143: Exchange for pill recipes? None.

The Wu Family elder carefully took out a body tempering pill, gently scraped off a layer of powder, sniffed the fragrance, and then placed it in his mouth to taste it meticulously.

After a long while, the Wu Family elder's expression changed slightly.

"This... this is a high-grade pill!!!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire audience was stunned. No one expected this young master to offer such a pill for trade. Had he gone mad?

"The pill has a body tempering effect. Its impact is significant for anyone below the level of a Grandmaster, and even for a Grandmaster, it would have some effect.

It is particularly effective for martial artists who haven't specialized in body tempering."

Following the Wu Family elder's appraisal, everyone present, including the Medicine King Valley disciples, broke into an uproar.

Isn't the hardest part of body tempering the consumption of resources?

Because of this, some Grandmasters spend their entire lives practicing internal arts and never touch body tempering.

This leads to some Grandmasters being severely lopsided, resulting in cases where they are assassinated or killed in ambushes by Fifth-Rank Martial Artists.

Undoubtedly, unless someone had a rare precious medicine, nothing here was more sought after than this pill.

"Boss, how many pills do you have? I'll take them all for 100,000 each."

"Are you dreaming? 100,000 for a pill of this level? I'll offer 500,000!"

After receiving recognition and praise from the Wu Family elder, Wu Feng, the entire crowd boiled over, sounding like old ladies haggling in a wet market.

internal arts were one thing for martial artists, but external arts were a weakness for most, simply because they consumed far more resources.

This was also one of the reasons why Hard-Qi Grandmasters—that is, Body Cultivation Grandmasters—were so rare.

Their combat power was undeniably formidable, but their resource consumption was several times higher.

They didn't necessarily expect to become Hard-Qi Grandmasters themselves; they only hoped to shore up their weaknesses.

After all, these martial artists weren't fools; having no weaknesses was certainly better than having them.

Countless martial artists had been slain by prodigies across ranks because of such weaknesses.

"I'll state this beforehand: the effects may be limited, and I only accept precious medicine, not money," Ling Xian clearly pointed out the pros and cons as he saw the crowd's fervor.

As the controller of the Ling Group with hundreds of billions in assets, the one thing he didn't lack was money.

At these words, the crowd calmed down.

If it were money, it would be easy to manage; as martial artists, who hadn't saved up some over the years?

But precious medicine? Never mind century-old ones, most didn't even have decade-old ones.

"I'll take them."

The speaker was a burly man wearing a Tibetan-style monastic robe, walking forward slowly.

Seeing that this monk was actually a Half-step Grandmaster, the crowd instinctively parted to make a path.

"It's actually a high monk from the Golden Peak Temple of the Snowy Region! Their sect is said to specialize in a lineage of external art secret techniques.

Given he's a Half-step Grandmaster, no wonder he's willing to pay."

A martial artist identified the monk's background.

Rumor had it that the Golden Summit Temple's external arts were once at their peak, producing many Hard-Qi Grandmasters.

Unfortunately, during the War of Resistance, those Hard-Qi Grandmasters devoted themselves to serving the country.

If they hadn't eventually been worn down by Japanese ninjas coordinated with artillery, even bullets and grenades wouldn't have been able to harm them.

Ling Xian knew a bit about this history, so he felt a certain degree of respect for this monk.

"How shall we trade?" the monk asked excitedly.

He was only one step away from becoming a Hard-Qi Grandmaster.

At that point, he would hardly find an equal among Grandmasters.

"One century-old precious medicine can be exchanged for ten pills.

If it's a precious medicine that can repair the foundation, I'll trade ten pills for it regardless of its age.

Of course, if the age is long enough, I can increase the number of pills.

If it's a millennium-old precious medicine, it can be exchanged for a hundred body tempering pills!"

Ling Xian spoke, hoping the monk really had some precious medicine.

"This..." The monk hesitated. "It's a bit expensive."

precious medicines were rare, after all, and could even be life-saving items at critical moments.

Although they were difficult to absorb, their value was immense.

Pills, in the end, were consumables.

"I have a fifty-year-old foundation-restoring precious medicine here. Can it be exchanged for a hundred pills?" the monk finally asked.

Now it was Ling Xian's turn to hesitate. He didn't really care since he had plenty of pills, but if he agreed too easily, it would make them seem less valuable.

"This..." Ling Xian frowned and remained silent, causing the monk's heart to tighten slightly.

"A hundred is a bit much. Even for a century-old foundation-restoring medicine, I couldn't give that many, and I don't have that many pills on me right now."

This was a lie, told to leave room for bargaining.

Hearing this, the monk said hesitantly, "Give me a number. If it's fair, I'll trade."

Ling Xian pondered for a moment. His first thought was to cut it in half to fifty, but on second thought, he felt that wasn't right.

"Thirty pills!"

"Good! Deal!" the monk agreed readily.

Ling Xian was somewhat taken aback. He had quoted a price that was effectively a seventy percent discount, and the other party had accepted instantly.

Had he offered too many?

However, Ling Xian didn't care much. On one hand, he truly had a good impression of the Golden Summit Temple, and on the other, he had no shortage of inferior body tempering pills.

After handing over the pills, Ling Xian obtained his first foundation-restoring precious medicine.

A fifty-year-old Peiyuan Grass.

"Thank you, little brother. If you ever have the chance to visit the Snowy Region, the Golden Summit Temple will surely treat you with great hospitality," the monk thanked him with palms pressed together.

In his view, he had only spent one fifty-year-old precious medicine to gain thirty body tempering pills, greatly increasing his chances of breaking through to become a Hard-Qi Grandmaster.

This was a profitable deal.

Just as the monk left, the Wu Family elder, Wu Feng, came forward to strike up a conversation.

"Little brother, my Wu Family does have a few millennium-old precious medicines, but they are all clan heirlooms. Exchanging them for only a hundred pills might be difficult.

How about I exchange for your pill formula instead?"

Wu Feng only spoke now that there were fewer people around, aiming for a steady supply or even a monopoly on the formula.

He saw a business opportunity in this pill; so many martial artists were stuck in their body tempering due to a lack of resources.

If he got the formula, even if the ingredients were rare, his Wu Family could substitute them with common medicinal materials.

Even if it weakened the effects, they could still make a massive profit.

"The pill formula?" Ling Xian was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a laugh.

"I obtained these pills by chance; I don't have a formula. If a hundred isn't enough, we can discuss further," Ling Xian said with a smile.

These inferior body tempering pills came from a gift pack; where would he get a formula?

The system mall didn't have them for sale yet either.

Besides, if he had the formula, why wouldn't he refine them himself? If a hundred weren't enough, he could just trade a thousand.

He didn't believe he couldn't get a millennium-old precious medicine that way.

The reason Ling Xian valued millennium-old precious medicine was because of its potent medicinal power; compared to century-old medicine, it naturally possessed some foundation-restoring effects.

But in Wu Feng's ears, these words took on another meaning.

He thought Ling Xian simply didn't want to trade the formula.

As for obtaining them by chance?

Who would believe that?

With such a large quantity of pills, how could there not be a formula? Did someone just give them to him for free?

"In that case, little brother, think it over carefully for yourself."

Wu Feng stood up, stopped his private talk with Ling Xian, and turned to leave.

Ling Xian sensed a hint of a threat in his tone.

"Mr. Ling, you could also choose to cooperate with our Medicine King Valley."

The white-robed woman—the Medicine King Valley disciple who had been standing beside Wu Feng—suddenly spoke.

Clearly, she had overheard bits of the private conversation between Wu Feng and him.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Mr. Ling must be joking. My Medicine King Valley has even more millennium-old precious medicines than the Wu Family, and we offer better treatment to alchemists," the white-robed woman continued, clearly also eyeing the body tempering pill formula.

"Do they take me for meat on a platter?" Ling Xian sneered inwardly.

Little did they know, Ling Xian had also taken note of the Southern Spring Wu Family and the Medicine King Valley.

Millennium-old precious medicines were incredibly rare.

Even large sects and great families might not possess them, yet not only did the Medicine King Valley have them, but the Southern Spring Wu Family did too?

And they told him so without any precautions.

Did they really think he was a pushover?