Past four in the afternoon.
Some people were still out grinding.
But a good number had already chosen to head home.
After all, with only two or three hours until sundown, anyone who didn't leave early risked spending the night in the forest.
The survival-minded majority rarely cut it that close when returning to their Shelters.
And when they got home and saw that someone had actually been buying up books, every last one of them was dumbstruck.
After a heated discussion, the general consensus was that this Lan Qingyou had lost her mind.
Some, however, thought the knowledge might genuinely be learnable.
Either way, nobody followed Lan Qingyou's lead and traded their hard-won materials for books.
Not that Lan Qingyou cared in the slightest.
"Does anyone have a firestarter I can borrow? Just opened a pack of instant noodles — finally something decent to eat."
"You've got food and you're complaining? What more do you want?"
"Seriously. Just crumble it up, sprinkle in the seasoning, and call it a day."
"It's too dry — I can't swallow it."
"What a princess. Get lost."
"Who's got the luxury of being picky at a time like this?"
"Too dry? I'll piss in it for you, buddy."
"Hahaha, Du, you've got diabetes — better let me do it. Mine's yellower."
"Screw off! Shut up, all of you! I'm trying to eat!"
"Ignore those idiots, bro. I'll lend you mine. I've already got a fire going — took me forever to get it started by friction. Don't bother paying me back, it's just a flame."
"Thanks so much, man."
"Don't mention it. In tough times like these, helping each other out is what matters."
Some people in the chat were starting to show genuine goodwill. Lan Qingyou frowned slightly as she read it.
She couldn't imagine being that generous with a stranger herself, but she didn't deny the value of such kindness.
"Everyone, it's almost nighttime. Remember what we figured out last night? Stay sharp tonight — at least don't fall asleep before midnight."
"Got it."
"Leave it to me."
"Wait — what? What did I miss last night?"
"You don't know?"
"No clue. I passed out soon after getting back. Too exhausted."
"Well, let me fill you in: a ghost appeared last night. Tonight, everyone stay awake and try to track its movements."
"What?! A ghost?!"
"Yep. Just stay up and watch from your window until midnight to confirm it's real."
"Alright, I will."
'Hmm?'
'A ghost?'
Seeing this, Lan Qingyou involuntarily sat up straighter.
She hadn't seen any ghost when she came back last night. Had she missed something?
She immediately scrolled up, only to find that the earliest chat logs began at around 3 AM — everything before midnight the previous night was gone.
'Does the channel wipe itself every day?'
Lan Qingyou wasn't sure, but she was now on alert.
She'd originally planned to go out looking for Supply Boxes before midnight tonight.
But knowing there was something like a ghost out there, she couldn't help but reconsider. Maybe it was better to play it safe and observe first.
After all, a ghost was an "airborne" entity just like her.
Wolves couldn't do anything to her, but that didn't mean a ghost couldn't.
If she, a defenseless girl, actually ran into one — what would she even fight with?
She looked at the herbs in her chest.
She had enough for another pot of that same crude potion.
So there was no rush to go out.
She set up an auto-trade in her shop — five units of materials for one book, one unit for a box of test tubes — then pulled out the fifty test tubes she'd bought, grabbed the wine dispenser, scooped up the long-cooled potion from the crucible, and began bottling.
While she worked, the auto-trade she'd set up in her shop was making the Regional Channel even livelier.
Though mostly in the form of mockery aimed at her.
"That airhead actually set up auto-trades."
"Airhead? Who?"
"The book-buying Lan Qingyou from last night. She bought even more this afternoon, and now she's got auto-trades going."
"She's still buying books?"
"Yep. Five units each. Also buying test tubes — one unit per box."
"What?! Five units! I just picked up a book today. Easy profit — that's five Mana Points' worth of gathering!"
"Test tubes, huh. One unit is a bit low, but better than nothing, I guess."
By the time Lan Qingyou finished bottling and came back to check, she found the channel mocking her.
She didn't care.
In fact, she was already considering whether to stock up on more while potions hadn't appeared on the market yet.
But the thought died as quickly as it was born.
The main problem was she had no idea if this batch would even sell.
Sure, Mana Potions were definitely a consumable with market potential, but her craftsmanship was absolutely terrible.
Better to list them first, gauge the market response, build up the pipeline end-to-end, then go from there.
Otherwise she'd take losses all the way to the grave.
With that reasoning, Lan Qingyou uploaded the potions, priced each at ten units of materials, and fixed her eyes on the Regional Channel — this pristine blue ocean of a market.
Sure enough.
About ten seconds after the listing went up, the very first discussion about Mana Potions appeared in the channel.
"I just saw Mana Potions for sale in that Lan Qingyou's shop!"
"Is it April Fools' Day?"
"Hahaha, Karabo, never knew you had a sense of humor."
"No, seriously — I saw them too! Fifty whole vials!"
"It's real. The desk shows: restores 1 Mana Point per second for 10 seconds. Priced at 10 units of Wood, Stone, or Vine."
"Say what?!"
"Holy cow — so those books actually teach you things?"
"No way. I've read a book too. The script's one I've never seen, but I can understand the words individually. String them together though, and it's gibberish."
"Hold on! One Gathering Skill costs 20 Mana Points to cast. One potion restores 10 Mana Points. It sells for 10 basic units. So I spend 20 units on two potions, use Gathering Skill, and get 20 units of materials back. Isn't that literally working for her for free?!"
A keen observer had spotted the catch.
Reading this, Lan Qingyou didn't even flinch.
Alchemy was founded on the principle of equivalent exchange. One unit of material for one point of mana was already perfectly fair.
And don't forget — she still had labor costs and material costs.
By that math, she was already taking a loss.
"You know what — you've got a point there!"
"Scammer! Total scammer! She doesn't even leave a single unit of profit margin!"
"Like anyone would actually buy that."
"Damn, they're gone!"
"Weren't you all saying you wouldn't buy? How'd they sell out so fast?!"
"So people actually bought that crap?"
"I bought five. Tried one — not bad, actually. Just tastes a bit like rust."
'Of course it does,' Lan Qingyou thought. She hadn't descaled the crucible before brewing — naturally the potion came out tasting like iron.
"Sure, you might break even on Gathering Skill, but if you run into wolves and it's a life-or-death moment, that potion could save your skin."
"Exactly. I grabbed two as emergency supplies."
"@Lan Qingyou! Get out here! Why only fifty? Make more — money's no object!"
"@Lan Qingyou, boss, you're reading the channel, right? Add me as a friend!"