Chapter 83: Chapter 81: Baili Sudan’s Invitation

After racking his brain for a long time, Su Qing still couldn’t figure out what the "synthesizable" tag behind Alchemy meant.

He started Alchemy again.

In the end, he succeeded three times.

He produced a total of 48 Qi Nourishing Pills, all of them ordinary grade.

That came out to just 48 Spirit Stones.

He had lost more than half of the Spirit Stones he invested. Even with his Alchemy Technique at the Perfection Realm, he had still failed so many times.

Soon, Su Qing went to set up a stall.

If he sold these Qi Nourishing Pills to the Treasure Tower, they would haggle the price down. It was more profitable to sell them himself at his stall—three Spirit Stones for a bottle of four.

Su Qing thought he’d have to wait a long time to sell out of the Qi Nourishing Pills, but to his surprise, many people bought them quickly.

"I’ve taken a huge loss, sigh~"

After a hard day’s work, Su Qing sighed.

He hadn’t earned any Spirit Stones; in fact, he’d lost quite a few.

Everything required Spirit Stones. He knew he might take a loss, but he hadn’t expected it to be this much.

He now had less than a hundred Spirit Stones left.

However, Su Qing could now get a real feel for the Alchemy process. He felt that after a few more refinement sessions, he would definitely grasp more of it.

After being so busy for so long, Su Qing finally got a long-awaited night’s sleep.

「The next day.」

Su Qing went to the Treasure Tower again and bought twenty sets of ingredients for Qi Nourishing Pills.

Then he rushed off to rent an Alchemy Room.

He began refining elixirs once more.

It took him three hours.

Finally, Su Qing finished his work.

Renting the Alchemy Room alone cost him 30 Spirit Stones.

He failed seven times; the rest were all successes.

He had a total of 156 Qi Nourishing Pills.

"Finally, I’m not losing money."

A satisfied smile appeared on Su Qing’s face. Refining elixirs seemed to be getting easier and easier.

Su Qing was determined to set up his stall; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to earn any Spirit Stones.

...

After a long while, a young man approached.

"May I see the elixirs?" the young man said lightly, picking up a bottle of elixirs and sniffing it.

"Not bad, these are indeed Qi Nourishing Pills."

"Did you refine these elixirs yourself?" the young man asked.

Su Qing chuckled. "If I didn’t, do you think some other Alchemy Master refined them for me?"

"Good. I’ll take all of them." With a wave of his hand, the young man placed the Spirit Stones directly into Su Qing’s hand—156 of them.

Su Qing glanced at the amount. ’That’s not right,’ he thought. ’I sell them in bottles of four, so he gave me too many Spirit Stones.’

The young man spoke again, "So, my dear fledgling Alchemy Master, how about I treat you to a meal?"

’Oh-ho, looks like he’s here for me.’

"This..." Su Qing hesitated. ’He wants to recruit me.’

"Alright."

"Hahaha, then please, follow me," the young man said with a laugh.

He introduced himself, "My surname is Baili, and my given name is Sudan. I’m a member of the Baili Family from the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect."

"Baili?"

Su Qing felt like he had seen that name somewhere before.

"Perhaps you’ve heard of the young Celestial Pride of our family, Baili Xuanao."

"He is my older cousin."

"Oh, no wonder it sounded so familiar. I must have seen it on the Celestial Pride List," Su Qing said, realization dawning on him.

Baili Sudan chuckled lightly. "Actually, I’m not here to recruit you on behalf of my family this time, but on behalf of myself."

"Why don’t we discuss the details over our meal?"

As they walked, Su Qing chatted with Baili Sudan and began to learn some general information about Qianjie City.

First, Qianjie City was a place for the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect to earn Spirit Stones. It had many facilities, and most of the things grown here were sold to the outside world.

It was also a place that didn’t reject Demon Cultivators, because the ancestor of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect cultivated both the Demon Dao and the Immortal Dao.

This was why a situation where Immortal Cultivation and Cultivating Demon could coexist peacefully was possible.

Crucially, in the territories under the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect’s jurisdiction, the mortal population had to be maintained at a certain level. Otherwise, they would crack down on the Demon Cultivators.

This also resulted in the Demon Cultivators of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect being relatively well-behaved.

After all, most Demon Cultivators were originally mortals who had practiced a Demonic Cultivation Technique.

The upper echelons of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect, on the other hand, nearly all possessed Spirit Roots.

Baili Sudan also revealed that it was much more difficult for a Demon Cultivator to break through to a major Realm than it was for an immortal cultivator.

Of course, the Gathering Spirit Realm didn’t count, as it was a newly established Realm.

Baili Sudan also mentioned that he himself was just an ordinary person.

It was just that he didn’t want to follow the Demon Dao; otherwise, his family would have sponsored him to cultivate as a Demon.

The two arrived at a private room.

Inside were only Su Qing and Baili Sudan.

"By the way, Sudan, why don’t you want to cultivate as a Demon? No matter how bad the Demon Dao is, it’s still a way to increase your lifespan, isn’t it?"

"Hahaha, the Demon Dao is far too painful."

"Although my family possesses a powerful Demonic Cultivation Technique, that kind of Cultivation is sheer torture, ten thousand times more painful than ordinary demonic techniques."

"Look at those Demon Cultivators at the Qi Cultivation stage. Qianjie City provides places like the Blood Pool and the Five Viscera Temple for them to practice. It’s simply too easy for them."

Su Qing just nodded and asked, "Speaking of which, how can places like the Blood Pool and the Five Viscera Temple provide a continuous supply?"

"Don’t tell me... they’re being farmed?" Su Qing murmured softly.

All the information he had gathered so far seemed to point to that answer.

Baili Sudan laughed and shook his head. "Brother Su, you are still too young. That low-level stuff is all created by Nascent Soul Masters."

"They just have to capture a true Demon Cultivator, cleanse its soul, and then a Master can use a supreme Technique to cultivate its flesh and blood, turning it into what you see."

"I don’t know the exact details of such matters."

"But if you think about it, if they were really farming them, how many mortals would they have to kill every day to support such a large-scale operation?"

Baili Sudan explained, and Su Qing nodded in understanding.

"So, Brother Su, what are your thoughts?"

"How would the profits be split? Since I handle the Alchemy, how would we cooperate?"

"Hmm..."

"For Qi Nourishing Pills, I can supply you with the ingredients, and you’ll be responsible for the refinement. For every ten sets of ingredients I give you, you just need to produce forty Qi Nourishing Pills. I’ll handle the sales. How about we split the profit fifty-fifty?"

"I have a private Alchemy Room here that you can use without paying a rental fee in Spirit Stones."

’That sounds pretty good,’ Su Qing thought. ’I wouldn’t have to buy any ingredients, and I’d get a free Alchemy Room to use. Most importantly, I’d still be earning Spirit Stones. All I have to do is focus on Alchemy.’

’Considering my current Alchemy skill, I can definitely handle this kind of business.’

"In that case, Brother Baili, here’s to a pleasant cooperation."

"Hahaha, to a pleasant cooperation. Let me toast you."

"Likewise." Su Qing also raised his cup, smiling as they clinked their cups and drank.

"However, let me state the harsh terms upfront. You can only perform Alchemy for me, Baili Sudan. If you refine any extra elixirs, those will be your personal property, Pill Master Su. But if you wish to sell them, you must sell them to me first at a low price."

"I also have a few other Alchemy Masters. If you’d like to meet them and exchange some pointers, you’re welcome to."

Baili Sudan said with a smile, and Su Qing felt like he was looking at a shrewd businessman.

"That won’t be necessary. When do we start this Alchemy work?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"That works." Su Qing nodded.

Afterward, Baili Sudan gave Su Qing a tour of the Alchemy Room and his shop.

The doors to two of the Alchemy Rooms were closed.

"That’s Master Li and Master Wang doing Alchemy inside. They’re probably researching a new Pill Formula."

"In fact, providing the Alchemy Rooms is a kind of benefit for you Alchemy Masters."

"It allows you to come here and perform Alchemy anytime. The Earth Fire is also available for use at any time, with no Spirit Stone fee."

Su Qing was very satisfied.

"Since that’s the case, I will take my leave. My residence is nearby."

"Mm, farewell, Brother Su." Baili Sudan smiled as he watched Su Qing leave.

’An Alchemy Master... can he really refine *that* kind of elixir?’

...