Chapter 2126 Wu Fangqing
“Envoy Ye…” the elder following behind Ye Qiuyan muttered with reddened eyes.
Even in the Firmament, people still discriminated based on appearance.
Over the years, Ye Qiuyan had faced the scorn and derision of those around her. While she had tried to ignore them, she still found herself affected by their words. She had thought that she had no other choice but act numb before the insults of others, but who could have known that a pill would resolve her problem so easily?
This was a feat that even the God Kings of Royal City might not necessarily be able to pull off!
At the same time, the crowd widened their eyes in shock.
There were not many people in Twilight City who knew about the existence of Envoy Ye. However, those who were in the top echelon of the city, even if they had not met the beautiful Ye Qiuyan, would have at least heard of her before.
She was an expert from Royal City, but due to her cultivation plummeting as a result of the injuries she had sustained, she had been eventually dispatched to Twilight City. It was rumored that she had a glaring scar on the face, which was also why she always veiled her face.
Yet, a single pill actually removed her scar and made her look many years younger.
This was really a miracle!
“How is it? If any of you still harbor any doubts, you are free to give a try. Just as I’ve said before, if the results are not to your satisfaction, I won’t collect a single coin!” Qi Ling-er said with a confident smile.
As someone who governed the massive underground black market, she was extremely skilled at controlling the scene. And at that very moment, she knew that everything was already in her grasp.
“i’lll give it a try!”
The person who had spoken the loudest against her earlier, Madam Chen, walked out from the crowd.
She had come from a family of apothecaries, and her husband, Chen Yixiong, was famed for being the greatest apothecary in Twilight City.
Ye Qiuyan took a closer look at the other party’s appearance as she walked over.
The other party appeared to be in her mid-fifties. Even though she had taken good care of her skin, it was inevitable that there would be some signs of aging on her body.
Madam Chen picked up a God Essence Pill and swallowed it. She closed her eyes in an attempt to feel the medicinal energy within it so that she could decipher the ingredients used to forge the pill. However, before she could discern anything, she was already hearing excited mutterings all around her.
She quickly opened her eyes, only to see a lady in her early thirties staring back at her in the mirror.
“This is… me?” Madam Chen trembled in disbelief as she hurriedly touched her own face.
The person in the mirror was exactly how she had looked decades ago. Just by eating a single pill, her skin had regained its tension, and her appearance had regressed back in time.
Was it really possible to forge a pill like that?
Astonished, Madam Chen quickly drove her zhenqi to check if it was just an illusion that would disappear after some time, but the result of her inspection was that… her body had really changed!
The pill had not just made her skin smoother and younger than before. More than that, the traumas she had sustained before and the pill toxins that had accumulated in her body had all been cleared away as well. While her cultivation had not increased, her strength was much greater than before!
“This… It isn’t just a normal Beauty Pill. It actually has powerful recovery effects as well,” Madam Chen exclaimed in agitation.
As a descendant from a lineage of apothecaries, she could immediately understand just how valuable the Beauty Pill was. Just its effect of beautifying’s one appearance was already amazing in itself, but to think that it would aid in one’s cultivation as well.
It was definitely a bargain to buy such a pill for just one thousand Divine Coins!
“Madam Chen, how is it?” Qi Ling-er asked with a smile.
“Ahem… The effects are excellent so far, but I still need to test it out a little to check if there are any side effects. As you know, potent pills tend to have some side effects.” Madam Chen suppressed her excitement and replied nonchalantly.
“That’s true…”
The crowd nodded in agreement.
It was common knowledge that the stronger the medicinal effect of a pill was, the more likely it would be damaging to one’s body. Madam Chen’s remark immediately left everyone wondering if there was some kind of fatal flaw in the Beauty Pill.
Qi Ling-er frowned in response to Madam Chen’s words.
It was clear from the latter’s expression earlier that she had already understood the effects of the Beauty Pill, but why was she playing the fool?
“Madam Chen, may I know what kind of side effects you suspect it to have?” a person amid the crowd shouted out.
“Well, I’m not too sure. I’ll have to look into it carefully,” Madam Chen said contemplatively. She turned to Qi Ling-er. “You have eighteen Beauty Pills with you at the moment, right? Why don’t you sell them all to me? I’ll be able to research them with my husband to check how severe the side effects are. If we can resolve all the issues surrounding it, I believe that everyone will benefit greatly from it…”
“Is that so?” Qi Ling-er remarked as a mocking smile crept onto her lips.
She had been wondering if there was really something wrong with the Beauty Pill, but it turned out that Madam Chen was just impressed by the effects and wanted to monopolize all of the current pills.
Madam Liu also quickly noticed that something was amiss, so she stepped forward and said with a displeased look on her face, “You want to buy all of them? That won’t do. I want to try it as well!”
“Me too!”
“Give me one!”
“I’ll be taking this one then!”
“Don’t you snatch with me. I’ll offer l,l〇〇 Divine Coins!”
“I’ll offer 1,200 then!”
None of those present were fools. As figures in the top echelon of Twilight City, they were able to swiftly discern Madam Chen’s real intentions.
There were only eighteen pills available. If they did not make a move, who knew when else they would be able to secure a treasure like this?
Under the panic buying, it did not take long for all eighteen Beauty Pills to be sold out. Furthermore, the prices went up to as much as 1,500 Divine Coins, which was much higher than they had initially estimated.
Seeing how such a small pill was able to be sold at such an astronomical price, the middle-aged lady could not help but look at Qi Ling-er impressed.
As expected of the Young Mistress, her means were indeed extraordinary.
There was no doubt that the Beauty Pill was an amazing product, but it would be all for naught without an effective marketing strategy.
It was through emphasizing the limited quantity and showcasing its miraculous effects that the price had been hiked up so swiftly. Otherwise, even if they priced it at five hundred Divine Coins each, chances were, no one would even spare the Beauty Pill a glance.
But within a single hour, they had managed to sell everything.
On top of that, they had managed to build up the reputation of the Beauty Pill. The next time they put it out on the market, they could be assured that it would be sold out within moments.
Ye Qiuyan was also looking at Qi Ling-er curiously.
She had thought that Qi Ling-er was just all talk, but the effects of the Beauty Pill exceeded her wildest expectations. Just where in the world did Qi Ling-er manage to procure such a formidable pill?
She had scoured Royal City, but she had not been able to find anything like this at all. Even when everything was happening before her, she still felt a little dreamy inside.
Ye Qiuyan turned around and instructed the elder behind her, “Investigate it. Find the origin of the pill. I doubt that even Conferred God King Qi Meng would have been able to forge something like that.”
“Yes, I understand!” The elder nodded before vanishing in the crowd.
As the envoy to Twilight City, she had her own sources to gather intelligence within the city.
In City Lord Manor, a middle-aged man wearing armor looked at the box in his hands with a deep frown between his eyebrows.
City Lord Wu Fangqing.
He was the father of Wu Xiaoxiao, the haughty young lady whom Zhang Xuan had met previously.
“Is the pill really as effective as you say?” Wu Fangqing raised his head to look at the middle-aged man before him.
The elder standing before Wu Fangqing clasped his fist and said, “That’s right! I witnessed it with my own eyes.”
Even though the price of the pill was eventually hiked up to an astronomical price, given the connections of the City Lord Manor, it was not too much trouble for them to secure one.
Wu Fangqing still appeared to have some reservations regarding the matter. He pondered for a moment longer before passing down an order. “Get Xiaoxiao to come here.”
“Father, you were looking for me?”
It did not take long for Wu Xiaoxiao to be brought before Wu Fangqing. With a sheepish look on her face, she said, “I was cultivating seriously. I really wasn’t slacking off at all!”
“I didn’t call you here to talk about your cultivation. Swallow this pill!” Wu Fangqing instructed.
“Swallow this pill?” Wu Xiaoxiao was perplexed as to why her father would call her there only to eat a perfectly ordinary God Essence Pill. Nevertheless, she still picked it up and swallowed it whole.
Barely after swallowing it, she saw her father’s usually impassive face slowly warping in shock, as if he was looking at something unbelievable.
“Father, what’s wrong?”
She had always viewed her father to be a solemn individual who rarely showed any emotions on his face. As such, she was taken aback by the shocked look on his face, fearing that she had done something wrong.
Young Mistress, you should take a look yourself!”
The elder in the room quickly passed a mirror to Wu Xiaoxiao.
Perplexed, Wu Xiaoxiao took the mirror and brought it up to her face. Her body began trembling as she pinched her cheeks incredulously. “Is this really me?”
In the mirror, she saw her freckles and acne scars vanishing without a trace. While there was not too much difference in her overall appearance, she looked much more beautiful than before.
Furthermore, the change was not just limited to her appearance. Somehow, her disposition seemed to have become more graceful.
To think that consuming a pill would induce such a massive change in her.
“Father, the pill that you gave me…” Wu Xiaoxiao looked at Wu Fangqing anxiously.
“It’s nothing,” Wu Fangqing replied curtly as he stood up and paced around the room quietly with his hands behind his back.
Then, he suddenly turned to Wu Xiaoxiao and asked, “Tell me about Zhang Xuan, whom you met back then.”
“Zhang Xuan?” Wu Xiaoxiao was a little bewildered by the abrupt request.
Nevertheless, she still nodded and told her father everything she knew about him.
After she was done, Wu Fangqing waved his hand and said, “Got it. You are dismissed.”
As the city lord, it went without saying that he was aware of the existence of the underground black market. In fact, some of his spies had infiltrated it.
As such, he was able to swiftly uncover that the creator of the so-called Beauty Pill was Zhang Xuan.
Recalling the earlier report that he had received regarding how Zhang Xuan had consecutively won fifteen slots to the Celestial Mountain, it was hard for him to ignore the young man even if he wanted to!
“City Lord Wu, the value of the pill is inestimable!” the elder said with a glint in his eyes right after Wu Xiaoxiao left the room.
Anyone who was not completely blind would be able to tell with a glance that that the Beauty Pill would become a money fountain in the future.
Wu Fangqing nodded in agreement. “If we can obtain the pill formula, we will be able to further develop Twilight City. There is also a good chance that I will be able to advance to greater heights… However, as you’ve just heard, Zhang Xuan appears to have an extremely powerful teacher, and there’s a good chance that his teacher is a master teacher! It’s likely that the pills were forged by his teacher.”
The reason he had invited his daughter over was to have the latter test out the medicine and confirm Zhang Xuan’s background.
“Mo Yuan is no more than a middle-tier God, so his ability to discern a person’s cultivation might still be sorely lacking. There’s no guarantee that Yang Xuan is as powerful as he thinks. Why don’t I conduct some further investigation into this?” the elder asked with narrowed eyes.
“Be careful. Also, I want you to negotiate with him on my behalf to see if he’s willing to sell the pill formula. If he isn’t willing, we’ll just have to find some other ways. Naturally, make sure that he doesn’t know that I’m the buyer!” Wu Fangqing instructed.
“I understand.” The elder nodded before vanishing on the spot.
Someone who could rise to the position of a city lord and stand above the rules could not possibly be someone without any means.
It was inevitable that he would be moved by the existence of such a formidable pill.
It would be great if he could acquire it through proper channels, but if that failed, he would just have to find some other way.
“Someone who can forge the Beauty Pill, guess the numbers on the slot roulette accurately each and every time, capture the middle-tier God Streak of Gray despite being only a low-tier God himself… Zhang Xuan is really no ordinary person…” Wu Fangqing clenched his fists tightly together.
“But so what if you aren’t an ordinary person? In Twilight City, I call the shots. Even if you are a dragon, you’ll have no choice but to lie low before me. Who you are won’t make a difference to me at all, even if you are a master teacher!”
