Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 195: Chapter 195: Acquisition

The horse’s hooves clopped steadily.

The road began to grow bumpy.

The carriage had entered a stretch of unkempt, neglected land.

Two rows of unusually tall trees lined the old road. They were clearly a head taller than trees elsewhere and stood in tight formation.

Bai Mo lifted the carriage curtain. Glancing from side to side, he spotted white bones scattered along the roadside.

He now understood why the trees lining the road were so tall. And seeing how tightly they were arranged, he suspected they had been deliberately planted.

’With the roadside bones for nourishment, at least they saved on fertilizer.’

Qin Wen’s voice boomed:

"These roadside bones... they’re from the severely wounded who were dumped here. Those who didn’t pull through were simply left."

"The locals are too lazy to bury them, so they just pile up."

"As for those still breathing, the ones with a chance to survive, they get taken inside."

As he explained, Bai Mo began to understand.

He recalled the street storybooks—this was the very place where disgraced young masters would be dumped after a savage beating.

But this place held no hidden, ancient secrets to grant them a second chance at glory.

The residents here were lucky to even have clothes on their backs. How could they possibly hide anything?

The carriage trundled along, carrying Bai Mo into what looked like a stockaded village.

The houses here were mostly built leaning against the trees, all crooked and slanted.

The uneven terrain made the village’s layout a chaotic mess, frustrating to even look at.

Hearing the carriage, many people poked their heads out. They were covered in grime, and their eyes were dull and lifeless.

Still, it was clear that many of them, both men and women, had good bones and had likely been handsome or beautiful once.

"Shopkeeper, don’t let their appearance fool you. Back in the day, a lot of these people were the toast of the city."

"They were born into a world above ours. They wouldn’t have even deigned to look at someone like me," Qin Wen said softly.

"I’m aware," Bai Mo replied, his eyes scanning the surroundings. He could sense hidden auras within the village. Though some felt like rootless flames, flickering and unsustainable, they still burned with a scorching energy.

"Are those the people protecting this village?"

Qin Wen turned back, followed Bai Mo’s gaze, but saw nothing. However, he understood his meaning.

"It’s a tacit understanding among them."

"A pack of beaten dogs, guarding the last of their clans. They’ve banded together to keep outsiders from bothering them."

"Outsiders know they’re just waiting to die, so they don’t go out of their way to cause trouble."

"Shopkeeper, if you need people, choose those from collateral branches of families, people who were merely implicated and dragged into this," Qin Wen said. "With your status as a Pill Master and a Sect Disciple, you don’t need to concern yourself with the trivial baggage they carry."

As they reached the deepest part of the village, a slightly plump figure came out to greet them. His clothes were still decent, and his face wore a sycophantic smile.

"Well, well, well!"

"We have an honored guest! An honored guest!"

Qin Wen turned and helped Bai Mo out of the carriage.

"Shopkeeper, please be careful."

The slightly plump middle-aged man saw this and assumed the person in the carriage was of noble status, his smile growing even wider.

"I wonder what brings our honored guest here?"

"I am the humble manager of this place. Might I be of some small assistance?"

Qin Wen took out a Spirit Stone, snapped it in half with his bare hands, and tossed one piece to the man.

"My Shopkeeper requires laborers. We’ve come looking."

Catching the piece of Spirit Stone, the man beamed.

"Of course, of course."

"What kind of laborers are you looking for?"

"We have nothing else here but people, lots of tall and strong ones. You can work them like oxen!"

Qin Wen’s gaze turned icy. A wave of Evil Qi, honed over years on Celestial Barrier Mountain, erupted from him as he snatched the man by the collar.

"What would we do with people like that? They’ve got more baggage than I do! Are you trying to cause me trouble?"

His eyes were devoid of warmth, looking at the man as if he were a pig or a dog. A chill went down the manager’s spine, and his usual brazen attitude vanished.

Qin Wen threw the man to the ground and said coldly:

"We want people with no baggage, who are clever, literate, and preferably know something about pharmacology."

"Hurry up. You took the Spirit Stone, so if you mess this up, you’ll regret it."

The man scrambled away.

The Spirit Stone in his hand felt searing hot, but that didn’t matter.

Just as he had said, they had plenty of people here; he could find any type.

As he left, a small commotion rippled through the nearby area.

Bai Mo turned to carefully survey the surroundings. His gaze fell upon scattered plots of farmland in the distance, and he stared intently for a moment.

Qin Wen noticed, his expression softened, and he asked:

"Shopkeeper, what are you looking at?"

Bai Mo asked, "Those who still have some cultivation, why did they retreat to this place?"

"Wouldn’t it be better to go far away?"

Qin Wen said, "With vicious wolves behind and pursuers ahead, they could only retreat here."

"With new blood to supplement their ranks, the Cultivators here would naturally spare no effort to protect them."

Bai Mo nodded.

"No wonder. Those exiled Cultivators must still have some resources."

He pointed a finger at the distant fields.

"To think I’d find medicinal fields in such a wretched place, and supported by an Array, no less."

The moment he spoke, several nearby hidden auras wavered violently, barely contained.

Qin Wen immediately noticed it too.

He let out a cold sneer.

"A word of advice to you all: some people are not to be provoked."

"And this ’esteemed’ place of yours isn’t exactly some peaceful, forbidden sanctuary either."

His bold words seemed to have an effect; the nearby auras settled.

"Honored one, please do not meddle in this matter. This is our meager income; we hope you will not spread word of it."

An old man pushed open a door and said, trembling.

His aura was unstable, yet it radiated a power that made even Qin Wen wary.

Bai Mo said lightly, "I merely heard of this place and came to procure some labor. I have no intention of getting involved."

Seeing this, the old man cupped his hands in a fist and retreated.

The old man was shrewd with age. He could see that Bai Mo’s aura was perfectly harmonious—a sign of someone not to be trifled with.

’His cultivation is decent. A shame he’s turtled up in this hole, wasting his life away. Figures he’d never amount to anything,’ Qin Wen muttered under his breath. He also looked towards the fields, but he couldn’t see anything special.

"The real medicinal herbs are underground. They’re likely for nourishing one’s qi," Bai Mo explained.

"At best, it merely slows the decay of a Cultivator’s vital energies. Not very useful."

"You work for me now. Even if you’re not an expert in these matters, you should at least understand the basics."

Qin Wen agreed, saying he would definitely pay more attention.

As the two were talking, they heard a few shouts and curses.

The middle-aged man returned, dragging two teenage boys with him. He was still muttering curses, and the boys were trembling in fear.

When he came before Bai Mo, the man’s demeanor changed completely.

He plastered a smile on his face.

"Honored guest, what do you think of these two?"

"These two are from the collateral branch of a small family. They have no real baggage themselves. It’s just that the head of their main family loved to gamble and lost them."

"After many twists and turns, the two of them were brought here as fugitives."

Qin Wen raised an eyebrow.

"’Many twists and turns’?"

The man quickly shoved the two boys forward and waved his hands, explaining:

"They’re both just ignorant kids, how could they have offended anyone? Besides, all their clansmen are long dead now."

"They’re all alone, which makes them easy to control. They’re top-quality goods around here."

Qin Wen decided to believe him for the time being.

"If there’s even a whisper of trouble later, I’ll skin you alive!"

The man just smiled. Qin Wen couldn’t read anything from it, so he turned to look at the two boys.

"Are you two literate?"

The two just trembled and said nothing.

The middle-aged man kicked one of them from the side, but it was no use.

He had no choice but to explain himself:

"They’ve both been to school. They used to be people of status, so being literate is a given."

"And because their family had high hopes for them, they even studied the medicinal classics..."

After some further confirmation, Bai Mo finally accepted the two.

With a clip-clop of hooves, the carriage started moving again and left the place behind.