Healing Pill, the Start of a Wealthy Plan

The next day, Chen An’nian once again witnessed the extraordinary abilities of his eldest senior brother.

With his guidance, the fist technique recorded in the Golden Book's fragment was enhanced without the need for any divine power.

Though the improvement was slight, it was enough to astonish the world.

“Master once said that our eldest senior brother has the most solid foundation among all of us, and his potential is unmatched,” said Chen An’nian to Shen Chunqiu in the Overlook Pavilion.

“What would you like to learn today?” Asked Chen An’nian.

“Eldest Senior Brother practices fist, Third Senior Brother practices swordsmanship, but what about you and Master? I always see Master reading poetry, and you seem to be constantly writing.”

Shen Chunqiu smiled and replied, “This is our way of cultivation. What I practice is calligraphy, although I have yet to master it.”

“Master practices the sword,” Chen An’nian listened with confusion.

What do reading poetry and practicing swords have to do with each other?

And what can be achieved through calligraphy practice?

It seemed peculiar to him.

However, he didn’t dwell on it for long, as there were more important matters at hand.

“Second Senior Brother, can you tell me how elixir is usually refined?”

“Elixir?”

Shen Chunqiu was surprised by Chen An’nian’s question.

Why was he suddenly asking about this?

Nevertheless, he answered, “It requires specific techniques to extract the medicinal properties from the herbs, followed by various combinations and refinement processes to produce the final elixir.”

“Do these techniques play a crucial role in forming the elixir?” Chen An’nian inquired.

“Of course. Don’t you consider rolling pills as a technique?” Shen Chunqiu replied with a question.

Chen An’nian was dumbfounded.

“Rolling pills? Don’t you need various hand seals and secret methods for that?”

“What are you thinking? Hand seals and secret methods are mostly used for refining pills at the level of spiritual elixirs. For ordinary elixirs, extracting the medicinal properties is usually sufficient.”

“As for forming the elixir, there are many methods. Rolling pills is just one of them. Another method involves using specialized alchemical furnaces, where the liquid medicine is poured and naturally dried,” explained Shen Chunqiu.

Chen An’nian suddenly had an epiphany.

High-level elixirs might be sophisticated, but even low-level elixirs could be rolled by hand.

He understood this now.

His mind wandered, which led to him being beaten half to death when facing Xia Longque.

“Is this your so-called third-ranked skill in the world?”

“Don’t think that giving me a piece of clothing will make me go easy on you. Let me tell you, if you fail today, I will beat you to death, and Master won’t say a word.”

Xia Longque relied solely on his fists, without even using a sword, and left Chen An’nian battered and bruised.

“Do you think having fist techniques is enough?”

“Dream on! Practicing fist is just the foundation. If you can’t fight, it’s all just empty showmanship.”

“Get up. If your legs give out today, don’t expect to lie down.”

Xia Longque’s strikes were truly ruthless.

Chen An’nian narrowly escaped being hammered to death.

Xu Shouqiao and Shen Chunqiu stood by, their eyes twitching as they watched.

“Second Senior Brother, do you think our junior brother will be beaten to death?” Xu Shouqiao asked.

“Probably... not? The Third Junior Brother has good control over his striking force. The Little Junior Brother probably would only suffer flesh wounds, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.”

“But this beating is too brutal,” Shen Chunqiu said, his heart filled with fear and trepidation.

Xia Longque was particularly relentless in his attacks on junior brother today.

“Stand up. Your punches should be fierce and powerful, your strikes swift, and your explosive force abundant.”

“Look at you now, as weak as a pile of mud, slower than a snail.”

“My fart could crush you with this strength.”

Chen An’nian threw a punch with all his might, but Xia Longque didn’t retreat.

Instead, he slightly contracted his body, directly crashing into Chen An’nian’s embrace, then swiftly unleashed a punch like a monkey stretching its limbs.

“Bang!”

Chen An’nian felt as if all the acid in his stomach had been punched out.

“Training ends for today. We’ll continue tomorrow,” Xia Longque clapped his hands, signaling the end of today’s session.

During lunch, Li Shaodian took a special glance at Chen An’nian, noticing his asymmetrical panda eyes.

It made him feel uncomfortable.

Xia Longque immediately understood Li Shaodian’s perfectionism, which remained unchanged as always.

In the afternoon, Chen An’nian once again ran down the Humble Peak.

Li Shaodian and his three disciples gathered together.

“Are we being too harsh?”

“It should be fine. Little Junior Brother needs to grow quickly, so we must be ruthless,” another replied.

“Yes, many assassins are waiting outside the sect. We don’t know how much strength we’ll have left by then.”

“Regardless, when the time comes, we must all go out together. According to the rules of Humble Peak, senior brothers always stand in front of junior brothers.”

...

Chen An’nian returned home with a bag of flour and immediately started experimenting.

He moistened the raw flour and formed a small ball, infused it with a strand of divine power, and put it in his mouth, only to spit it out immediately.

“The divine power is still there, and the effect is present, but the taste... ugh...”

Slapping his forehead, Chen An’nian realized that consuming raw flour was quite unpleasant.

“Even pills on Earth are often coated with a layer of sugar to make them more palatable.”

Carrying the flour, Chen An’nian headed to the kitchen.

The other four people watched in astonishment.

“Has Little Junior Brother lost his mind?”

“Can we eat fried flour?”

“Maybe if we soak it in hot water and add some sugar?”

They exchanged glances but remained silent, understanding each other without a word.

It was understandable that Chen An’nian, with his bruised and swollen face, needed to vent his frustration.

After half an hour, Chen An’nian used cooked flour and mixed it with juice extracted from various fruits and herbs, shaping it into a pill.

He infused it with a strand of divine power.

“The taste... it’s fantastic!”

“It’s soft, delicious, and has a fruity flavor. This approach is right; I’ll make pills like this from now on.”

“After all, the most important ingredient is the divine power, and the rest are just normal food items without any harmful side effects.”

Chen An’nian’s eyes sparkled.

A pill with the aroma of fruits and herbs could not only heal injuries but also have no adverse effects.

It was amazing!

“Now, let’s adjust the potency of the pill.”

Chen An’nian continued experimenting, using up an entire drop of divine power to fine-tune the pill’s effectiveness.

“The effect of one drop of diluted divine power is slightly stronger than that of a rejuvenation pill.”

“But my pill has no side effects and tastes like fruity candy.”

“Excellent”

“Henceforth, this pill shall be called... Healing Pill!”

Looking at the remaining two drops of divine power on the tattered page of the Golden Book, Chen An’nian clenched his teeth and melted three pieces of low-grade spirit stones.

With five drops of divine power, he produced fifty Healing Pills.

“Now, let’s see if they have any buyers.”

Success or failure hinged on this moment.

The Healing Pill was undoubtedly effective, but whether others would dare to buy it was another matter.

After all, it was something ingested, and his product could be considered dubious.

Others might not trust it.

Chen An’nian thought of one person.

Luo Youcai!

This guy was always doing business outside the sect and should have connections.

“Bang!”

The door opened, and the four disciples outside pretended to be busy with other things.

Li Shaodian had his poetry collection upside down, Xu Shouqiao had nothing in his hands and was preparing to hit the ground, Shen Chunqiu was writing without dipping his brush in ink, and Xia Longque was whistling beside their master.

Without even lifting his head, Chen An’nian said, “Master, senior brothers, I’m going out for a while.”

“Hmm? Ah... go ahead,” Li Shaodian replied.

Once Chen An’nian was far away, the four disciples looked at Xia Longque simultaneously.

“Next time, let’s be gentler. We shouldn’t really cause trouble for An’nian.”

Xia Longque: “...”

Chen An’nian ran to the Outer Sect and searched around for Luo Youcai.

After a long stroll, he finally caught up with him at the foot of the Sunset Peak.

"Fatty, what are you looking at?”

Chen An’nian patted Luo Youcai’s shoulder.

Startled, Luo Youcai trembled but then saw it was Chen An’nian.

“What’s up? And don’t call me fatty.”

“Alright, fatty. I have something important to discuss with you.”

Chen An’nian grabbed Luo Youcai and tried to walk away.

Luo Youcai panicked, “Stop pulling me around! I’m waiting for my fairy.”

“What fairy? Are spirit stones more important? I really have something significant to tell you. If it works out, we can earn a lot of spirit stones.”

Without giving Luo Youcai a chance to argue, Chen An’nian dragged him along.

Hearing about spirit stones, Luo Youcai finally followed his inner voice and went along with Chen An’nian.

“What spirit stones? Explain yourself clearly.”

Chen An’nian took out a Healing Pill.

“Try this first.”

“What the hell, are you trying to poison me!?”

“It’s not poison. Just taste it quickly and tell me how it feels.”

Chen An’nian rolled his eyes.

Luo Youcai hesitated but eventually put the Healing Pill in his mouth and chewed it twice.

At first, he raised an eyebrow, finding it not bad.

But when the strand of divine power bloomed in his stomach and circulated through his meridians, Luo Youcai’s eyes instantly lit up.

“Oh my, what kind of pill is this?”

“It’s somewhat similar to a rejuvenation pill, but definitely not the same!”

“You seem quite knowledgeable.”

“Naturally, it’s my profession. If I’m not familiar with these things, how can I sell them to others?”

Luo Youcai stared intently at Chen An’nian.

“I’ve never eaten this pill before, and I can’t sense any clash of medicinal properties, which means... this pill is non-toxic!”

“At least, I can’t feel any toxicity!”

Satisfied, Chen An’nian nodded.

Luo Youcai indeed had an eye for quality.

“What do you think of this pill?”

“Obviously, it’s excellent.”

Luo Youcai rubbed his hands eagerly.

“How many do you have? This stuff is valuable. Where did you find it?”

Luo Youcai mistakenly believed that Chen An’nian had some connections to acquire elixirs from other sources.

After all, within the Green Mountain Sect, they had never heard of such elixirs before.

Elixirs without any toxicity held immense value, enough to astonish a group of people!

The elders at the Alchemy Peak would probably go into a collective frenzy.

“How much do you think one pill of this elixir can be sold for?”

Chen An’nian concealed his inventory.

Luo Youcai stroked his chin, “This elixir should belong to the same category as the Body Nourishing Pill.”

“Two Body Nourishing Pill costs one low-grade spirit stone.”

“But your elixir has better efficacy than the Body Nourishing Pill, and more importantly, it is non-toxic. One pill could be sold for one low-grade spirit stone, and there should be many people willing to buy it.”

Chen An’nian shook his head, “Are you referring to those who have developed a certain resistance to the Body Nourishing Pill?”

“But I think there shouldn’t be many that can spend one low-grade spirit stone on one Healing Pill.”

Luo Youcai nodded, “Healing Pill? I’ve never heard of it. Those who can afford to buy should be able to buy them all.”

“How many Body Nourishing Pills does the entire Green Mountain Sect consume in a day?” Chen An’nian asked.

Luo Youcai snapped a tree branch and drew on the ground, “There are twelve hundred outer disciples across the six peaks and seventy-two mountains.”

“The main users are this group of people. If they diligently cultivate, it’s normal to consume one pill every two days, and even one pill per day is possible.”

“Sum it up, it amounts to approximately seven hundred pills per day.”

“But considering the possibility of developing resistance and requiring more elixirs, the entire Green Mountain Sect would need around eight hundred pills of the Body Nourishing Pill per day.”

Chen An’nian was impressed by Luo Youcai’s calculations. This guy indeed had some skills.

So he asked, “What if the Healing Pill is supplied without limits?”

Boom!

Luo Youcai felt as if something in his mind had instantly exploded.

He experienced an unprecedented tremor rising within his body.

“Unlimited supply? Doesn’t that mean the Body Nourishing Pill would be completely replaced?”

“This... this...”

Luo Youcai’s mind buzzed.

Although he had always been involved in profitable business deals, never before had he encountered such a large-scale transaction involving spirit stones.

Luo Youcai stared fixedly at Chen An’nian, “Do you really have that many elixirs!?”

Chen An’nian smiled faintly, “So when I mentioned the price of one Healing Pill being one low-grade spirit stone, it’s a bit high. Not everyone can afford it.”

“What I aim to seize is the market for the Body Nourishing Pill. And you haven’t noticed, the Healing Pill also has some effects similar to the Qi and Blood Pill.”

“If we manage to capture such a large elixir market, how much do you think we can earn?”

Luo Youcai’s mind was now completely occupied by spirit stones.

“We’ll make a fortune...”

“So, what do you think the price of the Healing Pill should be?”

“Two Healing Pills for one low-grade spirit stone, plus fifty taels of silver.”

“If that’s the case, each Healing Pill would be twenty-five taels more expensive than the Body Nourishing Pill!”

Chen An’nian looked at Luo Youcai and said.

Luo Youcai couldn’t help but gasp, “Wow, you’re really leaving no room for the Body Nourishing Pill, huh?”

“The prices are almost the same, but the Healing Pill has better effects and no toxic side effects. They are simply not in the same league.”

“Has the Alchemy Peak offended you?”

Chen An’nian chuckled, “Are you kidding? Am I the kind of petty person who holds grudges just because they didn’t refund my elixirs?”

“Are you kidding? I, Chen An’nian, am known for my broad-mindedness! How could I be all talk and no action?”

Luo Youcai couldn’t argue anymore.

If you hadn’t said that last sentence, I might have believed you.

But now, it’s really not convincing at all.

Chen An’nian took out the remaining forty-nine Healing Pills, “Try selling these Healing Pills first. After tomorrow noon, we’ll meet at this place and assess the situation.”

Luo Youcai nodded, “Um... I just wanted to say...”

“I only want spirit stones. The extra twenty-five taels for each pill will be your commission, so you’re not allowed to raise the selling price.”

Chen An’nian stared at Luo Youcai seriously, “I only do business with people I trust.”

Luo Youcai received the porcelain bottle containing the Healing Pills and nodded solemnly.

This was the first time he had ever done such a business, and someone had already calculated his commission in advance.

He also knew that if he adjusted the price without permission, he would lose this business opportunity.

“Don’t forget tomorrow,” Chen An’nian said and quickly left.

“Why is there one pill missing?” Luo Youcai asked.

“Of course, what did you just consume? Don’t forget to reimburse yourself with the spirit stones.”

Chen An’nian waved his hand and hurried away.

It was almost time for dinner at the Humble Peak.