The next day, in the early morning.
Luo Chen got up early, separated the pills on his desk into portions of ten and put them into five jade bottles.
He put on his only decent Lower Grade Robe, grabbed his Lower Grade Flying Sword, and hurried out the door.
He needed to get into the city early; otherwise, he wouldn't have a chance at securing a good spot in the market once daylight broke.
Perhaps, due to yesterday's heavy rain, the streets in the Outer City were rather muddy.
The closer he got to the center of the Outer City, the stronger the smell of human and demon beasts mingled with the scent of urine and medicinal herbs – especially amidst the smell of earth, this combination was rather hard to bear.
But Luo Chen was already used to it.
An hour later, he arrived at the city gate.
As he entered the Inner City, Luo Chen couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Indeed, the air in the Inner City was so much better!
"I heard that the Inner City is built on a First Order Spirit Vein, which is very beneficial for Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators' cultivation."
"Once I have money, I must buy a house in the Inner City!"
With this determination, Luo Chen hurried to the southwest corner to the area for the rogue cultivators.
There was a green stone slab front, more than half of which was covered with yellow talisman papers and animal hides. An old man was busy working there.
As soon as he had arranged the animal hides and stood up stretching his back, he saw Luo Chen's arrival.
"Friend Luo, you're a bit late this time."
The old man's name was Chen Xiuping, a Sixth Level Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator and an old man in The Great River District market.
He had lived here for decades, making a living by creating talismans and also possessed a decent skill in tanning animal hides.
With his income level, he could afford to rent a house in the Inner City, barely.
However, this old man was a bit stingy. He preferred to live in a wooden house in the Outer City, which cost only one Lower Grade Spirit Stone per month, rather than spending ten times the price to live in a stone house in the Inner City.
Even when setting up his stall to sell goods, he calculated everything clearly.
The stalls in the area for rogue cultivators had to be rented from the market administrators.
A stall cost one spirit stone per month.
If the stall, which was quite large, was squeezed a bit, it could still hold a talisman and talisman paper, with a small half-square yet to be filled.
He simply rented this small half-square to Luo Chen, and they both paid half of the rent.
Was Luo Chen at a loss?
Not exactly. If he were to rent another stall, he would have to spend one spirit stone per month.
Moreover, not many cultivators like sharing selling space with others.
So Luo Chen was probably not at a loss, but Elder Chen definitely made a profit.
After exchanging a simple greeting, Luo Chen set up his goods in front of his stall.
Twenty bottles of Fasting Elixir!
Elder Chen was surprised to see this amount, "Friend Luo, your Pill Refinement skill has improved a lot recently!"
No wonder he said that.
Luo Chen usually came to set up his stall once every seven days, four or five times a month.
Each time, the amount of Fasting Elixir he sold was about fifteen or sixteen bottles.
This time, he brought out a total of twenty bottles!
From this, it can be seen that he has indeed made significant progress in the refining of Fasting Elixir.
In reality, it was indeed so.
In seven days, excluding one day for setting up the stall and buying materials, leaving six days, half of which would be used for processing materials and the other half for Pill Refinement.
That is to say, there were only three days for Pill Refinement.
In the past, Luo Chen would be lucky to get two pots a day, barely enough to make five bottles of Fasting Elixir, due to the high material consumption rate.
But yesterday, his skill in making Fasting Elixir had risen from Perfection Level Proficiency to Grandmaster Level.
The last pot produced five bottles directly!
Add that to the reduced waste earlier on, he managed to bring twenty bottles of Fasting Elixir this time.
"Oh, it's nothing, just practice makes perfect!" Luo Chen said with a modest smile, but there was a hint of self-satisfaction in his eyes.
Having initial Grandmaster Level proficiency in refining the Fasting Pill does give me some pride.
Chen Xiuping shook his head, "There are a few people selling Fasting Elixir too, but no one is like you, able to produce twenty bottles in five days."
After saying that, he reached out and touched the bottle nearest to him.
"You didn't mix in flour to make up the number, did you? As your senior, I have to check for you and make sure we don't tarnish our stall's reputation."
Luo Chen watched him reach out with a chuckle. His hand was already holding a talisman filled with red lines.
"I heard last time someone bought your Concealing Qi Talisman, but it didn't work. He nearly had his butt bitten off by demon beasts. Perhaps I should take one home to study, so as not to tarnish our reputation!"
Elder Chen panicked and hastily snatched back the talisman from Luo Chen, regardless of the elixir in his grasp.
"You sell a Fasting Elixir for just one spirit stone per five bottles, how dare you exchange it for my Concealing Qi Talisman which costs three spirit stones each!"
"Give it back! Give it back!"
Luo Chen watched with a smirk as the old man carefully placed the talisman back in the most conspicuous place.
The Concealing Qi Talisman was Elder Chen's signature product!
Among his numerous low-grade talismans that cost one spirit stone each, it was the most expensive one - costing at least three Lower-Grade Spirit Stones.
In reality, the Concealing Qi Talisman was also the most in-demand, especially for those cultivators who hunted demon beasts in the mountains.
This kind of talisman could conceal one's blood and energy for an hour. At a critical moment, it could save a life; its value was no less than many Defense Talismans.
Sometimes, Luo Chen was quite envious of Elder Chen.
Simply by selling one talisman, he could make at least one spirit stone, and he could net more than a hundred in a month!
Unlike him.
Before, he would barely make twelve spirit stones a month. After deducting costs, he would only make six to seven spirit stones.
If further deducted for rent, half a stone for the stall, and another stone for living expenses, he might only have four to five stones left.
Even after a year of crossing over and working his butt off, it was still difficult for him to save money.
It was hard to imagine how the original owner managed in the early days.
But his envy was only temporary.
Luo Chen knew very well that the four main arts of immortal cultivation each had their own difficulties.
Elixirs focused on quantity and had higher profit margins, but the challenge lay in mastering different pill formulas. To go from a beginner to a master in each type of elixir, one didn't know how many batches would be wasted.
Talismans focused on quality. Each talisman is a condensation of a cultivator's spirit, energy and vitality when drawing. A slight mistake would mean the loss of everything.
And for unknown reasons, talisman masters often don't live long.
Like Chen Xiuping, he looked old, but in reality, he was only in his sixties, uh, well, he did seem quite old.
However, theoretically, Qi Refinement Stage cultivators could live more than a hundred years, so being in their sixties could still be considered "young".
Becoming a talisman master was impossible, certainly not for a lifetime of doing homework.
It would be better to refine elixirs and play in the mud.
Moreover, Luo Chen knew very well that his initial Grandmaster Level skill in refining the Fasting Pill could double his income.
Although earning ten stones per month was still not enough to support the cultivation of longevity (net income), at least it was moving in the right direction.
And was there not a new project waiting to be started soon?
Just as Luo Chen was looking forward to a brighter future, Elder Chen tugged at his sleeve.
"Business is coming!"