Vitality Pill

Shen Chu pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "He probably wasn't lying. If he really stole the knives, there was no need for him to come back and coat the remaining ones. Wasn't that like farting after taking off his pants—an extra step for nothing?"

He then asked Little Six, "Did the Second Young Master mention anything else to you? For example, where those knives were going, or whether he had any other plans?"

Little Six shook his head blankly. "The Second Young Master never dealt with us directly. It was always someone under him named Zhang San who passed on the messages. I only knew what I was supposed to do. I didn't know anything else."

The moment Li Chengwen heard this, he could no longer hold himself back. Rolling up his sleeves, he was about to rush outside. "Then I'll find Zhang San and take these two bastards straight to Father to settle this!"

Sun Ping finally spoke. He grabbed Li Chengwen by the shoulder and advised steadily, "First Young Master, if you go looking for Zhang San now, he can simply claim he knows nothing. Since the Second Young Master dared to do this, he wouldn't leave behind such an obvious tail. If you charge in like this, you'll only startle the snake in the grass."

Li Chengwen impatiently flung off his hand and paced back and forth through the storeroom like a trapped wild boar.

"This won't work, that won't work! Then what do you suggest we do?! Delivery is coming up soon! Half of the fifteen hundred knives are gone, and some of the rest have been coated! What am I supposed to hand over to the authorities? How am I supposed to explain this to my eldest sister?!"

A brief silence fell over the storeroom.

Shen Chu walked to the shelves and carefully counted the remaining materials and finished products. After silently calculating for a while, he turned around and said calmly, "First Young Master, if we start working overtime from now on and rush the work day and night without stopping, we may still be able to meet the deadline."

The moment those words came out, everyone present froze.

Li Chengwen's eyes flew wide open.

"Are you insane? With so many people before, we barely managed to finish fifteen hundred knives. With so little time left, even if we work ourselves to the bone, we can only forge a little over three hundred more. How could we possibly make up seven hundred?!"

Shen Chu smiled faintly, a trace of mystery in that smile. "As long as First Young Master can make sure my stamina holds out, and assign enough people to assist me, I'll risk my life to help you finish this batch!"

Li Chengwen stared at him blankly for a long while.

His gaze lingered on Shen Chu's calm face for a long time. In the end, he gritted his teeth, as though making some kind of decision. "Fine! I believe you! Whatever you need, just say the word! If you need people, you'll have people; if you need materials, you'll have materials; if you need money, you'll have money! As long as we can make the delivery, I'll throw these two hundred and eighty jin of flesh into the bargain with you!"

Since Shen Chu had dared to say such a thing, he naturally had confidence in it.

After his [Thousand Hammer Refinement] skill had risen to lv2, both his forging efficiency and the quality of his finished products had improved significantly. Combined with the boost from [Twice the Result with Half the Effort],

as long as his stamina held up, his output alone could match that of several bladesmiths.

With Sun Ping and several other master craftsmen assisting from the side, and everyone working day and night without rest, they had every chance of making up the shortfall before the delivery deadline.

But the problem was his stamina.

High-intensity continuous work drained stamina enormously.

Although Shen Chu's innate physique had risen to lower C-grade, he was not made of iron. After working nonstop for some time, his movements visibly slowed, and the force behind his hammer strikes was no longer as steady and powerful as before.

Li Chengwen saw it all and grew anxious.

At first, he had the kitchen stew meat and boil chicken soup for Shen Chu alone every day. Later, he even had someone buy two old mountain ginseng roots, slice them up, and steep them in water for Shen Chu to drink.

Those measures had some effect, but they were not enough to sustain work of such nearly exhausting intensity.

Li Chengwen was so anxious that he paced in circles.

As he thought, he suddenly slapped his forehead. "Right! Isn't Renhe Hall in town famous? They say their medicine works miracles! I'll go buy some medicine that can boost stamina right now!"

He acted the moment he spoke, stuffed some silver into his pocket, and headed out. He jogged all the way to Renhe Hall.

Seeing how out of breath he was, the clerk behind the counter warmly came forward. "Sir, what would you like to look at?"

Li Chengwen wiped away his sweat. "Give me some medicine that can boost stamina. I want something effective, and fast-acting!"

The clerk sized him up from head to toe, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face. Lowering his voice, he said, "Rest assured, sir. Our shop has plenty of that sort of medicine. Guaranteed to cure what ails you and make you vigorous as a dragon and fierce as a tiger!"

As he spoke, he pulled out a small celadon bottle from beneath the counter and handed it over.

"This is our shop's best-selling [Vitality Pill]. It specially nourishes the blood and qi and strengthens the body. After taking it, you'll be full of energy, and whatever you do, you'll have strength to spare!"

Li Chengwen did not think much of it. After paying, he took the medicine and happily returned to the residence.

When he returned to the Sword-Forging Courtyard, he handed the medicine to Shen Chu. "Hurry up and try it! They said this medicine works miracles!"

Shen Chu took the bottle and poured out a pill to inspect it.

The pill was dark red and gave off a faint medicinal fragrance. He hesitated for a moment, but still placed it in his mouth and swallowed it with water.

A moment later, a warm current rose from his dantian and swiftly flowed through his limbs and bones.

Shen Chu's utterly exhausted body seemed to have been infused with new vitality. The soreness in his muscles eased, and his spirits rose as well.

He clenched his fist and felt his strength return!

"This medicine really is good," Shen Chu praised. He poured out another pill and swallowed it, then picked up his forging hammer once more.

But at the same time, he noticed something.

The ingredients of this medicine seemed to contain something that did not belong among ordinary medicinal herbs.

Within that warm current was a faint, strange presence, there and not there, somewhat similar to the aura he had encountered while cultivating the Nether Ghost Control Technique.

If ordinary people took too much of it, the effect on their bodies would likely be no small matter.

But for Shen Chu, it was a great tonic that brought only benefits and no harm!

Shen Chu also understood that these so-called [Vitality Pills] were most likely connected to those demonic freaks of the Red Lotus Sect.

However, he did not make a sound. He merely committed the discovery to memory.

Once this batch of goods was finished, he was preparing to run away. When that time came, no matter what happened, it would have nothing to do with Shen Chu!

Over the next few days,

with the replenishment provided by the [Vitality Pills], the dual boost of [Thousand Hammer Refinement] and [Twice the Result with Half the Effort], and the efforts of everyone in the Sword-Forging Courtyard, Shen Chu finally caught up with the schedule.

As Li Chengwen watched the shortfall in knives steadily shrink, the worry in his heart gradually eased as well.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Li Residence, Li Jiwu and Madam Liu were brewing up their grand show.

That morning, Li Chengwen came to Master Li's study and said with concern, "Father, tomorrow is the day the knives will be loaded onto carts and sent to the Qingyang Prefecture authorities for inspection. Why don't we go to the Sword-Forging Courtyard today to check on the progress? At least then we'll know where we stand?"