Immortality and Cultivation: I can extract entries from all things.

The next morning.

Fang He walked out of the quiet room, his aura more composed than yesterday.

His cultivation at the fifth level of Qi Refining was now stable, and his spiritual energy flowed freely through his meridians, like a smooth river, no longer as stagnant as before.

He used a small amount of spiritual grain and then headed towards the pharmacy.

The market was already bustling in the early morning, with monks moving about, buying medicinal herbs or trading goods.

As Fang He passed by his own spiritual field, he caught a glimpse of the sign for the Zhou family's spiritual field in the distance.

The blue flag embroidered with the character "Zhou" fluttered in the wind.

He paused slightly as Zhou Xiaolan's haughty face flashed through his mind.

His eyes turned slightly cold, then he looked away and continued walking.

I've made a mental note of this grudge.

but not now.

Inside the pharmacy, Master Wu Dan was sorting medicinal herbs.

"Master, your aura..."

Master Wu waved his hand calmly, "I'm old and useless. My lifespan is coming to an end, and my cough is difficult to cure. That's normal."

He slowly walked to the corner of the pharmacy, picked up a jade slip containing spiritual energy, and looked at it.

A slight tremor in the fingers is a sign of lifespan depletion and physical decay.

Fang He saw it all and understood.

Master Wu Dan's gaze fell on Su Yun'er, who was arranging medicinal herbs in the corner.

The girl was busy with her head down, her slender fingers deftly sorting the seaweed, completely unaware of her master's condition.

She was slender, with delicate features and exceptionally skillful hands.

Although he couldn't learn alchemy, he was very skilled at drying and preparing medicines.

Wu Danshi's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only sighed softly.

On the way from the pharmacy to the market, Fang He will touch upon something deeply buried.

Emotions should not be outwardly expressed.

He is Fang He, a rogue cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining, no longer the apprentice who needed to look up to Master Wu Dan.

Wu Danshi's entrustment is both a responsibility and an opportunity.

But he must become stronger to truly take on this responsibility.

The market management office is located at the entrance of Lingyao District, in an inconspicuous stone house.

The market manager was a middle-aged rogue cultivator with a Qi Refining Level 3 cultivation level and a shrewd face.

Upon seeing Fang He enter, he looked her up and sized her up.

"Renting a stall?"

"Yes. A permanent stall in the elixirs section."

The manager retrieved a contract from under the counter: "Location is on the inside, with stable foot traffic. Rent is five spirit stones per month. Three months or one month?"

"Three months."

Fang He took out fifteen spirit stones and carefully examined the contract.

The terms were clear, consisting of standard clauses such as paying rent on time, not selling prohibited items, and cooperating with market management. He picked up his pen and signed "Fang He," and the contract became effective.

"Stall number B7, the third one from the inside. Go and set it up yourself."

Fang He nodded and left the management office.

The next step is to purchase medicinal herbs.

The local herbal medicine vendor "Ji Ren Tang" is located in the central part of the Lingyao area. Although the storefront is small, it has a complete range of herbal medicines.

The shopkeeper was an old cultivator in his fifties with a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivation. He greeted Fang He when he entered.

"What does this fellow Daoist need?"

"Five batches of ingredients for the Peiyuan Pill."

A hint of surprise flashed in the shopkeeper's eyes.

Five furnaces is no small number; most independent cultivators would only buy one or two at most.

He quickly recovered and took the corresponding medicinal materials from the shelf: five portions each of Polygonatum, Ganoderma lucidum, Poria cocos, and Salvia miltiorrhiza, and also prepared some additional auxiliary materials.

"Two batches of Water-Avoiding Beast Elixir."

Prepare the following medicinal materials: two portions each of seaweed, coral powder, and tortoise shell powder.

While packing the medicinal herbs, the shopkeeper said, "Just starting out here, testing the waters of business?"

Fang He nodded: "Let's test the waters."

"It's wise. Order a small amount first, and then decide based on sales."

The shopkeeper accepted the spirit stones, twenty-two pieces, a fair price.

Fang He carried the medicinal herbs to Yi Qi's stall.

The stall was about three feet square, paved with bluestone, and behind it was a fixed wooden shed.

He carefully stored the medicinal herbs and took out the portable alchemy furnace given to him by Master Wu, placing it inside the stall.

The alchemy furnace was small, about the size of a palm, but it was unusually heavy.

The furnace body is bronze in color and engraved with the words "凝火" (Ning Huo). According to Master Wu Dan, it can automatically control the temperature, which is extremely helpful for beginners.

Fang He used his divine sense to examine it and judged its value to be about twenty spirit stones.

This is a very generous gift.

Next is pricing.

He knows the market situation best:

Ordinary Qi-Nourishing Pill, one Eight-Spirit Stone

Top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pill, one 10 spirit stones

Water-Avoiding Beast Pill, one Three Spirit Stone

Initial production: approximately ten Peiyuan Pills and approximately five Bishui Beast Pills.

These data points were quickly weighed in his mind.

He took out five pill bottles and divided the pills into smaller portions.

Superior-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills are packaged in cyan bottles, ordinary Qi-Nourishing Pills in ordinary bottles, and Water-Avoiding Beast Pills in blue bottles.

Each bottle of pills should be labeled with the name and grade of the pill.

Finally, he took out a plain white cloth banner from his storage bag, bit his finger, and wrote the four characters "Fang's Alchemy Workshop" on it.

Even though the handwriting is crooked, as long as the meaning is conveyed, that's fine.

Everything is ready.

Fang He sat on a cushion behind the stall, quietly watching the passersby.

As the sun set, the crowds in the market gradually thinned out. He straightened the last top-grade Qi-Nourishing Pill, the bottle gleaming warmly in the twilight.

There are thirty spirit stones left. This is a very clear calculation:

Initially: Approximately fifty pieces

Expenses: Stall rental of 15 yuan (for three months), medicinal herb purchase of 15 yuan.

Balance: 30 yuan

This is sufficient to support subsequent operations. If the first batch of pills is sold out, the revenue will be approximately one hundred spirit stones, with a net profit of over seventy spirit stones.

This will be his first operating income on Qing'ao Island.

With his Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation flowing through his meridians, an unprecedented sense of security welled up in his heart.

From a spiritual plant grower to an alchemy apprentice, and now to an independent stall owner, he has walked this path cautiously yet firmly.

Zhou Xiaolan's face flashed through my mind.

Fang He's eyes turned slightly cold.

He remembered that debt. The contempt and mockery of the eldest daughter of the Zhou family would one day be repaid.

But not now. Right now, he needs to be patient, he needs to accumulate experience, and he needs to become stronger.

As night deepened, the market gradually quieted down.

The sound of patrol footsteps could be heard in the distance, gradually fading away.

Just as Fang He was preparing to pack up his stall, a figure flashed past at the corner of the market.

Zhou Mingyuan was talking in hushed tones with an old man in gray robes. His gaze seemed to sweep over the area of ​​spiritual herbs before he looked away and left with the old man.

Fang He's pupils contracted slightly, then returned to normal.

Zhou Mingyuan...

The steward of the Zhou family.

Why would he appear in the market at this hour? And why is he having a private conversation with an unfamiliar old man?

His intuition told him that this might not be a coincidence.

But he didn't act rashly. He simply silently noted the scene down, keeping his doubts to himself.

His stall will open tomorrow.