"You should know that tiger penises from our deep mountains are a famous specialty," the chieftain explained, holding the object with a strange mix of reverence and pride. "Those wealthy medicine merchants from the central plains would fight and pay a fortune for just one. If a prime specimen like this one were put on the market, it would drive them absolutely wild with desire."
"..."
Completely speechless, Su Min stared at the massive, bizarre thing cradled in the man's arms. It was as thick and long as a human infant. She could only rub her temples in a wave of sheer exasperation. In terms of practical alchemical materials, it was practically useless to her. But for mortal men, it seemed to hold... quite the legendary reputation for its benefits.
That said, it was undeniably valuable, a true rarity. And according to the village's long standing customs, a lone hunter who single handedly took down prey had the highest claim, entitled to over eighty percent of it unconditionally. This tiger was unquestionably her kill.
"Fine. Give it to me," she said, her voice flat.
Hearing her speak, the man quickly and obediently passed the heavy, limp organ over. Su Min took it a bit hastily, her fingers brushing against its unusual, slightly barbed texture, and—
"Hisss— damn, no wonder it is a tiger demon. Even this thing is ferocious."
The chieftain who had handed it over winced, pulling his hand back to see a tiny, stinging wound left by the subtle barbs. His expression a confusing mix of awe and a strange, masculine envy... it was hard to say which emotion was stronger. Su Min simply turned away, quietly tossing the oversized "treasure" into her storage ring without another word. Money was money, after all. As the saying goes, money is not everything, but without it, you are nothing.
By the time the pale light of dawn broke over the mountains, the massive tiger corpse had been fully butchered. The parts Su Min specifically wanted—the bones, tendons, the carefully peeled hide, and the refined blood—were neatly separated, cleaned, and packed away for her. After doing some basic spiritual processing to preserve them, she took the lion's share with her. Naturally, plenty of scraps, organs, and vast quantities of meat were left behind, which the villagers eagerly divided among themselves, ensuring a feast for weeks.
Thus, the terrifying tiger demon incident finally came to an end.
The next steps were somber but predictable, cremations for the withered dead and proper funerals for those recently lost. Incidentally, during the butchering, they managed to retrieve the gnawed remains of the unfortunate young man who had first fallen prey, digging his bones and scraps of clothing out of the tiger's stomach. His grieving family took him home for a final, proper burial.
The rest of the village, relieved beyond measure, erupted into celebration, but Su Min did not join them. According to local customs, these kinds of victory festivities often doubled as matchmaking events, or more bluntly, open air mating sessions fueled by rice wine and euphoria. She had no interest in being a spectator.
"Phew, refining all this crap is seriously exhausting."
Despite the lively, drum-filled festivities echoing from the village below, Su Min stood alone in her small courtyard, which now resembled a cluttered, miniature chemical factory. Jars, vials, and a small, blackened furnace were scattered around. She rubbed her sore shoulders, feeling a little overwhelmed by the tedious work. Who would have thought that even after transmigrating to a cultivation world, she would still be stuck doing what felt like heavy industrial labor?
Everything she was working on came from the tiger demon's remains. Following the intricate instructions from her ancient alchemy manual, she was painstakingly refining each part. Take the blood, for instance, in cultivation novels, they always talked grandly about "pure essence blood," but in reality, blood was more like a biological sewer pipeline, full of impurities. Su Min's task was to purify and concentrate it, slowly distilling barrels of blood into a few precious vials of usable "essence blood" for future alchemy.
And that was the easy part.
The bones had their own specific uses, but the biggest headache was the four massive femurs. These had to be slowly distilled over a low, consistent spiritual flame to extract a rare, viscous substance known as "bone marrow oil," a process that required three full days and nights of near sleepless, focused work. She had to keep her spiritual fire burning at just the right temperature the entire time, carefully extracting the potent tiger marrow essence she needed.
"Finally... done."
Looking at the small, glowing vial of marrow oil in front of her and the furnace now cracked and blackened from overuse, Su Min let out a long, weary sigh. The rest of the materials, like the massive tiger hide, she did not need to process immediately and set them aside. The hide was incredibly tough, its fibers infused with demonic energy, making it nearly immune to mortal blades and arrows.
In fact, when the village butchers had worked on the beast, they had had to carefully cut along the precise incision she had made with her spiritual sword. Trying to stab straight through the hide with their best steel knives would have been almost impossible. It was excellent material for protective gear, but crafting proper artifacts was far beyond Su Min's current forging abilities.
"My cultivation is nearing perfection now," she assessed, feeling the dense spiritual energy circulating within her dantian. "But if I want to reach the Qi Refining stage, relying solely on my own efforts and this thin mountain energy would take at least ten more years of grinding. With a Qi Inducing Pill, though, I could break through that barrier almost immediately."
After days of relentless refining work and the accumulated combat experience, Su Min had solidly reached the late stage of Body Refining, verging on the peak. She was nearing the natural threshold for a breakthrough. When the time came, she would face a choice, take a Qi Inducing Pill to advance rapidly into Qi Refining, or accumulate energy slowly and painstakingly for a more stable, natural breakthrough.
"It has been over a year already. Has that guy still not returned?"
At this thought, Su Min recalled the unlucky sect leader, Zhao Yiping, she had met before and idly wondered if he had finally succumbed to the corrosive poison. After he had left the mountains, she had spent over a year in secluded study and practice before finally stabilizing her skills as a second tier alchemist.
It was only a few days ago that she had last gone out to purchase supplies, mainly specialized glass bottles and jade vials to properly store the various solutions she had refined. The quantities required were far too large for the villagers to provide.
"I will keep cultivating for now. Once I reach true perfection, I will have to leave this place for a while to gather the remaining rare ingredients myself."
Late stage Body Refining was not bad, but it was not enough for what was coming. Just look at that poor follower from the Kuntai Sect, the one who had wet himself in fear back then, he had now, through sheer desperation and the basic technique she had indirectly provided, reached the early stage of Body Refining.
Clearly, the pressure of this new era would only get heavier from here.
When her spiritual treasure, the Heaven and Earth Gourd, finally matured, it would emit a brilliant golden light, a pure manifestation of the Great Dao itself. That kind of celestial spectacle could not be hidden. It would surely attract powerful rogue cultivators and greedy sect disciples like flies to honey, and maybe even the imperial army if the Dog Emperor caught wind of it.
If that happened, sheer numbers could overwhelm her, Body Refining Stage or not. No matter what, she had to reach the Qi Refining stage before that day arrived. It was a non-negotiable deadline.
But...
"Hmm? This aura..." Her sharp spiritual senses, honed from days of focused work, suddenly picked up on several figures making their purposeful way up the mountain path. Among them was someone she had seen before, that same unlucky follower of Sect Leader Zhao. The man had recently broken through to mid-stage Body Tempering, and during the whole tiger demon disaster, he had very wisely stayed put in the village to protect his own home. Given his level, trying to fight a tiger demon would have been suicide. Naturally, Su Min had never counted on him for help.
But today, not only had he come up the mountain, he had brought company. Still, Su Min did not sense the familiar, poison-tainted aura of the sect leader himself among them, which only deepened her suspicions. There was no way that proud man would send a subordinate to deliver the rare herbs for his cure. He would definitely come himself, probably only after eating something wrong and needing Su Min's "after-sales service." Meanwhile, her courtyard was still a disaster zone, looking more like a bombed-out chemical plant than a cultivator's serene abode. Sighing in frustration, she waved a hand, using a gust of spiritual wind to hastily tidy up the worst of the clutter, shoving jars into her ring and righting the furnace.
Just as she finished making the place look semi-presentable, a large, pot-bellied merchant dressed in fine silks arrived at her gate, leading a troop of strong servants carrying huge, heavy-looking crates. The courtyard, normally quite spacious, suddenly felt cramped and crowded. Among them was the familiar unlucky follower, who looked even more awkward and out of place than before, standing beside the wealthy newcomer.
"Esteemed lady," the merchant began, bowing deeply with a practiced, unctuous smile. "I am the head of the Fu Wang Merchant Guild. Hearing the magnificent tales of your slaying of the mountain's scourge, the tiger demon, I have come with generous gifts to pay my respects and offer my congratulations."
"A merchant?"
Su Min blinked in genuine surprise. But then her eyes flicked to the storage ring containing all the valuable tiger parts. Well, that made a certain amount of sense. News traveled fast, and where there was rare goods, merchants were never far behind.
"And what specific business do you have with me?" she asked, her voice cool and level, giving nothing away.