Old Baker stormed out angrily, but William Grant suddenly called out to Old Baker, “Old Baker, don’t be upset. Even if the deal doesn’t go through, we can still be friends. There’s no point in cursing people.”

He continued, “It’s not impossible to sell the Deer Antler Powder only to you. How about this: bring me a few purple datura flowers first to show your sincerity.”

“Purple datura flowers?”

Old Baker had hunted in the mountains for years and often gathered herbs as well. He recognized most common medicinal plants and had indeed seen purple datura flowers before.

They weren’t particularly rare, and picking them wasn’t difficult.

He turned around and asked William Grant, “Do you mean what you say?”

“Of course.”

William Grant waved at Old Baker, “Bring me the purple datura flowers, and then we’ll talk.”

After sending Old Baker off, William Grant took out the Wind and Moon Mirror for a look, and was surprised to find that his Human Dao Aura had increased by another nine points...

Chapter 9: The Woman in Black

“These ten points of Human Dao Aura actually came from the Deer Antler Powder...”

William Grant had many guesses about the newly increased Human Dao Aura.

It added up to exactly ten points, which matched the ten Deer Antler Powders he had sold.

So, as long as someone enjoyed the Deer Antler Powder, would it generate Human Dao Aura?

William Grant wasn’t sure, but it wouldn’t be hard to verify.

This time, he had given Old Baker another twenty Deer Antler Powders. If the powder really did return Human Dao Aura, he’d see the results soon.

He opened the pill furnace and got back to work.

He couldn’t refine White Dew Pills, but there was no problem with Qi Recovery Pills and Essence Stabilizing Pills.

Pill refining, cultivation, petting the cat, eating, cultivating with Sister Lane, sleeping.

After three days, William Grant had refined another batch of Qi Recovery Pills, yielding more than 340 pills.

Pill refining was a job that really tested one’s patience. You couldn’t leave halfway; you had to watch over the furnace the whole time.

Although it didn’t interfere with eating, cultivating, petting the cat, or even taking short naps, it was still a very dull and boring task.

After a few days, William Grant’s skin was yellowed and dry from the charcoal fire, and he was covered head to toe in a strong medicinal scent.

The first few times he refined pills, William Grant found it novel and was full of energy.

But once the novelty wore off, the intense work of pill refining became a bit hard to bear.

Fortunately, he managed to make over forty extra pills, which was equivalent to earning four lower-grade spirit stones.

Qi Recovery Pills were used to quickly restore spiritual energy and were also good for assisting cultivation—a must-have for cultivators.

But pills were expensive, and using Qi Recovery Pills to aid cultivation was a luxury. At the very least, it cost three lower-grade spirit stones a month.

Even though William Grant could refine pills, he couldn’t afford to use them up.

There was an old poem: “Bitterly I resent weaving golden threads year after year, only to make wedding clothes for others.”

Still, William Grant wasn’t discouraged.

To put it bluntly, he was just a cog in the pill-refining production line. The herbs and pill furnace weren’t his; he had to give seventy or eighty percent of his earnings to his master.

That was just how this society worked.

If there weren’t such benefits, why would his master take on disciples?

Complaining was pointless; if you can’t change it, join it. Once he became stronger, he’d naturally get more.

There was always a lot of waste in pill refining. Shopkeeper Clark always gave him twenty percent extra herbs to account for losses.

Luckily, his pill-refining skills had improved greatly, and now he could turn even that extra twenty percent into pills.

The forty-plus extra Qi Recovery Pills this time were his own profit. He could use them himself or sell them.

William Grant formed a seal with his left hand and lightly brushed his Daoist robe. Deep in his brow, Sister Lane helped him condense a talisman, activating the Cleansing Spell.

A faint shimmer of water swept from head to toe, instantly removing all the charcoal and dust from William Grant’s body. His blue Daoist robe became as clean as new.

Even his long hair, tied up in a Daoist bun, became black, shiny, and lustrous.

After crossing into this world, life had become very inconvenient.

The simplest things, like personal hygiene—without hot water, even washing your face was a hassle. Without modern shampoo, managing long hair in a Daoist bun was even more troublesome.

With the Cleansing Spell, he could clean both himself and his clothes at once.

The effect was like wiping down with warm water and then drying off—very handy.

After tidying up, William Grant finished his daily required practice, then lay on the bed. Half asleep, half awake, his consciousness entered the Wind and Moon Mirror deep in his brow.

In the boudoir, Sister Lane greeted William Grant and gently helped him undress and take off his shoes.

After going through the whole routine, William Grant drifted off to sleep, completely satisfied.

The next morning, William Grant got up early. While he was feeling good, he took out the Wind and Moon Mirror.

When cultivating the Great Idol Method with Sister Lane, he was used to immersing his consciousness in the Wind and Moon Mirror.

But when checking the stats, he preferred to hold the mirror in his hand—it felt more real.

Over the past few days, all his stats had increased, with the fastest growth in pill refining.

His Bewildering Powder skill had reached master level, and he’d refined several more batches of pills, making great progress in pill refining.

His Fire Manipulation, Water Manipulation, and Cleansing Spells had all improved as well.

Turning to the back of the Wind and Moon Mirror, he saw that his Human Dao Aura had been steadily increasing over the past two days, up by a total of twenty points.

It was obvious that this Human Dao Aura came from the Deer Antler Powder.

Counting what he had left, there were still 170 Deer Antler Powders in his hand—that meant 170 points of Human Dao Aura!

It was just a pity that Old Baker was so slow at selling the medicine.