Chapter 13 The Little Blue Pill

Just as Ye Fan had guessed, for three consecutive days, the enthusiasm of those seeking paintings remained high, and the stream of people was endless.

However, by the fourth day, the numbers significantly dwindled, and by the fifth and sixth days, there were very few people left.

Today, forget about purchase limits; there were probably only twenty or thirty people in total.

After the crowd of buyers dispersed, Ye Fan sat on his bed counting the earnings from the past few days, grinning so widely he could hardly close his mouth.

Lin Lei squatted nearby, gnawing on a roasted rabbit leg, and said indistinctly, "Brother Ye, you can still smile? I'm afraid our business won't be able to continue."

"Is that how you talk to your father? No respect for your elders."

Lin Lei rolled his eyes in annoyance, having no intention of humoring Ye Fan.

"Not going to call me that, huh? Then you won't have a share in the next profitable business venture."

"I don't like the sound of that. Talking about money between us father and son hurts our feelings. So, what business are you talking about?"

Lin Lei sidled up with a mischievous grin; anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were a picture of fatherly love and filial piety.

Ye Fan had long anticipated today's situation, so he hadn't been idle over the past few days and had secretly whipped up some good stuff.

"What do you think about selling some marital health Medicinal Pills?" Ye Fan said thoughtfully.

"Marital health? What's that?"

"You don't even know this... simply put, they're Medicinal Pills used for Dual Cultivation between Dao Companions."

"Medicinal Pills for Dual Cultivation between Dao Companions?"

After a momentary daze, Lin Lei showed a look of disdain and said, "We're the Joyous Union Sect. Do you really think we'd lack Dual Cultivation pills?"

"You don't know jack shit!"

Ye Fan hadn't been idle; based on the pharmacopeias he'd read in his previous life combined with the knowledge of cultivating Spirit Medicine he'd gained over the years, he quickly researched and developed something.

With a mysterious look, Ye Fan took out a small porcelain bottle and poured out a little blue pill.

"This is..."

"A Medicinal Pill I developed myself, called the carefree pill."

Ye Fan merely waved it under Lin Lei's nose, and the latter actually felt a sudden wave of heat throughout his body, scaring him into hurriedly shaking his head.

"There won't be any problems with this thing, right?"

"Of course not. I caught a few wild boars in the mountains for experiments. Guess what? They almost plowed ten miles of land flat."

Lin Lei sucked in a breath of cold air. "Then if a person ate it..."

"As expected of my dear son, who is of one mind with me."

"The only trouble now is that there's no one to test the medicine. How about you make a sacrifice?"

Hearing this, Lin Lei immediately shook his head like a rattle. If he ruined his body, his happiness for the rest of his life would be gone.

"Look at your useless self, can't even handle such a small matter."

"I didn't say you had to test it yourself. There are so many people on Green Bamboo Peak; there's bound to be someone who isn't afraid of death. You understand?"

Since things had been put that way, Lin Lei could only nod and accept the carefree pill, planning to find a suitable person to test it on when he had the chance.

Ye Fan had earned quite a few Spirit Stones over the past few days; even after excluding the portion for Lin Lei, nearly twenty thousand remained.

Just as Ye Fan was calculating how to spend this money, the communication talisman on him suddenly lit up.

"Is there news about the youth retention pill?"

This communication talisman was exactly what Shopkeeper Qian had given him before he left the Hundred Treasures Pavilion; it was a mini "youth version" of a Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission Talisman.

Aside from lighting up to indicate a message, it couldn't do anything else, so it wasn't worth much. However, it was an excellent choice for notifying customers that stock had arrived.

Ye Fan took a deserted path down the mountain and soon arrived at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in the market.

After not seeing him for a few days, Shopkeeper Qian still had that heavy appearance; he even seemed to have put on quite a bit of weight.

Seeing his big customer arrive, Shopkeeper Qian was so delighted he looked like he might burst. He hurriedly invited Ye Fan into a private room for a detailed discussion.

Shopkeeper Qian patted his belly and rubbed his hands together. "Young Master, the youth retention pill you asked for last time is in stock..."

He intentionally drew out the last syllable, peeking at Ye Fan's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Ye Fan picked up his teacup and took a small sip, taking in all of the man's little movements.

"Shopkeeper Qian, stop speaking in riddles. Just give me a straightforward price."

"Good! As expected, Young Master is still so straightforward. In that case, fifty thousand Spirit Stones. I, Qian, will take charge and sell it."

"Fifty thousand?"

Ye Fan frowned slightly, seemingly unsatisfied with the price.

Ye Fan had researched the price of youth retention pills; although they were rare and hard to find, the price fluctuated quite a bit.

If one was lucky and met someone who desperately wanted it, it could be sold for fifty thousand Spirit Stones.

If luck was poor and it stayed in stock, it might not sell for years, and even thirty thousand Spirit Stones would be considered a steep price.

Shopkeeper Qian asking for fifty thousand Spirit Stones right off the bat was clearly treating Ye Fan like a novice.

"Hmph, Shopkeeper Qian is really treating me like a sucker to be fleeced."

Ye Fan rose to leave with a look of displeasure. Startled, Shopkeeper Qian hurriedly stepped forward with a placating smile.

"Young Master, don't be in such a hurry. Business is always like this—one asks for the moon, and the other offers the earth. Right?"

"Offer the earth? Then I'll offer one Spirit Stone. Will you sell it?"

Shopkeeper Qian's smile stiffened slightly. He immediately realized that Ye Fan was even more difficult to deal with than he had imagined, so he quickly changed his tune.

"Young Master, you're joking. Since we're old acquaintances, I'll give you a sincere price. Forty-five thousand—it can't go any lower."

"This youth retention pill was recovered from an ancient ruin, and many lives were lost in the process. Any lower wouldn't be right."

Ye Fan pondered for a moment and offered a price of forty thousand Spirit Stones.

But this time, Shopkeeper Qian shook his head, stating plainly that he really couldn't go any lower.

After all, youth retention pills were hard to come by. At worst, he could just hold onto it for a few years; it would merely tie up some liquid capital.

Ye Fan thought for a while and finally made a decision.

"Forty thousand, no more."

The two seemed to enter a sort of standoff, but in the end, it was Shopkeeper Qian who gave in first.

"Fine, fine. Young Master really won't yield an inch. Forty thousand it is."

Forty thousand Spirit Stones was Shopkeeper Qian's psychological limit. This concession was also for the sake of long-term cooperation, but Ye Fan's next sentence made him very displeased.

"I didn't bring enough Spirit Stones. I hope to use something else to make up the difference."

Shopkeeper Qian thought Ye Fan was just putting on a front, but when he saw the Medicinal Pill in his hand clearly, he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

Having managed the Hundred Treasures Pavilion for many years, Shopkeeper Qian's cultivation wasn't much, but his eye was extremely sharp. Just from the pill's fragrance, he could tell it was by no means ordinary.

"What kind of Medicinal Pill is this?"

"This pill is called the dragon tiger pill. After consumption, it can improve all aspects of Physical Body strength, comparable to the power of a Dragon and a tiger."

"Taking a Qi Refining Realm Cultivator as an example, their Physical Body strength can be increased by at least fifty percent."

"Fif... Fifty percent?!"

Hearing this, Shopkeeper Qian's breath almost hitched. He stared fixedly at the dragon tiger pill in Ye Fan's hand, his eyes appearing to turn red.

"What do you think, Shopkeeper Qian?"

Ye Fan's words snapped Shopkeeper Qian out of it. Only then did he realize his lack of composure and hurriedly wiped away his drool.

"My apologies, Young Master. Forgive my poor eyesight for being unable to tell if this Medicinal Pill truly has such effects."

"If Young Master trusts me, the Hundred Treasures Pavilion has professional alchemists. May I take it to have it appraised?"