Chapter 440

Xia Hong took out three small porcelain bottles from his satchel.

The first bottle contained a pill with a deep red, bloodlike exterior.

“Washing Meridian Pill—it’s an advanced version of Blood Ginseng Pill. No need to pair it with any technique; just take it alone to cleanse meridian impurities and enhance blood and Qi circulation.”

Blood Ginseng Pill is a product of Muyin Town, not an ordinary cultivation pill, but an essential auxiliary for cultivating the Murong clan’s secret Twelve Blood Meridian Art.

Right after the Hongmen Banquet in the eighth year of Da Xia, Xia Hong went to Muyin Town and obtained this technique; back then, he was puzzled—despite Muyin’s dependence on Da Xia, Murong the Sinking had agreed too readily, handing over his clan’s deepest secret without hesitation.

Only later, upon learning the technique required Blood Ginseng Pill, and that Muyin had sold it to him at 180,000 taels of silver per pill, did he finally understand—he laughed at himself, realizing he’d been scammed by Murong the Sinking’s pig-slaughtering scheme.

Of course, Muyin Town only profited from this for a year and change.

After last year’s Master Cheng Feng developed the Blood Ginseng Pill formula, Da Xia stopped being such a fool.

Cleansing meridian impurities; improving blood and Qi circulation efficiency.

The former purifies and unblocks meridians, unlocking the body’s potential and slightly boosting strength; the latter directly accelerates cultivation speed.

The clearest proof of the Twelve Blood Meridian Art and Blood Ginseng Pill’s importance is Li Xuan’s cultivation speed—without these two, he could never have broken through to Xianyang Level so quickly.

And now, the Washing Meridian Pill in my hand can directly replace both.

“Not just replace—I already tested it in the Treasure Pavilion’s quiet chamber. The Washing Meridian Pill’s nature is gentle, automatically flowing through all meridians, yet its potency exceeds Blood Ginseng Pill by more than tenfold. That means I can use it alongside the Twelve Blood Meridian Art, and the effect may be several times stronger than taking them separately…”

Xia Hong’s expression stirred with eagerness—whether boosting strength or cultivation speed, both were his most urgent concerns, and the Washing Meridian Pill was the first major surprise the Treasure Pavilion had given him.

“Next, the Burning Bone Pill!”

Xia Hong then opened the second porcelain bottle, which held only one pill—its interior milky white, its outer surface densely patterned with magma-like veins, radiating intense heat.

“It can boost a Xianyang-level cultivator’s strength by fifty percent at their limit, sustaining it for about three days. Even if you factor in the two side effects… no, even considering them, it’s still unquestionably a divine pill.”

A fifty-percent strength boost at the limit—while not guaranteeing victory over a strong foe, it drastically increases chances of escape. For a Xianyang-level cultivator, a pill like this to ensure survival deserves the title of divine pill.

The Burning Bone Pill’s first side effect is its potent poison, which targets the bones and is incurable—only slow metabolism through normal cultivation can remove it, a process lasting over ten years.

The second is massive depletion of bone marrow, which is the core substance for Xianyang-level advancement; once consumed, it severely hampers future cultivation speed, and the impact lasts twice as long as the poison’s metabolism—roughly twenty years.

“Hindering cultivation speed? That means it can’t be used casually—only in extreme situations to save one’s life. Burning Bone Pill… Burning Bone… oddly fitting.”

Thinking of the two side effects, Xia Hong paused briefly, then returned the pill to its bottle and opened the third porcelain bottle, pouring out a golden pill.

The pill radiated golden spiritual light, its surface coiled with nine black rock-like veins; as soon as it was revealed, the temperature of the main hall rose rapidly.

“Exactly as I suspected—there really is a nine-vein version. The name’s different though: Cai Qiu calls it Tui Gu Pill. Lower grade has three veins, middle grade six, and only the upper grade has nine—this is a Xianyang-level cultivation pill.”

Xia Hong stared at the upper-grade Tui Gu Pill in his hand, his eyes blazing with hunger.

Da Xia currently has only two pills for Xianyang-level cultivation: Ning Gu Pill and Ju Gu Pill. The former’s main ingredient is Jade Bone—the bones of high-grade cold beasts; the latter’s main ingredient is Silver Bone—the bones of beast-king-level cold beasts.

When Ju Gu Pill was first developed, he suspected a nine-vein version might exist; this upper-grade Tui Gu Pill confirmed his guess.

“Its main ingredient is Gold Bone—also beast-king-level cold beast bones. If so, then beast-kings can evolve through cultivation, transforming their bones from silver to gold…”

Beast-king bones aren’t just silver—they have a higher grade: gold.

Previously, in the Jiuzhen region, all beast-kings Xia Hong hunted had silver bones; he didn’t know this until, during his four months in Changqing Valley, he hunted five beast-kings and discovered two of the strongest had gold bones.

After stowing the Tui Gu Pill in his satchel, Xia Hong frowned slightly and sighed:

“Assuming the identity of a Qin prince to ride on his coattails has many advantages, but also many drawbacks—I can’t buy things freely, must always act aloof everywhere, terrified of exposing my fraud; as for asking about Qianshen and Zunxiang-level experts? Forget it…”

Xia Hong shook his head slightly—not regretful. Gain comes with loss; when he chose to fabricate a grand background in Changqing Valley, he’d already anticipated this. After all, no matter how vital intelligence gathering is, it can’t outweigh personal safety.

Though he couldn’t ask directly, he could still infer some of Cai Qiu’s conditions through indirect clues—like pill prices.

“I bought ten Washing Meridian Pills at 250,000 taels each; one Burning Bone Pill at 490,000 taels; twenty upper-grade Tui Gu Pills at 200,000 taels each. Judging solely by these three pills’ prices, Cai Qiu’s cost of living is likely on par with Da Xia’s—no major difference. That’s… interesting.”

Da Xia’s current total territory spans over 23,000 square kilometers, with a population of 2.8 million.

According to what Xia Hong has learned, Cai Qiu’s total territory is 150,000 square kilometers—let’s even underestimate it as 6.5 times Da Xia’s; its population is over 18 million, nearly matching the 6.5-fold ratio.

If calculated this way, equal price levels between the two seem plausible.

But think deeper—it’s clearly not true.

Xia Hong lived in Changqing Valley for over four months, hunted frequently, and observed many village camps; without exaggeration, Changqing Valley’s conditions would rank as above-average in Jiuzhen.

Excluding population quality, Xia Hong even believes that, aside from Da Xia, all other eight towns’ conditions fall short of Changqing Valley’s.

And Changqing Valley is merely one of Cai Qiu’s most neglected regions.

Thus, Cai Qiu’s resource endowment must far exceed Da Xia’s—6.5 times is certainly an understatement.

Second, resource endowment is only one factor; more important is the ability to acquire resources, which directly correlates with population size.

More people mean more resources acquired; with a large enough base, more cultivators emerge, and thus more high-tier and top-tier resources are secured—this is easy to understand.

So here’s the key question: why does Cai Qiu, with superior resources, larger population, and higher average cultivation levels, have the same price level as Da Xia?

“This Six-Tier Registration System must be deeply flawed—likely due to extreme imbalance in population ratios among the tiers, causing grossly unfair resource distribution, completely blocking upward mobility for the lower classes, and wasting vast amounts of manpower and materials…”

Recalling his four-month observations in Changqing Valley, plus what he’d glimpsed after entering the city, Xia Hong immediately saw Cai Qiu’s core flaw.

Leaving other issues aside, using Yuhans to pull carts—this would be unimaginable in Jiuzhen.

The carriage carrying Meng Ya, the young mistress, was pulled by thirty Yuhans—even if all thirty were ordinary Yuhans, it was an absurd waste of manpower.

In Changqing Valley’s population of over a million, fewer than six thousand were officially registered as civilians or higher; according to the Hu brothers’ account, the rest of the Yuhans were either of low caste or slave status, or unregistered—completely excluded from Cai Qiu’s records.

“Only those registered are officially under Cai Qiu’s jurisdiction—but the bottom two tiers of the six-tier system barely qualify as human.”

Civilians may hunt and gather freely anywhere, paying only 30% of their gains to the state, keeping the rest for themselves—sell or trade as they wish; the military tier fares better, paying only 20%.

Those registered as slaves cannot hunt or gather alone—they must accompany their masters, and all gains belong to the master; however, by common unwritten rule, masters usually give back 30%.

Those registered as low caste fare worse—they may only hunt or gather when hired by others; private hunting or gathering is forbidden—if caught, it is a grave crime: all goods are confiscated, and imprisonment awaits.

Even so, some still choose to register as low caste or slave status—proving that being unregistered brings even harsher oppression.

As for Cai Qiu’s core governance methods, there are two:

First, the extreme monetization of silver. Cai Qiu’s silver trade is highly developed—whether for cultivation resources, labor hiring, or daily necessities like food, clothing, shelter, everything is priced in silver. Without silver, you can’t move an inch. The fanchen controls all silver mines within its borders; private mining is a crime punishable by clan extermination.

Second, absolute control over cultivation resources. All pills, spirit wines, and other cultivation-related materials usable by Yuhan-level cultivators can only be purchased at the Treasure Pavilions in each city. Even the spirit plants used to brew these pills are forbidden from public circulation; private brewing, if caught, is also a clan-extermination crime—let alone selling them abroad…