Chapter 34: I Don't Mind Giving Myself to You

"Hmm, do you want it or not?"

Gu Caiyi sipped the tea that Luo Chen had poured for her, her willow-leaf eyebrows involuntarily frowning.

What kind of tea is this? It's so bitter!

Across from her, Luo Chen's eyes were gleaming, his heart pounding several times faster than usual.

The Ziyun Bronze Furnace, a standard alchemy furnace produced by the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower.

It's not of high grade, only a first-tier lower-grade, but it has a wide range of applications.

Most of the alchemy techniques commonly used in the cultivation world can be adapted to it.

Moreover, this furnace is inscribed with a Fire Gathering Array, which has unique advantages in regulating the fire.

New alchemists often fail to control the fire, leading to the destruction of the processed raw materials.

But with this array, as long as different amounts of spiritual energy are injected in advance, it can freely regulate the external fire, no matter how strong it is.

The Fire Gathering Array, versatile and flexible, imbued with the nature of the alchemy fire.

Do you ask if Luo Chen wants it?

Of course, he does!

If he had such an alchemy furnace, he wouldn't be stuck with only being able to refine one batch of Zhongmiao Pills per day.

In terms of efficiency, he could refine at least two batches of Zhongmiao Pills per day!

Looking at Gu Caiyi with intense eyes, Luo Chen suddenly reached out and, to her surprise, grabbed her delicate hand.

"Sister Caiyi, are you giving me one?"

"I can, as long as you give me one, even if it means giving myself to you, I have no complaints!"

Gu Caiyi was taken aback for a moment, then she pulled her left hand out of his thick, large hand.

"Get lost!"

"Who said I want you to give yourself to me, you shameless person!"

She rolled her eyes and said seriously, "If you want it, you have to spend spirit stones to buy it."

"Is that so?" Luo Chen sighed dejectedly, "If I could afford it, I would have bought it long ago."

"I didn't mean for you to buy it from the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower." Gu Caiyi, unable to bear Luo Chen's quick change of expression, said, "Xiang Xiang, the courtesan of Heavenly Fragrance Tower, is also an alchemist. She has an idle Ziyun Bronze Furnace. I asked her, and if you want it, she can sell it to you at a discount."

Xiang Xiang, the courtesan, he knew of her.

Beautiful and intelligent, with deep knowledge, especially in water techniques and alchemy.

And the most famous reason for her is that she is a disciple of the Inner Gate of the Joyful Union Sect.

However, no matter how beautiful or famous she is, it has nothing to do with Luo Chen.

What he cares about most is the price!

"A discount? How much of a discount?"

"Three hundred lower-grade spirit stones."

Luo Chen was secretly delighted, but he still showed a difficult expression, "That's so expensive, a second-hand one only costs about two hundred."

"Why don't you buy one then?" Gu Caiyi laughed lightly, "Don't pretend to be poor. This price is already a discount because you're my neighbor. If you really want it, just let me know."

Indeed, this price is quite cheap.

The so-called second-hand price Luo Chen mentioned is the buyback price of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower.

As everyone knows, the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower is the most unscrupulous merchant.

A brand new Ziyun Bronze Furnace costs four hundred and fifty spirit stones.

It's only slightly cheaper than a defensive magical tool, far exceeding other first-tier lower-grade offensive magical tools.

Moreover, since it's an alchemy tool that solitary cultivators rarely use, it's rarely found on the market.

Now that he has encountered it at such a cheap price, Luo Chen naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity.

Luo Chen smiled awkwardly and said hurriedly, "Buy, definitely buy, but I need to wait until I have enough money."

"So poor?" Gu Caiyi looked at Luo Chen with doubt, "Do you even earn spirit stones from alchemy?"

She once suspected that her neighbor might be evicted from the inner city in three months due to lack of spirit stones to pay rent.

"Don't worry about that, I'll definitely bring spirit stones when the time comes!" Luo Chen said confidently.

In fact, he could afford three hundred spirit stones.

Without going into details, he currently has more than four hundred spirit stones in his pocket!

The Flying Swallow Sword sold for one thousand and one hundred spirit stones, and after buying the Qi Nourishing Pills and five magical techniques, he had four hundred left.

Plus the original twenty-odd scattered spirit stones.

To say that Luo Chen was not very poor at this point would be an understatement.

The main reason he didn't buy the alchemy furnace right away was that he didn't need it immediately.

The current batch of raw materials was specially processed for his iron pot.

If he used the alchemy furnace to refine the remaining raw materials, the techniques would not be adapted, and he would need to prepare everything from scratch, including the firewood and the time required for the pills to form.

Therefore, he planned to use up this batch of raw materials, recover the funds, and then consider buying the alchemy furnace.

Damn!

If only there were interest-free large loans for motivated solitary cultivators.

This cultivation world controlled by sects is really too cold to us solitary cultivators!

Days passed in a well-organized manner, with alchemy, taking pills, practicing techniques, and studying.

Luo Chen adjusted the time and frequency of practicing techniques.

He had previously retained the habit of living in the outer city, practicing techniques only superficially every day.

It was only recently that he realized the inner city was already quite safe, and there was no need to always maintain peak magical power.

Therefore, he could use more magical power to become proficient in the new techniques he had learned.

In his spare time, he would chat with Gu Caiyi about the cultivation world.

He was also curious why he never saw Gu Caiyi practicing.

After Gu Caiyi explained, he finally understood.

It turned out that Gu Caiyi usually practiced at the Heavenly Fragrance Tower, where a Spirit Gathering Array was set up to increase the concentration of spiritual energy by one level.

Of course, the concentration of spiritual energy in a first-tier spirit vein is limited. If someone gathers spiritual energy, others naturally won't get the full concentration.

Yes, the latter refers to Luo Chen and other solitary cultivators living there.

The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect is also a big unscrupulous merchant. What about the high-quality housing with a first-tier spirit vein they promised?

It turns out that the spiritual energy they absorb is what's left after others have filtered it.

During this period, he occasionally encountered Bai Meiling, the round-faced woman.

Not often, as the Hundred Herbs Hall was very busy recently, with people from the Medicine King Sect coming to inventory and move a batch of collected spiritual herbs.

As for the other resident of this courtyard, Luo Chen had never seen her.

"Fu Xiuxiu is a manager at the Divine Talisman Pavilion and usually lives there. Moreover, it's said that her talisman-making skills are very high, and she has a good chance of being accepted into the Divine Talisman Sect."

This is what Gu Caiyi told Luo Chen.

After hearing it, Luo Chen was very envious.

Being able to join a sect is a rare opportunity that many solitary cultivators can only dream of.

He didn't know if he would have the chance to join a powerful sect.

His requirements were not high, something like the Joyful Union Sect would be fine.

In the market, he would tell everyone that Yunhe Shangren was his idol.

Thus, Luo Chen worked overtime and finished using all the materials before the big market day.

The final results were very satisfying!

The last twenty-five sets of raw materials successfully produced five batches.

This means that his success rate in refining Zhongmiao Pills had increased from one in ten to two in ten!

In terms of cost control, this is a qualitative improvement.

Initially, with a cost of fifty spirit stones, he could refine ten batches, with one successful batch, selling for fifty spirit stones, breaking even.

Oh, no, actually, it was a loss.

If he had spent the same time refining the Spirit Grain Powder, he could have earned several dozen spirit stones.

So, at that time, he was indeed at a loss.

Now, or in the future.

With the same cost of fifty spirit stones, he can successfully refine two out of ten batches, selling for one hundred spirit stones, with a net profit of fifty spirit stones.

This profit margin, as long as he is willing to invest, would make Luo Chen count spirit stones until his hands were sore.

"This is just the proficient level. What if I improve to the expert level, the perfect level, or even the grandmaster level?"

Luo Chen was very excited.

Then, on a misty morning, he rushed to the southern city's solitary cultivator market like an early-morning vegetable vendor.

Today will be a day full of harvest!

(End of Chapter)