"You mentioned earlier the Battle of Baining Pass, where our people were defeated. Moqi Tong blamed everything on my uncle. In truth, as you have seen, my uncle's temperament simply makes him unfit to command an army. After that battle, he was racked with guilt and agony, drowning his sorrows in drink day after day."
He Lingchuan said, "Moqi Song is fit only to be a deputy general, not a commander-in-chief."
"When the Bailong fled en masse, my uncle volunteered to stay behind and guard the rear. Commanding a little over a thousand men and leveraging the terrain, he held off the thirty thousand Ya Kingdom troops pursuing us! He held them off for nine whole days, buying our people ample time to evacuate. But his own direct subordinates were almost wiped out, leaving him without men under his command."
He Lingchuan nodded. When the Moqi uncle and nephew had their falling out, over a hundred Bailong people were still willing to stand behind Moqi Song and shed blood fighting for him, surely out of gratitude for his selfless sacrifice.
"My uncle's stubborn insistence on seizing the Yangshan Archipelago was also born of desperation to find a haven for our clan, a fertile land where we could grow strong so that one day we might have hope of fighting our way back to our homeland," Moqi Feng said softly. "Though irascible and perverse, his devotion to the clan is wholehearted, and everything he did was for their sake. I beg the Island Master to show mercy."
Though He Lingchuan hadn't killed Moqi Song and had instead sent him to mine ore, as the island master he had a thousand ways to torment him. Thus, Moqi Feng was pleading for him to "show mercy" so his uncle's life as a miner might be somewhat easier.
He Lingchuan neither agreed nor refused, merely giving a noncommittal grunt. "I understand."
***
It wasn't until dusk that He Lingchuan returned to Bailang Villa.
The moment he arrived, he offered his apologies. "Island affairs have kept me busy. I hope the National Preceptor will forgive me!"
"Rushing about in the wind and rain—you truly have the drive of youth," Wang Xingyi said with a smile. "Where did you come from, getting soaked through like this?"
He Lingchuan was drenched from head to toe; a mere umbrella had been utterly useless.
"Longji Island." He Lingchuan retrieved two jade vials, handing one to Wang Xingyi and the other to Fang Canran. "This is Emperor's Flowing Dew collected last night, already purified. It is best consumed before its potency fades."
The jade vials were about half a hand tall, heavy in the grip, and filled to at least eighty percent.
Even combining all the dew collected by seven or eight seafarers the previous night wouldn't equal a single one of these vials.
This gift could hardly be considered light; both men were visibly moved. Wang Xingyi shook his head. "How could I take advantage of a junior like you?"
Fang Canran spoke briefly: "No reward without merit."
He Lingchuan had anticipated their reaction. He said straight out, "Please do not decline, gentlemen. I still have a favor to ask."
He then asked Fang Canran, "Brother Fang, do you know how to control flame and refine pills?"
"Only some crude basics. Why?"
"Now that I have brought back this batch of Emperor's Flowing Dew, I urgently need to refine it into pastes and powders." Emperor's Flowing Dew had a limited window of efficacy, forcing He Lingchuan to brave the wind and rain across several islands to harvest the dew gathered by the Spirit-Attracting Grand Formations. "However, we are short on hands. I have even roped in the cooks from the supply post to refine medicine. Could you lend me a hand as well?"
Hearing this, Wang Xingyi immediately said, "Emperor's Flowing Dew paste is easy to refine. The hundred or so attendants I have with me are all cultivators. Feel free to put them to work."
He Lingchuan was overjoyed. "The National Preceptor is truly generous!"
He had few people under him who knew alchemy. Aside from Lingguang, the proper apothecary, the eleven men of Mount Rong as well as Min Tianxi, Huang Zhao, and the others had all been assigned tasks.
Beyond them, He Lingchuan had several dozen cultivators who had recently defected to him, but they were still under probation and could not be fully trusted yet.
With National Preceptor Wang assigning over a hundred men to him, plus Fang Canran, his manpower shortage was greatly relieved.
Now that they were helping out, both men accepted the jade vials with a clear conscience, privately remarking that this young fellow knew how to conduct himself—even his gift-giving left people feeling so comfortable.
As night fell, the wind and waves on the sea finally died down.
After making landfall, the hurricane swept northwest at a brisk pace, further diminishing its impact on the Yangshan Archipelago.
However, night had fallen, and with no moon in the sky, the traveling merchants simply chose to stay another night on Suoding Island.
The accommodations here were decent, food and drink were inexpensive, and there were places for recreation.
Astute merchants seized the opportunity of everyone being stranded on the island to expand their connections and negotiate business, keeping themselves thoroughly occupied.
Between the hurricane and the arrival of Emperor's Flowing Dew, those two nights stranded on Suoding Island would remain etched deep in most people's memories.
***
The following morning, the shipping lanes reopened. The merchants hastily ate breakfast, packed their bags, and prepared to depart.
Before anyone could board the ships, however, a gong sounded on Suoding Island to announce news:
Starting immediately, the supply post would sell Jisheng Pills and Hundred Virtues Pills, both refined from Emperor's Flowing Dew, with one thousand of each available at two hundred taels of silver per pill, while supplies lasted.
The Jisheng Pill was a nourishing medicine that vastly replenished primordial qi, strengthening the body for the healthy and greatly alleviating chronic ailments for the sick, making it particularly suitable for the elderly.
The Hundred Virtues Pill was designed specifically for cultivators; taken once every seven days, it would grant an additional twenty percent efficacy during one's initial cultivation session.
Both were exceptional treasures!
The seafarers fell dead silent. Only after hearing the crier repeat the announcement two or three times did they snap out of their stupor.
Wait, what?
Everyone's first reaction was disbelief: Is this fake?
Who ever had enough Emperor's Flowing Dew to spare? Suoding Island was actually putting such a treasure up for sale?
Someone blurted out instinctively, "A fake, surely? In all my years traveling north and south, I've never heard of such a thing!"
A merchant beside him said sarcastically, "How old are you even? How many cycles of Emperor's Flowing Dew could you possibly have seen? Isn't it only normal that you haven't heard of it?"
Emperor's Flowing Dew had only become more frequent in the past two years, falling three times in two years, whereas the sixty years prior had been a complete blank.
Besides, what good would counterfeiting do for the Yangshan Archipelago? The effects of Emperor's Flowing Dew were virtually impossible for ordinary mundane elixirs to replicate.
The first man sneered, "Since you're so old and wise, come on, tell us—how many times have you experienced Emperor's Flowing Dew?"
A flurry of hushed discussions broke out all around, and soon an old sea captain stepped forward of his own accord:
"Give me one."
This captain docked at Suoding Island's supply post year-round and had known Lei Ni and her father for a long time. Having endured harsh sea winds for years, his eyes watered whenever hit by a breeze, and floaters seemed to constantly drift before his sight. A physician had diagnosed him, saying medicine could only alleviate it, not cure it.
He had collected very little Emperor's Flowing Dew two nights ago, so he simply pulled out two hundred taels of silver to buy a Jisheng Pill and give it a try.
Once swallowed, a surge of warmth rose from his belly, rushing straight to his head in a soothing wave.
The old captain felt his eyes heat up in pleasant waves, as though a warm towel had been draped over them.
When he opened his eyes again, his vision had turned remarkably clear, free of the floating specks that had plagued him.
"It worked, it worked! It really works!" A sailor made his living with his eyes; who could understand the sheer joy of seeing the world clearly once more?
Plenty of people along this shipping route recognized him and never doubted he was a plant, especially since everyone could see that the cloudy, bluish tint in his lenses had cleared back to a pristine hazel.
This medicine really worked?
Prompted by his example, four or five more people bought pills and took them.
The effects of Emperor's Flowing Dew were usually immediate, and the buyers quickly felt the difference.
One merchant had the most dramatic reaction: within fifteen breaths of taking the Jisheng Pill, he clutched his stomach and sprinted off to find a latrine, leaving the onlookers exchanging bewildered glances.
When he returned, his steps were light and his face beamed with smiles.
It turned out that for the past six months, he had suffered from painful, obstructed urination, and physicians had warned him that his urinary tract was on the verge of complete blockage. He had traveled across the sea in search of a legendary healer, never expecting to encounter Emperor's Flowing Dew before his ship even reached its destination.
The Emperor's Flowing Dew he had taken the night before had been diluted with water by more than nine to one; drinking a bellyful of it hadn't been half as effective as this single Jisheng Pill.
It truly worked!
With so many people testing it firsthand, the seafarers' desire to buy was instantly ignited.
By the end of the morning, over two hundred of each pill had been sold.
More than forty thousand taels of silver poured in.
Even after deducting the costs of the seven or eight auxiliary medicinal herbs Ding Zuodong had purchased earlier, the profit margin remained immense.
This sales volume had already exceeded He Lingchuan's expectations. After all, two hundred taels a pill was hardly cheap, and Lingguang could produce fifteen to twenty pills per cauldron.
Not everyone aboard the ships was wealthy, but certain buyers smelled an opportunity, intending to act as scalpers and resell them elsewhere at exorbitant prices.
Once they resumed their voyages, they would spread the news that the Yangshan Archipelago was selling pills made from Emperor's Flowing Dew.
The remaining fifteen hundred or so pills served as the perfect draw and bait; He Lingchuan had no worries about selling them.
Why was he selling Emperor's Flowing Dew pills?
First, the Yangshan Archipelago covered a vast area, and the amount of dew collected was far too great for him to consume on his own.
Just as the Emperor's Flowing Dew gathered in Lingxu City was not reserved exclusively for the Demon Emperor, but was also bestowed upon high-ranking officials, nobles, and favored civil and military ministers, such a supreme treasure took on a profound political utility once in the hands of a ruler.
Second, in a broad sense, all the Emperor's Flowing Dew falling across the Yangshan waters belonged to He Lingchuan. Permitting all residents and travelers to collect dew demonstrated the Island Master's magnanimity. Taking advantage of the merchants from north and south being stranded on Suoding Island by the hurricane, the sale of Emperor's Flowing Dew pills served as a tremendous attraction.
When these seafarers dispersed in every direction, they would spread the word far and wide that the Yangshan Archipelago was selling Emperor's Flowing Dew pills.
This was precisely the advertising effect He Lingchuan sought: let more people know of the Yangshan Archipelago and realize there were exceptional treasures for sale here, and they would flock to the island of their own accord.
Even if they arrived too late to buy the pills, wandering the island might tempt them to purchase other goods.
In business, all calculations ultimately boiled down to four words: open sources, cut costs.
To achieve the effect of opening new revenue streams, what did a mere two thousand pills matter?
And this was only the first night of Emperor's Flowing Dew; more was yet to come.
This led to the third reason: Shi Nan had told him that the divine realm was growing increasingly chaotic, and Emperor's Flowing Dew would descend far more frequently in the future. If it began falling every few days, would pills refined from it remain so rare and valuable?
What was the opposite of hoarding a rare commodity?
As someone privy to insider knowledge, He Lingchuan believed that such business should be pursued without delay.
With the hurricane gone, the delayed ships set sail once more.
He Lingchuan stood at the docks, watching them hoist their sails and depart one by one. Not until that afternoon did Suoding Island finally see off the last batch of guests and return to its peaceful daily routine.
Now, it was time to distribute rewards according to merit.
The Guard and everyone who had helped maintain order received refined Emperor's Flowing Dew pastes and powders, along with heavy ingots of gold and silver.
Those who had taken the lead in suppressing the unrest were promoted by one rank and granted additional rewards.
Chapter 1014