"Carrying the Sedan Chair"

Lu Cheng's first step took only three days to complete.

The efficacy of the Blood-Activating Powder contracts far exceeded their expectations.

Not a single money shop refused to accept them.

They even offered to buy them out at a premium.

The current market price for one portion of Blood-Activating Powder is three taels.

Even in the Black Market, one could be purchased for one tael and eight mace.

The profit margin from this price difference was far greater than any meager interest.

As for the risk, it was nothing for a pawnshop to shoulder.

Lu Cheng, however, did not agree to this.

A buyout meant that Blood-Activating Powder would eventually flood the market, or that the value of the contracts would be manipulated by the pawnshops.

These were things Lu Cheng absolutely could not accept.

Therefore, even though the others felt it was a pity, Lu Cheng insisted they proceed according to his plan.

The six thousand-plus taels were not all reinvested into more contracts.

Instead, he spent only three thousand five hundred taels to bring their total holdings to five thousand contracts.

At this point, Lu Cheng held five thousand contracts and three thousand taels of silver.

Five days later, with the redemption of one hundred portions of Blood-Activating Powder, more people caught wind of the news and began flocking to Old Pi to purchase contracts.

But they all came up empty-handed.

Old Pi's apothecary shop was already shuttered, with a "Sold Out" sign hanging on the door.

Old Pi himself was no longer in Yangcheng County, having left to purchase medicinal herbs in bulk.

Following Lu Cheng's instructions, Old Pi carried the massive sum of three thousand taels to scour Yangcheng County and the surrounding regions for herbs.

In reality, "scour" was not quite accurate.

Even if he spent all three thousand taels, it would only buy six thousand portions.

Six thousand portions of Blood-Activating Powder would only cover two months of consumption in Yangcheng County.

Not to mention that, given the success rates of other alchemists, the amount of herbs required would be three or four times higher.

Therefore, Lu Cheng did not demand he buy a large quantity.

Old Pi had only one goal for this trip.

He was to travel through the counties surrounding Yangcheng County.

He needed to let the local herb merchants and medicine wholesalers know that someone was buying herbs in massive quantities.

And that they would continue to do so in the future.

By doing this, he would drive up the price of herbs and make the merchants reluctant to sell.

This process did not need to last very long.

Once everyone in Yangcheng County, even the martial artists, heard the news, it would be time to begin the next step of the plan.

Five days later, the delivery date for the second batch of Blood-Activating Powder arrived.

One hundred portions were redeemed in an instant.

The ample supply of goods elevated the credibility of the contracts to a new level.

Many people intended to buy more contracts, only to find that the content on the wooden sign had changed.

The original five-day and ten-day delivery options had been crossed out.

The final option of "one month" had been changed to "three months."

And the price had jumped from one tael and four mace to two taels.

This massive change shocked everyone.

Outside Old Pi's shop, a dense crowd—including those who had just received their Blood-Activating Powder—swarmed the area, blocking it completely.

"What is going on? Why has the price gone up while the wait time got longer!"

"Where is the boss? Get the boss out here!"

"On what grounds are you raising the price!"

Old Pi, who had returned not long ago, had already received instructions from Lu Cheng.

Seeing that everyone outside was watching the spectacle regardless of whether they intended to buy pills or not, he strolled out at a leisurely pace.

Looking at the rowdy crowd outside, Old Pi stood on the steps, smiled, and pressed his hands downward.

Once the crowd quieted down, he spoke with a smile:

"Everyone, Pi—no, I know you are all anxious waiting for the medicine."

"I also know that changing the time and raising the price without authorization is not exactly honorable."

"But I have no choice; even when you go out for a bowl of noodles, there is a cost involved."

"If noodles cost three wen today, the shopkeeper sells a bowl for five. If noodles cost six wen tomorrow, can they still be sold for five?"

"That's just not how it works."

As Old Pi spoke, those around him understood.

"You mean the cost of medicinal herbs has gone up?"

Old Pi nodded:

"Exactly. In the past few days, I've traveled to four or five surrounding counties, yet I've collected fewer and fewer herbs, and the prices are getting higher and higher."

"Not to mention here in Yang City, where the price changes every single day."

"I hear someone has been hoarding Blood-Activating Powder for a while now."

"If you don't believe me, go to the pharmacies tomorrow and see; the price of Blood-Activating Powder is bound to rise!"

Halfway through his speech, Old Pi noticed that quite a few people had already quietly slipped away.

The crowd dispersed, and upon returning inside, Lu Cheng, Fatty, and the others were all sitting there.

As soon as Old Pi entered, he said excitedly:

"The people have left, and I saw many of them sneaking off. Let's begin."

Lu Cheng nodded:

"There are four pill shops selling Blood-Activating Powder in Yang City, all located in the west and north of the city. We will each take one hundred and fifty taels and buy three to five sets at a time."

Old Pi had spent less than a thousand taels to collect herbs, having already scoured Yang City and several neighboring counties.

Although he hadn't bought up all the herbs, he had already made the herb merchants smell something fishy, and they had collectively begun to limit sales.

And tonight was the time to strike at the Blood-Activating Powder.

Quite a few people had already slipped out just now.

There was no need to ask; they were going to various pill shops to verify the situation.

Now that the medicinal herbs for Blood-Activating Powder in the city had plummeted, the first thing every pill shop would do before confirming the situation was to limit the quantity sold.

Those who heard the rumors would inevitably grow suspicious.

Even if only one-tenth of the people made a purchase, it would be enough to cause the entire pill inventory of Yang City to plummet.

And all Lu Cheng and his group had to do was accelerate this process.

The rumors spread quietly.

The price of Blood-Activating Powder began to rise stealthily.

Initially, it was only a dozen people from the Black Market going to the pill shops to verify the situation.

But somehow, in less than an hour, the pill shops throughout Yang City began to limit sales.

At first, each person could only buy three sets.

But before dawn, it changed to a daily limit.

Even so, the entire stock of Blood-Activating Powder in Yang City was sold out in a short time.

The phenomenon of demand exceeding supply appeared inevitably.

By the third day, the price of Blood-Activating Powder began to climb steadily.

It jumped from the original three taels to four taels in an instant.

After that, it changed every hour.

By the second day, it had already risen to four and a half taels.

Meanwhile, Old Pi continued to purchase herbs everywhere.

But due to the price hike of Blood-Activating Powder, every shop began to focus all their efforts on refining the herbs into pills.

Because only they knew that this price hike was inexplicable and unlikely to last long.

Perhaps it would last a few days, perhaps a month or two.

Therefore, taking advantage of this time to sell more medicine was what mattered most.

It did not end there.

No one knew which shop it was, but suddenly, signs began appearing offering to purchase contracts for Blood-Activating Powder.

Contracts originally worth only one tael and four mace were suddenly being offered at a price of three taels and five mace.

Some who believed the price of Blood-Activating Powder was only temporarily inflated and would fall back down in a few days immediately sold the contracts they held.

However, by the time Blood-Activating Powder rose to six taels, they discovered that the market was still in short supply.

At this point, it had been less than three days since Lu Cheng and his group had purchased their Blood-Activating Powder.

On the fourth day, a new batch of Blood-Activating Powder was placed back on the counters of the major pharmacies.

Within three days, whether it was the Chen Family, Lin Martial Arts Hall, or those four pill workshops, all had refined a massive quantity of Blood-Activating Powder.

The key was that the surrounding counties had also caught wind of the scent and flooded into the Yang City market.

Just as everyone thought the price of Blood-Activating Powder was finally going to drop, a major piece of news was released.