"I have noticed something, but you'll need someone to verify whether there's a problem, Young Mistress."
Lu Zhiyuan hesitated. He did not mind the profit share. Most of his earnings would come from the black market anyway. But Tao Yinglan's mention of Lightspirit Pills had thoroughly caught his interest.
Lightspirit Pills were a grade above Herbal Restoration Pills as cultivation pills. Martial artists at the Bone Tempering stage, or even the Marrow Tempering stage, generally took them. Their medicinal effects were therefore far stronger, and they cost considerably more.
If he obtained the formula, he could replace his Herbal Restoration Pills with Lightspirit Pills, whether for his own use or for sale at the black market.
"Speak," Tao Yinglan said evenly.
"The medicinal fragrance of Lightspirit Pills is particularly strong on Steward Luo."
Lu Zhiyuan's voice was grave. Alchemists had keener noses than other martial artists, particularly when it came to identifying the scents of medicinal ingredients. He had seen and taken Lightspirit Pills himself, so he knew them well.
As the clinic's steward, Luo Chenghou could be expected to smell of pills. But for the smell of Lightspirit Pills to overpower that of every other pill was abnormal. He was not an alchemist.
Only daily contact, or even taking Lightspirit Pills for months and years, would leave their smell so strong.
Lightspirit Pills were not cheap. At fifteen silver taels per pill, they cost half again as much as Herbal Restoration Pills. Although Luo Chenghou was the clinic's steward, his wages were nowhere near enough to support taking one Lightspirit Pill a day.
Tao Yinglan's eyes brightened. She had naturally reached the same conclusion as Lu Zhiyuan. If what he said was true, Luo Chenghou was in serious trouble.
"We can have Old Shi confirm it," Jia Shiheng said with a smile.
Old Shi was a physician with an exceptionally keen nose for pills. A single visit would tell him whether matters were as Lu Zhiyuan had described.
"If what you say is true, the formula for Lightspirit Pills will be yours afterward," Tao Yinglan told him.
"Thank you, Young Mistress!" Lu Zhiyuan cupped his hands.
Night fell. After altering his build and appearance, Lu Zhiyuan appeared at the black market wearing a face covering and a conical hat.
Meng Jingxiu led him into a room and pointed to the medicinal herbs on the floor.
"After several days of hard work, I've finally collected all the ingredients. You have no idea how much trouble it took. The price we agreed on last time was really a little low."
Lu Zhiyuan said nothing. He stepped forward to inspect the ingredients. A moment later, he straightened and looked calmly at Meng Jingxiu.
"What?" Meng Jingxiu felt uneasy under his gaze and sounded annoyed. "Don't tell me you've suddenly decided you don't want them. Listen, we can still negotiate the price, but you have to take all the ingredients."
"Did you make the counterfeit ingredients yourself?" Lu Zhiyuan asked calmly.
"What? Counterfeit ingredients? Impossible!"
Meng Jingxiu exclaimed in disbelief, then went over to examine the herbs carefully.
Lu Zhiyuan wanted to roll his eyes. Someone who knew nothing about the trade might have been fooled by this performance. If he had not been an alchemist himself, the counterfeiting would indeed have been difficult to spot.
Producing counterfeit medicinal ingredients of this quality required considerable skill.
"There really are fakes! Those damned refugees even fooled me!"
Meng Jingxiu cried out as though heartbroken. After a few exclamations, he saw that Lu Zhiyuan was not reacting at all and fell awkwardly silent.
"What now?" Lu Zhiyuan asked.
"I took a look. There aren't actually many fakes. Just a few," Meng Jingxiu said with a smile.
"I ordered ten batches, and only six are genuine. Yes, just a few." Lu Zhiyuan nodded.
"That many? I didn't even notice! Those damned refugees!" Meng Jingxiu started shouting again.
"Here's the payment for six batches of ingredients. I'll want ten batches next time too. I'll collect them in three days."
At a loss for words, Lu Zhiyuan took out the silver and handed it over, then picked up the medicinal ingredients and left the room.
Meng Jingxiu hefted the silver in his hand and watched Lu Zhiyuan leave, a smile forming on his face. It had been a long time since he had met such an astute young man. How interesting.
With a bundle on his back, Lu Zhiyuan left the black market.
He had calculated that ten batches of medicinal ingredients would be an amount that did not attract too much notice. Carrying an enormous bundle out of the black market could easily invite unnecessary trouble.
This amount was just right.
After making sure no one was following him, he cautiously returned to a rented courtyard.
He had rented this second courtyard under his altered appearance and build. Since he would be selling Herbal Restoration Pills at the black market, keeping that business from connecting to his original identity was the safer choice.
He sorted the ingredients in the bundle and began brewing Herbal Restoration Pills. His proficiency in brewing them was already close to Perfected. Processing these six batches would not take long.
Once the skill was mastered, things that looked incredibly complicated to an outsider could sometimes be very simple.
Two hours later, the brewing was finished. Lu Zhiyuan looked at the fifteen Herbal Restoration Pills in the pill vial and smiled.
That was a hundred-odd silver taels. Once his proficiency in brewing Herbal Restoration Pills reached Perfected, his pill yield per batch would increase again.
Before long, he would be able to save five hundred silver taels.
He tucked the vial inside his robe and glanced at the panel.
[Name: Lu Zhiyuan]
[Occupation: Martial Artist]
[Techniques: Greenpeak Sword Art (Perfected), Windborne Breathing Method (Perfected), Rivercrossing Cloud (Perfected), Disguise Art (Perfected), Immortal Points the Way (Uninitiated)]
[Realm: Flesh Tempering (17/10000)]
[Alchemy: Blood Vitality Pill (Perfected), Antidote Pill (Perfected), Healing Pill (Perfected), Herbal Restoration Pill (Mastered 7931/10000)]
[Status: Clinging Blight (-)]
Nearly every technique had reached Perfected proficiency, making the Uninitiated status of Immortal Points the Way conspicuous. His breakthrough to the Flesh Tempering stage had also changed the status of Clinging Blight. A minus sign had appeared after it, and its effect on him had diminished considerably.
At the same time, the help Windborne Breathing Method and Herbal Restoration Pills provided to his cultivation had decreased considerably. Their effect was still substantial, however, adding roughly twenty points of realm progress each day.
At that rate, Lu Zhiyuan estimated it would take a year and part of another to break through to the Bone Tempering stage.
That was not slow. He was already progressing faster than most martial artists. Many remained stuck in the same place their entire lives.
If he wanted to speed up his cultivation progress, he would have to switch to Lightspirit Pills or improve Windborne Breathing Method. Accomplishing either would make his cultivation much faster.
With that thought, he took out a manual.
According to Meng Jingxiu, this too was a technique from the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect: Startling Thunder Sword Method!