“Ugh~” Zhang Xiaohua almost cursed out loud: “After dawdling the whole night, saying comforting words and painting big promises, it turns out it was all just a prelude. Sigh, Big Boss, was that really necessary? Do you even know how precious my time is? With just one rise and fall, who knows how many mysteries of the Heavenly Dao I could comprehend?”

However, the already mature Zhang Xiaohua still said with a beaming smile: “It seems to be something very important. Boss Chen, just say it. Although this little brother has only just arrived at Tianmu Peak for a day, your unparalleled leadership bearing and unmatched leadership ability have already deeply convinced me. As long as it’s not something too difficult, even if it means climbing a mountain of blades or plunging into a sea of fire, I am willing to handle it on your behalf.”

“Mm, a sea of fire is no problem—I have Fire Escape—but a mountain of blades might not work, I’d first need to find a Metal Escape technique. You can just take those words as talk for now.” Zhang Xiaohua muttered inwardly.

Chen Fengxiao looked somewhat embarrassed, rubbing his hands as he said, “Actually, it’s nothing particularly difficult, it’s just… this matter is a bit hard to say.”

Seeing Chen Fengxiao acting so awkwardly, Zhang Xiaohua felt a chill run down his spine and quickly shifted a few inches away as if nothing had happened. With a serious face, he said: “That’s not your usual style, Boss. If you stamp your foot here at Tianmu Peak, the whole mountain would tremble three times. What is there that can’t be brought out into the open?”

Chen Fengxiao thought for a moment, then still said: “Sigh, this really… really is embarrassing…”

Zhang Xiaohua was startled, then suddenly enlightened. Lowering his voice, he said: “What? Boss Chen, could it be that you’re displeased with Wu Dalang from the Pill Department and want this little brother to deal with him? Don’t say it, Big Boss, this matter is indeed a bit hard to bring up and somewhat embarrassing—but it’s understandable. Their Pill Department has suppressed our Herb Department for so long, and you’ve been holding things up single-handedly all this time. Although this matter is somewhat difficult and I might not necessarily handle it well, as long as you say the word, Boss, I will definitely go all out for you!”

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s resolute and heroic stance, Chen Fengxiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and quickly waved his hands: “Stop, stop, stop! Little brother, what are you thinking? This time I came only to ask you to transfer that ‘Jade Restoration Pill’ to me.”

This time, Zhang Xiaohua was truly stunned: “‘Jade Restoration Pill’? Transfer it?”

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s astonished expression, Chen Fengxiao gave a bitter smile: “Hehe, I knew it would be like this. Little brother, just pretend I never mentioned it.”

“Don’t, Boss, what are you saying? Isn’t it just a failed pill?” Zhang Xiaohua immediately put on a righteous expression, patted his chest, and said: “Besides, I just arrived at Tianmu Peak and have already caused you so much trouble, making you worry endlessly. There will be many matters in the future. Although this request of yours puts me in a difficult position—and I do need this pill—since you’ve spoken, how could I let your words fall to the ground? Forget a failed pill—even if it were a genuine ‘Jade Restoration Pill’, what would it matter if I gave it to you? Oh right, Boss Chen, how do you plan for me to transfer this pill to you?”

Chen Fengxiao was smiling as he listened to Zhang Xiaohua’s flattery, but when Zhang Xiaohua suddenly changed tone and brought up how the pill would be transferred, his thoughts couldn’t quite keep up. He froze for a moment. Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua inwardly cried that things were going wrong—he had overdone the flattery. If Chen Fengxiao didn’t offer a good price, what then?

Fortunately, Chen Fengxiao quickly came back to his senses and thought: “This fellow is quite pragmatic. Still, he’s from Spring Rebirth Valley—how would he know the marvels of this Jade Restoration Pill? Even a failed one is still a treasure.”

So Chen Fengxiao asked, “Then what kind of conditions would satisfy you, little brother, for transferring this pill?”

“This…” Zhang Xiaohua hesitated. He had no idea what exactly Chen Fengxiao valued about this “broken” pill, nor did he know what role the Jade Restoration Pill played within the Incense Spreading Sect. He could only cup his hands and say: “Boss, don’t make things difficult for me. Why don’t you just say what you have in mind? As long as it’s about right, I will certainly agree.”

He emphasized the words “about right”, confident that Chen Fengxiao would understand.

“Little brother, to tell you the truth, in these past years, our Herb Department at Tianmu Peak has been holding on with great difficulty. I don’t have any particularly rare pills on hand.” Seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s expression shift slightly, Chen Fengxiao quickly added: “But don’t worry, I can still come up with something worth fifty taels of gold.”

Zhang Xiaohua waved his hand generously and said: “Listen to you, Boss—even if you couldn’t produce something of equal value, as long as you ask, how could I refuse?”

“It’s enough that you have that sentiment. As your boss, how could I take advantage of you? It’s just that Wu Dalang suddenly brought out this Jade Restoration Pill this afternoon, which caught me completely off guard. So before the banquet even ended, I hurried over to give you a heads-up. I haven’t yet prepared the actual items to exchange.”

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua felt somewhat puzzled and asked in confusion: “If the Jade Restoration Pill is so important, how could Wu Dalang take it out as a stake? And it wasn’t even used as a wager in the gambling match—it was directly given to me as compensation. Don’t you think that’s strange, Big Boss?”

Chen Fengxiao nodded as well and said: “Exactly. To be honest with you, Wu Dalang came out from the banquet just now too—he was also heading to find you. On the way here together, I asked him about it. He’s also here for this Jade Restoration Pill. But no matter how I questioned him, since he values it so much, why would he take it out as a stake—he simply refused to say. However, judging from his regretful expression, he must have used this Jade Restoration Pill as bait, forcing you to put up the gold leaves as the wager.”

“Ah, I see,” Zhang Xiaohua said, beginning to understand. “Trying to be clever but ending up outsmarted—he thought he could win back the ‘Jade Restoration Pill’ in the first round, but instead fell into your trap, Big Boss. Now he can only wait until tomorrow to win it back. But clearly, he’s not confident about tomorrow, so he came to negotiate with me tonight?”

Chen Fengxiao nodded and said: “That should be the case. But don’t worry, little brother—I’ve already sent him away. Since the Jade Restoration Pill has fallen into the hands of our Herb Department, naturally we have the final say. What right does he have to speak anymore?”

Zhang Xiaohua also nodded, now understanding the earlier dispute between the two in the bamboo grove.

Chen Fengxiao continued: “One bottle each of Blood-Replenishing Pills, Blood-Coagulating Pills, Small Bone-Consolidating Pills, and Small Bone-Strengthening Pills—those are worth ten taels of gold. Let’s count one Jade Restoration Pill as forty taels. Little brother, I have fifteen bottles of pills similar to those I just mentioned. I’ll use them to exchange for your Jade Restoration Pill—what do you think? Oh, of course, if you agree, you can keep the pill for now. Early tomorrow morning, I’ll bring those pills over to you.”

Hearing these terms, Zhang Xiaohua was greatly disappointed. Frowning, he said: “With such generous conditions from you, Boss, how could I possibly refuse? It’s just… why not exchange it for gold instead? Cheng Shi and the others might not have any, but surely you, sir, wouldn’t lack it?”

“That… I truly don’t have any.” Chen Fengxiao replied without the slightest room for negotiation. “Gold and silver are basically useless within the Incense Spreading Sect. Only Hall Masters have channels to obtain them. I’m merely a minor steward—how could I possibly have any? If I did, Wu Dalang would have even more, and he wouldn’t have taken out the Jade Restoration Pill in the first place.”

“But what use do I have for so many useless pills?” Zhang Xiaohua muttered inwardly.

Then his eyes suddenly lit up, and he smiled: “Boss, I do have a suggestion. I wonder if you’d like to hear it?”

Chen Fengxiao was quite interested and asked, “Go on, little brother.”

“You’ve seen it yourself—there are already some pills in my bundle, and today Wu Dalang also compensated me with a few. If you add another dozen or so bottles, wouldn’t that be too many? To be honest, I can’t use that many. So how about this—could you see whether you have any thousand-year-old medicinal herbs or the like, and use those for the exchange instead?”

“Thousand-year-old medicinal herbs?” Hearing this, Chen Fengxiao was so startled he nearly jumped to his feet. He thought to himself: “Easy for you to say—thousand-year-old herbs, and you actually dare to ask for that.”

Looking at Zhang Xiaohua, Chen Fengxiao gave a bitter smile and said: “Little brother, since you’ve just arrived, you don’t know. Although our Herb Department is in charge of cultivating medicinal herbs, they’re all ordinary varieties. Even the rarer ones are recorded one by one—how could it ever be our turn to lay hands on them? Not to mention thousand-year-old herbs—even hundred-year-old ones are rarely seen.”

“I see,” Zhang Xiaohua blinked and said: “There may be none in the medicinal fields of Tianmu Peak, but the Incense Spreading Sect has nineteen peaks—such a vast place. Who can guarantee there aren’t herbs that have grown for hundreds or even thousands of years? Or perhaps some senior brother might happen to have such herbs in his possession?”

Chen Fengxiao shook his head. “Although the sect’s territory is vast, with many wild herbs, and even many places rarely visited by people—there might indeed be such herbs as you described. However, the brothers of our Herb Department have low martial skills, and our qinggong is even worse. Even outer sect disciples find it difficult to enter and leave those places, let alone us from the Tuodan Hall.”

“Those places?” Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes turned, and he very much wanted to ask exactly which places those were. But just then, Chen Fengxiao probed: “If little brother could relax the age requirement a bit—say, fifty or sixty years—then perhaps I might be able to find something.”

“Is that so?” Zhang Xiaohua was secretly delighted, though he still furrowed his brows and said: “If it’s troublesome for Boss, then fifty or sixty-year-old herbs will do. However, do you think Wu Dalang from the Pill Department might have hundred-year-old herbs?”

Chen Fengxiao’s expression turned displeased upon hearing this. “Little brother, you’re one of our Herb Department brothers—how can you let your elbow bend outward?”

“Not at all, I was just curious whether Wu Dalang might have any. Since you, Boss, have already taken a liking to this pill, I certainly won’t let it go to him—you can rest assured of that.”

“Good then. Little brother, keep the Jade Restoration Pill safe. Remember—no matter who comes, don’t transfer it. Just say you’re keeping it for me. I’ll go back now and look for the herbs, and tomorrow I’ll bring them to you!”