When it comes to cultivating immortality, it naturally starts with upgrading the herb garden.

The next day.

Song Chen went to town with a wooden box containing eight spiritual herbs, intending to visit Zhang Jiu to check on the news of the Hundred Herbs Insect Remedy.

After deducting the cost of cultivation, the remaining 140 spirit stones will all be used to upgrade the [Medicine Field].

[Route 2] Producing one Wanbanhong plant per day is no longer enough to satisfy Song Chen's ambition.

Therefore, he found an excellent route among the many options.

【Route Thirteen】

[Level 2 Function: Increases growth rate by 20%, increases molting probability by 20%, and produces one Blood Vessel per day.]

[Upgrade Requirements: Fifty low-grade spirit stones, ten drops of herbal antidote, five Qi-gathering talismans, and one spring insect and autumn herb.]

There are many reasons for choosing [Route Thirteen], the most important being that it produces a Meridian Opening Grass.

If Song Chen wants to refine Qi Gathering Pills on his own, then Meridian Opening Grass is an indispensable spiritual herb. It is obviously more appropriate to produce it directly than to spend money to buy it.

Moreover, the upgrade materials for this route are quite good, affordable, and easy to find.

Gathering Qi talismans are not uncommon and are mainly used to set up gathering Qi arrays. They are also reasonably priced, with a mid-grade talisman costing eleven spirit stones each.

Song Chen saw this kind of talisman when he went to the shop last time, but he was so busy upgrading the fertilizer room and the night-shining pillar that he forgot to buy it.

The main thing is that these talismans have no other use besides array formations.

Next is the spring insect and autumn grass, a very famous grass worm that eats seeds.

You'll most likely find them at the insect shops in the middle alley.

As for the herbal insect-repelling liquid, Zhang Jiu said he had it, so it's not a problem.

After Song Chen broke through to the fifth level of Qi Refining, the system did not grant him any new buildings, but instead unlocked other functions.

[New buildings will be unlocked after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm]

[Smart upgrade route selection feature enabled]

This function is very easy to understand. It can be based on all of Song Chen's current resources to find an upgrade path that can utilize all of his resources.

For example, the [route n] of this alchemy room.

[Function: Increases the success rate of fire-type pills by 30%. Every day, the refinement of fire-type pills of grade two or lower is guaranteed to succeed.]

[Upgrade Requirements: 100 low-grade spirit stones, learn Fire Shield Technique, learn Shadow Step... 8 Rejuvenation Pills, 1 high-grade Explosion Talisman]

This is the alchemy room that Song Chen upgraded after consuming all his resources. Of course, he wouldn't risk everything to upgrade this route.

After all, the Qi Gathering Pill is not a fire-type pill, and many excellent pills are not fire-type either.

Compared to this route, the daily guaranteed achievement of two items on [Route Three] was even more appealing to Song Chen.

Song Chen put aside his distracting thoughts and entered the Linglong Heavenly Pavilion, where the eight spiritual herbs sold for a high price of one hundred and sixty-five spirit stones.

Of course, after deducting the handling fee, I finally received 162 spirit stones.

The old man was on duty, and this time, his gaze toward Song Chen was still as complicated as ever, as if he was considering something.

Song Chen was too lazy to guess and simply left.

However, this time things took a turn for the worse; when he walked out of the building, two people followed him.

Song Chen noticed it, but he still walked into the talisman shop at a leisurely pace.

After all, on this main street in Huanbei, the other party couldn't possibly make a move openly.

Two Qi Refining Stage 4 cultivators might be a bit troublesome if they possess a large number of magical artifacts, but they should be able to be killed by trickery.

"What does the fellow Daoist need? Our store recently launched a new toy, the Silver Bell, which is perfect for children. Many adults have already bought it for their kids."

Song Chen ignored him, saying that talisman shops always sold some toys.

Five Qi Gathering Talismans.

"Alright... fifty-five spirit stones."

"Give."

He accepted the five talismans.

Song Chen asked, "Do you have any talismans for surprise attacks?"

"What's wrong? Fellow Daoist, are you in trouble?"

Song Chen smiled but did not answer.

Since the shop owner is unknown, let me introduce them:

"This talisman is definitely very suitable for you, fellow Daoist."

The shopkeeper took out a talisman and said, "This is an invisibility talisman, which can last for five breaths. It is extremely difficult for someone with a cultivation level lower than the caster to detect it."

Upon hearing this, Song Chen instinctively felt this was a good thing, a must-have for scheming: "Give me five!"

"Fifty-five spirit stones."

......

As soon as Song Chen stepped out of the talisman shop, the two men followed him, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

Clearly, the two wouldn't give up without being taught a lesson.

But not now.

Song Chen still had things to finish, so he didn't have time to fool around with the two of them.

The talisman shop and the herb shop were close by, so Song Chen ignored the two of them and went straight inside.

As Song Chen entered the store, he could vaguely see the bulging veins on the foreheads of the two men.

One of them shouted angrily, "Boss, isn't he provoking us?"

"Calm down! We absolutely mustn't fight in the street. It would be bad if we attracted the attention of the Lower Sword Sect's inspectors."

Hearing his companion say this, the man suppressed his emotions, stood under the tree, and stared at the entrance of the herb shop.

"Zhang Jiu! Do you still have the Hundred Herbs Insect Relief Liquid you mentioned last time?"

"Huh? What do you need the Herbal Insect Relief Liquid for? I left it at home; I didn't bring it with me."

Song Chen was speechless; it turned out he had talked for nothing last time.

Zhang Jiu, however, didn't take it seriously. Instead, as if remembering something, he smiled and said:

"Why don't you buy a new insect repellent film? The one you bought last time has been used for quite a while, it's going to break."

"...Okay, remember to bring the Herbal Insect Relief Liquid next time, I'll buy some."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiu agreed:

"Okay, I'll bring it to you next week. You can buy it from me at my shop for ten spirit stones a drop, it'll be cheap."

"Selling gold? It's so expensive."

"Five spirit stones per drop, no less than that."

Song Chen waved his hand, indicating that he should bring it first.

"Give me twenty more 'potential gems,' and by the way, do you sell these spiritual herbs?"

Yes, I do! What do you want?

Zhang Jiu took out the seeds and put them in the straw bag. Song Chen took them and put them into his storage bag.

"Three Crimson Flame Grasses, three Green Wood Vinees."

"You want to refine the Crimson Flame Pill?"

"Um!"

In the days that followed, Song Chen would try to visit Feng Sancai less often.

But not going doesn't mean I'm not practicing alchemy anymore.

Alchemy is a good path; it's not only convenient for making money, but also allows you to refine Qi Gathering Pills yourself after advancing to the second-tier alchemist level to aid in cultivation.

This is truly Song Chen's best side hustle at the moment.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiu looked at Song Chen with a hint of doubt.

How could Song Chen, at his age, possibly make money by refining pills on his own?

You probably bought it to practice, right?

He was the eldest son of the Zhang family, and most of the first-grade alchemists he had ever met were elderly people in their seventies or eighties. How could there be a young man like Song Chen?

Zhang Jiu thought Song Chen was just bragging and shook his head.

But when it comes to business, it's a fool not to make money. Maybe people just buy it to practice?

He took out six spirit herbs and said, "One hundred spirit stones."

Song Chen didn't answer, and just stared at the shameless Zhang Jiu.

A batch of pills contains ten pills. If a normal alchemist achieves a 50% success rate and there are no defective pills, the pills can be sold for 55 spirit stones, with a profit of approximately 10 to 15 spirit stones.

The situation at Guanshi Peak is tense right now, and the price of elixirs has also risen accordingly, with profits ranging from about 20 to 25%.

Normally, according to Zhang Jiu's selling method, Song Chen would need a success rate of over 70% to break even.

black!

It's really dark!

Zhang Jiu smiled awkwardly. He just wanted to test Song Chen and see how successful he was at achieving the required level of pill formation.

Given the extreme arrogance of alchemists, Zhang Jiu believed that if Song Chen's success rate in producing pills was over 70%, he definitely wouldn't refuse the offer.

Therefore, Song Chen's success rate in obtaining the pill is probably below 70%.

Zhang Jiu breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing this, further confirming his judgment.

Song Chen was just buying herbs to practice; he wasn't a real alchemist, and even if he was, he wasn't a top-tier one.

After all, only the most top-tier first-grade alchemists can achieve a 70% success rate in making pills.

He quickly corrected himself, "Eighty! No, seventy spirit stones is the lowest I can go!"

Song Chen did a rough calculation and found that seventy spirit stones was not bad, since he could use the system to increase the success rate of alchemy at home.

"OK."

Zhang Jiu's lips curled up, and he thought to himself, "As expected, it was just a practice session. Song Chen is not a true first-grade alchemist."

Song Chen took in Zhang Jiu's expression and a smile crept into his heart.