"Father, your cultivation, stuck at the Mid Stage Earth Realm, has been for nearly seven years now, right?" Ye Yunfei suddenly asked.
"That's correct." Ye Tianpeng was taken aback for a moment before answering.
"With the help of a Third-Grade Profound Origin Pill, you should be able to break through to the Late Stage Earth Realm in one go," Ye Yunfei said.
"Indeed, that's the case. However, purchasing a single Third-Grade Profound Origin Pill requires at least ten thousand Spirit Crystals. Moreover, only those Alchemy Masters in the imperial capital have the ability to refine them. So, they are often in short supply, difficult to obtain even with money. Alright, Fei'er, don't worry about your father's cultivation. I have my plans." Ye Tianpeng smiled bitterly and then turned to leave.
He was the head of the clan, busy with family affairs.
"Oh? A mere Third-Grade Profound Origin Pill, such utter trash, is actually worth ten thousand Spirit Crystals? It seems spirit pills are quite valuable in the Great Qin Empire," Ye Yunfei was somewhat surprised. One had to know, in his previous life, Ye Yunfei was not only a Heavenly Emperor but was also called the Alchemy Venerable! He had even refined many Emperor Pills! In the Primordial World, countless powerhouses had once queued up, humbly begging for Ye Yunfei's help in pill refinement. A third-grade spirit pill was, to Ye Yunfei's alchemy level, absolute trash.
After Ye Tianpeng departed, Ye Yunfei entered his room, fumbled around for a while, and then walked out.
"Xiao Yue, I'm going out," Ye Yunfei told his maid and headed out of the courtyard.
To the west of Yuanyue City, there was a famous medicinal herb street. Ye Yunfei walked into this street and headed directly towards the largest and most well-established establishment there: Lingzhen Pavilion.
Lingzhen Pavilion was the largest spirit medicine store in Yuanyue City. It was said that Lingzhen Pavilion branches were spread across the entire Great Qin Empire, renowned far and wide. The Yuanyue City branch was merely one among many.
Entering the pavilion, Ye Yunfei found himself in a spacious hall filled with the aroma of spirit herbs and pills. Many customers were browsing, creating a bustling atmosphere.
Near the rear door of the hall was a counter. Behind it sat a middle-aged man in a yellow robe who wore a haughty expression while reading a small booklet, utterly ignoring the others in the hall.
"Hmm, this should be the alchemist of Lingzhen Pavilion," Ye Yunfei thought and walked directly towards him. It wasn't surprising for a prominent medicine store like Lingzhen Pavilion to have an alchemist in residence.
"Honored guest, how may I help you?" a shop assistant rushed forward, blocking Ye Yunfei's path.
"Move aside," Ye Yunfei said lightly. With a swift movement, he ghosted past the assistant and arrived in front of the alchemist's counter.
"Halt! What do you think you're doing?! Do not disturb Pharmacist Lu!" The shop assistant, greatly alarmed, hurried over, wanting to intercept Ye Yunfei. This alchemist held a high status within Lingzhen Pavilion. Sitting in the hall was largely for show; ordinary customers were not qualified to disturb him.
"What do you want?!" The alchemist noticed Ye Yunfei, put down his booklet, and stared at him with scrutinizing eyes.
"Pharmacist Lu, I couldn't stop this fellow!" The shop assistant rushed over, panting.
"I wish to sell a pill formula. State your price," Ye Yunfei cut to the chase, directly producing a recipe and placing it on the counter. Since Ye Yunfei had very few Spirit Crystals on him, he'd thought of selling a formula as a last resort.
As an Alchemy Venerable, the number of pill formulas stored in Ye Yunfei's mind was beyond counting in the millions. Moreover, every formula worthy of Ye Yunfei's deliberate memorization was priceless.
"Oh?" Pharmacist Lu was taken aback by this. His curiosity piqued, he picked up the formula from the counter and began to examine it.
"Sheer nonsense! Boy, do you think you can just list a few spirit herbs together and call it a pill formula? Do you think you can swindle money from our Lingzhen Pavilion with such a ridiculous piece of trash you call a formula? Do you think our Lingzhen Pavilion is a place you can defraud? Hmph, so young, with good hands and feet, and you choose to be a swindler!" After scanning the formula a few times, rage rose on Pharmacist Lu's face. He slammed the paper onto the table and berated sternly.
"Impossible. You, a full-fledged alchemist, can't even understand this formula? Ridiculous. Forget it then!" Ye Yunfei was somewhat surprised. This formula was among the most basic, the absolute lowest-tier ones he possessed.
Ye Yunfei picked up the formula from the counter, shook his head in disappointment, and turned to leave.
"Halt! What do you mean, boy?! Make yourself clear before you go!" Pharmacist Lu's expression changed instantly, and he sprang to his feet.
Feeling immensely disappointed, Ye Yunfei couldn't be bothered with him and continued towards the hall exit.
"Huh? Isn't that the Ye Family's good-for-nothing young master?" Someone in the surroundings recognized Ye Yunfei and exclaimed.
"Hah! So you're the legendary Ye Family's waste. You come to Lingzhen Pavilion to swindle and now insult me with your words. Do you think you can just walk away?! Men, seize this worthless trash, then send someone to the Ye Family to have their patriarch come personally to collect him. This time, if the Ye Family doesn't give me a satisfactory explanation, from now on, the Ye Family of Yuanyue City can forget about purchasing a single spirit herb or a single spirit pill from our Lingzhen Pavilion!" Pharmacist Lu coldly ordered.
"This trash has completely offended Lingzhen Pavilion on behalf of the Ye Family."
"They say Lingzhen Pavilion has significant backing, that it's the leader of the entire spirit medicine store industry in the Great Qin Empire. Once Lingzhen Pavilion gives the order, I'm afraid no medicine store will ever sell herbs or pills to the Ye Family again."
"This time, the Ye Family is truly done for."
The surroundings were already crowded with onlookers, and voices of schadenfreude-filled discussion erupted.
Within Lingzhen Pavilion was a team specifically responsible for maintaining order. Hearing Pharmacist Lu's command, several guards immediately moved to surround Ye Yunfei, intending to take action.
Just at this moment.
"What's going on here?" a voice inquired.
It was clear and melodious, like the cry of an oriole. The hall fell silent.
A woman appeared in the hall. She was incredibly beautiful, around seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in pink garments. Tall and slender, with a cool, elegant temperament, she was like a goddess from the moon palace—a true peerless beauty!
"Store Proprietor!" Pharmacist Lu's face changed drastically. He immediately bent at the waist in a respectful bow.
"The Store Proprietor? Could this beauty actually be the owner of Lingzhen Pavilion?" Everyone in the hall stared dumbfounded at the beautiful girl, completely shocked. The proprietor of Lingzhen Pavilion's Yuanyue City branch generally never made appearances. However, in most people's minds, the owner of a medicine pavilion should at least be a capable middle-aged person, if not an old man. No one expected it to be a seventeen-or-eighteen-year-old beauty!
Even Ye Yunfei was a little surprised.
"Pharmacist Lu, what exactly happened?" The proprietor asked.
Pharmacist Lu quickly stepped forward and explained the situation. Naturally, he couldn't help but embellish, painting Ye Yunfei as a scheming swindler who had deliberately come to defraud them.
"Let it go. Let him leave. Our Lingzhen Pavilion hasn't suffered any loss; no need to make a fuss," the proprietor waved her hand dismissively.
"Hmph, you trash, our Proprietor is magnanimous and will spare you this once. If you dare to repeat your offense, you won't be so lucky next time. Now get out!" Pharmacist Lu barked at Ye Yunfei.
"On the first day of each lunar month, at noon, your Qihai Acupoint swells and the pain is unbearable. On the fifteenth day of each lunar month, at midnight, your Tanzhong Acupoint becomes ice-cold and chilled, after which your entire body turns numb and your hands and feet lose strength, lasting for at least one full hour," Ye Yunfei stared at the young and beautiful proprietor and suddenly uttered two utterly baffling sentences.
However, it was precisely these two seemingly senseless sentences that caused the proprietor's face to change drastically. She stared at Ye Yunfei with an incredulous gaze. Her exquisite face revealed a completely astonished expression.
Because what Ye Yunfei described was precisely her physical condition, and he was accurate down to the last word!
"Just who are you? How do you know this?!" The proprietor was completely stupefied. She stared at Ye Yunfei with a shocked, disbelieving gaze.