Chapter 6: Dan Han Drug Refinery
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"Young man, please wait," Just as Mo Wuji was about to leave the association, an old voice stopped him.
Mo Wuji turned to see a middle-aged man. His face looked as old as his voice.
"You called me?" Mo Wuji sized up this middle-aged man. He was a man with sharp eyes, as though everything he saw was within his grasps.
"Yes, I called you. If you do not mind, we can find a quiet place to talk," The middle-aged man said, pointing towards a tea room at the side of the association hall.
Mo Wuji smiled, "Of course I don't mind."
...
Seeing Mo Wuji walking to the tea room with the middle-aged man, many people in the association started their small discussions.
"Isn't that the owner of Dan Han Drug Refinery, Lu Jiujun? Everyone here knows that guy is a fake drug refining assistant, is he trying to recruit that madman? Isn't he afraid that his workshop will close down again? He isn't that bright after all ah."
"Hehe, you know it, yet you still say it. If Lu Jiujun was bright, he would not have led Dan Han Drug Refinery to its fall. At first glance, that man looks shrewd, but he actually isn't. Just look at what happened to Dan Han Drug Refinery."
"Who doesn't know Lu Jiujun is stupid? But what happened to Dan Han Drug Refinery was really a pity. It was one of the best drug refinery workshops in Cheng Yu State, maybe even in Xing Han Empire. Now, it is just a small workshop. Maybe after some time, it will just disappear... ..."
"Who allowed Lu Jiujun to be so lucky, being able to inherit Dan Han Drug Refinery? Even though it failed, at least he did possess it. At least he doesn't have to be like us, coming here to find jobs."
...
Those discussions were not heard by Mo Wuji. At this moment, he was already with Lu Jiujun sitting in the tea room. Lu Jiujun called a pot of Rao City's Chunxiao.
The light green tea was poured out, emitting a light fragrance. Mo Wuji drank a mouthful of tea, his mouth was full of fragrance, and his whole body felt comfortable. He could not help but to praise, "Good tea."
The past Mo Wuji did not research about tea, but something of greater difficulty. Even though he had tried all kinds of tea, none of them could compare to what he just drank. Moreover, Mo Wuji could see that this tea was casually rushed out, with no attention to the intricate details. Otherwise, the flavour would reach a wholly different level.
Lu Jiujun smiled, "Rao City Chunxiao is one of the three major teas of Cheng Yu State, which will be presented annually as a tribute to the royal clan. What we're drinking is made from old leaves, and these old leaves, are not what an average person can afford. Let me first introduce myself, I am Lu Jiujun, the current owner of Dan Han Drug Refinery."
At this point, Lu Jiujun deliberately stopped and looked at Mo Wuji. He believed Mo Wuji will inevitably respond "Oh, it's Dan Han Drug Refinery, I know that."
Mo Wuji could understand the meaning behind Lu Jiujun's words. It appeared that Dan Han Drug Refinery was not that simple, but he still said apologetically, "Sorry Owner Lu, I really have not heard of Dan Han Drug Refinery."
Lu Jiujun's mouth hung wide open, seemingly not trusting the words of Mo Wuji. In Rao Zhou, who had not heard of Dan Han Drug Refinery? Even though it had already fallen, and many stores and workshops have been swallowed up by others, all these happened recently. Its past fame should not have faded so quickly?
After a moment of surprise, Lu Jiujun came to understand and said self-deprecatingly, "It seems like I was over thinking. Prince Mo was too involved in restoring his country; naturally he would not notice commercial matters."
Seeing that Lu Jiujun understood, Mo Wuji directly said," Lu Jiujun knows my history. You would not be here to hire me to be a drug refiner, right?"
Just now, he raved about being a drug refiner in the association, but Mo Wuji was very clear. No one would put his ravings to heart.
Lu Jiujun drank a mouthful of tea, calmly put down the cup, and said with a smile, "Prince Mo is right, I am here to hire Prince Mo to be my Chief Drug Refiner."
Now, the one to be surprised is Mo Wuji. He subconsciously paused his hand at the side of his cup, and said in disbelief, "Perhaps Owner Lu has not heard of me? Are you sure what I said just now was not mere bragging? Or the words of an average person?"
Lu Jiujun said calmly, "I may not be able to refine drugs, but I have a good pair of eyes. When the prince was saying his mad words, these eyes saw a man filled with substance and self-confidence. That definitely isn't boasting or the words of something without a brain. Furthermore, your recent words gave me confidence that those aren't the words that an abnormal person would say. Thus, I decided to place a bet, that what Prince Mo said is true. How about that, Prince Mo, are you interested in working with me this once?"
Lu Jiujun further added, "Oh right, I also have a nickname, Mad Lu. The reason why my Dan Han Drug Refinery fell so fast was because I made crazy decisions."
Lu Jiujun did not even believe the words he just said. Naturally, he wasn’t employing Mo Wuji because of self-confidence. Although it played a part, there was another more important reason which he knew clearly. That is, Mo Wuji's grandfather, Mo Tiancheng, had an identity that no one else knew. An identity of a drug refiner, a high level one at that.
His Lu family's Dan Han Drug Refinery was able to be famous in Rao Zhou, was simply because of the Northern Qin Prefecture Lord, Mo Tiancheng. Even though his grandfather and Mo Tiancheng were friends, the Lu Clan still paid a high price to get the support of Mo Tiancheng.
In other words, if not for the vast majority of the profits going to Mo Tiancheng, Dan Han Drug Refinery may not have fallen so quickly. So even if others did not believe it when Mo Wuji said that he is a drug refiner, Lu Jiujun was still a little convinced. If he was in the position of Mo Tiancheng, he would also have imparted his skills to his descendents. Not to mention the self-confidence that Mo Wuji had. Of course, this matter which Mo Wuji did not know, he would not go and explain it to him.
Hearing Lu Jiujun, Mo Wuji calmed down. He did not believe that Lu Jiujun wanted to hire him to be a Chief Drug Refiner because Lu Jiujun was determined that he wasn't lying. There’s no such thing as a free meal in this world; Mo Wuji was very clear about that. If the other party was really so bold, there probably wouldn't even be a Dan Han Drug Refinery.
"What? Don't tell me that Prince Mo was really lying? When I now offer a position, you’re actually backing out?" Lu Jiujun saw that Mo Wuji did not speak, and added another sentence.
Mo Wuji did not get triggered by Lu Jiujun's words, drinking a mouthful of tea and said, "I can join but what would be my pay?"
"50 gold coins per month, with all accommodations provided. In addition, as long as they are not unreasonable, Dan Han Drug Refinery will try to satisfy your demands," Lu Jiujun finished and stared at Mo Wuji. He did not believe that Mo Wuji would reject such a high pay. Naturally, this pay is not as high as an actual drug refiner's pay, but was several times higher than Cheng Ling Pill Workshop.
According to his conjecture, with this offer, Mo Wuji would stand up in excitement.
The reality, however, made him feel lost. Mo Wuji did not seem to hear his words, calmly drinking another mouthful of tea. Just when Lu Jiujun was about to lose his patience, he asked an irrelevant question, "Owner Lu, I heard that opening the spirit is extremely expensive, I wonder how much it actually is?"
Mo Wuji is not someone who has not seen money. He was previously excited about the 10 gold coins as no one knew him at that time. He simply wanted to find a quick job to feed Yan'Er and himself. Even if he did get the job, he would at most do it for a month before leaving.
However, the person in front of him, Lu Jiujun, will certainly not let him leave after one month, and he definitely had to sign some sort of contract.
Lu Jiujun gave Mo Wuji a puzzled look. Even he has heard that Mo Wuji had tried to open his spirit before, and only resulted in a mortal root. What was the meaning behind this question?
Even though he did not know Mo Wuji's intentions, he still gave a detailed response,"There are 3 ways to open the spirit. The first is to use an elixir, and that is also the most common way. The price depends on the grade of the elixir, and the cheapest one is costs at least 10,000 gold coins. The second is..."
Mo Wuji apologetically interrupted Lu Jiujun, "Owner Lu, if the cheapest price is 10,000 gold coins, then there must be a highest price? May I ask what is it ah?"
Lu Jiujun chuckled," There is no highest price. I heard that not even the entire Cheng Yu State is able to afford the most precious elixir."
So that is the case. Mo Wuji did not know how much Mo Xinghe's parents paid to buy him an elixir to open his spirit. From what he can guess, the cheaper the elixir, the outcome of the spirit opening would be worse.
Lu Jiujun continued, "The second is to request an expert to help open the spirit. The fee depends on the feelings of the expert. Generally, they will not stoop to 10,000 gold coins, and a starting price of 1 million gold coins is already considered cheap. The third is something that cannot be found in Cheng Yu State. I heard that Xing Han Empire has an array which can open the spirit, and only the qualified can enter the array."
Mo Wuji stayed silent. Regardless of the method, even if he earned 100 gold coins, to earn the amount of money to open the spirit will take donkey years!
"Owner Lu, have you opened your spirit? The minimum price is 10,000 gold bids, I'm sure few people can afford that, right? Doesn't that mean that the poor don't even have a chance to open their spirits?" After a long while, Mo Wuji finally spoke.
Lu Jiujun shook his head, "I went to test, and I only had mortal roots. In addition, I do not care about cultivation, so I did not try and open my spirit."
"The test before opening the spirit also costs money?" Mo Wuji asked.
"Of course it costs money, usually about 500 gold coins. Even if it is tested to have spiritual roots, and you open your spirit, that does not necessarily mean you are able to cultivate."
"What if the test shows that you have mortal roots, can you still open the spirit?"
Lu Jiujun laughed, "Although I know little about this, I know that the probability of success would be less than 1%. Only those who are not resigned to not having spiritual roots, knowing that they have mortal roots, would still spend money to open the spirit."
Mo Wuji finally understood, his poor father was so desperate, knowing that Mo Wuji had mortal roots, but he still spent money trying to help Mo Wuji open the spirit.
