Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?! Chapter 121 Incense Making (First Update)

After much hesitation, Yang Hongye finally decided to accept his invitation to move into the spacious apartnt.

Firstly, it was originally economical for two people to split the rent, but now that Jiang Yuan has moved out, renting alone is too expensive, and finding another roommate is difficult;

Secondly, she really needed to save every penny for her dream of owning a house, so she had to sacrifice a bit of face to save money;

Thirdly, the neighborhood was conveniently located with great access to transportation, very close to the company, and absolutely elite, which ant she could save more commuting ti and have more opportunities for advancent.

For Jiang Yuan, having two people living in such a large house brought more life than living alone. Anyway, Yang Hongye was staying in the suite at the far west end, which was a minute’s walk through corridors from the master bedroom, so they wouldn’t disturb each other.

Without intentional arrangents, the two of them might not even run into each other under the sa roof.

Yang Hongye’s efficiency was always top-notch. After deciding, she imdiately began to prepare for negotiating with the landlord about ending her lease and planned to spend a few days driving her reimbursent-covered car to move her belongings.

Jiang Yuan only went back to pack his few belongings, asking her to help take them, leaving all the follow-up tasks entirely to Yang Hongye.

The next evening, Jiang Yuan t a modern dicine Gatherer at Chuci’s introduction.

"My surna is Shi, the stone character Shi, with a single given na Lei." Perhaps due to spending a long ti in the wild, the dicine Gatherer had dark, muscular skin, with a scar on his right cheek. Jiang Yuan noticed scars on his hands and legs, with prominent finger joints, likely from frequent mountain climbing.

After introductions, the man placed a large dical box on the table and took out commonly used fragrance herbs for him to choose from.

"Cloves and patchouli are fine." Jiang Yuan imdiately picked out two ingredients suitable for incense making; the others were either too young or not potent enough.

"Oh, an expert!" Shi Lei was straightforward, imdiately taking out a small box from the dical box, "Then have a look at this."

A special fragrance wafted in, making Jiang Yuan’s eyes light up. "What’s the price for this Agarwood?"

"This is old stock, completely wild and plenty aged. Given you know your stuff, a flat price of 650 per gram. To be honest, racing across deep mountain forests all over, it’s hard to co by such old stock."

"650 per gram?" Chuci glanced at the not-so-big piece of incense and calculated ntally, realizing the cost of dicinal Incense was indeed high.

No wonder Jiang Yuan hadn’t turned his incense-making skills into money yet, facing unemploynt and struggling to save up for incense materials.

"That’s not expensive!" Shi Lei pointed to the scar on his face and complained, "I have to earn a little extra for my family’s livelihood. You have no idea how risky my work is—one slip on those cliffs and it’s over. Still, considering you understand, I’m willing to sell this to you."

Jiang Yuan, who had done a lot of online research recently, knew how hard it was for dicine Gatherers. He didn’t want to haggle with those on the frontlines fighting for their hard-earned money, so he nodded to agree on the price. "Can you get good Agarwood?"

"The common artificial stuff on the market can be found for around a thousand per gram. If you’re looking for the top-notch wild stuff, it’s tens of thousands per gram and still hard to find; there’s so much counterfeit." Shi Lei evaluated him with a smile. "You’re using it for Incense Sticks, right? Using such good Agarwood, the incense really would be a good redy—that’s what makes fine dicine. Nowadays, such good dicinal materials are turned into collectibles and strung into beads for storage. Regular folks like us hardly get to see the genuine stuff."

"Good ingredients are indeed hard to co by, but I don’t use artificial products." Jiang Yuan packed up the selected ingredients and added Shi Lei’s contact information.

Only then did Chuci recall that Jiang Yuan had ntioned the good Agarwood in Sleeping Incense and Soothing Incense, differing only in the amount added. From comparing the claid handmade incenses bought for thousands before, he was now sure the incense Jiang Yuan sold him was made with extraordinary materials!

"Brother Yuan, the ingredients you use are top-notch. Mind opening my eyes a bit? I’ve handled sandalwood beads before, but never other incense materials."

"I’m preparing to make incense tomorrow, so you can co and have a look." Jiang Yuan had roughly estimated the materials’ cost for making incense and lowered his voice to advise, "We’re not outsiders, so I return the cost when giving you incense. But if I were to sell it, I’d have to charge a bit for labor, so don’t tell anyone."

Chuci imdiately nodded like a pecking chick, filled with curiosity about incense making.

That night, staying in the luxury residence, Jiang Yuan indulged in a bath, comfortably watching a movie, sipping red wine while enjoying the riverside night view.

Sleeping on a large, comfortable bed, he naturally woke up at six the next morning.

He went for a jog along the riverside pronade, ordered breakfast on the way back, and soon soone delivered it right to the doorstep, finally grasping the relaxation that cos with wealth.

At nine in the morning, Chuci woke up and rushed over to watch the incense making.

"In traditional incense making, the best seasons are the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, as these tis are suitable to blend the Qi of heaven and earth into Incense Sticks. But due to high demand, there are fewer requirents now; Incense Sticks with heavenly Qi infusion are few and naturally pricier than regular ones." Jiang Yuan explained seriously, then brought out the pre-ground ingredients from the mill.

Various fragrances wafted in, and even though Chuci wasn’t very knowledgeable, having handled beads, he could tell these spices were genuine and not low-quality synthetic scents.

"Just mix these materials to make incense? I think, I might manage too."

"Of course not. Besides having an exact formula, before making incense, one must ditate and chant, maintaining tranquility. Only with a clear mind would one’s Qi be pure, preventing impurities from tainting the dicine."

Saying this, Jiang Yuan cleaned up, lit a Ningxin Fragrance, then sat cross-legged chanting scriptures.

Confronted by such a ritual, Chuci beca more curious about mysticism, even considering learning from a master!

Jiang Yuan ditated for nearly half an hour before standing up to sift, weigh, and knead the aromatic clay.

Not until placing the kneaded aromatic clay for ferntation did he explain, "I prepared these raw materials earlier. First, the herbs need to be sifted to remove impurities, then cleaned, stead, or sun-dried as needed, sealed and cellared for the fragrance to fully develop before grinding to powder for use.

Now, ferntation is needed. After ferntation, the incense is extruded, shaped, dried, refined, cellared, tested, and finally, every handmade Incense Stick is selected, storing different incense using various containers."

"So we have to fernt now?"

"Yes, at the current temperature, it should be fine in three days. We’ll check the scent then, and if not right, wait for another day."

Chuci couldn’t help but give a thumbs up, "I’m impressed, brother! No wonder your dicinal Incense is so effective, considering the rare materials and the incense-making process taking ten days to half a month, with any lapse causing all efforts to go to waste."

"That’s why handmade things are expensive. My solidly crafted, effective Incense Sticks are even pricier. The key is finding soone who knows their stuff; otherwise, if I say a single stick costs over a thousand just for raw materials, many people would surely call a swindler." Jiang Yuan heaved a sigh of relief, thinking it would be easier to sell at a high price after a series of demonstrations.

Apart from the imdiate effect, the raw material price issue would have its own defenders in