Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

The rough men of the Demon Hunting Team were very enthusiastic.

They all crowded around him. They were all about the same build, a chaotic bunch, and in the end, Bai Mo couldn’t remember most of their faces.

Lanshan grunted and roughly pushed the men aside.

"All of you, back off! You think crowding around is going to get you a share of Spirit Stones!?"

"I have something to discuss with Shopkeeper Bai!"

As soon as he said this, the others were immediately displeased.

"Hey! We just became partners, and you’re already talking down to us like that!?"

"Yeah, that’s right!"

"Lanshan, your self-control is still lacking!"

It was rare to meet a Pill Master, and one of their own at that. Wouldn’t it be a waste of a golden opportunity not to suck up to him a little?

Lanshan didn’t even glance at the boorish crowd. He just gave a look to Limping Ma, who immediately chuckled and held the others back.

Lanshan then led Bai Mo into the shop, looking for a space where they could talk.

"Today, I’m very grateful that you brought your men, Brother Lanshan..."

Lanshan waved his hand dismissively.

"It was nothing. If you had taken out your Xuandao Sect Token, Shopkeeper Bai, that guy wouldn’t have dared to touch you anyway."

Given the Xuandao Sect’s almost obsessive nature, ordinary people really wouldn’t dare to offend them.

"Don’t be fooled by how happily those people took the Spirit Stones. When it comes to actually fighting, they don’t have the guts."

"If things got out of hand and caught the Xuandao Sect’s attention, it wouldn’t be surprising if they flayed them alive without a second thought."

As he spoke, Lanshan offered Bai Mo a piece of advice:

"Shopkeeper Bai, you might as well show your Xuandao Sect identity Token. It could save you a lot of trouble."

"After all, as long as the city’s handover isn’t complete, the chaos will continue."

Bai Mo listened to him, understanding his meaning, but another question arose.

"Has the Xuandao Sect officially confirmed that they’re taking over Immortal Arrival City?"

"Hasn’t there been no news about it yet?"

Lanshan laughed heartily.

"There are ways to confirm these things."

"Right now, rumors are flying everywhere. Since the Xuandao Sect hasn’t denied them, they’re almost certainly true."

"If they weren’t, a few disciples with too much time on their hands would have jumped out, filled with righteous indignation, to clear their sect’s name."

Bai Mo considered this for a moment. "Alright."

"If someone else comes looking for trouble, I’ll reveal my identity."

With that, Bai Mo sighed.

"This time, however, I’ve dragged you all into this mess, provoking those disciples from that damned Talisman Faction of the Myriad Dharma Sect."

Lanshan didn’t seem to care.

"So what if we provoked them?"

"They wouldn’t dare make a move in the city. And in Celestial Barrier Mountain? Heh, they’d make for a fatter prize than some Demon Beasts!"

Lanshan knew full well who was more important: Bai Mo or a few measly disciples from the Talisman Faction.

Besides, even within their own sect, the Talisman Faction disciples weren’t well-liked. There was really no need to worry.

Be that as it may, Bai Mo couldn’t just act like nothing had happened. He took out the mud-ball-like Pill.

"This is a copy of the Evil Exorcism Pill I made. The main ingredient isn’t Climbing Vine."

"It’s made with White Deer Blood—oh, that’s what you call ’White-Haired Flower’—as the main ingredient. The cost is extremely low."

Before Bai Mo could finish, Lanshan’s eyes lit up.

He shot to his feet.

"Can it be mass-produced?"

Bai Mo gestured for him to calm down.

"Production isn’t difficult, but the medicinal efficacy is... hard to describe. I’m afraid it only has twenty to thirty percent of a real Evil Exorcism Pill’s potency."

"What’s more, it has some rather nasty side effects on the human body!"

As Bai Mo spoke slowly, Lanshan had already calmed down and was sitting upright, listening intently.

"Please explain the details, Shopkeeper Bai!"

Seeing this, Bai Mo began to slowly and methodically explain the Pill to him.

"With only twenty to thirty percent of the potency, when a Cultivator goes into the mountains and gets into a life-or-death battle, they’ll get a Blood Curse on them. They’d probably have to eat these things like candy."

Bai Mo recalled the last time he went into the mountains with a team.

Clearly, the Blood Curse from killing a single Tier One Demon Beast couldn’t be solved by just one of these Pills.

"Secondly, the Pill has a ’cold’ medicinal nature. I haven’t figured out the underlying changes yet, so I can’t alter it."

"If you’re in the mountains and take too many, it’s easy for ’dampness’ to accumulate, affecting your physique."

"If you don’t pay attention to conditioning your body over many years, you’ll be more prone to rheumatic joint pain when you get older..."

Lanshan nodded as he listened, looking thoughtful.

"Then what price are you planning to sell them for, Shopkeeper Bai?"

Bai Mo held up two fingers.

"Two Spirit Stones a bottle!"

"What!?" Lanshan’s eyes widened.

BANG!

He shot up instinctively, knocking over his chair. He stared intently at Bai Mo for two breaths, then suddenly began to pace back and forth.

He muttered something under his breath, his large hands clasped behind his back, unconsciously clenching and unclenching at the air.

Bai Mo watched his somewhat neurotic behavior with a bit of confusion but said nothing.

"Here’s the thing. For the ’White-Haired Flower,’ you have to wait until it’s at its peak growth, when the petals turn blood-red, before it can be used."

"Therefore, since this is just starting out and production volume isn’t high yet, I was thinking of supplying you first. Would that be acceptable?"

Lanshan was breathing heavily. He suddenly sat back down.

"Shopkeeper Bai, from now on, every Demon Hunting Team in Immortal Arrival City will be grateful to you!"

"A Pill that removes the Blood Curse for just two Spirit Stones! In the last two hundred years, who would have dared to even dream of it!?"

He looked incredibly excited, but Bai Mo thought his reaction was a bit over the top.

"What’s all the fuss about?"

"But there’s one more thing. Brother Lanshan, please call someone in. Let’s test the Pill’s effects..."

Lanshan turned and roared to the people outside:

"Ah Ling! Get in here!!"

A few breaths later, a burly man came in, rubbing his hands and ducking his head timidly.

He glanced around before cautiously sitting down.

His perfectly tall and sturdy frame was completely undermined by his demeanor, creating an impression of shiftiness.

Lanshan pointed to the mud-ball-like Pill in Bai Mo’s hand.

"Eat it. It’s for removing a Blood Curse!"

Ah Ling froze.

"Brother Lanshan, it’s been a while since we came back from the mountains. We already took Pills to get rid of our Blood Curses..."

Lanshan looked at him with contempt.

"Just smell yourself. You really think you can hide it?"

"All the brothers know you’ve been helping out at the slaughterhouse at night..."

Hearing this, Ah Ling’s expression stiffened.

"This..."

But he quickly recovered, his expression returning to normal as he said with a chuckle:

"Can’t hide anything from your sharp eyes, Brother Lanshan. But actually, not many of the guys outside know, right?"

"You’ve got to keep it a secret for me!"

Lanshan paused for a moment, sighed, and said:

"Just take the Pill."

Bai Mo handed the Pill over at the right moment. Ah Ling didn’t seem to mind and immediately tossed it into his mouth.

As the Pill entered his mouth, he felt that its texture was a little different from the usual ones. He chewed it a few times and swallowed it whole.

"I’ve long heard that the Pills you guys take, Brother Lanshan, have a different origin from ours."

"Now that I’ve tried it, even the texture is quite different." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

After speaking, Ah Ling suddenly relaxed, sat up straight, and began to circulate his Spiritual Qi.

After a moment, he opened his mouth wide and gave a forceful cough.

Several wisps of red energy came out of his mouth and vanished into thin air.

The Blood Curse he had accumulated from killing a few low-grade, captive Demon Beasts at the slaughterhouse over the past few nights dissipated completely.

Ah Ling scratched his head.

"It’s gone."

"But the Pill’s potency seems a little weak."

As he said this, he caught sight of Bai Mo out of the corner of his eye and suddenly realized, quickly explaining:

"I only say that because the curse in my body wasn’t that strong to begin with."

"I’m sure there are other subtleties to it. Please, Alchemist Bai, enlighten me..."

Lanshan took a deep breath, slung a big arm over his shoulder, and started walking him out.

"This Pill only costs two Spirit Stones a bottle!"