"I reported a unique Pill Recipe as the Devilish Dao Inheritance when I registered this demonic sect."
Chu Lanxi explained:
"This Pill Recipe is called the Calming Pill. All the drinks I sell contain some of its ingredients."
"The Calming Pill's effect is simple: it greatly soothes cultivators' minds, like a mental massage."
"After a long day of work, plenty of office workers and urban professionals come here for a drink."
Hearing this explanation, Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi finally understood.
So the milk tea did contain real ingredients after all. At 180 yuan a cup, it wasn't exactly a rip-off.
But that raised a question: why was a pill that soothed the mind considered a demonic Pill Recipe?
Su Yuan curiously asked.
Chu Lanxi's answer left Su Yuan speechless.
"Taking too many Calming Pills will plunge the brain into eternal tranquility. You'll stop thinking and lose all interest in the world around you."
"Once it reaches that point, the person who took them will obey any outside command without question, becoming the most useful kind of servant."
Good grief!
As expected of a demonic pill. It really packed a punch!
Su Yuan had finally figured out why Chu Lanxi had opened his shop here.
But there was still one question.
What was the deal with this guy's "stealing kisses and caresses" fate?
Su Yuan quietly activated Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Command and checked the fate above the other man's head. It was still marked as unfulfilled.
Could it be that his fate wouldn't come to pass in the milk tea shop, but only after he left?
Just as Su Yuan was thinking this, a stylish urban woman sat down at the counter and asked Chu Lanxi with a gloomy expression:
"Boss Chu, why am I still so sad after drinking your tea?"
Chu Lanxi immediately left his two classmates behind and smiled.
"Big sister, the tea in our shop can soothe mental fatigue. If you want to ease the pain in your heart, why not talk to me about it?"
The two of them got to chatting.
Chu Lanxi was witty and humorous, and it took only a few words to make the stylish urban woman laugh.
Su Yuan watched with his own eyes as the "stealing kisses and caresses" fate above Chu Lanxi's head changed to fulfilled.
Su Yuan: "..."
So emotional intimacy counted too?
This lousy cultivation technique really couldn't be trusted!
It was only then that Su Yuan noticed most of the customers in the shop were women, and they kept glancing at Chu Lanxi from time to time.
Clearly, a big part of why they came here was to see this ridiculously handsome guy.
Damn, was good looks really the number-one source of productivity?
Never mind. Finding his opportunity was still the most important thing.
Su Yuan picked up the price list he'd thrown on the floor and studied it again.
What kind of opportunity could this demonic sect called the Peach Oolong Sect possibly offer him?
The shop itself was ordinary, and so was the milk tea. The only unusual thing was the Calming Pill.
Could his opportunity have something to do with the pill?
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed Su Yuan's mind.
His Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit could draw spiritual energy from designated objects and condense it into Spirit Pills with different effects.
Even though he'd always drawn spiritual energy from other people's discarded slop, he'd still managed to make something as incredible as the Blue Pill. So what would happen if he drew spiritual energy directly from precious medicinal ingredients and condensed it into a Spirit Pill?
Would it have the same effect as a pill someone else had painstakingly refined?
Only then did Su Yuan realize that the potential of Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit might be terrifying!
But to find out whether his theory was right, he still needed to test it properly.
Once Chu Lanxi had finally finished talking with the stylish urban woman, Su Yuan eagerly asked:
"Lanzi, are you still hiring someone to make Calming Pills? What do you think of me?"
Chu Lanxi blinked, then gave him a strange look.
"The alchemist who used to make Calming Pills for my shop was hospitalized in an alchemy accident just two days ago, so I am indeed looking to hire someone."
"But... you know how to make pills? Seriously?"
Su Yuan gave a light cough and said nothing.
Chu Lanxi understood and didn't press him. He smiled.
"If you're that confident, then give it a try. Take a look at the Pill Recipe first."
As he spoke, he sent an electronic copy of the Pill Recipe straight to Su Yuan's phone.
Su Yuan took out his phone and pretended to examine the recipe.
Yeah, he couldn't understand a word.
Using the excuse of inspecting the ingredients, he went straight into a small Alchemy Room behind the shop.
Su Yuan was alone in the Alchemy Room. He looked around and could only say that it had a distinctly old-fashioned feel.
Because there was actually a pill furnace in here!
Saying an Alchemy Room shouldn't have a pill furnace sounded as absurd as saying there shouldn't be trash in a trash can, people in beds, or things on tables.
But that was the norm in modern alchemy.
In this era, smart pill furnaces had long since been mass-produced. Making pills was like cooking rice: set the timer on the smart furnace, then wait for them to be done.
Even if you wanted to experience the life of an ancient alchemist, a smart pill furnace could still be used as an ordinary one. It was incredibly user-friendly.
In that respect, even if Su Yuan's Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit let him skip the refining process and produce pills directly, it still couldn't compete with the modern, industrialized alchemy system.
Fortunately, smart pill furnaces had their drawbacks.
Their biggest drawback was the price!
If you were only making small batches of pills, hiring an alchemist to make them by hand was more cost-effective.
The Peach Oolong Sect was clearly operating on that model.
Su Yuan first carefully checked the area and made sure there were no cameras or anything like that. Only then did he look at the full set of ingredients for making Calming Pills laid out on the table.
More than a dozen ingredients, measured in different proportions, had been sorted into separate containers.
Su Yuan opened every container, took a deep breath, and activated Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit, extending its range to cover all the ingredients.
Specks of spiritual energy slowly seeped out of the ingredients and flowed toward Su Yuan's palm.
Su Yuan could clearly feel that these ingredients contained far more spiritual energy than the slop had.
Before long, all the ingredients had been drained dry, and five deep-red pills appeared in Su Yuan's hand.
He looked at them, and a system notification immediately appeared before his eyes.
[Unnamed Red Pill: After taking it, you will lose your self-awareness and become a puppet that obeys commands. Side effect: Taking a small amount will greatly boost your energy and relieve fatigue.]
Su Yuan: "..."
You've got the side effect and the main effect backwards, haven't you?!
Setting aside that little nitpick, the red pills in his hand did match Chu Lanxi's description of the Calming Pill.
His guess had been right.
As long as the ingredients were in the right proportions, Demonic Cultivation Technique · Finger Spirit really could produce the pill described in the recipe!
How could they not nerf this cheat?
Heh heh heh! It looked like the day he became the Demon Venerable was just around the corner!
Su Yuan's lips curled upward uncontrollably.
Then Su Yuan turned on the furnace and let it burn empty for a while. He tossed the drained ingredients into it and burned them to ash, then stalled for quite some time before finally walking out of the Alchemy Room with the Calming Pills in hand.
Before you continue