manynovel Chapter 32: 99% Rare Items!
Chapter 32: 99% Rare Items!
Notting College, at the entrance of the cafeteria.
Li Fulan set up a wooden sign nearby, found a relatively flat wooden board, and wrote a line of large characters in ink with a flourish:
"Li's specially made Spirit Gathering Pills enhance the speed of soul power cultivation. Genuine and trustworthy, 10 gold soul coins per pill."
The words were written in an extremely arrogant manner, especially the four characters "Ten Gold Soul Coins," which were deliberately highlighted with cinnabar and shone like two lanterns under the sun, making one's eyes hurt.
"Ten gold soul coins? Is this guy out of his mind?"
A student carrying a lunchbox stopped in his tracks, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
"Exactly! Even robbery isn't done like this." His companion chimed in, "I buy the best Qi-tonifying powder at the city pharmacy for just one gold soul coin a packet, and it even comes with a little spoon."
"Who is this guy? I've never seen him before."
"I think her name is Li Fulan. She's from the work-study program, right? I heard she was quite well-behaved when she first enrolled, always working quietly without saying a word. Why is she suddenly doing this?"
"They're probably desperate for money and want to make a quick buck and run away."
"Hey, you know what, what if some unsuspecting person actually falls for it?"
The students huddled in small groups around the stall, pointing and whispering, but not a single one bought anything. Ten gold soul coins were an absolute fortune for these kids still in their early soul master academy. They were lucky to get three to five gold soul coins a month in pocket money; who would be willing to throw away two or three months' worth of money on pills of dubious origin?
Even the aristocratic students from wealthy families stood on the periphery watching the spectacle, none of them venturing forward.
Li Fulan sat on a small stool, fanning himself with a tattered palm-leaf fan. The fan was cracked at the edges and made a rustling sound when he fanned himself. He paid no attention to the discussions around him, glancing at the clouds in the sky and the cicadas in the trees, looking as leisurely as if he were taking a stroll.
His gaze would occasionally sweep across the crowd, a faint smile playing on his lips.
He is waiting.
Waiting for someone who knows its value, or... someone who can't resist finding fault.
Hey, it actually came.
Before long, the crowd was roughly pushed aside, like pulling up weeds.
"Make way! What are you all doing here? Blocking the door and preventing people from eating?"
Wang Sheng shouted at the top of his lungs, leading a few work-study students as they squeezed in. Behind him followed Tang San and Xiao Wu. Tang San had a gloomy expression, while Xiao Wu looked around curiously at the lively scene.
Yu Xiaogang is still unconscious from his serious injuries. Tang San has been in a bad mood for the past month, acting like someone owes him eight hundred strings of cash, and he doesn't give anyone a friendly look. Although Xiao Wu is still as lively as ever, she doesn't dare to be too presumptuous in front of Tang San, and can only silently accompany him, occasionally teasing him a little, but to no avail.
"Hey, isn't this Li Fulan?"
Tang San stopped in front of the stall, his gaze sweeping over the wooden sign, his brow furrowing. Then his eyes fell on the twelve small porcelain bottles, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
That's an arrogance ingrained in one's bones.
The arrogance of a direct descendant of the Tang Clan, the arrogance of someone who has lived two lives, the arrogance of someone with innate full soul power.
In his eyes, this kind of behavior of selling "miracle drugs" at street stalls is no different from that of a swindler.
"Spirit Gathering Pill? To increase the speed of soul power cultivation?"
Tang San sneered. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone around him could hear him clearly.
"Li Fulan, aren't you exaggerating a bit? As far as I know, even the royal pharmacists of the two great empires wouldn't dare guarantee they could concoct a drug that directly increases cultivation speed. What makes you, a mere part-time student, think you can?"
He took two steps forward, casually picked up a small porcelain bottle, and weighed it in his hand, his posture very casual, as if he were weighing a stone picked up by the roadside.
"Ten gold soul coins? I think you're greedy. This kind of stuff of dubious origin, even if you gave it to me for free, I'd probably get a stomachache from it."
The other part-time students around burst into laughter.
Wang Sheng added fuel to the fire with a sarcastic tone: "Third Brother is right! This guy usually seems honest and reliable, but it turns out he's a liar. Everyone should see through him and not fall for his tricks!"
After he finished speaking, he winked at the crowd, with a "See, I told you this kid wasn't a good person" look on his face.
Li Fulan remained seated on the stool, only stopping the fanning herself.
He glanced at Tang San indifferently, his eyes as calm as a stagnant pool.
"Tang San, whether something is good or not isn't determined by words."
He reached out and took the porcelain bottle back from Tang San's hand. His movements were slow, but Tang San didn't react in time. By the time he came to his senses, the bottle was already back in Li Fulan's hand.
Li Fulan gently uncorked the bottle.
呲——
A rich and pure medicinal fragrance instantly filled the air.
The aroma was completely different from ordinary tonics; it wasn't pungent or overpowering, but rather carried a fresh, herbal scent, like the aroma wafting from a mountain forest after rain, mixed with a touch of indescribable vibrancy. One whiff and your whole being would feel invigorated, as if something had cleansed your chest, leaving you feeling incredibly comfortable.
Several students with keen soul power perception even discovered that the soul power within their bodies was slightly agitated, as if it were being attracted by something.
The surrounding laughter abruptly stopped.
Tang San's expression changed slightly.
Having studied poisons and hidden weapons at the Tang Sect since childhood, his ability to identify herbs far surpasses that of his peers, and even exceeds that of many adult Soul Masters. This medicinal fragrance... is definitely not something that ordinary tonics can produce.
That sense of purity, that distinctly layered fragrance, that quality that stirs the soul with just one sniff...
Is this fucking real?
impossible!
Tang San's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained unchanged, only his brows furrowed even more.
"Hmph, some things smell delicious, but eating them can be deadly."
He forced a smile and said coldly, then turned and grabbed Xiao Wu's wrist.
"Xiao Wu, let's go. Don't waste time on this kind of swindler."
"etc."
A crisp sound suddenly rang out.
The crowd parted automatically to make way for a boy dressed in an exquisite silk school uniform. He looked to be about eleven or twelve years old, holding an ivory folding fan in his hand. His face carried a touch of aristocratic reserve, but his eyes were full of undisguised curiosity and excitement.
"Young man, your medicine... really only costs ten gold soul coins?"
He strode to the stall, his eyes fixed on the opened porcelain bottle in Li Fulan's hand, forgetting to even blink.
Li Fulan glanced at him and recognized him as Zhang Wei, the son of a wealthy merchant in Notting City. Although his cultivation talent was average, only reaching level seven at twelve years old, his family was truly rich. Moreover, this kid had traveled all over the country with his father doing business since he was a child, so he was knowledgeable and discerning.
"Honest and fair dealings with both the young and the old."
Li Fulan said with a smile, and put the palm-leaf fan on the table.
"Ten gold soul coins, no bargaining."
"Only ten gold soul coins?!"
Zhang Wei's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, becoming as shrill as a duck's quack, startling everyone around him.
"Do you know how much a pill of this quality would sell for at the auction house in Heaven Dou City?!"
He was so excited that his face turned red and he could barely speak.
"Last time...last time my father took me to broaden my horizons, at the Royal Auction House, the biggest one there! A 'Qi Gathering Pill' of even lower quality than yours had a starting bid of one hundred gold soul coins! In the end, several major families went crazy bidding for it, and the final price was a full three hundred gold soul coins! Three hundred!"
"One hundred gold soul coins?!"
"three hundred?!"
The surrounding students were all stunned, their mouths agape as if they had seen a ghost.
Even Tang San, who was about to leave, stopped in his tracks, his expression freezing.
"You...you're telling the truth?"
Wang Sheng was dumbfounded. He looked at Zhang Wei, then at Li Fulan, his mouth agape for a long time, unable to close it.
Zhang Wei completely ignored him, pulled out a gold-plated Gold Soul Coin prepaid card from his pocket, and slammed it on the table with a loud bang, making the porcelain bottle shake.
"I'll take all twelve of these!"
His breathing quickened, and his eyes widened, as if afraid that Li Fulan would change her mind or that someone else would get there first.
"Wait."
Li Fulan extended a finger, gently pressed the stored-value card, and pushed it back.
"As a thank you to all students on our first day of business, we're limiting purchases to one per person."
He looked at Zhang Wei with a smile, speaking slowly and deliberately.
"This student, you can buy one. The rest need to be left for others; everyone gets some."
Zhang Wei was stunned for a moment, his expression as if he had swallowed a fly, but he quickly changed to a regretful look that said, "You're ruthless."
"Okay! One is fine! I want this one! This one!"
He pointed to the newly opened porcelain bottle in Li Fulan's hand, as if afraid that if he was a step too slow, someone else would snatch it away.
Pay in one hand and deliver in one hand.
Upon receiving the pill, Zhang Wei eagerly turned the bottle upside down, and a round pill rolled into his palm. The pill was milky white, with a smooth, jade-like surface and a faint glow; it was clearly no ordinary item.
Without saying a word, he tilted his head back, tossed it directly into his mouth.
Gudong.
The pill was swallowed.
Everyone held their breath, dozens of eyes fixed on Zhang Wei, not daring to breathe loudly.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Zhang Wei's face suddenly flushed red, as if he were holding his breath. Then, a faint, visible fluctuation of soul power appeared around his body!
"hiss--"
A collective gasp of astonishment rippled through the crowd.
Zhang Wei quickly sat cross-legged on the ground, not caring whether the ground was dirty or not, and closed his eyes to begin meditating.
It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
About ten minutes later.
Zhang Wei suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light, and his entire demeanor changed.
"Holy crap! This...this effect is absolutely amazing!"
He jumped up from the ground in excitement, his voice trembling, and he no longer cared about his aristocratic image.
"I've been stuck at level 9 for three months! Three months! After that last pill, I feel the bottleneck loosening! And my soul power circulation speed... at least, at least increased by 20%!"
"What?!"
"Twenty percent?! Really?"
"This is way too much!"
The crowd was in an uproar.
For a Soul Master, what does a 20% increase in cultivation speed mean? It means that what used to take five years to advance can now be accomplished in four! This is a genuine boost to talent! Something so many people dream of!
"I want to buy one too!"
"Give me one!"
"Brother Li! Master Li! Please, have mercy and sell me one!"
The students who had been watching the spectacle and mocking the stall suddenly went crazy, scrambling to get in front of it and crowding around the small wooden table.
Some people took out their money, some rummaged through their pockets, and some even ran back to their dormitories to get more. It was a complete mess.
Li Fulan remained seated on her small stool, slowly and methodically collecting money and dispensing medicine, selling each pill one by one, without any haste or impatience.
His gaze swept past the frenzied crowd and landed on Tang San not far away.
Tang San stood there, motionless, his face so gloomy it could drip water.
He stared intently at the porcelain vases that had been snapped up, his eyes filled not only with shock but also with an indescribable jealousy and resentment.
His proud Xuan Tian Gong, his proud knowledge of pharmacology, his insights from two lifetimes...
At this moment, it seemed as if everyone was being trampled underfoot by this usually inconspicuous work-study student.
"What? Tang San, won't you have one?"
Li Fulan shook the last porcelain bottle in her hand, a playful smile playing on her lips.
"As a classmate, I can give you a discount. Nine gold soul coins, how about that?"
Tang San clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
He snorted coldly, said nothing, and turned to leave.
The figure looked a little stiff, as if it was desperately suppressing some emotion.
Xiao Wu glanced at Li Fulan, then at Tang San's retreating figure. After hesitating for a moment, she finally stamped her foot and chased after him.
"Third Brother! Wait for me!"
There's only one pill left.
Li Fulan's gaze swept across the crowd, noticing a part-time worker standing by the stall, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.