329: Chapter 329 Even if it's ten times the amount, I can still afford it.

In the afternoon at the Shen hour, Lin Feng arrived.

Su Cheng met him in the inner hall. At first glance, he noticed a faint bruise on Lin Feng's right cheek. Although he had used spiritual power to soothe it, the mark had not yet completely faded.

Su Cheng did not ask about the injury directly; instead, he poured him a cup of tea and waited for him to speak.

Lin Feng took the teacup, took a sip, and then explained the ins and outs of the matter.

"My father heard that you had arrived in the Prefecture City the day before yesterday and called me over to ask if the matter of the nine-aperture golden spirit pill could be handled. I said it could not; since you had already spoken about it publicly, I naturally would not come to ask again."

A look of resentment appeared on his Face, followed by a self-deprecating laugh: "And then... hehe, this is truly interesting."

Although Lin Yu had some flaws in his personality, his cultivation strength was still significantly higher than Lin Feng's.

"He even called me a good-for-nothing, saying I was using your name to act big outside, yet couldn't help with anything when it mattered most."

When Lin Feng said this, it didn't sound like he was complaining; it was more like he was stating something unrelated to himself. Perhaps he had long since abandoned any illusions about this meager familial affection.

Su Cheng gave an acknowledging "Hm" and asked, "What did Golden Core Elder Lin Xiaotian say after that?"

"He said that from now on, I should only manage the Spirit Medicine business for the Hundred Herbs Hall and the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, and I am not allowed to interfere in any other matters." A bitter smile appeared on Lin Feng's Face, but with Su Cheng present, he had not yet given up hope, which was why he had come today.

"How is your injury?" Su Cheng asked.

"It's nothing, just a slap," Lin Feng waved his hand. "That Lin Yu is only at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. Although I am not as strong as him, I am no pushover. If it weren't for Golden Core Elder Lin Xiaotian stopping me, I would definitely have fought him."

Su Cheng did not press further. Lin Feng was a key link in his layout in the Prefecture City; it would be too foolish to let him be consumed by the internal strife of the Lin Family.

(The Lin Family must be kept in his grasp. Once the path through the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce becomes impassable, the Lin Family will be needed to open a new path. Su Cheng always prepared for multiple outcomes; there was no need to begrudge the Spirit Stones, as they were too easy to earn. Some plans are useful, while others yield no results despite one's efforts; one must never think that even a dog can be developed into something useful.)

He thought for a moment and asked, "Within the Lin Family, do you have anyone you are on good terms with? Or, perhaps, anyone with whom you share mutual interests?"

Lin Feng was silent for a while, then shook his head.

"No."

Su Cheng frowned upon hearing this. Lin Feng had been in the Lin Family for five or six years, right?

Lin Feng smiled bitterly: "All these years, I have focused entirely on the Hundred Herbs Hall. Everything I did was to leverage Golden Core Elder Lin Xiaotian's power to elevate my status within the clan."

"You should know that I am the illegitimate son Golden Core Elder Lin Xiaotian had outside in his early years. Many in the clan have quite a few complaints about this matter.

When I was first brought back to the Family, it was solely due to one word from Golden Core Elder Lin Xiaotian. Even though my cultivation has reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, and I have four Foundation Establishment Guards by my side, everyone has seen how many Spirit Stones the Hundred Herbs Hall has earned for the Family over these years.

But those clansmen never gave me Face because of me, Lin Feng; they did it because of the Golden Core Elder Lin Xiaotian hanging over my head."

"Now that Golden Core Elder Lin Xiaotian has made it clear he wants to alienate me, the wind in the clan has naturally shifted. Before, they would at least be polite when we met, but these past few days, they can't even be bothered to greet me.

Their thinking is very simple; the matter of the nine-aperture golden spirit pill is the best proof. I, Lin Feng, cannot even get a word in before Young Master Su."

He paused, and then his tone carried a sense of cynical self-deprecation.

"Also, when you came to the Prefecture City and didn't come to find me, it confirmed their suspicions in the eyes of the clansmen. Everyone thinks that I was just using Young Master's name to act big outside, merely to gild my own reputation.

Young Master is willing to let me use this placard mostly out of consideration for the cooperation with the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce; it doesn't have much to do with me, Lin Feng, as a person."

"So now, the clan basically defaults to treating me as a money-making tool—brought out to be used when useful, and thrown into a corner to gather dust when not. If you're asking about connections within the clan that I can leverage..."

Lin Feng spread his hands: "Then there really aren't any."

Su Cheng just smiled after listening. He hadn't paid much attention to Lin Feng, and although he had provided quite a bit of help, it didn't seem to have had much effect so far.

As expected, the cultivation world still values strength above all. No matter how well or how much you do, one word from those above can knock you down.

It was just unexpected that Lin Feng's situation was even worse than anticipated. The status of an illegitimate son, combined with Golden Core Elder Lin Xiaotian's active alienation, meant he had absolutely no dignity left.

But fortunately, Lin Feng was still a member of the Lin Family, and the Lin Family name could still be used.

However, thinking about it from another angle, no friendship meant no conflict, which was the perfect time to use benefits to win people over.

"Since there aren't any, then we start from scratch."

Su Cheng took a Storage Pouch from his bosom and pushed it across the table.

Lin Feng opened it and saw thousands of jade bottles packed tightly inside. Each bottle had a label, classified into three types: top-grade qi gathering pill, top-grade body tempering pill, and top-grade qi recovery pill.

Lin Feng was stunned; there were at least a thousand bottles of each type of Medicinal Pill.

"Young Master, this... this is so much?"

"Is it?" Su Cheng picked up his teacup and smiled slightly. "I could produce ten times this amount."

This was not an exaggeration. With Su Cheng's current cultivation, using the creation furnace to refine first-tier spiritual herbs into Medicinal Pills, as long as there were enough spiritual herbs, he could produce as many as he wanted. He could refine multiple batches of spiritual herbs together, with incredibly fast speed.

He didn't have to worry about a lack of first-tier spiritual herbs either. The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce had acquired a large number of spiritual herbs in various Prefecture Cities, the Lin Family also had plenty, and at Qingmu Peak, first-tier spiritual herbs were no different from common weeds. It was truly a case of abundant supply; if not for the need, Su Cheng would really be too lazy to refine them.

He said this lightly, but Lin Feng listened with sweaty palms.

Three thousand supreme grade first-tier Medicinal Pills—by market price, they were worth at least four or five hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. He was just giving them to him like this?

After calming Lin Feng's excited emotions, Su Cheng began to discuss the serious business.

"How many Juniors at the Qi Refinement Stage are under the several Golden Core Elders of the Lin Family?"

Lin Feng suppressed the surging emotions in his heart and thought carefully: "Including the illegitimate branches and side families, there are at least three to five hundred Cultivators at the Qi Refinement Stage in the clan."

"Does Young Master want me to win these people over? But most of them have very poor Aptitude. Relying on Family resources, they have Cultivated for many years only to reach the seventh or eighth level of the Qi Refinement Stage; they have basically no hope for the future."

"If we really want to win people over, we should target those with decent Aptitude who lack resources and are stuck in their cultivation progress. There is also another group who, although their cultivation isn't high, have some connections or status within the clan. Adding these two types together, there should be about a hundred people."

"About a hundred people should be enough," Su Cheng said. "Do you know what these people lack the most? Things that increase cultivation speed—which is exactly what these supreme grade Medicinal Pills are.

supreme grade Medicinal Pills are basically priceless and hard to find; I don't fear that those people won't take the bait. When the time comes, sell them at the price of High Grade Medicinal Pills. People, once they have tasted sweetness, will naturally not give it up. After all, there will be comparisons!"

Su Cheng's mouth curled slightly, and he continued:

"Of course, just selling Medicinal Pills is not enough. You must give them something else: a way to earn Spirit Stones."

Lin Feng's brows twitched slightly.

"Among the Lin Family's Qi Refinement Stage clansmen, there are plenty who are tight on money. No matter how cheap the Medicinal Pills are, they still require Spirit Stones to purchase, yet most of them don't even have a stable source of Spirit Stones, relying entirely on the small allocations from the clan to get by."

Su Cheng nodded, then held up two fingers.