Black Turtle city

A new dawn arose. Bai Hao woke from his slumber and after a quick breakfast of the chewy black biscuits he found yesterday, he decided that he would go out today to search for a way to earn money. "A second chance at life I need to make the most of it" he mused, the night had given him time to cool down from the revelations of being transported to a new world. After bandaging his wound and collecting the small bit of money he had still left, he started exploring the city for a job. The city, named black turtle city after the walls made of black stone protecting it. It was situated on a large plain between large mountain ranges, being one of the few places that connected human civilization with the wildlands. The wildlands was a savage place full of fierce beasts and tribes of savages covered by thick forests blocking the view of the horizon. No-one knew exactly for how long the wildlands went on, though it was rumored that some immortal cultivators were strong enough to traverse the wildlands and found other civilizations at the other side. The wildlands were precisely the reason that this city existed for it was needed to protect against the occasional beast waves or attacks by savage tribes. A large part of the city's economy was focused around the rogue cultivators, adventurers and herb collectors that would go out into the wildlands to hunt for rare herbs or hunt the fierce beasts for their beast cores. The houses in the city were made from the same black stones as the walls, mined from the large mountain ranges surrounding the plane.

Moving from street to street, inquiring for jobs whenever he could he quickly Bai Hao was quickly met with disappointment. Only 5 days were left before the end of the month so had to come up with a way to earn money quickly. He had no-marketable skill and looked weak and pale from staying indoors, so no craftsman was willing to hire him. He had no better luck at the taverns and restaurants, while they were always looking for people to serve, none would pay 70 coppers for 5 days of work. After being rejected again after the 16th time in a few hours, he walked through the street with his head hanging down. "I have to find a solution or I will end up on the street and die from the cold or hunger" he said to himself. Walking around aimless he suddenly came across the market square. Stalls were set up where merchants loudly shouting to advertise their wares.

"BEAST HIDES, GET YOUR BEAST HIDES HERE."

"Selling wine and fine cloth from the east"

"BUYING fire beast cores of every level"

Wading through the crowd surrounding the stalls, his eyes just happened to fall on a certain stall that was selling herbs. His eye was caught by a wooden box full of a red-looking grass that had the color of blood. Feeling something lurch in his stomach at the sight of the red grass, he decided to make his way over to the stall for a closer look. The merchant seeing a potential customer approach shouted "Interested in the blood grass? I'll sell you the entire box for 30 copper. If you consume them regularly it will improve your blood circulation". The moment Bai Hao took a closer look at the grass, he felt something inside him stir and suddenly all the warmth disappeared from his body. It felt like a black hole opened up in his stomach that sucked the warmth from him, while a biting coldness started setting through his body. Holding himself up on the merchant stall, the edges of his vision started to turn black and he swayed from side to side.

All the merchant saw was a young man look at his wares and suddenly turn very white while swaying around as if he would collapse on the ground, after all the merchant was not an immortal cultivator so he could only see the symptoms on the surface. If the merchant was an immortal cultivator and had cultivated a spirit sense, he would be able to see all the energy in the young man condensing around an empty spot in Bai Hao's stomach and then just disappear. Invisible to all, a green jade hovered at that spot right above the dantian of Bai Hai. Shining with a green glow that looked eerily like the one that brought him to this world, it greedily sucked up all the energy present in the boy until it let out a satisfied humm. It then decided to share a piece of information that would turn out to be very helpful for its host, reaching out to Bai Hao's mind, the green gem left behind a piece of information.

Formula for low level body healing salve.

"Hey, you look like a small gust would blow you over, are you feeling alright" the merchant asked Bai Hai. Feeling the energy drain disappear, Bai Hai's vision returned to normal and with a few deep breaths he steadied himself. "Sorry I'm not sure what happened, I'm feeling a little weak but I'll manage" Bai Hao responded to the merchant. The merchant immediately started promoting the various herbs and tonics that would be beneficial in improving the body to Bai Hao, "Here is a pill created by master Liang that will help your body become as strong as an Ox, you can take these woodfire mushrooms and make a soup out of it that will cure most disease or some of these cloud leaves when consumed ...."

While the merchant was blabbering on about his wares, Bai Hao took a bit of time to sort the new memory that just appeared in his head. A formula for a body enhancing salve with the main ingredient being the blood grass that was right in front of him. Realizing that this was an opportunity, Bai Hao's heart started beating faster. This is it, my ticket for earning money he thought to himself. The blood grass can be bought for a few coppers per stalk and the other ingredients were very common and had a low price. The formula looked rather easy, and it seems that even an apprentice herbalist would be able to create the salve. While Bai Hao was not a herbalist, he was willing to give it a try as this could be the opportunity that he was waiting for. If successful even the lowest level healing salve can sell for upwards of 10 coppers, and the box in front of him contained enough blood grass for at least 15 attempts. A bit weirded out at information just appearing in his head, but excited at the prospect of earning money he decided that you don't look a gifted horse in the mouth, this was a rare opportunity and he would be an idiot not to take it.

Willing to bet it all on the chance that he would be able to successfully concoct the healing salve, he interrupted the vendor and started a long bargaining session. Bai Hao had only 27 coppers left from the small fortune that his parents had left him. Spending almost 15 minutes bargaining with the vendor, he spend 16 coppers on the box of blood grass, down from the original price of 30 coppers and feeling that he got a good deal, he left the stand to buy the other things he needed for the healing salve. After bargaining with the other vendors in the market, he managed to buy an old almost broken wood furnace and a small pot from some other vendors as well as the other ingredients that were required for the healing salve. While the mentioned to use a pill cauldron, Bai Hao would never be able to afford it with the little money he had and after spending his money on the blood grass and other ingredients he was completely broke. Walking home, confident that the simplicity of the recipe would allow him to make the healing salve, Bai Hao started humming a little song in anticipation.