Chapter 18: Catch Them Off Guard (Please Share and Subscribe)

Zheng Ming spoke and took out a dose of Strength Pills and Golden Wound Medicine, saying, "Elder Guo, could you please take a look and see how these two medicines are?"

Guo Longfei was stunned for a moment but soon after, he still accepted the two medicines with a smile, and after carefully inspecting them, Guo Longfei's expression became somewhat odd.

In the end, he clenched his teeth and with a look of toothache, said, "Plain, very plain!"

Fu Yuqing, who had already removed her bamboo hat, almost couldn't help but laugh upon hearing Guo Longfei's evaluation of Zheng Ming's two types of elixir pills.

Although years of cultivation had allowed her to control her emotions to an extent unreachable by ordinary people, Guo Longfei's words at this moment were really a bit too much to bear!

Since when were elixir pills ever described as "plain"?

When Zheng Ming took out the Strength Pills and Golden Wound Medicine, Fu Yuqing had also appraised them with her gaze. As the most outstanding disciple of the Heart Sword Pavilion, she was no stranger to elixir pills, after all, they were a part of a martial artist's cultivation.

She might not know how to concoct elixir pills, but she had consumed quite a number of them.

The Strength Pills that Zheng Ming took out looked somewhat like elixir pills, but that Golden Wound Medicine, to call it an elixir pill was truly an insult to the word "elixir."

"Indeed a discerning eye!" Zheng Ming gave Guo Longfei a thumbs up, his voice filled with admiration for the Elder of Medicine King Pavilion.

Elder Guo had heard countless compliments, but at this moment, Zheng Ming's praise gave him a feeling of a broken heart.

Dammit, even now he's praised for having good eyesight. But the other party was from the Heart Sword Pavilion, and despite being an Elder of Medicine King Pavilion, he definitely couldn't afford to offend them.

So even if it meant having a toothache, he had to endure it.

"Elder Guo, since you think so highly of these two types of elixir pills, could you please quote a price?" Zheng Ming seemed to completely ignore Elder Guo's look of toothache and continued to speak with a smile.

Guo Longfei's toothache worsened, he could indeed name the price for these elixir pills. Although in his mouth, they had reached the state of being "plain," but after all, they were still elixir pills.

And the effectiveness of the elixir pills was there, although it was more than half inferior to the lowest grade Yellow Earth Pill and Blood-Returning Pill, the value of the two elixir pills together could still be worth ten thousand taels of silver.

If it had been any regular person, Elder Guo could have simply asked a shopkeeper to attend to them, but these were people from the Heart Sword Pavilion. The boy speaking didn't quite seem like a disciple of the Heart Sword Pavilion, but the woman sitting next to him involuntarily brought the Heart Sword Pavilion to mind.

In the vast Chuyun Country, only the Heart Sword Pavilion could nurture such a transcendent and venerable woman.

Twenty years ago, when the Heart Sword Pavilion's last generation of personal disciples made their debut to the world, countless men were charmed and many heroes bowed down for her.

Back then, Guo Longfei was just a nobody; he had only taken a glimpse of that woman from afar, but that single glance was enough to make an imprint that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Even though he felt unworthy of that woman, she was like a symbol eternally engraved in his heart.

"Five hundred thousand taels of silver!" After biting his teeth with exertion, the resigned Guo Longfei, who had decided to take a hit, quoted the price for the two Eighth-Grade elixir pills.

The five hundred thousand taels of silver might as well be spent for peace of mind, after all, one cannot afford to offend people from the Heart Sword Pavilion!

Zheng Ming winked at Fu Yuqing, his eyes carrying a hint of sly mirth. Fu Yuqing, however, simply sat indifferently, paying no attention to his meaning.

"Elder Guo, let's not talk about money, it cheapens the conversation!" Zheng Ming lightly coughed and then said with utmost seriousness.

Elder Guo was really getting overwhelmed now, having been extorted for five hundred thousand taels of silver and still managing to give enough face to the Heart Sword Pavilion, but you... you can't be this shameless!

But watching Fu Yuqing sitting unmoving, Guo Longfei fiercely grimaced and said, "I mean, fifty thousand taels for each type of elixir pill."

Guo Longfei said these words with immense reluctance, even feeling a sensation that if he continued, his liver might start hurting.

Zheng Ming picked up two jade vials and played with them in his hands briefly before saying, "Like I said, talking about money hurts our friendship, let's not discuss money."

Guo Longfei's anger rose at this moment, thinking even if you are from the Heart Sword Pavilion, you shouldn't be so greedy and thick-skinned, should you? Trying to exchange these two subpar rubbish elixir pills for our Heaven and Earth Treasures!

Though angered, in the end, Elder Guo still yielded and said, "Our branch recently acquired two Qingyan Pills, how about we exchange them for these two types of elixir pills? What do you both think?"

The Qingyan Pill, a Seventh-Grade high-level elixir pill, was worth one million taels of silver each. Zheng Ming knew about the Qingyan Pill because when the Zheng Family's Family Head broke through to the Ninth Grade, the Zheng Family had bought a Qingyan Pill.

Two mediocre elixir pills were sold for two million taels of silver; the reputation of the Heart Sword Pavilion was indeed very useful!

Seeing Elder Guo already at the point of grinding his teeth, Zheng Ming decided not to test the waters with the Heart Sword Pavilion any longer and instead said directly, "Thank you for your kindness, Elder Guo, but I came here not to sell these two types of elixir pills."

"I'm selling the recipes!"

Selling the recipes? Elder Guo's face turned even more unsightly. Having driven the price of the two elixir pills to two million taels of silver, how much would the recipes cost?

To know, the value of each recipe for an elixir pill is usually a hundred times the value of the actual elixir pill. These two ordinary elixir pills had been driven up to two million taels of silver by him, so the recipes would be worth two hundred million taels of silver.

Can Medicine King Pavilion afford these two hundred million taels of silver? Naturally, they can. However, such a hefty sum is not something that a mere steward elder can decide on.

What is Heart Sword Pavilion up to? Could it be that they are deliberately targeting Medicine King Pavilion? And once war breaks out, Medicine King Pavilion will surely be no match for Heart Sword Pavilion.

For a moment, Elder Guo's hesitation overwhelmed his anger as he rubbed his hands and said, "Both of you, this matter is too significant. I can't make this decision."

You can't make a decision on two pill recipes? Zheng Ming had not expected that Elder Guo's thoughts were still stuck on the pill recipes costing two hundred thousand taels of silver each.

Seeing Zheng Ming's face darken on the spot, Elder Guo hurriedly said, "Both of you, it's truly beyond my limited authority. For a transaction involving two hundred million taels of silver, we need the Pavilion Master's approval."

A misunderstanding! Zheng Ming slapped his forehead, and at the same time, his gaze turned again to Fu Yuqing, thinking to himself, Heart Sword Pavilion is indeed Heart Sword Pavilion!

"As for these two kinds of elixir pills," said Zheng Ming, "Elder Guo just now offered too much. Actually, I was prepared to sell each of these two kinds of elixir pills for two hundred taels of silver each."

As soon as Zheng Ming spoke, Elder Guo was stunned. He couldn't care less about his image and exclaimed in shock, "How much?"

"Two hundred taels!" said Zheng Ming solemnly.

"You must be joking! Two hundred taels of silver don't even cover the costs for a pill concocter to start the furnace. Although these two kinds of pills are somewhat inferior, to be fair, the pills are worth at least ten thousand taels of silver each," said Elder Guo.

"As for the other kind, it is also valued at over five thousand taels," Elder Guo said, no longer holding back, simply stating what he believed was a fair price.

Zheng Ming's mouth curled into an even bigger smile as he said, "Elder Guo, my elixir pills do not require a pill concocter to make them. Anyone can produce them following my method!"

"This... This is impossible!" Elder Guo felt his face go taut. It was unthinkable for a pill that didn't require a pill concocter to produce.

Zheng Ming smiled and said, "What I'm saying is true. Moreover, the ingredients needed for these two kinds of elixir pills are the most common medicinals in this world, and they are cheap. The production cost of each pill is just one tael of silver."

Four pills for a tael of silver was really too little. In the face of prices that easily reached hundreds of millions of taels of silver, Zheng Ming decided to increase the production cost by four times.

At this moment, Elder Guo's expression became one of even greater disbelief as he stared directly at Zheng Ming and said, "That can't be possible, can it?"

One hour later, after Zheng Ming produced a batch of Strength Pills and Golden Wound Medicine from the Medicine King Pavilion's pharmacy, Elder Guo finally believed it.

At this moment, his eyes filled with excitement. He knew that a tremendous opportunity had just unfolded before him.

"Two hundred million taels of silver for these pill recipes, we at Medicine King Pavilion are willing to pay two hundred million taels of silver to purchase them. This I can decide on," said Elder Guo. He was a perceptive man; even though the pills produced from these formulas were low-level—

Even trashy, their materials were cheap, and more importantly, they didn't require a pill concocter; anyone could make them.

They could be mass-produced and sold cheaply, making them affordable for ordinary people.

Martial Artists and large families might have money, but their numbers are not many, while the common folk represent a much larger market. Once these pills go on sale, they will undoubtedly become a craze throughout Chuyun Country, even the entire continent.

Currently, Medicine King Pavilion's development has hit a bottleneck, and to Elder Guo, these two kinds of pills were key to breaking through this bottleneck.

Zheng Ming, seeing Elder Guo like this, showed a smile. He took Elder Guo's hand and said, "Elder Guo, let's have a good talk."

Two hours later, Zheng Ming and Elder Guo reached a preliminary agreement. Zheng Ming would take a stake in Medicine King Pavilion for the sales of these two kinds of pills, receiving thirty percent of the profits from each pill sold by Medicine King Pavilion.

"Elder Guo, there's one more small favor I need to ask of you!" Zheng Ming said, holding Elder Guo's hand with a smile.

...

In the secret room at the top floor of Luming Town's Medicine King Pavilion, a short, plump man was carefully wiping a faintly glowing golden inner armor with a piece of burlap.

"Tsk tsk, worthy of being a family heirloom. In three months, at Elder Li's sixtieth birthday of our Medicine King Pavilion, this gift will certainly take the spotlight!" As the man removed a small smear of dirt, he smiled and spoke to the young man holding the washbasin beside him.

"Shopkeeper, the Golden Silk Armor is indeed fine, but by taking advantage of the situation and forcing the Zheng family to use it to settle their debts, aren't we thoroughly offending Zheng Gongxuan?" The young man lowered the basin so the shopkeeper could more easily rinse the burlap and quietly said.

The short, plump man laughed heartily and said, "Xiao San, you're smart about small matters but clueless about big issues. Zheng Gongxuan has offended Zheng's Third Elder, and he won't be able to stay in Luming Town much longer."

"Besides, even if he stays in Luming Town, what could he do? We are Medicine King Pavilion, and not only is a mere town chief like him no threat to us, even Qingchuan County's main family would not dare to offend us."

"We are people of Medicine King Pavilion, and in the future, even if they hold grudges against us, they will have to come to us with a smile."

The young man flattered, "Shopkeeper, your foresight is remarkable!"

"Shopkeeper, Elder Guo has arrived." A hurried voice came from outside at this moment.

The typically unhurried short, plump man threw down the burlap and hurried downstairs, saying, "Quick, go receive him!"

ps: Please collect and vote for recommendation tickets!