Immortality Begins as an Alchemy Master 122

Chapter 112: Mind Your Own Business! (Subscription Request)

2024-07-15

Chapter 112: Mind Your Own Business! (Subscription Request)

Luo Chen was unaware that someone else was about to send him a grand gift.

After dismissing Mi Junping, he busied himself again.

Tables, chairs, tea sets, custom-made porcelain cups, charcoal braziers…

One by one, these inexpensive but numerous items were gradually prepared under his supervision.

In this process, the few bodyguards Broken Mountain Sect assigned to him earned their keep, diligently running errands.

In contrast, his preferred shop manager and “milk tea girl,” Feng Xia, did not participate in these preparations.

Her task was to familiarize herself with brewing tea and preparing milk tea according to Luo Chen’s recipes.

Aside from this, Luo Chen also enlisted Gu Caiyi’s help.

Cultivators, to a greater or lesser extent, possess refined tastes. Whether drinking alcohol or tea, simply handing them a drink wouldn’t suffice; it required a touch of elegance, a sense of ritual.

This refined taste is particularly pronounced in wealthy cultivators. For example, someone might idly twirl a folding fan, regardless of how cold it was in winter.

Tianxiang Tower understood this perfectly; Gu Caiyi, having learned from observing, naturally did as well.

He asked Gu Caiyi to teach Feng Xia some visually appealing tea-brewing techniques during her free time.

Or rather, it was more than just techniques.

It encompassed posture, demeanor, gaze, hand movements, and so on.

In short, what was presented to Luo Chen was a scene of a virtuous woman gracefully brewing tea in quietude.

Her extremely form-fitting Daoist robe accentuated her graceful figure. A simple white sleeved jacket added a touch of serenity.

Her hair was styled in a slightly high bun, adorned with a Miao Chang bun (a type of bun often worn by female Daoists). Beneath two azure ribbons, wisps of hair framed a face that wasn’t stunning but was pleasing to look at.

As Feng Xia gracefully added the herbal medicine-infused Fushu deer milk, a steaming cup of Fushu milk tea was successfully prepared.

“Brother Qin, would you like to try some?”

Qin Liangchen quickly waved his hands. “No, no, you couldn’t pay me to drink that stuff again!”

“Forget it, I’ll try it myself!”

Luo Chen took the porcelain cup and sipped it through a bamboo straw recently whittled by his bodyguard.

Feng Xia watched him nervously; Qin Liangchen waited to see the joke.

In the east wing, Duan Feng half-reclined in a rocking chair, also curiously observing the scene.

Without keeping everyone waiting too long, Luo Chen nodded slightly.

“It’s good; almost identical to the milk tea I make.”

Hearing this, Feng Xia relaxed visibly.

She tugged at her form-fitting Daoist robe uncomfortably. “When are we opening?”

“Tomorrow! Isn’t there a batch of death row prisoners who are going to fight demonic beasts? There’s bound to be a large crowd then!”

Luo Chen set the opening date; it had been long enough. There’s no time like the present; the sooner they opened, the sooner they’d start making a profit.

“Also, I’ll add a couple of things. Sister Xia, try to speak as little as possible; focus on making and selling milk tea.”

Feng Xia naturally understood the reason for speaking less. However, she was still a little worried. “Will it really work?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve arranged everything!”

Luo Chen was supremely confident, displaying a self-assured smile.

Seeing his confidence, the others were also infected and less worried.

…

“Little Duan, we might be very busy today; I’ve already prepared your medicine; just heat it up at noon.”

As dawn broke, a hoarse voice echoed through the living room.

Duan Feng, eyes open, mumbled a muffled “Mm.”

He knew that the small shop called “Mixue Bingcheng” was opening today. The owner was Luo Chen, and the shopkeeper was Feng Xia.

In reality, Feng Xia would be doing all the work in the shop.

Nevertheless, he was happy for Feng Xia. Sister Xia was a good person; having a job to support herself was excellent. And the man who provided this job…

His gaze fell on the now empty jade bottle on the bedside table; Duan Feng felt a warmth in his heart.

At Baishi Square, the sky was gradually brightening. Many people were already bustling about, including Yuan Xiaoyue, who had set up her stall early.

As the debate platform became increasingly popular, the commercial atmosphere on Baishi Square grew vibrant.

Even on days without popular battles, the street vendors habitually set up their stalls.

Occasionally, these street vendors would cast their eyes on the nearby closed shops, fantasizing about how much spiritual stones they needed to earn to rent their own shop.

Work hard, and life will only get better!

However, today, these street vendors noticed a small shop that had opened early. Several uniquely shaped flower baskets were placed on either side.

“Is this a new shop?”

Above the shop, a wooden signboard displayed the name: “Mixue Bingcheng.”

“What do they sell?”

Overhearing the discussion among several acquaintances about the shop, Yuan Xiaoyue was also filled with anticipation.

Milk tea was originally meant to be sold by her, but because it was too simple and the taste wasn’t good, she hadn’t sold much. Now, Brother Luo Chen had changed his approach, launching it with such fanfare. Hopefully, it would be a great success!

As more and more people gathered in the square, some also noticed Mixue Bingcheng. They didn’t know what the shop sold, so they weren’t interested.

Suddenly, an incredibly sweet voice rang out:

“You love me, I love you.

Mixue Bingcheng, sweet as honey.

You love me, I love you.

Mixue Bingcheng, sweet as honey…”

Everyone was taken aback, listening to the repetitive lyrics. They were simple, understandable, but still unclear about what was being sold. It was just this song; after listening for a while, everyone’s brains and mouths unconsciously hummed along.

In a corner of the square, Luo Chen, watching the deserted shop entrance, let out a sigh of relief.

The Celestial Harmony Orb he bought from Wanbao Building was indeed effective. He’d recorded the song of a sister from Tianxiang Tower, and then used spiritual stones to activate it, allowing it to sing this advertising jingle he plagiarized at any time.

However, relying solely on this tactic was far from enough to run the shop successfully.

He turned his gaze to the dozen or so familiar cultivators in front of him.

“You’ve all been working hard lately, haven’t you?”

Tang Quan scratched his head. “Not at all; I haven’t been refining pills lately; we’ve been quite leisurely.”

Mi Li, Luo Erduo, and others also nodded.

“I said you’re tired, so you are tired!”

Luo Chen glared at him. “Now I’m giving you a reward; I’m treating you all to milk tea!”

Under everyone’s questioning gaze, Luo Chen gave each of them five spiritual stones, a total of nearly a hundred spiritual stones.

Everyone was delighted!

The Tang Zhu was actually so generous today!

He actually gave out spiritual stones.

“Now, go to Mixue Bingcheng and buy a cup of milk tea each; buy them in line.”

“After you buy them, drink them in the square, praising how delicious the milk tea is, and make sure your voice is loud!”

“After you finish drinking, walk around and come back to queue again. Until you’ve spent all the spiritual stones I gave you!”

“Do you understand?”

Everyone was stunned; it wasn’t a reward of spiritual stones after all!

However, the Tang Zhu asked them to buy this milk tea, and they could drink it themselves. A milk tea costing one spiritual stone; they were going to try what it tasted like!

Usually, these Qi Refining Initial and Middle Stage cultivators barely had a few spiritual stones on hand. Even though they’d heard that Zhongding’s family spent dozens or hundreds of spiritual stones on a single meal, it was just hearsay.

Since they couldn’t afford Zhongding’s family, drinking a cup of milk tea in the square was a treat of its own.

Soon, they swarmed to the small shop of Mixue Bingcheng, lining up outside.

The first to buy milk tea was Tang Quan, who was the fastest.

“Shopkeeper, what do you have?”

Feng Xia glanced at him and pointed to a wooden sign in front of the shop. It read: “Fushu Milk Tea, one spiritual stone per cup.”

Tang Quan didn’t hesitate; he handed over a spiritual stone. “One cup.”

“Hot or cold?”

“Hot, of course. Who drinks cold milk tea in winter?”

Feng Xia nodded and began to prepare the milk tea.

Bored, Tang Quan looked around casually.

First, his attention was naturally drawn to the shopkeeper; nothing unusual, just a pretty good figure!

Second, his gaze fell on the wall behind the shop, where several lines of characters were densely written.

“Fushu Milk Tea, using the milk of the first-rank demonic beast, Fushu Deer, a high-quality milk source. The tea leaves are selected from the thousand-year-old spiritual tea trees in Guyuan Mountain Range, carefully prepared…”

After reading it, Tang Quan couldn’t help but rub his eyes.

What kind of drink had such a grand origin? Demonic beast milk, thousand-year-old spiritual tea leaves, ancient spiritual tea formula, prepared by a tea master; it only cost one spiritual stone?

Unknowingly, a porcelain cup was already handed to him.

Taking the cup, he stepped aside from the line and went outside to the square.

He took a sip; the taste was somewhat strange. The rich milky flavor was light and sweet, leaving a lingering fragrance on his lips and teeth.

Remembering Luo Chen’s instructions, he shouted loudly,

“Delicious!”

This attracted the attention of nearby cultivators.

Tang Quan’s eyes lit up; he deliberately walked past them, loudly saying as he walked, “This kind of spiritual tea only costs one spiritual stone a cup; it’s a steal! I’ll buy another cup tomorrow!”

In a short while, he strolled to the corner of the square.

Luo Chen didn’t look at him; his gaze was fixed on the outside of the Mixue Bingcheng shop. Besides the shills he sent, one or two unfamiliar cultivators had started queuing at the end.

Turning around, Luo Chen patted Tang Quan on the shoulder with a smile.

“Well done!”

“Go queue again later!”

Receiving Luo Chen’s praise, Tang Quan chuckled.

He took another sip of the warm milk tea, thinking that he might try the iced milk tea later to see what it tasted like.

Next, Luo Chen praised several cultivators from the Dan Hall and urged them to continue their efforts.

Then Luo Chen quietly mingled with the crowd, collecting customer feedback.

“This ancient tea formula is amazing; it perfectly complements the beast milk without any fishy smell.”

“The last time I drank milk was the last time. I haven’t drunk it in a long time; it’s a different taste!”

“Did you notice that the shopkeeper’s tea ceremony skills are quite impressive!”

“Cut it out, you guys missed the really good stuff. See this icy cold milk tea I have? Do you know how the shopkeeper iced the milk tea?”

“No, right? She actually used a top-grade ice-type flying sword!”

“Whoa, using a top-grade artifact to make milk tea?”

“To be honest, I didn’t believe the hype, but when I saw her using the cold air from the ice-type flying sword to cool it down, I started to believe it. Without such meticulous methods, how could such spiritual tea be made!”

One sentence after another, Luo Chen collected a lot of feedback.

Finally, after compiling it, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

Based on the current situation, the new Fushu Milk Tea formula was acceptable to cultivators.

These days, anything remotely related to spiritual energy had a market.

The cost of Fushu Milk Tea was very, very low. The beast milk was inexpensive; only Ke Yue Lin charged him three hundred a month. The tea leaves were also cheap; the medicine hall had discovered several tea trees, and if necessary, they could switch to other ordinary tea leaves. As for the herbs, Feng Xia could still get high-quality and inexpensive materials from her former colleagues. Overall, the cost of one spiritual stone worth of materials was enough to make five cups of Fushu Milk Tea.

After deducting rent, custom-made porcelain cups, and other miscellaneous expenses, the profit margin was still considerable.

“It’s hard to say how many spiritual stones we can earn in a month, but with careful management, it won’t be a loss.”

Luo Chen had a rough idea and stopped dwelling on it.

Feng Xia was also an experienced female cultivator, and with Yuan Xiaoyue nearby, the two could support each other, and the shop would be able to survive.

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Furthermore, the enthusiasm of a laid-off cultivator re-entering the workforce was unmatched by ordinary employees.

Leisurely, he returned to the courtyard, only to find someone already waiting for him.

Mi Junping was sitting on a stone chair in the courtyard, her face sullen.

Opposite her was Duan Feng, who was brewing medicine with a sickly appearance, his face pale.

“How can you be so heartless? Don’t you see that the patient is not feeling well?”

Luo Chen hurried over and helped Duan Feng lift the heated medicinal soup.

Duan Feng nodded at him and silently transmitted a message, “This woman has been waiting for you for a long time.”

Luo Chen grunted, helped him back to the room, then clapped his hands and went out.

As soon as he came out, Mi Junping stood up abruptly.

“Are you done with your business?”

“We casual cultivators strive for the Dao; there’s never a day when we’re done.”

“You!”

Mi Junping took a deep breath and, without further ado, patted her storage bag.

Five array flags of different colors appeared in her hand.

She placed them on the stone table and transmitted a message before turning to leave.

“This is a small Gathering Spirit Array borrowed from my father; mind your own business!”

Luo Chen’s eyes lit up, a Gathering Spirit Array!

He’d heard of this name for a long time.

He picked up the array flags lovingly, his mouth unable to stop smiling.

“I will definitely mind my own business, I will!”

…

…

In the room filled with the scent of medicine, Duan Feng put down the porcelain bowl.

Feeling a warm current flowing through his body, gradually spreading to his limbs, the icy qi that had filled his body was also becoming less and less.

“Come out!”

He opened a bag, and a colorful pheasant walked out.

The pheasant was quite large, almost half a person’s height.

As soon as it came out, it lay listlessly beside Duan Feng, without its usual spirit.

Seeing this, Duan Feng sighed. He had been recovering from his injuries, and had been unable to feed this first-rank Yangwu Chicken; if he went hungry for much longer, he would starve to death.

He took a handful of spiritual rice from his storage bag and fed it to the Yangwu Chicken.

Duan Feng uttered a few syllables; hearing this sound, the Yangwu Chicken cooed twice in response.

Seeing this, Duan Feng didn’t hesitate any longer, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to cultivate. The Yangwu Chicken pecked at the spiritual rice while vigilantly guarding him.

Thanks to the small bottle of Qi-Replenishing and Meridian-Nourishing Liquid Luo Chen had given him, his meridians were almost healed. There was still some icy qi in his body, but it couldn’t be expelled with medicinal soup alone. He needed to use spiritual energy to expel the icy qi early, so that he could recover from injuries to his bones and internal organs. But after practicing for a while, Duan Feng noticed something was wrong.

“Why is the ambient spiritual energy so thin?”

…

“So this is the Gathering Spirit Array?”

Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and felt refreshed.

His gaze fell on the five array flags surrounding him, and Luo Chen fell into thought.

The activation of this small Gathering Spirit Array was simple. Only five spiritual stones needed to be inserted into the ends of the flags, and then it could be used for ten or so times. Once activated, the flags would actively absorb the ambient spiritual energy, gathering it within a small area. Cultivators practicing in this area would achieve twice the result with half the effort.

“But most of the spiritual energy in the Inner City is absorbed by those major sect forces; even if I use the small Gathering Spirit Array, I can’t compete with them.”

The sect’s Gathering Spirit Array would only be better than the one Uncle Mi Shuhua gave him. Even after trying it out, Luo Chen only felt that the concentration of spiritual energy around him had increased by three or four parts.

Another effect of the Gathering Spirit Array made Luo Chen’s heart stir.

“Spiritual energy has yin and yang, but also five elements. This Gathering Spirit Array, as long as you use the controlling spell, and take one of the array flags as the main one, you can actively absorb a single element of the five elements spiritual energy.”

“My innate cultivation technique is the Longevity Skill, which belongs to the Wood element.”

“If I were in a place with abundant spiritual energy, and used the small Gathering Spirit Array to transform a large amount of Wood element spiritual energy, then my cultivation speed would be unparalleled!”

Luo Chen did have such a place with abundant spiritual energy. It was the spiritual vein cave beneath Slanted Moon Valley. That was a branch of the first-rank spiritual vein in Luofeng Mountain; it was usually enough to support his cultivation. If he used the small Gathering Spirit Array as well?

…

That night, Feng Xia excitedly returned to the courtyard and found Luo Chen.

“This is today’s income!”

“A total of two hundred spiritual stones!”

“Luo Chen, the milk tea shop is really profitable!”

However, Luo Chen soon poured cold water on her. He mentioned that some of the customers were people he’d found. These were the shills. Later, once Mixue Bingcheng had a stable customer base, he would remove them.

“Subtract these one hundred spiritual stones; the rest is today’s income.”

“And not every day will have a popular competition like today; the income won’t always be this much.”

After hearing this, Feng Xia’s excited mood calmed down. Even so, she was very happy.

Luo Chen took one hundred spiritual stones, leaving the rest with Feng Xia.

“The shop’s income will be settled monthly.”

“I will arrange for people to deliver the materials to the shop.”

“From now on, I’ll leave it to Sister Xia.”

Feng Xia quickly shook her head. “It’s not a problem; after all, I earn spiritual stones too.”

Moreover, her gaze towards Luo Chen was full of gratitude.

Luo Chen wasn’t entirely at ease with this Cultivation World version of “Mixue Bingcheng.” Just like the Chenyue Snack Stall, it was just a small business he casually set up. His main focus was still on alchemy. Compared to the multiple times, or even dozens of times the profit from alchemy, the snack stall and milk tea shop were insignificant. Therefore, just like the Chenyue Snack Stall, Luo Chen gave Feng Xia a share of the milk tea shop’s profits in addition to her fixed salary. It wasn’t much, just five percent, to incentivize her work enthusiasm.

“What about these artifacts?”

Feng Xia took out three artifacts: a pot, an orb, and a sword. The Wave-Absorbing Sea-Containing Pot, the Celestial Harmony Orb, and the ice-type top-grade flying sword.

“Keep them; you’ll need them for the shop. I’ll try to find a heating artifact later, so you won’t have to constantly use the Blazing Flame Purgatory Technique.”

Using the Blazing Flame Purgatory Technique to prepare milk tea also consumed spiritual energy. Using the flying sword for cooling was the same. This was also why Luo Chen gave Feng Xia a share of the profits; if she earned too little, it would be unprofitable compared to the consumption of spiritual energy.

“If the milk tea shop takes off, we might hire more people later, and you’ll be the real shopkeeper then.”

Luo Chen smiled slightly.

He then discussed some shop procedures with Feng Xia, specifically instructing her to regularly send some milk tea to the cultivators of the Jade Tripod Sword Sect. Whether they liked it or not, the attitude had to be there. You never know when people look favorably upon you, and they will help you.

…

The next day!

At the city gate, Luo Chen, dressed in a top-grade green Daoist robe and a white fox fur coat, set off for Slanted Moon Valley escorted by two bodyguards.

Flying slowly in the sky, Luo Chen greeted Liu Qiang, who had recovered from his injuries, then looked back and forth.

Sensing his gaze, Zhou Yuanli quietly explained,

“Two brothers are scouting ahead to check for ambushes and traps.”

“I’ve assigned Dongfang Liang to the rear, responsible for looking for anyone following us.”

Luo Chen gave a thumbs-up; his bodyguards’ skills were getting increasingly better!

He also learned from Zhou Yuanli that Uncle Mi Shuhua had given him a top-grade odd artifact specifically used to detect large-scale spiritual energy fluctuations. This put Luo Chen’s mind at ease. If someone had set up an array trap in advance, it would be difficult to conceal the spiritual energy fluctuations. If he could detect it beforehand, he wouldn’t step into it.

“It seems Uncle Mi Shuhua has really invested a lot in me!”

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