My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 219 Price Increase
After sorting through seventy or eighty porcelain bottles, they only managed to obtain a little over twelve bottles of Zhen Ding Shen Wan (a type of medicinal pill).

"He's heartless."

The remaining items were mostly precious medicinal herbs and a small amount of unknown minerals.

There is also a matte black three-legged, two-eared lidded ding (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel).

The three-legged cauldron is flat and round in shape, with a smooth and warm surface, and the material looks like black pottery.

The lid is carved with cloud patterns along its edge, and the belly is decorated with an unidentified mythical beast, its form flowing and connected from front to back, making it quite beautiful.

There was a spherical button on the top cover. Chen Mu pinched it and tried to lift it up, but he couldn't open it.

The black pottery tripod was placed in the bottom drawer, next to which was an ancient jade slip about the thickness of an arm, densely covered with small gold characters etched on every piece of jade.

"The Primordial Five Qi Furnace?"

"This is an alchemy furnace!" Chen Mu's eyes lit up.

"I've learned something new." It was the first time he had ever seen such a thing.

"Unfortunately, my medicine-making skills aren't good enough," Chen Mu shook his head.

The fifth-tier medicine-making technique is still just for making ordinary medicines.

Even the simplest fasting pills cannot be analyzed for their ingredients and refining methods.

"I'll keep them; I'm sure I'll need them someday," Chen Mu thought cheerfully.

……

Five days later, at Tongtianfang Wharf.

Chen Mu followed Hao Lao, whose face was bruised and swollen, and Shang Huan, whose face was also bruised and swollen, to the boat.

"What brings you two here?" Chen Mu asked, suppressing a laugh but knowing the answer already.

"You fell!" they both exclaimed in unison.

Ah……

"Look at that group of people!" Old Hao's thick skin was no match for Fatty Shang's. Unable to bear Chen Mu's strange gaze, he quickly pointed to the crowd that had just disembarked from the boat not far away and changed the subject.

"Why are you all looking so dejected? What happened?" Chen Mu frowned slightly.

"It's purely out of heartache," Old Hao joked with a chuckle.

"You also returned empty-handed the first time you went to the dojo. Your expression was even worse than theirs back then," Shang Huan teased with a smile.

"Don't laugh at me. When you get there, you'll see a hundred jade coins go down the drain. I'll see if you feel bad then," Old Hao said irritably.

"Why should I care? If I can earn the first hundred, I can earn the second hundred." Shang Huan didn't care at all.

Old Hao immediately fell silent.

This fat guy wasn't exaggerating.

This fat man made a fortune from a fake drug formula.

Chen Mu glanced sideways at Shang Huan; this fat guy was getting a little cocky…

"I heard that a genius emerged this year. He broke through his perception barrier in the dojo, cultivated spiritual light, and was directly admitted to the upper academy." Shang Huan said with envy, "I wish I could be like that too."

"This is impossible even in a dream." Old Hao rolled his eyes: "There are thousands of disciples in the entire lower academy. How many people are like Brother Mo Wuzhou?"

"You know him?" Shang Huan asked in surprise.

"Do you think I wasted these decades in the lower house?" Old Hao said smugly.

"Mo Wuzhou?" Chen Mu became interested.

He broke through at the dojo and directly entered the upper academy?

"Brother Mo is a down-to-earth and honest man. He can grow yellow rice, several kinds of medicinal herbs, and make medicinal wine. He can also dissect strange beasts."

"Looking back now, they really are geniuses. They know so much at such a young age, no wonder they make money."

"In addition, his outstanding talent made it only natural for him to break through his perception."

"It is said that he will directly become a disciple of Master Yuan Rong, the alchemist of the Upper Academy. His future prospects and financial future are immeasurable."

Old Hao's tone was full of envy, but not much jealousy.

Chen Mu glanced at the old man in surprise.

It seems this young man, Mo, is indeed a capable person.

but……

"Can mastering the sensory perception grant direct entry into the Upper Academy?"

"That won't work," Old Hao shook his head. "But you can still go to the lower courtyard."

Chen Mu understood
True disciples of the lower temples can take time off work to cultivate.

These people, who are called disciples of the lower academy, are actually at most laborers of the lower academy.

……

"Guest, here are twenty-two pieces of white jade. Please keep them safe." Inside the Imperial Pavilion, a middle-aged man with a pale face handed Chen Mu a black cloth bag with gold thread.

Twenty bottles of calming pills for twenty-two pieces of white jade?
"Isn't that too much?" Chen Mu looked at the middle-aged man warily.

"Don't you know, sir?" The middle-aged man looked at Chen Mu in surprise: "The price of night-blooming jasmine has gone up."

"I heard there's been an outbreak of needle moth infestation, and many places are experiencing reduced yields. So..." The pale-faced middle-aged man shrugged.

Chen Mu frowned. Rising raw material prices were definitely not good news.

After leaving Yupinxuan, he went to several other herbal medicine shops.

"The price has really gone up."

Chen Mu had no interest in watching the performance by the supernatural beings.

After buying a batch of nightshade, I hurriedly left the boat.

……

Nighttime, in the courtyard of the low hill.

Chen Mu held a palm-sized, withered yellow leaf in both hands and rubbed it continuously.

He stared at the fine powder on the sieve, but his expression wasn't good.

"It used to cost two white jade coins per pound, but now it costs four. The price has doubled."

Short-term shortages can be mitigated by raising the price of calming pills to pass on costs.

If there is a prolonged shortage of materials and prices soar, sales will be severely affected.

"Hoarding and speculating? Making a profit from the price difference?" Chen Mu was tempted, but ultimately shook his head.

"Small quantities are fine, but large quantities are easy to be targeted."

"I don't know if the ten pounds I've stockpiled will be enough."

"I'll go to the underground market tomorrow night and if the prices are right, I'll buy a lot to stock up."

……

The next day, after dinner, Chen Mu changed his appearance, put on a beast-head mask, and arrived at the underground market early.

But after searching the entire underground market, he couldn't find a single stall selling nightshade.

"Someone is buying up and hoarding large quantities of goods?" Chen Mu frowned slightly.

He stopped searching and ignored the growing number of vendors selling the supposedly divine pills.

Chen Mu began purchasing the other ingredients for the Tranquilizing Pill.

It was discovered that although the price increase was not significant, the prices of these materials were also rising.

"Something's not right."

……

Three days later, at the low hill courtyard.

Chen Mu had prepared a large table of dishes early in the morning.

Old Hao and Shang Huan arrived as promised.

"Brother Chen's cooking skills are truly amazing!" Shang Huan's face, which had just recovered from swelling, was full of surprise: "The food at Tianhe Water Mansion's Eight Treasures Restaurant is no better than this!"

"Now you believe me, right?" Old Hao said smugly.

"I just have a fondness for food and drink, which is of no use to cultivation and not worth mentioning," Chen Mu said with a chuckle.

"That's not necessarily true," Shang Huan shook his head.

"It's a pity you can't leave the Lower House."

"Otherwise, you could become a cook at Bazhenlou Restaurant; the pay would be much better than growing yellow sprout rice."

Chen Mu smiled but didn't say anything.

"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask," Old Hao said, puffing on his cigarette with an expression that said, "I know you inside and out."

Chen Mu scratched his head: "Isn't it because the price of the calming pills has gone up?"

"So you want to buy our calming pills?!" Shang Huan was overjoyed.

roll!
I was the one who gave you that fake elixir!

"No, I bought a little extra from Baicaoge. I'm worried about something going wrong, so I wanted to find out why," Chen Mu said with a sheepish grin, scratching his head.

Shang Huan immediately looked disappointed: "How much did you buy?"

"Six bottles," Chen Mu said with a smile.

"Sure," Old Hao chuckled, "but you'd better buy a few more bottles."

Chen Mu narrowed his eyes; it seemed something was indeed wrong.

"It is said that the strange beasts are restless, and some of them have escaped and are attacking the Lower House."

"Bingchen District was mostly destroyed, and all kinds of medicinal materials are in short supply."

"And then there was a pest infestation nearby, and imported medicinal herbs were ridiculously expensive."

"So..." Old Hao chuckled and shrugged.

"I estimate that prices won't come down throughout the entire year," Shang Huan said excitedly to Old Hao. "The higher the prices, the more money we make!"

If I can't conjure any pills, you won't make a penny!

Chen Mu glanced at the fat man but didn't say anything.

Strange beasts are stirring? Are they attacking the lower courtyard's medicinal fields?
If the shortage of medicinal herbs continues for a year, it will have a huge impact on him.

(End of this chapter)