Chapter 42: Lack of Resources

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Looking at the three pills on his table and then turning his gaze to his status screen, Ethan got lost in his thoughts for a moment.

"As far as I know, basic recovery pills are sold in batches of ten."

He began to murmur to himself.

"Each batch costs a low-grade spiritual stone,"

"A low-grade stone is equivalent to 100 gold coins,"

"So if I can produce 7 more pills, I will be able to earn 100 gold coins!"

Ethan, with eyes shining with excitement and determination, immediately set to work to prepare the remaining pills.

Just by selling low-grade pills, he could make so much money, and now that he also had the opportunity to upgrade the pill recipe, his chances of making money had simply increased many times over.

This is because, unlike level 1 low-grade pills, which were sold in small batches, higher-grade ones could be sold individually.

For example, a level 1 medium-grade recovery pill could cost up to half a low-grade spiritual stone.

And although they could be sold individually, it was very common to sell them in batches of two or five pills, with the latter costing up to 3 low-grade spiritual stones.

The same went for level 1 high-grade pills.

Even though it was still a level 1 pill, just by being high-grade, it could be sold for up to 10 spiritual stones each.

And this was simply due to its effect being far superior to lower-grade pills.

Ethan did not know how many System Points it would take to upgrade the recipe to high-grade, but for his current self, even being able to create a medium-grade one was enough.

With the money he could make from this, he was sure he could cultivate without worries for at least three more stages of body refining.

He was unsure of the amount of Qi needed for higher stages, but since he could gain Qi not only by cultivating but also by refining, the amount of Qi he could accumulate daily should be sufficient.

With his improved skills and renewed focus, each refining attempt proceeded smoothly.

One by one, the basic recovery pills took shape under his expert hands,

and system messages kept popping up one after another:

[Congratulations, you have successfully created three Basic Recovery Pills.]

[You have gained 5 QI] (x3)

[You have gained a System Point] (x3)

[Congratulations, you have successfully created three Basic Recovery Pills.]

[You have gained 5 QI] (x3)

[You have gained a System Point] (x3)

...

"Come on, just one last effort, and I'll finally have 100 gold coins!" he exclaimed enthusiastically as the number of pills on the table increased.

However, just as he was reaching for more ingredients to prepare the last pill, he noticed a problem.

Turning his head, he immediately saw that a crucial ingredient was missing: the Refreshing Herb.

Yes, precisely the medicinal herb he had failed to buy this morning.

"Damn, why can't anything ever go smoothly for once?" he said, as his mood, which had just risen, fell again.

Haa

With a deep breath, he calmed his mind a bit.

'Calm down, Ethan, think positively.'

He told himself as he looked at the small mountain of 9 pills he had just created.

If it were up to him, he would have rushed to the Medicine Pavilion today to take the test to become an adept alchemist, but he couldn't do that.

Unlike the apprentice test, which was held every day, the adept test was held at the end of each month, with participation needing to be confirmed at least a week before.

Today was only the twenty-first day of the month, so he had only 2 days left to register for the test.

But, if that wasn't enough, there was another problem, the registration fee.

Unlike the apprentice test fee, which cost 3 low-grade spiritual stones, the adept test fee cost 10 low-grade spiritual stones.

Currently, Ethan had only a few gold coins, so he was far from reaching the money needed for registration.

With the little money he had left, there was not much he could do.

Creating more basic recovery pills was not an option, as he would need to make another 91 pills and did not have the necessary basic ingredients to make them.

Usually, the main problem for apprentice alchemists was successfully producing pills, but for Ethan, this problem seemed nonexistent.

After all, with the help of the system, creating low-quality pills came naturally to him, and he didn't risk making small errors here and there, which usually compromised the successful creation of a pill.

His only problem was resources, in other words, money.

Although materials for creation could be bought at a good price at the city market, there was no guarantee that the situation from this morning would not happen again.

The same applied to buying materials from the pavilion, which sold them at a slightly higher price than what could be found at the city market.

'Haa, why does everything always have to come down to money?' he thought dejectedly. Sёarch* The NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Ethan quickly thought of several solutions to this problem.

And there were several that could work.

"I could ask Da Shu for a loan," he wondered, but immediately dismissed the thought.

He was sure that if he asked, Da Shu would surely agree to lend him money, but that didn't sit well with him.

One of the things he hated most was borrowing money from someone.

Although in his previous life, he had several situations where he ended up broke at the end of the month, he had never tried to ask for a loan, neither from his boss nor, much less, from the bank.

It was a line Ethan did not want to cross.

Although Ethan always had a stingy attitude, he had a certain pride in himself.

And there were things in life that simply went against his pride.

"It seems I only have one other option left," he thought, as he looked out the window.

From his window, he had a certain view of the walls surrounding the sect.

Beyond the walls, one could glimpse the flourishing vegetation that covered some mountains in this mountain range.

This vegetation was part of the forest he and Da Shu had ventured into more than a week ago.

Looking at this view, Ethan couldn't help but think,

"Desperate times call for desperate measures."

He had decided to procure the necessary materials for pill creation himself.

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FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR:

Here's today's chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

As usual, if you have any comments, suggestions, or errors to report, you know where to do it.

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