Thunderous Sword Force

"This subordinate did discover something, but whether there is truly a problem will require the eldest miss to send someone to verify it."

Chen Fei hesitated. He did not particularly care about the profit split, since the real bulk of the money would come from the Dark market later. But the Light Spirit Pill Zhang Sinan had mentioned completely piqued his interest.

The Light Spirit Pill was a cultivation pill one tier above the Revival Pill. It was generally taken by martial artists in the Bone Forging Realm, or even the Marrow Refinement Realm. Its medicinal effect was therefore far stronger than that of the Revival Pill, and its price was naturally much higher as well.

If Chen Fei could obtain the formula for the Light Spirit Pill, he could replace the Revival Pill he used now. Whether for his own use or for sale in the Dark market, it would work.

"Speak!" Zhang Sinan said flatly.

"The scent of the Light Spirit Pill on Steward Sun is rather strong."

Chen Fei spoke in a low voice. An alchemist's nose was keener than that of other martial artists, especially when it came to medicinal herbs. Chen Fei had seen Light Spirit Pills and had even taken them before, so he was very familiar with them.

It was normal for Sun Shu, as the steward of the Medical Hall, to carry the scent of pills on him. But for the scent of the Light Spirit Pill to overwhelm all other pill fragrances was abnormal. He was not an alchemist, after all.

Only through daily contact, or even long-term consumption over many years, could the scent of the Light Spirit Pill become so concentrated.

Light Spirit Pills were not cheap. One pill cost fifteen taels of silver, half again as much as a Revival Pill. Though Sun Shu was the Medical Hall's steward, his wages were nowhere near enough to support taking one Light Spirit Pill a day.

Zhang Sinan's eyes lit up. What Chen Fei could think of, she naturally could as well. If things were truly as Chen Fei said, then Sun Shu's problem was enormous.

"We can have Old Qin confirm it," Zeng Defang said with a smile. The Old Qin he mentioned was a physician whose sense of smell for pills was exceptionally sharp. Whether things were as Chen Fei claimed would be clear after someone made contact with Sun Shu once.

"If things are truly as you say, the formula for the Light Spirit Pill will be yours afterward." Zhang Sinan looked at Chen Fei.

"Thank you, Eldest Miss!" Chen Fei cupped his hands.

Night fell. Chen Fei altered his build and appearance, put on a mask and a bamboo hat, and appeared in the Dark market.

When Chi Defeng saw Chen Fei, he led him into a room and pointed at the herbs on the ground. "After several days of effort, I finally gathered the herbs. You have no idea how much trouble it took. The price last time was really a little too low."

Chen Fei said nothing. He stepped forward to inspect the herbs. A moment later, he rose to his feet and looked calmly at Chi Defeng.

"What?"

The way Chen Fei looked at him made Chi Defeng's skin crawl. Somewhat displeased, he said, "Don't tell me you suddenly don't want these herbs anymore. I'm telling you, the price can still be negotiated, but you have to take all the herbs."

"Did you make those counterfeit herbs yourself?" Chen Fei asked calmly.

"What? There are counterfeit herbs too? How could that be!"

Chi Defeng cried out loudly, his face full of disbelief, before walking over to inspect the herbs carefully.

Chen Fei almost rolled his eyes. What an act. Someone who did not know better might truly have been fooled. If Chen Fei had not been an alchemist himself, ordinary people really would not have been able to spot this kind of imitation.

Without a certain depth of skill, no one could produce fake herbs of this caliber.

"There really are fakes! Those damned refugees even deceived me!"

Chi Defeng cried out in grief and indignation. But after shouting a few times and seeing that Chen Fei did not react in the slightest, he awkwardly quieted down.

"So what now?" Chen Fei looked at Chi Defeng.

"I checked. There actually aren't many fakes, just a tiny bit." Chi Defeng smiled.

"I want ten sets. There are only six real sets in here. Indeed, just a tiny bit." Chen Fei nodded.

"So many? I didn't even notice just now. Those damned refugees!" Chi Defeng started shouting again.

"This is the silver for six sets of herbs. Next time, I still want ten sets. I'll collect them in three days."

Speechless, Chen Fei took out the silver and handed it to Chi Defeng. He picked up the herbs and turned to leave the room.

Chi Defeng weighed the silver in his hand and watched Chen Fei's retreating back. A smile could not help appearing on his face. It had been a long time since he had met such a shrewd young man. Truly interesting.

Chen Fei left the Dark market with a bundle on his back.

He had calculated that ten sets of herbs was an amount that would not draw too much attention. Otherwise, carrying a huge bundle out of the Dark market would easily invite unnecessary trouble.

This way was just right.

After confirming that no one was following him, Chen Fei cautiously returned to the courtyard he rented.

This was another courtyard, one he had rented anew after altering his build and appearance. Since he would be selling Revival Pills in the Dark market later, it was safer to be cautious and avoid having this identity collide with his original one.

He had deliberately cleared out a room and converted it into a Pill Chamber.

Chen Fei sorted through the herbs in the bundle and began refining Revival Pills. With his current proficiency in Revival Pills nearing Great Perfection, refining six sets of herbs actually took very little time.

As long as one mastered the technique, many things that seemed extraordinarily complicated to outsiders were sometimes truly simple.

An hour later, the pill refining was complete. Looking at the full fifteen Revival Pills in the medicine bottle, Chen Fei could not help smiling.

That was more than a hundred taels of silver. Once his proficiency in Revival Pills rose to Great Perfection, the number of pills produced in each batch would increase again.

Before long, Chen Fei would be able to save up five hundred taels of silver.

Chen Fei tucked the medicine bottle into his clothes and glanced at the panel.

Name: Chen Fei

Occupation: Martial Artist

Cultivation Methods: Green Mountain Sword (Great Perfection), Wind Suspension Breathing Method (Great Perfection), Crossing River Cloud (Great Perfection), Disguise Technique (Great Perfection), Immortal Points the Way (Not Initiated)

Realm: Muscle Tempering (17/10000)

Alchemy: Blood Qi Pill (Great Perfection), Detoxification Pill (Great Perfection), Healing Pill (Great Perfection), Revival Pill (Perfection 7931/10000)

Status: Bone-attached sore (-)

Nearly everything was at Great Perfection, making the uninitiated sword move Immortal Points the Way appear somewhat conspicuous. Because he had broken through to the Muscle Tempering Realm, the status of bone-attached sore had also changed. A minus sign had appeared after it, and its influence on Chen Fei had weakened considerably.

At the same time, the Wind Suspension Breathing Method and Revival Pills provided much less help to his cultivation. But they were still useful, increasing his experience by around twenty points a day.

By that calculation, Chen Fei would likely need more than a year to break through to the Bone Forging Realm.

That was not slow. It was already faster than most martial artists, and many martial artists spent their entire lives merely marking time in the same place.

If Chen Fei wanted to speed up his cultivation, he needed to replace his pills with Light Spirit Pills and strengthen the Wind Suspension Breathing Method. So long as he achieved either one, his cultivation speed would soar in a straight line.

Thinking of this, Chen Fei took out a secret manual.

According to Chi Defeng, this was also a cultivation method of the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect: Thunderous Sword Force!