"You should know that tiger penises from our mountains are a specialty. Those medicine merchants would fight over just one. If this one were put on the market, it'd drive people wild."
"..."
Speechless, Su Min stared at the thing cradled in the man's arms—as big as a baby—and rubbed her temples in exasperation. In terms of materials, this thing was practically useless to her. But for men, it seemed... quite beneficial.
That said, it was undeniably valuable, and she had no intention of giving it away. According to the village's customs, a lone hunter had the highest claim to their prey, entitled to over 80% of it unconditionally.
"Give it to me."
Hearing her speak, the man obediently passed it over. Su Min took it a bit hastily, and—
"Hisss—damn, no wonder it's a tiger demon, even this thing is ferocious."
The man winced, a tiny wound left by the barbs. He looked half in awe, half envious... it was hard to say which. Su Min simply turned away, quietly tossing the oversized "treasure" into her storage ring. Money was money, after all. As the saying goes: money isn't everything, but without it, you're nothing.
By the time dawn broke, the massive tiger corpse had been fully butchered. The parts Su Min wanted were neatly separated and packed away. After doing some basic processing, she took the lion's share with her. Naturally, plenty of scraps and organs were left behind, which the villagers divided among themselves.
Thus, the tiger demon incident finally came to an end.
The next steps were predictable—cremations for the dead, funerals for the lost. Incidentally, they managed to retrieve the remains of the unfortunate man who'd first fallen prey, digging his bones out of the tiger's stomach. His family took him home for a proper burial.
The rest of the village celebrated, but Su Min didn't join. According to local customs, these festivities doubled as matchmaking events—or, more bluntly, open-air mating sessions.
"Phew, refining all this crap is seriously exhausting."
Despite the lively festivities in the village, Su Min stood in her small courtyard, which now resembled a miniature chemical factory. She rubbed her sore shoulders, feeling a little overwhelmed. Who would've thought that even after transmigrating to another world, she'd still be stuck doing heavy industrial work?
Everything she was working on came from the tiger demon's remains. Following instructions from an old alchemy manual, she painstakingly refined each part. Take the blood, for instance: in novels, they always talk about "pure essence blood," but in reality, blood was more like a sewer pipeline. Su Min's task was to purify it, condensing it into usable "essence blood" for alchemy.
And that was the easy part.
The bones had their own uses, but the biggest headache was the four massive femurs. These had to be distilled into a rare "bone oil," a process that required three full days and nights of near-sleepless work. She had to keep her spiritual fire burning the entire time, carefully extracting the tiger marrow she needed.
"Finally... done."
Looking at the small vial in front of her and the furnace now blackened from overuse, Su Min let out a weary sigh. The rest of the materials she didn't need for now—like the tiger's hide, which was tough enough to be nearly immune to mortal blades and arrows.
In fact, when butchering the beast, they'd had to cut along the incision she'd made with her spiritual sword. Stabbing straight through the hide would've been almost impossible. It was excellent material, but crafting artifacts was beyond Su Min's current abilities.
"My cultivation is nearing perfection now. But if I want to reach Qi Refinement, relying solely on my own efforts would take at least ten more years. With a Qi-Inducing Pill, though, I could break through almost immediately."
After days of relentless work and accumulated experience, Su Min had reached the late stage of Body Refining, close to the peak. She was nearing the threshold for a breakthrough. When the time came, she could either take a Qi-Inducing Pill to advance straight into Qi Refinement or accumulate energy slowly for a natural breakthrough.
"It's been over a year already. Has that guy still not returned?"
At this thought, Su Min recalled the unlucky sect leader she'd met before. She wondered if he had succumbed to the poison. After he left the mountains, she had spent over a year studying before finally becoming a second-tier alchemist.
It was only a few days ago that she had gone out to purchase supplies—mainly bottles to store the solutions she had refined. The quantities were too large for the villagers to provide.
"I'll keep cultivating for now. Once I reach perfection, I'll have to leave for a while to gather more rare ingredients."
Late-stage Body Refining wasn't bad, but it wasn't enough. Just look at that poor guy from the village—the one who had wet himself in fear back then—who had now reached Body Refining.
Clearly, the pressure would only get heavier from here.
When her spiritual treasure, the gourd, matured, it would emit a golden light—a manifestation of the Great Dao itself. That kind of spectacle couldn't be hidden. It would surely attract powerful cultivators like flies, and maybe even the imperial army if the Dog Emperor caught wind of it.
If that happened, sheer numbers could crush her, Body Refining Stage or not. No matter what, she had to reach the Qi Refinement before that day arrived.
~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~
But...
"Hmm? This aura... That guy? I heard he's been staying in the village lately. Did he come because the tiger demon is dead?"
Su Min's sharp senses picked up several figures making their way up the mountain. Among them was someone she'd seen before—a follower of that same sect leader. The man had recently broken through to mid-stage Body Tempering, and during the tiger demon disaster, he'd wisely stayed put to protect his home. Given his level, trying to fight a tiger demon would've been suicide. Naturally, Su Min had never once counted on him for help.
But today, not only had he come up the mountain, he had brought company. Still, Su Min didn't sense the sect leader's presence among them, which only deepened her suspicions. No way that guy would send someone else to deliver pills—he'd definitely come himself, probably after eating something wrong and needing Su Min's "after-sales service." Meanwhile, her courtyard was still a disaster zone, looking more like a chemical plant than a home. Sighing, she hurriedly cleaned up.
Just as she finished, a large, pot-bellied merchant arrived, leading a troop of servants carrying huge crates. The courtyard, normally spacious, suddenly felt crowded. Among them was the familiar unlucky follower, looking even more awkward than before.
"Esteemed lady, I am the head of the Fu Wang Merchant Guild. Hearing of your slaying of the tiger demon, I've come with generous gifts to pay my respects."
"A merchant?"
Su Min blinked in surprise. But thinking of all the valuable tiger parts in her possession. Well, that made sense.
"And what business do you have with me?"