Chapter 654: Half-Sage Family, Terrifying as Such

When Xu Xiaoshou calculated all this, he was already completely stunned.

At that moment, even if he wanted to maintain the poise of a young master from the Xu family, he found it hard to keep his composure.

It was just too unexpectedly shocking!

He had a thousand "damn" expletives racing through his mind.

Xu Xiaoshou had thought that Chi Jin Ye might be quite rare and valuable.

But as someone who had only dealt in small transactions, he never imagined that a jar of what seemed like insignificant honey would cause such a terrifying stir in the market of Dongtian Wangcheng.

"Uh..."

Instinctively, he almost blurted out that a "thirty-seven split isn't bad either."

But reason suppressed the impulse.

Xu Xiaoshou knew that if he said that, he'd really be throwing away his status as a young master.

"What is it?"

Qiu Zhanglao looked at him with concern, his face full of confusion.

He truly couldn't understand this reaction.

For anyone else, this might be straightforward: they were scared by the "five billion."

But the person in front of him was Xu Xiaoshou, the young master!

How could a mere five billion scare him?

Even if the sky fell, it wouldn't be as exaggerated as this joke!

Qiu Zhanglao didn't dare to think in that direction at all.

"Wa... um, wine."

After a long pause, Xu Xiaoshou stared blankly and reached out, barely managing to point at the wine bottle on the table.

Qiu Zhanglao immediately handed it over.

Then he watched as the young man skipped the cup entirely and chugged straight from the bottle, gulping it down.

"Burp!"

After a heavy belch, Xu Xiaoshou finally collected himself. He tapped his fingers lightly on the bottle, producing a "ding-ding" sound that echoed softly.

"This amount..."

He nodded slightly, a hint of approval finally appearing in his eyes. "Not bad."

With that, he slammed the bottle down on the tea table with a "bang," looked up, and smiled. "Pleasure doing business."

Qiu Zhanglao: ???

He stared at the empty bottle for a while before snapping back to reality.

Pleasure doing business?

You at least need to leave some for us!

What are we supposed to drink now?

His eyes twinkled as an idea struck him, and he laughed heartily.

"Xu Xiaoshou is truly a hero! In that case, this old man will down one too!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he made a grasping motion in the air with his hand, forming a cup with Ling Yuan. Water elements gathered and bubbled up in the cup.

He tilted his head back.

The cup was empty in an instant, and the cup shape dissipated into nothing.

"Refreshing!"

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled to himself—you're just drinking into the void.

But then...

He turned his head toward Xiao Lian, as if he had planned from the start for both of them to play along.

Xiao Lian: ???

She had no idea what was going on.

At that moment, Qiu Zhanglao quickly turned his head too, winking at her suggestively.

Xiao Lian understood his meaning: no matter what quirks this Xu Xiaoshou has, satisfy them first—this is a big deal!

She hesitated for a second, feeling a bit embarrassed, then raised her hand. Ling Yuan formed a cup, and water began bubbling up in it.

"There."

Xu Xiaoshou lifted his chin at her—as if to say, I just chugged a whole bottle, so why are you staring at me? Drink up!

Xiao Lian's mouth twitched, her eyelid jumped, and she tilted her head back to gulp it down.

"Coop... cooperation pleasant?"

"Hey hey..." Only then did Xu Xiaoshou and Qiu Zhanglao exchange glances and start laughing, like old friends after sharing a drink.

Xiao Lian was speechless: "..."

What on earth is this?

Don't you two feel any shame?!

If you want to drink, I can go out and get a better bottle right now. What's the point of chugging water into thin air?

And the key is... why are you two enjoying this so much!

"Under scrutiny, passive value, 1."

This very informal business toast ended under Xu Xiaoshou's unique quirks.

Qiu Zhanglao could see that the young man had no intention of staying longer. Before he could rise, he quickly asked, "Xu Xiaoshou mentioned earlier that besides 'Chi Jin Ye,' there are other good things?"

"Yes."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded calmly. "But I won't hand them over now. If you want the next orders, you need to show me your capabilities first."

Qiu Zhanglao got it.

This meant that if they couldn't deliver the promised amount, the other party probably wouldn't continue the collaboration.

But Duojin Merchant Guild's strength was undeniable.

There was nothing they couldn't do—just things they didn't want to.

"Our guild's transactions are reliable, Xu Xiaoshou can rest assured. But when can you deliver the goods?"

"How much do you need?" Xu Xiaoshou asked.

Qiu Zhanglao fell into thought.

Meanwhile, Xiao Lian seemed to have already pondered this and quickly gave the answer.

"At least ten million portions!"

Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback. "?"

Xiao Lian explained, "Healing medicines are in short supply, especially in Dongtian Wangcheng, the center for Ling Shi practitioners."

"The prices here aren't low. The current market rate for Chi Jin Dan, even under the Alchemists Association's oversight, has been driven up to around three hundred and two to three hundred and three per bottle."

"Duojin Merchant Guild prices it at about three hundred, with slight fluctuations based on the market."

Xiao Lian stepped closer.

Discussing transactions and markets, she spoke fluently and knowledgeably:

"The unit price for Chi Jin Ye can be set between five and six hundred, depending on its properties. If it's too high, most Ling Shi practitioners won't afford it and might settle for Chi Jin Dan instead."

"In the initial market penetration phase, we can use low prices to break in."

"If we price one jar of Chi Jin Ye at a minimum of five hundred Ling Jing, we'd need at least ten million portions to reach the number you want."

"Of course, that's a conservative estimate."

"If the market responds well, the quantity might increase, and accordingly, what you get could be more."

Xiao Lian paused, gazing at the young man in front of her, voicing her concern: "Can your production capacity handle that number?"

Ten million!

That was a terrifying figure.

If this Dan Fang was truly developed by Xu Xiaoshou and only he knew it...

It might take half a year to a full year for him to produce that amount alone.

But if he could handle it—and quickly...

That would mean Duojin Merchant Guild's collaboration partner wasn't just this Xu Xiaoshou, but the entire Tai Xiang Xu family from the North Domain!

Qiu Zhanglao glanced at Xiao Lian with approval; he had thought of the same thing.

Using price to probe the other's true strength was a straightforward strategy that couldn't be avoided—they had to face it head-on.

If the other side could deliver quickly, Duojin Merchant Guild would do everything to hold onto this powerful connection.

A massive opportunity tied to alchemy and a semi-saint family!

Xu Xiaoshou smiled slyly.

How could he not hear the probing in her words?

But for him, creating this illusion of "backing" was exactly what he needed.

Ten million—really that many?

At first glance, it was enough to make one's scalp tingle.

But Xu Xiaoshou today was no longer the novice who first researched Chi Jin Ye in Tian Sang Ling Gong.

"I need you to provide at least thirty million portions of medicinal ingredients, plus over ten thousand Dan Ding—more is better, no upper limit," Xu Xiaoshou said with complete composure.

Both of them raised their eyebrows slightly.

He agreed!

Without a hint of hesitation or change in expression!

"Under suspicion, passive value, 2."

"Under speculation, passive value, 2."

"Agreed."

Xiao Lian didn't voice her doubts outright.

These things would be proven by facts.

She thought for a moment and said, "We'll prepare the items and have them delivered the next day to the place you mentioned earlier. When can you deliver the goods?"

"Three days." Xu Xiaoshou held up three fingers.

Qiu Zhanglao and Xiao Lian were both surprised.

Three days?

From what he said earlier, the ingredients and Dan Ding were just starting to be prepared, so he probably didn't have stock on hand.

Yet, delivering ten million portions in three days...

Was this some kind of monster?

And with ten thousand Dan Ding... did that mean there were over ten thousand top-tier alchemists working nonstop for him?

The more they thought about it, the more chilling it became!

Qiu Zhanglao and Xiao Lian didn't dare dwell on it further.

They tacitly avoided asking about his secrets.

After all, as long as the results were good, the process didn't matter much.

"I'll go have someone prepare the agreement contract." Qiu Zhanglao glanced at Xiao Lian, then decisively opened the door and called for assistance.

Xu Xiaoshou nodded with a smile, his image unknowingly becoming even more mysterious.

Now, only the two of them remained in the room.

Xiao Lian couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked privately, "Ten million portions isn't a small number..."

Xu Xiaoshou laughed. "I'm not here in the East Domain alone."

Xiao Lian immediately looked enlightened, but in her mind, she was silently calculating.

Ten thousand Dan Ding meant ten thousand alchemists.

In three days, each would have to produce a thousand portions of Chi Jin Ye...

Even ignoring failure rates, these alchemists couldn't all be at ten-pin or nine-pin levels—they'd need to be even higher to meet the requirements.

So, where were all these high-level alchemists hiding?

Dongtian Wangcheng?

No!

That many alchemists entering the city would be impossible for Duojin Merchant Guild to miss, so that was out.

If they weren't in the East Domain, could the pills be refined in the North Domain and transported here in three days?

The North Domain and East Domain were separated by the Middle Domain.

Even Wu Yue Jian Xian, chasing the Saint Slave's second-in-command in white, took over half a month to get from the Middle Domain to the East Domain.

Transporting was simpler, but was it really worth having a Zhan Dao expert cross three domains just for ten million portions of low-tier medicine?

And repeatedly afterward?

Absurd!

So that option was out too!

With both viable solutions turning out to be nonsense, Xiao Lian couldn't figure out how he'd solve the supply issue no matter how she thought about it.

In the end, she could only conclude with a simple phrase:

A semi-saint family is terrifying indeed!

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled as he watched the messages pop up in his info panel.

He knew Duojin Merchant Guild would never guess that those ten thousand Dan Ding were actually for his own use.

Could one person refine ten million portions of Chi Jin Ye in three days?

Impossible!

But that was for ordinary alchemists.

Xu Xiaoshou was different.

When he extracted "Textile Mastery," he gained the ability to "manipulate multiple tasks" and multitask.

In the real world, he might only manage "one mind, ten uses" at best.

But he had the Yuan Fu space.

In Yuan Fu space, he was like a god.

And with the "Boiling Soup Alchemy Technique," there was no need for condensing pills, so success rates weren't a concern—it was all about letting the liquid simmer slowly.

So, Xu Xiaoshou only needed to split a thread of his spiritual sense into the Yuan Fu space and use spatial power to maintain the balance in the ten thousand Dan Ding.

It was all passive oversight.

His active role was just adding ingredients and removing the finished Chi Jin Ye from the Dan Ding, then adding new ones to continue simmering.

"Too easy!"

As Xu Xiaoshou had thought earlier, refining Chi Jin Ye really wasn't worth his attention.

But this mistaken judgment of it being "too easy" led him to underestimate its value.

Clearly, he was dead wrong.

A simple refining process didn't mean the results were cheap.

This subjective error cost him tens of billions.

But with the long-term collaboration with Duojin Merchant Guild, those tens of billions might not matter much.

Consider it an investment for future cooperation... Xu Xiaoshou consoled himself.

He composed himself and asked, "There are many Ling Shi in Dongtian Wangcheng, I know, but can you sell ten million portions of Chi Jin Ye within a month?"

Xiao Lian smiled at that.

"You're overthinking, Xu Xiaoshou. Dongtian Wangcheng is different from other county cities—even the lowest levels are Houtian realm Ling Shi, not ordinary people."

"Healing medicines start with Chi Jin Dan, which means almost 99% of them need it."

"The lower the tier of the medicine, the better it sells, precisely because of this."

Xiao Lian tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and continued, counting on her fingers:

"Dongtian Wangcheng, as the refining center of the East Heaven Realm, has over five million resident Ling Shi and daily flows of over thirty million transients."

"Even just considering the demands of Houtian and Xiantian realms, ten million portions of Chi Jin Ye would still be in constant short supply, just like Chi Jin Dan."

"And that's without factoring in our Duojin Merchant Guild's channels and branches in other county cities and Wangchengs."

"Now, do you still think your concerns are necessary?"

Xiao Lian smiled brightly.

She knew that heirs from major families like his rarely saw the ecosystem of low-level Ling Shi.

Dongtian Wangcheng was expensive—even the cost of entry was high.

But it was the refining center!

Just cultivating here was far better than in those remote backwaters.

Maybe one county city had few Ling Shi, but across the entire East Heaven Realm, with over three hundred counties—each with a dozen to a hundred cities—the numbers were enormous.

Dongtian Wangcheng was the top city in the East Heaven Realm.

Aside from disciples from families, sects, and Ling Gong, which independent Ling Shi wouldn't want to come here?

And to survive, those Ling Shi had to venture into Ling Mountains or forbidden areas for resources.

But to do that safely, how could they go without several jars of life-saving medicine?

Based on this, Xiao Lian saw at a glance that if Chi Jin Ye had no issues, it would be Duojin Merchant Guild's next turning point.

And her own status in the guild would turn as well.

But how could someone from a lofty semi-saint family know all this?