Journey to the West: Starting from the Imperial Horse Stable

Wang Chen looked at the two figures in the darkness and found it somewhat interesting. These two brothers certainly knew how to do things.

One of the two brothers raised his hand, his fingers tracing a line in the air. Several faint lights appeared on the dimly lit stone chamber floor, quickly forming a simple contract. The contract was concise, stating the agreed-upon message and the sum of ten thousand spirit stones.

"If you have no objections, please use your magic to leave your mark here. Make two copies, one for each of us, as proof."

Wang Chen carefully examined the contract's contents, confirmed they were correct, and then channeled a wisp of his magic power to leave a blurry mark at the designated location. The two other parties also left their marks.

Immediately, the contract split in two, turning into two thin jade slips. One slip flew towards Wang Chen, while the other landed in the hands of the man with gleaming eyes.

"Fellow immortal, take this jade slip and hand it to the clerk at the counter after you leave. He will then help you obtain the spirit stones."

It must be said that the transaction process was clear and efficient.

Wang Chen took the jade slip and put it away, but instead of leaving immediately, he asked, "If I were to buy any other information from you two, what would the price be?"

In the darkness, the two seemed to exchange a glance: "That depends on what you want to ask, fellow immortal. Different information comes from different sources, has different levels of difficulty, and therefore, the price will naturally be different."

After a moment's thought, Wang Chen asked his first question, "I'd like to know, does that curtain-rolling general in front of the Lingxiao Palace have any other backing?"

After the question was asked, the stone chamber fell silent for a moment.

One voice spoke with a hint of caution: "Fellow immortal, regarding the information about General Rolling Curtain, we... are not selling it here."

"Not selling?" Wang Chen pressed. "Is it because you don't know, or because you can't say?"

The man's tone was more direct: "You could say that our assessment of this person is not based on accurate information, making it difficult to set a price. Therefore, we will not proceed with this transaction."

Wang Chen's heart skipped a beat. The Thousand-Mile Eyes and Wind-Following Ears were famous intelligence brokers in the Heavenly Court. Even they said that the information was "inaccurate" and "difficult to price," which usually meant there were only two possibilities.

Either this Curtain-Rolling General is simply a plain imperial bodyguard with no complicated background, so simple that he's not worth selling. Or, his background is extremely deep, or his connections are so secretive that even these two brothers can't figure him out, or dare not easily touch him.

Considering the future prospects of the Curtain-Rolling General, Wang Chen leaned towards the latter; anyone who could go to the Western Paradise to obtain scriptures must have a remarkable identity.

This Sha Wujing seems to have quite a background back in Heaven.

Having met with a rebuff with the first question, Wang Chen changed his approach: "Then, let's ask another question. Among the celestial officials and clerks in the various departments and offices of the Heavenly Court, which ones have Marshal Tianpeng as their patron?"

This seemed much safer, and the two brothers quickly replied, "This message requires one thousand spirit stones."

Wang Chen nodded, "Okay."

The other person added, "Fellow immortal, could you please let me take another look at that jade slip?"

Wang Chen handed over the jade slip he had just acquired, which was worth ten thousand spirit stones.

He took it, and a faint light flashed in his hand. The contents of the jade slip quietly changed, and the amount changed from ten thousand to nine thousand.

At the same time, he took out a new blank jade slip, entered information, and left a contract mark with Wang Chen again. The new jade slip indicated that the information about Marshal Tianpeng's supporters was priced at one thousand spirit stones.

After doing all this, he finally revealed the answer: "As far as we know, Marshal Tianpeng has no clear supporters in the various departments and offices of the Heavenly Court."

That's it? There's not a single person here?

Upon hearing this, Wang Chen couldn't help but chuckle.

No wonder he was called Marshal Tianpeng, later known as Pigsy. Li Jing had just been promoted to Grand Marshal of Demon Subduing, and already had a group of people following him. Deng Jiugong was also a newly promoted Marshal of Demon Subduing. Although he was arrogant and did not form cliques, according to Zhang Jinghe, he had also placed some of his own people under him.

The only one who doesn't seem to have a decent number of subordinates is this naval marshal who commands the Milky Way. It seems that this marshal has really not put his mind to building up his power.

"Understood." Wang Chen nodded, putting away the jade slip that had turned into nine thousand spirit stones and the newly acquired contract jade slip. "Thank you both."

He asked no more questions, followed the directions, exited the stone chamber, and returned along the same path. He found the shopkeeper behind the counter and handed over the jade slip. The shopkeeper verified it and counted out nine thousand spirit stones from the back counter, put them in an inconspicuous storage bag, and gave it to Wang Chen.

Wang Chen accepted the spirit stones and quietly left the West Corner Archway.

……

The atmosphere in front of Zhang Jinghe's shop in Xuanzhuji was somewhat different today than usual.

A new wooden sign has been erected outside the shop, with several lines of text written on it in striking vermilion:

"The Mind-Clearing and Spirit-Guarding Pill is specially formulated to treat post-war mental disturbances, calm the mind, and solidify the foundation of one's cultivation. Only 2,500 pills are available in total, to be sold in batches. The first batch of 500 pills will be priced at 180 spirit stones each. Those who wish to purchase, please register your name and the quantity required at our shop before 3 PM today. Late registrations will not be accepted, and the remaining pills will be sold separately."

The moment the sign was erected, it immediately attracted a lot of attention. News of Li Tianwang's defeat had already spread, and rumors of the heavenly soldiers and generals being mentally injured and having inner demons appearing were also quietly circulating.

The name "Qingxin Shoushen Dan" (清心守神丹) has struck a chord with some people.

Currently, many heavenly soldiers and generals in the Heavenly Court are not in good condition and do need this kind of elixir.

However, while there were many onlookers, very few people actually stepped forward to register.

One hundred and eighty spirit stones per pill—that's not cheap. Normally, these kinds of pills would cost at most a hundred or so spirit stones. More importantly, no one has ever tested whether this pill is truly as effective as claimed. What if they've wasted their money?

Most people chose to observe, whispering and pointing. Only a very few heavenly soldiers with haggard faces and bloodshot eyes, or celestial officials running errands for their superiors, hesitated for a long time before stepping forward to leave their names and the quantities needed.

Han Ji also heard the news, strolled over, and stood on the periphery of the crowd watching.

Ever since Li Jing's defeat, he knew that the batch of Qingxin Shoushen Pills that Wang Chen bought from him would definitely see their price skyrocket, just like the previous wound medicine.

On his own side, due to a shortage of several key ingredients, the next batch of pills will take at least ten days to refine.

He admired Wang Chen's vision and decisiveness. But looking at Zhang Jinghe's "batch sales" and "limited-time registration" method, he had some doubts.

How could selling it like this, like the Golden Wound Medicine, cause people to compete to drive up the price? He couldn't understand it, so he simply hurriedly gathered materials to make the pills while secretly keeping an eye on Zhang Jinghe's movements.

Bai Jian naturally learned that the pills were Wang Chen's doing. He felt more and more that this young man was not lacking in courage or vision.

But he couldn't figure out this sales method either. He asked Zhang Jinghe, who rubbed his hands, his face also puzzled: "Brother Wang only instructed us to sell it this way, but I can't explain the specifics. Shall we wait and see?"

In front of the shop, the registration time ticked by, and by evening, the five hundred pills had barely been pre-ordered. Zhang Jinghe felt a little uneasy; it seemed that this method of selling wasn't very effective.