Guessing the Pills

The black and white horses traversed mountains and rivers as if walking on flat ground, bringing Hongku the ability to travel long distances.

Achieving a position of venerable status brings privileges, and alchemy and trade can transform these privileges into tangible benefits.

As a member of the Xiong State's forces, Hongku was well aware of the Xiong State cultivators' weakness in refining elixirs.

Even if Zhang Xuezhou's success rate of producing pills were as high as 70%, even if it were 50% or even 40%, it would still be enough to make a profit.

This price difference is Hongku's benefit.

Hongku's actions do not violate the overall interests of the Xiong State's high-level leaders; most high-level cultivators would probably agree on the principle of turning materials into usable pills.

Furthermore, Hongku believed that he was dealing with Zhang Xuezhou personally, and that it didn't matter if Zhang Xuezhou had some related parties with vested interests.

"Come, come, Mr. Hong Hu, let me introduce you. This is the Marquis of Pingyang in Chang'an City who supports my alchemy. The Marquis is fond of alchemy and is interested in some medicinal herbs from the Xiong State. He can even exchange some herbs with you to supplement the ingredients needed for the Creation Pill!"

The new emperor rode out of the city in the afternoon and met with Venerable Hongku was collaborating with Zhang Xuezhou, in the evening.

He used medicinal mud to alter part of his appearance, and then donned a silk-embroidered gold robe, followed by eight expert Imperial Guards at the Divine Ability Realm. He then swaggered into the Shanglin Garden.

Hongku was brought into Shanglin Garden by Rong Tianding, who was carrying the order, and waited there until Zhang Xuezhou and the others arrived.

After a brief introduction, Hongku felt as if a distinguished guest had arrived.

Zhang Xuezhou's backer was indeed influential. Hongku's biggest headache was the specificity of the medicinal materials. Each material needed to make the Creation Pill was fixed, and other medicinal materials were completely unusable. This forced him to choose from a small range of materials when collecting and trading.

The appearance of the Marquis of Pingyang perfectly solved this problem.

Although the extent of the Marquis of Pingyang's wealth is unknown, he is certain that the other party can provide support, thus allowing the trade exchanges in the early stages of the Hongku to operate normally.

"Greetings, Your Excellency!"

Hongku bowed politely, while the new emperor's demeanor was somewhat arrogant.

"This merchant from the Hu region only brought this much medicinal herb?" The new emperor ignored Hongku, glancing at him before shaking his head and saying, "I gave you more than this much medicinal herb to practice with!"

The new emperor pointed to the side room of the main hall.

The secret elixir of immortality was produced in the Shanglin Garden. The new emperor staked his entire fortune on it, and chests of the elixir filled the side hall of the Alchemy Chamber.

Although Zhang Xuezhou had finished refining the herbs, the remaining herbs were not sent back to Chang'an City. Instead, he arranged for people to be stationed there to dry and preserve them. There were still nearly three hundred boxes of them.

At this moment, the boxes of medicinal herbs in the side hall were clearly visible, and the quantity far exceeded the approximately ten boxes of herbs that Hongku had taken out.

"I thought it would be some grand event like alchemy or medicine making, so I came all the way from the Marquis's residence to Shanglin Garden. But now it's nothing special," the new emperor sighed.

"My lord, this merchant from the Hu region is collaborating with us on alchemy for the first time, and the amount of medicinal herbs he has taken is indeed a bit less than we expected," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"These foreign merchants travel from the Western Regions to Chang'an City for a long time; we might only cooperate a couple of times every few years," the new emperor shook his head and said, "Don't bother me with such trivial matters as alchemy in the future!"

"These are the ingredients for the Creation Pill, not low-grade medicinal herbs!"

Seeing that the new emperor was about to leave after only a few glances, Hongku had to quickly introduce him.

"This is enough medicinal material to refine five hundred Creation Pills. Even with only a 50% success rate, that's still two hundred and fifty Creation Pills," Hongku said. "Such a quantity of pills is considerable anywhere!"

"Oh? The Creation Pill?"

The new emperor stopped in his tracks and waved for Zhang Xuezhou to go up and inspect.

"Alchemy and medicine making isn't just about taking some herbs. It requires herbs of sufficient quantity, variety, age, freshness, dryness, color, and integrity," the new emperor said. "Only when all the requirements for alchemy are fully met can there be a high success rate. It's not like you can guarantee a 50% success rate just because you say so!"

"You're right, my lord!"

Hongku let out a deep breath, feeling that the new emperor had given him a taste of his power upon their first meeting.

If long-term cooperation is desired, the other party's attitude is obviously crucial.

Zhang Xuezhou could only be responsible for alchemy; the exchange of medicinal materials required the coordination of such aristocratic noble Aristocratic Clan.

If he could earn Wanliang gold by working with Zhang Xuezhou before, his profits after joining Zhang Xuezhou would be ten times that amount.

Even Hongku hadn't expected Zhang Xuezhou to be able to invite such a heavyweight person.

"These medicinal herbs of mine have all been carefully selected. Each herb is plump and full, and each demon core is nearly the same size. They are all from hundred-year-old demon varieties," Hongku explained. "These materials are absolutely qualified!"

"Not bad, I think we should be able to achieve a 60% success rate in pill formation!"

Zhang Xuezhou, who was crouching down to conduct the inspection, checked the documents frequently and quickly reported his findings.

"Sixty percent is quite interesting!"

The new emperor's gaze swept over the medicinal herbs Zhang Xuezhou had opened and inspected, his eyes remaining as still as a deep well despite his turbulent emotions.

"It's just too little," the new emperor said.

"If I exchange the pills for the medicinal herbs, I'll definitely bring even more next time," Hongku said, patting his chest.

"It's been far too long," the new emperor said. "You need time to go back and change the medicine, and you also need time to refine pills and make medicine!"

"I'll be quick," Hongku assured him, "It definitely won't take long!"

"If Your Excellency is in such a hurry, why not provide a batch of pills so that this merchant from Honghu can go back and exchange them for medicine, and then we can slowly refine the pills?" Zhang Xuezhou suggested. "As long as Your Excellency is willing to provide the pills ahead of time, the back-and-forth processing time will certainly not be long!"

"This... this..."

The new emperor hesitated for a few moments, while Hongku blinked, sensing that Zhang Xuezhou's approach was different from previous negotiations.

Hongku must say that Zhang Xuezhou's suggestion was excellent, but whether the Marquis of Pingyang was willing to be such a sucker was hard to say.

The success rate of pill formation is not the same as the actual yield rate. A 60% yield rate for 500 pills cannot be simply converted to 300 pills. Rather, it depends on the Alchemist's skill and may be more or less. It can only be said to be around 300 pills.

If things go well, we might get 320 pills; if things go poorly, we might only get 250 or 260.

Hongku felt that only a fool would be willing to gamble such a gamble: exchanging a fixed number of pills for an uncertain number of pills to be refined.

"Your Excellency knows my alchemy skills; perhaps you can earn ten or twenty coins," Zhang Xuezhou said with a smile.

"But you didn't mention any losses," the new emperor retorted. "I believed you, and I lost every single time I tried to win from you!"

"It's just a game of guessing the elixir, surely Lord Marquis can't afford to play?" Zhang Xuezhou said.

"There's no reason why my fortune can't afford to play this game," the new emperor scoffed. "Since you say you have a 60% chance, then let's use 280 pills as the dividing line. If it's less than that, I win; if it's more than that, you win. If you lose, you'll have to refine three more years' worth of pills for me!"

"If I win, I'll reduce my training time at Shanglin Garden by three years!"

"OK!"

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor reached an agreement by giving each other a high five.

Hongku, standing to the side, opened his mouth, feeling that the two of them hadn't even asked him, the person involved, for his opinion.

Of course, Hongku had to admit that 280 Creation Pills was a very good number. Although it was still short of the ideal 300, the ideal figure was ultimately just wishful thinking. Especially since the Marquis of Pingyang could provide the pills in stock, this actual and stable output was far better than Zhang Xuezhou's empty promises.

"Clap clap clap!"

As the new emperor clapped his hands three times, a guard bowed and stepped forward, then quickly ran out.

When the guard returned a moment later, the other party was already carrying fourteen sandalwood boxes.

Zhang Xuezhou casually opened a sandalwood box that he had prepared in advance, and a box containing twenty Qi and Blood Creation Pills immediately came into Hongku's view.