Immortality: Raising an Ant Queen to Cultivate by increasing stat points - Chapter 159

Chapter 159: Chapter 154 Alchemist Price List_1

Translator: 549690339

Even when including apprentice pharmacists and Dan Tong, being able to reach a scale of a hundred people still proves to be quite strong.

“How do you charge for your services? And what kind of elixirs can you refine for me?”

Qin Niu certainly needed to understand the details before deciding whether to hire someone to refine elixirs.

“The fee is based on the type of elixir you need refined, as well as the size and grade of the beast core. Some beast cores have a lot of impurities and require the addition of various materials to purge the contaminants, which can make the service more expensive. Even just the purifying process for ordinary beast cores isn’t cheap. If you are interested, I can ask a Dan Tong to come and discuss the details with you.”

The clerk’s job was to handle reception, and he might have a smattering of knowledge about herbs and elixirs.

“Thank you.”

Qin Niu said to the clerk.

It wasn’t long before the clerk fetched a Dan Tong, who was dressed in a white robe.

Pharmacists and alchemists, in fact, focus on different things.

Pharmacists specialize in the cultivation, collection, identification, and processing of herbs, and they excel at how to combine herbs effectively.

Alchemists are adept at blending medicinal materials with additives and refining them into elixir pills.

It can be understood that pharmacists do basic work, while alchemists perform higher-level technical tasks.

Many impressive alchemists are also pharmacists.

This is the origin of the title ‘Elixir Master’.

If one only excels in either alchemy or pharmaceuticals, they aren’t qualified to be called an Elixir Master.

Rather, they can only be referred to as a pharmacist or alchemist.

Furthermore, the status of an alchemist is higher than that of a pharmacist, and the income is likewise higher.

Alchemists can enhance the effects of a single herb through the addition of auxiliary ingredients and purifying techniques. Mastery of the flame during the refining process is one of the core skills of an alchemist.

Pharmacists, however, are devoted to understanding the properties of herbs and don’t have the capability of enhancing the efficacy of the herbs.

For example, consuming a certain herb could allow a person’s cultivation to advance from the onefold of the Acquired Realm to the twofold. Moreover, due to certain toxicity, the herb might cause extreme pain during ingestion.

But through an alchemist’s refining and the addition of ingredients, that same herb can become non-toxic and even enable a person to advance from the onefold of the Acquired Realm to the threefold, or even higher.

That is the capability of an alchemist.

The apprentice that had served Qin Niu last time wore a grey robe. But this Dan Tong was dressed in a white robe, with a noticeable gold cauldron pattern embroidered on his chest.

Their attire alone placed him a level above the apprentice in status.

He carried himself with a touch of arrogance.

One would almost think this kid was serving as an alchemy novice to the Supreme Elder Lord.

“Are you the one who wants to purify a beast core?”

“Yes!”

“The starting fee is ten taels of silver, and there’s a chance of failure in purifying. Are you sure you want to proceed?”

The Dan Tong spoke with a hint of coldness.

The mere starting price for purifying a single beast core was ten taels of silver, which was truly not cheap. Buying a single Tempering Elixir would only cost three taels of silver.

“Why is the price of purifying a beast core much more expensive than buying an elixir?”

Qin Niu’s brow furrowed slightly.

He wasn’t keen on the Dan Tong’s inherent arrogance.

The words spoken were quite cold, delivered with an air of just going through the motions.

“Our cheapest elixir is the Detoxification Pill, one tael of silver each. The most affordable of the cultivation-related elixirs is the Tempering Elixir, three taels of silver each. But these two types of elixirs have no comparison to the elixirs refined from purified beast cores. Let me put it this way, even the poorest beast core, if successfully purified, will produce an elixir worth at least a hundred taels of silver.”

The Dan Tong appeared to discern that Qin Niu was an outsider to the field and provided additional explanations.

“Is there such a huge difference?”

Qin Niu inwardly clicked his tongue in wonder.

You get what you pay for; the best goods are always expensive.

No wonder their starting rate for purifying beast cores was ten taels of silver.

“No matter how many Tempering Elixirs one takes, they can at most be promoted to Tenfold of the common realm. However, taking an elixir refined from a Beast Core can break through a major realm in one go, directly advancing to the Acquired Realm.”

The apprentice alchemists must frequently deal with bumpkins like Qin Niu.

So he gave him the simplest example.

Leaning against the Ancient Banyan Tree, Qin Niu followed a regimen that included drinking Wolf Blood, snake blood, King Pig’s Blood, along with the meat of various wild beasts, and he cultivated diligently every day, finally achieving a breakthrough to the first level of the Acquired Realm.

He had not anticipated that such a difficult feat could be achieved with a single elixir refined from a Beast Core.

He finally understood why cultivators considered wealth to be of utmost importance.

With money, talent and diligence can be entirely disregarded.

A single elixir can lead to overtaking others on a corner.

“How high is the failure rate for refining Beast Cores?”

Qin Niu was already quite tempted.

He was currently at the first level of the Acquired Realm. To advance to the next minor realm, he would need at least 1000 points of energy.

That means the difficulty of cultivation had increased more than tenfold.

Cultivation is a process of accumulation to begin with.

Amassing quietly to unleash suddenly.

The King Pig Core he possessed was the size of a soybean. If it were refined into an elixir and consumed, his cultivation would undoubtedly take a huge leap forward.

Cultivators are fundamentally contending with fate itself.

They fight for opportunities and for every inch of time.

Advancing greatly at once could save years, or even decades of arduous cultivation, which also means he would have several decades more than other cultivators to strive for higher realms.

No matter how you look at it, it’s worth the attempt.

“The success rate varies. Here at our establishment, the prices for alchemists are clearly marked. If you entrust it to me for refining, I can do it for just One Tael of Silver,” said the apprentice alchemist, his tone finally taking on a more human quality.

But is that possible?

Would Qin Niu really give that precious King Pig Core to a novice for refining, just to save Nine Taels of Silver on the refining fee?

If it were ruined in the process, wouldn’t he be devastated?

“Let me take a look at your alchemists’ price list first!”

Qin Niu decided to get an understanding of the pricing first.

“Sure, the price list is right up there! The closer to the front the alchemist is, the more expensive the price, and you’re also required to wait in line. If you hand it to me for refining, I can start the alchemy process for you today.”

This guy could tell that Qin Niu was a bumpkin and was desperately trying to score the opportunity to refine a Beast Core from him.

Because refining a Beast Core could significantly improve any alchemist apprentice’s skills.

Qin Niu lifted his eyes to scan the price list.

The fee for the Chief Alchemist was the most expensive, starting at Fifty Taels of Silver. The success rate for ordinary elixirs was above 95%, whereas the refining success rate for Beast Cores was 30%.

That success rate wasn’t ordinarily low!

Qin Niu continued to read on.

The three Gold Medal Alchemists had Beast Core refining success rates of 25%, 23%, and 21% respectively.

The seven Silver Medal Alchemists had even lower Beast Core refining success rates, the strongest was 20%, and the weakest was only 11%.

As for ordinary alchemists, the success rates were below ten percent.

Apprentice alchemists? Probably less than 1% success rate.

“I would like your Chief Alchemist to refine for me, please ask him to come out and have a chat!”

Qin Niu decided to have a discussion first.

For a matter this important, the more details the better.

“The Chief Alchemist, due to an overflow of orders, is no longer taking orders for ordinary Beast Cores. May I take a look at your Beast Core first?”

The apprentice alchemist, having failed to snag the job, was quite disappointed.