After leaving Luo Chen's room, Mi Shuhua made his way to the Alchemy Hall's inner courtyard to distribute rewards.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his personal appearance carried weight, and morale had taken a heavy blow after yesterday's deadly explosion. A gesture like this—bringing spirit rice and demonic beast meat—was meant to steady the hearts of those who remained.

Meanwhile, Luo Chen stayed behind in his quarters, seated cross-legged on the bed, holding the aged slip of paper Mi Shuhua had handed him.

His fingers traced the inked lines.

"This is… definitely a page from The Treatise on Green Origin Pills."

The reason he hadn't noticed this page missing before was clear—it didn't follow naturally from the prior sections. It read like a later addition, a standalone alchemy technique appended by Qing Yuanzi, the treatise's author.

Yes, an alchemy technique!

Similar to spirit botanists, who used specific spells that were useless in combat but essential for nurturing spirit plants in daily work. Techniques like the Small Cloud Rain Art, Bing Fire Scorching, or Taiyin Yimu Marsh Vapors.

Alchemists also had auxiliary techniques like these, commonly referred to as Dan Techniques by the masses.

Techniques like Luo Chen's previously learned Jade Fracture and Unadorned Heart were among the most basic of alchemic methods. These techniques were exceptionally effective for handling minerals, herbs, flowers, and fruits.

On this particular page was a technique called the "Green Pill Nourishment".

It didn't aid in ingredient refinement or furnace manipulation. It wasn't for extracting spirit power from herbs or minerals. It wasn't for battle. And yet, it was arguably one of the most profound pill techniques Luo Chen had ever encountered.

Because if mastered, it offered the chance to raise a pill's fixed grade to the next tier.

"There's actually a technique like this in the world?" Luo Chen muttered, incredulous.

His gaze wandered to the alchemy room across the way, where a handful of pill caretakers—whom he had jokingly dubbed "pill nourishers"—were stationed. But in truth, their role was simply to store pills under proper conditions, guarding against potency loss from time or temperature.

This, however, was the real deal.

With the right environment and spirit resources, the Green Pill Nourishment could raise a low-grade pill to mid-grade… or even beyond.

According to the treatise, Qing Yuanzi had once used this very technique to refine a third-tier pill despite still being in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The technique itself wasn't difficult to learn. After reading it, Luo Chen was confident he could master it in a short time.

However, the "specific" methods described on the page were another story entirely—they left him in a bind.

"At the very least, you need a first-tier high-grade alchemy furnace, with supreme-grade or artifact-quality furnaces being preferable!

"The pills selected must already be of supreme-grade quality. At least ten portions of raw materials must be maintained in the furnace at all times to replenish the pill's potency.

"The alchemy room should ideally be located in a spirit vein, or at least in an environment beneficial to pills.

"The cultivator must use Foundation Establishment True Fire to refine the pill's quality constantly. If unavailable, various heavenly, earthly, or rare fires must be substituted.

"The duration of the nourishment must be a minimum of six months, and it can extend up to a hundred years."

Luo Chen's scalp tingled as he read line after line. After reading through those "specific" methods, Luo Chen could only feel his scalp go numb.

Not a single one of these requirements was something he could easily fulfill.

What seemed like the simplest requirement—ten portions of raw materials—actually came with the caveat of "at least." In other words, if the materials ran out, they had to be replenished constantly. With a minimum timeline of six months, who knew how many materials would ultimately be consumed?

Then there was the requirement for a "spirit vein location," which he initially thought he fulfilled—but that was just wishful thinking. The spirit vein cave he had discovered was merely a branch vein. It could barely support his solitary cultivation. But to sustain a pill-nourishing process? Absolutely impossible.

"No wonder Mi Shuhua didn't give me this page earlier. He was probably worried I'd get ahead of myself and daydream!" Luo Chen muttered.

"And it makes sense why he gave it to me now. He probably wanted me to use it as inspiration, considering I was stuck making low-grade jade essence pills without any breakthroughs."

All in all, this Green Pill Nourishment was quite useless for Luo Chen in his current situation. The restrictions were simply too numerous.

"I'll put it away for now. There may come a time when I can actually use this technique." Luo Chen sighed but still put it away with a satisfied smile.

Anything that could benefit his alchemy skills was a valuable boost for him!

Having refined pills for so long, the more he learned, the more he realized how vast and profound the art of pill refinement truly was. Previously, he had only been dabbling in small-scale experiments. The true wonders of this path were still just the tip of the iceberg for him.

Perhaps the true threshold lay in reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.

While Luo Chen was lost in this daydream, Mi Shuhua finished distributing rewards in the courtyard and walked back over, hands clasped behind his back.

"Next month is the auction," he said. "Are you sure you want to attend?"

Luo Chen patted his storage bag and said, "I'm quite well-off!"

The old man gave a dry chuckle, the kind that carried just enough disdain to sting a little.

Luo Chen's ears flushed. "Even if I can't afford anything, it's worth it just to gain insight and broaden my horizons!"

Mi Shuhua raised an eyebrow, amused. "Fair enough. You've got a spot. Come with me. Watch and learn."

***

That evening, Luo Chen didn't linger at the Alchemy Hall.

For one, his damaged meridians weren't suited for cultivation at the moment. For another, staying too long in one place might invite unnecessary suspicion. Besides, life at the Alchemy Hall was austere—just refining pills or cultivating day in and day out.

For a Qi-Refining Realm cultivator who hadn't reached Foundation Establishment, such a lifestyle was hardly bearable for most. Luo Chen wasn't incapable of enduring it, but doing so every day would inevitably lead to deviation.

Sometimes, a bit of necessary relaxation was essential.

Back at the courtyard, Luo Chen first used Cleanse to tidy up, then went out for some shopping.

He also stopped by the Yuan family, met with Old Yuan and Xiaoyue, and calculated the previous month's earnings from the snack stall.

"Six hundred and twenty spirit stones. Not bad! Looks like the earnings are stabilizing now," he remarked.

Luo Chen took the spirit stones and did a quick calculation. He then handed thirty spirit stones to Xiaoyue as her salary for the past month. He also set aside a hundred spirit stones, roughly the cost for Old Yuan's batch of pineapple wine.

Yuan Xiaoyue happily accepted the spirit stones, lifted her oval face, and said, "Actually, there was a month when we made over nine hundred spirit stones. I think we could earn even more."

"Really?" Luo Chen became interested. He hadn't expected such a small snack stall to have such a large market.

Maybe it was time to consider expanding—turning this modest business into something truly thriving.

"But starting this month, others have begun selling various snacks," Yuan Xiaoyue pouted unhappily and said, "Aunt Li next door launched a tofu rice dish. They say it's a simplified recipe from Zhongding Restaurant, filling and even replenishes spirit energy.

"The neighbor opposite also set up a stall specializing in various demonic beast jerky. Although it doesn't taste as good as your spicy beef jerky, Brother Luo, they win by offering a wider variety.

"And also…"

As she kept chattering about those competitors, Luo Chen, who had been marveling at how cultivators in this world also followed trends in business, couldn't help but laugh.

He ruffled the girl's increasingly shiny and jet-black hair.

"Xiaoyue," he said gently, "spirit stones are endless. Everyone's got to earn a living—cultivation doesn't come free. We just need to focus on doing what we do best."

This little girl, who used to be timid and shy at first. After running the stall for months, had become much more confident and outgoing. But she had also grown increasingly calculative.

Yuan Xiaoyue pulled away from Luo Chen's hand and said with her big round eyes wide open. "Some of them are clearly copying your secret recipes, Brother Luo!

"Like the guy across the street selling demonic beast jerky. Before opening his stall, he bought beef jerky from us for half a month. It's obvious he was figuring out the secret.

"And that guy selling popping beans. They're very similar to our celestial beans."

Luo Chen blinked. Then he laughed, a warm, helpless chuckle. After a moment, he shook his head.

"A recipe that can be copied," he said, "was never really a secret to begin with."

Then he paused, and his expression shifted slightly.

"Besides… did they pay protection fees?"

"Huh?" Xiaoyue was caught completely off guard.

Old Yuan, who had been quietly sipping his wine off to the side, slowly set down his gourd, looking just as bewildered.

Luo Chen reached out and tapped Xiaoyue's forehead lightly. "Silly girl. Do you think I've been having you deliver wine to the Sword Pavilion cultivators every month for free?

"Tomorrow, go find that Sword Pavilion cultivator and tell them the square has been getting too dirty lately, affecting the environment of the Debate Platform the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion worked so hard to create.

"Also, I remember the Whitestone Plaza area are all independent stalls, right? You should propose that the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion set up a large stone slab to regulate the stalls. Charge one or two spirit stones per stall.

"Make sure to reserve the best spot with the most foot traffic in advance. We'll pay for spirit stones too!"

This string of words left Yuan Xiaoyue dumbfounded. Even her grandfather was baffled.

Luo Chen didn't elaborate further. "Reporting to the city guards" was a strategy that could work for a long time.

As for future competition? With the best stall location, they were already unbeatable.

If he found some time to develop a few new snacks, their product competitiveness would rise again.

With so many people in the Alchemy Hall and idle furnaces available, getting those internal cultivators to fry up a few snacks was an easy task.

He couldn't believe individual vendors could compete with his fully integrated operation.

"By the way, it's my birthday next month. I'm having a small party in the courtyard. Are you coming?"

Seeing the two hesitate, Luo Chen added. "It's nothing fancy, just a few friends having a meal and some drinks together."

Yuan Xiaoyue seemed interested, but her grandfather had already spoken.

"I won't go, this old man is too tired. But Xiaoyue can go and meet some seniors. It'll be good for her."