Chapter 61: Four Qi Pavilion

An excellent read.

Chen Mobai’s luck seemed to be exceptionally good recently.

In Nanxi Market, his talismans found a market, and after returning to Diyuan Star, Qing Nu also delivered good news.

Baoping Pharmacy had an alchemy room that had been unused for a long time. It was fully equipped with medicine pools and other necessary facilities, making it possible to resume refining Spirit Qi Replenishment Water.

This came as a huge relief to Chen Mobai.

Without this spiritual water for the past few days, his cultivation speed had significantly slowed down, leaving him, who was accustomed to high efficiency, feeling somewhat at a loss.

However, after Qing Nu began refining the Spirit Qi Replenishment Water for the second time, Chen Mobai encountered another problem.

Namely, where would the good deeds points come from for the next purchase of main and auxiliary medicinal ingredients?

Although he currently had 24 spirit stones, he was already hesitant to exchange them for good deeds points at the bank.

The refinement of Mid-Grade First-Tier Spirit Qi Replenishment Water typically takes about five days to complete.

The alchemy room rented by Baoping Pharmacy was available for one month. Qing Nu suggested making the most of it by purchasing several more sets of ingredients to refine enough Spirit Qi Replenishment Water to support Chen Mobai's cultivation up to the seventh level of Qi Condensation within that month.

According to Qing Nu's efficiency, at least three more sets of ingredients would be needed.

Chen Mobai pondered extensively but still couldn't find a good solution. He could only take one spirit stone to the Five Elements Sect's silver shop in Nanxi Market to exchange for gold, and then he sought out Wu Wan.

“The gold quality is the same, but I can only buy the same quantity as last time, which is 40 bars, valued at 4,300 good deeds points.”

Wu Wan took out a scale to measure the weight and purity. Looking at the hundred gold bars placed before him, he hesitated for a moment but decided to be helpful, taking only 40 of them.

“Oh, Master Wu, what do you mean by that?”

Chen Mobai, somewhat confused, asked.

“As you know, gold is a controlled resource of the Immortal Sect. All our gold shops are registered with the Immortal Merchant Bureau. Before obtaining our business licenses, we were informed that if the same individual cumulatively trades gold worth over 10,000 good deeds points with us, we are required to proactively report it to the market regulatory department and the law enforcement police department.”

After Wu Wan finished speaking, cold sweat broke out on Chen Mobai’s back.

“Thank you, Master Wu.”

He earnestly thanked Wu Wan. The latter gently waved his hand, put on gloves, placed the 40 gold bars from the scale into his safe, and then transferred 4,300 good deeds points to Chen Mobai via his mobile device.

“You’ve traded gold with me twice, and you’re only 4,850 good deeds points short of the 10,000-point limit. If you truly need more good deeds points, I can take five more bars, which would put you just within the 10,000-point threshold.”

“However, if the Immortal Merchant Bureau randomly selects my small shop for an audit at the end of the year, your transaction, being so close to the 10,000 good deeds point limit, would be too conspicuous and might lead to a more thorough investigation.”

“Therefore, my suggestion is to only trade 40 more bars this time. This way, even if we are audited, I have several other clients like you, and with a bit of adjustment to the ledgers and tax forms, the Immortal Sect would likely turn a blind eye.”

After failing to establish his foundation, Wu Wan seemed to have adopted a more open-minded approach, apparently intending to fully dedicate himself to appraising treasures and conducting business. He began treating people with sincerity, meticulously advising Chen Mobai on gold transactions and proactively offering reminders.

“Of course, if you urgently need good deeds points, I can introduce you to some colleagues in the business. Just be careful not to exceed 10,000 good deeds points in total. However, for a new face like you trading gold, some owners might still proactively report it to the Immortal Sect as a precaution.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai felt a profound sense of apprehension.

His possessions were already somewhat ill-gotten, and if he were to be truly targeted by the Immortal Sect’s relevant departments, the consequences would be severe.

“I almost forgot,” Wu Wan added, “if you register a company, you can circumvent this 10,000-point limit. Our transactions would then be business-to-business, and you could even get discounts when points are reimbursed at the end of the year.”

Wu Wan proposed another method, but Chen Mobai immediately shook his head.

He was only eighteen years old; rashly registering a company solely for gold trading would surely attract even more unwanted attention.

Before leaving, Chen Mobai thanked Wu Wan once more. At the same time, he completely abandoned the idea of exchanging more gold from the Tianhe Realm.

Since this wasn't feasible, he could now try his previous idea.

Nanxi Market.

Dressed in a traditional-style outfit, Chen Mobai entered a shop owned by a local cultivation family.

Yun Country, situated by the great rivers of the Yunmeng Marsh, possessed abundant spiritual energy. Many cultivation families relied on the water veins to establish medicinal fields, not only to cultivate their own alchemists but also to sell to major alchemy sects like Huitian Valley.

Furthermore, after cultivating millennium-grade spiritual herbs, they could exchange them for Foundation Establishment Pills. Therefore, almost every cultivation family here would establish a medicinal field, treating it as a treasured heirloom.

However, Huitian Valley only accepted premium medicinal ingredients, which meant that many lower-grade herbs, after being harvested, ended up being sold in nearby market shops.

This three-story shop, named 'Four Energies Pavilion,' was the property of the Lou family, one of the four Foundation Establishment families in the market.

Chen Mobai had heard from Qing Nu that medicinal ingredients possess four distinct properties—cold, hot, warm, and cool—collectively known as the 'four energies.' The shop's name likely derived from this concept.

“Are you looking for spiritual herbs, or spiritual pills, esteemed customer?”

As he entered, a beautiful female cultivator at the third level of Qi Condensation greeted him. She appraised Chen Mobai's finely stitched attire with a beaming smile.

“I have three types of herbs here that my elder needs for alchemy, but I'm not sure what they are. Could you please help me see if you have them?”

Chen Mobai took out the three main medicinal ingredients for refining Spirit Qi Replenishment Water, which he had obtained from Qing Nu, and handed them to the female cultivator at Four Energies Pavilion. She nodded and took a tray to receive the herbs.

“These are Bái Jí, Chuí Zhū Cǎo, and Zhé Lǐ. They are three very common spiritual herbs, and we have all of them in stock. How much do you need, esteemed customer?”

The female cultivator seemed quite knowledgeable about medicinal ingredients. After carefully examining, smelling, and touching them, she smiled sweetly and recited three names for the herbs that were completely different from those used on Diyuan Star.

“What about the price?”

“They are all very common herbs, sold starting from 1 spirit stone per jin, and the price is the same for all three.”

Chen Mobai calculated that one jin of herbs could be used for five refinements. Even if Qing Nu could only successfully produce 10 tubes per refinement, it would be more than enough to support his cultivation up to the seventh level of Qi Condensation.

This price was entirely acceptable. With these, he would only need to purchase four auxiliary herbs on Diyuan Star.

“Then I’ll buy one jin of each for now.”

The beautiful female cultivator’s smile remained unchanged upon hearing this, and she immediately invited Chen Mobai to the second floor.

After listening to her explanation, Chen Mobai learned that the second floor was where spiritual herbs and medicinal herbs were sold, while the third floor was dedicated to their family's self-refined spiritual pills. They had recently stocked a new batch of Spirit Gathering Pills and wanted to see if Chen Mobai was interested.

However, spiritual pills from the Tianhe Realm were known to have excessive pill toxins, so Chen Mobai dared not purchase any. After taking the herbs and paying with spirit stones, he left immediately.