Chapter 34: I Don't Mind Offering Myself to You

"Well, do you want it or not?"

Gu Caiyi sipped the tea Luo Chen had poured for her, her willow-leaf eyebrows knitting together.

What kind of tea was this? It was far too bitter!

Across from her, Luo Chen's eyes were glowing, and his heart was thumping several times faster than usual.

The Purple Cloud Copper Furnace—a standard alchemy furnace produced by Wanbao Pavilion.

Its grade wasn't high, only a low-grade First Order, but its versatility was immense.

It could adapt to most of the common alchemy techniques used in the cultivation world.

Furthermore, the furnace was engraved with a Fire Gathering Array, which gave it a unique advantage in regulating heat.

Novice alchemists often struggle to master heat control, frequently ruining their processed raw materials.

But with this array, as long as different amounts of spiritual energy were injected beforehand, the furnace could regulate the external heat freely, no matter how intense it became.

The Fire Gathering Array: gathering and dispersing at will, imbuing the pill fire with spirit.

You asked if Luo Chen wanted it?

Of course he did!

If he had this kind of alchemy furnace, he wouldn't be stuck refining only one batch of Wonder Pills per day.

In terms of efficiency, he could refine at least two batches a day!

Looking at Gu Caiyi with an intense, burning gaze, Luo Chen suddenly reached out and, amidst her surprise, grasped her slender hand.

"Sister Caiyi, are you going to give me one?"

"I'm fine with anything! As long as you give it to me, even if you ask me to marry you, I won't have a single complaint!"

Gu Caiyi froze for a moment before pulling her left hand out of his thick, large grip.

"Get lost!"

"Who wants you to marry them? You shameless brat!"

She rolled her eyes and said seriously, "If you want it, you have to spend spirit stones to buy it."

"I see..." Luo Chen let out a lonely sigh. "If I could afford it, I would have gotten it long ago."

"I'm not telling you to buy it from Wanbao Pavilion," Gu Caiyi said, unable to stand Luo Chen's rapid change in expression. "The courtesan Xiangxiang from Tianxiang Pavilion is also an alchemist, and she has an idle Purple Cloud Copper Furnace. I asked her; if you want it, she can sell it to you at a discount."

He naturally knew of the courtesan Xiangxiang.

She was beautiful, highly educated, and possessed a particularly deep understanding of water arts and the Dao of Alchemy.

Moreover, her most famous attribute was her status as an inner disciple of the Hehuan Sect.

But no matter how beautiful or famous she was, it had nothing to do with Luo Chen.

What he cared about most was the price!

"A discount? How much of a discount?"

"Three hundred low-grade spirit stones."

Luo Chen felt a surge of joy in his heart, but his face still showed a look of difficulty. "That's so expensive. Even a second-hand one only costs about two hundred."

"Then why don't you go buy one?" Gu Caiyi chuckled. "Stop acting poor. This price is only because you're my neighbor. If you really want to buy it, just let me know."

Indeed, this price was very cheap.

The "second-hand price" Luo Chen mentioned was the buy-back price of Wanbao Pavilion.

It was common knowledge that Wanbao Pavilion was the most unscrupulous of all profiteers.

A brand-new Purple Cloud Copper Furnace was priced at four hundred and fifty.

It was only slightly cheaper than a defensive magical tool and far more expensive than other low-grade First Order offensive tools.

Furthermore, since alchemy tools were not commonly handled by rogue cultivators, they rarely appeared on the market.

Now that he had encountered one at such a low price, Luo Chen naturally wouldn't miss it.

Luo Chen gave a sheepish smile and hurriedly said, "I'll buy it, I'll definitely buy it. But I'll need a little time to scrape the money together."

"Are you really that poor?" Gu Caiyi looked at him in confusion. "Do you actually make any spirit stones from alchemy?"

She had once seriously doubted whether her neighbor would be kicked out of the Inner City in three months because he couldn't afford the rent.

"You don't need to worry about that. When the time comes, I'll definitely show up with spirit stones!" Luo Chen said with full confidence.

In reality, he could actually produce three hundred spirit stones.

To put it simply, he had over four hundred spirit stones in his pocket right now!

After selling the Flying Swallow Sword for eleven hundred and purchasing Qi-Nourishing Pills and five spells, he had four hundred left.

Adding the twenty-odd scattered stones he had previously, one could say that Luo Chen wasn't actually that poor at this moment.

The reason he wasn't buying the furnace immediately was mainly because he didn't need it just yet.

The current batch of raw materials had been specially processed according to his iron pot.

If he used an alchemy furnace to refine the remaining materials, it wasn't just a matter of adjusting his technique; he would also have to completely reorganize everything from the type of firewood used to the time required for pill formation.

Therefore, he planned to consume this entire batch of raw materials first, recoup all his capital, and then consider buying the furnace.

Dammit!

If only there were large, interest-free spirit stone loans for ambitious rogue cultivators.

This cultivation world, controlled by the sects, was truly too cold toward us rogue cultivators!

Refining pills, taking medicine, practicing spells, and studying techniques—his days passed in such an orderly routine.

Luo Chen adjusted the timing and frequency of his spell practice.

He had previously maintained the habit of living in the Outer City, so his daily spell practice had been merely superficial.

It was only recently that he realized the Inner City was quite safe, and there was no need to ensure his mana was at its peak at all times.

Consequently, he could expend more mana to master the newly learned spells.

In his leisure time, he would chat with Gu Caiyi about matters of the cultivation world.

He had actually wondered why he never saw Gu Caiyi cultivating.

It was only after her explanation that he realized the truth.

It turned out that Gu Caiyi usually went to Tianxiang Pavilion to cultivate, as it was equipped with a Spirit Gathering Array that could raise the concentration of spiritual energy by a notch.

Of course, the spiritual energy concentration of a First Order spirit vein was limited; if someone gathered it, naturally others would be unable to enjoy their fair share.

Well, the latter referred to rogue cultivator residents like Luo Chen.

The Yuding Sword Sect used to be a massive profiteer as well. What happened to those "high-quality First Order spirit vein residences" they promised?

As it turned out, the spiritual energy they were absorbing was merely the leftovers filtered by others.

During this time, he occasionally ran into the round-faced woman, Bai Meiling.

It wasn't frequent; it seemed the Baicao Hall was very busy lately, as people from the Medicine King Sect had arrived to take inventory, planning to transport a batch of spiritual herbs collected by Baicao Hall.

However, he had never once seen the other resident living in this courtyard.

"Fu Xiuxiu is a manager at the Divine Talisman Pavilion; she usually lives over there. I heard her talisman-making skills are very high, and she has a great chance of joining the Divine Talisman Sect."

This was what Gu Caiyi told him.

After hearing this, Luo Chen felt extremely envious.

To be able to join a sect—that was a celestial opportunity that countless rogue cultivators yearned for.

He didn't know if he would ever have the chance to join a powerful sect.

He didn't have high requirements; something like the Hehuan Sect would suffice.

When he was at the market, he would tell anyone he met that Immortal Yunhe was his idol.

With this in mind, Luo Chen worked overtime, finishing all his current materials before the arrival of the Grand Market.

The final results left him very satisfied!

Out of the last twenty-five sets of raw materials, he had successfully produced five pills.

This meant that his success rate in refining Wonder Pills had increased from the initial one-tenth to two-tenths!

In terms of cost control, this was a qualitative leap.

With the initial cost of fifty spirit stones, he could refine ten batches and succeed once, selling it for fifty—resulting in a break-even state.

Oh, wait, it was actually a loss.

If he had spent those months refining Fasting Powder, he could have earned at least a few dozen spirit stones.

So, back then, he really was losing money.

Now, or rather, in the future.

With the same cost of fifty spirit stones, if he could succeed twice out of ten batches, he could sell them for a hundred spirit stones, yielding a net profit of fifty.

With this profit margin, as long as he was willing to invest the cost, Luo Chen could count spirit stones until his hands went numb.

"This is only at the Proficient level. What if I improve to the Master, Perfect, or even Grandmaster level in the future?"

Luo Chen was full of anticipation.

Then, on a misty dawn, like an early-rising vegetable farmer, he headed straight for the Rogue Cultivator Market in the south of the city.

Today was going to be a day full of harvests!