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Join the ServerWhen she saw that familiar figure appear again, the shopkeeper’s brow couldn’t help but twitch.
She almost couldn’t resist asking Song Zhiyou why she had come again.
Just as the shopkeeper was wondering what this little apprentice had her eye on this time, the little apprentice produced a pill bottle from her sleeve.
“Shopkeeper, are you buying pills?”
The shopkeeper normally didn’t.
Except for three second-grade alchemists, she only bought pills from a few fixed first- and second-grade alchemists.
The alchemist behind this little apprentice probably wasn’t above third grade either.
After all, someone so stingy likely blew up their cauldron often.
But remembering how the little apprentice had haggled yesterday, the shopkeeper suddenly felt a competitive urge. She wanted to experience the joy of driving a hard bargain too.
She wondered if, when harshly bargained with, the little apprentice’s eyes would well up with tears.
Thinking this, the shopkeeper opened the pill bottle. At first she was careless, but upon smelling the medicinal fragrance, she was startled.
As everyone knew, ordinary first-grade pills had no scent. Only from second grade onward did they gradually emit fragrance.
But the pills in the bottle before her not only had fragrance, but the scent alone made one feel refreshed and invigorated.
The shopkeeper had completely lost any dismissiveness.
Carefully, she tipped out one of the pills.
The fragrance grew stronger. The pill’s color and cloud patterns were exquisite, clearly top quality.
Yet when she saw the pill patterns clearly, the shopkeeper was stunned.
Only one… line?
This was just a first-grade pill?!
The shopkeeper was not only a store owner but also a low-grade pill appraiser.
Realizing the pill was unusual, her interest grew.
“Little friend, may I appraise this pill?”
Song Zhiyou naturally agreed.
That was exactly why she had come.
The shopkeeper immediately took out a pill-extracting tool resembling a silver needle, removed a tiny amount, and placed it in her mouth.
The moment the pill entered her mouth, the shopkeeper’s whole body trembled.
It took a long while before she suppressed the urge to vomit!
Just how much Nourishing Essence Herb had this alchemist put in to make it so bitter?!
But soon, the shopkeeper’s attention was diverted by another matter.
Even if only a trace, she could still feel just how pure the energy flowing into her body was!
And…
A vortex actually formed above her dantian. With a slight sense, she could feel her terrifyingly fast cultivation speed!
The shopkeeper grew even more shocked.
Most importantly…
Her voice trembled. “Little friend, not only is this pill remarkably effective, but it’s also so pure, without any pill poison?!”
Song Zhiyou smiled mysteriously. “Haven’t you already sensed it, shopkeeper?”
Her perfect pills really had no pill poison!
The shopkeeper took a deep breath, holding the pill bottle in her hand, growing more and more reluctant to let go.
This was… a treasure!
Now, all of Song Zhiyou’s previous actions made sense to the shopkeeper.
This alchemist was probably pursuing an unconventional path, creating their own pill formulas!
She knew that behind every pill formula was a genius alchemist, and perfecting each formula required extensive practice.
Correspondingly, that meant a huge consumption of spiritual plants, time, and effort.
Thus, it was only natural for that genius alchemist to be stingy… ah, no, frugal.
For such a perfect pill to appear now, it must have exhausted countless spiritual plants!
“Shopkeeper? Shopkeeper?”
The shopkeeper didn’t snap out of it for a long time, not until Song Zhiyou waved her hand before her eyes again and again.
“Huh? Ah… oh… what?”
Only when Song Zhiyou repeated herself did the shopkeeper fully hear.
The genius little apprentice was asking if she would buy the pills.
“If you won’t buy them, shopkeeper, I’ll go ask elsewhere.”
The shopkeeper jolted and fully recovered. “Buy! Of course I’ll buy!”
A brilliant smile spread across her face. Her originally somewhat world-weary features now appeared gentle and warm.
“Little friend, what should I call you? And what is the name of this pill?”
Song·on-the-spot namer·Zhiyou stepped up: “You can call me Mu You. The pill is called Nourishing Spirit Pill.”
“So it’s Little Friend Mu You. Nourishing Spirit Pill, a good name, a good name! Little Mu, how about selling these three Nourishing Spirit Pills to me for five hundred spirit stones?”
Song Zhiyou was stunned.
Was it that valuable?
Yesterday, all her spiritual plants had cost only a little over two hundred spirit stones. The materials for these pills cost less than one percent of that.
And the time spent drawing them was even less. After getting skilled, she could easily draw twenty or thirty in an hour.
They said alchemists made money, but Song Zhiyou had never imagined it was like this.
But the shopkeeper clearly interpreted Song Zhiyou’s stunned silence as something else.
“Then six hundred? How about six hundred?”
Song Zhiyou: “…?”
Song Zhiyou: “!!!”
Yesterday, she had racked her brains and only managed to haggle fifty-some spirit stones off the shopkeeper. Today, with just a moment of stunned silence, the shopkeeper had offered a full hundred more?
Seeing that Song Zhiyou still didn’t speak, the shopkeeper wanted to say no firmly, but her gaze fell on the pills and she couldn’t bear to let go.
These were pills with no pill poison, combining the effects of many pills, and roughly estimated to last at least three hours!
“How about Little Mu reveals what price your master has in mind?”
What master?
How strange.
Song Zhiyou frowned.
But she was in disguise now, her entire face hidden under the cloak, so the shopkeeper couldn’t see her expression.
It was precisely because she couldn’t see that Song Zhiyou’s silence made the shopkeeper nervous.
Taking a deep breath, the shopkeeper gave her final price: “Two hundred and fifty spirit stones per pill!”
“Little friend, I’m not trying to cheat you. You should know that the most expensive first-grade pills usually cost only a hundred spirit stones each, and everyday ones are only twenty or thirty—and that’s the selling price. Although your Nourishing Spirit Pill is good, it’s still a first-grade pill. At two hundred and fifty spirit stones each, I’ve already shown my sincerity.”
“Furthermore, whatever spiritual plants or fruits you want, I have everything from first to second grade. Even if it’s third grade, I’ll find it for you as long as you say so. I’ll give you everything at cost.”
“Just one thing: do you have more Nourishing Spirit Pills, and can you sell only to me in the future?”
Song Zhiyou hesitated for two seconds, then replied, “I can bring you more pills in two days, and I’ll only sell to you in Heyang City. But… two hundred and fifty doesn’t sound nice. How about two hundred and sixty?”
The shopkeeper didn’t see what was wrong with two hundred and fifty. Wasn’t it just yesterday that this little girl had been calling her ‘two-fifty’ all the time?
But hearing ‘two hundred and fifty’ from Song Zhiyou’s mouth did give the shopkeeper a strange feeling of being offended.
So the shopkeeper agreed quickly—after all, it was only ten spirit stones, nothing compared to the value of the pills.
“Little friend, do you need any spiritual plants? I’ll prepare them in the next few days. If I have them in stock, you can take them on credit in advance.”
Song Zhiyou’s eyes lit up. “I want the ones with pretty colors.”
Shopkeeper: “???”
Pretty colors—what was that?
Song Zhiyou was puzzled. “You don’t have any?”
“No, no… of course I do,” the shopkeeper said hesitantly. Knowing that a cultivator’s quirks were not to be pried into, she ultimately asked nothing.
Instead of showing Song Zhiyou the plants on the counter, the shopkeeper directly led her to the back reception room.
One by one, high-quality, pristine spiritual plants were placed in boxes radiating spiritual energy and displayed before Song Zhiyou.
Even for the same type of plant, these were several times better than what Song Zhiyou had seen in the shop earlier!
The shopkeeper coughed and spoke euphemistically: “The ones on the counter outside are for beginner alchemists to practice on.”
Song Zhiyou was shocked.
Could they really dress up fooling fools so nicely?
The excitement doesn't stop here! If you enjoyed this, you’ll adore Crow's Golden Fragment. Start reading now!
Read : Crow's Golden Fragment
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