Chapter 24

But then he changed tack, his eyes turning scrutinizing. "But are those recipes and strong liquor of yours really that miraculous? If they don't taste good, everything we said before will be for nothing."

That was the real trump card.

Uchiha Yan's lips curled up, full of confidence. "Don't worry. There's absolutely no problem. If you don't believe me, just make them and have a taste."

These were the delicacies from the food-obsessed nation of his previous life. How could they possibly fail? Unless the people in this world had somehow grown crooked tongues.

Qianyi waved his hand in satisfaction. "All right! Let's try them first. If the taste passes, I'll handle the restaurant and brewing businesses."

He looked at Meixin. "As for the medicine production, just discuss it with her. If you need anything from me, just say so."

As for that "Fully Automated Talisman Production Line"... he hadn't taken it seriously at all. They could talk about it after Yan Zhen created it.

Meixin nodded, then turned her gaze to her son. Her tone grew serious. "How confident are you about the talismans and Medical Talismans? Or have you already finished them? What about the Spatial Sealing Scrolls and medicine production?"

Uchiha Yan honestly explained, "I've made some progress with the talismans. As for the Medical Talismans... my foundation in Sealing Jutsu is still a little weak."

He rubbed his chin. "I plan to ask my teacher for help and see if he can find me some basic Sealing Jutsu texts to study."

The Uchiha clan was good at combat, but Sealing Jutsu truly wasn't its strong suit. Its foundation in that area was far too lacking.

"We'll probably have to discuss the further development of the Medical Talismans in greater detail."

"As for the Spatial Sealing Scrolls—the clan's ancient texts contain the method for making them, and I've already learned it. The efficiency is just too low and the cost too high. Give me a few more months, and I'll optimize it."

At the end of the day, the root of the problem was still that his foundation in Sealing Jutsu was too weak.

"As for the medicine production, I plan to launch five medicines first."

"The first is an improved version of the Military Ration Pills. Both its taste and effects are twice as good as those currently on the market."

"The second is the Detoxification Pills I formulated myself. They can neutralize basically all common poisons."

"The third is the Hemostatic Pills. They can be taken orally or applied externally, and their blood-staunching effect is excellent."

"The fourth is Golden Wound Medicine. It's especially effective for healing wounds."

"The last is the Body-Tempering Pills, which come in a youth version and a young adult version. They're improved versions made from the Medicinal Bath Formula you normally use."

"Dad, from now on, you can just eat these Body-Tempering Pills. There's no need to go through the trouble of taking medicinal baths anymore."

"Of course, the version sold to outsiders will only have half the medicinal effect of the version we use ourselves. What do you think?"

Uchiha Yan felt that this would be the true source of his family's wealth in the future.

Especially those Body-Tempering Pills. Who could possibly resist that?

"Whew—"

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Qianyi couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath. He stared at his son and smacked his lips. "You brat, have you secretly come up with so many more good things lately?"

"These medicines are all treasures that the shinobi can't do without!"

"Especially those Military Ration Pills. You can really make them taste good?"

Uchiha Yan: "???"

"Uh... Dad, shouldn't your focus be on the Body-Tempering Pills?"

Uchiha Yan wore a speechless expression.

"Hee-hee—"

Before Qianyi could say anything, Meixin covered her mouth and laughed. "Isn't it because everyone has suffered from Military Ration Pills? Your father used to spend years carrying out long-term missions, so he knows that taste best."

"Mikoto, you must have eaten plenty of those Military Ration Pills from the market too, right?"

As she spoke, Meixin looked at Mikoto with a beaming smile.

Mikoto's expression stiffened, and her brows creased slightly. She had clearly recalled some unpleasant memories. She nodded helplessly. "Yes... They're basically unavoidable during emergency missions. That taste... is truly unbearable to remember."

They had been far too difficult to swallow.

At this, she looked at Uchiha Yan expectantly. "Yan, if you can really make tasty Military Ration Pills, then even if their effects are a little weaker, they'll absolutely sell like crazy. You'll make a fortune."

No one could refuse a tasty Military Ration Pill.

"Then just wait to collect the money. The formulas are all here."

Uchiha Yan pulled a stack of papers from his robes and handed them to his mother. "All five formulas are written on them. I'll leave them to you. Oh, right..."

Uchiha Qianyi turned to look at his father, his tone serious. "Dad, remember to speak with the Third Elder and the clan first about the Body-Tempering Pills. From now on, we'll supply them to the clan at cost. We won't make a single coin off our own people."

"That's a good idea."

Uchiha Qianyi nodded in agreement. "It's better to make everything clear in advance. That way, when we start selling them, no one can gossip and say that we had something good but didn't think of the clan first."

"We'll do as you said. No one will be able to find fault with it."

He paused, then asked his son, "Which version should we give them? The version sold to outsiders, or the full-effect version we use ourselves?"

The two medicines had half the difference in efficacy.

"The version sold to outsiders is enough."

Uchiha Yan answered without hesitation, his tone decisive. "As long as it's sufficient. Supporting the clan is only right, but we can't have our family shoulder everything. We still need to keep some trump cards for ourselves."

Treating the Uchiha as his own family would be foolish.

His family wasn't the clan head's family. There was no need for them to bare their hearts and souls.

Previously, they had handed over the Foundation-Building Medicinal Bath Formula for two reasons: to accumulate merit and exchange it for the secret treasury, and to help the clan's children build a solid foundation.

Those were two different matters.

Even the clan head's family had plenty of private assets hidden away.

"All right! We'll do that!"

Uchiha Qianyi smiled in satisfaction.

Early the next morning, Uchiha Qianyi left home carrying the youth version and young adult version of the Body-Tempering Pills that Yan had made overnight.

He went to find the Third Elder first, handed over the medicines, and explained the arguments he had prepared long ago.

He even roughly brought up the matter of partnering with the clan to open a shop and sell the medicines together for profit.

"Uncle Akiba, what do you think?"

After he finished, Uchiha Qianyi asked with a cheerful smile.

"Not bad! We should have done this long ago."

Uchiha Akiba poured out several Body-Tempering Pills, brought them close to his nose, and sniffed them to identify their medicinal properties. Then he nodded with a kindly smile. "Strictly speaking, we shouldn't have handed over the Foundation-Building Medicinal Bath Formula directly back then. But Yan needed the clan's merit and reputation at the time, and he needed to exchange them for the secret treasury, so I didn't stop him."

"You've always been careless by nature since you were young. I was waiting to see when you'd be unable to hold on."

"What is it? Is the family short on money?"

The Third Elder looked at his nephew with amusement, his tone teasing.

As Uchiha Qianyi's biological uncle, he naturally hoped that his nephew's family would live well.

"Heh-heh."

Uchiha Qianyi rubbed the back of his head and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Nothing gets past you, Uncle Akiba."

Uchiha Qianyi sighed. "That medicinal bath isn't something an ordinary person can afford."

"Yan is always researching things. Just buying all that equipment and those medicinal ingredients costs money like water. No matter how thick our family's foundation is, we can't withstand it."

It was practically a bottomless pit.

Fortunately, that bottomless pit could also bring some money back in.

Uchiha Akiba smiled. "You're only benefiting from your son's success. Otherwise... heh."

Speaking of which, Qianyi really did have a hard life.

The Third Elder shook the medicine bottle in his hand and pressed further. "Are the effects of these Body-Tempering Pills really as good as you just said?"

"Of course. Nothing Yan makes is inferior." Uchiha Qianyi patted his chest.

"All right." The Third Elder nodded. "Leave this matter to me. I'll find someone to test the medicinal effects first. The clan meeting happens to be tomorrow, so I'll bring the results up and report them then."

"By the way, weren't you also looking for the Second Elder? He should be at the merchants' association right now."

"Got it. I'll be going first, then. You take care of your business!"

With that, Uchiha Qianyi turned around and walked out.

The Third Elder watched his departing back, then lowered his head and glanced at the porcelain bottle in his hand. He couldn't help shaking his head. "If he hadn't been driven to desperation, he probably would have kept a good thing like this hidden."

"Looks like I'll have to visit Yan more often in the future. Who knows what other good things he has?"

He had a son, two grandsons, and a whole group of people under him waiting to benefit as well.

That very day, the Third Elder called someone over to test the medicine.