Chapter 22: Purchasing Herbs

The news that Xiaobai Village was supplying healing potions spread rapidly, and that very day, thousands of players descended upon the village in an explosive surge. The potion business boomed, and demand far outstripped supply. Due to a shortage of herbs, Li Asan was already unable to continue brewing more potions. Zhan Xiaobai immediately activated the contingency plan, instructing Afly to put up the largest signboard in the village marketplace. On it, several large, crooked lines were scrawled, and a voice like a rusty gong shouted, “We’re buying herbs!”

1. +5HP healing potions, five copper coins each. Those with money, buy now—supplies are running out. Each person is limited to five per day.

2. For those without money, hurry and gather herbs. Exchange herbs directly for finished healing potions—first come, first served. The more herbs, the more potions you can trade. Notoginseng, charred bloodwort, small thistle, white orchid…

(Below was a long list of herbs and the corresponding number of potions you could exchange. Roughly four portions of herbs could be exchanged for one portion of +5HP potion. Given that one portion of herbs could theoretically make one portion of potion, this was an outrageous profit.)

3. Those who don’t wish to exchange for potions can sell herbs directly to the village at one copper coin per portion.

4. The village supplies healing potions long-term. Professional trader players from far away may contact any of the four village elders or the deputy village chief for bulk purchases at wholesale prices.

With these measures in place, the crowding in the small village vanished instantly. More than half the players rushed off to gather herbs. Herbs could be found in any wilderness and were not hard to find. If players knew what to look for, they could easily find ten to twenty portions a day, or even more. The rest either pooled their money to buy potions or called on friends to trade.

Once players gathered the herbs, they handed them over to Afly at the marketplace, who was in charge of purchasing herbs. Li Asan would collect the herbs, process them into ready-to-use healing potions, and then distribute them back to the players.

Those who took to gathering herbs quickly saw the benefits. Gathering ten portions in a day meant ten copper coins—much more than chopping wood, which only earned three copper coins a day. If you wanted to get rich, gathering herbs was the shortcut. Soon, no one wanted the drudgery of chopping wood; everyone went herb-picking, which was easy and pleasant.

While Zhan Xiaobai was helping Li Asan brew potions in the administrative hall’s secret chamber,

Sword Overlord sought out Zhan Xiaobai and said, “Xiaobai, a few neighboring village chiefs want to see you—they want to discuss buying potions.”

Zhan Xiaobai smiled. “You can handle such small matters. Once the potions are ready, we can supply them.”

Sword Overlord grinned. “I’ve already told them. But that’s not why I came.”

Zhan Xiaobai was curious. “Oh? Then what is it?”

“What if we sell all our potions, and someone secretly stockpiles a large amount to use against us? By then, they’ll have healing potions and we won’t.”

“Stockpiling potions to turn on us?” Zhan Xiaobai thought for a moment. “At present, I doubt any player village has the resources for that… but you’re right, we can’t dismiss the possibility. Here’s what we’ll do: half of all produced healing potions will be kept in strategic reserve and not sold. Also, every core member must carry a dozen or so healing potions at all times, just in case. ‘Honorary Villagers’ can purchase or trade for +5HP potions at four copper coins each, limited quantities per day. Also, keep an eye on market prices; if there’s any unusual fluctuation, I’ll adjust our policies to counter any player trying to disrupt the market.”

Sword Overlord chuckled, “Don’t worry, I keep a close eye on the trading market. If anything’s off, I’ll be the first to know. No one’s going to outmaneuver us.”

“Good, that’s reassuring.”

After Sword Overlord left, Zhan Xiaobai and Li Asan went back to brewing potions. But they were not just making +5HP potions—Zhan Xiaobai had set his sights on developing +10HP potions. That afternoon, by chance, Li Asan managed to create a single +10HP potion, which delighted Zhan Xiaobai. He knew that +5HP simply wasn’t enough, and they would eventually have to upgrade. +10HP barely met the requirements.

Unfortunately, Li Asan’s alchemy skills were too low, and mass-producing +10HP potions would be very difficult. As he helped Old Li with brewing, Zhan Xiaobai also carried out secret experiments, refusing all visitors. Any business matters were left for the elders to handle.

Each of the four elders had their strengths. Sword Overlord was expert in finance and trade, so Zhan Xiaobai put him in charge of the marketplace. Autumn Water was responsible for recruiting and integrating “Honorary Villagers” and “friendly players.” Thanks to her efforts, Xiaobai Village enjoyed good order, and players were eager to assist. Spring and Autumn Hero was a leveling fanatic, forbidden from any other duties so he could focus solely on leveling up; he had already reached level 17, and Bloodthirsty Militiaman was at level 18, just shy of the second job change at level 20. Afly was naturally outgoing, making friends with all kinds of players and familiar with all the visiting village chiefs.

Zhan Xiaobai himself oversaw the village’s construction and overall direction.

With this rudimentary division of labor, the village was running smoothly. Timber stocks had grown to over two hundred units, copper coins were slowly accumulating, but grain was the one thing in dire shortage; no one was selling it. Even offering high prices in other villages yielded nothing. (No village chief would be foolish enough to sell their already scarce grain. A grain shortage would spark a peasant revolt.)

Occasionally, players would sell scavenged iron ore at the market, and the disabled old soldiers would buy it up cheaply to make iron plows. The quantities were small, but after several days, a dozen crude iron plows had been made, ready for use by the farmers at the end of the month when it was time to harvest.

Zhan Xiaobai advanced the construction of the village step by step, waiting for the first grain harvest. It was now almost twenty days into the open beta; by his reckoning, the harvest was just five days away. Only after gathering the grain would he dare to increase the number of NPC farmers once again.