Immortality Begins With The Alchemical Master Chapter 38: Damn Monopoly Dogs - Novel Cool

Chapter 38: Damn Monopoly Dogs

Chapter 38: Damn Monopoly Dogs

Dressed in black robes and pants, with a black veil covering his face, Luo Chen cautiously stepped into his home, glancing nervously behind him.

The dark, quiet alley was silent.

Luo Chen walked to the back of the door and stood silently for a moment.

"No one followed me."

Luo Chen breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that he had not been tracked.

Low-level cultivators had limited means of stealth, and tracking methods were even fewer, often requiring talismans or magical tools.

Thus, as long as one was careful, it was quite easy to tell if someone was being followed.

Since he had caught the attention of the Great River Gang, Luo Chen resolved to be more cautious when coming and going.

Just as he turned around, Luo Chen suddenly stiffened, his hair standing on end.

In the corner, a figure with long, waist-length hair and dressed in white stood quietly.

Luo Chen swallowed, wondering if it was a ghost. But soon, he relaxed.

It was a person!

"Why haven't the seeds sprouted after two months?"

The woman in white seemed to be talking to herself.

"Could it be that the herbalist gave me fake Purple Sunflower seeds?"

"Cough."

A cough echoed from the doorway, and the woman turned around.

"Luo Chen, fellow cultivator?"

"Fu Xiuxiu, fellow cultivator?"

"Um."

It was the neighbor from the east wing!

Luo Chen walked over to her and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

Fu Xiuxiu sighed, troubled. "I bought Purple Sunflower seeds for one spirit stone and planted them two months ago. I thought I'd see some sprouts when I came home, but there's nothing."

Luo Chen followed her gaze and looked suspiciously at the corner area.

Wasn't this where he usually practiced his Fireball and Entanglement spells?

Seeds?

He had changed the soil and rocks dozens of times!

He chuckled nervously. "Maybe it's just not suited to the soil here!"

Fu Xiuxiu sighed and nodded helplessly.

"The yin energy here is quite strong. Several of the plants I've grown aren't doing well. Plus, I'm often away, so they're almost dying."

Luo Chen blinked. "Is that so?"

"It's probably because of that. You should bring them out to get more sunlight more often," Fu Xiuxiu said helplessly.

Changing the subject, she looked curiously at Luo Chen's attire.

"Luo, fellow cultivator, where have you been?"

"Call me Little Luo! I just have a habit of wearing black."

Being addressed as "fellow cultivator" by a Ninth Stage Qi Practitioner made Luo Chen a bit uncomfortable.

Seeing that Luo Chen didn't want to elaborate, Fu Xiuxiu didn't press further.

She glanced at the night sky and extended an invitation.

"I rarely come back, so I thought I'd invite the neighbors for dinner. Would you like to join us, Little Luo?"

Someone offering free dinner? This was a good deal!

Luo Chen naturally accepted without hesitation!

Sitting on a children's swing in the courtyard, now dressed in different clothes, Luo Chen waited for Fu Xiuxiu to prepare dinner while pondering his next steps.

Four hundred spirit stones' worth of raw materials was his biggest investment yet!

This time, failure was not an option.

Before he began refining the elixir, he needed to consider every aspect.

First was the new alchemical tool—the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace.

The difference between using a spirit iron pot and a magical tool furnace was significant.

He needed to familiarize himself with the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace to avoid any mistakes during the refinement process that he couldn't correct in time.

Second was the handling of the raw materials.

He couldn't use the old methods anymore.

The spirit iron pot was small and couldn't withstand high temperatures, so he had to use a lower flame, which extended the refinement time.

During the long refinement process, he had to handle the herbs more conservatively.

But with the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace, there was no such worry. The quality of the magical tool could handle intense heat.

This meant he could be more daring in handling the raw materials.

Finally, he needed to set up an alchemy room.

Indeed, Luo Chen planned to partition off a room in his rented house to serve as a refining chamber.

The Purple Cloud Copper Furnace took up a lot of space, and when burning wood, it required a dedicated fire pit with heat-insulating bricks underneath to prevent heat loss.

The walls around the chamber should ideally be made of Cloud Sand Bricks, which have excellent ventilation properties.

Otherwise, if there was a leak of medicinal vapors, he could end up being poisoned and unconscious inside.

Thinking about all these tasks, Luo Chen felt a bit overwhelmed.

There was a lot to do next!

"Hey!"

A petite figure suddenly jumped in front of him.

Luo Chen greeted her with a sigh, "Miss Ling, are you off work?"

Well, that was obvious, since she was right in front of him.

But in real life, greetings often went this way.

When someone was eating, you'd say, "Eating?"

When someone was off work, you'd say, "Off work?"

It was annoying when you ran into a friend in the public restroom, and they'd say, "Taking a dump?"

Of course, if you weren't taking a dump, why would you be squatting in a toilet stall?

Bai Meiling, naturally, didn't think about all the nonsense in Luo Chen's head. She extended her white, tender hand.

"What for?" Luo Chen asked curiously.

"Show me the pills you've refined. I want to see if they're evil pills!"

"You sure are nosy!"

Bai Meiling placed her hands on her hips, "As your neighbor at the Seventh Level of Qi Refinement, can't I keep an eye on you?"

Damn, he hated it when people used their cultivation level to pressure him!

Luo Chen took a deep breath and reluctantly took out a pill.

Bai Meiling curiously accepted it, "A Qi-Cleansing Pill? No, it's a Qi-Cleansing Powder. The quality is good, it's even an Upper Grade."

She studied Luo Chen for a moment, then nodded.

"You're quite the quiet one, but you're pretty capable. Too bad, if you had the formula for a Qi-Cleansing Pill, you could make a living from it."

Luo Chen had initially planned to just fool around with this woman.

But when she said that, his interest was piqued.

He knew very well that the Qi-Cleansing Pills he refined were actually just Qi-Cleansing Powder.

Otherwise, why would five bottles of Qi-Cleansing Powder, with fifty pills in total, only sell for one low-grade spirit stone?

A genuine Qi-Cleansing Pill was a First Rank Pill, on par with a Qi-Nourishing Pill.

A bottle of ten pills would sell for a hundred spirit stones, making it a real profit!

If he could refine genuine Qi-Cleansing Pills, he'd be rich!

"Do you have the formula for a Qi-Cleansing Pill?"

Facing Luo Chen's eager gaze, Bai Meiling shrugged.

"Of course not! Such formulas are controlled by major sects. How could I possibly have one?"

Luo Chen rolled his eyes. Then why did you say that?

He wasn't too disappointed, though.

Or rather, he had never really expected to get his hands on the formula for a mainstream pill.

Not only in the Great River Market, but even in the entire Jade Tripod Region and the Six Extreme Eastern Regions, the formulas for mainstream pills were strictly controlled.

If they leaked, sect cultivators would use various means to retrieve them.

Buying them, forcing them, or even recruiting the pill refiners.

Luo Chen's opinion on this was, "Monopoly dogs, may they die a bad death!"

He could understand the sects' actions, though.

This world was extremely rich in resources, whether in human territories or the wild mountains and marshes where beasts lived, with countless treasures.

With the raw materials impossible to restrict, controlling the formulas became the best method.

This way, mainstream pills could only be refined, distributed, and sold by sects.

Thus, major sects could ensure their profits far exceeded those of cultivator families and independent cultivators.

Otherwise, how could major sects afford such good benefits, giving disciples free magical tools, robes, and even precious storage bags?

"Miss Ling, Xiao Luo, it's time to eat."

A gentle voice called out, and Luo Chen hurried into the east wing, which was Fu Xiuxiu's home.

Bai Meiling followed behind, but after a few steps, she felt something was off.

"Fire Dog Whip can be used to refine Qi-Cleansing Powder?"

(End of Chapter)

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