Beast-Taming Cultivator from Two Realms

Chapter 14 : Black Gold Ginseng

Chapter 14: Black Gold Ginseng"Wuhu, taking off!" Chen Beiwu’s expression brightened with joy.

Hunting beast creatures was indeed a lucrative business.

In just a few minutes of fierce combat, he had obtained the heart essence blood of the Bullet Ape, worth two lower-grade spirit stones—equivalent to his mother’s monthly income from embroidery at home.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t explain the source of the ape blood, so he couldn’t exchange it for spirit stones in the Immortal Alliance and could only use it himself.

But that was already enough. Exotic beast essence blood was expensive precisely because it could improve a cultivator’s comprehension of the Ten Thousand Beasts Manual and enhance the purity of their mana.o find such a spirit plant in the mountains.

Thanks to the Immortal Alliance’s years of mandatory education in the four cultivation arts, Chen Beiwu was familiar with many pill recipes, including the Qi-Boosting Pill.

Black Gold Ginseng was the main ingredient for refining the first-tier Qi-Boosting Pill and was highly valued in the market, easily selling for at least ten spirit stones.

If he could refine the Black Gold Ginseng into pills, its price would skyrocket, reaching as high as fifty lower-grade spirit stones.

But Chen Beiwu wasn’t an official alchemist yet and was not proficient in water-method pill refinement. Attempting to refine the pill recklessly would only waste the materials, so it was better to eat it raw.

For late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, eating Black Gold Ginseng raw was quite beneficial, saving half a month of bitter cultivation.

"What a pity." Chen Beiwu sighed.

He had once aspired to become an alchemist.

Among the hundred arts of cultivation, pill refining, artifact forging, formations, and talismans were the mainstream, with alchemists faintly holding the top spot. It was also the most in-demand and profitable profession.

But pill refinement was incredibly costly—typically only cultivators from established families could afford to learn it, unless one had extraordinary talent.

Most beginner alchemy apprentices had to work for their masters for years without pay and spend a huge amount of spirit stones to run furnaces and accumulate experience.

On the Immortal Alliance web, some alchemy apprentices even joked about themselves "paying to go to work," exhausting their bodies for years just to earn experience.

It was precisely because pill refinement required such a massive investment—far beyond what an ordinary family could afford—that Chen Beiwu gave up on becoming an alchemist.

Xu Lingling managed to become the only mid-grade first-tier alchemist at Shouhe No.2 High School during her sophomore year not just because of her talent, but also due to her family’s support.

The path of artifact forging was slightly better—lower investment, higher demand.

Even if a beginner failed to forge an exotic artifact due to bad luck, they could melt it down and reuse some materials. The only downside was the market was oversaturated with too many artifact forgers.

Talisman crafting was more suited to those with average talent and resources, but it required a massive time and energy commitment, which might even hinder one’s cultivation.

The success rate of beginners crafting low-tier talismans was abysmally low. Even if they succeeded by luck, the cost of making the talisman far exceeded its selling price. Like alchemy, one needed to spend spirit stones to earn experience—only losing a bit less.

As for the path of formations, it was the hardest to learn and the hardest to master, relying heavily on innate talent.

Formation masters didn’t make money early on, as cultivators had little demand for low-tier formations.

But once a formation master reached a high level, it was a different story altogether.

There was a saying in the formation world: "No business for ten years, but one job feeds ten years." It referred to the incredible earning power of high-tier formation masters.

But mastering formations was extremely difficult. To put it bluntly, if a cultivator poured vast resources into any of the other arts, they could probably produce a high-tier alchemist, artifact forger, or talisman master.

But formations were different. If one couldn’t understand the formation patterns, they simply couldn’t learn them—no matter how hard you forced it, you couldn’t inscribe those abstruse, cryptic patterns.

It was no exaggeration to say that those without talent in formations would remain first-tier formation masters their entire lives. At most, they might become second-tier through luck, but they would never reach third-tier.

Chen Beiwu had barely decent talent in formations. What others found obscure and difficult, he didn’t consider complicated. What he lacked was simply a chance to set up arrays.

If he had enough array resources, he might be able to become a second-tier formation master in the future.

Snapping out of his scattered thoughts, Chen Beiwu carefully stored the ginseng.

He had been lucky today—if he had come a day later, the ginseng would likely have a few more pitted gaps, and much of its medicinal power would have been lost.

Brushing aside the shrubs that blocked his vision, Chen Beiwu continued mapping, carefully drawing the terrain around the cave abode.

"Huh!"

Chen Beiwu suddenly halted, listening intently to the unusual sounds coming from the bushes ahead.

"Help… help!"

Hearing the extremely weak cry for help, Chen Beiwu frowned slightly, his gaze turning toward the messy footprints not far away.