Villain Cultivator

Tang Deming finally revealed the real price for each pill. 

Superior Orc Strength Pill, Yang Gu Pill, and Steroided Marijuana Pill were illegal drugs, but they had the potential to be popular on the black market. 

The first drug was stronger than common aphrodisiac pills, and Tang Deming estimated that they could be sold for 2,000 refined stones per piece at the minimum. As for the last two dangerous drugs, they could fetch at least 5,000 refined stones each. Tang Deming was also confident that the Poison Pavilion would fork over 100,000 refined stones for one of these pills in the auction. 

Sexy Pill was unique. It could be useful in smuggling, crossing checkpoints, committing crimes, or various sexual activities. Tang Deming evaluated it for 500 refined stones per pill because of its usefulness. 

As for the origin yin and yang recovery pills, they couldn't get a high price as there were many similar pills with the same effect in the market. Each of them had the market price of five refined stones.

In the end, four of the six pills were qualified to be put in the auction. Still, Tang Deming begged Cao Mao. 

"C-Could you let us buy some of your pills, young master? W-We'll double the price."

Tang Deming still thought that these pills were limited in quantity. He wanted to have some of them to resell or use for himself. From his perspective, he could potentially make 10 times the estimated price if he could sell it to the right customers. 

He underestimated Cao Mao's pocket. 

"Sure. How many pills do you want?" Cao Mao's smile never disappeared from his face, but it got creepier and more sinister with each passing minute.

Tang Deming almost said [Everything], but he managed to control his greed. 

"H-How about 1,000 pills of each?"

Ju Shoufen and Ju Chen's killing intent soared. They thought that this guildmaster was up to no good since he wanted so many evil pills. 

Tang Deming realized his mistake. He waved his hands and prostrated to the floor again.

"N-No-No-No! I was just kidding! You can't get many of these rare pills anywhere, so there's no way that you would have so many pills! How about this? Can you sell me 10… No, 5 pills of each?"

Cao Mao contemplated if he should release these dangerous pills to the market. 

The Yang Gu Pill was a no-no. It could be used against him and his allies in the future, so he decided not to sell it to Tang Deming. 

Superior Orc Strength Pill could be dangerous as well since they could instantly turn any normal girl into a sex-craving monster. The incident with Ma Xingjuan had taught Cao Mao that there were many sick cultivators out there using aphrodisiac drugs in the wrong way. Therefore, the answer was a definite [No]. 

Steroided Marijuana Pill was a highly potent sleeping drug. Since Cao Mao and Ju Shoufen could purify its effect with ease, he had no problem releasing it to the market. But he had to limit the quantity to be safe. 

As for the Sexy Pills, they were harmless to Cao Mao and his wives. The production cost was also cheap since Cao Mao could buy [Blood Essence] from the system shop with his life essence. He only needed 1ml of blood for a batch of five pills, and every milligram of blood cost him 100 drops of life essence. Therefore, he could convert a liter of his life essence into 1,000 pills, which could be sold to Tang Deming for a million refined stones. 

A million refined stones could be converted to one essence core.

One essence core could be used to add 50,000 liters of life essence to Cao Mao's dantian. 

One liter of life essence for 50,000 liters of life essence, the potential profit was huge. 

"I'll only sell you Steroided Marijuana Pills and Sexy Pills. As for the rest, I'll be taking them back since I only wished to know the market price."

"Okay…" Tang Deming was crestfallen, "How many pills can you sell me?"

"A thousand pills of SMP, and two thousand pills for Sexy Pills!"

"OH!!"

Tang Deming jumped up in excitement. He counted his fingers and calculated the price. 

"That will be twelve million refined stones. Can I pay with essence cores?"

Cao Mao raised his eyebrows, "You have essence cores, too?"

"Of course. Although we're not as rich as those bastards from the Yu Clan or Chen Clan, we're confident in our reserved fund. Unless you can sell us a million Sexy Pills, you can't empty our treasury that easily!" Tang Deming's tongue slipped and revealed his backup cash. 

Cao Mao burst into laughter, "If I say that I have over a million Sexy Pills, will you buy everything?"

"…"

The short merchant was taken aback. He sweated bullets, "I was kidding, good sir. But if you have more of those pills, I'm willing to buy everything you have."

"I'm not fucking kidding."

Cao Mao tossed a spatial ring, which contained a stash of 100,000 Sexy Pills in it. Tang Deming caught it and scanned the ring.

"HOLY SHIT! REALLY? CAN I BUY ALL OF THESE!?"

"Yeah. I'm a generous alchemist. I've changed my mind. I won't put my pills in the auction. I'll just sell everything and empty my stash, so I can concentrate on buying the goodies in the event," Cao Mao shrugged as if he no longer cared. "Oh, these pills are just a portion of what I have. If you want more, visit me at the Ma residence next week."

Tang Deming's eyes were burning in greed. He calculated how much money he could make by reselling these pills to the black market or evil cultivators. After getting the rough result, he couldn't stop drooling. 

"Of course, I'll buy everything! I'm looking forward to visiting you next week, Young Master!"

...

After the meeting with Tang Deming, Cao Mao got 110 essence cores richer. He had sold a total of 100,000 Sexy Pills and 1,000 SMPs. As for the other pills, he got them back from the guild. 

As they set out to return to the Ma residence, men from the Tang Merchant Guild started following them, but they only observed Cao Mao's group from afar. Even after Cao Mao got back to the Ma Clan's manor, they camped outside, watching the entrance as if they were stalking them. 

Fortunately, the stalkers' cultivation base was weak. Essence Gathering Realm experts were no match for Ju Chen and Ju Shoufen, who were escorting Cao Mao. 

"Those bastards are fucking greedy. We should have burned the guild and taught them a lesson," Ju Shoufen glared at the direction of the stalkers and grumbled.

Cao Mao laughed, "Grandma, control your temper. If you keep getting frustrated by these little events, you will lose many years of lifespan."

"You're too naïve. You should be merciless against your enemies, not befriend them!"

"It's called [Tactical Retreat]. Haven't you paid attention? That fatty blurted out that they got a 7th-stage something as their backer. We can't fight someone with a domain power and a nascent soul. True, we could have killed Tang Deming and burned his guild down, but we wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath. Please think of the consequences and repercussions before you act, okay? We shouldn't behave like those psychopath protagonists in novels that can go around and destroy several clans and sects without a consequence."

"What protagonists? What novel?"

"… It's just a metaphor." 

"Don't speak nonsense when you're talking to me. It's annoying."

Ju Shoufen spat and kicked the nearest rock like an angry child. 

Cao Mao shook his head. He took a mental note that he would secretly alter her traits or do something about her temperament and her stubborn behavior in the near future. 

Ju Chen got closer to Cao Mao and whispered to him, "Why didn't you put the pills in the auction? You could have earned more than 100 essence cores."

"Nah," Cao Mao snickered. "This is called [Marketing]. It's better to establish my fame across the globe and create a demand. There will be more rich sickos who search for my pills, and once Tang Deming runs out they will come knocking on our door and beg us for it since I'm the only one who can create the pills."

"It will be dangerous, though. Many evil sects or top clans might threaten you or kidnap you to make pills for free."

"It's fine," Cao Mao gazed toward Ma Ping's house, where the Ma Clan's gang always used as a meeting place. "Soon, we'll have someone who can act as our buffer. Those greedy bastards will have to think twice if they want to mess with us."

...

Cao Mao returned to the usual meeting place, aka Ma Ping's courtyard. 

When the group got there, they found Ma Ping sitting cross-legged. In front of him, a hundred refined stones were placed in a small sack, but a flow of energy kept entering Ma Ping's nostril. 

The elder was recovering his lost energy. Soon, he would regain his strength. 

Meanwhile, Ma Shoucheng no longer sat in his wheelchair. He was running around and practicing his footwork techniques, which he hadn't touched for decades. 

Ma Moxi and Ma Xingjuan were with Ma Shoucheng, observing the latter's techniques and taking notes. 

As for Pang Lingming, he was nowhere to be found. Ma Ping might have sent him somewhere to run an errand again. 

"We're back."

Hearing Cao Mao's voice, Ma Ping opened his eyes, "How's it going? Did you manage to sell anything?"

The elder had good ears. He heard the butler and Cao Mao's conversation earlier. 

"We've made a killing," Cao Mao placed ten essence cores in front of Ma Ping. "Here, senior. You should use these cores to replenish your energy. Using refined stones takes too much time."

Ma Ping widened his eyes as he had never expected to see any essence core again. He nodded in appreciation. 

"Thanks, Miaomiao. It's nice to see you taking care of your elder."

"Hey, I'm your grandson-in-law. You're my grandpa, so why shouldn't I take good care of you?"

"Hahaha! That's very nice of you! Well, did you run into trouble and need my help? I've sensed several guys from the Tang Clan trailing you when you were returning here. Did something happen?"

It was Ju Shoufen, Ju Chen, and Cao Mao's turn to be surprised. 

"You knew?"

"My power is coming back. I can sense everything in my domain. Even if I don't activate my nascent soul, I can see and hear everything in the city. I can even hear Tang Deming's voice from here if I'm paying enough attention, but I didn't do that when you met with that fatty. So, what happened?"

The natural ability of a 7th-stage expert was scary. Not only did they possess a domain power, which could instantly slaughter anyone in the range, but they also had superior five senses. 

It reminded Cao Mao that Tang Deming's threat might not be a bluff. 

Cao Mao consulted Ma Ping while he broke a sweat, "Do you know anything about the Tang Clan? I heard that they have a nascent soul expert as a backer."

"Ah, if it's a nascent soul guy from the Tang Clan, you won't have to worry about it. That guy is an old friend of mine."

"Are you sure? They won't raid us because I sold so many pills to them, right?"

"Hahaha! He never made a move when I was crippled. Do you think he will have the guts to do anything once he realizes that my power has returned? You're overthinking, Miaomiao."

"I hope so…"

...

Meanwhile

East of the Xuan City, a fleet of 10 transport airships was approaching the Xuan City. Each airship housed 100 5th-stage experts as bodyguards of the VVIP. 

On the flagship, an 8-year-old boy was standing on the deck, admiring the scenery in the sky. 

However, a system notification interrupted his leisure time. 

Ding

[An unknown hero has established an unnamed force.]

[Level 3 Hero, Ma Moxi, has joined the unnamed force.]

[Level 7 Champion, Ma Ping, has joined the unnamed force.]

[Level 5 Champion, Ma Shoucheng, has joined the unnamed force.]

[Level 6 Champion, Pang Lingming, has joined the unnamed force.]

[Level 3 Champion, Ma Xingjuan, has joined the unnamed force.]

[Ma Moxi, Ma Ping, Ma Shoucheng, Pang Lingming, and Ma Xingjuan has been removed from the recruitable officer list.]

Liu Bian froze on the spot. His face darkened.