Chapter 318: Indirectly Saving the Nation

Facing Gu Zhangkong's doubts, Jiang Cheng showed no hesitation and nodded outright.

Yang Chun, seeing this, also spoke up for Jiang Cheng: "Supervisor, Jiang Lao Di achieved, in less than half a month, a leap from never having entered Alchemy Technique to the Great Completion level. This talent is unique among us. I believe raising his Alchemy Technique from Great Completion to the Perfect Realm is only a matter of time for him. Moreover, even if Jiang Lao Di is still refining ten batches at a time, the profit is already considerable."

"Hmm."

Gu Zhangkong nodded.

"That may be so, but I still cannot grant the request you just made."

He turned his gaze back to Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng's pupils contracted slightly.

Nevertheless, he still wanted to argue further.

For him, there was never any need to start by refining Spirit Nourishing Pills; in fact, it would be best to begin by learning to refine Three-grade Elixirs. If it were Fourth-grade, then Fourth-grade—higher is always better.

But the Black Market isn't his parents; even if it were, they wouldn't let him squander so recklessly. So he must settle for the next best thing, starting with the most basic First-grade Elixirs and gradually earning the Black Market's attention.

Now, having almost achieved that goal, the method to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills from Great Completion to the Perfect Realm is within reach, and the Alchemy Technique for Second Grade An Shen Pill is probably already at the Entry stage.

Once the Alchemy Technique for Calming Pill is perfected, his Spiritual Power will rise as fast as a rocket.

"I know what you're getting at."

Gu Zhangkong reached out, cutting off Jiang Cheng's next words.

"Calming Pill is a Second-grade Elixir, unlike Spirit Nourishing Pill which is a First-grade Elixir; fundamentally, the cost is too high."

"Spirit Nourishing Pill, using your method, costs only fifty thousand yuan for ten portions of ingredients. Even if you take a loss, it's nothing. Now that your Alchemy Technique has reached Great Completion, you won't lose money, so Lao Yang and I are willing to keep supplying you with ample ingredients so you can push toward the Perfect Realm. But what about Calming Pill?"

He shook his head.

"With ten portions of ingredients, even if you refine ten High-grade Calming Pills, you still can't break even. To break even you must produce Top Grade Calming Pills, which, comparable in effect to a Third Grade Initial Xing Shen Pill, fetch a market price of one hundred thousand yuan each. You'd need to make two or three of them,"

"In other words, we must keep investing until your Calming Pill Alchemy Technique reaches Great Completion. The money required isn't a few hundred or thousand million, but several, even tens of billions."

"Supervisor, what if I could also elevate my Calming Pill refining skill to the Perfect Realm?"

Jiang Cheng once again sketched out a plan.

"In that case, even if ten portions of ingredients yield one batch of Top Grade Calming Pills, the ingredient cost is only five hundred thousand yuan, while ten Top Grade Calming Pills fetch a market price of one million yuan, giving a profit of five hundred thousand yuan per batch."

"Of course, refining Second-grade Elixirs takes more time and effort than First-grade ones. I am currently only a Level 1 Spirit Mind Practitioner, so I might only be able to refine three batches a day. Even so, daily profit would be fifteen hundred thousand yuan, amounting to forty to fifty million yuan a month. In that situation, even if I owed a few hundred million to a few billion, paying it off wouldn't be difficult, right?"

Yang Chun listened, glanced at Gu Zhangkong, then at Jiang Cheng, and then looked back at Gu Zhangkong, looking as if he wanted to speak but held back.

【5】 Obviously, he was still quite tempted by what he heard.

Obviously, he was still very moved after hearing it.

Creating forty to fifty million yuan of profit for the Black Market in a month would rival the output of three or four Sixth Rank Alchemical Masters.

Gu Zhangkong admitted that Jiang Cheng's words were indeed tempting, and even he felt a stir of interest.

But as the supervisor here, his burden is heavier than anyone else's, and he must consider not only profit but also risk.

Investing several hundred million in a single person, if something goes wrong, he couldn't account for it to his superiors.

Thus, after a brief silence, he still shook his head.

"First bring your Spirit Nourishing Pill refining skill up to the Perfect Realm. If you achieve that, I'll reconsider your proposal."

Hearing this, Yang Chun let out a sigh.

Having spent over ten years with Gu Zhangkong.

He knows this man's temperament well. Since he's already made his decision, it won't change; in other words, the two of them alone can't overturn it.

"Jiang Lao Di."

He offered comfort: "You can take this as the supervisor's test of you. If, after some time, your Alchemy Technique truly reaches perfection, I believe the supervisor will certainly agree to you."

Gu Zhangkong said nothing and made no move.

Jiang Cheng, seeing this, felt an unavoidable disappointment.

If they kept tangling over this topic, it would likely end unpleasantly for everyone.

But as the saying goes, since they're already here—especially the highest‑ranking person in the Black Market before them—

Since a direct approach won't work, they'll have to save the nation indirectly.

"Supervisor, I understand your point. From now on I'll continue refining Spirit Nourishing Pills. At my current level, using ten portions of ingredients I can reliably produce ten Top Grade Spirit Nourishing Pills. I'll hand over all the pills I refine, aiming to repay the previous debt as soon as possible."

"Hmm."

Gu Zhangkong gave a slight nod.

A friendly smile also appeared on Yang Chun's face.

"Only, supervisor, my Spiritual Power is still too low. At present, six batches a day is my limit, which yields less than ten million yuan profit for the Black Market each month,"

"If my Spiritual Power were to double, reaching Level 2 Spirit Mind Practitioner, I think the profit could also double, and refining higher‑grade elixirs would become much easier afterward."

Hearing this, the two exchanged a glance, both grasping Jiang Cheng's underlying meaning.

"So you want me to advance you some Spiritual Power‑restoring pills so you can quickly reach Level 2 Spirit Mind Practitioner?" Gu Zhangkong asked.

"Yes."

Jiang Cheng nodded repeatedly.

"I have a premonition that I'm on the verge of a breakthrough; I'm only missing a few pills to achieve it smoothly."

"How many do you need?"

Yang Chun felt a bit uneasy.

After all, he was the one who brought Jiang Cheng here, only for it to be in vain.

Jiang Cheng extended two fingers.

"Two million?"

Yang Chun gave an unconcerned smile.

"Just two million? No need to tell the supervisor. I could handle that myself, and with his current refining level, the two‑million debt could be repaid in a few days."

"Brother Yang, it's not two million."

Jiang Cheng smiled faintly, "It's twenty million."

Yang Chun's smile on his face froze instantly.

The atmosphere in the living room also fell silent again.

(End of chapter)