Chapter 030: Come On, Rob Me!

“No, they’re not worth fifty thousand gold coins!” Xin Lang replied with certainty.

“Oh! It’s over! Now my father will definitely have to give me a little brother!” Gu, the chubby one, wailed.

Xin Lang paid no mind to Gu’s lamentations. He placed each of the five pills into separate porcelain bottles, put away four, and handed the remaining bottle to Gu, saying, “Find me a woman who holds status, someone influential in Nine Suns City, who used to be quite beautiful in her youth but is now older—someone in her forties. I want her to test this medicine.”

“Uh… Boss, what do you mean by this?” Gu asked, puzzled as he took the bottle.

Xin Lang explained, “This medicine is called ‘Sevenfold Renewing Beauty Pill.’ It enhances beauty and complexion, and its greatest effect is to restore lost youth to women of age.”

“So… so miraculous? What grade is this pill?” Gu exclaimed.

“Ah, the materials were limited, and I haven’t made this in a long time so my hands were a bit rusty. I barely managed to make it grade seven at the treasure level,” Xin Lang sighed.

“Ah…” Gu collapsed onto the ground. “Treasure… grade… seven! Boss… you… you’re a grade seven potion grandmaster!”

There were few potion grandmasters in the entire Summer Dynasty, easily counted on one hand, and now someone of such caliber appeared in Nine Suns City—and the most unbelievable part for Gu was that Xin Lang was his peer, merely a seventeen-year-old youth.

“Heh!” Xin Lang smiled mysteriously at Gu sprawled on the floor. “Let me tell you a secret: I’m not a grade seven potion grandmaster. In fact, I’m grade nine…”

Despite its vast land and resources, the Summer Dynasty had only a handful of potion grandmasters, let alone a top-tier grade nine grandmaster—someone who had a chance to become a Saint of Potions.

What made it even harder for Gu to accept was that Xin Lang was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old, the same age as himself!

“Grade… grade… nine! Boss… how is that possible… this can’t be…” Gu was so astonished he could not form words.

Xin Lang helped Gu up from the ground, speaking solemnly, “Chubby, this is my secret. I’ve told only you, and I don’t want anyone else to know—not even your closest family. Do you understand?”

Gu nodded fiercely. “Boss, you can rest assured! You entrusting such a secret to me shows your trust in me! I swear to the heavens, even if the school beauty Yan Ru Yu tried to seduce me, I would not leak a single word!”

“Uh…” Black lines appeared on Xin Lang’s forehead. “What kind of oath is that? It doesn’t seem very binding, and… full of loopholes!”

Still, Xin Lang had some confidence in Gu. Though Gu’s temperament leaned toward the lascivious, his character could be relied upon.

Gu cradled the little porcelain bottle containing the ‘Sevenfold Renewing Beauty Pill’ and asked, “Boss, how much do you plan to sell each pill for?”

This was what Gu cared about most—the price.

Xin Lang smiled, “I plan to auction it at your family’s auction house! So how much it sells for depends on who you find to test it.”

“Understood! Boss, I’ll definitely carry out your instructions!” Though Gu was portly, his mind was no less sharp than his father Gu Dong’s. He immediately grasped the business logic: the more influential the test subject, the better the publicity before the auction, and thus the higher the final price of the ‘Sevenfold Renewing Beauty Pill.’

“Oh right!” Gu grinned ingratiatingly, “Boss, will the profit split be the same as before?”

“Heh, it can be as before, but it depends on how you perform!” Xin Lang laughed.

Xin Lang believed that with the lure of high profit, Gu would surely work hard to market the ‘Sevenfold Renewing Beauty Pill.’

To further motivate him, Xin Lang also taught him the high-ranked skill ‘Dragon Subduing Ten Thousand and Eight Palms.’

“I should find an opportunity to teach ‘Heart-Shattering Dragon Claw’ to Qian Baidu as well, so he can boost his strength. Otherwise, I can’t farm experience from him anymore!” Xin Lang mused.

Xin Lang had completed a four-star side quest at Luoyang Academy, defeating the martial arts teacher Shi Lang and gaining twenty experience points. After upgrading to level ten Martial Apprentice, he still had eleven points left. Adding the daily quest rewards from the past few days, Xin Lang now had sixteen experience points. But to advance to Martial Artist, he needed much more, so he had to find ways to earn more experience.

“As long as I earn ten thousand gold coins and complete this five-star main quest, I’ll get fifty experience points!” Xin Lang thought eagerly.

Gu was off to find someone to test the ‘Sevenfold Renewing Beauty Pill’ and handle its marketing, which would take more than a day or two. During this time, Xin Lang had little to do except go to classes. He devoted most of his energy to fulfilling the daily quests from his upgrade device.

Now that he was a level ten Martial Apprentice, the daily quest requirements had risen to a daunting level, but Xin Lang persisted in completing them.

Through his relentless effort, Xin Lang’s upgrade device accumulated twenty-one experience points.

That day, after morning training in the grove at Rising Sun Academy, Xin Lang returned to his dormitory and finally saw the “point-farming device” he had long awaited—classmate Qian Baidu.

Qian Baidu still had that toothpick between his lips—the same one he’d been chewing for days—and was pacing outside Xin Lang’s dorm with a sullen expression.

Seeing Qian Baidu, Xin Lang, disregarding his post-training fatigue, greeted him warmly, “Qian, you finally came to rob the rich and help the poor with me!”

Qian Baidu scratched his messy hair and replied apologetically, “Transfer student, sorry, but I’m not here for you today. I’m here to rob that fat guy!”

“Uh…” Xin Lang was deeply disappointed, but refused to give up. “No problem! If the fat guy’s not here, you can rob me instead!”

“Rob you? Forget it, I know I can’t beat you,” Qian Baidu said, puzzled by Xin Lang’s eagerness to be robbed.

Afraid Qian Baidu wouldn’t help him farm points, Xin Lang secretly took a money pouch from the upgrade device’s ‘inventory’ and opened it for Qian Baidu to see the gold coins inside. “Look, I have plenty of gold coins! Qian, rob me! If you do, these coins could be yours!”

PS: Still asking for votes!