"Dad, I'm dropping to my knees for you!"
No one could imagine just how utterly stunned Si Jing was when she received Chen Zhuo's message.
*Be honest with me, did you pop every single one of those pills yourself?*
*How are you this efficient?*
*Chen Zhuo could easily work as a top-tier pharmaceutical sales rep for one of the megacorps!*
*Seriously, bro, I can't even concoct them that fast—that was over half a year of my stock! Put together!*
Dumbfounded, Si Jing was at a complete loss for words. She now harbored serious suspicions that Chen Zhuo was buying out the inventory to consume it all on his own.
*Gorging on pills like that... he'd better not drop dead...*
Thinking this, Si Jing was practically ready to bow down before him.
Without hesitation, she fired off another message: "Bro, I've still got one Qi Condensation Pill and one Essence Nurturing Pill left. Interested?"
While Senior Sister Si Jing lacked any shred of moral scruple when it came to cultivation, she was still an upperclassman after all; she couldn't simply address him as 'Dad' in text.
Did a senior sister not have a reputation to uphold?
And so, she settled on calling him 'Bro.'
Needless to say, anyone who brought her wealth was family!
"Senior Sister, don't put it like that..."
Chen Zhuo messaged back, pointing out that this was a win-win partnership: "The potency of an Essence Nurturing Pill is too high; I can't stomach it on my end. That Qi Condensation Pill, however, will do."
In the short term, Chen Zhuo couldn't possibly offload any more bulk shipments. At most, he could quietly sell something like a Qi Condensation Pill, which fetched over twenty spirit stones in the ancient cultivation world.
A steady trickle was better than a rushing torrent.
Alternatively, he could take his goods to other market towns.
However, the other markets were fairly far from Yunjin Market.
Having just renewed his cave dwelling rent for three months, Chen Zhuo wanted nothing more than to concentrate on his cultivation for a while and avoid unnecessary complications.
*I'll reconsider after I pass the test, enter the Qiwu Sword Sect, and become an outer disciple,*
Chen Zhuo mused inwardly. *Once I'm an outer disciple, I can hawk pills directly to other disciples within the sect. When the time comes, I'll buy an alchemy furnace or something and pretend I'm an alchemy prodigy...*
He had already made up his mind.
When the time came, he would pose as an alchemist, take orders from the ancient cultivation world,
and run the manufacturing line back here in the Immortal Mansion.
He would show the ancient cultivation world what real high-tech and pure chemistry could do!
Regardless,
as long as his personal strength improved, his standing in the ancient cultivation world would be rock-solid.
With that in mind, Chen Zhuo promptly asked, "Senior Sister, does Senior Sister Dong have any hardcore stuff over there?"
Si Jing: "Junior Brother, have you ever heard of 'Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers'?"
"Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers?!"
Hearing the phrase, Chen Zhuo was instantly awestruck.
What an overbearing name!
For a moment, he felt as if he were standing atop the Jade Emperor Peak of Mount Tai, gazing into the depths of the Big Dipper constellation!
Chen Zhuo humbly inquired, "Senior Sister, what is 'Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers'?"
"It refers to nine types of injectable formulas that each have 'Dragon' in their name,"
Si Jing replied. "Because of their violent potency, some cultivators who were desperate for fast results couldn't withstand the immense surges of medicinal power after injecting them, exploding and dying on the spot... That's why in our industry, these nine formulas earned the moniker 'Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers.'"
*Oh, so that's the kind of Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers she meant.*
*And here I thought it was that other one.*
Chen Zhuo felt a twinge of disappointment.
"Senior Sister Dong is currently interning at the Immortal Dao Academy's pharmaceutical lab. She has channels for the entry-level model of the Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers—the Azure Dragon. Its results are top-tier,"
Si Jing texted. "If you're interested, I can take you to meet her this weekend. Mention it to her then, and it might just pan out."
Si Jing's description left Chen Zhuo thoroughly impressed, even if he didn't fully understand it.
Azure Dragon!
The name sounded utterly badass!
"Understood."
After sending his confirmation, Chen Zhuo immediately opened Xiao Yu to look up information regarding this 'Azure Dragon.'
Xiao Yu's classic flat, robotic voice began to recite: "'Azure Dragon' is a premium injectable formula developed by Lou Rui, a senior pharmacist at Taiqing Pharmaceuticals, designed for cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. It is priced between five hundred and eight hundred spirit coins. Due to its stable medicinal properties..."
Of course, Chen Zhuo did not blindly trust Xiao Yu.
Although Xiao Yu was deeply integrated into every Immortal Mansion cultivator's spiritual communication jade slip app, everyone knew that the free version was the most exasperating thing imaginable, frequently hallucinating complete nonsense.
What happened when it gave you wrong information?
Sister Yu would simply hit you with a casual apology:
*"Sorry, my mistake."*
Infuriating, wasn't it?
This time, however, Xiao Yu was not lying.
*Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers: six Qi Refining stage formulas and three Foundation Establishment stage formulas. Injected all at once, they can mimic the effects of a Golden Core formula worth over a hundred thousand spirit coins. There's just the minor, negligible drawback that your body might explode and kill you. No wonder so many people flock to it...*
Chen Zhuo reflected, *And if someone's body bursts, they can hardly blame anyone else. They should blame their own physical resilience for being too weak—they clearly didn't inject enough enhancers beforehand.*
Makes total sense.
Who told you to take so few enhancers in the past?
If your head had been sharp enough, how could you have exploded?
Chen Zhuo shook his head, deciding to save up his spirit stones to purchase the first dragon of the Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers outright and adapt to it in advance.
*Cultivate!*
*Work hard!*
*Strive!*
*Push forward!*
*Set a modest goal: the Nine Dragons Coffin Bearers!*
***
Two days later, Classroom 4 of the Department of Elixir Appraisal.
Chen Zhuo sat quietly in a corner of the room, eyes closed as he rested his spirit.
The other students with innate spiritual roots had already formed their own exclusive cliques.
Strictly speaking, this was Chen Zhuo's first time attending class in an actual physical classroom.
He, Meng Yan, and Liang Ningwan were all cultivators with artificially implanted spiritual roots. Usually, they were restricted to attending lectures online, only permitted into tiered lecture halls like this for designated in-person sessions.
It felt somewhat humiliating when put into words.
Unlike him and Liang Ningwan, however, Meng Yan was currently thriving. He moved effortlessly within a circle of innate-spiritual-root students, bantering and laughing as though they were lifelong brothers.
Meng Yan's cultivation had already advanced to the third layer of Qi Refining.
Rapid progress.
Yet because Chen Zhuo had previously declined Meng Yan's invitation to join his circle, Meng Yan had kept his distance from him ever since.
Chen Zhuo was more than content with the peace and quiet.
It spared him the headache of dealing with those fools every day. Besides, his current classroom persona was that of an invisible loner.
As for Liang Ningwan...
She hadn't shown up today, and he had no idea what was going on with her.
Consequently, Chen Zhuo had no clique to join today.
Right then, the classroom door was pushed open, and a figure walked inside.
The newcomer looked to be around thirty years old, his hair neatly combed without a single strand out of place, radiating spiritual energy fluctuations of at least the eleventh or twelfth layer of Qi Refining!
Counselor Yuan.
This Counselor Yuan was no elite university undergraduate; he was a former vice president of this junior college's student union. After graduation, he stayed on to work for the institution, which was how he came to serve as the freshmen's counselor. It was common knowledge that Counselor Yuan was currently pooling funds to prepare for an attempt at Foundation Establishment.
"Quiet down, everyone."
Counselor Yuan stepped inside, first sweeping a glance across all the students before clearing his throat to speak. "I am Yuan Mingde, counselor for the Department of Elixir Appraisal. I won't waste words; let's get straight to the point.
"On the path of immortal cultivation, resources are paramount. Without adequate resources, no matter how hard you strive, you will only achieve half the results for twice the effort.
"Therefore, I come bearing good news today."
Hearing that, Chen Zhuo arched a brow.
*What good news?*
The other students looked equally surprised, breaking into hushed murmurs.
Seeing this, Counselor Yuan raised a hand for silence, then retrieved a booklet from his storage bag and held it aloft.
"Our academy has recently partnered with Taiqing Bank to launch a new 'student loan' program. It is specifically designed to provide financial support to students who are talented and full of potential, yet temporarily short on resources!"
Chen Zhuo froze on the spot.
*Damn it, again?!*
At this point, Counselor Yuan spoke with beaming enthusiasm: "Nobody should feel that taking out a loan is something to be ashamed of! In the Immortal Mansion, knowing how to leverage resources is what true ability is all about! Take a look at those Foundation Establishment cultivators and Golden Core True Persons—which one of them isn't up to their neck in debt? Which of them doesn't owe astronomical sums?
"The deeper your debt, the more it proves your immortal path is bright and limitless! The brighter your immortal path, the greater your opportunities to earn spirit coins in the future! And the more opportunities you have to earn spirit coins, the more clearly it proves you can repay that debt!
"Cultivation is an investment!
"Invest in yourself for boundless returns!
"All right, any student who is interested can come find me in my office after class, and I will personally help you process the application."
Having said that, Counselor Yuan cleared his throat and continued, "Next, I have another important announcement.
"The annual Dao Arts Tournament is about to begin. The new generation's Strongest Junior College Student of the Taiqing Domain will emerge from among your senior brothers and sisters!"
*The Strongest Junior College Student?!*
Chen Zhuo sucked in a breath of cold air, marveling in awe at just how terrifying that sounded!
Across the forty-three junior colleges in the Taiqing Domain, there were no less than a million Qi Refining cultivators!
Just what kind of heroic majesty would the number one out of a million possess?!
Surely even ordinary undergraduate university students would hang their heads in shame upon laying eyes on this Strongest Junior College Student, wouldn't they?!
After graduating, wouldn't a figure like that effortlessly pull in over ten thousand a month and strut through the Taiqing Domain with utter impunity?
Chapter 36