"Fellow Daoist Liu, what brings you here today..."
Huang Ying smiled brightly and bowed in greeting, treating her visitor with great courtesy.
Liu Feihua returned the bow with a smile. "I received the box of Heavenly Gui Pills Sister Huang sent me, so I came to thank you."
Liu Feihua had picturesque brows and eyes, and wore a golden hairpin. Her pink ruqun, tied high beneath her chest, revealed a broad expanse of snowy-white skin, while a gauzy outer robe hung over her like mist.
From her clothes and adornments, Liu Feihua had a refinement that seemed out of place in Flying Horse Market. Her every gesture and word carried a naturally alluring, flirtatious charm.
Huang Ying, too, had the charm of a mature woman. Yet standing beside Liu Feihua, she lacked that bewitching, seductive air—and was a little less elegant and pretty.
Huang Ying didn't particularly mind. Liu Feihua was a Joy Sect cultivator, and seducing men was the very skill she practiced. How could Huang Ying compete with that?
The Flying Flower Courtyard she ran was the paradise of the male cultivators in Flying Horse Market.
And because of Liu Feihua's status, she had dozens of female cultivators under her. To open up a market for Heavenly Gui Pills, Huang Ying had deliberately sent her thirty of them.
For an ordinary female cultivator, Liu Feihua would give at most two Heavenly Gui Pills to try.
After giving the pills away for free during this period, business at her Hundred Weapons Hall had improved considerably.
The spiritual effects of the Heavenly Gui Pills were gradually becoming clear.
The female cultivators weren't fools. The Heavenly Gui Pills she gave away were a hundred times more effective than ordinary ones, and they soon realized that the pills from her shop were no ordinary pills.
As word spread, more and more female cultivators came to get free Heavenly Gui Pills.
For female cultivators she hadn't met before, Huang Ying generally gave away two pills for free.
Gao Xian had given her five hundred Heavenly Gui Pills, and she had only given away half so far.
But Huang Ying had decided to stop handing them out. The female cultivators' enthusiasm had already been stirred up.
As Gao Xian put it, the word had gotten out.
The remaining two hundred-odd Heavenly Gui Pills could bring in more than twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones—a considerable sum.
Huang Ying figured Liu Feihua had come for the Heavenly Gui Pills, too. Their beautifying, youth-preserving effects were something no woman could resist.
There were spirit pills with youth-preserving and beautifying effects among high-grade pills, but they were so expensive that even Huang Ying couldn't afford them. How many female cultivators could use them?
Not to mention, Heavenly Gui Pills could nourish a woman's yin essence, greatly benefiting a female cultivator's cultivation.
Huang Ying felt a big sale coming on. Even though she didn't like Liu Feihua, she became all the more warm and welcoming toward her on the surface.
Huang Ying led Liu Feihua to the main room in the rear courtyard. A servant brought in tea and pastries.
"Your courtyard is so peaceful despite being in the middle of the bustle. It's truly elegant."
Liu Feihua offered a casual compliment, and Huang Ying replied in kind. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Liu Feihua finally got to the point. "To be honest, Sister Huang, the Heavenly Gui Pills you gave me are truly wonderful."
Liu Feihua hadn't paid the slightest attention to the Heavenly Gui Pills Huang Ying sent her. They were such low-grade pills that she never took them.
She had given the whole box of Heavenly Gui Pills to one of the female cultivators under her.
Within just a few days, she noticed that the woman's skin looked dewy and radiant, and she seemed full of energy, with a wonderfully healthy complexion.
Liu Feihua had assumed that the woman had made a breakthrough in her cultivation. She asked about it, only to learn that it was because she had taken the box of Heavenly Gui Pills.
Liu Feihua was greatly surprised. She asked for a few and tried them herself. Sure enough, the Heavenly Gui Pills were exceptionally effective. In less than two days, they had brought her body into remarkably good condition.
Once she realized the value of the Heavenly Gui Pills, Liu Feihua immediately came to find Huang Ying. She wanted to buy more, and she also wanted to find out who had refined them.
Liu Feihua asked with a smile, "I wonder if Sister Huang has any Heavenly Gui Pills left? Could you spare some for me..."
"If Sister Liu wants them, I'd spare some for you even if I had to go without."
After hearing the other woman call her "Sister Huang" again and again, Huang Ying could hardly keep up her formal air. Her own way of addressing Liu Feihua grew more familiar, too.
She smiled. "But these pills aren't easy to refine. Five Heavenly Gui Pills for one Low-grade Spirit Stone. That price was set by the master alchemist, and I'm only selling them on his behalf. I hope Sister Liu understands."
"Five Heavenly Gui Pills for one Low-grade Spirit Stone."
Liu Feihua nodded. They cost the same as White Dew Pills and Foundation Strengthening Pills. But pills of this quality couldn't be compared to White Dew Pills or Foundation Strengthening Pills.
She thought it over. "Sister Huang, I'll buy a hundred for now."
As effective as the Heavenly Gui Pills were, she wouldn't need to take them often. It was hard to say whether their effects would last over the long term.
Besides, the effects varied from one batch to another.
Even when the same alchemist refined the same pill, some had exceptionally strong effects while others were far weaker. That was perfectly normal.
Though Liu Feihua had money, she didn't want to buy too many at once.
Huang Ying said warmly, "It just so happens I have some left. I'll give them to you first, Sister Liu..."
Back at the Flying Flower Courtyard, Liu Feihua returned to her room and eagerly opened the pill box.
The small wooden box had two compartments, holding a total of one hundred Heavenly Gui Pills.
Liu Feihua casually picked up a pill and swallowed it. A warm current quickly spread through her five viscera and six bowels. Her pores seemed to open all over, leaving her with an indescribable sense of comfort.
Only after quite a while did Liu Feihua let out a long, satisfied breath. That was the feeling—so wonderfully comfortable.
She looked at herself in a mirror as tall as a person. Her complexion seemed noticeably better, and her skin looked more dewy.
She gently stroked the pill box and sighed, "To refine such a low-grade pill to this extraordinary level... This really is the work of a master alchemist..."
Liu Feihua had tried the newly purchased Heavenly Gui Pills, and their effects were just as miraculous.
The quality of the pills was so consistent—proof of the master alchemist's exceptional skill.
Lately, the men who came to the Flying Flower Courtyard had often been taking a blue powder called Deer Antler Powder. They said its effects were dozens of times better than ordinary Deer Antler Powder, and that it could also strengthen their foundations and vital essence. It was extraordinarily effective.
The Flying Flower Courtyard's income had increased considerably because of it.
"Heavenly Gui Pills and Deer Antler Powder are both low-grade pills, yet this alchemist can turn dross into gold. Impressive. I wonder which master alchemist made them?"
Liu Feihua couldn't help sighing. She didn't know much about Lianyun Sect, it seemed she would have to find someone and ask around.
There was one other thing that seemed rather strange. By rights, only Longevity Hall had the right to sell pills in Flying Horse Market.
Cultivators could quietly trade a few pills among themselves without any trouble, but Huang Ying was selling Heavenly Gui Pills in large quantities. That broke the rules. Had Huang Ying reached an agreement with Longevity Hall?
While Liu Feihua was pondering the matter, a flamboyantly dressed, scantily clad female cultivator knocked and entered. She spotted the Heavenly Gui Pills on the table at once.
The little green pills certainly stood out.
The flamboyant female cultivator looked delighted. "Senior Sister, you got Heavenly Gui Pills!"
Liu Feihua nodded with an air of composure. "Mm, I got them."
"Senior Sister, give me half."
The flamboyant female cultivator gazed at Liu Feihua with a pitiful look.
"There are so many sisters in the courtyard. I can't give them all to you. Besides, I paid for these."
Before Liu Feihua could finish, the flamboyant female cultivator hurriedly said, "I'll pay! Please, Senior Sister..."
Liu Feihua thought it over and agreed. She figured Huang Ying still had plenty in stock.
But with so many female cultivators in Flying Horse Market, even one pill each would add up to a huge quantity.
While the Heavenly Gui Pills were still unknown, she had to go back and buy more!
Before you continue