Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 189: Chapter 189: Newcomer and New Medicine

Lifting the lid of the Pill Furnace revealed more than twenty pleasingly round Pills.

The smoke rising from the Pill Furnace swirled through the Alchemy Room, twisting into wondrous shapes like cranes and beasts.

Wei An was entranced.

"Sir, you’ve never used this technique before."

Bai Mo scooped out the Pills. A rich Pill Fragrance filled the air, and they felt warm and smooth in his hand, their lustrous sheen a clear sign of their exceptional value.

As he casually tossed them into a pill bottle, Bai Mo explained,

"It’s a minor technique. It might not look like much, but it’s incredibly useful."

"On a smaller scale, using this in front of people makes your skills look superb and helps you maintain a good reputation."

"On a grander scale, this technique involves a delicate grasp of medicinal properties and potency, so you must learn it."

This technique originated from the methods used to refine mineral pills, which Bai Mo had modified and adapted.

It was originally developed by Pill Masters who refined mineral pills as a way to win the trust of the rich and powerful, but Bai Mo recognized its other merits.

Seeing Wei An’s interested expression, Bai Mo added a comment.

"For you, though, this technique is still a bit flashy and impractical."

"When you can produce Pills with ease, I’ll teach it to you."

Wei An nodded eagerly.

The two worked until midnight, at which point Wei An finally had a moment to go to the tavern by the city gate and bring back two takeout orders of cooked dishes.

Paired with steaming white rice, the two ate with a hearty appetite.

Bai Mo was gradually getting back into the swing of things, his movements fluid and practiced.

The next day, he was up before dawn and already busy in the Alchemy Room.

His neighbor, Sun Qiao, opened his window and saw the smoke rising above. He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

’Still as diligent as ever!’

He felt a little ashamed. ’My cultivation isn’t as good, and now I’m not even as driven to earn money.’

Bai Mo didn’t emerge from the Alchemy Room until the sun was high in the sky, when Lanshan arrived with Qin Wen in tow.

The rich Pill Fragrance lingering around Bai Mo’s body left both men in awe.

Even though Bai Mo was covered in soot and grime, he still seemed as ethereal as an immortal.

Wei An brought over a cloth, and Bai Mo gave his face a casual wipe.

"Don’t mind this," he said. "Alchemy is never glamorous. No one can avoid the smoke and fire."

’To be honest, Lanshan said he’d go find Qin Wen yesterday, but I didn’t expect him to be this fast.’

After suffering a major setback in Celestial Barrier Mountain, the capable-looking man before him had been scrounging for ways to earn Spirit Stones in the city.

A powerful clan was also pressuring him from the shadows, but he refused to submit and had been moving from place to place.

’I thought it would take at least two days to find him.’

"It was a coincidence," Lanshan boomed.

"One of my men saw Brother Qin at the city gate and brought him straight here."

Bai Mo sized up the capable man before him. His face was far more weathered, and his vitality was a shadow of its former self. Bai Mo couldn’t help but sigh.

"Are you still fit for duty?"

Qin Wen chuckled.

"And why wouldn’t I be?"

"My strength has dropped by thirty percent at most. I was already cutting my teeth in Celestial Barrier Mountain when I was at this level."

But Bai Mo could see through the bravado.

"The Demon Beast’s residual poison is still inside you. I’m surprised you can even move freely."

Qin Wen’s expression didn’t change.

"In a few more days, the residual poison should be completely purged."

Bai Mo admired people with such immense willpower, especially those who were also trustworthy. ’This is the kind of person you can entrust with important matters.’

So he invited Qin Wen to take a seat.

"Can you tell me what kind of Demon Beast you encountered?"

"I’ve never seen such a virulent poison."

Since obtaining the Cyan Pouch Pill Scripture, Bai Mo had also studied the sections on medical arts.

It wasn’t hard for him to see now that a significant portion of the flesh and blood in Qin Wen’s body had dissolved away.

His physique, honed over many years, had been partially destroyed with such ease—to say nothing of the vitality and spirit consumed in the process.

The fact that the sturdy man wasn’t even trembling was impressive enough.

Qin Wen’s expression was calm as he said, "It was a type of Demon Beast I’d never seen before."

"It had a serpentine body with two wings, and it was entirely purple except for a single red line on its head."

"It seemed able to command the wind and moved like lightning. I was just lucky to escape with my life."

Bai Mo sucked in a sharp breath. He had Qin Wen stick out his tongue and examined it carefully before saying with a mix of shock and doubt,

"That doesn’t seem to be a poison..."

Qin Wen nodded.

"Probably not. I’ve taken all sorts of detoxification Pills, but none of them eased the pain."

Listening from the side, Lanshan felt his scalp tingle.

"I’ve never heard of a Demon Beast like that..."

’Able to command the wind and possessing some unknown, harmful power... this is far from your everyday beast.’

So he asked for the exact location of the encounter, making a mental note to stay far away from that area in the future.

Bai Mo thought for a moment.

"Alright. Once your condition stabilizes and you get some proper rest, you should be able to recover some of your strength."

"I’d like to hire you to keep watch over the shop. How does a monthly salary of forty Spirit Stones sound?"

That pay was higher than most jobs available in Immortal Arrival City.

Some of the less powerful Cultivators in the Demon Hunting Teams might not even earn that much in a month.

Qin Wen was taken aback.

"Besides watching the shop, are there other arrangements?"

Bai Mo nodded.

"This Pill Shop of mine has plenty of miscellaneous and complicated tasks. You’ll probably have to do a lot of running around."

"Alright."

As long as it didn’t involve Alchemy, Qin Wen had no objections and readily accepted.

He had been all over the city, and aside from a few life-or-death gigs, no one had offered him this kind of pay.

He rose to his full height, bowed, and cupped his fists.

"Greetings, Shopkeeper."

Bai Mo chuckled, accepting this rather formidable new employee. He then gestured toward Wei An.

"For now, just follow Wei An and help him look after things here in the shop."

"If there’s anything you don’t know, just ask him."

Wei An was rather flustered in Qin Wen’s presence.

"I look forward to working with you."

He had heard many rumors about the Demon Hunting Teams.

The strange tales from Celestial Barrier Mountain were a favorite topic of gossip for the idle patrons of Immortal Arrival City, even more so than the affairs of the major sects.

After all, compared to the distant sects, Celestial Barrier Mountain was right next door, and its mystique was in no way inferior.

Wei An was momentarily stunned that such a famous Cultivator, one who made his living in Celestial Barrier Mountain, was now his coworker.

Qin Wen, however, didn’t seem to mind and simply said,

"You can tell me anything regarding shop matters, but leave me out of anything related to Alchemy."

He pointed to a few of the tomes Wei An had placed nearby.

"This stuff makes my head spin just looking at it."

While the two were talking, Lanshan pulled Bai Mo aside.

"Shopkeeper Bai, now that you’re back... about those Pills..."

His eyes shone with anticipation.

With Bai Mo away from the shop for so long, Lanshan and his men had found their supply of Pills running short.

Many of his men had gotten used to being lavish, using Pills without a second thought. Now that they were forced to return to their old, frugal ways, they were crying to the heavens in misery.

This sluggishness was something Lanshan didn’t want to see.

Their usual dauntless momentum in Celestial Barrier Mountain had diminished considerably.

Bai Mo put him at ease.

"Don’t worry. Now that I’m back, how could I let you guys run short on Pills?"

For the sake of that warehouse full of Demon Beast meat alone, Bai Mo had to do his best.

It was too much Demon Beast meat for Wei An to eat alone, so he had gone to great lengths to cure and air-dry all of it for preservation.

It was thanks to this luxurious diet that Wei An’s previously depleted body had mostly recovered.

Now, there was no longer any visible trace of the corpse qi that had once afflicted him.

"I’ve got some new things on hand. I’ll let you try them out another day."

Bai Mo gave Lanshan a meaningful look, and the man’s mood instantly lifted.