Qingyu Commercial Building.
“Miss, the Ordinary general goods store mainly sells medicinal pills and talismans. The quality is good, and the reputation among cultivators is good. However, the amount sold is not very large, so although they have a little negative impact on our store, the overall impact is not much.” Zhou Li said.
Yuan Qingyue said suspiciously, “Where did the goods in the Ordinary general goods store come from?”
Zhou Li shook his head and said, “I haven’t found out yet. They may be self-produced and sold, because they also buy a lot of raw materials.”
Yuan Qingyue squinted her eyes and said, “That means there is an alchemist and a talisman master in the Ordinary general goods store?”
Zhou Li nodded and said, “Yes. Many people suspect that the person hiding in the shop and always urging Bai Yunxi to close the shop is both an alchemist and a talisman master. However, this is unlikely.”
“Of course it’s impossible. Both alchemy and talisman making require a lot of energy. How many alchemists and talisman masters have gone bankrupt in the process of learning alchemy and talisman making, and in the end, they have no choice but to give up! It’s easy to care about one thing and lose another!” Alchemists had a high status. Many people wanted to become alchemists. Yuan Qingyue was not exempt. However, after wasting a lot of spiritual herbs and failing to produce results, Yuan Qingyue gave up.
Yuan Qingyue’s thoughts on Bai Yunxi had been a little weaker recently. One reason was because Bai Yunxi’s performance was very indifferent to Yuan Qingyue. Yuan Qingyue was a young lady from a big family after all, so it was difficult for her to continue to face Bai Yunxi’s cold attitude. Secondly, Bai Yunxi had lowered his appearance. She came into contact with a lot of talented people, and soon discovered that Bai Yunxi was not as good as she thought.
Yuan Qingyue was less interested in Bai Yunxi, but she was very interested in the alchemist and talisman master behind the general goods store.
…
Ye Fan shook the storage bag and said proudly, “Yunxi, I’ve made a lot of money recently.”
Bai Yunxi nodded and said, “Yes! You are so capable.” The business of the general goods store was already on the right track, and Bai Yunxi no longer needed to go out to promote business. They could just wait for people to come to the door.
Ye Fan smiled and said, “I already said that I can support you.”
Bai Yunxi: “…”
“Are you tired from looking after the store? If you are tired, I can help you.”
Bai Yunxi waved his hand and said, “It’s not tiring to watch the store.” Let Ye Fan help and drive away all the customers? “It’s just……”
Ye Fan looked at Bai Yunxi in confusion, “It’s just, just what?”
Bai Yunxi shook his head and said, “It’s nothing.” The alchemist of Ten Thousand Pills Building had come here once. Competitors were enemies, and Bai Yunxi was worried about what the other party would do.
Ye Fan blinked and said, “I installed an alarm device at the front of the store. If someone is looking for trouble, you can activate it. When that time comes, I will come to rescue you like a heavenly soldier descending to earth.”
Bai Yunxi: “…” Heavenly soldier descending to earth, what the hell was that?
“Okay, I understand.” Bai Yunxi said helplessly.
Bai Yunxi originally thought that Ye Fan’s installation of an emergency alarm device was a bit unnecessary, but he didn’t expect it to be used so soon.
Hearing the alarm sound, Ye Fan rushed out immediately.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What happened?” Ye Fan asked excitedly.
Ye Fan walked out and saw a cultivator collapsed in the store, foaming at the mouth.
“Who is this? How did he fall here? Did he touch porcelain*?” Ye Fan asked in confusion.
“This person suddenly rushed in and said that he wanted to buy medicinal pills. But before he could buy anything, he fell down all of a sudden.” Bai Yunxi said.
There were originally a few customers in the store, but when they saw this person running in, those customers were scared away.
“Black mamba* snake venom.” Ye Fan frowned.
Bai Yunxi looked at Ye Fan and said, “Do you know what happened to him?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ye Fan nodded and said, “I know. The black mamba snake is a kind of poisonous snake in the deep sea, and its poison is very violent. For a long time, there was no cure for black mamba snake venom. This kind of poisonous snake haunts many places, and many people were poisoned, and finally one person invented an antidote.”
The antidote was invented by a feared poison master in the cultivation world. In the classical records, poison masters had always been recorded as evil, but in this world, how could there be such a clear distinction between good and evil?
The poison master invented a kind of poison pill to fight poison with poison and solved the snake venom.
“Then do we have this antidote in the store?” Bai Yunxi asked.
Ye Fan shook his head and said, “Not right now. Look after him. There are materials in the back. I’ll go concoct the antidote and be back in a while.”
Bai Yunxi nodded and said, “Okay.”
Bai Yunxi closed the store door and opened the protective formation. Bai Yunxi always felt that it was no coincidence that this person rushed in recklessly. Their general goods store was located a bit out of the way, and the goods stocked were not very complete. If it was not an old customer, few people would find their way here.
Bai Yunxi opened the protective formation, and soon there was the sound of someone attacking the formation.
…
Bai Yunxi couldn’t help frowning, and there was a bit of coldness in his heart.
A few cultivators attacked the formation, and some people gathered around to watch the fun and ask the reason for the attack.
“Fellow Daoists, this store is a shady store. The items in the store are of low quality, but the prices are ridiculously expensive.”
“This store also likes killing people and stealing treasures. A friend of mine just went there and was detained by them.”
“Cultivators often disappear in this store.”
…
All kinds of dirty water were poured onto the Ordinary general goods store, and some uninformed cultivators couldn’t help but be a little more suspicious of the Ordinary general goods store. Only a few knew the inside story, but they just watched the fun.
Ye Fan quickly concocted the antidote, walked out, and stuffed the pill into the man’s mouth.
After the medicinal pill entered the mouth, the cultivator on the ground spat out a mouthful of black blood, and the toxicity gradually stabilized.
“It’s strange. Why is someone attacking our protective formation?” Ye Fan said in confusion when he heard the movement outside.
Bai Yunxi frowned and said lightly, “They should be here to find fault.”
Ye Fan said displeased, “If the tiger doesn’t show its power, they’ll take it for a sick cat*! I’ll go out and see.”
Bai Yunxi nodded and said, “Okay.”
Ye Fan went out and saw a few cultivators attacking the formation of their shop while swearing, surrounded by spectators. The formation that Ye Fan had just arranged cracked open.
Ye Fan took out the Profound Dragon Seal* and smashed it out. When Ye Fan first got the Profound Dragon Seal, he was exhausted after one use, but now he had no such concerns at all. As soon as the Profound Dragon Seal was smashed out, several cultivators were severely injured.
“Senior, spare our lives.” A few Qi Refining cultivators with cultivation bases at the seventh and eighth levels of Qi Refining had attacked the formation. Originally, they heard that there were only two Qi Refining cultivators in the Ordinary general goods store and wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble and take advantage. As a result, as soon as Ye Fan made his move, several people discovered that Ye Fan was a senior of Foundation Establishment, and they were so frightened that their souls flew away.
Bai Yunxi looked at the group of people and said coldly, “What are you doing attacking our store’s formation?”
A cultivator bit his lip and said, “We have a friend who went in, but didn’t come out. In a hurry, we just…”
“Friend? Which friend? What is his surname? How did you know he came to our store?” Bai Yunxi asked coldly.
Several cultivators looked at each other and did not speak.
Bai Yunxi guessed that these people were probably instigated by others, and did not continue to ask questions.
“Pay up, pay up. You broke my formation. Each must compensate me with a hundred spirit stones.” Ye Fan said.
A few cultivators endured the pain, took out the spirit stones, and walked away in despair.
Several cultivators around who wanted to watch the fun also left.
“It’s actually a Foundation Establishment cultivator.” Yuan Qingyue, who was hiding and watching, muttered.
Zhou Li nodded and said, “It is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and a relatively powerful one.”
“It’s strange. That Foundation Establishment cultivator listens to Fellow Daoist Bai. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Bai is also at Foundation Establishment?” Yuan Qingyue asked in confusion.
Zhou Li shook his head and said, “No. Boss Bai should be at Qi Refining.”
“Oh.” Yuan Qingyue frowned and thought secretly: It was rare to see a Qi Refining cultivator climbing on the head of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!
…
When Ye Fan and Bai Yunxi returned to the store, the cultivator lying on the ground had already gotten up.
“How are you?” Ye Fan asked.
“I’m not dead?” Gong Wei said in surprise.
Ye Fan nodded and said, “Yes, you are not dead. One hundred spirit stones for the detoxification pill.”
Gong Wei nodded and handed over the spirit stones. Because the spirit stones on his body were not enough, Gong Wei had to give a spiritual weapon too.
“How did you find our store?” Bai Yunxi asked.
Gong Wei’s expression changed, and he said, “It seems someone recommended I come here.”
“Who?”
“I can’t remember.” Gong Wei said embarrassedly.
In the Dongyue Kingdom, being poisoned by the black mamba snake venom was equivalent to being sentenced to death.
Gong Wei went to several stores to buy detoxification pills, but those stores didn’t sell to him for fear of losing their reputation. When he was about to despair, someone told him to try the Ordinary general goods store. Gong Wei held on to a sliver of hope and came to the store, but as soon as he arrived, the poison broke out and he collapsed.
“Since you’re fine, then go. It’s almost time. We’re going to close.” Ye Fan said coldly.
Gong Wei was not a fool. He probably also discovered that something about him coming to the Ordinary general goods store was a bit unusual, so he walked away.
As soon as Gong Wei came out, he was surrounded by the cultivators who had not dispersed.
Soon, the news that this Ordinary general goods store had a detoxification pill that could solve the black mamba snake venom spread like wildfire, and the Ordinary general goods store suddenly became popular.
…
Ordinary general goods store.
“Boss Bai, Senior Ye is not here?” A female cultivator asked cautiously.
Bai Yunxi shook his head and said, “Not here.”
When the female cultivator heard Bai Yunxi’s answer, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Bai Yunxi always felt that Ye Fan’s temper was a bit bad, but after contacting some cultivators, Bai Yunxi discovered that high-level cultivators had a natural sense of superiority over low-level cultivators, and they were not very polite when speaking. In comparison, Ye Fan’s temper was just fine.
“Boss Bai, do you still have that detoxification pill? I want to buy one.” The female cultivator asked.
“Why do you want to buy that thing?” Bai Yunxi asked.
“I plan to go to the deep sea recently and want to bring one with me in case of emergency.”
Bai Yunxi shook his head and said, “It’s out of stock for the time being. Also, this detoxification pill is actually a poison pill designed specifically to combat the black mamba snake venom. It has no effect on ordinary poisons. Plus, the price is not low.”
The female cultivator insisted, “I still want to buy it.”
Bai Yunxi shrugged and said, “It will take a while.”
Bai Yunxi touched his chin and thought for a while. Since he sent Gong Wei away, there had been several cultivators who had come to ask for the detoxification pill. Bai Yunxi thought about it. Maybe this kind of pill could really be sold. They should be able to sell a lot.
Bai Yunxi and Ye Fan discussed it, and Ye Fan thought it was feasible, so he refined a batch of detoxification pills and sold them in the store.
Although the price of the black mamba detoxification pill was expensive, the sales volume was not bad. Many customers had been attracted by this detoxification pill. After many customers came, they would also buy some other pills to try the effect.
…
Ye Fan came out, looked at Bai Yunxi, and said, “Yunxi, don’t open the shop. Let’s go out to have a meal and celebrate.”
Bai Yunxi had already rejected Ye Fan several times in a row. Looking at Ye Fan who was in high spirits, he did not pour cold water on Ye Fan again.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Bai Yunxi closed the shop and went out with Ye Fan.
Bai Yunxi had managed the store for a few months and gotten to know a lot of people, so some people kept greeting Bai Yunxi along the way.
When they got to the restaurant, Ye Fan found a window where he could see the sea and sat down.
Ye Fan took the menu and ordered dishes with great interest. Ye Fan made a lot of money during this period of time, and he was not stingy when ordering.
Bai Yunxi sat on the seat and looked out at the blue sea and blue sky outside the window.
Several cultivators in uniform robes came up.
The waiter sent these few cultivators into the private room with sincerity and fear.
Ye Fan held his chin and muttered in a low voice, “It’s also Foundation Establishment, but that waiter treats me a lot worse than those few.”
Bai Yunxi frowned and said with displeasure, “Why are you comparing with others? But it’s strange. Why are there so many sect disciples recently?”
Ye Fan shrugged and said, “Maybe they are here to fish.”
Bai Yunxi: “…” Compared with sect disciples, loose cultivators lacked a bit of background, and the spiritual weapons used were also inferior. If they really fought, loose cultivators would usually be at a disadvantage. Bai Yunxi had heard that there had been many conflicts between sect disciples and ordinary cultivators recently.
“It’s really strange. When you were at home before, didn’t you eat spiritual meals?” Every time Bai Yunxi watched Ye Fan eat, he always felt it was a little exaggerated.
Ye Fan frowned and said, “There’s no meal hall there! Big brother and everyone, they all eat fasting* pills.”
Bai Yunxi: “…” Ye Fan was so miserable!
***
T/N: *Title is technically manluoba snake venom. However, as far as I’m aware, the characters “manluoba” together don’t mean anything. The characters “man” and “ba” together (without the “luo” character) are the characters for the mamba snake, so I went with mamba snake as the pinyin sounded weird and the mtl came out with “manroba snake”. The author did not use the character for black (hei) in the title, but did in other places in the text and since the black mamba snake is a known venomous snake, I went with that.
*Touching porcelain is Chinese slang for a type of scam, named after someone breaking porcelain (which is delicate) and the owner asking for compensation. It’s a scam because the porcelain is deliberately placed in a spot easy for it to break, or there’s already a crack in it or something. The modern scam is something like fainting in front of someone’s car and asking for compensation. Honestly, it’s gotten kind of bad and is really sad. I saw once in another novel the female MC had to turn on her camera to film before going to help an old man who had collapsed on the street, because she was afraid it was a scam.
*If the tiger doesn’t roar, people will mistake it for a sick cat: Chinese idiom that’s basically what it sounds like, i.e. if you don’t show your ability, people will think you’re weak.
*Previously translated as Xuanlong Seal.
*fasting pills – previously translated as bigu pills. They are pills eaten by cultivators below a certain level of cultivation, so they won’t have to eat. Beyond a certain level of cultivation (depends on the novel), a cultivator usually doesn’t have to eat, even without relying on bigu/fasting pills.
