NOVEL NEXT Ch. 29
Chapter 29: Legends of the Immortal
“No need for that.” Chen Beiwu reached out to support Mo Li. “You’ve already given me the reward.”
Mo Li froze on the spot.
When had she ever given the lord a reward? Wasn’t she just getting deeper in debt to him?
“To treat typhoid, I need one medicinal ingredient. I’ll go gather some and come tomorrow to treat him.” Chen Beiwu turned and left, leaving Mo Li standing there with unspoken words.
Back in the cultivation room, Chen Beiwu opened his eyes and saw the dispirited Iron Egg.
“What’s wrong? Still can’t learn it?” he asked with a smile.
Iron Egg barked three times in succession.
Chen Beiwu’s expression shifted. “You mean the spiritual energy in the cultivation room is too thin, and you can’t get into the cultivation state at all?”
Iron Egg nodded.
Some things, once experienced, one simply couldn’t go back!
It had never felt that the spiritual energy at home was lacking, but ever since it had followed its master up the mountain, Iron Egg now felt like it was living in a spiritual energy desert.
Staying home, it couldn’t even bring itself to cultivate the Sun-Eating True Scripture, let alone move.
Chen Beiwu gave it a glance. “Alright, I’ll take you there later. For now, just guard the house.”
Upon hearing this, Iron Egg instantly perked up.
Exiting the house, Chen Beiwu used Wind Control to run toward the integrated industrial zone near the rear mountains of Pingchen Township.
Within the integrated industrial zone were four modestly sized mechanized factories: the Talisman Paper Factory, Formation Disc Factory, Ironworking Factory, and Pharmaceutical Factory.
These factories produced large quantities of talisman papers, formation discs, refined iron, and medicinal ingredients every day, supporting the entire GDP of Pingchen Township.
The owner of the industrial zone was a native of Pingchen Township, also surnamed Chen. Local cultivators looking to purchase spiritual materials or learn the Four Arts of Cultivation usually went to the industrial zone for better prices.
If Chen Beiwu recalled correctly, typhoid, a disease only affecting mortals, could be cured with just one dose of Wind-Dispelling Powder.
Familiar with the route, he headed to the factory market and walked toward the last pharmacy.
The interior of the pharmacy was small, with both sides crammed with plain white medicine bags, exuding a strong medicinal aroma.
Clearly, the white bags contained cheap bulk medicinal ingredients, not even of first-tier exotic herb quality.
At the center counter above, there was a glass display case filled with variously shaped first-tier exotic herbs.
Outside the display case, a gilt electronic screen flashed continuously, listing the names and prices of each herb.
As soon as Chen Beiwu entered, the bell at the pharmacy’s eaves gently jingled.
“Hello, fellow Daoist. What do you need?” A slightly chubby middle-aged cultivator approached the counter.
Chen Beiwu asked, “Do you have any Wind-Dispelling Powder?”
“Wind-Dispelling Powder?” The middle-aged cultivator was a bit surprised.
In the past, mortals needed medicine to cure typhoid, but with the gradual spread of compulsory cultivation education by the Immortal Alliance, the number of cultivators on Sky Abyss Star had increased. Offspring born of mortals and cultivators had significantly stronger physiques.
Even mortals without spiritual roots and unable to cultivate could now live nearly a hundred years.
Times had changed. Typhoid was no longer considered a serious illness among mortals. Even if someone contracted it, they could recover on their own in a week or two.
Thus, Wind-Dispelling Powder—a non-tiered pill with a single use of treating typhoid—had become increasingly obsolete.
The pharmacy owner had run the store for so long and was now encountering someone buying Wind-Dispelling Powder for the first time.
“Yes, we have it. One dose costs two spirit hairs. Buy a hundred doses at once for a twenty percent discount—twenty pieces of lower-grade spirit stones,” the middle-aged cultivator said.
“Two doses will do.”
Since typhoid was contagious, Chen Beiwu bought an extra dose in case Mo Li got infected—he didn’t want to make another trip.
“Alright then.” The cultivator nodded and skillfully grabbed the herbs from various white bags to prepare the prescription.
While paying and picking up the medicine, Chen Beiwu’s peripheral vision caught sight of a message flashing on the electronic screen.
[High-priced purchase of all kinds of second-tier spiritual herbs. Prices negotiable. Guaranteed high payout!]
“Boss, you also purchase spiritual herbs?” Chen Beiwu asked curiously.
“Of course we do.” The owner’s tone grew enthusiastic. “Fellow Daoist, do you want to sell some?”
“You buy all kinds of second-tier spiritual herbs?” he probed.
“We buy them all, but the prices vary.”
The owner understood what he was getting at and raised three fingers. “For second-tier herbs with a clear source, we at Hundred Herb Pavilion can offer high prices. But for herbs with uncertain origins, we have to take on some risk, so we’ll lower the price by twenty to thirty percent.”
‘What a rip-off!’ Chen Beiwu thought to himself.
The secondhand herb market already bought herbs at an eighty percent markdown. If another twenty to thirty percent were shaved off, the final price would be barely half of what the Immortal Alliance official website charged.
At that price, he might as well consume them himself instead of selling at a loss.
“I see.” Without looking back, Chen Beiwu left the pharmacy and conveniently bought a piece of Spiritual Root Testing Talisman at the neighboring talisman shop for five spirit hairs.
...
The next morning.
As soon as Chen Beiwu pushed the door open, he saw Mo Li and her father kneeling on the ground, kowtowing.
“Thank you, my lord, for your life-saving grace!”
This time, Chen Beiwu didn’t stop them.
If kneeling in gratitude could help ease the minds of this father and daughter, then let them kneel.
“My lord, this is for you.” Mo Li stood up and pulled out some still-warm silver from her bosom.
“This is the money I used to buy the Azure Crystal Exotic Herb. What, are you trying to take the herb back?” Chen Beiwu asked deliberately.
“No, my lord, I don’t want the herb.” Mo Li panicked.
She had only thickened her skin to accept the silver from her savior in order to pay for her father’s treatment.
Now that her father had recovered, she couldn’t bear to keep so much silver.
But being tongue-tied, when Chen Beiwu refused her outright, she didn’t know how to explain herself.
“Alright, I know what you mean.” Chen Beiwu waved his hand and looked into the distance. “This bit of silver is nothing to me. Just keep it.”
Mo Li looked at Chen Beiwu blankly, her cheeks flushing as she nodded.
...
Recently, something strange had happened in Shuanghe Village.
Two days ago, the Mo family girl brought back a stranger, and the village chief publicly knelt and called him an immortal.
The villagers were half skeptical, yet none dared refute it.
There were three reasons.
First, the man was too handsome. With nothing to do most days, he always lounged with a black dog under the pagoda tree on the bluestone, listening to the sounds of children reciting in the village school. He never ate, drank, or relieved himself, and occasionally disappeared without a trace.
The village chief said he had returned to the heavens!
Second, old Mo from the west of the village had been gravely ill and on the brink of death. But the day after the immortal appeared, he recovered.
Third, the village chief had strictly forbidden disturbing the immortal. Violators would be heavily punished, stripped of their farmland, and banished from Shuanghe Village.
“Teacher, teacher! Do immortals really exist?” A young boy in the school stood up to ask, his eyes constantly drifting to the window.
The old teacher furrowed his brow and tapped the lectern with a ruler. “There are no immortals in this world. You’re at the age for studying—stop asking about idle tales.”