Accidentally Insulting Elder Sister Xu

The scene, which had attracted the attention of the other nearby Cultivators, caused their expressions to change. Many seemed to be at a loss, unsure of exactly what had happened. But now, they all knew that Meng Hao was not someone to provoke.

Even though they didn't know exactly what had happened, Meng Hao's trembling first customer did. His heart pounding madly, he slapped his bag of holding and produced six Sniff Stones, which he respectfully handed over.

Meng Hao accepted the Spirit Stones, produced a Blood Coagulation pill and Skeletal Relaxation Pill, and gave them to the man.

Still trembling, the man immediately left after receiving the pills.

As he left, Meng Hao smiled. He finally remembered what he was originally going to do. He slapped his own bag of holding and produced the materials he had prepared the night before. One of these items was a sign. He picked another location in the Public Zone and planted it.

"Medicinal Cultivation Workshop Outlet" The sign read.

After waiting for a while, he set his gaze on two disciples that had a break in their fight.

"Brother, it seems you're injured," he said, stepping forward. "You also seem somewhat listless. You don't seem to be in the right state to be fighting."

The two disciples stared at him in amazement. They had witnessed Meng Hao knock out the cultivator from earlier. They hesitated to approach him, and at the same time, both backed up.

"I happen to have some Spirit Refreshment Pills from the Pill Cultivation Workshop. Take one, and you will be completely reinvigorated, your victory guaranteed. Since today is our opening day of business, it only costs one Spirit Stone. How convenient!" Meng Hao continued to walk forward, his face filled with sincerity.

"I already have some medicinal pills," said the man he had been giving his sales pitch to. He slapped his grab of holding, and a Spirit Refreshment Pill appeared, which he popped into his mouth.

Upon seeing this, Meng Hao sighed. He had watched his first customer for some time before determining that he had no medicinal pills. With a light cough, he looked at the second man standing in front of him. The man gave a cold harrumph, then produced his own medicinal pill and swallowed it, sighing inwardly.

But Meng Hao wasn't disheartened. He circled back to the boulder, continuing to watch the two of them. As time passed, they seemed to be looking worse and worse off. Soon, it was clear they were out of medicinal pills, and the critical juncture in the fight had arrived. Victory and defeat would be decided.

His spirits risen again, Meng Hao hefted the banner and approached them again.

"Brothers, the moment of life or death has arrived. You don't have any medicinal pills left, but don't worry, I have some right here.

"At this critical juncture, buy one of my Soul Congealing Pills. It will restore your energy in a flash, and maybe help you develop a high towards something that isn't a narcotic. Brothers, you're not buying a medicinal pill, you're buying a potential high. Aiyo, you're injured!" Meng Hao's words distracted the Cultivators. A flying sword hit one of them in the arm, sending out a fountain of blood. He retreated backward with a scream.

Meng Hao was even faster than him, following and continuing his speech, looked as weak and scholarly as ever.

"Brother, now is the time. You're bleeding profusely. Quick, buy a Blood Coagulation Pill. If you don't, the danger is just too great."

"Get out of here!" the man's opponent roared at Meng Hao. He charged his injured opponent.

"Give me a pill," said the injured Cultivator, his face pale. Retreating several paces, he gritted his teeth and pulled out a Sniff Stone. A Blood Coagulation Pill shot from Meng Hao's hand onto the wound on the man's arm. The blood flow began to slow. He focused his attention, then leaped back into the fight.

"Aiya, Brother, it seems you're out of medicinal pills. Look, I have plenty. Now that your opponent bought one, he's bursting with energy. But you're injured. Why don't you buy a Blood Coagulation pill?

"Oh no, you got slashed again. You must be really tired. Take it slow, and don't be discouraged. Brother, I still have a Skeletal Relaxation Pill.

"One Sniff Stone for one pill. You should buy pills quickly. The sages said, Sniff Stones have a price, but a life is priceless." Meng Hao slowly circled them. Sure enough, they were out of medicinal pills, and soon, they began buying. Feeling pressure from each other, they bought quite a few. The battle grew more serious. Their fighting today was more intense than four or five normal battles.

Originally, it had been a fairly simple fight, but with the Medicinal Cultivation Workshop Outlet here, things were complicated. With dangerous fighting, comes injury. The two cannot be separated.

Flop. Flop. The two men had finally exhausted every scrap of energy. They dropped to the ground, unconscious, Sniff Stones spent and medicinal pills eaten up. Even their magical items were destroyed in the battle, seemingly together along with their wits. How tragic.

As far as Meng Hao was concerned, he had saved their lives. Or at least one life. Hefting his banner, he once again strolled around the plateau, and once again found two Cultivators locked in devastating combat. From the look of it, even if they had healing medicine, it was gone by now. Eyes glistening, he stood the banner up next to the two of them.

"Brothers, your complexions seem bad, and you've received some serious injuries. But fear not, I have medicinal pills. One Sniff Stone buys one pill; your recovery is guaranteed.

"How come you aren't saying anything? Don't tell me you don't trust me? Just now another disciple bought some of my pills. The result for his opponent was death."

Shortly, each of the men bought a pill, then again, and again, until they had no more Sniff Stones left. After much bitter battling, they ended their fight in a tie, with nothing to show for it except empty bags of holding.

Meng Hao shook his head, picked up the banner and found a new place to do business.

By the time the sun set, Meng Hao had been everywhere in the Public Zone, selling medicinal pills. In the end, wherever he went, the battling would instantly cease, and the participants would leave. Eventually, Meng Hao stared out over an empty Public Zone. Contentedly patting his bag of holding, he left.

It was late at night when he arrived at the Immortal Crackhouse. He sat down cross-legged and excitedly began to take inventory of his spoils.

"One, two…" He grew more and more excited as he counted. "Altogether I have fifty-three. I'm rich. This method is much faster than robbing people. It's also much safer. No need for killing."

"I don't have many medicinal pills left, so tomorrow I'll go to the Pill Cultivation Workshop and buy some more. If I want the business to do well, I should buy out all of this month's healing medicines. If I don't have enough Sniff Stones, I'll just buy as much as I can. The scarcer the pills, the easier they'll be to sell."

Meng Hao opened the bag of holding he had taken from the unconscious Cultivator. Inside were a few Sniff Stones, two Suppressing Conscience Pills, and a pink-colored medicinal pill.

He held the pill up and examined it. He recognized it as one of the Medicinal Cultivation Workshop's Cosmetic Cultivation Pills, an expensive pill. It was worth about ten Suppressing Conscience Pills, and could be considered one of the most expensive products available.

"This pill is designed to maintain one's physical appearance. It would be a waste for me to use it on myself. After all, why do I care if I look like a pale prune from all these drugs? I got high and power! Then again, its going to make finding a woman hard..." He figured the previous owner must have been trying to ingratiate himself to a female disciple. Not thinking any more on the subject, he put the pill into his bag of holding.

As he was looking down contentedly at all the Sniff Stones and medicinal pills, the main door of the Immortal Crackhouse suddenly creaked and began to open. It happened so quickly, Meng Hao had no time to gather up all his spoils.

A woman entered, surrounded by a halo of moonlight. She was beautiful, but cold and expressionless. She wore a long silver robe that made it seem as if she had donned the moon itself.

It was none other than the Reliance Inner Sect's Elder Sister Xu.

As she entered the Immortal Crackhouse, moonlight fell onto the Sniff Stones and medicinal pills which lay in front of Meng Hao. A sliver of astonishment suddenly cut through her cold demeanor.

"Greetings, Elder Sister Xu," said Meng Hao, scrambling to his feet. His right hand swept up the Sniff Stones and medicinal pills. He stood there, looking embarrassed.

Elder Sister Xu didn't say anything. She just looked at Meng Hao, nodded, then turned to leave.

Look surprised, Meng Hao followed after her.

"Elder Sister Xu, you took the trouble to come here, why not stay a bit?"

"There's no need," she replied coldly. "I'll be going into secluded meditation starting tomorrow, and I just wanted to check in on you." She looked him over, then walked out of the cave.

Meng Hao felt embarrassed, regretting having not collected up the Sniff Stones more quickly. In that case, he would have looked a bit worse off, and perhaps Elder Sister Xu would have been willing to help him out some more.

At the same time, he felt a bit of warmth in his heart. Elder Sister Xu appeared cold and indifferent, but she had come here to see him, which meant she remembered him. His heart thumping, he slapped his bag of holding and produced the pink-colored medicinal pill.

"I've been wanting to thank you, Elder Sister Xu. I saved up quite a bit of Suppressing Conscience Pills so that I could trade them for this Cosmetic Cultivation Pill. Please accept it. In my eyes, only you are worthy of such a pill. From the moment I entered the sect, I've had a dream, that you would stay young forever, and be eternally beautiful." Without so much as a wink, he solemnly and respectfully held out the pill.

Elder Sister Xu stopped walking and looked back at him.

"Are you saying that I am actually ugly and that I use Cosmetic Cultivation Pills to maintain my current appearance?" She asked coldly.

"Oh shit..." Meng Hao muttered. He really didn't think that through properly.

"N-n-no! You, Elder Sister Xu, are a gem even with all the narcotics you take! I simply want you to preserve your current beauty with this pill. You are so beautiful that you must be proud of it. Therefore, I just want to help you spend less time worrying about losing it from err... other external circumstances so that you can focus more on your cultivation!"

"Good save Meng Hao, good save." He thought to himself.

Elder Sister Xu took the pill.

"This pill… I'll accept it this time, but don't think you'll be spared the next time you run your mouth like that." She put the pill away, hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a pink-colored jade pendant which she handed to Meng Hao.

"This is a magical item," she said. "You'll need to protect yourself." She began to walk down the mountain.

"Many thanks, Elder Sister Xu," said Meng Hao. "Would you allow me to accompany you while you walk? I haven't seen you for so long, and I have some questions regarding Cultivation that I hope you can clear up for me." He knew that this was an important opportunity. This was the only person he had to rely on, so he needed to get close to her. If necessary. she was going to be that princess who he would sell his body to in exchange for protection.

Elder Sister Xu hesitated. She was an indifferent person, and usually didn't say much. She had never spent time with male sect members, and it felt a bit strange to have Meng Hao standing there next to her. She was about to refuse, but after he finished speaking, she thought bashfully of the Cosmetic Cultivation Pill he had given her, and she nodded quietly.

The moon shone down gently on the two of them as they walked.

Just then, at the peak of the North Mountain, a tall old man stood up, clad in a gray robe. As he looked down on the scene, a look of admiration appeared on his face.

"Excellent. This virgin Meng Hao isn't bad at all. He truly grasps the correct interpretation of the Reliance Sect. He knows how to find someone to rely on. And he also knows that if he protects his relationship with that person, then he will always have someone to rely on." This was the same old man who had expressed admiration for Meng Hao on Drug Distribution day. The more he learned about Meng Hao, the more he liked him.