Book 3, Chapter 81: Green Pills

While the Secret Python Cult’s service looked scary, it was a strict procedure. As long as people followed every step, they would be fine. All they really needed to do was overcome the mental discomfort.

Chen Chuan wasn’t adverse to it. After generations of cultivation, the mutated snakes were very different compared to real snakes. They were purely biological tools meant to help with martial arts training.

There was a list of requirements after the pictures, because not everyone could receive the service. They needed to meet certain criteria first.

First, the one receiving the service had to possess a certain degree of strength, such as being at Chen Chuan’s level, and show power and potential. People like Chen Chuan were the ideal type to receive the service.

Second, they needed someone within the cult or someone with a certain status as their guarantor.

Chen Chuan then took a look at the price. It was three thousand devs per service, which appeared quite expensive, but based on the procedure, the snake needed to die for the procedure to be successful. Because of it, this service was probably one that couldn’t be bought even if one had the money.

Based on Cao Guiqi’s words and what Chen Chuan learned from the scroll, the service wouldn’t just strengthen his bones and fascia, but also his organs. If it really did that, this price wasn’t expensive at all. Chen Chuan would even say that they were being really reasonable with their pricing.

Hence, after reading through the scroll, he picked up his pen without hesitation and signed his name in the client column at the end. Then, he pushed the scroll back to Zuo Handan and asked, “Mr. Zuo, when will I receive this service?”

Zuo Handan checked his signature before picking the scroll up and rolling it up. “Once I go back, we will begin the arrangements. At the earliest, it’ll be ready by the end of the month; at the latest, you’ll need to wait about half a month. Once we’re ready, we’ll notify you.”

“I’ll leave this to you, then.” Chen Chuan nodded.

Light shone in Zuo Handan’s pupils, as if he was talking to someone on his Realm Pass. After a while, he said, “I’ve confirmed things with the cult. We’ll get everything ready as soon as possible.”

He then stood up and extended his hand. “Thank you for using our service, Mr. Chen.”

Chen Chuan stood up as well and shook his hand. From the grip, he could tell that Zuo Handan’s arm muscles were strong, tough, and flexible. He wasn’t as delicate as he looked.

The moment they shook hands, Chen Chuan received a new connection request and approved it. The profile picture was an androgynous person with snake pupils and a red robe standing in front of a huge snake eye.

When Zuo Handan saw Chen Chuan’s profile picture, he was quite shocked.

The Secret Python Cult performed psych evaluations of every client, so the profile picture was an important first step that gave them a lot of information. It was rare for people to not pick any, like Chen Chuan had done, but not changing the default black profile picture also showed a certain mental fortitude.

After saying goodbye to Chen Chuan, Zuo Handan said politely to Cao Guiqi, “Mr. Cao, we’ve finished negotiating the service. I need to go back and oversee the preparations now. Please excuse me.”

Cao Guiqi gave him a nod. “Have a safe trip. Mr. Ding, see him out for me.”

Mr. Ding then gestured for Zuo Handan to follow him. After giving Chen Chuan another nod, Zuo Handan left with Mr. Ding. He didn’t pick up the box he had placed on the table earlier.

Chen Chuan cast his eyes on it.

Once he took a sip of his tea, Cao Guiqi said, “He left that for you. The Secret Python Cult values each client and often brings them gifts. Some of them are good, while others are bad. Some are valuable, while others worthless. Even their sales people don’t know what they’re bringing in the box. You should take it and open it once you return to your room.”

They really know how to do business. It’s no wonder why the Secret Python Cult is the only old cult that gained a footing in Central City,

he thought.

“Green Satchel Pharmacy also delivered its medicine. Since you’re here today, take it with the Treasure Paste. There are ten pills, and you need to finish all of them within three months, so take them within your limits,” Cao Guiqi continued.

“Thank you, Senior Cao. I will,” Chen Chuan said.

Since negotiations were done, Chen Chuan didn’t linger around. When Mr. Ding came back after sending Zuo Handan off, Chen Chuan finished his cup of tea and said goodbye to Cao Guiqi. Then, with Green Satchel Pharmacy’s medicine, the Treasure Paste from Tiancong Baicao, and the box the Secret Python Cult gave him, he left.

He returned to the Arcane Palace and set the Secret Python Cult’s box by the side before taking out the wooden box from Green Satchel Pharmacy.

Upon opening it, the first thing he saw was a beautiful brocade handkerchief. On it was a pouch with green and black embroidery that resembled an ink spill. It was held closed by a red string that went around the pouch’s opening. Under the string was a green-white hue. In all, it was a beautiful sight.

This wasn’t the first time Chen Chuan saw something like this, though. He observed it for a bit with his Realm Pass. Then, he entered Green Satchel Pharmacy’s platform.

A pleasant voice immediately entered his ears.

“Welcome to Green Satchel Pharmacy’s drug-testing group.”

It then told him that all members of the group could enjoy using the medicine from Green Satchel Pharmacy wherever they were and get discounts when they bought their medicine.

The voice then moved on to tell him how to take the medicine, along with how to write the report and other details.

The voice also told him that he was required to use his Realm Pass to record how he took his medicine. According to the rules, he was to write down what he felt afterwards in the report. If he found it troublesome and wanted to skip this step, he could connect his Realm Pass to the platform and explain all that he sensed during the process.

There was also a breathing technique provided at the end of the explanation. The drug-testing group didn’t have to learn it, but they weren’t allowed to reveal it to other people. Hence, before watching the video about the breathing technique, Chen Chuan had to sign an agreement.

This sparked his interest. After reading the description, he found that martial artists who knew the Respiration Node Breathing Technique would have an easy time learning this breathing technique.

If he mastered it, not only would he be able to notice the detailed changes of his mutated tissue after he took the medicine, he would even detect the subtle changes in each part of his body.

Since this wasn’t mandatory, Chen Chuan had a feeling that many people wouldn’t bother practicing it.

But he thought that it would be useful, especially since his mutated tissue covered a large area of his body. If he could get a more detailed understanding of his own body, that would be great.

He checked Martial Valor University’s platform and found that this breathing technique wasn’t available in the university.

But that wasn’t a strange thing. Martial Valor University wasn’t the only place that trained martial artists. There had to be plenty of breathing techniques and martial arts that were not included in their collection.

Chen Chuan immediately signed the agreement and studied the breathing technique in detail until he felt confident. He spent some time getting used to it and solidifying his foundation. When evening arrived, he had already grasped the basics of the breathing technique.

At this point, he could begin taking the pills.

He put on the biofilm gloves the pharmacy had sent to him and opened the pill box. The light-green pills were to be taken orally, and they let out an energizing aroma.

After taking a look at it, Chen Chuan activated the domain information recording function on his Realm Pass and took the pill along with water.

In the beginning, he didn’t feel anything, but soon, he felt a wave of heat fill his body, and his breathing grew labored. His heart, too, started racing.

A few minutes later, his eyes turned bright, and a variety of smells wafted into his nose. He could also hear all sorts of noise. His head became clearer too.

But this state only lasted for half an hour before he felt his bones and fascia becoming sore, and a swelling spread through his skin. An hour later, he felt a numbing itch seep deep into his bones. His mutated tissue was moving about in excitement, reminding him of the first time he practiced his breathing technique, though this discomfort was even stronger than back then.

When he looked over at his second self, he found no traces of blurring out. This meant that he wasn’t getting hurt, though it could also be that his current body was strong enough that some of the side effects no longer affected him.

This time, he didn’t shift the discomfort to his second self so he could provide better feedback. Since he had agreed to become a test subject, he wanted to show proper cooperation.

When he remembered that the effects of the Treasure Paste became more apparent if he trained after taking the medicine, Chen Chuan got up, grabbed the Frost King Saber, and went to his training room.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Around three hours later, the pronounced feeling of being stronger started fading away, and he stopped practicing his moves. Then, according to the steps shown on his Realm Pass, he wrote down his body’s reaction in the report.

He could sense that the medicine had helped the mutated tissue in his organs grow and get stronger.

Just like after using the Treasure Paste, the effect lingered. Based on previous experience, this effect should last for around three days. If that was the case and he took the pills without stopping, they would last him for a month. This showed that Green Satchel Pharmacy hadn’t given him a random number of pills but had distributed it after calculating the amount needed for three months of medicine consumption.

Chen Chuan couldn’t stress this enough: He took much more medicine than the average person, and after doing it for such a long time, his judgment toward how long a particular medicine’s effects would last was much better than a normal person’s.

The results were as he predicted. The medicine’s obvious effects lasted for only three days. After that, it wasn’t that obvious anymore.

This made it inferior to Tiancong Baicao’s Treasure Paste. When Chen Chuan compared the two, the green pills’ effects were only around one-quarter or one-fifth of Treasure Paste’s effects, but Green Satchel Pharmacy had given him way more pills. Hence, after three days, he took his second pill. After another three days, he took his third pill.

Then, a day after he took his third pill, he sensed something different.

Many parts of his second self blurred out. They were either where his mutated tissue was located or close by.

This had to be the side effects that stemmed from the remaining medicine in him. If he took the green pills continuously, they would harm his mutated tissue. Any other martial artist in his place would start showing severe reactions by now.

At this point, he couldn’t continue taking the pills. To make sure his report remained within the realms of logic, he couldn’t reveal his body reacting in ways that were too out of the ordinary. Hence, Chen Chuan recorded what he felt and the reactions of various parts of his body in great detail and submitted his report to Green Satchel Pharmacy.