It seemed imperative to devise a secure method to sell the medicinal herbs while minimizing the exposure of his identity. Ye Qin, having thought this through, retracted the foot that was about to step out of the inner room, turned back, and said to the old shopkeeper Zhao in a measured tone, "Forgive my rudeness. I wonder what advice you might have, Shopkeeper Zhao.

I am willing to listen." Old Shopkeeper Zhao let out a hearty laugh. "That's more like it, Young Master Ye. You must not be new to this sort of thing.

Let's have a proper discussion. When all is said and done, we are kindred spirits. I am the Fragrance Master of the Bahe Society in Bamboo-Qí County, my main business being the trade of jade.

However, the superior-grade medicinal herbs and elixirs from the Herb Gathering Hall have always been necessities for us in the Jianghu, and items that our Bahe Society spares no expense in acquiring. I am not exclusively doing business with you, Young Master Ye. Quite a few disciples from the Herb Gathering Hall have privately sold medicines to me.

Of course, I cannot reveal their names to you, as that would cause a great deal of trouble. If Young Master Ye sells a portion of your superior-grade herbs to me, it will definitely be more profitable than submitting them to your Herb Gathering Hall. And if the young master can procure superior-grade elixirs, I would desire them even more.

The price I offer will be absolutely fair: fifty percent of the market price at the county's trading bazaar, for your herbs and elixirs. How about that?" Hearing the old shopkeeper Zhao's opening offer, Ye Qin was slightly taken aback. For an apprentice herb gatherer, submitting herbs to the Herb Gathering Hall only yielded a reward of five to ten percent of the gathering price.

Herb Crafters were treated slightly better, receiving ten to twenty percent. Herb Masters received around thirty to fifty percent. If he were to sell them privately to this Old Shopkeeper Zhao, he could receive fifty percent of the money—a tenfold increase over an apprentice's earnings, comparable to a Herb Master's income.

However, the risk involved was equally immense; discovery meant certain death. Old Shopkeeper Zhao also conducted private business with many Herb Gathering disciples in Bamboo-Qí County. If even one of them were discovered, tracing back could lead to the Spring Jade Shop and potentially implicate him.

Old Shopkeeper Zhao claimed to be from the Bahe Society of Pingzhou. Ye Qin scoffed internally. What kind of low-tier little gang was this?

He hadn't even heard of this gang's name before. Such a minor organization would not even register in the eyes of the Medicine King Gang, the fifth largest power in Pingzhou. If the Medicine King Gang learned that members of the Bahe Society were inciting gang disciples to privately sell herbs, the Medicine King Gang might, in a fit of rage, wipe out the Bahe Society entirely.

Those disciples who had private dealings with the Bahe Society would also very likely be swept up in the purge. Therefore, conducting private transactions with someone from the Bahe Society was highly insecure. Knowing Old Shopkeeper Zhao's background, Ye Qin had absolutely no confidence in him.

He made a silent resolution: to completely sever any ties with the Spring Jade Shop to avoid drawing trouble onto himself. As long as he didn't leave any leverage in Old Shopkeeper Zhao's hands, even if the Medicine King Gang eventually tracked down Old Shopkeeper Zhao, they wouldn't be able to implicate him based on the old man's mere unsubstantiated word. As for the Spring Jade Shop's prized possession, the white jade blank, it was enormously expensive.

Old Shopkeeper Zhao likely wouldn't be able to sell it quickly. He needed to find a way to acquire some money first, and later consider a foolproof plan to safely obtain it. "Old Master Zhao, there is no need to discuss this further.

As for this white jade blank, you can sell it to whomever you wish. I am merely a humble Herb Gathering disciple with limited funds; I cannot afford it." With that, Ye Qin did not give Old Shopkeeper Zhao any more opportunity to persuade him, and swiftly departed the inner room and the Spring Jade Shop. Old Shopkeeper Zhao rose with a smiling air to see him off, puffing smoke from his old pipe, watching Ye Qin's departing back with considerable amusement.

He chuckled coldly, "Kid, still putting on an act. As long as you want to buy jade from me, you'll end up selling herbs to raise the funds sooner or later. What difference does it make whether you sell to others or to me?

Selling to others will only increase the number of people who know about this matter." By the time Ye Qin left the Spring Jade Shop, night had fallen. The main street of the entire county was hung with lanterns, illuminating the bustling night market thoroughfare. He had no inclination to browse other jade shops and returned directly to the Herb Gathering Hall.

His mind was entirely consumed with how to obtain enough money to purchase that white jade blank, so he could accelerate his own cultivation speed. His original plan was to directly sell the Dew Grass he possessed to martial artists in the county to exchange for some Gold Leaves, and then purchase spirit-infused jade stones at a jewelry shop. However, now he felt this plan was not secure enough.

He valued the Dew Grass highly, believing it worth at least one Gold Leaf. But most Jianghu practitioners might not recognize what Dew Grass was, making it difficult to fetch a high price. Those who could recognize it were likely master apothecaries, who probably had deep connections with the Medicine King Gang.

If he were to go around the trading market asking individuals one by one if they needed Dew Grass, the people from the Herb Gathering Hall would quickly realize he was privately trafficking herbs. Ye Qin considered this carefully for a while, pulled out the Compendium of Rare Herbs from his bosom, flipped through it, and let his gaze settle on "Dew Grass" on the last few pages. It recorded a recipe for refining Dew Grass into a meridian-regulating elixir.

It now seemed the most prudent method was to first refine the Dew Grass into "Clarity Heart Pills" before attempting to sell them. These top-tier regulating elixirs were highly sought after by everyone in the Jianghu; many people knew of them, making them easier to offload and fetch a higher price than selling the raw Dew Grass directly. However, he still needed to avoid exposing his identity as much as possible.

Over the following two days, Ye Qin spent dozens of Silver Leaves to separately purchase items like mortars, wax, and some auxiliary herbs for making Clarity Heart Pills at various locations within the county's trade market. He then traveled alone to a remote, sparsely populated patch of dense forest ten miles outside Bamboo-Qí County to secretly refine the medicine. As an apprentice Herb Gatherer of the Herb Gathering Hall, his primary skills were harvesting and identifying herbs; he was not actually skilled in alchemy.

Ye Qin only knew how to make a few very common medicinal preparations for healing wounds, neutralizing poisons, and repelling insects, such as "Hemostatic Powder," "Toxin Cleansing Powder," and "Insect Repellent Incense." Fortunately, he possessed the complete recipe for the "Clarity Heart Pill," and the Herb Gathering Hall's library did not impose severe restrictions on disciples regarding books on herbology and preliminary alchemy, so learning the rudimentary skills of medicine refinement was not difficult. He dried the main ingredient, Dew Grass, along with more than ten auxiliary herbs—such as licorice root, dried pearl powder, musk, ox gallstone, and lotus seeds—and ground them into powder. Following a specific ratio, he placed them into a mortar and slowly heated them over low flame for half an hour, allowing the medicinal potency to fully dissolve and the moisture to evaporate.

Then, he kneaded the mixture into pills and sealed them with wax. The four processes—refining, compounding, pill-forming, and sealing—resulted in a single Clarity Heart Pill, which he placed into a small porcelain vial. When he first began refining the Clarity Heart Pills, he failed to control the heat and ruined two batches, producing two useless pellets.

As he increased the number of refinement attempts, he gradually improved, successfully producing a pale cyan pill. The fragrance emanating from it carried a refreshing, soul-cleansing essence that instantly cleared his mind. Ye Qin was overjoyed.

The color and scent were identical to the description of the Clarity Heart Elixir in the medicinal texts—a supreme regulating elixir for tempering Qi deviations and preventing backlash from cultivation errors had been successfully refined. He discovered that one stalk of Dew Grass could yield one Clarity Heart Pill, and with the addition of over ten auxiliary herbs, the cost of production was not high. As for the selling price of the Clarity Heart Pill, it was hard to say; the Medicine King Gang hadn't refined this grade of supreme regulating elixir for several years.

Ye Qin subsequently refined four more pills, intending to find a buyer to test the market. If the selling price was satisfactory, he planned to make many more, aiming to gather thirty Gold Leaves, and then devise a way to purchase the white jade blank from the Spring Jade Shop. .