Chapter 53 — The Mighty Pill

Dongfu.

"Boss Yan, if you ever get more snow fox tail grass, you must be sure to let me know," an elderly man in splendid robes urged earnestly.

Yan Le's round face was wreathed in smiles. "Of course, of course. Rest assured, Boss Wang, I'll set some aside for you."

"That's good to hear." Boss Wang nodded in satisfaction, then added with envy, "Your sect truly does produce talent in every generation—now you even have a spirit cultivator. I shall be counting on you a great deal in the future!"

Yan Le felt smug, though not a trace of it showed on his face. He clasped his hands repeatedly. "Boss Wang, you flatter me. Our humble sect still needs your guidance."

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries before Yan Le saw Boss Wang out of the shop.

"A spirit cultivator is truly a spirit cultivator." Back inside, Yan Le sighed in contentment. He felt immensely fortunate that he had happened to run into Zuo Yan that day; otherwise, who could say whether some other sect might have snapped the man up. At this rate, the sect would gain another source of wealth—and more importantly, its influence in Dongfu would grow enormously. In time, Wukong Yan would have a peerless prodigy like Wei Sheng, a spirit cultivator like Zuo You, and Li Ying, skilled in commerce. Through their hands, the sect's legacy would be carried on splendidly.

Li Ying had seen it all. Taking advantage of her master's good mood, she spoke up on Zuo Yan's behalf: "Indeed, Master, you've seen how much better our business has been lately. Senior Brother Zuo Yan has contributed no small amount."

Yan Le was a shrewd old hand and understood his disciple's meaning at once. He chuckled. "No need to plead for your Senior Brother Zuo Yan. I know you two are close."

He waved it off. "Young people—having their sharp edges worn down a bit is no bad thing. Your Senior Brother Zuo Yan seems easygoing enough, but at heart he's extraordinarily stubborn and unbending. And wouldn't you know it, he's landed himself a master with a fierce competitive streak. Haha, amusing, quite amusing."

Something seemed to occur to Yan Le, and he burst out laughing.

Li Ying said indignantly, "But Senior Brother is a spirit cultivator after all. The sect trials only test swordplay—why not the Minor Cloud-Rain Art? Isn't that just picking on him?"

"Heh heh, don't be angry, child. We are the Qingming Sect—if we don't test swordplay, what would we test? Rest assured, with the rest of us around, he won't be treated too unfairly. But when one's skills fall short, a little hardship is unavoidable." Yan Le's expression gradually turned serious. "We sword cultivators pursue the principle that the heart is a sword. What is a sword? It is victory and defeat, life and death, advance or perish! Remember this: a sword cultivator walks a path that defies heaven! He may be a spirit cultivator, but since he is in the Qingming Sect, he must understand this truth."

Li Ying listened, dazzled and speechless, rooted to the spot. Seeing her thus, Yan Le smiled and, without disturbing her, went straight into the inner hall.

Suddenly, someone pushed the door open and came in.

"Do you have the Mighty Pills I ordered?" the newcomer asked.

Li Ying snapped to attention and hastily replied, "Yes, we have them, we have them."

The newcomer couldn't help showing delight. "How many?"

"Twenty."

"Excellent! I'll take them all!" he said at once.

Li Ying's mind worked quickly. She kept her wits about her and shook her head. "I can only sell you fifteen."

The newcomer said with displeasure, "Why can't you sell me all of them?"

Li Ying told a lie with perfect composure: "Someone has reserved five."

"Fine then." The man had no choice; he had only ordered ten to begin with. "Sell me fifteen, then." He promptly paid in spirit crystals, took the Mighty Pills, and hurried off.

Li Ying looked at the five Mighty Pills left over, her mind racing. The man valued these pills so highly—there must be something extraordinary about them. If she could discover what that was, the Mighty Pills would find a market. Otherwise, she couldn't very well sell them to just this one customer.

She decided to take the pills to the pill appraisal hall for a professional assessment. It would cost a hefty fee, but it would make clear exactly what effects the Mighty Pills her junior brother had concocted actually had.

Wu Ming clutched the Mighty Pills he had bought, elated.

He had no idea who had named them—what an awful name. Such a fine pill, and they'd given it such a crude, rustic title. A waste of a good pill. He felt smug; thank goodness he was sensitive to fire-attribute spiritual power, or last time he would surely have passed these pills by.

Last time, he had chanced upon these pills for sale and caught a faint wisp of fire-attribute aura. Born with a sensitivity to fire, he sensed that though the fire aura in the pill was faint, it was remarkably pure, and he had bought it without hesitation.

After taking it, he was even more delighted to discover that the faint fire aura within was in fact solar essence.

Fire, one of the five elements—in the Tianyue Realm, cultivators who also cultivated fire far outnumbered those who cultivated the other four elements combined. Whether in artifact refinement, pill refinement, or food refinement, fire was indispensable. The more common sort, like the Li Fire, was the most ordinary flame. What people pursued most eagerly were the rare and wondrous flames. The higher the grade of flame, the more one could accomplish with half the effort, and the purer the finished product.

The Golden Crow Fire, born of the sun, was ranked among the fourth-grade flames!

Yet though the Golden Crow Fire came from the sun, the methods for drawing it out and nurturing it were known only to a very few great sects, and all were closely guarded secrets. Moreover, the fourth-grade Golden Crow Fire was violent and hard to tame, easily injuring the body, so those who could cultivate it were exceedingly rare.

So when Wu Ming discovered that trace of solar essence contained in the Mighty Pill, one can imagine his joy. What delighted him more was that this wisp of solar essence, utterly yang in nature, was yet gentle and harmless; nurtured within his body, it caused him not the slightest discomfort.

He treasured it like a priceless jewel, nurturing that thread of solar essence within him. Though it was but the finest of strands, far from forming Golden Crow Fire, as long as he could buy more Mighty Pills and the solar essence continued to accumulate, Golden Crow Fire would be within reach. Even if he could not form Golden Crow Fire, this supremely yang and pure solar essence, fused into other flames, could raise their grade.

Golden Crow Fire could not be bought with spirit crystals.

This time he had bought fifteen Mighty Pills, and his spirits soared. After absorbing these fifteen, the solar essence in his body would be greatly strengthened. He was still far from forming Golden Crow Fire, but he was making modest progress. Now he only hoped no one else discovered the benefits of these Mighty Pills.

Still, he knew such hopes were somewhat unrealistic—others were no fools. The Mighty Pills were probably a new pill just on the market, which was why he had gotten the bargain. But soon enough others would figure out its properties, and then he would no longer be able to buy it at this price.

That single wisp of solar essence was worth far more than the current price.

But he was already ahead of the others, and his family was well off, so he had nothing to fear.