Testing the Pills

"No, no!" Chen Feng patted his chest and assured him, "As long as the spirit herb can guarantee it, it absolutely won't interfere with the boss's plans." Yue Qianchou gave him a look that said, "You wouldn't dare."

Guan Yu frowned and interjected, "If the Restriction Breaking Pill truly has such miraculous effects, it's certainly a good thing. The key issue is that breaking through cultivation bottlenecks is a bit troublesome. We have Foundation Establishment Pill, and we also have elixirs for breaking through to the Core Formation stage. For breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, the Seven Star Blood Orchid fruit is enough, but what about breaking through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage? Among the first batch of members of our Black Society, quite a Nascent Soul are already at the late Nascent Soul stage. They are the backbone of our six regiments. It's essential to get them to break through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage first. Otherwise, if the cultivation levels of other members catch up, it will somewhat affect their prestige in the army. Besides, the others will break through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage sooner or later."

"Old Guan! I do have the Pill Formula to break through cultivation bottlenecks. The boss gave it to me a long time ago. I also have all the other spiritual herbs, but I'm missing one key ingredient called Seven-Colored Spirit Ganoderma. If we had this treasure, we wouldn't even need Foundation Establishment Pill anymore. It would be useful from the Qi Refining stage to the Tribulation Transcendence stage." Chen Feng said with a grin, looking at Yue Qianchou. "The boss is incredibly Divine Ability. I've never seen him unable to get his hands on anything. I'm sure he has a way to get his hands on the Seven-Colored Spirit Ganoderma."

These words were somewhat of a blow to the leader's prestige. Yue Qianchou gave him a cold glance, too lazy to pay him any attention, and asked Guan Yu, "Yun Chang, how many of the veteran members are still alive in the six regiments? How many of them have reached the peak of the late Nascent Soul?"

Guan Yu thought for a moment and said, "Aside from those who died in battle, there are less than two hundred veteran members left. However, most of them are at the late stage of the Nascent Soul, and most of those at the peak of the late stage are also veteran members. There are nearly one hundred of them in total!"

"Alright, let's do as you say and solve the problem of the veteran team members first. These people don't need to take the 'True Restriction Breaking Pill,' and maybe there will be a chance to train them to the Spirit Transformation stage," Yue Qianchou said thoughtfully.

Guan Yu nodded, then suddenly paused and asked, "Boss, do you mean to make the Black Society members take the 'True Restriction Breaking Pill'? Didn't you say the 'Restriction Breaking Pill' has no side effects? Why do you want them to take the 'True Restriction Breaking Pill'?"

"Some things are still difficult to decide right now. We don't know if what's recorded in the Pill Formula is true. We still need to test it. Let's not talk about that for now, Chen Feng!" Yue Qianchou turned around and said, "The pills for the nearly one hundred veteran team members to break through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage will be made by you. Put other things aside for now."

"This..." Chen Feng smiled wryly and spread his hands, saying, "Boss, you have to give me the Seven-Colored Spirit Ganoderma first!"

Yue Qianchou ignored him and instead nodded to Qu Ping'er. Qu Ping'er glared fiercely at Chen Feng before leaving. It was her fault for making things difficult for her husband. The couple exchanged a series of cryptic remarks, leaving Guan Yu and Chen Feng somewhat confused.

A moment later, Qu Ping'er returned, threw something on the table, and said to Chen Feng in an annoyed tone, "Is this the Seven-Colored Spirit Ganoderma you wanted?"

A seven-colored Ganoderma lucidum, as big as two open palms, was swaying on the table. Chen Feng rubbed his eyes in disbelief, walked over, picked up the Ganoderma lucidum in his hands, and examined it carefully. After confirming that it was indeed a Ganoderma lucidum, he glanced at Guan Yu awkwardly and said with a twitching expression, "Old Guan, it really is Seven-Colored Spirit Ganoderma." He really didn't expect that such a precious spiritual herb could be obtained so easily. It was truly speechless.

Although Guan Yu was initially puzzled, he wasn't surprised after seeing the goods. He was used to the astonishment Yue Qianchou had given him. Just look at it—this guy had single-handedly acquired all the spiritual herbs in Utopia. The variety was outrageous, probably unmatched even by the major sects of the Cultivation World. He wondered what this guy did all day, constantly scouring for treasures. Guan Yu knew he certainly wouldn't have the ability to do it himself; sometimes, even with the same or better conditions, without the right skills, nothing could be accomplished.

"I admire him to the point of prostration!" This was a phrase Guan Yu often uttered in his heart, though he never said it aloud. Rare spiritual herbs, priceless Pill Formula, seemingly inexhaustible Spirit Stone, a vast amount of cultivation Method Formula, and the constant influx of promising young cultivators with Spirit Root —all of this was brought back by this guy all by himself from his own efforts. At first, Guan Yu thought it was luck, but after spending these years together, his opinion completely changed. Despite this guy's often roguish and unruly nature, and his seemingly youthful and carefree behavior, he was actually far-sighted and possessed an innate air of authority. Through a series of seemingly disparate efforts, he had managed to build such a vast empire.

By assembling an army and continuously improving its training, gathering spiritual herbs to establish a herb plantation, strongly supporting Chen Feng's alchemy and weapon crafting, cultivating land for self-sufficiency, and implementing a series of support measures, it's clear this guy is laying the groundwork for something big. Otherwise, no one would go through all this trouble for nothing. Guan Yu has reason to believe that acquiring so much, while not necessarily difficult, must have involved danger. This guy might also be making similar plans elsewhere. He believes the mystery will be revealed when this army is officially deployed.

"No doubt about it, it's the real deal, Seven-Colored Spirit Ganoderma." Yue Qianchou sneered, "I'll give you plenty of spiritual herbs, and don't hold me back when it comes to logistical support."

"Hehe!" Chen Feng laughed awkwardly, "I knew all along that the boss Divine Ability capable, and it's been proven true once again."

"Come on!" Yue Qianchou rolled his eyes and waved his hand. He turned to Guan Yu and said, "Yun Chang, find a few team members who have just reached the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul Early Stage. I want to test whether the effect of the Restriction Breaking Pill is the same as recorded in the Pill Formula."

"This..." Guan Yu hesitated, glancing at the elixirs on the table. Yue Qianchou saw his concerns and knew that he cared about his subordinates, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't let them take the red or white ones. I'll only give them the purple 'True Restriction Breaking Pill.' Besides testing the efficacy, I also want to know the ratio of Spirit Stone consumed, so I'll have a better understanding."

Guan Yu frowned and said, "Boss, didn't you say that True Restriction Breaking has side effects and will hinder their cultivation? Why not just give them the Restriction Breaking Pill without side effects?" Chen Feng and Qu Ping'er also looked at Yue Qianchou with some confusion.

Yue Qianchou laughed and said, "It's too early to say these things. I'll tell you the reason after the experiment results come out. Don't ask any more questions. I don't have much time. Go quickly!"

Guan Yu nodded helplessly and turned to leave. After he left, Yue Qianchou picked out some more spiritual herbs from the table and refined several more batches of purple 'True Restriction Breaking Pill'. Then he put away the spiritual herbs and red and white spiritual pills on the table, leaving only a few dozen purple barrier-breaking pills.

After waiting for a while, Guan Yu led in three people, whose cultivation levels were exactly the three levels Yue Qianchou had mentioned. Yue Qianchou was somewhat amused and exasperated. Guan Yu really cared about his subordinates. He had clearly said he needed several people, but Guan Yu only brought one of each cultivation level, as if he was afraid that he would harm his men. Weren't they his men too?

"Leader!" The three men snapped to attention and gave a crisp military salute upon seeing Yue Qianchou. Their expressions were visibly excited; to be personally received by their leader was an unparalleled honor in the entire army, especially since it was within the leader's residence, the Misty Palace —a place not just anyone could enter! They could certainly boast about it to their teammates back home. After long-term political indoctrination, Yue Qianchou was quite satisfied with their performance.

"Relax, don't be so tense," Yue Qianchou said with a friendly smile, waving his hand, displaying the demeanor of a leader. The three of them then saluted Chen Feng and Qu Ping'er. To them, the people in this room were the top figures of Utopia! To be received by several such figures at the same time was truly an honor.

"Ahem!" Yue Qianchou cleared his throat, pointed to the elixirs on the table, and said solemnly, "Did you three see these? These are some newly refined elixirs. After taking them, during the duration of their effects, no matter how much Spiritual Qi you absorb, it can be quickly converted into True Essence, rapidly improving your cultivation. These elixirs will soon be distributed to everyone in the unit. Before that, your instructors specifically asked you to select three people with different cultivation levels. As a result, your instructors chose you, which is an honor for you. In order to determine the amount of Spirit Stone consumed by each elixir at each cultivation level, and to facilitate the next step of distributing the elixirs and Spirit Stone, this elixir-testing task will be assigned to the three of you. Tell me! Are you confident you can complete it?"

"Yes!" the three answered in unison, their voices ringing out firmly.

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