Chapter 597: Bloody Snowy Night

Cheng Yuan’s attention was always on his wife. Seeing Lin Ruoxi’s expression change, he hurried over and asked with some concern, “Ruoxi, what’s wrong?”

Not wanting to disturb the cheering crowd, Lin Ruoxi pulled Cheng Yuan out of the workshop. Shi Shengli quickly followed in their footsteps.

“Cheng Yuan, Manager Shi just told me we’re getting feedback from our retailers. The health benefits of the Lingxi Health Beverage are getting weaker and weaker, and it might affect our reputation.”

Cheng Yuan couldn’t help but frown. “That shouldn’t be happening. When I came back last night, I checked the Spirit Gathering Array around the Spiritual Well. The array is working fine, and the Spiritual Qi in the well is normal. There shouldn’t be any issue with the Lingxi Health Beverage!”

Lin Ruoxi didn’t understand the reason either, and she subconsciously turned to look at Shi Shengli.

Shi Shengli quickly explained, “It’s like this: customers drinking the Lingxi beverage for the first time experience excellent health benefits. But after multiple repeat purchases, the effects become weaker and weaker. According to some loyal customers who’ve bought it more than ten times, the benefits are now almost negligible.”

Cheng Yuan’s expression relaxed slightly. “That’s perfectly normal. It just means those loyal customers’ bodies have been improved by the Spiritual Qi to their limit, so it now has a negligible effect on them.”

Lin Ruoxi started to get anxious. “If our loyal customers are having a worse experience, I’m afraid our Lingxi Health Beverage’s reputation will…”

Cheng Yuan grinned. “Ruoxi, don’t worry. We just need to add a bit more Medicinal Power to the Lingxi Health Beverage.”

Lin Ruoxi asked with a smile, “Does that mean we need to increase the strength of the Spirit Gathering Array? Just tell me what materials you need, and I’ll go gather them right away.”

Cheng Yuan grinned and took out a Small Jade Bottle. “No need to go to all that trouble. We just have to add some Rejuvenation Pills to the well water.”

Lin Ruoxi asked doubtfully, “Is such a small bottle of Rejuvenation Pills enough?”

Cheng Yuan grinned. “Ruoxi, don’t underestimate this small bottle. At Yuanxi’s current production rate, this can last for a whole month!”

After a pause, Cheng Yuan added, “Yuanxi could develop an advanced version of the health beverage! Only loyal customers who’ve bought it more than ten times would be eligible to purchase it.”

Lin Ruoxi’s eyes lit up. “Cheng Yuan, you’re a business genius! How did you come up with such a brilliant marketing strategy?”

Cheng Yuan scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. ‘This isn’t a marketing strategy.’ He had formulated the sales plan from a doctor’s perspective.

Only a body already transformed by Spiritual Qi could properly absorb the Medicinal Power of the Rejuvenation Pill; otherwise, much of its power would go to waste.

Of course, Cheng Yuan wasn’t about to explain any of that.

‘Wasn’t it a good thing to let his wife think he was amazing?’

Lin Ruoxi was a woman of action. She grabbed Cheng Yuan and started walking. “Let’s go to the R&D department and figure out the right ratio for the Rejuvenation Pill.”

「The Jinling Yang Family Estate」

White mourning silks hung everywhere, and a somber, mournful atmosphere permeated every corner of the Yang Family estate.

The Jinling Yang Family, true to their name as a Hundred-Year-Old Gate Valve, had not been broken by the setback of the discipleship ceremony.

The Yang Family disciples turned their shame into courage, each and every one of them training harder than ever in their Cultivation!

All the Yang Family disciples swore an oath that one day, they would return every bit of the humiliation Cheng Yuan had inflicted upon the Jinling Yang Family!

After finishing their morning exercises, Yang Jian and Yu Fanghua had restored their Essence, Qi, and Spirit. Full of vigor, they arrived at the training grounds to instruct the disciples in their Cultivation.

Watching the disciples train so diligently, Yu Fanghua suddenly said, “Jian, the disciples are working so hard. We can’t hold anything back. Let’s take all the Tiger and Wolf Medicine and Three Patterns Essence Enhancement Pills out of our Treasury!”

Yang Jian was taken aback. Yu Fanghua had always been a miser; only when disciples accomplished a great feat, or on a particularly special occasion, would she ever bestow Three Patterns Essence Enhancement Pills as a reward.

‘What had gotten into her today?’

As if sensing Yang Jian’s confusion, Yu Fanghua said with resentment, “Yesterday was a day of utter humiliation for our Jinling Yang Family! Without enough strength, we can’t even protect our own Treasury! If Huangfu Yanyi had decided to empty the Treasury by force, could you have stopped him?”

Yang Jian fell silent, clenching his fists. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew it was true. He couldn’t have stopped him.

Yu Fanghua continued, “So, a foundation we can’t protect isn’t worth a damn! We might as well give everything to the disciples! Perhaps then, a few promising talents will emerge from our Jinling Yang Family!”

“Fanghua, your foresight is greater than mine. I’ll do as you say. We’ll take out all the Tiger and Wolf Medicine and all the Elixirs and distribute them to the disciples!”

Soon, Yu Fanghua and Yang Jian led a group into the Treasury, emptying it of all its high-quality medicinal ingredients and Elixirs and moving everything to the training grounds.

For a moment, the disciples were stunned, unsure of what the Matriarch and the Second Grand Master intended to do.

Yang Jian took two steps forward, his gaze chilling as he scanned the Yang Family disciples. He asked in a deep voice, “Disciples of the Yang Family, yesterday was a day of utter humiliation for the Jinling Yang Family! Will you accept this? Will you stand for it?”

“We won’t accept it!”

“We won’t stand for it!”

The Yang Family disciples roared with fury!

Yang Jian bellowed, “Then what must be done?”

“We will train hard in our Cultivation! We will kill Cheng Yuan and demand justice from the Old Dragon King!”

Yang Jian nodded in satisfaction. “Very good! This is the true blood of the Jinling Yang Family! To every disciple of the Jinling Yang Family’s direct line: you will each receive ten portions of Tiger and Wolf Medicine and one bottle of Three Patterns Essence Enhancement Pills!”

The Yang Family disciples instantly went wild!

“Long live the Second Grand Master! Long live the Matriarch!”

“Rest assured, Second Grand Master and Matriarch! We will train hard in our Cultivation and sooner or later, we will take Cheng Yuan’s dog head!”

Soon, the Tiger and Wolf Medicine and the Elixirs were distributed.

The disciples excitedly opened the boxes containing the medicinal ingredients, and a series of shocked gasps echoed across the training grounds.

“It’s an empty box!”

“Mine is empty too! Where are the ingredients?”

“What’s going on? Why are so many boxes empty?”

“Huh, my box actually has something in it…”

Yang Jian froze, then hurried forward to inspect them. It was true—many of the boxes were empty. About eighty percent of them!

Yang Jian was practically seething with rage. “Damn it! That bastard Cheng Yuan must be behind this! How did he manage to take so many of the ingredients?”

The Matriarch’s insight was deeper than Yang Jian’s. She said in a low voice, “Jian, do you remember that woman from decades ago?”

Yang Jian’s pupils contracted slightly.

Decades ago, a mysterious woman had suddenly appeared in the Ancient Martial Realm. She was exceptionally beautiful, and her skill in Alchemy was formidable.

Most astonishing of all was her ability to retrieve objects out of thin air!

Many people concluded that she must possess a Spatial Magical Artifact!

Quite a few people coveted the woman’s Spatial Magical Artifact and made moves against her in secret.

But to everyone’s surprise, the woman was incredibly powerful, and all who acted against her in the shadows died by her hand!

After that, rumors began to spread through the Ancient Martial Realm, painting this Demoness as a merciless female demon who killed without batting an eye.

At the call of a prominent leader, two hundred Ancient Martial Arts masters arranged to ambush and kill the female demon!

On a stormy, snowy night, while the female demon was in labor, the two hundred masters of Ancient Martial Arts attacked all at once!

The battle that followed shook the heavens and the earth; it was utterly brutal!

In the end, the female demon, grievously wounded, fell from a cliff, her fate unknown.

Over a hundred of the Ancient Martial Arts masters were killed or wounded—nearly half of their number!

That night would later be known by posterity as—the “Bloody Snowy Night”!