Chapter 62: Spirit Essence

Bottle Alchemy Shop.

Chen Mobai looked at the sign at the entrance, took out the visit card given by Qingnü, and the guard let him in after swiping the card.

"Perfect timing. This is the successfully blended spirit water. You just need to fill and seal the vials."

As one of the top pharmacies in Danxia City, the Bottle Alchemy Shop was well-equipped. Qingnü, wearing a white lab coat, handed Chen Mobai a pot of standard-compliant qi-replenishing spirit water and pointed to a stack of glass vials on the table, which were inserted into slots on a rack.

"What about the rest?"

Chen Mobai put down the three large bags of herbs he was carrying, took the eagle-mouthed pot, and began the sealing process. He then looked at the other half of the liquid that had precipitated in the tank.

"These original liquids have excessive levels of dan toxins. After collecting them, you need to place them in a special sealed bag and hand them over to the Bottle Pharmacy's recycling officer before you leave. They will handle the disposal."

Qingnü, speaking, took a rolled-up plastic bag from a cabinet on the wall, infused it with spirit energy, and it immediately expanded into a square sealed bag.

"This time, there are 20 vials. Your skills have improved."

Chen Mobai steadily filled the uniformly sized glass vials with the blended and diluted spirit water from the eagle-mouthed pot, then sealed the vials.

"The equipment here is better than what my teacher had before, and with the experience from the previous practical session, I've definitely improved. If I were more familiar with this lab's equipment, I could have made 25 vials, nearly a 50% success rate."

Qingnü, having already sealed the non-compliant original liquids, placed them in a special trash bin marked with the word "Toxic."

"Are these the herbs for the next batch? Let me take a look."

Qingnü opened the three main herbs Chen Mobai had brought from the天河界 (Heavenly River Realm), picked them up, and sniffed them, her eyes brightening.

"These herbs are older and more potent than the ones we bought online the last two times. Next time, we might be able to make 30 vials."

Hearing this, Chen Mobai smiled. He had been worried that the herbs from the Heavenly River Realm might not meet the standards here.

"However, the herbs are not well-preserved, and some of their potency has been lost. They need to be used as soon as possible."

Qingnü confirmed the three herbs and gave Chen Mobai a less-than-ideal piece of news.

This was understandable, as the alchemy techniques on Earth had reached their peak, with different preservation methods for herbs based on their properties, and even specialized temperature-controlled storage facilities to maintain their potency.

In the Heavenly River Realm, the best they could do was to keep the herbs dry, ventilated, and cool, which was the result of the hard work of the cultivation families to preserve at least half of the herbs' potency.

"By the way, how much does your teacher charge the Bottle Pharmacy for these qi-replenishing spirit waters?"

Chen Mobai asked, as he planned to buy a powerful talisman to break through the water palace's water thunder technique, but he lacked the merit points.

"My teacher only charges for the processing fee. The herbs are provided by the client. Regardless of the final success rate, the fee is 1000 merit points per batch."

"1000 per batch? That's too easy to earn."

Qingnü, hearing Chen Mobai's words, took out a calculator and did the math for him.

"The Bottle Pharmacy has its own herb fields and factories. The cost of the main and auxiliary herbs is estimated to be at most 2000 merit points."

"My teacher's success rate for refining mid-grade qi-replenishing spirit water is usually over 95%. Each batch, he delivers 40 vials, which can be sold for 200 merit points per vial, totaling 8000 merit points."

"Subtracting the processing fee of 1000 and the material cost of 2000, plus various channel fees, the Bottle Pharmacy makes at least 4000 merit points in profit per batch."

Chen Mobai, after hearing this, couldn't help but exclaim, "Selling medicine is really profitable."

"However, we can't ignore the costs of maintaining such a large scale, including salaries for the herb fields and factories. But selling medicine is widely recognized as the easiest way to get rich in the cultivation world."

The four major disciplines of the cultivation world are spells, alchemy, artifacts, and arrays.

Among them, talismans representing spells are only profitable for daily use, and due to the low entry barrier and high competition, they usually have a profit margin of only about 10%.

Artifacts are similar; combat artifacts don't sell for much, while only cooking and transportation artifacts like flying boats and cars can make money.

Arrays are even more specialized, usually custom-made for entire households, emphasizing brand value, and there are very few manufacturers in this field.

Only the alchemy of medicinal pills has developed to a highly mature level, and it is essential for everyone's cultivation and breakthroughs. However, the cultivation world strictly controls the entry barrier and continuously raises the standards. After thousands of years of competition, six major pharmaceutical giants, including the Bottle Pharmacy, have emerged.

These giants are almost monopolies. If not for the cultivation world's strict price control, ordinary cultivators like Chen Mobai might not be able to afford the medicines even if they managed to purchase them.

"Unfortunately, we're not refining qi-replenishing spirit water for the Bottle Pharmacy, otherwise, they would provide 'Spirit Essence,' which would ensure a success rate of at least 80% each time."

Qingnü looked at the original liquids in the trash bin that needed to be disposed of and sighed.

"Spirit Essence? What is that? Is it an auxiliary herb?"

Chen Mobai asked.

"Yes, something like that. It's a special auxiliary herb used by large pharmacies to filter out dan toxins. My teacher's success rate of over 95% is not only due to his exceptional skills but also because of the 'Spirit Essence' provided by the Bottle Pharmacy."

"Can this 'Spirit Essence' be bought?"

"You're thinking too simply. This 'Spirit Essence' is the fundamental reason why these pharmaceutical giants have stood out in the cultivation world's market competition over thousands of years. Even if a small pharmacy has a fourth-rank alchemist, without Spirit Essence, they can only enjoy a century of glory and can't compete with the giants."

Chen Mobai thought about the countless alchemists in the cultivation world, who, in their pursuit of higher levels, ultimately join the six major pharmaceutical giants.

"Is this 'Spirit Essence' only available from the six major pharmaceutical companies?"

"Not exactly. Spirit Essence is made from crushed spirit stones that have been drained of their spirit energy. It can be collected from various channels, but only the six major pharmaceutical companies, backed by the cultivation world or the four major Daoist academies, have vast reserves of spirit stones."

Chen Mobai was stunned upon hearing this.

"What did you say?"

"What?"

"Spirit Essence is made from spirit stones that have been drained of their spirit energy! That thing can be reused like this!"

Chen Mobai was once again moved to tears by the frugality of the cultivators on Earth.