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When Wang Jun first told him about the Bloodroot Ascension Pill, he’d also given a warning—one that still lingered in Chen Ren’s mind. Back in his day, it wasn’t known as a “righteous path” pill at all. In fact, blood arts were almost exclusively the domain of demonic cultivators, it was a name whispered with suspicion. That stigma still held true now, though the lines had blurred somewhat over the years.

Even so, Chen Ren had decided on it.

He hadn’t the faintest idea how it would affect the target. He’d practiced making the pill before, but never with his own blood—the core ingredient that demanded a slice of one’s life force. Using it meant losing a year or two of lifespan. For him, that was a small price, especially with his cultivation speed. So, he had gone for it.

But now, watching the guard collapse to the floor, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had made a mistake in the mixing.

Not just him, he felt like everyone around him stopped breathing for a second.

A heartbeat later, the man stirred. Slowly, he pushed himself up, eyes wide, qi leaking from his body in heavy, deliberate pulses. Each burst was denser than the last, and Chen Ren felt it—so did everyone else. With every wave, the man’s cultivation climbed higher… until he breached the upper star levels of the qi refinement realm.

Chen Ren exhaled in relief.

“The pill… worked,” the guard said, turning to the City Lord.

“Huhhh?”

“Wow!”

“Is that real?”

Gasps rippled through the crowd, whispers swelling like a rising tide. He clearly heard the shock in the voices of some very loud people. But his attention was elsewhere. Chen Ren glanced toward Sect Leader Gao Moyue, catching the man staring at him with disbelief in his eyes as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

Chen Ren liked that look. If he could stare at it longer, he wouldn’t—

“That,” City Lord Bai Huiqin said at last, his gaze steady on Chen Ren, “is something I have rarely seen before. You said it takes the alchemist’s life force… How many years did it cost you?”

“A year or two,” Chen Ren replied evenly. “It depends on how much blood you use. The other ingredients are inexpensive enough—it’s still a Mortal-Grade pill. And as you know, my lord, in the life of a cultivator, a year is hardly worth mentioning.”

Bai Huiqin nodded. “True. Still… This is a remarkable creation. I have never! never! seen a Mortal-Grade pill with such effects. You are an exceptional alchemist, Chen Ren.” His expression softened with a faint smile. “The other officials have already spoken to me about your sect, about how you’ve been trying to revolutionize the pill market. Such efforts in Broken Ridge City are… commendable!”

Chen Ren bowed. “It is only possible because of a lord like you, who allows my sect the freedom to innovate.”

That worked because the man’s grin widened. He nodded at Chen Ren. “I will keep an eye on everything your sect produces from here on.”

Chen Ren’s smile deepened. That was the statement he had been hoping for.

Across the stage, Sect Leader Gao Moyue’s face paled. Those words, spoken in front of so many witnesses, were as good as a shield for the Divine Coin Sect. If the Darkmoon Sect tried to move against him now, it would be easy to paint them as opposing the will of the City Lord himself. In politics, words carried weight—sometimes more than swords—and those in power had to choose them carefully.

Even if Chen Ren didn’t win here today, it didn’t matter. He had already achieved what he came for. And that was enough. He bowed deeply. Then stepped down from the stage, his stride unhurried, and joined the other alchemists.

The two Darkmoon Sect disciples fixed him with sharp glares, but the unease in their eyes betrayed them. They had been so confident before. Now, his pill had rattled that certainty.

On the stage, City Lord Bai Huiqin leaned toward the gathered officials, exchanging low words. The Darkmoon Sect Leader was among them, speaking animatedly about something.

His hands were in the air, attempting to discuss something. The rest of the officials joined him.

Chen Ren’s lips curved faintly at the look on Gao Moyue’s face. His eyebrows were raised, and his lips were working endlessly. The man had been brooding and silent all through the trials—yet now, suddenly, he was talking so much. That alone told Chen Ren all he needed to know: he wasn’t certain of victory.

The murmurs above quieted, and the officials stepped back, leaving the City Lord standing alone at the front. His gaze swept over the assembled alchemists, weighing each in turn.

And this… he knew was the time. The City Lord would be announcing the winner. Chen Ren looked at where Yalan and his group were and shifted his focus back to the man who was preparing to speak.

“Like last year,” Bai Huiqin began, voice carrying easily across the square, “this year’s trials have shown us that when given a platform, exceptional alchemists will rise. And now, your names are known to everyone in the city.” He paused, letting the crowd take in the words. “Sadly, the trials can only have one winner… and for the first time in years, I find myself truly stumped on who to choose.”

A ripple of anticipation moved through the crowd.

“All the pills presented today,” he continued, “would be highly sought after by cultivators across the empire. I daresay even our glorious Emperor, would take an interest in hearing of them.”

At the mention of the Emperor, the crowd erupted into cheers. The City Lord smiled faintly, then lifted a hand, and the square slowly fell back into silence.

“But,” Bai Huiqin said, letting the anticipation hang in the air, “the one pill that is truly unique—one I believe even the Emperor himself would not only hear of, but wish to try—is…”

He paused just long enough for the crowd to lean forward.

“I believe some of you have already guessed it. It is the Bloodroot Ascension Pill, crafted by the young Sect Leader of the Divine Coin Sect. The alchemist who impressed me the most… and the one who deserves to wear the crown this year.”

The words landed like a spark in dry grass.

The stadium erupted into the loudest cheer of the day. Yet around Chen Ren, everything seemed to slow, the roar of the crowd muffled to a dull thrum in his ears.

He couldn’t even process it himself before reactions burst around him.

Tau Liu practically tackled him in an embrace, laughing and shouting with unrestrained excitement. Yeqing, slumped to the ground, staring at the dirt as though his fate had just been sealed. Ningkai stood frozen, eyes fixed on Chen Ren as if he hadn’t heard correctly.

Even the Darkmoon Sect Leader couldn’t hide the grimace tugging at his face, though he still clapped along with the other officials, the motion stiff and mechanical. Chen Ren doubted this was the outcome the man had been planning for. With City Lord Bai Huiqin openly declaring him the winner, removing the Divine Coin Sect from the city would no longer be a quiet matter—it would draw too much attention, too many questions.

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Chen Ren let his gaze linger on the man for a heartbeat before turning toward the stage.

Step by step, he advanced, the cheers swelling with each pace.

When he finally reached the City Lord, he offered a deep, steady bow.

City Lord Bai Huiqin stepped forward, resting a firm hand on Chen Ren’s shoulder.

An official hurried up, cradling a small trophy shaped like a cauldron. The City Lord took it, weighing it briefly in his palm before meeting Chen Ren’s gaze.

“There is no one here more deserving of this than you,” he said, and then extended the trophy toward him.

Chen Ren accepted it with both hands and, without hesitation, raised it high.

If there was one thing he understood, it was how to face a crowd. Turning slowly, he presented the trophy to each section of the stands. Each time he did, that section erupted in cheers and applause, the noise rolling over him like waves, giving goosebumps.

Everyone loved a winner, especially one who had broken the streak of a sect that had dominated for years. Darkmoon Sect’s grip on the trials had been so tight that it had bred quiet resentment without anyone truly noticing. And now, Chen Ren was the perfect figure for that resentment to rally behind.

Only once the noise began to settle did he lower the trophy and glance down at it. The moment his fingers brushed its surface, he knew—it wasn’t ordinary metal. It was qi-conductive. That alone made it valuable enough to keep or melt down with Feiyu’s help to forge a weapon. Qi-conductive materials were the only kind capable of becoming true spirit weapons, and a weapon like that would be a considerable boost to his strength.

And this was just the first reward. He’d also be receiving bags of herbs and rare materials—he didn’t have the full list, but the City Lord wouldn’t give out common stock. Then there were the thousand low-grade spirit stones, enough to wipe out Jadefire Hall’s debt entirely with the added profits from the shop.

But the true prize… would be the mid tier Earth grade cauldron.

It was the standard prize for all the trials, but Chen Ren knew it would give Jadefire Hall the push it needed.

As he stood there, trophy still in hand, the City Lord glanced at him. “Do you have anything to say to the crowd?”

Chen Ren looked from the City Lord to the sea of roaring faces. Before he could speak, Yalan’s voice curled through his mind. “

Wang Jun wants you to thank him publicly.”

Of course. Wang Jun wants that, and well… He deserves it. I won’t be here without him afterall.

A grin tugged at his lips. He gave the City Lord a nod, then straightened, drawing in a breath. Qi surged into his voice as he projected it across the square.

“I don’t have many words to give here,” he began, his tone carrying easily over the fading cheers. “I would like to thank everyone of the Divine Coin Sect, especially Elder Hun Tianzhi, and Elder Wang Jun, who helped train me in the alchemical arts.”

He let the gratitude settle for a moment before continuing, “But… I also have a big announcement to make.”

The noise in the crowd dipped, curiosity pulling them forward. Chen Ren waited for a heartbeat, letting the anticipation build, before speaking again.

“In celebration of the Divine Coin Sect’s victory at the Flames of Merit Trials, there will be a thirty percent discount on all pills! So make sure to visit the Divine Pill Apothecary—you can’t miss it! Divine Pill Apothecary is the home of the tastiest pills!”

A ripple of laughter and surprised cheers went through the stands.

The City Lord blinked at him, as if he couldn’t quite believe Chen Ren had used the winner’s platform for advertising. But Chen Ren only smiled wider. And he couldn’t stop it.

He had won the trial—cheating or not—and just promoted his business to the entire city and beyond without spending a single spirit stone.

There were few days better than this.

***

Chen Ren’s better days seemed to have ended with the trials. The moment the cheers faded, reality returned, and it came with a vengeance.

He had either severely underestimated how many cultivators had been watching… or overestimated how prepared the shop was to handle them.

Not even an hour later, the Divine Pill Apothecary was packed wall-to-wall. Customers jostled shoulder to shoulder, the air thick with chatter and the scent of freshly brewed pills. Everyone wanted a taste of the famed flavored pills, and many placed orders for the Bloodroot Ascension Pill from the final round. They had to be turned away—Chen Ren wasn’t selling that one yet—but the refusal hardly dented demand.

There was no time to celebrate. Tau Liu and the others didn’t even linger, they sprinted back to Jadefire Hall to bring in more stock before the shelves went bare. By the pace they were moving, they’d be sold out before evening.

Chen Ren planted himself at the counter, greeting customers, handing out pills, and taking spirit stones in rapid succession. Within two hours, the counter was buried in payments, and he had to start sending them straight to the storage at the back.

The name Divine Pill Apothecary was everywhere—talked loudly in alleyways, shouted in markets, carried on the wind. Even wealthy mortals began arriving, eager to try the famed flavored pills. By the second day, the crowds had only thinned slightly, forcing round-the-clock production. Chen Ren could keep up, but the mortal staff were already exhausted beyond reason.

It was… quite the experience. But before he could even catch a breath, the shop door swung open again. Chen Ren didn’t think much of it—another customer, another sale. He put on his best merchant’s smile.

“Welcome to the Divine Pill Apothecary,” he said warmly. “We have all kinds of pills for you to—”

His words halted mid-sentence.

Even through the packed shop, he recognized those robes instantly. That bearing. That presence.

Sect Leader Gao Moyue of the Darkmoon Sect had just stepped through his door. And he hadn’t come to buy pills. Chen Ren was sure of that.

***

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