Immortality: Starting with the Fruit of Taiyin

Unlike cultivators who have families or sects to rely on, these independent cultivators don't care about anything else.

They were often willing to risk their lives to bring down the emperor.

Even if they cause big trouble, they can simply change their identity and flee to another country.

Or they could venture into the Wanze Mountains and see if the sect cultivators dare to gamble their lives with them.

Even if you block and kill such cultivators, it usually doesn't do you any good.

Therefore, among the various first-tier craft products dumped by those large merchant guilds, items like Breakthrough Pills are considered strategic resources and cannot be sold on a large scale.

On the one hand, from a macro perspective, the speed at which independent cultivators in a country break through their cultivation stages is manipulated to ensure that the number of independent cultivators who have reached the Foundation Establishment stage is not too large.

On the one hand, they recruited outstanding independent cultivators and incorporated them into the pyramid structure of the Tianshan Sect, the Core Formation Sect, and the Foundation Establishment Family, thus nipping the crisis in the bud.

This system has been in place for countless years, becoming the norm in cultivation kingdoms under the rule of sects.

Even the major event of a change of leadership in the Nascent Soul sects only causes temporary chaos, and things will eventually return to normal.

Therefore, under these circumstances, alchemists can become a rare exception among the many first-tier professionals in various arts and crafts.

They were able to turn a profit in the first-tier superior realm and attain a prestigious status.

Besides these, there are only a handful of exceptions, such as first-tier puppeteers who can maintain second-tier puppets, and the profits are often not high.

"In the [White Sun Pill Book], there are two types of Breakthrough Pills that help one break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, which are considered to be the bottom of the first-grade high-quality pills."

"There are five types of Breakthrough Pills that can assist in breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining, and their refining difficulty is almost at the pinnacle of first-tier pills."

"However, in terms of making money, the former can only be said to make a small profit, while the latter truly has no shortage of sales channels."

Wang Xuan was not surprised by the result as he browsed through the alchemical text.

After all, the so-called bottleneck of the fourth level of Qi Refining is only a hurdle for low-grade spiritual roots, but it can be overcome in a few years. Mid-grade spiritual roots only need a few months of refinement and do not require any pills at all.

However, even with a mid-grade spiritual root, reaching the bottleneck in the later stages of Qi Refining requires several years of practice.

If you accidentally spend too much time on it, you may not be able to complete your Qi cultivation before your Qi and blood decline, and thus miss the opportunity to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

For those with low-grade spiritual roots, this is an even greater hurdle that can take more than a decade to overcome.

"Huh, Yu Qinxuan, I didn't expect there to be a shop here."

Upon arriving at the core area of ​​the market, Wang Xuan originally planned to visit the elixir shop opened by the Lu family in the market.

To his surprise, he actually saw the signboard of Yu Qinxuan.

But thinking about it carefully, it makes sense.

As a branch of the Tianfeng Chamber of Commerce in Chen Kingdom, if Wanmiaolou can open a branch here, there's no reason why Yuqinxuan can't...

"Are there any medicinal herbs for sale here?"

After a moment's thought, Wang Xuan stepped inside.

Compared to the Core Formation forces within his own country, the branch of the multinational chamber of commerce made him feel safer.

But before he could reach the counter, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly came from behind Wang Xuan.

"Yes, guests."

"Tianfeng Merchant Guild trades with countries around the world. Even if our store doesn't have it, we can always get it from our branches."

Her voice was soft and gentle, and her eyebrows and eyes were curved.

She descended the stairs on one side, a pale purple veil obscuring her face.

She came to Baihe Market originally for the hidden Lu family spirit, but she never expected to meet an "old customer" she had served before.

"Hmm... I wonder what kind of elixir Mr. Han needs? I'll get it for you right away."

"Anything that is from Chen State, we sell in our store."

"Huh? It's you?"

Slightly taken aback by the words, Wang Xuan looked in the direction of the voice.

"A waiter from the Jade Pavilion in Immortal City... The person's attire was very distinctive, and he remembered him at a glance."

I never expected to run into an acquaintance in Baihefang City, and the other person even addressed me like that.

Mr. Han… coughed lightly, and Wang Xuan remembered him.

Out of caution, although he only went to Xiancheng once, he did refer to himself as "Han Mou" at the time.

After all, when you're out and about, everyone needs an alias...

"The guest is unaware of the situation."

"Yu Qinxuan has shops all over Chen Kingdom, so staff are occasionally seconded... I'm just here to deliver a product that was transferred from headquarters."

With a slight smile, the masked girl explained.

"Goods transferred from headquarters?"

Wang Xuan clicked his tongue slightly. Although he didn't know much about the Tianfeng Chamber of Commerce, he knew that it was a multinational chamber of commerce jointly invested and established by several major forces within the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

The items that can be drawn from their headquarters are either of high rank or extremely rare.

"To be able to afford something like this, one must be a very important person. I truly admire him."

He was subtly testing the waters; if a real person were to arrive in Baihe Market, he would likely have to be more careful in the near future.

However, as if she had seen through Wang Xuan's concerns, the masked girl covered her mouth and chuckled, casually dispelling his worries.

"Well... he's not some big shot."

"Strictly speaking, this is a free gift given to a special client; no money is charged."

"More specific matters involve the privacy of the Chamber of Commerce and our guests, which cannot be disclosed casually—so Mr. Han, is there anything you need?"

"Hmm... I see."

"However, my surname is actually Wang, so I hope you will forgive my ignorance."

With an apologetic smile, and considering that quite a few people in Baihefang City already knew him, Wang Xuan stopped pretending to conceal his identity.

However, the other party's words relieved him; as long as there were no Core Formation cultivators present, that was fine.

As this is the territory of the Xuanfu Lu Clan, even their own family members dare not arbitrarily violate the order they have established and tarnish the family's reputation, but the Core Formation stage is different.

Even if a real person were to arrive, there's a 99% chance it would have nothing to do with Wang Xuan.

But it's like sleeping next to a tiger that's eaten its fill; even if you know it won't eat you, it's still hard to feel at ease.

"I came to Yuqinxuan mainly to inquire about the prices of some spiritual herbs and materials."

"For example, do you know the prices of century-old Zhu Guo, Bi Hen Sha, Ye Jiao Teng, fifty-year-old Dihuang... etc.?"

Putting aside other matters, Wang Xuan recited the names of a series of miraculous medicines.

Most of these are the most common materials used in the late-stage Qi Refining Breakthrough Pill, namely the materials for the Azure Cloud Pill.

Of the five types of elixirs recorded in the Baiyang Danshu, the other four either conform to a certain attribute or sacrifice cost-effectiveness in pursuit of the purity of the medicinal properties.

Considering that these pills weren't made by Wang Xuan for himself, the priority was naturally to earn spirit stones...

"I see, then... Mr. Wang."

With her eyes curved into crescent moons, the masked girl didn't mind Wang Xuan's request and immediately took on the role of a welcoming waitress.

She could, of course, recognize the prescription for Biyun Dan.

In the real world, however, knowing the ingredients in a recipe doesn't mean you know how to buy them, knowing how to buy them doesn't mean you know how to refine them, knowing how to refine them doesn't mean you can successfully refine them, and even if you can successfully refine them, you can't guarantee the quality.

So, just as Wang Xuan openly inquired about the price, almost every rogue alchemist had hoped to refine the Azure Cloud Pill.

He had no intention of selling this kind of pill in Baihefang Market, so there was no need for him to be as careful as a thief trying to hide it, which would only attract extra attention from others.

……

PS: Regarding the price of pills, don't ask me why luxury goods can sell for tens or hundreds of times the profit in reality, but breakthrough pills can't.

Because luxury goods can be purchased without considering cost-effectiveness; the rich buy them for emotional value, while the poor buy them to pay an "intelligence tax."

However, Breakthrough Pills are not a luxury item, and few low-level cultivators in the cultivation world are willing to pay for such a waste of money.

In addition, someone said, "The breakfast stall downstairs from my house has three times the profit"—that's where the problem lies.

In the cultivation world, every alchemist who refines breakthrough pills makes a similar amount of profit. But can the breakfast stall downstairs in your neighborhood do that? If so, why not quickly open a chain of stores, grow big and strong, and become a giant in the catering industry?

Therefore, it is quite normal for individuals to have profit margins of several times or more.

However, an industry typically has a profit margin of several times. If you don't believe me, you can check it yourself. It's basically either a service industry, a luxury goods industry with high added value, or an industry with monopolistic characteristics, whether it's a technological monopoly or something else.

In the novel, this means that high-level professionals in various arts and crafts will have this monopolistic position and control the pricing power of the industry, but first and second-tier pills are obviously not included in this category.

Conversely, for highly skilled alchemists, the profit margins of their peers are of little concern to them.

You can only produce 50% of the pills in one batch, half of which are genuine. This doesn't affect my ability to produce 80% of the pills, all of which are genuine. Then I'll make several times the money from you. That's all.