Chapter 13: One Heart Pill
Yushan Demon Market.
Ankang Alley, Ancient Pine Courtyard.
Fu Shaoguang moved all six legs, happily counting his copper coins silently. Afterward, feeling it wasn't satisfying enough, he took out his old copper coins and recounted the entire pile together.
The joy of counting money made the Insect Demon giddy.
After three rounds, Fu Shaoguang's excitement finally subsided slightly, and his mind cleared.
Up until today, he had accumulated a total of seven hundred and eighty-two Wen. After slaying the Pitcher Plant Demon, he picked up two Identity Bamboo Tokens from the ground, netting him two hundred and fourteen Wen.
The Pitcher Plant Demon was quite large. Although it died from Poison, it hadn't completely withered, and its Insect-Catching Pitcher still existed.
Fu Shaoguang held his knife, cut off the pitcher, and collected some Sugar Frost. This was formed from the Pitcher Plant Demon's nectaries and possessed an excellent attraction for insects.
He also obtained a treasure the size of a pinky fingernail from the Pitcher Plant Demon's root system. Having recently crammed knowledge, Fu Shaoguang knew clearly that it was Wood Heart, the essence of a Plant Demon, and was quite valuable.
Thinking of this, he put away the copper coins and headed straight to the Kitchen, lighting a fire to boil water. He then cut off a small portion of the Wood Heart and placed it into the boiling Evening Dew Water. Once a pot of fragrant gruel was cooked, Fu Shaoguang began to eat.
It was sweet, soft, and glutinous, with excellent flavor.
After eating it, his whole body felt warm.
A gentle energy flowed through his body, slowly nourishing his Five internal organs and six bowels. Fu Shaoguang was delighted. After finishing the pot, he stood still on his six legs, concentrating on refining the energy.
After about half a Shi Chen, Fu Shaoguang awoke, his compound eyes shining. No wonder it was said that Heaven And Earth Treasure could aid creatures in cultivation. Just a small piece of Wood Heart saved him half a month of arduous cultivation, increasing his Magic Power by three Si.
That night, the starlight was brilliant.
After collecting Moonlight Essence and Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, he returned to the Bedroom to rest. The following day, Fu Shaoguang went out again.
For three consecutive days, he only earned twenty Wen each day.
Even so, it didn't affect his good mood.
On the eighth day, Fu Shaoguang found a Sixty-Year-Old Ginseng. After expending great effort, he finally dug it out completely.
That night, he indulged in a rare extravagance.
He wandered the Demon Market, spending thirty Wen to buy Butterfly Demon spirit honey and Bee Demon spirit honey separately.
One gently nourished the Meridians, and the other purified the Magic Power.
Ankang Alley, Ancient Pine Courtyard.
Returning home, Fu Shaoguang boiled the Evening Dew.
He cut off a small piece of Wood Heart and put it in, then poured in the twelve kinds of Flower Dew he had painstakingly collected over the past few days, along with the Butterfly Demon spirit honey and three drops of Pitcher Plant Sugar Frost.
A scent that attracted insects, accompanied by a woody fragrance, drifted out.
Picking up a spoon, he stirred continuously until it became gruel, then rolled it into pills and coated them with a spirit honey shell.
A homemade Small Medicinal Pill was thus completed.
This item was inconvenient for Fu Shaoguang to eat.
He swallowed the wood gruel mixed with the two types of spirit honey to verify its efficacy. It was sweet and glutinous, tasting like Mochi.
The effect was also gentler and more potent than before.
Crucially, it made the Insect Demon giddy but was harmless.
Unconsciously, he finished half a pot; the remaining half he rolled entirely into medicinal pills.
The morning light was faint.
Fu Shaoguang continued into the mountains.
His current busy work was for future enjoyment.
His current savings now exceeded nine hundred Wen.
The more savings he had, the more motivated Fu Shaoguang became.
That evening, after leaving the Five Poisons Shop and learning characters from Gongyang Yang for a while, supplementing his Cultivation Knowledge, he didn't return home. Instead, he set up a street stall. Three large characters were written on the wooden sign in front of the stall:
【One Heart Pill】
The Pitcher Plant has the elegant name of One Heart Grass.
The pill, enhanced with Sugar Frost, could relax the Insect Demon's body and mind, making it feel happy, thus deserving the name.
An hour (Zhan) later, a Cicada Demon passed by.
He was the Chief Musician at the Demon Market's Pleasure House. His income was decent, his cultivation was not weak, and he was considered a successful Insect Demon.
Seeing a new Vendor on the street, and a Mayfly Demon at that, he became curious and walked over.
"Demon Friend, what is this One Heart Pill?"
Seeing the Cicada Demon holding a Xiao, Fu Shaoguang's eyes lit up. He had heard of the title Cicada Demon Musician.
This was a... Fat Worm!
Fu Shaoguang displayed the wooden sign he had prepared earlier, which read: Worry-Relieving Item, contains Spiritual Power, free sample available.
Saying this, he handed over a pill.
The Cicada Demon took it, sniffed it at his nose—it only had the sweet scent of spirit honey—and when he put it in his mouth and chewed, his eyes brightened.
The flavor was soft and glutinous, sweet and chewy.
After eating it, a stream of energy flowed through his body, nourishing his Five internal organs and six bowels, and it had the marvelous effect of making the Insect Demon excited, giddy, and temporarily forget its troubles.
The Cicada Demon wanted to praise it, wanting to say it truly lived up to the name Forget-Worry, but he stopped himself just as the words reached his mouth.
Good things must naturally be enjoyed alone.
"What is the price of this One Heart Pill?"
Fu Shaoguang immediately displayed a sign:
【Ten Wen per pill, genuine goods at a fair price】
Seeing the Cicada Demon hesitate, he displayed another sign:
【Grand Opening Today, 20% off per pill, buy ten get one free, no bargaining】
The Cicada Demon was tempted, calculated silently for a moment, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Give me ten pills."
Fu Shaoguang was quick, taking out a pre-prepared Thin Bamboo Tube containing eleven pills.
The Cicada Demon counted them on the spot, confirmed it was correct, and cheerfully took out eighty Wen. Fu Shaoguang quickly collected the money and displayed another sign:
【Welcome back, Honored Customer】
The Cicada Demon left with mixed feelings.
He was excited to have bought something good, and happy to have saved twenty Wen and gained an extra pill.
He was also sad that he couldn't enjoy the good item exclusively.
Fu Shaoguang didn't care about the Cicada Demon's mood; he just felt that this customer was a good Demon.
Only half of the spirit honey at home was used. Adding the Firewood Cost, the total expenditure was at most twenty-five Wen. Not counting the Wood Heart, he not only recovered his capital but made a huge profit.
After the successful start (Opening Red).
Other Demons visited one after another.
Fu Shaoguang did not offer free samples to non-Insect Race customers, as the target demographic for the One Heart Pill was Insect Demons.
Wasting one more pill meant losing eight Wen.
Currently, he was a Poor Demon with Limited Aspirations and couldn't bear the loss.
After waiting for a moment, another Insect Demon came, tried a sample, gritted his teeth, and bought three pills. Thinking he had saved six Wen, he left happily.
Sporadically, five pills were sampled, and thirty-five were sold. Except for the Cicada Demon, the other Insect Demons bought them individually.
This batch earned one hundred and ninety-two Wen, which, added to the previous eighty Wen, totaled two hundred and seventy-two Wen. Deducting the five Wen Stall Fee and twenty-five Wen cost, the net income was two hundred and forty-two Wen.
"Doing business truly yields huge profits,"
he muttered inwardly. Fu Shaoguang packed up his belongings, flapped his wings, and swiftly returned home.
At Zi Ye, he drank the dissolved pill.
Under the enhancement of the Spirit Gathering Array and the Spirit Medicine, drawing in Moonlight Essence achieved twice the result with half the effort, and the efficiency of refining Spiritual Qi skyrocketed.
His cultivation improved again, and his practice gradually entered an excellent state.
If he continued, Breaking Through Realm and Extending Lifespan was within reach.
Soaking Feet before bed is better than taking Tonics.
After finishing his cultivation, soaking his feet and drinking the dew, Fu Shaoguang completed his Health Maintenance Routine and returned to his room to rest.
The sun rises in the southeast corner, seemingly emerging from the ground.
Fu Shaoguang continued to leave the market. While the autumn season hadn't ended and resources were still abundant, he actively prepared.
Replenish during the San Jiu to stay healthy all winter and avoid illness next year.
He did not want to be busy and toil during the cold winter.
It was just that this time, going out was different from usual; whether he was looking for Poison or Medicinal Herbs, he planned to keep half.
Furthermore, Fu Shaoguang was still searching for Pitcher Plants.
Although ordinary Pitcher Plants were inferior to Pitcher Plant Demons, if enough Sugar Frost was collected and refined into powder, it would be enough to cause a qualitative change and make the Insect Demons buy it frantically.
He finally found a path to wealth.
Although the collection process was dangerous, wealth is found in danger—high risk, high reward.
Of course, an insect does not stand beneath a crumbling wall.
Fu Shaoguang cherished his life dearly.
The reason he dared to do this was that he had passed the test of the Pitcher Plant Demon, his mind was firm, his resistance was stronger, and he had experience and the ability to protect himself, which is why he dared to take the risk.
Otherwise, he would definitely run as far away as possible.
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