Chapter 40: Return to the Black Market; If Business Failed, Would They Resort to Robbery?

Night had already fallen when Lu Changsheng, masked and clad in black, slipped into the black market. Even late in the day, the place was as lively as ever. He wandered among the stalls, focusing especially on those selling martial techniques. A few vendors did offer them, but most were ones he had already practiced.

Having been away for two months, he noticed a few changes. For instance, many new stalls were now selling something called the Blood-Strengthening Pill. As the name implied, these pills were designed to help martial artists in the Blood Strengthening Stage to enhance their blood qi, much like medicinal meals.

In the past, Lu Changsheng had relied on the Eight Treasures Blood-Tonifying Concoction to strengthen his blood qi. Now, however, the black market was flooded with Blood-Strengthening Pills, and rumor had it they were quite effective.

He managed to snatch bits of conversation as he drifted through the crowd.

"The Blood-Strengthening Pill really works. It's not as potent as medicinal meals, but it's far cheaper," someone said.

"My blood qi had been growing painfully slowly, and I couldn't afford medicinal meals," another martial artist remarked. "But after getting these pills, the results were surprisingly good."

"Medicinal meals from Miaoshou Garden cost seven silver taels per portion, but I could get three Blood-Strengthening Pills for just one tael. The difference is huge."

"With these pills, even ordinary martial artists like us could make real progress."

Lu Changsheng listened to the chatter in silence. He knew how difficult it was for common martial artists to pursue the martial path. The saying "scholars can thrive even in poverty, but martial cultivation requires wealth[1]" held more truth than most realized.

The Dao of martial arts began in the Blood Strengthening Stage, so blood qi was considered the most important. Without medicinal meals, an ordinary martial artist might need decades of hard cultivation to slowly build up their blood qi before seeing any results. But with their aid, significant growth in that stage could be achieved in just a few years, or even within half a year.

Lu Changsheng's curiosity deepened. Three pills for a single tael, with just one pill required for a day, was unbelievably cheap compared to the medicinal meals sold at Miaoshou Garden. If these pills were produced in large quantities, who would still buy the meals?

However, to Lu Changsheng, this offer felt too good to be true. As an apothecary, he understood well that some ingredients used in medicinal meals were genuinely costly. As such, it made no sense for these so-called miraculous pills to be just one tael.

Determined to find out what this was about, Lu Changsheng stepped up to a stall and tossed down a tael of silver.

"Give me three Blood-Strengthening Pills."

The vendor gave him a brief glance before handing over three pills. Lu Changsheng examined them closely. Each pill was crimson-colored, streaked with a faint black marbling. A subtle metallic tang clung to them, as if they had been forged from fresh blood. He placed one in his mouth and held it on his tongue. As an apothecary with heightened Perception, he could discern any herb and its ingredients by taste alone.

It took him only a few moments to identify more than a dozen herbs within the pill. Most were ordinary, but he could sense some kind of special blood mixed in, though he couldn't quite determine its nature.

Regardless, the herbs he had discerned were worth three or four taels by themselves. Even assuming a batch yielded ten pills, each pill would still cost three or four mace of silver[2]. Selling three such pills for just one tael would yield no profit at all.

This made no sense. The costs of production went far beyond the raw herbs. Once other expenses were added, continuously selling these pills for that price would almost certainly result in a loss. Even mountains of gold and silver[3]could not withstand such depletion.

Something was clearly off. Whoever sold these Blood-Strengthening Pills was not seeking profit but deliberately taking a loss. There had to be some hidden motive behind it.

Lu Changsheng maintained his calm expression as he took the pill from his mouth and slipped all three into his robe, intending to study them later. Afterward, he discreetly made inquiries around the market, probing for the source of this sudden flood of pills. The answers varied—each one different, and none conclusive.

If Lu Changsheng really wanted to get to the bottom of this, he could. However, he didn't consider it worth the effort. This matter did not concern him, and unnecessary trouble was best avoided. So long as he stayed away from the pills, there would be no issue. After all, he was already an Organ Refinement martial artist, so the Blood-Strengthening Pills were of no use to him anyway.

Lu Changsheng turned away from the black market, but he had barely left its boundaries when several martial artists with their faces partially concealed by black scarves blocked his path.

He frowned.

This again?

"Sir, were you asking where to buy Blood-Strengthening Pills in bulk?" asked one of the cloaked figures.

Lu Changsheng considered it for a moment. Earlier, in order to gather information about the Blood-Strengthening Pills, he had indeed pretended that he wanted to buy them in bulk.

"Yes. So what?" Lu Changsheng replied evenly.

"

Hehe

. Others might not have many, but we do. How much did you want?"

Lu Changsheng's eyes narrowed slightly as realization dawned on him. These men were not roadside bandits at all, but sellers of Blood-Strengthening Pills. If he had wished to investigate their origins, he could have played along, made the purchase, and followed the trail back to whoever was behind them. However, he had no desire to wade into muddy waters.

"Sorry, I don't need any more," he said calmly and turned to leave without another glance.

The masked men stood frozen for a moment, caught off guard by his refusal. What they had expected to be a lucrative deal had been turned down in an instant, leaving only frustration in its wake. The cloaked figure suddenly let out a furious shout. "Hey, stop! Are you sure you don't want the pills?"

"Yes, I'm quite sure," Lu Changsheng said flatly.

At that, the cloaked man sneered. "

Heh.

Well, in that case, we'll change up this exchange.

Hand over all your silver tael and notes. Even if you don't want our stuff, we do want your

silver

!"

As soon as his words fell, the martial artists moved at once and closed in on Lu Changsheng. Lu Changsheng glanced over them and said mildly, "So when the deal fails, you simply turn to robbery. Truly fitting for the black market."

He wasn't surprised at all. The black market was a chaotic place where predators often turned on one another, and robbery was nothing unusual. These men had likely marked him long before, noticing his inquiries about bulk purchases of Blood-Strengthening Pills, and assumed he carried plenty of silver. That was why they had stopped him.

What they had not expected was his refusal to buy the pills. With the pretense of business stripped away, they simply returned to their original trade—robbery. After all, it was easier than trading and far more familiar to them.

"Enough talk," the cloaked man said harshly. "We weren't looking to kill today. Hand over your silver if you know what's good for you, or else—"

Before he could finish, his eye caught the glint of Lu Changsheng's short sword.

Shing!

A sharp ring split the air as Lu Changsheng's short sword flashed free from its sheath. Sword-light flickered in the dark as his figure shifted almost imperceptibly. Within a few breaths, he had already sheathed the sword again.

Squelch.

The masked men clutched their throats and collapsed one after another, blood spraying across the ground. Within moments, the night fell silent once more.

"

Hm

? There really is a large stock of Blood-Strengthening Pills? It seems they truly had intended to do business. But when the deal failed, they turned back to what they do best. Old habits die hard, I guess."

Lu Changsheng shook his head slowly. Judging by their conduct, they were hardly men of the righteous path. Perhaps they peddled pills on one side while making their living by killing and looting. With so many Blood-Strengthening Pills on hand, he wasn't sure how to best deal with them.

Just as he hesitated, a strange voice sounded behind him. "Sir, if you're not sure what to do with those Blood-Strengthening Pills, why not sell them to me?"

Swish.

Lu Changsheng's heart jolted, and he turned at once.

1. 穷文富武 (qióng wén fù wǔ) is an old saying that reflects the idea that studying to become a scholar requires little beyond books and diligence, while martial cultivation demands costly resources such as medicines, weapons, and teachers. ☜

2. 钱 (qián) is a traditional Chinese unit of weight and currency, equal to 1/10 of a tael (两, liǎng). One tael was historically about 37.3 grams of silver, so one mace is roughly 3.73 grams. ☜

3. 金山银山 (jīn shān yín shān) is a vivid metaphor for immense wealth and boundless riches. The kind of fortune so vast it seems piled like mountains. ☜