunxi Secret Realm drew nearer, the streets of Huacheng grew lively.

Chu Qi hadn’t seen such a scene in quite a long time. After he joined Tianxuan Sect, he cultivated quietly, staying away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world. Walking through the busy main street now, he couldn’t help taking a few more glances.

Pedestrians came and went on the road, and on the avenue nearby, there were the carriages of wealthy families driving slowly. These were things that he never saw while on Zhongling Peak.

It just so happened that at this time, the wind picked up in the evening, making the silver leaf ornaments on Chu Qi’s head tremble and tickle the tips of his ears.

Chu Qi turned his head slightly, trying to take off the hair ornament.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone staring at him with deep eyes. That person’s face was covered with a red fox-face mask, revealing only a pair of hazy eyes. One couldn’t help but lose themselves in it.

Chu Qi fell into a daze.

“Ah-Qi!”

Yan Jiuge’s voice fell into Chu Qi’s ear.

Chu Qi woke with a start, quickly raised his eyes, and carefully looked in the direction he had seen them.

He found that the place they were standing was now empty, and devoid of any suspicious figures.

“What’s wrong with you?” Yan Jiuge asked a little worriedly.

“I was looking around just now and the wind started to blow my hair ornaments, making my ears itch.” Chu Qi started to explain

He was just going to take off his hair accessories. He didn’t expect to have hallucinations.

“It is a bit windy at night. Should I take them off for you first?” Yan Jiuge asked him.

“Sure.”

Chu Qi nodded subconsciously, he was still a little distracted by what he saw just now.

Until Yan Jiuge’s fingers brushed against the silver leaf ornaments in his hair.

The heat from his palms covered the tips of his ears, making it hard for him to stay distracted. All of his attention focused on his ears and scalp.

“…”

At this moment, his sense of hearing became several times more sensitive than usual.

Surrounded by the lively streets, there was the sound of people talking, the whistling of the wind, and the subtle sounds of the pieces of his hair accessories colliding.

It only lasted the span of three breaths, but Chu Qi found it a little hard to bear.

“Okay, here you go.” Yan Juge took off the hair accessories and handed them to him.

The heat retracted from his ears and was replaced by the evening breeze.

Chu Qi inexplicably felt relieved. He reached out to take the hair ornaments from Yan Jiuge and put them in his qiankun bag.

Standing in front of Chu Qi, Yan Jiuge stared at his reddened ear tips, and felt that something was missing after removing the hair accessories.

If the hair accessories were too complicated and uncomfortable to wear, wouldn’t earrings be better?

Ah-Qi must look good with earrings.

Yan Jiuge thought to himself.

After Chu Qi put away his things, he found that Yan Jiuge was still looking at him. He spoke up, “L-let’s go. I saw the sign for the apothecary, it’s not far.”

“En.”

The two of them walked side by side through the bustling crowd towards the apothecary nearby.

Under the fading light of the setting sun, there was a corner where the afterglow did not reach.

A crimson figure was talking to themselves, “I didn’t expect that the pure body would be so perceptive at just the Golden Core stage. Even the heir of the Yan family didn’t notice me, so how could he see me? Could it be that my illusion doesn’t work on him?”

“Forget it, after eight years of separation, they’ve finally come out of that tortoise shell-like formation of Tianxuan Sect’s. There is plenty of time for me to find a weakness.”

“…”

A light breeze blew over the delicate fox-face mask as they took a step forward. They obviously walked into the light of the sunset, but the light and shadow blurred his figure.

The illusory fox fire was faint, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared from the world.

—

Chu Qi and Yan Jiuge walked into the apothecary.

This apothecary was very large. It was three stories high and there were quite a few cultivators buying medicine inside. It looked like business was very good.

Such a large shop would pay more attention to reputation, so the prices must be good.

“What kind of medicines are the two guests looking to buy?” A shopkeeper immediately stepped forward and asked in a gentle tone.

“I wanted to ask, do you buy medicinal pills here? I’m a…” Chu Qi wanted to say that he was a medical cultivator, but Bai Xuan-shijie’s advice of, ‘Don’t casually reveal yourself as a medical cultivator’ came to mind. He paused, and changed his words, “I sell the medicine made by our sect’s healers.”

There were only three medical cultivators in Tianxuan Sect including Chu Qi. In recent years, most of the medicine was indeed refined by Chu Qi.

So, what he said was also true.

“Ah?”

Hearing what Chu Qi said, the shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, as if he had heard some surprising words, “Selling medicine… You’re really selling, not buying?”

Chu Qi: “Yes.”

Can’t the leftover medicine be sold?

He had never heard of any such restrictions in his last life.

“These two guests, please come with me to speak to the manager.” The shopkeeper scratched his head, “Forgive me for saying too much, but if your sect’s healer can already sell excess medicine, why don’t you just open an apothecary yourself? Our medicinal pills are all made by Fuyao Palace medical cultivators.”

!!!

Chu Qi’s eyes widened suddenly. So it turned out that it was more valuable to directly open a shop than to try selling to others?

“There’s not that much extra medicine. It would be too much work and effort to open up an apothecary.” Yan Jiuge added next to him.

His family’s Ah-Qi had already worked hard enough. He had to grow, collect, and refine the medicine himself all while finding time to meditate and hone his spiritual skills.

Wouldn’t he be busy enough to die if he opened an apothecary too?

Ever since Ah-Qi started focusing on his cultivation, they would only see each other every now and then. If they opened a shop, wouldn’t that mean they could meet once every two or three months?

The more Yan Jiuge thought about it, the unhappier he became. Turning his head, he happened to see Chu Qi’s thoughtful gaze, he persuaded, “The medical cultivators in the sect are very busy and don’t have time.”

Especially you!

If it wasn’t for the fact that they were going out to gain experience, they wouldn’t have been able to spend so much time together!

“Naturally the shop is run by outer disciples, why bother the medical cultivators?” The shopkeeper looked at them with a surprised look, “As for the lack of excess medicine, do you only have four or five medical cultivators in your whole sect?”

Chu Qi: “…”

Yan Jiuge: “…”

“Of course not.” Chu Qi answered quietly in his heart. There were only three.

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem. If you save up the excess medicine, you can open up your own shop.” The shopkeeper assumed that they had more medical cultivators.

“Take us to see the manager first. Distant waters can’t quench our thirst.” Chu Qi said.

Even if they opened an apothecary, they would still need the permission of the Sect Head and his shifu, Elder Qingyue.

“Sorry, sorry. Please, follow me.”

The manager of this apothecary was an old man with white hair, and even his face was showing obvious signs of aging. This wasn’t a good sign. In this world of cultivation, people who aged like this were generally mortals without spiritual roots, or cultivators whose time was approaching.

Although the manager’s expression was a little irritable, he still patiently asked what was the matter. Hearing that Chu Qi and Yan Jiuge were here to sell medicine, he looked a little hesitant.

“I don’t usually accept ordinary medicine here, since Huacheng is near the Yushou Sect and they have a higher demand for spiritual pet medicine. But since the Yunxi Secret Realm is about to open, there are more foreign cultivators in Huacheng, so there is sure to be more of a demand.”

The manager of the apothecary sat down in front of the tea table and skillfully poured two cups of tea for Chu Qi and Yan Jiuge. As a businessman, he paid a lot of attention to certain rituals and momentum when negotiating, and he had been in this business for many years.

“If you want to sell any medicine, take it out and we’ll have a look before discussing the price.”

Back at Menghua Inn, Chu Qi had sorted out the medicinal pills that were going to be sold. These were ones that weren’t used by the sword cultivator disciples, but that he refined while practicing.

For example, there were Strengthening Pills, Beauty Pills, Pure Heart Pills, Longevity Pills…

Bottle after bottle.

In the increasingly shocked eyes of the apothecary manager, the small jade bottles that Chu Qi brought out of his qiankun bag soon filled the entire table.

Chu Qi stopped taking things out from his qiankun bag and said apologetically, “Ah, this tea table is going to be out of space. Why don’t you take a look at these first?”

“…This?!” The pharmacy manager’s eyes widened, and he couldn’t help calling out in astonishment.

In these small jade bottles, there were not only Beauty Pills, but also Life Extension Pills. Finding one bottle would be rare enough, but the cultivator in front of him kept bringing out one after another.

The apothecary manager took a deep breath to suppress his excitement, and cautiously asked, “What I meant is, can I open the seal first to have a look?”

A Longevity Pill required at least a Nascent Soul stage, or even an Immortal Transformation stage medical cultivator to refine it. Even then, the refinement process was very laborious and had a high failure rate. He had worked for the Fuyao Palace’s apothecary for so many years, and was eligible to receive one himself, but their medical cultivators failed, so he still had to wait. Unfortunately, time waited for no one.

Chu Qi nodded, “You may.”

When money and goods were involved, inspection was to be expected.

The manager opened the seal on a bottle of Longevity Pills, and the strong fragrance of the medicine immediately permeated the air. Taking a whiff, he felt as if his rotten body had come back to life.

A rare Longevity Pill!

“My lords, how does one hundred thousand spiritual stones sound for a Longevity Pill?” The manager carefully made an offer while observing Chu Qi’s expression. Seeing there was a bit of astonishment in his eyes, he hurriedly opened his mouth and continued, “If Your Excellency thinks it is too low, I can personally pay two hundred thousand spiritual stones in my own name!”

Eighty thousand spiritual stones was the market price, but Longevity Pills had long been unavailable in shops, and could easily be sold for hundreds of thousands in the auction houses.

The manager was very eager for these Longevity Pills.

Chu Qi still hadn’t recovered from the huge sum of a hundred thousand spiritual stones when he heard the offer suddenly double.

This was the price of a single Longevity Pill?!

When he refined Longevity Pills, his cauldron would contain two. So every time Chu Qi finished refining, he would keep two pills in one bottle.

Looking at the tea table full of small jade bottles, Chu Qi slowly said, “One hundred thousand is enough. What about the other medicines?”

He would soon be able to make back the money Yan Jiuge spent, and be able to let him spend as he pleased!

Thinking of this, Chu Qi’s eyes brightened.

“Wait a minute, we won’t be selling all of this.” Yan Jiuge’s voice came suddenly, and his tone was serious in a way that Chu Qi had rarely heard.

“Two bottles of Longevity Pills will be enough, and the price of a hundred thousand per pill is acceptable.” Yan Jiuge took over negotiating with the manager. His eyes were deep as he said, “But you must swear to me on your life that you will not speak a word of meeting us today.”

Having been in Tianxuan Sect with Chu Qi for so many years, they were isolated from the rest of the world. Now that they came out to sell medicine, Yan Jiuge suddenly remembered that Ah-Qi’s talent was extraordinary.

With a cultivation base in the late Golden Core stage, he was able to refine medicine that usually could only be done by Nascent Soul stage medical cultivators. Not to mention the eagerness of the manager in front of him, but if people in the Yunxi Secret Realm heard about it, they would surely flock to him.

And the self-defense abilities of medical cultivators was really poor. Without the protection of powerful forces or the sect, such a talent would only incite powerful cultivators to target him and force him to make medicine for their own use.

Due to the limitations of spiritual power and cultivation in Yunhua Realm, the relationship between medical cultivators and other cultivators was rather peaceful, but in Yunyin Realm, this was the exact opposite.

Just in case, Yan Jiuge wanted to cut off the risk at the source.

“Okay, okay, I swear it.” The manager nodded quickly. As long as he could get his hands on the Longevity Pill, who cared about making an oath?

Two bottles of Longevity Pills, a total of four pills, were sold for four hundred thousand spiritual stones, all of which were bought by the manager himself.

“Ah-Qi, let’s go back.” Seeing that Chu Qi hadn’t recovered from what happened just now, Yan Jiuge added, “I’ll explain in detail once we get back.”

The medicine he refined was of good quality, and it wasn’t difficult for him to refine. In addition, since Chu Qi had never sold medicine before, he thought it was something common.

But seeing how the manager acted as if he had just found a treasure, he realized that the bottles of medicinal pills were really too eye-catching.

Chu Qi understood the principle of not revealing money.

—

After Yan Jiuge and Chu Qi left, the manager impatiently swallowed all four Longevity Pills.

A single Longevity Pill could prolong life by a hundred years, four would prolong his life by four hundred years!

However, swallowing so many top-level medicinal pills at the same time made the manager feel a little dizzy. But that didn’t matter. He got what he wanted the most, it was just a little dizziness.

However, when the manager sat down, a crimson figure appeared in his blurred vision and soon after, his consciousness also blurred.

“The two cultivators who entered the shop to speak with you, what did they come here for?”

A whisper sounded in the ears of the manager.

“Just now… I can’t say… I made an oath… If I say it, I’ll die, so I can’t say…” The manager spoke with a blank expression.

“…”

“So vigilant! What did you have to buy so secretly? Wait, since they found the manager, it’s possible that one of the shopkeepers may know something.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. It really makes me curious.”