All That Fuss

A few days later.

I set the basket of medicinal herbs on the workbench. I meant to finish my share early today. If I got my qi circulation done before dinner, I wouldn't doze off and let the spiritual energy slip away.

"Jin Myeong. Divide the work among the assistants. Once preparations are finished, check them yourself and report back."

"Yes, Deacon."

Jin Myeong, who had entered the sect in the same batch as I had, bent at the waist.

The bastard had climbed to the second layer of Qi Condensation and seized a senior's post in the Alchemy Pavilion on top of it. His monthly pay had risen to twenty low-grade spirit stones. Twice mine.

I need to break ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through, and soon.

Still stuck at the first layer of Qi Condensation, I started by emptying the basket. One man buys his realm with money and gets treated like a senior. Another is broke and left scraping by. What a world. I had been dumped into a cultivation realm for reasons I still couldn't explain, and in the end the world was capitalism all the same.

That was when Jin Myeong came up to the workbench.

"Set aside anything in poor condition. After you prep them, portion them by what a single refinement will take."

"Yes, Senior. Understood."

I picked out the herbs whose roots had gone soft.

"Start with these. Those are for later."

Jin Myeong pushed aside the basket I had taken and slid a different one toward me. I put the herbs I had pulled out back where they belonged. He gave the same instructions at the next bench, then clasped his hands behind his back and strolled the aisle between the tables.

Call him Senior every other breath and he still finds something to nitpick. Son of a bitch.

I grabbed a handful of herbs and set to prepping them. When I reached toward an empty bowl to dump the trimmed roots, Soyeon slid it in front of me.

"You can put them in here."

"Thank you."

Soyeon was an assistant at the first layer of Qi Condensation, the same as me. She held the bowl steady until I had swept the roots in, then picked up her own herbs.

"Looks like he doesn't do the prepping himself anymore."

I said it quietly, glancing toward Jin Myeong, and Soyeon pressed her lips together and smiled.

"He stood over mine for a good long while earlier, too."

"What did he say?"

"He told me to do it properly."

I nodded and cut through a root.

"They say his monthly pay is double, too. I'd be in a fine mood myself."

"That part, I do envy."

Soyeon sighed as well.

I set the prepped herbs on the scale. After a stretch of the work my throat was dry, so I told Soyeon I was going for water and stood. I brushed the powder from my fingertips and drank it down. I even started scraping the grit packed under my nails, then gave up.

Now then... any reviews up yet?

I took out my jade slip and opened the sales post first. Unfortunately, there were none. The last reply was someone saying they would come pick the pills up.

I don't care how rotten this cultivation world is. Not one of those three bastards left a review? How long does that even take?

I switched over to the Cultivator Gallery and checked the trending posts.

I opened it. It was the story about a dao partner keeping dual cultivation going for days on end. In the comments, one of the sister-daoists said she had seen him take a pill.

All that, off a single pill?

I read that part again.

That's my pill, isn't it?

Underneath, other men were running their mouths.

I went back to my sales post. I had asked them, more than once, to please leave a review. The transmission fee alone had been three spirit stones, and that was before the money I had put into the herbs to send the pills out.

Unbelievable... they go at it like that and still won't write a review, the bastards. Is this karma for every delivery-app review promo I cashed in on and never actually reviewed? Fuck.

I put the jade slip away and went back to Soyeon's side. More than half the herbs still needed prepping.

And then, at last.

I was measuring out the last bundle when Jin Myeong came back. He picked up the tied herbs and drew one out.

"And what exactly were you planning, putting something like this in?"

The leaf tip was slightly torn.

"I clearly told you to remove anything damaged, did I not?"

"I pulled everything with soft or rotten roots. We've used herbs of that quality before..."

"Hey. Are you talking back to your senior? Out of the vast generosity of my heart I will let it pass, so cut the chatter and sort them again!"

"...Understood. I'll do as you command."

Jin Myeong watched until I started untying the bundle, then left.

This feels uncomfortably like I've been drafted back into the army...

I worked a fingernail into the knot. I had yanked it tight so it wouldn't come undone, and now just loosening the cord took forever.

"I heard the same thing."

Soyeon said it quietly, glancing the way Jin Myeong had gone.

"We used to just use herbs like that... I think he wants to be treated like a senior. Please don't let it weigh on you."

She untied the bundle in front of her as well. I looked at Soyeon, then pushed the spread herbs in toward the center.

"Thank you for saying so."

I started with the ones that were sound all the way to the tip of the leaf. I even set aside the ones with small flaws, made up a full bundle, and took it to Jin Myeong.

"I've sorted them again."

Jin Myeong flipped through the herbs. I waited with my hands clasped.

"There. This is how it's done, is it not?"

"Yes. You're right, Senior."

"Good. Excellent. Reinspect every last one of the rest as well."

"Haaah..."

After I got off, I stopped by the evening market for steamed buns and a bowl of meat noodles, then returned to my quarters. The moment I took up the chopsticks, my knuckles ached. I worked the stiffness out of my hands, then started in on the meal, the jade slip open beside me.

The Cultivator Gallery was still on about that dual cultivation story. Someone had gathered the sister-daoists' comments and put them up as a new post.

If nothing else, they are artists at slapping a label on anything.

I scraped the bowl clean and went back to my room. Today, at least, I had time to circulate my qi. I folded my legs beneath me and steadied my breath. Eyes closed, I slowly drew spiritual energy in, turned what I had taken along the circulation method, and gathered it in my dantian again and again. Only long after that did I finish.

I took stock of the energy sitting in my dantian.

Barely a scrap had built up. Was it because the method was the Earth Absorption Art, or because I was stuck with a garbage five-element spiritual root... If the Viagra actually sold, maybe a little capitalist cultivation could turn this around...

I unfolded my legs and rubbed my tingling calves. Then I picked up the jade slip beside me and went back to scrolling the gallery.

They're still on this. Stories like these drive people out of their minds no matter where you go.

I opened the post.

The man had even copied my sales post and pasted it in.

I looked back and forth between my sales post and the title stuck above it.

"Huh?"

The fuss these people are making is really something.

I left a comment.

Replies latched onto it at once.

Knew it, my ass.

More comments kept stacking on in the meantime.

It was the one who had asked a little earlier whether I was still selling. He replied under my comment, too.

I read the reply. Beneath it, someone else was asking whether I had any stock left.

I was about to answer that I had none left when I read the comment beneath those.

"...Oh."

It was the one who had been asking where to buy them all along. Back when I had been giving the pills away for free, the only people I ever saw were the ones demanding to know where they were made, and what happened if you got sick from taking one.

After every twist and snag, the business was finally starting to roll.

Of course, I had no stock.

I moved to answer that comment, then stopped.

"Oh?"