Longevity Begins With The Birth Of A Daughter At An Old Age

Chapter 6: Fivefold Profit

"Eighteen..."

"Tu, why didn't you go to the pavilion to listen to music? Singing at home by yourself?" Xu Mu stepped into the shop and saw a thin middle-aged man lying on a rocking chair, squinting his eyes and singing a tune.

"So it's Xu Dan Shi!"

The middle-aged man opened his eyes, turned his head, and slowly got up.

"The tunes in the pavilion are all old songs, I've heard enough of them. It's more comfortable for me to hum by myself! What? Are you here to sell the Fasting Pill again?"

"Yes."

Xu Mu nodded and took out five bottles of Fasting Pills that he had refined.

"Can't you save up more before coming to sell? It's always so fragmented!"

While Tu examined the pills, he complained.

Although his shop was small, selling just a few bottles at a time was quite nauseating.

"I wish I could! But I'm short on funds! Otherwise, can you lend me some?"

Xu Mu smiled.

He was already over fifty years old and wouldn't be embarrassed or blushed by such complaints.

"If you're willing to give me the pill furnace, I can lend you a few dozen spirit stones. It's not a big deal!"

"The pill furnace is off-limits! It's my livelihood!"

Xu Mu immediately refused.

They had known each other for over a decade and were familiar with each other's circumstances, often joking around.

"Oh? Top-grade!"

Tu picked up one of the pills that emitted a fluorescent glow and smiled.

"It seems like your alchemy skills have finally improved! There's hope for Foundation Building in the future!"

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Xu Mu laughed and scolded.

"Exchange all the spirit stones for the materials to refine Qi Gathering Pills!"

"Oh?"

Tu looked up at Xu Mu, showing a hint of surprise.

"Why, haven't you given up yet? Isn't it good to honestly refine Fasting Pills? You can already refine top-grade Fasting Pills now. As long as you stabilize the quality, you'll definitely earn more than before!"

Tu kindly reminded him.

Before the success rate of the pill reached thirty percent, it was basically burning money.

Given Xu Mu's current conditions, he didn't have much confidence.

"Recently, I've had some insights and feel that my alchemy skills have greatly improved. Maybe I can succeed! The profit from Fasting Pills is too low. I have to take a risk for the sake of my wife and children!"

Xu Mu revealed some information, giving the other party a heads-up.

"Because you have a wife and children, you should be even more cautious!"

Tu reminded him again.

Since Xu Mu started helping his father in the shop, he had been selling pills here. Although his father regarded him as a rotten piece of wood, their friendship of over ten years made him not want the other party to go down the wrong path.

"Just sell them to me. Whether it succeeds or not, it's just a matter of a few spirit stones!"

"Up to you! Just make sure you don't produce useless pills and let me help you sell them!"

Tu took the Fasting Pills and turned to the back hall. In a short while, he brought back three portions of materials.

"The materials for Qi Gathering Pills are two spirit stones per portion. Your pills are only worth five spirit stones. Deducting one spirit stone is my gift to your daughter!"

"Thank you!"

Xu Mu sincerely thanked him.

There are bad people everywhere in this world, but occasionally, there are a few good ones.

Xu Mu put the materials into his storage bag, turned around, and left the medicine shop, heading towards the slum area.

After buying the materials, he was almost penniless now.

Should he not go home and stay in the market to fend for himself?

"At your age, you should know how to settle down. Don't end up with a wife who was cheaply taken by someone else!"

Watching Xu Mu's figure disappear into the distance, Tu muttered, continuing to lie there and hum his own tune.

Although their family was not wealthy, they could live comfortably by running this shop.

Compared to Xu Mu, it was like heaven and earth.

...

There were flying swords overhead, turning into shooting stars.

Majestic spirit beasts roared by the roadside!

People passing by were wearing gorgeous robes, dazzling with brilliance.

Although it is just a small market, it has everything one could need, just like the world of cultivation. Unfortunately, none of this currently has anything to do with Xu Mu.

He carefully made his way through the crowd, avoiding any conflicts with unfamiliar monks.

After leaving the market, he used his light body technique to quickly rush back home.

Sun Daocheng, who was guarding at the entrance of the alley, didn't notice it for a moment, and Xu Mu had already passed by.

Bang bang!

"Ying'er! It's me!"

Ye Yingying looked out through the crack in the door, confirmed that it was Xu Mu, and quickly opened the door with a relieved smile on her face.

Xu Mu walked in and closed the door.

"Husband, why are you back so early today?"

Ye Yingying leaned in Xu Mu's arms and asked.

"Of course, it's because I missed you!"

Xu Mu, in a good mood, played a joke with Ye Yingying.

"Mmm! I miss you too!"

Ye Yingying looked at him affectionately.

"..."

Ahem!

Xu Mu didn't know what to say for a moment.

The two of them cuddled for a while. Because they had just given birth not long ago, Xu Mu didn't dare to go further. He asked Ye Yingying to go back to the bedroom to rest, while he went into the storage room to prepare for refining the Qi Gathering Pill.

"Whether we can live a good life in the future depends on today!"

Xu Mu silently prayed in his heart.

After setting up the alchemy furnace and taking out the medicinal materials, Xu Mu checked them one by one.

Purple Orchid Leaf Grass, Bone-Cleansing Flower, Ink Leaf Lotus, Snake Saliva Fruit, Spirit Gathering Grass...

After checking them twice, Xu Mu finally felt relieved.

He was really tight on money, and if he failed in refining once, he would probably feel heartbroken for a long time.

He closed his eyes and focused, recalling the refining process over and over again to ensure nothing went wrong.

Puff!

With a flick of his finger, the flames ignited.

Xu Mu was completely focused.

The medicinal materials were added one by one in the correct order.

Under Xu Mu's control, the flames continuously revolved around the pill furnace, forming a vortex of fire.

Due to excessive nervousness, Xu Mu's spiritual power was quickly depleted, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. The room was filled with heat.

It was already October, and the weather had long been cool, but Xu Mu's room felt like midsummer.

"When I have money in the future, I must buy an insulated robe. This is really uncomfortable!"

Although the Fire Control Technique controlled the temperature on his body, being roasted by the flames was still uncomfortable.

Moreover, isolating the temperature itself also consumed mental energy.

If he had a robe, it would make his pill refining process much easier.

However, even the cheapest robe required a medium-grade spirit stone, which was the same price as his pill furnace. It was not something he could afford at the moment.

As time passed, the medicinal materials in the pill furnace had completely integrated.

With Xu Mu's use of the spell, after extracting the impurities, the medicinal properties began to settle, and the liquid began to condense.

Buzz!

In the instant the pill took shape, the runes on the pill furnace suddenly lit up.

"Rise!"

Xu Mu's spell flicked upwards, and in the next moment, the furnace lid opened, and eleven round, greenish pills flew out and landed in Xu Mu's palm.

"Eleven pills! Ten are top-grade, and only one is medium-grade!"

Xu Mu's excited hands trembled slightly, and he took a few deep breaths to calm down.

These past few days felt like a dream to him.

From a hopeless life where he could only resign himself to fate, to the birth of his daughter and suddenly awakening the system, his strength underwent a complete transformation.

Everything felt like a dream!

It gave him a sense of unreality!

He was afraid that when he woke up the next day, he would have nothing and couldn't bear to see his wife's exhausted appearance.

Until this moment,

Holding the Qi Gathering Pill in his hand, that tangible feeling finally calmed him down.

Everything else is illusory, only what he holds in his hand is real.

In fact, at his level as a master of Qi Gathering Pills, it is only natural for him to successfully refine them. It would be strange if he failed.

He was just too focused, which made him so nervous.

He put ten of them into a bottle, leaving one to put in his mouth, swallowed it, and closed his eyes to restore his spiritual power.

As the Qi Gathering Pill entered his abdomen, it immediately turned into medicinal power and spread throughout his body.

Xu Mu felt like his body was immersed in cool spring water, generating a sense of transparency from the inside out.

The Perfect Flame Technique operated, and the scattered spiritual energy around him, like migrating birds returning to their nests, poured into his body one after another.

"The absorption speed of spiritual energy has increased by more than fifty percent! No wonder the Qi Gathering Pill is so popular!"

Xu Mu's heart was both shocked and delighted.

He was shocked by the strong effect of the pill.

He was delighted because he had refined it himself.

An hour later, Xu Mu's spiritual power had fully recovered, and there was even a slight improvement, equivalent to two or three days of his previous arduous cultivation.

"It's true that taking medicine feels good in the moment, and taking medicine continuously feels good all the time!"

He opened the system to check and indeed, his cultivation had increased a bit.

Since he got the system, this was the first time his cultivation had improved.

If he continued to take pills every day, he felt that he could break through the fourth level of Qi Refining in two or three months.

Of course, besides the Qi Gathering Pill, there was also the reason for the improvement in his cultivation technique.

This speed of improvement was more than ten times faster than before.

"Should I upgrade the Perfect Flame Technique to the next level?"

Thinking about being able to upgrade to the fourth level of Qi Refining, Xu Mu suddenly became a little impatient.

But thinking about it, he decided to hold off for now!

His primary goal was not to improve his cultivation, but to escape poverty and become wealthy.

With the Master-level Fire Manipulation Technique, he didn't need to rely on improving his cultivation to enhance his strength for the time being.

Next, Xu Mu worked harder and refined the other two sets of medicinal materials into Qi Gathering Pills.

In the end, he harvested a total of thirty-four Qi Gathering Pills, including twenty-nine high-grade, four medium-grade, and one top-grade.

After storing all the pills, instructing his wife, Xu Mu left the house again.

This time, he didn't encounter Sun Daocheng, and he didn't know if he was busy or had given up.

After arriving at the market, Xu Mu didn't go to the Snow Lotus Medicine Shop run by Tu Zhanggui, but instead went to the largest medicine shop in the market, the Song Family Medicine Shop, which sold Qi Gathering Pills.

It wasn't that he was ungrateful, but his alchemy skills had improved too quickly. If Tu Zhanggui had any ulterior motives, their little bit of affection might be ruined.

He could only repay the other party in another form when he had the chance in the future.

"Fellow Daoist, may I ask what you want to buy?"

A maid wearing a blue Daoist robe, tall and slender, with a beauty mark at the corner of her eye, smiled and approached.

Although Xu Mu's appearance and dress were full of the shabbiness of a low-level cultivator, the woman still warmly received him.

Not because of her high quality, but because it was her job.

"I want to sell Qi Gathering Pills! I don't know if you accept them here?" Xu Mu asked.

Although he had lived here for decades, this was his first time at the Song Family Medicine Shop.

He didn't feel comfortable selling the lower-grade Qi Refining Pills he had previously refined, even if others were willing to buy them.

"Of course we accept them! How many do you want to sell?"

When the woman heard that Xu Mu wanted to sell Qi Gathering Pills, her eyes lit up.

Qi Gathering Pills were in high demand and basically in short supply. If she could purchase a large quantity, the shop would have many rewards.

"Thirty pills!"

"Thirty pills?"

The woman's face stiffened slightly.

Just this much?

She had also received alchemists who came to sell medicine before. For first-tier pills like Qi Gathering Pills, they usually sold hundreds at a time, and most of them sold thousands.

She had even seen tens of thousands a few times!

Just a few dozen...

It really was!

"Do you want to verify the pills?"

Xu Mu couldn't see the embarrassment in the woman's expression and calmly asked.

"Of course, of course!" the woman's face returned to normal. Although thirty pieces are a bit few, even mosquitoes are meat.

Furthermore, as a maid, she has no right to drive people away.

"Please follow me!"

Xu Mu was led to a separate room in the back hall, and then the woman turned and left.

Not long after, a bald old man followed the woman and walked in.

"It's you who wants to sell elixirs? Bring them out!" The bald old man was obviously a little impatient.

But due to the rules of the shop, he had to take over.

Xu Mu pretended not to see.

He took out three bottles of elixirs and handed them over.

At first, the bald old man didn't pay much attention, until he saw the top-quality Qi Gathering Pill, his expression became slightly more serious.

He sniffed under his nose, scraped off some powder and tasted it, and his expression suddenly changed.

"Did you refine this pill?"

He looked at Xu Mu, uncertain.

From the color and taste of the pill, it was clear that these Qi Gathering Pills had just been refined.

This high probability indicated that the other party was an alchemist, not someone who had obtained them from someone else.

Although Xu Mu in front of him was a bit older, he was able to refine top-quality Qi Gathering Pills, which meant that his ability to refine Qi Gathering Pills had reached a perfect level.

This was not simple at all!

This indicated that the other party had the ability to mass-produce high-quality Qi Gathering Pills!

Although the Song family had stronger second-tier alchemists, there were not many who could mass-produce high-quality Qi Gathering Pills.

"It's me!"

Xu Mu nodded.

There was nothing to hide about this.

In the future, he would sell them in large quantities, and even if he wanted to hide it, he couldn't.

The reason why I came to the Song family's medicine shop to sell is because the other party has a strong background. This little thing of mine is not worth mentioning in their eyes, nor is it worth their attention.

Seeing Xu Mu's affirmative answer, the bald old man remained silent for a moment and said, "If you are willing to sign a contract with our medicine shop and sell a fixed amount of Qi Gathering Pills to us every month, I can purchase your pills at 80% of the market price!"

After all, they also need to make money, so it's not possible to purchase at the market price.

"If it's 90%, I agree!" Xu Mu spoke up.

Qi Gathering Pills are in high demand, so there is no need to worry about not being able to sell them. Plus, Xu Mu is the only one responsible for the refining process, while the other party does nothing and gets a 10% cut.

So this price is not low!

Of course, Xu Mu could also sell them on the market himself, but without a shop as endorsement, the buyer and seller cannot trust each other, which would be troublesome.

Xu Mu was worried about his wife and didn't dare to waste time on such matters.

"It's impossible! Unless you pass an assessment and join our medicine shop!" The bald old man firmly rejected Xu Mu's price.

"In that case, forget it!" Xu Mu shook his head.

The reason for the refusal, besides the unsatisfactory price offered by the other party, was also because he didn't want to be bound by a contract.

He didn't plan on refining Qi Gathering Pills for the rest of his life.

In the end, the bald old man purchased this batch of pills at 70% of the market price.

And he promised to welcome Xu Mu to sign a contract at any time.

Xu Mu casually agreed.

Although it was only 70% of the market price, the thirty Qi Gathering Pills earned Xu Mu twenty-seven low-grade spirit stones.

Ordinary mid-grade Qi Gathering Pills are one spirit stone per pill, while Xu Mu's pills are superior grade, 1.2 times the value of mid-grade pills. If they were top-grade, they would be 1.5 times the value. In the end, he rounded it up to a whole number.

After deducting the cost of six spirit stones, he made a net profit of twenty-one spirit stones this time.

If we also consider the three pills he consumed along the way, as well as the one he still has on him, the overall profit is five times higher.

"Alchemy masters really make a lot of money!"

At this moment, Xu Mu finally felt the benefits of alchemy!

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(End of this chapter)