Longzang

Chapter 1029 Qingming Procurement
Therefore, Wei Yuan entrusted Xu Henshui to adjust the formula of the Nourishing Pill according to Qingming's condition, while he himself pondered how many Nourishing Pills were needed and how to allocate and use them.

This matter concerns Qingming's century-long plan, and Wei Yuan attaches great importance to it, even considering it more important than the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The health-preserving elixir is mild in nature and its effect is to maintain the vitality of the physical body for Dao Foundation Establishment cultivators. Long-term use can also slowly improve physical constitution. This elixir is also used by many elderly Dao Foundation Establishment cultivators as a nutritional supplement for their later years, effectively maintaining their physical condition and allowing them to live with dignity in their old age. The latter use actually sells more than the former.

The Nourishing Pill is far too potent for ordinary people, and since it is produced by the Creation Temple, it is bound to be expensive. Even ordinary disciples from noble families cannot afford it, so it must be improved.

After Wei Yuan left, Xu Henshui immediately went into seclusion to revise the pill formula. He consulted the pharmacopoeia, searching through each ingredient and removing all the rare and precious herbs from the formula, replacing them with cheaper and more abundant ones. The resulting new formula successfully reduced the cost of the herbs to 20% of the original.

After testing the formula once, Xu Henshui discovered that the pills produced by the new formula were still too potent; even a cultivator who had reached the Great Perfection of Body Tempering would be severely injured if they took them, if not killed. However, having spent so much time in Qingming, Xu Henshui's thoughts had already wandered freely. He simply dissolved the pills in water, ladled out a bowl, and took a sip, only then feeling that it was about right.

So Xu Henshui simply turned the health-preserving pill into a health-preserving soup, one pill could be made into one hundred servings of health-preserving soup.

Next came the details of the process. Xu Henshui gathered the alchemists to discuss what kind of water to use for refining the pills and what kind of bottles would be best for packaging them. Just as they were engrossed in their research, a dignified voice suddenly rang out behind them: "What are you all doing? Why have you all stopped refining pills?"

Xu Henshui turned around and saw that the Hermit of the Elixir was standing behind them at some point, watching them stir the elixir water with a serious expression.

Xu Henshui then explained the purpose of his improved health-preserving pill. The Hermit of Pills picked up the formula and glanced at it, his face darkening with displeasure. He said, "This formula was originally balanced and moderate, at least possessing the virtue of moderation. Your modification has turned it into something crude and primitive, turning coarse bran into pig feed! How do you plan to sell this pig feed?"

Knowing that the cultivator of the Dan Sect was highly skilled, Xu Henshui respectfully said, "This item is for internal use within the Azure Netherworld. Currently, the cost of each one is one Azure Yuan, and I intend to sell it for only two Azure Yuan."

The hermit of the Pill Refining Sect looked even more displeased and said in a deep voice, "Only two yuan? You are a candidate for the next abbot, a dignified successor of the Immortal Xiang, and the pills you refine only double in value? What kind of reputation is that! It's one thing for you to refine some pig feed for Qingming, but how can the pill value only double? Any disciple in the sect could refine a pill with a fourfold increase in value. How come you are not even as good as an outer disciple?"

Xu Henshui smiled wryly and said, "Master Zhidan, the Nourishing Pill has a wide range of uses and a huge consumption. Although the value of the pill has only doubled, the total amount is definitely not small, so it is not a disgrace to the Creation Temple."

Zhi Dan Sanren snorted heavily and said, "Earn more? More than Moon Essence Soul Nourishing Pill? More than Profound Origin Longevity Pill? Any one of the Imperial Scenery Spirit Pills wouldn't be enough for you to refine thousands or tens of thousands of Nourishing Pills? Immortal Pills would be enough for you to refine hundreds of thousands of Nourishing Pills!"
"Oh, the alchemist's skills are hard-earned; they can't be sold cheaply. When did even products from my Creation Temple become so worthless?"

Xu Henshui sighed, "It's really not a cheap sale; it can't be any more expensive. If I weren't building three brand-new alchemy workshops, I wouldn't be selling it for such a high price."

Seeing that Xu Henshui refused to listen to reason, Zhi Dan Sanren finally became angry and shouted, "You're ruining the reputation of my Creation Temple! You're not allowed to do that!"

Xu Henshui was a person with a gentle exterior but a firm interior. He said softly, "I am from the lineage of Ancestor Danming. I know that if Ancestor Danming wants to prohibit me from refining pills, he must inform Abbot Danming. That is the first point."

Secondly, since we're talking about earning pill value, earning ten yuan for one pill and one yuan for ten pills is actually no different. If we sell twenty pills, the pill value is obviously higher, and it will be better for the reputation of our Creation Temple. I wonder if the Ancestor agrees?

Zhi Dan Sanren scoffed, "Nonsense! Fine, even if what you say is true, the dosage of this Nourishing Pill is large, but how large can it be? Any single immortal pill is worth hundreds of thousands of green coins."

Xu Henshui said, "Since the Ancestor says so, then I'll dare to make a bet with you. What if the total value of my Nourishing Pills ranks among the top three of all the pills you've ever refined?"

Zhi Dan Sanren sneered: "Wouldn't that make me take advantage of you, a junior? How about this, if my Dan value can get into the top ten, I'll admit my mistake!"

Xu Henshui said, "There's no need to admit fault. It's just that I've developed a new pill called the Foundation Establishment Pill. If the Ancestor loses, just help me improve the formula."

Zhi Dan Sanren waved his hand and said, "No problem! I'll stay here for the next month and see how many you can sell!"

Xu Henshui knew that Zhidan Sanren cherished his reputation and the fame of the Creation Temple. If he couldn't make Zhidan Sanren admit defeat, he would never get past this hurdle.

So he summoned a disciple and said, "Go and ask the Realm Lord how many of these Nourishing Pills we need to order?"

The disciple obeyed the order and went directly to Wei Yuandaoji, the warrior stationed at Dan Guan, to relay Xu Henshui's question.

A moment later, Wei Yuan, who was already in Ji State, received the news and passed it on to Zhang Sheng, saying, "It seems that Uncle Xu is being made difficult by the elders of the Creation Temple."

After reading it, Zhang Sheng said, "So it's the Hermit of Elixir. No wonder. I heard that this patriarch is very protective of his reputation and is afraid that the reputation of the Creation Temple will be damaged. If he earns less money, well, they are used to calling it 'elixir value,' and they will feel that the reputation of the Creation Temple is damaged."

Wei Yuan flicked the letter and chuckled, "Want to add a little trouble to Ancestor Zhi Dan's resolve? To be honest, I've had a bad impression of the Creation Temple since I was a child." Zhang Sheng immediately recalled the time when she worked hard for half a month, chopping and mincing food at the Heavenly Craft Hall, only to have all her hard-earned money disappear after a single visit to the Creation Temple, receiving only a few pills in return. She also snorted and said, "I don't have a good impression of the Creation Temple either!"

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "That's settled then. Well, the Nourishing Pills are crucial to Qingming's future plans for the next hundred years, so we can't be stingy with them. I plan to purchase them all in Qingming's name and distribute them as wages and basic benefits, so that every household can receive a basic share of the Nourishing Pills. What do you think?"

Zhang Sheng said, "Your skill in this area has long surpassed mine, so I'll take a shortcut and you can decide."

"Slacking off is allowed, but I want a reward."

Helpless, Zhang Sheng could only go over and touch Wei Yuan's face.

Wei Yuan paced back and forth, pondering, "The pricing of pills by the Creation Temple is not an isolated case, but rather a common practice among all alchemists in the world today. This system of passing down knowledge from master to apprentice, valuing quality over quantity, results in a scarcity of pills, which is actually very detrimental to the cultivation of cultivators of our human race."

"Well, today I'll start with the Nourishing Pills, let them know the power of the words 'Azure Nether Procurement'! Once we remove the first brick from the Creation Temple's pricing system, the entire system will collapse in no time. Then, those in the Creation Temple, being close to the source, will naturally be at the beck and call of Azure Nether, who are also part of the Primordial Palace."

Zhang Sheng nodded and said, "Be careful, Ancestor Danming will punish you."

Wei Yuan was not afraid at all: "What's there to be afraid of? We have Ancestor Xuan Yue! Isn't this exactly what the Ancestor used?"

"That's true."

Wei Yuan then wrote down the procurement list, generated a decree through the prosperity of the various realms, and sent it to the alchemy workshop.

Inside the alchemy workshop, the hermit Zhidan sat sipping tea while instructing the other alchemists on the art of alchemy. Xu Henshui sat beside him, listening attentively and gaining much insight.

At this moment, a disciple hurried over, handed over the decree, and said, "The Realm Lord's procurement decree has been issued."

Xu Henshui glanced at Ancestor Zhidan and smiled, "The outcome of the bet will be decided soon."

But his hands were actually trembling slightly; he was quite nervous. In front of the Patriarch Zhidan, Xu Henshui opened the decree, glanced at it, and his breath suddenly caught in his throat!

He composed himself before handing the decree to Zhi Dan Sanren. Zhi Dan Sanren snorted, took the decree, and glanced at it. He immediately felt his eyes were blurry; the numbers seemed to be doubled.

The decree was simple and also very characteristic of Wei Yuan: "...procure 50000... pills of health-preserving pills."

Even with his cultivation nearing the peak of the Imperial Realm, the Hermit of the Pill Refining Sect had to count several times before confirming that the purchase was not 500,000 or 5 million, but 50 million, totaling 100 million Qing Yuan.

Based on the current exchange rate of Qingyuan to Immortal Silver, the value of this single transaction is 75 million taels! With this value, let alone breaking into the top ten, even the combined value of the top ten pills in the entire life of a Pill Master would fall short.

After the initial surprise, Xu Henshui suddenly realized a fatal problem, so he looked at the Master of Alchemy and asked, "How do we refine these fifty million pills?"

The hermit of the elixir said in a deep voice, "The methods passed down from our ancestors are clearly no longer useful! So we must break with the old and establish the new. Let's start from scratch and research new methods! I won't leave for the next few months. I'll help you research the refining method first!"

Zhi Dan Sanren's attitude had completely changed at this point, and he now saw Xu Henshui in a completely different light. Previously, Xu Henshui's talent and performance were passable, giving him a slight advantage over other candidates for the position of sect leader, but it wasn't significant.

But things are different now. With the value of this one Nourishing Pill, Xu Henshui could tie all the young alchemists of the Creation Temple together and beat them up. As long as he can complete this deal, he'll be the second choice for the next Temple Master!
Wei Yuan has always been the first choice.

Furthermore, from this unprecedentedly large purchase, Zhi Dan Sanren discovered the terrifying financial power of Qingming. When did Qingming become such a behemoth?

　Update tomorrow morning at 12 o'clock

　　
　
(End of this chapter)