Chapter 81

"Really a pound?"

At this moment, the clerk was both surprised and doubtful: "Brother, you want so much cinnabar, what do you plan to do with it?"

It wasn't that the clerk was trying to meddle in the customer's affairs or pry into their privacy. The main issue was that cinnabar, unlike other herbs, is toxic and falls into the category of sensitive drugs, similar to arsenic. The state has strict regulations on the sale of such substances.

If Qi Xiang had said he wanted a few grams or an ounce, the clerk would have readily fetched it. However, he said he wanted a pound, which naturally made the clerk hesitant and prompted him to ask for an explanation.

Qi Xiang sighed inwardly, knowing that this was a bit troublesome. Otherwise, he would have asked for ten or eight pounds. He hadn't expected that even a pound would require an investigation.

"I have a use for it..." Qi Xiang found an excuse: "The village is having a festival, and we need some cinnabar to ward off evil spirits."

"Oh." The clerk nodded, not doubting him. After all, in some villages, there were indeed such traditions. During festivals, people would put a dot of cinnabar on children's foreheads or draw talismans on mirrors to ward off evil spirits and ghosts.

Such customs were common in almost every place and were not unusual.

"A pound is quite a lot." The clerk hesitated: "If the quantity is large, you need to report it to the relevant department."

"That's troublesome." Qi Xiang frowned: "What about half a pound?"

"Sure..." The clerk quickly nodded and moved swiftly to fetch the cinnabar.

Cinnabar is actually a mineral, a fine red crystal. The cinnabar the clerk brought looked good, with a dark red color and a faint sparkle.

However, when Qi Xiang saw it, he was somewhat dissatisfied: "This doesn't seem to be vermilion from Chen."

Cinnabar is called vermilion because the cinnabar from Chen Prefecture in Hunan Province is of the highest quality, the best in the world. The ancients preferred to use cinnabar from Chen Prefecture for medicine, alchemy, and as a pigment, and over time, cinnabar became known by this name.

But the cinnabar the clerk brought was not of the same quality as vermilion from Chen.

"Brother, cinnabar is just cinnabar. As long as the quality is good, who cares where it's from?" The clerk patted his chest: "I can assure you that the cinnabar in our store is the best on the entire street. Even if you go to other stores, you won't find better cinnabar."

Qi Xiang remained noncommittal and was picky: "The crystals are a bit small. Do you have any larger ones?"

"Uh?" The clerk was puzzled: "Brother, cinnabar is always like this. How much larger can it be?"

Qi Xiang shook his head slightly, knowing that he couldn't measure the quality of modern ordinary pharmacies by the standards of ancient imperial tributes. He then said: "Alright, I'll take this one, half a pound!"

"Please wait, I'll go weigh it!" The clerk was about to leave but was stopped by Qi Xiang.

"I also need some other herbs..."

Qi Xiang took out a piece of paper from his pocket and indicated: "Weigh them all and pack them together!"

"Huh?"

The clerk glanced at the list and immediately showed a delighted expression, recognizing a big customer.

"Brother, please sit down and have a cup of tea."

After settling Qi Xiang, the clerk immediately got to work. It took nearly half an hour to weigh and pack all the items into a large bag.

Qi Xiang went to pay, and even with mental preparation, the cost still made him wince. At this moment, he clearly realized that Chen Bixue's words were correct: without money, don't play at cultivation; it's better to change careers early.

It's no wonder that in ancient times, famous Taoist masters preferred to cultivate under the patronage of emperors and nobles. It wasn't that they were obsessed with fame and profit; rather, with the help of emperors and nobles, it was much easier to gather various resources.

The Water Moon Hermit was also like this. His cultivation advanced rapidly while in the palace, but once he left and retired to Taihu Lake, his progress stagnated, and he encountered a bottleneck.

If the Water Moon Hermit had continued to cultivate in the palace, he might have had a chance to break through the bottleneck and transcend the heavens.

Of course, this is just a hypothesis. After all, from the situation back then, the number of people who truly reached that realm was very few.

Moreover, not all emperors and nobles in history were believers in cultivation and the pursuit of the Dao.

After all, cultivation and the pursuit of the Dao are selfish acts. Even if a Taoist master had real skills, they used the power of the emperor for their own benefit. For emperors and nobles, they were always primarily about deception.

Perhaps because they were deceived too often, some emperors and nobles learned their lesson and held a skeptical attitude toward these "high people," refusing to pay attention to them.

Real history shows that there were few people with real skills, and even fewer who were willing to support them. This naturally led to the frequent occurrence of charlatans being exposed and beheaded throughout history.

With so many false examples, the truth was naturally obscured. Especially in modern times, any news related to immortals, Buddhas, and spirits is uniformly considered feudal superstition.

Actually, this... is not bad!

Qi Xiang didn't understand this situation before. But after receiving the Water Moon Hermit's legacy, he was surprised to learn that this was a result of the cultivation world's deliberate indulgence and even promotion.

After all, after the great change in the world, the resources for cultivation became increasingly scarce and endangered.

Cultivation itself is difficult, and resources are becoming fewer. It's like a pie; if you take a bite and I take a bite, it will soon be gone. The pie is limited, and if possible, who wouldn't want to eat it all themselves?

In such a situation, who would be willing to give up their limited resources for others?

With resources, it's hard enough to hide them, let alone publicize them. The smartest thing to do is to hide them and tell others that you have no resources, so they don't have to worry about it.

Therefore, ancient cultivators, without needing to coordinate, had a默契 (tacit understanding) to create various real and fake phenomena, making emperors, nobles, and common people uncertain.

If they believed, they would support them. If they doubted, the cultivators could still benefit, clean up, and leave safely. If they could make the emperors and nobles think they were frauds before leaving, it would be even better.

If cultivators are frauds, then cultivation to become an immortal is definitely fake, and there's no need to think about it anymore.

Not only were ancient cultivators cunning, but modern cultivators were probably equally cunning and selfish...

Chen Bixue was like this, and so were Hai Gongzi and Tian Shi.

Chen Bixue was unwilling to be his guide, and Hai Gongzi and Tian Shi were hesitant and didn't want him to be involved in their plans, all because they were afraid of one more person competing for resources.

Qi Xiang grumbled inwardly, possibly with some bias, but it could also be the truth. Regardless, he had bought what he needed, and even though the quality was not the best, he planned to make do.

After buying everything, Qi Xiang returned directly to the estate. Then, he began to busy himself, preparing the cinnabar.

The cinnabar he bought could not be used directly, or rather, it did not meet his requirements.

Qi Xiang felt fortunate that modern transportation and abundant resources, especially in traditional Chinese medicine markets, allowed him to purchase even the rarest and most precious herbs in one go.

Unlike in the Northern Song Dynasty, where some precious herbs were not even available in large pharmacies in big cities like Suzhou, and the Water Moon Hermit had to go deep into the mountains to collect them, which was very time-consuming and labor-intensive.

In this sense, modern society could also be considered a paradise for cultivation.

However, there are always drawbacks. With the rapid development of industry, pollution has become severe, leading to a deteriorating environment and a significant reduction in the potency of herbs, which in turn affects the progress of cultivation.

When Qi Xiang processed the herbs he bought and compared them with the Water Moon Hermit's legacy, it was not difficult to conclude that the herbs of today lacked the spiritual quality of those from the Northern Song Dynasty a thousand years ago.

"Make do with it."

Qi Xiang was helpless and had no better solution. He could only proceed step by step, chopping the herbs into pieces and grinding them into a powder.

After more than an hour, the herbs had turned into piles of powder.

Not only the herbs, but Qi Xiang also took out a few complete Taihu Mystic Pearls and a small piece of Eight Treasures Merit Clay. He crushed and ground these precious items into powder and mixed them with different amounts of herb powder, then stirred them evenly.

During the stirring process, he continuously added cinnabar.

After a while, Qi Xiang finally finished preparing the cinnabar, placed it in the jar he had obtained from the cave at the bottom of Taihu Lake, and poured in half a bottle of strong liquor. He waited for the liquor to soak through the cinnabar and then sealed the jar.

The jar was sealed in a cool, dark place for seven days.

Qi Xiang calculated the time, and as soon as the seven days were over, he immediately took the jar and carefully opened it.

Instantly, a faint red mist rose from the jar, like a red cloud gently swaying in the air, and it took a while to completely dissipate.

"It's done..."

Qi Xiang was pleasantly surprised and eagerly looked down. He saw that the cinnabar mixture in the jar had turned into a bright red, viscous paste.

"The quality is still pretty good."

After a moment, Qi Xiang nodded and picked up a small spoon, scooping a little of the paste into a small dish. He added a few drops of water and slowly ground it.

Using gentle force, he slowly ground the paste. In no time, the paste gradually dissolved into a thick, dense, paste-like pigment.

At the same time, Qi Xiang put down the small spoon and immediately picked up a new brush, dipping the soft bristles into the small dish. The white bristles immediately turned bright red, looking particularly full and lustrous.

The red pigment, like ink, was used by Qi Xiang to carefully draw on a yellow strip of paper on the table. As the brush tip moved, red lines, straight or curved, gradually appeared...

Undoubtedly, Qi Xiang was drawing a talisman.

Because the Water Moon Hermit was a talisman cultivator, a cultivator who entered the Dao through talismans.