One week had passed since Airan assembled his custom distillation tool.
Today marked a crucial turning point: he was heading out to purchase his second batch of low-grade spirit wine to keep his new operation running.
Airan had decided long ago that he was done hunting beasts in the dangerous warrens.
The endless cycle of tracking, risking his life against swarms, and scraping by for scraps was over.
Instead, he was building a clean, sustainable cycle.
The economics were simple.
It took three days of meticulous, quiet heat management to distill a half-kilogram batch of low-grade wine into a purer, higher grade.
While low-grade wine sold cheap, a half-kilogram of medium-grade wine could be sold for 60 spirit stones, and a full kilogram fetched 120.
This was already his second batch of the week.
To sell the product safely without drawing the greedy eyes of rogue cultivators, Airan brought his flasks to a small, unassuming shop tucked away in a quieter alley.
The store was run by an old man who sold a chaotic assortment of odds and ends—battered equipment, leftover pills, and tattered spell scrolls.
The old man operated in complete peace, undisturbed by the rough-and-tumble thugs of the outer rings, and for good reason.
His daughter was an outer disciple of the ruling sect that owned the entire city—a formidable Third-Grade Upper Level Sect boasting a Middle Gold Core Sect Master and an Upper Gold Core Ancestor who served as the sect’s terrifying guardian. Follow the newest chapters on NovelPing.
Because of that powerful backing, no rogue cultivator dared cause trouble near his doors.
Airan stepped into the quiet shop, keeping his hood low, ready to hand over his refined medium-grade spirit wine and secure his profit without ever risking exposure.
Author’s Note: Thanks for reading Chapter 9 !
Airan’s journey from a penniless herb collector to a spirit distiller starts here.