Chu Yunfan walked into a medicinal herb store. The place was not very big and held only regular grocery items. The medicinal herbs and other things were all kept in the back. This was only a storefront.
The owner of this medicinal herb store was a middle-aged man with a medium build. However, his brows gave off a slightly gloomy and cold feeling.
When he saw Chu Yunfan come in, his eyes lit up, he said, “Young man, I don’t know what medicinal herbs you want to buy, but I carry everything here. Even if I don’t have it now, I can find someone to ship them over instantly.”
“Do you have a list?” Chu Yunfan asked.
“Of course, here.” The owner handed over a tablet.
Chu Yunfan browsed through the list. A few moments later, he frowned and said, “Why is everything so expensive? They are at least 50% more expensive than the ones in the city.”
The owner of the medicinal herbs shop chuckled. He said, “This is a given. I need to make a living, don’t I? They are more expensive than what you can find in the city. But if you could return to the city and get them, you wouldn’t be patronizing my shop, would you now?”
Chu Yunfan understood the owner’s expression and naturally knew that there was no bargaining. This was just how the black market was. Buy low and sell high. The carcasses of the monsters he sold could be sold for at least four to five million if they were sold normally. But in the black market, they could only sell for three.
“Here, get me these. I’ll need an alchemy lab as well. Prepare one for me,” Chu Yunfan said.
“No problem. Including the cost of using the alchemy lab, I’ll charge you one million,” the shop owner said with a smile as he narrowed his eyes.
Although Chu Yunfan felt that the price was steep, he still paid without hesitation. Compared to the final harvest, this amount meant nothing.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be an alchemist, young man. I’m sorry,” the shop owner chuckled and said with a glint in his eyes.
“Lead the way,” Chu Yunfan said as he swept aside the shop owner’s remark.
Under the shop owner’s guidance, Chu Yunfan came to the back alley. There was indeed an alchemy lab there. After waiting in the lab for a while, the shop owner had someone bring to Chu Yunfan the ingredients he had asked for.
After the shop owner left, Chu Yunfan immediately became solemn. This black market was filled with the smell of danger. It was different from the black market between Calm Ocean City and Donghua City that he had been to before. There was still basic order there. This place was devoid of it. Everyone here exuded an extremely dangerous aura.
On the way to the lab, Chu Yunfan saw several fights between monster hunters. No one even blinked an eye. The injured and laid on the ground.
‘After concocting the Beast Taming Pill, I’ll leave immediately,’ Chu Yunfan thought to himself.
Even though the shop owner had tried to hide it, Chu Yunfan could tell that the shop owner harbored bad intentions. Chu Yunfan was sensitive to these things. After the shop owner confirmed that he was an alchemist, his expression changed. Although he hid it very well, it did not escape Chu Yunfan’s perception.
‘I should be more careful around these parts,’ Chu Yunfan thought.
However, he was not very worried. With the Mountain River Diagram, he could hide in its space at any time. There was no need to worry at all. Chu Yunfan wasted no time and quickly began to refine the Beast Taming Pill. No matter what the shop owner was thinking, he had to make the pill.
After three hours, the Beast Taming Pill was finally done. A wave of medicinal fragrance assailed his nostrils. Chu Yunfan opened the alchemical furnace and took out the pill. He carefully used a porcelain bottle that had been laid out in the lab to pack it up.
‘This Beast Taming Pill is enough for me to tame an Acquired Stage monster. It’s equivalent to having an Acquired Stage-level helper. That would be amazing!” Chu Yunfan thought to himself.
Moreover, the monster that was tamed with this Beast Taming Pill would not lose its intelligence. On the contrary, it would actually grow to be even smarter. In other words, the potential of the tamed monster would rise to a higher level. There was also the possibility of it advancing further and evolving into an Innate Stage monster.
He knew that many beast taming techniques would cause damage to the monster. The tamed monster would often be injured and would not be able to advance further. Some of the techniques were because of flaws, and some were to prevent the monster from rebelling against its master after its strength increased. However, monsters tamed using Beast Taming Pills were completely different.
I’ll return to the base after I’ve tamed an Acquired Stage monster. Regardless of whether it’s Jiang Yusheng or those two cult spies posing as soldiers, they won’t be able to do anything to me,’ Chu Yunfan thought, his eyes flashing with a fierce light. He did not want to harm anyone, but after being forced, he had no other choice.
At this moment, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming from the stairway of the alchemy lab.
“Li, are you sure? Did an alchemist really come to the black market?” a gruff voice asked.
“Would I tell you if it wasn’t true? It’s just that he’s a little young,” came the voice of the shop owner.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s a little young. The leader of our gang has wanted to train an alchemist to serve us, the Blood Wolf Gang. Unfortunately, he has yet to succeed in doing so. Now, we might as well catch one to save time,” The gruff voice sounded again.
“Sir, what if that guy doesn’t cooperate?” a voice said.
“Then break his limbs, dig out his eyes, and torture him. I don’t believe that there are people who aren’t afraid of death. Anyway, with modern technology, all these can be treated as long as they don’t die,” the gruff voice said menacingly.
Chu Yunfan heard everything clearly from the door. The shop owner has sent people to capture him. This black market was really lawless. This Blood Wolf Gang was clearly used to being lawless. Their methods were extremely brutal. With a thought, Chu Yunfan entered the space within the Mountain River Diagram.
At this moment, a series of messy footsteps arrived outside the lab. The door was pushed open and seven or eight people entered. The person in the lead was none other than the shop owner. Beside him was a tall and big man with a curly beard and a martial arts suit.
Behind these two were five similarly tall and sturdy men. All of these carried terrifying auras.