"Hmm, do you want it?" Gu Caiyi asked as she took a sip of the tea Luo Chen had poured for her.

The moment the tea touched her tongue, her willow-like brows furrowed slightly.

What kind of tea leaves are these? They are far too bitter!

Across from her, Luo Chen's eyes sparkled, and his heart raced several times faster than usual.

The Purple Cloud Copper Furnace was a standard alchemy furnace produced by Treasure Pavilion. Its grade wasn't high, just low-grade tier one, but its versatility was exceptional. It could accommodate most of the pill-refining methods commonly used in the cultivation world. Moreover, it was engraved with a Flame Gathering Array, offering unique advantages in temperature control.

Novice alchemists often struggled with controlling the heat, resulting in ruined ingredients. But with this array, as long as different amounts of spirit power were infused in advance, it could adjust itself to external heat changes with ease. The Flame Gathering Array condensed or dispersed as needed, making the pill fire more versatile.

Do I want it? Of course I want it!

With such a furnace, Luo Chen would not be limited to refining only one batch of Myriad Wonders pills a day. In terms of efficiency, he could refine at least two batches a day!

With eyes burning with desire, Luo Chen suddenly reached out and grasped her slender hand, catching Gu Caiyi off guard.

"Sister Caiyi, are you going to give me one? I’m all in! If you give it to me, I wouldn’t even mind offering myself in return!"

Gu Caiyi froze for a moment before pulling her delicate hand away from his rough one.

"Get lost! Who wants you to offer yourself, you shameless scoundrel!"

She rolled her eyes and said seriously, "If you want it, you'll have to buy it with spirit stones.

"I see..." Luo Chen sighed in dejection. "If I could afford it, I would’ve bought one already."

"I’m not asking you to buy it from Treasure Pavilion," Gu Caiyi said, unable to stand his dramatic shift in expression. "The courtesan Xiangxiang at Tianxiang Tower is also an alchemist. She has a spare Purple Cloud Copper Furnace. I asked her, and she’s willing to sell it to you at a discount if you want it."

Of course, he knew Xiangxiang.

She was renowned for her stunning beauty, vast knowledge, and deep expertise in water arts and alchemy. What made her even more famous was her status as an inner disciple of the Hehuan Sect.

But no matter how beautiful or famous she was, it had nothing to do with Luo Chen. What he cared about was the price!

"A discount? How much of a discount?"

"Three hundred low-grade spirit stones."

Luo Chen felt a surge of joy but still put on a troubled expression. "That’s so expensive. Even second-hand ones are only about two hundred."

"Then why don’t you go buy one?" Gu Caiyi chuckled lightly. "Stop acting broke. This price is only because you’re my neighbor. If you really want it, just let me know."

Indeed, this price was quite fair. The so-called second-hand price Luo Chen mentioned was actually Treasure Pavilion’s buyback rate.

As everyone knows, Treasure Pavilion was the most unscrupulous of unscrupulous merchants. A brand-new Purple Cloud Copper Furnace was priced at four hundred and fifty spirit stones. It was only slightly cheaper than defensive enchanted artifacts, far exceeding the cost of other low-grade tier one offensive enchanted artifacts.

Moreover, because alchemical furnaces weren't commonly used by rogue cultivators, they rarely appear on the market. Now that he had come across one at such a low price, Luo Chen naturally wouldn’t pass it up.

Luo Chen gave an awkward smile and quickly said, "I’ll buy it, definitely, but I’ll need some time to save up the money."

"So poor?" Gu Caiyi looked at Luo Chen with doubt. "Do you even earn any spirit stones from refining pills?"

She had serious doubts about whether her neighbor would be evicted from the inner city in three months for failing to pay his rent.

"You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll definitely show up with the spirit stones when the time comes!" Luo Chen declared with confidence.

In reality, he could actually take out three hundred spirit stones. To say the least, he currently had over four hundred spirit stones in his pocket!

After selling the Flying Swallow Sword for eleven hundred, purchasing qi-nourishing pills and five techniques, he was left with four hundred as well as the remaining twenty or so spirit stones from before.

It could be said that Luo Chen wasn’t exactly poor at this point. The reason he didn’t immediately buy the furnace was because he didn’t need it yet. The current batch of ingredients had all been prepared specifically for his iron pot.

Using the alchemical furnace to refine the remaining ingredients would not only require him to adjust his technique but also to recalibrate the amount of firewood and the pill formation time.

So, he planned to use up this batch of ingredients first, recover all his funds, and then consider buying the furnace.

How frustrating! If only there were interest-free, spirit stone loans available for ambitious rogue cultivators. This cultivation world controlled by sects is truly too cruel to us rogue cultivators!

***

Refining pills, taking pills, practicing techniques, and studying spells—Luo Chen’s days passed in an orderly and structured manner.

Luo Chen adjusted the timing and frequency of his spell practice. Previously, he had retained the habits he developed while living in the outer city, practicing spells only lightly each day. It was only recently that he realized the inner city was relatively safe, and there was no need to maintain his enchanting power reserves at their peak.

As a result, he could afford to use more spirit power to become proficient in the new spells he was learning.

During his free time, he would chat with Gu Caiyi about matters in the cultivation world.

In fact, he was curious as to why he never saw Gu Caiyi cultivating.

It wasn’t until Gu Caiyi explained that he finally understood. It turned out that Gu Caiyi usually went to Tianxiang Tower to cultivate, where a spirit-gathering array enhanced the density of spirit energy.

Of course, the spirit energy from a first-tier spirit vein was limited, when some gathered it, others naturally couldn’t enjoy the same density.

Yes, this "others" referred to Luo Chen and the other rogue cultivators in their residence.

The Jade Cauldron Sword Sect turned out to be notorious swindlers. Where was the promised high-quality housing tied to a first-tier spirit vein?

As it turned out, the spirit energy they absorbed was merely the leftover scraps filtered by others. Occasionally, he would run into Bai Meiling, the woman with the round face.

It didn’t happen often, as the Hall of Hundred Herbs seemed busy lately as someone from the Medicine King Sect had come to inspect the inventory and planned to transport some spirit herbs back.

As for the other resident of the courtyard, Luo Chen had never seen them, not even once.

This was what Gu Caiyi had told Luo Chen. "Fu Xiuxiu is a manager at the Divine Talisman Pavilion and usually resides there. I’ve heard her talisman-making skills are excellent, and she has a high chance of joining the Divine Talisman Sect."

After hearing this, Luo Chen was filled with jealousy. Joining a sect was an immortal fortune that countless rogue cultivators yearned for but could not achieve. He wasn’t sure if he would ever have the chance to join a powerful sect himself. His standards weren’t high, something like the Hehuan Sect would suffice.

At the market, he would tell anyone who would listen that Adept Yunhe was his idol.

With this motivation, Luo Chen worked overtime, using up all the materials he had on hand just in time for the upcoming major market day.

The final results left him extremely satisfied!

From the remaining twenty five portions of raw materials, he successfully refined pills five times. This meant that his success rate in refining Myriad Wonders pills had risen from the initial ten percent to twenty percent! In terms of cost control, this was a qualitative improvement.

Initially, fifty spirit stones of cost would yield ten pots of pills, with only one successful pot selling for fifty, breaking even.

No, wait, he had been actually at a loss. In the same time frame, if he had focused on making fasting concoctions, he could have earned a few dozen spirit stones.

So back then, he had indeed been losing out. But now or rather in the future, with the same cost of fifty spirit stones, he could now succeed with refining two pots out of ten and selling them for one hundred spirit stones. This meant that he would earn a profit of fifty spirit stones.

At this profit rate, as long as Luo Chen was willing to invest, he would eventually be able to count spirit stones until his hands were sore.

Luo Chen was filled with excitement as he muttered to himself, "This is just at the Skilled level. What if I advance to Proficient, Perfection, or even Grandmaster level?"

And so, on an early misty morning, like a farmer heading out to sell vegetables, he made his way straight to the southern rogue cultivator marketplace.

Today would be a day full of rewards!