Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Black Market

"Is 'Glauber' really that expensive?"

"Sir, you don't know this, but the world outside the city is in great chaos right now. There are far fewer people going to the Black Rock Mountains to gather herbs. We'd be losing money selling at this price!"

Han Yi only asked one question, and the pharmacy clerk immediately started complaining and groaning.

'Taihetang' is a pharmacy located in Yuqingfang.

In Anyan City, each ward is equivalent to a town, and it has basic living facilities.

Han Yi found a pharmacy near Qiuzhu Alley to inquire about the price of 'Glauber's Salt', but he didn't expect that one pound of 'Glauber's Salt' would cost two taels of silver.

He had glanced at the 'Thunderbolt Palm Technique' a few times on the way here.

According to the booklet, it would probably take hundreds of kilograms of 'Saltpeter Grass' to progress from beginner to minor mastery!

Han Yi calculated for a long time that even just buying raw materials would cost at least a thousand taels of silver!

Unfortunately, thinking about his empty purse, which contained only twenty taels of silver, Han Yi couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly: "The ancients were right, the poor are scholars, the rich are warriors!"

Han Yi left the pharmacy feeling dejected. He spent five taels of silver to buy a few sets of medicinal herbs to start practicing. He would try it out first, and if it didn't work, he could always use the system to add points!

Although the pharmacy clerk and Elder Li both mentioned that 'Mild Salt Grass' could be collected in the Black Rock Mountains.

Moreover, Elder Li's words just now were full of lofty aspirations, talking about courageous progress and the waste of talent, making people feel as if they were injected with chicken blood, and that a bright tomorrow was just around the corner.

However, Han Yi, who was well-versed in PUA tactics in his previous career, understood that just like what his boss said, all those promises of "three generals and five items" and promotions and raises were just empty promises. He wasn't buying into that.

Anyway, with the world in such chaos, he certainly wouldn't risk going to the 'Black Rock Mountains' to collect herbs all by himself.

The key to victory is to survive until the very end and have everything!

Afternoon

Bang, bang, bang

The initial training for 'Thunder Palm' involves repeatedly striking the palms with a herbal packet made from 'Salmonella Grass'.

At the minor mastery stage, the practice of "Thunderbolt Palm Technique" even requires boiling "Glauber's Salt" into juice over a high flame, immersing both palms in the scorching hot "Glauber's Salt Soup," using a calcination method to infuse the medicinal properties into the palm force!

Han Yi repeatedly slammed his palms against the herb packet, the first step of the 'Thunderbolt Palm' technique, using the medicinal properties of 'Glauber' to train the skin on his palms and the backs of his hands. However, after a whole noon and half an afternoon, there was no change on the panel, indicating that he had not yet mastered the basics.

Moreover, with the last 'Bone Strengthening Pill' ingested, Han Yi's cultivation level improved again, but the increase was very slow.

[Realm Level]: Mid-stage Bone Refinement (74/100)

The effect of any elixir is best the first time it is taken; subsequent doses will have reduced potency.

This last 'Bone Strengthening Pill' only added 8 points to Han Yi's cultivation; he was still only at the mid-stage of Bone Refinement.

“But it’s time to go,” Han Yi looked up at the sun. He had arranged to meet Pan Sheng at the city gate in the afternoon, and Pan Sheng would show him around Anyan City.

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"Hurry up, hurry up, you're too late."

At the city gate, amidst the bustling crowds, Han Yi finally found Pan Sheng. Yesterday evening and this morning, Han Yi had been in a hurry and hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings.

Only now, as I slowly walk along, do I notice some differences between the outer and inner city areas.

Take Yuqingfang in the outer city and Heyuefang in the inner city as examples. On the surface, their architecture and environment are no different.

However, most of the pedestrians on Heyuefang walked slowly and leisurely, with smiles on their faces. Occasionally, one could see people holding a hawk and leading a yellow dog, looking quite content.

In Yuqingfang, most people walk very fast, as if they have something urgent to do, and their faces are mostly gloomy, showing that they are busy making a living.

"Come on, I'll take you to check out the black market?"

Perhaps Pan Sheng noticed that Han Yi wasn't interested in the similar-looking buildings in each neighborhood, so he asked him a question.

"The black market?" Sure enough, Han Yi immediately became interested.

Whether in its past or present form, the black market has been known for selling all sorts of strange items, and countless people have found bargains and struck it rich there!

“Ah, it’s not like that…” Pan Sheng shook his head and sighed, “You’ll understand when you get there.”

He seemed to have seen plenty of imaginative young people like Han Yi.

Following Pan Sheng off the main road, after several turns, Han Yi arrived at the intersection of Yuqingfang and Changningfang.

Strangely, the facilities in Changningfang were brand new, not at all as dilapidated as Han Yi had seen before, and at the same time, one could vaguely see a lot of people coming and going inside.

Moreover, in this area, there are no gates or walls on either side of Yuqingfang and Changningfang. There is only a gate at the entrance of the alley, and a few small houses next to it.

The gate was open at that moment, and two people could be vaguely seen chatting at the entrance.

As Han Yi got closer, he realized that these people had values ​​of '60~75' and '65~70' on one side, and they were all quasi-martial masters in the Blood Refining stage!

Moreover, they were all wearing the Crimson Flame Sect's crimson-trimmed black robes and standard-issue swords at their waists, indicating that they were actually inner disciples of the Crimson Flame Sect!

"Here?" he wondered.

"Brother Pan, what brings you here?" A sharp-eyed disciple noticed Pan Sheng.

“Brother Wang, I just brought my little brother here to familiarize himself with the surroundings,” Pan Sheng said, pointing to Han Yi beside him. “You guys are busy, we’ll just go in and take a look around and then leave.”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Han Yi and his companion walked towards the gate.

Before Han Yi could ask any questions, Pan Sheng explained it to him.

It turns out that in the past, because Changningfang was not subject to the constraints of the government, sects, or laws, it was a no-man's-land, and there were all sorts of transactions that were prohibited by the government.

However, the people in Changning Ward were poor, and the environment was dirty, chaotic, and dangerous. Merchants who wanted to buy and sell things were unwilling to go in. Coincidentally, Yuqing Ward was adjacent to Changning Ward, so people traded at the border of Yuqing Ward. Over time, a black market was formed at the junction of Yuqing Ward and Changning Ward.

The Yuqingfang area happens to be under the jurisdiction of the Chiyan Sect, and naturally there are high-ranking people in the Chiyan Sect who have a good business sense.

Under the impetus of the Crimson Flame Sect, an agreement was reached with several major gangs in Changning Ward that the Crimson Flame Sect would not interfere in matters within Changning Ward, but the gangs within Changning Ward would not be allowed to attack this market.

Afterwards, the Crimson Flame Sect demolished the walls and other barriers at the border, built "basic facilities" such as shops, sent people to guard them, and collected taxes, stall fees, and market entry fees, thus forming the black market that makes a fortune every day, which also attracted the covetousness of the Thousand Leaf Sect.

Of course, there are a few rules in this black market!