"What price did you have in mind, Young Master Chu?"
Wen Jiao's voice remained cool, but held a trace of solemnity.
Having grown up in the Pill Pavilion, she had seen countless rare treasures and long since cultivated a temperament that betrayed neither joy nor anger.
But now, her composure was loosening little by little.
Because what lay before her was no ordinary prescription.
It was an ancient pill formula that had been lost for ages!
Beside her, the gray-robed elder's breathing grew heavier, his gaze locked on Chu Yunfei as though he were looking at a walking treasury.
Chu Yunfei, however, remained calm.
As though what he had produced was not a world-shaking pill formula, but a scrap of paper he had casually scribbled on.
He slowly held up three fingers.
Wen Jiao's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.
"Three million low-grade spirit stones?"
That price was very high.
But if they could purchase exclusive ownership of an ancient pill formula, the Pill Pavilion would not merely avoid a loss-it would gain an enormous bargain.
The gray-robed elder also nodded inwardly.
Three million was entirely acceptable.
But the next moment, Chu Yunfei shook his head.
"No."
"I'm not asking for a one-time payment."
He withdrew two fingers, leaving only three held upright before him.
"For pills refined using this formula, after deducting the ingredients and refining costs, we split the net profits thirty-seventy."
"Seventy for you, thirty for me."
As his words fell, the teacup in the gray-robed elder's hand stopped in midair.
Inside the pavilion, only the rustling of bamboo leaves in the wind remained.
"A profit share?"
The elder almost thought he had misheard.
A mere Body Tempering Realm brat actually wanted to negotiate a long-term profit share with the Pill Pavilion?
His appetite was far too big!
The expression on Wen Jiao's face faded as well.
She reassessed Chu Yunfei, as though seeing the youth before her for the first time.
"Your appetite is rather too big."
Her voice grew a few degrees colder.
The Pill Pavilion's business extended throughout the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty.
Once this grade-two Blood-Replenishing Pill entered the market, its effects, far surpassing ordinary healing pills, would inevitably draw countless martial artists to snap it up.
When that happened, the profits generated each month would be staggering.
Accumulated over time, thirty percent of the profits would be worth far more than three million low-grade spirit stones.
An outright purchase was undoubtedly the most advantageous option for the Pill Pavilion.
But Wen Jiao did not refuse immediately.
The youth before her was simply too calm.
From presenting the formula to setting his terms, he had remained unhurried throughout, as though he had already calculated that the Pill Pavilion would not give it up.
Such bearing was absolutely not something an ordinary Body Tempering Realm martial artist could possess.
More importantly...
Since he could produce one ancient pill formula, who could guarantee he did not have a second, or a third?
Offending someone like this for immediate gains would be far too shortsighted.
Chu Yunfei saw her misgivings and smiled faintly.
"Is it?"
"I don't think so."
"Fellow Daoist Wen, you should know better than I do what an ancient pill formula is worth."
Chu Yunfei lightly tapped the stone table with a fingertip.
"An exclusive formula. A monopoly."
"I provide the formula, and the Pill Pavilion handles the ingredients, refining, and sales. Taking only thirty percent of the net profits is already very generous of me."
The corner of the gray-robed elder's mouth twitched.
Generous?
This brat's skin was probably thicker than the Pill Pavilion's black-iron gates.
Yet he was right.
As long as the pills' effects proved genuine, the Pill Pavilion could swiftly swallow up the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty's healing-pill market with this formula.
Its strategic value was far beyond anything spirit stones alone could measure.
Wen Jiao said nothing.
Her fingertips gently rubbed her teacup as she rapidly weighed the advantages and disadvantages.
A moment later, she raised her head.
"Very well."
"I can agree, but I have a condition too."
"Go ahead."
"A permanent profit share is out of the question."
Wen Jiao looked straight at Chu Yunfei.
"The contract will last only five years."
Five years was the longest term she could offer.
Five years would be enough for the Pill Pavilion to use this formula to consolidate its market position and establish an advantage other powers would struggle to shake.
As for after those five years...
No one knew what would happen.
"Agreed."
Chu Yunfei agreed with unusual decisiveness.
Wen Jiao was taken aback instead.
She had expected Chu Yunfei to at least bargain a little more.
But for him, five years was already enough.
At his cultivation speed, it would take nowhere near five years before a share of the profits from mere grade-two pills became meaningless.
Trading this formula he had no use for now for a stable source of resources was a sure gain with no loss.
With a broader outlook, the road naturally widened.
Seeing him nod, Wen Jiao and the gray-robed elder both breathed a sigh of relief.
The deal was struck.
The gray-robed elder soon brought over a contract jade slip and recorded the profit-sharing ratio, the method of calculating costs, and the five-year term within it.
Using the jade slip's power, both parties each imprinted a soul mark.
Hum!
The jade slip lit up with a faint spiritual glow.
The contract officially took effect.
"Here's to a fruitful partnership."
Chu Yunfei smiled and extended his hand.
Looking at the hand extended toward her, Wen Jiao lightly furrowed her delicate brows. She did not take it, merely nodding slightly.
"To a fruitful partnership."
She picked up the formula, checked it carefully, then put it into her storage ring.
From this moment onward, this thin sheet of paper would be tied to the Pill Pavilion's plans for the next five years.
There was no room for the slightest mishap.
Chu Yunfei felt no embarrassment and naturally withdrew his hand.
Then he rubbed his hands together, a slightly sheepish look appearing on his face.
"Well... Fellow Daoist Wen."
Wen Jiao's expression, which had just relaxed, tightened again.
"What else is it?"
"Look, we're business partners now."
Chu Yunfei coughed lightly.
"I've been a little short on funds lately. Could I get a small advance on my share?"
The gray-robed elder's eyelid twitched.
This brat really stood on no ceremony at all.
The contract had only just been signed, and there wasn't even a shadow of a pill yet, but he was already eyeing his share of the profits?
Wen Jiao froze for a moment too.
"How much do you want?"
"Not much."
Chu Yunfei held up one finger.
"One thousand low-grade spirit stones."
"Consider it a loan for now. Once the pills go on sale, deduct it from my share."
To an ordinary Body Tempering Realm martial artist, one thousand low-grade spirit stones was unquestionably a huge sum.
Wen Jiao gave him a long look but asked no further questions.
She took a storage pouch from her storage ring and placed it on the stone table.
"There are one thousand low-grade spirit stones inside."
"Thank you."
Chu Yunfei took the storage pouch, swept it with his divine sense, and nodded in satisfaction.
Exactly one thousand, not a single stone short.
With this starting capital, his strength could rise another step over the next three days.
When the time came, the so-called annual outer sect assessment would be nothing more than going through the motions.
As for his wager with Yan Guining...
The image of that proud peacock kissing him in public surfaced in Chu Yunfei's mind, and his smile immediately grew a little peculiar.
He really did want to see.
When it came time to honor their wager, would Yan Guining still be able to keep her chin raised to the heavens?
After putting away the spirit stones, Chu Yunfei did not leave immediately.
Wen Jiao composed herself, only to meet a pair of smiling eyes the moment she looked up.
Chu Yunfei was looking at her.
Not only that, he had also discreetly edged half a step closer.
The distance between them immediately shrank.
A wisp of delicate fragrance drifted into his nose.
Chu Yunfei's gaze swept across the slightly open neckline of her white dress, lingering for a brief instant.
Wen Jiao noticed immediately.
She leaned back slightly, taking the initiative to put distance between them, a trace of unease appearing on her cool face.
"Anything else?"
Her voice was colder than before.
Lowering his voice, Chu Yunfei said with perfect seriousness:
"I forgot to tell you earlier. I have a rule when doing business."
Wen Jiao's heart tightened.
A rule?
Could there be a trap in the contract she had overlooked?
"What rule?"
Chu Yunfei looked straight into her eyes, his expression so earnest that not a single fault could be found with it.
"Whenever I sign a deal this big, I treat my business partner to a meal."
Wen Jiao fell silent.
Treat someone to a meal?
What kind of rule was that?
Looking at Chu Yunfei's perfectly serious face, she quickly caught on.
This fellow was not talking about any rule at all.
He was flirting with her!
A trace of embarrassed annoyance rose on Wen Jiao's face, but she quickly suppressed it.
"No need."
Two short words, a clean and decisive refusal.
"That really is a pity."
Chu Yunfei shrugged and did not press the matter.
He turned to leave.
Yet he had only just taken a step.
Crack!
A faint sound came from behind him.
In the blink of an eye, a thin layer of ice formed over the tea on the stone table.
A bone-piercing chill erupted from Wen Jiao's body, spreading outward along the ground.
The temperature inside the pavilion plummeted.
The stone pillars, the corners of the table, and the bamboo leaves were coated in white frost one after another.
Chu Yunfei whipped around.
Wen Jiao, who had been cool and composed just a moment before, was now clutching her lower abdomen tightly, down on one knee.
Every trace of color had drained from her face.
Cold sweat kept seeping from her forehead and sliding down her cheeks.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, and a layer of bluish-white frost soon coated her fingertips.
It was as though even her blood was about to freeze.
"This is bad!"
"The young lady is having another attack!"
The gray-robed old man's expression changed drastically.
He rushed to Wen Jiao's side in a single stride and reached out to help her, only to force himself to stop before touching the cold Qi.
His hand froze in midair, not daring to move another half inch forward.
Once the cold Yin Qi within Wen Jiao ran rampant, any outside force that came into contact with it would be corroded.
With his cultivation, he might not suffer serious injury.
But if he provoked the cold Qi within Wen Jiao, it would only cause her greater suffering.
"Young lady!"
The veins on the gray-robed old man's forehead bulged with anxiety, but he was helpless.
Chu Yunfei did not approach rashly.
His gaze settled on Wen Jiao, and his brows gradually knitted.
The cold Qi erupted from her lower abdomen and flowed backward through her meridians, feeding on the host's own spiritual power.
With every measure of spiritual power it devoured, the Yin Baleful Intent grew a measure stronger.
This was not poisoning.
Nor was it a cultivation technique's backlash.
Chu Yunfei stared at the pale blue baleful markings gradually emerging between Wen Jiao's brows and finally recalled an ancient physique that had long vanished from the world's view.
"The Heavenly Yin Baleful Intent Physique?"
He uttered the name instinctively.
Those few words made Wen Jiao jerk her head up.
For the first time, undisguised shock appeared in her phoenix eyes, which were gradually losing focus under the torment of pain.
"You..."
"How do you know?"
Her voice had already grown hoarse, and every word seemed to exhaust all her strength.
The Heavenly Yin Baleful Intent Physique.
It was her greatest secret, and the nightmare that had plagued her for twenty years.
This physique was rarer than one in ten thousand.
Those who possessed it cultivated Yin-attribute techniques far faster than ordinary people.
But before the physique truly awakened, the Yin Baleful Intent Qi accumulated within the body would periodically turn on its host.
Every attack felt like thousands upon thousands of ice blades slicing through the body.
The pain made death preferable to life.
To suppress the Heavenly Yin Baleful Intent Physique, the Pill Pavilion had sought out renowned physicians everywhere over the years, expending countless spirit medicines and heavenly treasures.
In the end, all of it had achieved very little.
In the entire Great Qian Imperial Dynasty, aside from her parents, no more than five people knew that she possessed the Heavenly Yin Baleful Intent Physique.
Yet this youth before her had identified her physique after only a few glances.
How was that possible?
Who exactly was he?
Wen Jiao wanted to ask more, but an even fiercer surge of Yin Baleful Intent burst from her lower abdomen.
"Ugh..."
She let out a muffled groan, curling up even more tightly.
Crack!
Frost spread up her arms, covering her shoulders in the blink of an eye.
Her presence also began to weaken rapidly.
The gray-robed old man's eyes reddened with anxiety.
Just then, Chu Yunfei spoke again.
"I can do more than recognize it."
He looked at Wen Jiao, curled up on the ground in agony, his tone calm.
"I can treat it, too."
The gray-robed old man abruptly raised his head.
His shock lasted only a moment before turning to anger.
"Utter nonsense!"
He rebuked him harshly.
"You ignorant brat, stop spouting wild claims here and insulting my young lady!"
Over the years, how many world-renowned divine physicians and alchemy grandmasters had the Pill Pavilion invited to treat Wen Jiao?
How much manpower and how many resources had they expended?
And what had come of it?
Every one of them had been helpless.
Several alchemy grandmasters backing the main pavilion had even declared outright that this was an incurable condition.
Unless they could find a legendary sacred medicine, no medicine or treatment could cure her.
It was precisely because hope had flared time and again, only to end in disappointment, that the gray-robed old man could not tolerate anyone making light of Wen Jiao's life.
Now, an immature brat in the Body Tempering Realm actually dared to claim he could treat her?
What gave him the right?
"Boy, considering that you just concluded a transaction with the Pill Pavilion, I will let this pass."
The gray-robed old man stepped in front of Wen Jiao, spiritual power slowly surging within him.
"Leave at once."
"Otherwise, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"