ebookland Chapter 8 The Little Rich Woman
Chapter 8 The Little Rich Woman
"Is it really a top-quality product?"
Seventh Brother seemed to be thinking about something, a hint of doubt appearing on his face.
"Shouldn't a top-grade pill undergo a pill tribulation before it's formed?"
Seventh Brother murmured, sniffed, and looked around. The space between heaven and earth remained calm and still, without any trace of any strange phenomena.
"You've read too many fantasy novels about alchemists!" Luo Sifan shook his head inwardly. A mere batch of third-grade pills—it would be a miracle if it triggered a pill tribulation.
"The calamity lies within this elixir."
Luo Sifan said something in a cryptic tone.
"Miss Lin, I don't understand what you're saying. What kind of riddle are you playing?"
Seventh Brother is quick-witted and straightforward.
"Seventh Brother, you often fail to recognize the treasures around you. You should learn more in your spare time. The rotten mark in that Rotten Heart Yellow Essence is actually the power of heavenly tribulation!"
"It contains so much heavenly secrets that it can be considered a top-grade material for refining Breakthrough Pills! Charging you 10,000 taels per pill is already a friendly price from me!"
Luo Sifan had come today to sell medicine, and finally got to the point.
Seventh Brother scratched his head:
"I can't make that decision."
At this moment, the red-robed man who was supervising the alchemy exam appeared at the door of the alchemy room, raised his eyebrows and roared:
"Mu Ziyun! Yao Yuanbo! What are you two doing in the alchemy room?"
The red-robed man's questioning gaze swept over the still-warm, ashes-covered cast iron furnace, and lingered on Luo Sifan.
"Sect Leader!"
"father!"
Seventh Brother Yao Yuanbo and Mu Ziyun were both delighted and surprised, and each called out to the man in red robes.
Since the visitor was Mu Ziyun's father, Luo Sifan had no choice but to obediently bow and address him as Uncle Mu.
The man in the red robe looked arrogant and nodded slightly in agreement.
Yao Yuanbo happily stepped forward, holding the red pills:
"Sect Leader! What do you think of this pill? Would you consider it a top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill?"
The flamboyant design of the red pill made the man in the red robe frown. He placed it in his hand and was surprised again after probing it with his spiritual sense.
The surging secrets of heaven are contained within the gentle and refined medicinal powder. The shell of the pill, forged from top-grade spiritual materials, is dense and can be preserved for decades without much problem!
"Good! Good!"
"This pill still retains its fiery essence, clearly it was just refined. Yao Yuanbo! Where did this pill come from?"
The man in the red robe was moved. He first praised Yao Yuanbo, then stared at him with shining eyes.
"Sect Leader, this pill was just refined by this Miss Lin!"
With excitement, Yao Yuanbo recounted everything Mu Ziyuan and Luo Sifan had done that day.
The man in the red robe hummed in agreement, turning his gaze to Luo Sifan and scrutinizing her from head to toe. His initial arrogance gradually softened, as if he had forgotten that his daughter was right beside him.
"Miss Lin! As your uncle, I've heard so much about you! Meeting you today is quite a surprise."
After Yao Yuanbo finished speaking, the man in red robes put the red pill into the pill box in his sleeve and said to Luo Sifan with a radiant expression:
"Such youth, such talent! I, Mu Cundao, have never seen anything like it! Never seen anything like it!"
"Uncle Mu, you flatter me! I am unworthy of such praise!"
Luo Sifan made a few modest remarks.
Mu Cundao's admiration deepened:
"I heard that your pill uses *Polygonatum rottenum* as the main ingredient, and you intend to sell *Polygonatum rottenum* to my Mu family?"
Luo Sifan nodded, wrapped up the remaining eight pieces of Corrupted Polygonatum, and handed them to Mu Cun, saying:
"A hundred-year-old Solomon's Seal produces nine of them on a single tree. It takes too much of the creation of heaven and earth and is bound to suffer a calamity. If it is struck by lightning and survives, a calamity mark will be left on the stem of the hundred-year-old Solomon's Seal. Ordinary people do not know this and mistake this calamity mark for a sign of decay."
Mu Cundao carefully took it, held it in his hands, and examined it, sighing:
"No wonder this rotten-hearted Solomon's seal is so rare, and it's only seen in plants that have been heated for over a hundred years! Niece Lin, your knowledge is truly remarkable. May I ask who your teacher was?"
Luo Sifan rambled on, looking dejected:
“My master was a wandering Taoist priest whom my niece met while gathering herbs in Qishan. I guess he took a liking to my niece and taught her a few techniques of alchemy before he went off to wander elsewhere.”
Mu Cundao smiled slightly:
"Yunzhou is home to many countries and extraordinary people, so it's not surprising that your master has such a temperament. Niece Lin, you are indeed a person with good fortune!"
"Yao Yuanbo said you just produced nine pills in one batch? Each pill is worth three thousand taels, so nine pills would be worth twenty-seven thousand taels, plus eight pills of Corrupted Heart Yellow Essence worth eighty thousand taels, for a total of one hundred and seventy thousand taels of silver. With this price, would you be willing to sell them all to me, Mu Cundao, today?"
Luo Sifan said happily:
“Uncle Mu is willing to help, how could I not be happy? However, I have already given three pills to Sister Ziyun, so there is no need to include the price. Ninety-eight thousand taels in total is enough.”
Mu Cundao nodded in agreement and gestured for Yao Yuanbo to go to the Danlou to get the silver notes.
Yao Yuanbo moved with light steps and soon brought over the silver notes. The two completed the transaction, and Luo Sifan's net worth suddenly increased to over 100,000 taels, making her a small-time rich woman.
Mu Cundao intended to persuade Luo Sifan to stay at the Mu family home for a while, but Luo Sifan declined, citing the troubles at the Lin family's pharmacy.
The three walked and talked. When they arrived at the gate of the Mu family, Mu Ziyun gritted her teeth and pretended to follow Luo Sifan out.
Mu Cundao snorted coldly: "Ziyun! Grandpa has something to see you about, where do you think you're going to run off to again!"
Mu Ziyun stomped her foot, annoyed as she watched Luo Sifan cheerfully bid farewell to Mu Cundao and leisurely walk away without looking back.
"It's worthless!"
Mu Cundao glared at Mu Ziyun, then raised his hand and shouted:
"Give it to me!"
"Take what?!" Mu Ziyun pouted, but still obediently took out the three red pills, muttering:
"It was clearly Lin Daiyu who gave it to me..."
"Raising you all these years didn't cost any money! All you do is cause trouble every day! Do you know how much silver the Qishan Sword Sect took from me before they were willing to take you in?! And you dare to bargain with me!"
Mu Cundao angrily swore a few words, snatched the red pill, examined it carefully, and clicked his tongue in admiration:
"Excellent! Excellent! The shape and medicinal power are almost identical. In less than an hour, you have refined a near-perfect grade three pill with effortless skill. This Miss Lin still has energy to spare! A young genius! The Lin family is blessed!"
Mu Ziyun took his words as having a hidden meaning, her face turned as cold as ice, and she turned and walked towards the Mu family courtyard.
"Come back here! How dare you throw a tantrum in front of me!"
Mu Cundao caught up and grabbed Mu Ziyun's earlobe:
"Come on, let's go to the Ancestral Hall to see your grandfather! Explain how you sneaked back from Qishan first!"
As Luo Sifan turned out of the Mu family alley, he felt a sense of lightness and slowed his pace.
The main road in front of the Yongning Prefecture government office is two zhang wide, with a ten-zhang long blue stone slab in the middle, which has been worn smooth and reflective over the years.
People came and went, and most of the shops along the road set up their stalls, covered with colorful cloths. The stalls were filled with a dazzling array of goods, making the avenue a bit cramped.
Luo Sifan was tall and had an outstanding temperament, making her quite eye-catching in the crowd. Men and women passing by couldn't help but peek at Luo Sifan's ethereal beauty with envy.
However, Luo Sifan knew his own predicament was unbearable. The hairs on his body stood on end in fear, and his mind raced. He had no interest in paying attention to the opinions of bystanders.
A murderous aura, seemingly present yet absent, suddenly followed Luo Sifan.
.