Chapter 54: Making Money

Regarding the procurement of medicinal herbs, Chen Fei still left the matter to Chi Defeng. Since their interests were now intertwined, it was naturally impossible for Chi Defeng to try and fool Chen Fei with fake herbs.

Furthermore, after learning that Chen Fei was an alchemist, Chi Defeng finally understood why the fake herbs he had provided previously were spotted by Chen Fei at a single glance.

If an alchemist could not be perfectly clear about the medicinal ingredients used in their pills, then their level of alchemy would likely be quite poor.

Chen Fei did not refine Bone-Forging Pills; he went straight to producing Spirit-Light Pills, as they were more expensive and had a larger customer base in Xingfen City.

Unlike a small county town like Pingyin, Xingfen City had more martial artists, and naturally, more of them possessed profound cultivation. While the Bone-Forging Realm was not seen everywhere, it was certainly not something Pingyin County could compare to.

Back in Pingyin County, Chen Fei had already refined his Spirit-Light Pill technique to the Great Perfection stage. Now, when refining a batch of pills, he could perfectly utilize all the medicinal properties within the herbs, producing exactly four Spirit-Light Pills per batch.

The ingredients for Spirit-Light Pills were not expensive; saying they grew all over the mountains and fields might be a slight exaggeration, but they were indeed very easy to gather. Many people even cultivated them themselves, and they did not require a long maturation period.

It was precisely because the raw materials were easy to obtain that pills like the Spirit-Light Pill and the Constant-Float Pill could circulate widely. Those requiring rare ingredients had long since been phased out by history.

Early morning.

"Until we meet again!"

Chen Fei looked at Qian Jiang and cupped his hands. Chi Defeng stepped forward and patted Qian Jiang on the shoulder without saying a word.

According to the original plan, Qian Jiang was supposed to travel to Xianyun City with them so the three of them could look out for one another. Unexpectedly, Qian Jiang had run into people from his former escort agency in Xingfen City.

Recalling the glorious days of his past, Qian Jiang spent the entire night thinking and decided to follow that group of escorts to start running caravans once again.

"There will be plenty of chances to go to Xianyun City. I'll have a few more drinks with you all then!" Qian Jiang laughed loudly, cupped his hands toward Chen Fei and Chi Defeng, and then turned to leave.

After waving goodbye, Chen Fei and Chi Defeng returned to the courtyard.

Since they had to stay in Xingfen City for over a month waiting for the merchant caravan, and they needed to both refine pills and cultivate, staying in an inn would be somewhat inconvenient.

Therefore, the two of them rented a courtyard within the city for six months; any shorter a duration and others would be reluctant to lease it. Chen Fei did not mind the cost of the rent and agreed readily.

"Here are today's medicinal herbs. See if there are any issues."

Chi Defeng handed over a package. Chen Fei inspected it and found no problems. He then took out a list and gave it to Chi Defeng, saying, "Collect these herbs. I want to try refining a new type of pill."

"Are these the ingredients for the Constant-Float Pill?"

Chi Defeng glanced at the list and looked at Chen Fei in shock.

"You recognize them?" Chen Fei was also somewhat surprised.

"Have you forgotten what I used to do in Pingyin County? Although those Constant-Float Pill recipes were fake, they were somewhat related."

Chi Defeng laughed, but the look of astonishment in his eyes toward Chen Fei would not fade.

In recent days, the pill yield from Chen Fei's Spirit-Light Pill refinement had already left Chi Defeng immensely surprised. As a veteran of the underworld, Chi Defeng knew a great deal.

Thus, he understood just how high one's refinement level must be to achieve a yield like Chen Fei's. Back in Pingyin County, Chi Defeng had never heard of anyone reaching such a level.

And now, Chen Fei was actually going to attempt the Constant-Float Pill!

If one were to speak of the rarity of the Spirit-Light Pill recipe, it was naturally extremely precious to ordinary people, but there were still channels to obtain it.

However, there was certainly no Constant-Float Pill recipe in Pingyin County. Xingfen City might have them, but no one would give them up. Not to mention they had only been in Xingfen City for a few days; it would be even more impossible to obtain such a recipe.

Therefore, it was highly likely that Chen Fei had deduced it himself. Such alchemical talent was terrifying.

"Don't overthink it. I'm just testing it for now; there's no guarantee it will work."

Chen Fei shook his head with a smile. Having spent much time together, Chen Fei had gained a good understanding of Chi Defeng's character and did not feel the need to hide things from him.

Besides, if they were to continue cooperating in the future, he would eventually have to reveal some of his alchemical skills.

Chi Defeng smiled, understanding that this was a sign of Chen Fei's trust. He took the Spirit-Light Pills intended for sale today and walked out of the courtyard.

Chen Fei organized the herbs in the courtyard and moved them into the pill room, preparing to begin refining Spirit-Light Pills.

In recent days, Chen Fei would spend one morning every day refining Spirit-Light Pills from start to finish. Because of the high yield, he could refine sixty to seventy Spirit-Light Pills in just those few hours.

When Chi Defeng set up his stall, he priced them between eleven and twelve taels, depending on the quantity purchased.

Aside from the first two days when buyers were few, all the pills refined in recent days were easily sold out.

After all, Chen Fei did not cut corners with the Spirit-Light Pills, and since they were refined with Great Perfection proficiency, the pills were of the highest quality in terms of both appearance and medicinal efficacy.

Once someone took one, they would understand the quality, and they would naturally continue to buy from Chi Defeng.

Thus, calculating by the day, after deducting the share given to Chi Defeng, Chen Fei still had about six hundred taels in hand.

Chen Fei could also increase his refining volume; in Xingfen City, the ingredients for Spirit-Light Pills were not hard to find. It would be very easy for Chen Fei to reach a daily income of over a thousand taels.

However, Chen Fei ultimately suppressed that thought. Too much profit could easily lead to trouble. Of course, if it were too little, he wouldn't be satisfied either. In the end, he chose a middle ground.

Profit always comes with risk; it simply depends on how much each person is willing to bear.

Having been in Xingfen City for nearly ten days, besides the Spirit-Light Pill sales being on track, the deduction of the Constant-Float Pill was also nearing its end. It was going much more smoothly than Chen Fei had imagined, perhaps due to his current level of alchemy.

Of course, the incomplete recipe from the Zhao family had also provided significant help.

All these factors meant that Chen Fei could now attempt to refine the Constant-Float Pill. Once he succeeded even once, the speed at which he accumulated wealth would accelerate again.

Chen Fei had been eyeing that technique on his panel, the Dragon-Suppressing Elephant, for a long time, but that fifty thousand taels requirement was simply too much to ask.

While progress with the pills was steady, what made Chen Fei happiest was that his technique, the Shocking Swallowing Art, had finally reached the Perfection stage.

Upon reaching Perfection, besides the increase in cultivation points provided by the technique itself, the greatest surprise was that the amount of pills he could consume had increased again.

Previously, when the Shocking Swallowing Art was at the Proficient level, he could only consume one Spirit-Light Pill and one Constant-Float Pill. Now that it was at the Perfection level, Chen Fei could consume two Constant-Float Pills every day.

In a single day, he gained a full 85 points of cultivation progress, reducing the time needed to break through to the Bone-Forging Realm by another month.

The effect of the Shocking Swallowing Art was unimaginably good, and Chen Fei could feel that as the technique's experience points moved toward Great Perfection, the amount of pills he could consume daily would continue to increase slowly.

"The original Cloud-Swallowing Strength probably didn't have such a good effect, otherwise that sect wouldn't have fallen into such ruin. It's likely that the combination of Cloud-Swallowing Strength and the Shocking Art produced a unique change."

Chen Fei murmured to himself. This was his own speculation; after all, the Shocking Art was derived from the Shocking Thunder Sword Qi, which was a technique of the Xianyun Sword Sect. Furthermore, the Shocking Art functioned faster as long as your body could withstand it.

When merged with the absorption of medicinal efficacy from the Cloud-Swallowing Strength, it directly amplified that ability.

"At this rate, perhaps I can break through to the Bone-Forging Realm before the Xianyun Caravan arrives!" Chen Fei thought with satisfaction.