In Dugu Bo's perception, after the Shrek group had moved far away, he immediately stopped his fight with the saber-toothed tiger.
"This time, you've worked hard."
With that, he retrieved a high-grade medicinal herb from his soul-guided device and tossed it to the saber-toothed tiger.
This saber-toothed tiger wasn't a soul beast he had raised.
Thirty-thousand-year soul beasts possessed considerable intelligence, and with its unique bloodline, this saber-toothed tiger—though unable to speak human language—could understand most of what humans said.
Dugu Bo had ordered it to play along with the act, and under his overwhelming pressure, it had no choice but to comply.
However, Dugu Bo hadn't treated it unfairly.
After receiving its reward, the saber-toothed tiger rubbed its head against Dugu Bo before disappearing into the forest.
The Shrek group hadn't shown any intention of venturing into the poisonous miasma, which made Dugu Bo breathe a sigh of relief.
Still, to be on the safe side, he harvested all the mature medicinal herbs.
Even if someone managed to enter, his losses would be minimized.
---
The next day, inside the Seven Treasures Academy
Dugu Bo spread out some of the medicinal herbs he had brought back to dry in his estate.
Some medicinal herbs needed to remain fresh to maximize their efficacy, while others could be dried for storage.
For a moment, the fragrance of the herbs filled the air, and almost every corner of the academy was permeated with their scent.
Seeing this, Ning Tianchen immediately came to Dugu Bo's residence.
When he saw the ground of the estate covered with herbs, even someone as experienced as Ning Tianchen couldn't help but feel astonished.
Dugu Bo was lying on the roof of the central building, basking in the sun. Seeing Ning Tianchen arrive, he adopted a lazy posture.
"Old man, did you harvest all the medicinal herbs?"
Ning Tianchen couldn't help but marvel.
If these herbs were converted into gold spirit coins, their value would be at least five million.
It was no wonder—after all, in the original timeline, Tang San had completely emptied the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well.
No wonder Tang San, who always considered himself a commoner soul master, had so much wealth.
"Little one, climb up slowly—don't step on my herbs."
Almost every inch of the estate's ground was covered with herbs, including the roof.
There was only a small patch on the roof where someone could stand.
At a height of two stories, Ning Tianchen didn't need to rely on his soul bones—he leaped onto the roof in one bound.
"Little one, about those people from Shrek Academy…" Dugu Bo recounted his encounter with the Shrek group in detail.
Ning Tianchen silently felt relieved.
If they hadn't sealed off the top entrance beforehand, Flender's flying ability might have allowed him to enter the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well.
At the same time, he marveled at the power of fate.
After Dugu Bo had harvested the herbs, only two immortal herbs—the Eight Trigram Mystic Ice Grass and the Blazing Apricot Delicate Tree—remained in the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well, along with a small number of immature herbs.
"Old man, the shop is ready—you can move in now. How long do these herbs need to dry?"
Dugu Bo waved his hand dismissively. "The next batch of herbs won't mature for at least another year. These herbs will take a year to sell. Don't worry about the shop—I still have some stock left, enough to replenish the inventory for the opening."
Ning Tianchen thought for a moment and offered his business advice. "Old man, good things should be sold gradually. If you dump all these high-grade herbs onto the market at once, the price of high-grade herbs will collapse."
"So at this point, you should categorize the herbs and implement limited sales."
Limited sales were essentially a form of hunger marketing, used to drive up prices.
High-grade herbs weren't affordable for ordinary people—only soul masters and nobles would pay for them.
These groups weren't short on money. If you didn't earn from them, who would you earn from?
"The shop I gave you is about 150 square meters. You can set up a partition—one side for selling low-grade herbs, the other for selling limited high-grade herbs. Ideally, you should also have a 'treasure' item on display that isn't for sale."
As a Title Douluo, Dugu Bo's learning ability wasn't lacking.
After Ning Tianchen explained, he immediately understood the business opportunity and couldn't help but give a thumbs-up. "Little one, it's lucky you were born in the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Otherwise, your talents would have been wasted."
"I only have a small amount of low and mid-grade herbs left. Send someone to keep an eye on these herbs here while I go to the herb market to buy some more."
---
A few days later, news of the opening of the Dugu Family Pharmacy spread throughout the entire Tiandou City.
As a business owned by a Title Douluo, it naturally attracted significant attention.
Countless people hoping to curry favor with Dugu Bo gathered early at the Seven Treasures Mall, waiting for the official opening so they could shower Dugu Bo with money.
This news also reached Shrek Academy.
The Shrek Seven Monsters, who were in the middle of training, immediately gathered together.
"It seems Xiao San was right—Dugu Bo really opened a pharmacy," Dai Mubai said, patting Tang San on the shoulder with a smile.
"Teacher, I want to check out Dugu Bo's pharmacy. Maybe I can find some immortal herbs."
If Dugu Bo didn't recognize all the types of immortal herbs, it was highly possible he might sell them as regular herbs.
Tang San wanted to seize this opportunity to find a bargain.
"Third Brother, I'll go with you."
Knowing that the flower concealing her aura could avoid detection by a Title Douluo, Xiao Wu became bolder.
Yu Xiaogang readily granted them leave.
But Tang San didn't leave immediately; instead, he stood awkwardly in place.
"Xiao San, do you have something else to say?" Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but ask.
"Well… high-grade herbs are expensive, and I don't have enough money. Could everyone lend me some?" Tang San asked sheepishly.
Without the five million gold spirit coins gifted by Ning Fengzhi, Tang San had only accumulated a small fortune through subsidies from the Spirit Hall. However, this amount was negligible when it came to purchasing high-grade herbs—it was like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water.
Moreover, he had now broken through to Soul Ancestor rank and would no longer receive subsidies from the Spirit Hall. He couldn't afford to spend all his money at once.
Among the Shrek Seven Monsters, Ma Hongjun and Xiao Wu were part of the "moonlight clan"—they didn't have much savings.
"I'll lend you a thousand gold spirit coins," said Jiang Zhu.
"Tang San, I can only lend you a hundred gold spirit coins," Tai Long said, scratching his head.
Yu Tianheng pulled out a ten-thousand gold spirit coin card and handed it over. "Tang San, if there are any immortal herbs, make sure to get them. If you run out of money, send someone back to fetch more."
Dai Mubai also lent him ten thousand.
Tang San thanked everyone and headed to the Seven Treasures Mall with Xiao Wu and the money.
On the way, Xiao Wu couldn't help but suggest, "Third Brother, can we sell some of your hidden weapons?"
Most of Tang San's savings had been spent on buying iron materials to craft hidden weapons.
If they could sell some, they'd recoup a significant amount of funds.
Considering their future financial situation, he agreed to Xiao Wu's suggestion.
"Xiao Wu, didn't you want to visit the auction house in Tiandou City last time? After we leave the pharmacy, let's go and auction off some hidden weapons."
"Third Brother, a new dessert shop just opened near the academy. After we sell the items, let's go there to eat, okay?"
Tang San helplessly covered his forehead.
This was how Xiao Wu always spent her money.
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