Beast Taming: I Have an Immortal Mansion

Chapter 299 - 239: Selling Elixir Pills

"Sea Beast Essence Soul?"

Hearing this request, Shen Wan Jun frowned instinctively. After a moment of thought, she replied apologetically:

"My apologies, Fellow Daoist Jia. We at the *Tufeng* do not deal in such things."

Fang Qingyuan wasn’t bothered by Shen Wan Jun’s refusal. An item like a Sea Beast Essence Soul was a sensitive matter. This was only their second transaction, so being turned down was to be expected.

However, Shen Wan Jun’s claim that they didn’t was a lie.

Because of the Great Zhou Academy, deviant paths like the Soul Dao and the Ghost Dao were always strictly regulated. Since the Sea Beast Essence Soul was related to the Soul Dao, its sale was naturally forbidden, at least openly.

But a sea beast only had a few valuable parts. Besides its essence blood and its flesh, the most valuable thing was its essence. When a sea beast was captured, any powerful merchant house would naturally collect these things in secret.

The *Tufeng* naturally did the same, but it couldn’t be spoken of openly. It seemed he would have to make a dozen or so transactions and build some familiarity before Shen Wan Jun would be willing to offer him Sea Beast Essence.

Fang Qingyuan had inquired about buying Sea Beast Essence as part of his plan for his next type of elixir pill: the Blood Essence Pill. It was a Tier One Superior Elixir that could increase a Cultivator’s total soul energy, making it a niche, high-end, premium elixir.

Since the Bee Queen could refine the Blood Qi Pill so successfully, she should be able to refine the Blood Essence Pill as well. Fang Qingyuan wanted to buy a few sea beast souls to take back and have the Bee Queen try her hand at it.

But compared to Sea Beast Essence Blood, Sea Beast Essence was clearly harder to obtain.

"It was presumptuous of me. Since your esteemed business does not deal in such things, I will simply look elsewhere."

After saying this, Fang Qingyuan rose to leave.

But just then, Shen Wan Jun stopped him. She spoke in a soft voice:

"While our establishment does not deal in such things, I do know a few places that do. If Fellow Daoist Jia trusts me, I would be willing to make an introduction."

"Oh? That is a kind offer, Miss Shen, and I thank you for it. However, there is no rush. We can discuss it next time."

Fang Qingyuan politely declined Shen Wan Jun’s kind offer. Just as she didn’t trust him, he didn’t trust her either. His inquiry about the Sea Beast Essence was just a feeler. If Shen Wan Jun had actually produced it immediately, he would have grown suspicious.

Cultivators had long lifespans; there would be plenty of opportunities to do business in the future. There was no need to rush.

Taking the twenty vials of Sea Beast Essence Blood, Fang Qingyuan departed calmly. Behind him, Shen Wan Jun bit her lip as she watched his retreating figure.

...

With twenty new vials of Sea Beast Essence Blood in hand, Fang Qingyuan calculated that it should be enough for the Bee Queen to refine for three months.

At first, the Bee Queen had been enthusiastic about refining Blood Qi Pills. But over the past month, the initial novelty had worn off, and she had started to get lazy.

’This won’t do. If the Bee Queen doesn’t work hard, how am I supposed to make money?’

’Looks like I have to improve her compensation. Should I build her a new hive and have her pay it off in installments through her alchemy?’

At this thought, Fang Qingyuan felt he was being too evil. ’Playing such mind games with my own Companion Beast... Forget it. I’ll just treat her well with good food and drink. Forcing the Bee Queen to work by putting her in debt over a hive... I can’t bring myself to do something so shameless.’

Inside the Immortal Mansion, the Bee Queen, who was focused on her alchemy, had no idea that her fate had just narrowly avoided endless suffering.

She packed a freshly refined batch of Blood Qi Pills into a jade vial, then used her tail to forcefully carve a stroke onto the small blackboard nearby. With that stroke, a five-stroke tally mark was complete.

The Bee Queen gazed at the more than twenty tally marks on the little blackboard, her heart blooming with joy. This was the fruit of her hard labor over the past two months.

’Each tally mark represents five successfully refined vials of Blood Qi Pills. Master said I’d get one pill from each vial. That means all these tally marks represent over a hundred Blood Qi Pills for me!’

’So many Blood Qi Pills... how should I eat them? One a day? Or maybe three every two days?’

’Heh heh, if those two, Jinbao and Yinbao, knew I had so many Blood Qi Pills, they’d probably die of envy. When the time comes, I’ll reward whoever makes me happy with a pill. Heh heh.’

Thinking of the happy days to come, the Bee Queen’s eyes narrowed into slits. She then happily waddled back to continue refining Blood Qi Pills.

Meanwhile, outside the Purple Bamboo Forest, Jinbao, Yinbao, and the Crimson Young Bird were panting and puffing as they planted Ginseng Seedlings.

...

Having bought the Sea Beast Essence Blood, the first half of his objective for this trip was complete. All that remained was to sell the hundred-plus vials of Blood Qi Pills.

When selling elixir pills, especially in such large quantities, Cultivators would typically supply them to an elixir shop to save time.

But doing so meant the shop would take a cut of the profits. For example, if he supplied the Blood Qi Pills to an elixir shop, Fang Qingyuan could at most sell a vial for two hundred sixty or seventy Low-grade Spirit Stones. The remaining thirty-or-so Low-grade Spirit Stones would be the elixir shop’s profit.

If he didn’t want the elixir shop to earn that margin, he could choose to set up his own stall. However, with over a hundred vials of pills, it would likely take a while to sell them all.

After all, at three hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones per vial, most Qi Refining Cultivators—who were usually short on cash—would have to hesitate for a long time.

As for Foundation Establishment Cultivators, the Blood Qi Pill wasn’t particularly effective, so it wasn’t a must-have elixir for them.

The Blood Qi Pill was most popular among Body Cultivators, but cultivators who focused on Body Refining usually had empty pockets and couldn’t afford much.

Fang Qingyuan didn’t want to just dump the pills on a shop, not because he was reluctant to part with the margin, but because he wanted to use the elixirs to pave the way. He wanted to make a name for himself as a Pill Master and get to know more Cultivators. Perhaps some crucial information could be obtained from these grassroots connections.

Besides, he wasn’t the one doing the hard work of alchemy. Fang Qingyuan had all the time in the world to run a stall.

So, Fang Qingyuan headed toward the inner city. He stopped when he reached a market on the edge of the core district.

’Iron Wind C Society.’

This was the third-ranked market on Iron Wind Island. Among the many markets, it was considered quite decent.

The top two markets were located inside the core district, and the goods sold there were high-end and expensive. The Blood Qi Pills Fang Qingyuan wanted to sell wouldn’t have been presentable there.

After finding the market administrator, Fang Qingyuan showed his credentials, paid ten Low-grade Spirit Stones, and received a stall number plaque.

When Fang Qingyuan followed the number to his stall, he found that the two stalls next to him were already occupied by merchants.

Fang Qingyuan used his spiritual sense to gauge their cultivation levels and found that one was an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator and the other was at Late-stage Qi Refining.

The Iron Wind Islands were much more prosperous than the Southern Border, to the point that Foundation Establishment Cultivators weren’t considered particularly rare here.

The more successful Foundation Establishment Cultivators were mostly hired as Guest Ministers or had their own storefronts. Meanwhile, newly arrived Foundation Establishment Cultivators had to rely on their own skills to get by at first, adapting for a while before making further plans.

If any outliers with ambitions higher than the heavens appeared, the local powers would teach them to behave without the Beast Taming Sect even needing to intervene.

Arriving at his stall and looking at the two-meter-wide space before him, Fang Qingyuan wasn’t dissatisfied. For ten Spirit Stones, this was all one could expect. If he wasn’t happy, he could always pay more to rent a better spot.

But this was just Fang Qingyuan’s first day of testing the waters; he had no intention of making a large investment right away.

He spread a white cloth on the ground, took out a dozen or so vials of Blood Qi Pills from his storage bag, and then, after a moment’s thought, retrieved some spiritual materials he had accumulated over time from his Immortal Mansion and arranged them on top.

With his wares displayed, he just had to wait for discerning customers to approach. Fang Qingyuan had run a stall many times before; he knew the ropes.

Fang Qingyuan had already inquired about the price of Blood Qi Pills. Here in the Iron Wind Islands, the price was quite stable. Perhaps because they often went out to sea, the cultivators here tended to take elixirs that strengthened their physiques to cope with the harsh ocean waves.

Depending on the quality, a vial of Blood Qi Pills could sell for anywhere from two hundred eighty to three hundred twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones. Fang Qingyuan chose a middle price, setting it at two hundred ninety Low-grade Spirit Stones.

It was a good idea in theory, but half a day passed, and everyone who came to ask about prices was only interested in the other spiritual materials Fang Qingyuan had put out.

These were materials Fang Qingyuan had casually accumulated. They were only Tier One Low- or Mid-grade, but they were all top-quality specimens of their kind, which naturally made them popular with Qi Refining Cultivators.

After a long while, Fang Qingyuan had sold a good amount of his other spiritual materials, but not a single vial of Blood Qi Pills. Just as he was pondering whether he had set the price too high, a Cultivator finally came to inquire.

"Senior, how much are you selling these Blood Qi Pills for?"

"Two hundred eighty Low-grade Spirit Stones a vial. It’s cheaper if you buy more."

Fang Qingyuan no longer insisted on the price of two hundred ninety. He was discovering that Blood Qi Pills were truly hard to sell.

But even this price made the person frown. After a few breaths, they finally said:

"Senior, excuse me, but do you sell any dregs from failed Blood Qi Pills?"

"Hm?"