Buying Medicine

The three staff members looked at the contents of the boxes, undisguised envy in their eyes. Not one of the three manuals was something an ordinary person could afford.

"Mr. Chen, I'm sure you know the restrictions that come with purchasing manuals, right?" The deliveryman smiled. "I still have to go over the rules. The copyright belongs to the creator. Buyers are only permitted to study the manual; they may not authorize others to use it or copy it, nor sell it privately. Anyone who violates these rules will be hunted down by the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, Thunderclap Martial Arts Hall, the Underground Alliance, and the government military forces."

"I know," Chen Hao said. Of course he understood how serious this was.

Still, he couldn't help looking down on Hong's actions. Later, when Luo Feng wanted to give his manual away for free, Hong claimed that charging for it was about preserving Martial Artists' status and ensuring that creators' hard work wasn't taken lightly.

Unfortunately, that sounded a little hypocritical. If he really wanted to help creators, why not make the first level of each manual free? More people would be able to learn that way. After all, the more advanced the manual, the harder it was to practice. Anyone who succeeded would be an exceptionally talented genius. If Hong was willing, he could easily train that person to become a Martial Artist.

Yet Hong's approach completely shut out the possibility of such geniuses emerging. The first level of World Annihilation cost two hundred million, while the first level of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade cost fifty million. And he still wanted his manuals to become widely available? Did he have any idea how much capital an ordinary Martial Artist had to start with?

If he had such selfish motives, he shouldn't have tried to make himself look noble. That was what Chen Hao despised most about Hong. He said all the right things, but his actions were ugly. Compared with Thunder God, he was nowhere near as good.

"Since you've confirmed everything is in order, Mr. Chen, we'll take our leave." The deliverymen then left Chen Hao's home.

"There's no need to rush into training. Manuals alone aren't enough; I'll also need resources to improve my physical fitness. Last time, I only synthesized some ordinary ginseng and He Shou Wu. Century-Old Ginseng can heal hidden injuries and shore up the body's foundation. Hundred-Year-Old He Shou Wu can quickly improve physical fitness.

"Although both have some of the effects of Spirit of Grass and Wood, they only work on Warrior Rank Martial Artists. Once someone reaches War General Rank, I expect they'll be about as helpful as A-Grade Gene Serum is to a War General Rank Martial Artist—not much.

"This time, I can buy ginseng and He Shou Wu that are ten or even several dozen years old and synthesize them. Then I won't have to worry about resources until I reach Planetary Level.

"Besides, I have more than forty million. I can easily buy a large amount of ordinary medicinal herbs." He carried the boxes back inside, then put both away with a thought.

He got in his car and drove out of the residential compound, speeding all the way to the herbal medicine shop where he'd bought supplies last time. The shop assistant saw Chen Hao and paused in surprise, then quickly put on a smile.

He recognized his customer. Last time, the man had bought more than a thousand yuan's worth of herbs. "Hello, sir. What can I get for you this time?"

"What are your prices for ten-year-old ginseng and He Shou Wu, and for those that are older than ten years?" Chen Hao cut straight to the point.

The assistant looked puzzled. Had he already used up the herbs he'd bought last time? The results must not have been very good, or he wouldn't be here looking for herbs that were ten years old or older.

"Ten-year-old ginseng costs 5,000 yuan per root, and He Shou Wu costs 3,000. The price doubles every ten years: twenty-year-old ginseng costs 10,000, thirty-year-old costs 20,000, forty-year-old costs 40,000, fifty-year-old costs 80,000, sixty-year-old costs 160,000, seventy-year-old costs 320,000, eighty-year-old costs 640,000, and ninety-year-old costs 1.28 million. Century-Old Ginseng costs five million. It's extremely rare and can boost a Martial Artist's strength, so the price is high. He Shou Wu is about the same, but the hundred-year-old variety still costs three million."

When Chen Hao didn't respond, the assistant continued, "That said, our shop doesn't have either herb at a hundred years old. Century-Old Ginseng is very useful to Martial Artists, so whenever it appears, it sells out immediately. The oldest ginseng we have right now is thirty years old, and our He Shou Wu is fifty years old. We don't have much of either, though we can supply plenty of ten-year-old herbs. We have up to a hundred twenty-year-old roots, but our entire shop has fewer than ten herbs that are forty or fifty years old."

Chen Hao drew in a sharp breath. He hadn't realized Century-Old Ginseng and Hundred-Year-Old He Shou Wu were so valuable. Calling them a gold mine would hardly be an exaggeration.

A hundred-yuan ginseng root had turned into something worth five million. The profit was more than ten thousand times the original value. No wonder he'd felt his body's deficiencies being repaired. He'd practically thrown money at the problem.

"Give me ten roots each of the ten-, twenty-, and thirty-year-old ginseng, and ten of the He Shou Wu at each of those ages as well. If you don't have enough, that's fine; anything fewer than nine, I'll pass on. And I'll take all your stock of fresh, three-year-old He Shou Wu and ginseng." Chen Hao revised his shopping plan. Buying older ginseng directly wasn't worth it. He might as well spend some mental energy and synthesize it with his panel.

"I—I can't make that decision myself. I'll let our manager know and have him come out to assist you." With that, the assistant hurried upstairs.

Soon, a middle-aged man in his forties came down. He cupped his hands toward Chen Hao. "Hello, sir. May I ask your name?"

"I'm Chen Hao. I believe your employee has told you that I need a large quantity of medicinal herbs. I hope your shop can meet my needs." Chen Hao politely returned the greeting.

"No problem. We just don't know whether our stock of ginseng and He Shou Wu is enough to meet your needs."

Chen Hao nodded. "That's fine. I need a large quantity of your lower-grade herbs. As long as you have fewer than ten thousand roots, I can take them all." The middle-aged shopkeeper drew in a sharp breath. This really was a major customer.

"Let me check first." The shopkeeper immediately began working on his phone. "We currently have more than 980 roots of three-year-old ginseng and more than 990 of three-year-old He Shou Wu. We have over a hundred roots of ten-year-old ginseng, and over a hundred of ten-year-old He Shou Wu as well. There are more than eighty roots of twenty-year-old ginseng, and a little more than ninety roots of He Shou Wu. We have nine roots of thirty-year-old ginseng, but more than fifty of thirty-year-old He Shou Wu. We're temporarily out of ginseng that's forty years old or older. We do have ten roots of forty-year-old He Shou Wu, but only three roots of the fifty-year-old variety. We're out of anything older than that, too."

"Good. I'll take it all. Pack everything up for me. I'll pay now. How much is it altogether?"

The shopkeeper was delighted. A customer who could clear out the shop's entire stock in one go and pay so readily was a rare sight—he might not see one all year.

"Of course, of course. I'll have the staff pack everything up right away. You can pay by card here. The total is 3,451,600 yuan. You can make it an even 3.45 million."