Chapter 47: Wealth Plan

"Toxic!?" Chen Mobai exclaimed, a look of surprise and suspicion on his face.

This was clearly a Spirit Gathering Pill, used to raise one's cultivation level. How could it possibly be toxic?

"The pill toxin content is far too high. Let me check which pharmacy produced it. I'll be a good citizen and report them," Qing Nü said. She looked at the bottom of the medicine bottle and, sure enough, it was engraved with various information.

"Outer disciple of Huitian Valley, Lu Yuxuan."

"Huitian Valley? Is that the Huitian Grand Pharmacy from Kuocang Grotto-heaven? But aren't they supposed to specialize in refining spiritual water?" Qing Nü's face was full of doubt. Chen Mobai wiped the sweat from his forehead and immediately changed the subject, preventing her from investigating further and discovering the problem.

"What does it mean for the pill toxin content to be too high? Does that mean all these bottles of pills are defective?"

"The Immortal Sect's Pharmaceutical Regulatory Bureau stipulates that the pill toxin content of all manufactured pills must be below 0.1, meaning it shouldn't be detectable by commonly used equipment. Cultivators who take pills meeting this standard can easily neutralize the toxins simply by circulating their own spiritual energy. However, the pill toxin content in your three bottles is far in excess, nearly reaching 5. Although taking them would still boost your cultivation, you'd be weakened for at least ten days to half a month."

After hearing this, Chen Mobai felt incredibly fortunate. It was a good thing he was cautious and didn't consume pills of unknown origin.

However, on second thought, he felt sad for the cultivators of Tianhe Realm. Even these kinds of pills cost one spirit stone per bottle and were still highly sought after.

Sure enough, Yuanyuan Star was better.

"This bottle has slightly less pill toxin, only about 2. It's probably just for restoring spiritual energy, so its properties are milder." Qing Nü then opened the bottle of pills Chen Mobai had acquired from the Flying Needle Sect disciple. This bottle had no labels, making it a "three-no" product (no producer, no production date, no quality inspection). She took a small spoonful, put it in her mouth, and used her tongue to identify the medicinal effect and the pill toxin content.

"Aren't you afraid of the pill toxins, doing that?" Chen Mobai's eyes widened when he saw her actions.

"A little bit won't hurt. Besides, we alchemists generally also cultivate as apothecaries. We deal with pill toxins our whole lives, so we specifically cultivate pill-dissolving techniques." Among the hundred arts of cultivation, one is that of the apothecary, a profession dedicated to identifying pill information, providing prescriptions based on a cultivator's spiritual root and constitution, and assisting in breakthroughs and cultivation advancement.

Generally, excellent alchemists are also excellent apothecaries.

Qing Nü's mastery in this area also seemed considerable. After tasting, she took the paper and pen hanging on the wall and quickly wrote several lines.

"Here, these are the potencies of the two pills I identified. You'd best not take them; it's better to throw them away." In Qing Nü's eyes, these two types of pills were defective products from a pharmaceutical factory that should have been destroyed, but were instead taken out by unscrupulous merchants and dumped onto the market.

"Okay, I'll dispose of them when I get back." Chen Mobai naturally nodded in agreement, then asked if the raw materials for the Qi-Replenishing Spiritual Water had arrived.

"Four kinds of auxiliary herbs have arrived, and one of the three main herbs is here. The other two will arrive tomorrow. Do you want to come in and see the extraction process?" Qing Nü invited. Chen Mobai had always been interested in alchemy, so he nodded and followed her to the back of the pharmacy.

Unexpectedly, he felt a slight sense of nervousness inside.

Inside, there was an open-air courtyard with eight large vats, half of which were covered.

"Here." Qing Nü handed him a packet. Chen Mobai saw it was a mask, nodded, and dutifully put it on.

"Atractylodes macrocephala is already soaking. The medicinal properties should all be extracted overnight. I also need to pour the liquid into the cold extraction machine to concentrate it before my teacher arrives tomorrow morning." Chen Mobai followed Qing Nü to a sealed vat. She opened the wooden lid, the sealing spell instantly failed, and a strong medicinal scent, accompanied by a wisp of smoke, wafted out.

However, the mask was indeed remarkable, completely isolating the unpleasant medicinal smell from his nostrils, so he couldn't smell anything at all.

"Is the water for soaking specially prepared, or is it just ordinary skyfall water?"

"It's skyfall water." Qing Nü was a bit surprised that Chen Mobai even knew this specialized term.

"My teacher mentioned it in class, saying this kind of water is the cheapest and also quite effective for soaking and extracting medicinal liquids." Chen Mobai said, looking at the large vat of soaking medicinal ingredients. He nodded, signaling Qing Nü to quickly cover it.

"Although I can't smell it, I still feel a bit uncomfortable inside..." Before he finished speaking, a bell hanging from the eaves of the courtyard suddenly rang.

"A guest has arrived. I'll go out and greet them first." After Qing Nü replaced the lid, she gestured for Chen Mobai to sit for a while in the wicker chair in the courtyard, then hurried off towards the front of the shop.

In less than two minutes, she returned.

"Oh, that fast?"

"It was a classmate of my teacher's. He was on a business trip to Danxia City from Huayang Grotto-heaven and stopped by to visit. Since my teacher wasn't here, I didn't dare to give him my teacher's contact information without permission, so I just asked him to leave his business card, which I'll give to my teacher tomorrow." As Qing Nü spoke, she took out a blue-backed, black-lettered jade business card that looked like a piece of art.

Chen Mobai glanced at it and saw two lines of text on it:

Lan HaitanTier 2 Apothecary

For some reason, he remembered the young man who had asked for directions last night. Could it be him?

"It's pretty much as you described. Although he looks young, you can tell he's a rigid person," Qing Nü nodded, confirming Chen Mobai's guess.

A Tier 2 apothecary was most likely a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Chen Mobai asked a few questions and then put it out of his mind.

"Well, I'll be going then. If you need any help, just say the word." The two had already added each other as friends and were currently in the stage of building trust, both wanting to show their best sides. Qing Nü also nodded slightly and saw Chen Mobai out.

After returning home, Chen Mobai placed an order online, spending nearly half of the over three thousand merit points remaining on his card.

He was stocking up.

After two days of on-site investigation in Nanxi Market, he had a preliminary plan to get rich.

Yuanyuan Star had advanced technology, while Tianhe Realm had abundant resources.

If he didn't become a middleman, it would simply be a waste of such a unique inter-realm disparity.

As for what to sell, he made his decision after much deliberation.

For pills, both realms required them to be produced by large pharmacies for cultivators to dare to buy them. Although he knew that the quality of pills and spiritual water on Yuanyuan Star far surpassed that of Tianhe Realm, precisely because it was *too* superior, too good in quality, he didn't dare to sell it.

Qing Nü didn't know the origin of Huitian Valley, but he had read about it in "Introduction to the Great Sects of the Eastern Wasteland." It was one of the Seven Great Sects and the foremost alchemy sect in the Eastern Wasteland.

Even the pills produced by Huitian Valley had such a high level of pill toxins. The pills he sold, however, were almost completely free of toxins. Cultivators would immediately notice this upon consumption. If it caused a sensation, it would certainly attract suppression from Huitian Valley.

This did not align with his principle of low-key development in Tianhe Realm.