Chapter 14

The Poisonous Strategist

The Elixir Bureau prepared for two days, finally issuing new regulations in accordance with the City Lord’s directives.

The new regulations stated that due to long-term, heavy consumption of low-grade elixirs, Xiazhou residents had accumulated elixir poison within their bodies, which not only hindered cultivation but could also lead to persistent illness and even shorten lifespans.

Since Xiazhou’s economy was based on elixirs, the government naturally wouldn’t call for a reduction in elixir usage. Instead, they reprimanded major elixir shops, mandating that detoxification elixirs (解毒丹) and purification talismans (净化符) be displayed in the most prominent locations.

With the government enacting these measures, Xiazhou residents finally paid some attention, and sales of detoxification elixirs, for a start, began to increase.

But detoxification elixirs were so expensive… and besides, they were also elixirs themselves, wasn’t that a bit redundant?

What were purification talismans? They sounded like a type of talisman, but no one was selling them…

A prominent elixir merchant, familiar with Xu Bingkun, went to meet him. “City Lord, the new regulations are out, and many citizens are asking about purification talismans. Originally, Shen’s Business Alliance said they had a large supply readily available, but why did the City Lord ask us to hold off for now?”

Xu Bingkun sneered faintly.

Of course, he held off.

He, Xu Bingkun, had his own faction, and his faction could also produce similar talismans. Then, all the vast silver profits would be his. So he would definitely push this matter; Shen Tang’s initiative was quite good. But if it went through Shen Tang’s side, at most he’d get a small cut of the profits, which was the limit. There was no need to even consider which option yielded greater benefits.

Moreover, he wasn’t too keen on seeing the Heavenly Sword Sect rise in Xiazhou.

As City Lord, he was ethically bound to respect the Sect Master. Now that the Heavenly Sword Sect was in decline and needed his care, it was manageable. But once the Heavenly Sword Sect rose again, it would be hard to say who would truly be in charge.

Shen Tang seemed like a capable and resourceful leader. Xu Bingkun would rather have a less administratively adept sword elder as Sect Master than see Shen Tang lead a revival. So, naturally, he had to put some obstacles in her way.

Delaying Shen Tang’s talismans from entering the shops would allow his own faction to quickly produce substitutes, simultaneously suppressing Shen Tang and earning him money – two birds with one stone.

Originally, it would have been even better to delay the release of the new regulations, but Shen Tang was surprisingly astute and immediately went to the Elixir Bureau to finalize the matter. He couldn’t go back on his word in front of her then, so he had to reluctantly agree, feigning righteousness while urging the Elixir Bureau to quickly issue the new regulations. It was utterly stifling.

Xu Bingkun didn’t fully explain to the elixir merchants, merely saying, “Anyway, you just need to delay for two or three days.”

The elixir merchants exchanged glances, unsure what to say.

Though the City Lord held power, in these times, who didn’t have a backer? Xiazhou might sound like a ‘state’ but was actually the size of a large county. Many people in the city had connections at the prefectural level; they wouldn’t necessarily obey his every command. What good would it do if just a few of them delayed?

Xu Bingkun knew what they were thinking. Stroking his beard, he said, “At least for a small favor like delaying for a few days, they still have to grant this old man face. Now, go.”

Before he finished speaking, a subordinate rushed in. “City Lord, City Lord!”

Xu Bingkun frowned. “So flustered. What sort of decorum is this?”

The subordinate cautiously replied, “Jishi Pavilion, Yunpo Loft, Yuyuan Elixir Workshop, and over ten other elixir merchants have already signed agreements with Shen’s Business Alliance to stock their ‘Sword Soul Purifying Talismans’!”

Xu Bingkun rose in astonishment. A few minor ones would be one thing; perhaps Shen Tang had some other connections. But what was happening with so many of them?

Were they all disrespecting this City Lord?

“Originally, Shen Tang herself had indeed only secured agreements with three or four businesses. But this morning, when the Demon Suppressing Bureau officials were on patrol, they had these Sword Soul Purifying Talismans (剑魄净灵符) openly displayed on their chests, spreading the word throughout the city. Some elixir merchants had originally been politely refusing Shen’s Alliance, but upon seeing even the Demon Suppressing Bureau using them, they felt the matter was unstoppable and feared being left behind. So they quickly signed agreements with Shen’s Alliance.”

Xu Bingkun clutched his head, plagued by an intense headache.

The Demon Suppressing Bureau was directly managed by the imperial court; it only followed imperial directives and was not subject to local control. Sheng Yuanyao was also an official from the capital, and the cherished daughter of Deputy Chief Sheng! He truly couldn’t control such a young lady.

This situation was difficult now. With long-term agreements from over ten major elixir merchants, the barely surviving Heavenly Sword Sect would instantly experience a rebirth. Shen’s Business Alliance was firmly established, and Shen Tang’s wager with those elders was beyond any doubt.

Even if others managed to produce similar items to compete in a few days, many citizens would already have a preconceived notion and recognize Shen’s brand. Besides, that woman had given it such a beautiful name and made the talismans so pretty.

“Fine, I can still get a share of the pie after all…” Xu Bingkun narrowed his eyes slightly. “Someone, go invite Danxia Gang Leader Liu to meet. They seem to have had a conflict with Shen’s Alliance over talent?”

Liu Qingtian had been recently experiencing both pain and joy.

His joy came from the “Spirit Qi Elixir” being highly favored by the market. Its price continued to soar, indicating a booming flow of wealth.

So, what good was Lu Xingzhou? He only refined those common elixirs, couldn’t even compare to a single strand of Bai Chi’s hair.

His pain was that Cold Dew Grass was one of the main ingredients of the Spirit Qi Elixir.

Cold Dew Grass was originally an external medicinal herb, not suitable for internal consumption, and thus not particularly suitable for alchemy. Therefore, it was historically not cultivated in large quantities. They had only just begun refining Spirit Qi Elixirs, had some temporary stock, and hadn’t thought to hoard it in large quantities.

But then, a few days ago, some lunatic unexpectedly acquired a massive amount, causing the already scarce Cold Dew Grass on the market to become extremely tight, and its price skyrocketed.

The Danxia Gang quickly bought up all the remaining Cold Dew Grass on the market at high prices, but it still wasn’t enough to last for long.

Liu Qingtian pursued a two-pronged approach: he sent people to other cities to purchase it, and also widely cultivated it on his own herb mountain. This stuff matured quite quickly, growing fully in two or three months. Anyway, the price of Cold Dew Grass was high now, so even if they couldn’t use all of it themselves, reselling it would still yield a huge profit.

Upon receiving the City Lord’s invitation, Liu Qingtian was inspecting the Cold Dew Grass cultivation on the mountain with great satisfaction. Hearing the news, he was even more smug. “Even the City Lord wants to cooperate with this Leader. Master Bai is truly a lucky star.”

Bai Chi smiled demurely from the side. “The apprentices Lu Xingzhou trained are too unskilled… Once I have some free time, I’ll train a new batch.”

Liu Qingtian knew very well that Bai Chi was deliberately disparaging “Lu Xingzhou’s former subordinates.” In fact, Bai Chi had been taking pleasure in finding fault with those apprentices every day, treating them like oxen and horses while withholding their wages. The apprentices were full of complaints.

But Bai Chi was a hot commodity now, and Liu Qingtian himself wanted to eliminate Lu Xingzhou’s lingering influence. So he turned a blind eye. Withholding wages also enriched the gang, didn’t it…? Anyway, the apprenticeship contracts were there; those people couldn’t run even if they wanted to. As for Lu Xingzhou, he was now only fit to associate with a newly established, asset-less business alliance. Could he really help these former subordinates?

“Oh, right,” Bai Chi added. “I still hope the Cold Dew Grass being purchased from outside arrives sooner. We’re running low, and waiting for these to grow won’t be quick enough.”

Liu Qingtian patted his shoulder. “This Leader will go meet the City Lord first. I will definitely implement your request as soon as possible.”

Not far down the mountain, they encountered a group of people escorting a carriage back up the mountain. It was precisely the gang members he had sent out to purchase Cold Dew Grass.

Liu Qingtian frowned. “Why are you back so soon?”

The gang members quickly bowed. “Gang Leader, we had just left the city when we encountered a merchant caravan from a neighboring county. They happened to have a carriage full of Cold Dew Grass, so we brought it back.”

Liu Qingtian lifted the cover and saw indeed a carriage full of Cold Dew Grass. Its quality looked quite good. “What a coincidence… What price did you buy it for?”

The gang members chuckled. “Don’t worry, Gang Leader, it was at the current market price. This carriage cost two hundred and fifty gold taels (黄金 – huáng jīn).”

It was indeed expensive. After all, medicinal herbs were usually priced in terms of a few qian (tenths of a liang), but a whole carriage full was a different scale. Even at its previous low price, it would have been several tens of liang. With prices soaring now, this price wasn’t too outrageous.

Liu Qingtian made a quick estimate and found it was actually slightly lower than the market price, as if it was to round off the sum… but it still pained him greatly.

Having lost almost all their spirit stones to Lu Xingzhou earlier, and now buying up the remaining Cold Dew Grass on the market at high prices, as well as purchasing large quantities of seeds to plant themselves, the Danxia Gang genuinely had little ready cash left… Now, these two hundred and fifty gold taels drained half of their liquid funds again.

Never mind, they’d make it back soon enough. He sighed and waved his hand. “Take it up the mountain and put it in storage for now.”

At Shen’s Business Alliance, Lu Xingzhou played with a gold ingot (金元宝) in his hand, tossing it up and down.

Ah Nuo sat cross-legged, hugging a pile of gold ingots, laughing happily as she lay on top of them. “Gang Leader Liu is truly a good person.”

Lu Xingzhou chuckled. “You’re wrong. We are the good people. Gang Leader Liu should be thanking us for resolving his urgent needs.”

Shen Tang sat in front of them, speechless. She turned her head to look at the storeroom; it had been full of Cold Dew Grass, but now it was empty.

Dugu Qingli stood behind her, her cold blue eyes intently fixed on Lu Xingzhou, still expressionless, lost in thought.

That’s right, the so-called “neighboring county caravan” was a disguise. It was the Heavenly Sword Sect’s people, selling the Cold Dew Grass they had previously stockpiled.

“You knew all along that Cold Dew Grass was one of the main ingredients of their Spirit Qi Elixir?” Shen Tang couldn’t help but ask. “This is Incense Burning Tower’s exclusive elixir formula. How did you get it?”

“Hmm? I don’t know their exclusive elixir formula, but as an alchemist, it’s quite easy to roughly determine what ingredients are in an elixir by taking a taste and analyzing its grade. The fact that Bai Chi even got me to pay for a Spirit Qi Elixir means he already has a lot of face.”

“…”

Lu Xingzhou flashed a toothy grin. “Who would have thought that something as unsuitable for alchemy as Cold Dew Grass could be used by Incense Burning Tower? One has to admire the senior alchemists for their daring experimentation. It’s a pity, the Spirit Qi Elixir’s high toxicity is also due to this herb… Especially since Bai Chi is so eager for quick success, there might even be some issues with his proportioning, making the toxicity even heavier.”

Shen Tang pursed her lips, unsure what to say.

Precisely because this stuff was unsuitable for alchemy, it was rarely cultivated, allowing Lu Xingzhou to exploit it to such an extent. If it were a widely cultivated item, he wouldn’t have been able to make this money.

The current problem seemed to be more than just making this one profit…

Lu Xingzhou dropped his smile and whispered, “Has the word been spread? About the toxicity of the Spirit Qi Elixir.”

Shen Tang took a deep breath, then exhaled. “I had people start spreading it that day. It should be fully fermenting within these two days.”

Once the excessive toxicity of the Spirit Qi Elixir fermented at this time, not only would the sales of Spirit Qi Elixir disappear, but the Danxia Gang’s recently high-priced purchase of Cold Dew Grass would result in massive losses. And that’s not even counting the large area of Cold Dew Grass planted on their herb mountain; what would they do with that?

Would they temporarily dig up the Cold Dew Grass and plant something else again?

Lu Xingzhou never intended to just slap the Danxia Gang. When he proposed the idea of purifying elixir poison, from beginning to end, he wanted the Danxia Gang dead!

He truly didn’t need to compete with them in alchemy, and he even provided the Heavenly Sword Sect with a strategy for establishing themselves.

Where did this ‘poisonous strategist’ come from…? Did the Danxia Gang truly push such a person from being one of their own to their opponent?

Shen Tang finally couldn’t help but ask, “So, when you proposed the idea of purifying elixir poison to me that day, it was all just for this step?”

Lu Xingzhou turned to her, smiling gently. “You said it. This is mutual aid.”

He then pointed out the window, where many Heavenly Sword Sect members were gathering towards the council hall. “Look, the three-day deadline has arrived. Your wager is about to be fulfilled, isn’t it? Congratulations in advance, Sect Master Shen.”

– Mochinuna.