Chapter 471 - At The Pill Shop
The shop was relatively big and had the name board on its entrance. It simply read 'Tri Cauldron Peony Sect Alchemical Supplies'. Every shop that was run by the Tri cauldron peony sect had the same name no matter the city it was located in.
This made it easy for people to recognize it, not to mention the prestige that came with the name. It directly increased their value which in turn brought in more customers. Which Lin Mu could witness easily.
The shop was filled to the brim with customers and clerks were running around at the back, rushing to fulfill the orders. Though there was one person who caught Lin Mu's attention.
It was a woman who was helping the shopkeeper in selling the pills and other resources. This woman was a mature beauty and had a cold face. A lot of customers couldn't help but take a second look at her.
Lin Mu instantly recognized her to be Hei Wan. He walked in and directly went to the main counter. There were multiple spirit sense probes spread around in the shop and the disciples of the Tri cauldron were on guard for any crime that may occur in the shop.
Thus Lin Mu's approach was quickly detected, not to mention the fact that he had not hidden his spirit Qi fluctuation. He was deliberately letting them spread in the area. Lin Mu had long since figured out that just doing this let him establish and authority and saved a lot of time for him.
As long as people saw his cultivation base, they would not dare underestimate him and would respect him. This made things easier for him. Hei Wan too noticed him when he appeared in the shop and almost stumbled.
She had already heard the report that Lin Mu had appeared from Wu Hei and that his appearance had changed. He had described it to her, but she was still shocked upon seeing him.
'This is not a little change, he does not look the same at all!' Hei Wan thought to herself.
It was still unbelievable to her that the boy of two years ago was already at the peak stage of the core condensation. She herself had spent a decade to reach the peak of the Qi refining realm because of which this fact was nothing short of a miracle to her.
If Hei Wan had noticed him, then there was no way the Shopkeeper had not done the same. This man was at the early stage core condensation realm disciple of the sect and could even be considered to be as a junior elder.
The man instantly sprouted a businessman like smile on his face as he cupped his hands in greeting.
"What can I do for you today, senior?" The shopkeeper questioned.
Hei Wan and Lin Mu both looked at each other briefly, but none of them spoke a word to each other.
"I'd like to buy some pills and herbs please." Lin Mu replied in a friendly tone.
"Of course, senior. Our shop has everything that can be supplied by the Tri cauldron peony sect and we give a guarantee for our quality. What would you like in particular? Or if you would like to browse, I can give you our catalog too." The shopkeeper replied swiftly, in a practiced manner.
"Ah, a catalog would be perfect." Lin Mu said.
He did not want to say that he would like anything that was rich in earth attribute spirit Qi or was based on that; as it would probably draw some strange gazes and maybe even suspicion.
Besides, Lin Mu had also learned a few things from the Lost immortal's memoirs about buying things. He had learned that it was best to not let the merchant know of your exact requirements or there was a great chance that he would try to bargain for a higher price.
Getting a catalog would ensure that the merchant had a less chance of finding out, and besides that, the prices on the catalog would also help him verify the actual cost.
"Very well. Here is our catalog of alchemical pills and this one is for spirit herbs." The shopkeeper spoke as he placed them in front of Lin Mu.
Lin Mu started with the pill catalog as he knew they would contain a higher amount of earth attribute spirit Qi due to being concentrated during refinement. Though on the other hand, they would also be a lot more expensive than just the base spirit herbs.
There were about fifty pages in the catalog for the pills, and each page had around five to ten pills on it. Lin Mu used his spirit sense along with his vision and quickly read through the entire catalog in five minutes.
It didn't take him long before he was able to pick out pills that filled his requirements. But he didn't state them to the shopkeeper right away. Instead, he chose to look at the herb catalog too.
The herb catalog was much bigger than the pill catalog, having over a hundred pages in it. Various herbs with their properties, prices and uses were described on each page and Lin Mu took his leisure time reading these.
The Shopkeeper instructed Hei Wan to keep Lin Mu company while he attended to other customers. This was exactly what the two of them wanted, and Hei Wan accepted the task.
"Are you really here to buy pills and herbs?" Hei Wan asked, feeling a bit apprehensive.
"Yes, I do need them. And on the other hand, I also wanted to check up on you. I've heard all that happened in the past and wanted to see how you were doing." Lin Mu replied.
Complex emotions appeared in Hei Wan's eyes, but she quickly suppressed them before letting out a sigh.
~Sigh~
"We should ideally avoid as much contact as we can. Even though the 'controlled' are unaware of him right now, we don't know if they will find out due to some luck." Hei Wan spoke.