Chapter 72: This Boss Is Terrifying 3

After this incident, none of them dared to provoke Lekai so easily again. The youth seemed harmless, but was actually cunning and devious. Wu Niantian and Lambo took it a little better, but Wu Meitian, such a bewitching beauty, had suffered through an ordeal so excruciatingly embarrassing that she wished she could die of shame. Lekai was truly insidious, waiting until the very last moment before calmly informing them, leaving the three without even enough time to run up to the third floor. In the end, it was Lambo who gritted his teeth and made a sacrifice, giving up first place to Wu Meitian, while he and Wu Niantian had the “pleasure” of reliving the humiliations of childhood bedwetting. The discomfort and shame were a lifelong disgrace, especially when the guards saw them and recoiled in astonishment, almost pinching their noses shut; the two could have wished to dig a hole in the ground and crawl inside.

Strangely enough, after suffering such a mortifying ordeal, the three never mentioned a word of it, as if it had never happened. Lekai’s hope of exploiting the incident to keep them in check came to nothing. What’s more, the three became much more obedient, carrying out Lekai’s every command without question. Even Wu Meitian, once so proud, now behaved with meek submission, her former arrogance gone without a trace.

Lekai felt somewhat frustrated by this; as the saying goes, one cannot slap a smiling face. He was now too embarrassed to play tricks on them any longer.

From the most basic concoctions, they gradually progressed to higher-level potions. Although there were occasional failures, the mayor’s influence was second to none. With Lambo’s orders thrown about under the mayor’s authority, the hospital staff found themselves overwhelmed, and public announcements were even issued, mobilizing the nomads outside the city to launch a grand search for medicinal ingredients.

It wasn’t just Lekai who made astonishing progress; even Lambo, after observing and learning, had come to understand some of the potions and, together with the Wu siblings, could now concoct the “Body Strengthening Pill” even without Lekai overseeing the process!

In truth, every potion called for a different method and procedure, but the use of spiritual focus was always the same: using mental intent to sense the changes within the cauldron. Practice makes perfect, and over time, they grew thoroughly familiar with the process.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

The entire basement had been utterly transformed. Rows upon rows of medicine racks lined the space, each glass bottle filled with a different variety of pill—hundreds, perhaps, in all their shapes and colors.

“Boss, these pills are delicious this time—chocolate flavored! Next time, let’s try some jasmine ones!” Lambo exclaimed, fishing out a fist-sized bottle from his clothes, pouring out a few dark yellow pills—larger than ordinary beans—and tossing them into his mouth without a glance, crunching them as if eating snacks.

“You rascal, these are top-grade! Each one would sell for at least a Wolfcoin on the market. At the rate you’re gobbling them down, you’d bankrupt even a billionaire,” Lekai said with pain in his voice. This kid really was a rich heir, clueless about the struggles of common folk. Each pill, though no bigger than a soybean, was actually the distilled essence of ten grams of medicinal ingredients, and just the raw materials cost at least a Wolfcoin these days! Eating three or five in one mouthful—that was half a year’s living expenses for an ordinary family!

Lambo chuckled, “But there’s plenty! Boss, over the past month, you’ve made a fortune—your savings must be in the millions by now! The three of us have been your free labor, working day and night to make pills. Eating a few for recovery is just to boost efficiency, isn’t it?”

Lekai retorted, “Your constitution now is about the same as a master at the Unity of Heart and Mind level. No matter how many you eat, the pills are useless to you now. In this past month, have you three freeloaders eaten few?”

Wu Niantian laughed heartily, “The more we eat, the harder we work. Lekai, don’t turn into a miser.”

Wu Niantian was in excellent spirits. Over the past two months, he’d done little more than lend a hand, yet his cultivation had soared like a rocket—so quickly that it almost frightened him.

Each pill had a different effect, but for ordinary people taking them for the first time, the results were extraordinary. Thus, over the past two months, the trio had undergone almost daily bodily cleansing and marrow refinement, their physical qualities changing at a breathtaking pace—far more stable and rapid than what imperial technology could provide.

Perhaps this was the real reason the three obeyed Lekai so willingly.

Lekai disliked being in anyone’s debt. Lanska had helped him secure a supply channel from the hospital, and Lekai was determined not to let him shoulder the costs. Once he had mastered the refining process, he mercilessly extracted labor from his three helpers, producing a massive stock of basic pills like the “Body Strengthening Pill.”

To the high nobility, such pills might be nothing, but to ordinary citizens, they were treasures akin to divine medicine. In this age where strength was everything, who didn’t want their child to be strong? Without the means to go to the imperial capital for enhancement, and lacking peerless cultivation methods from childhood, achieving anything was nigh impossible. Now, Lekai’s pills offered the best solution: not only strengthening the body, but even potentially awakening true qi—an effect unheard of before.

Under Lambo and Wu Niantian’s management, the pills first circulated in the noble circles, then gradually spread outward, until they became the hottest topic in all Huazhong City. For most people, even obtaining a single pill was nearly impossible.

Following Lekai’s wishes, the pills initially sold at exorbitant prices; after all, there were many imperial citizens here as well. However, once he had accumulated a significant fund, Lekai offered the second-class citizens a “medicine for medicine” exchange—essentially a disguised welfare program.

This move won Lanska great acclaim, especially as Lambo did everything under the banner of his father. Lanska’s prestige soared, and he became the city’s most beloved mayor.

Through this cycle, Lekai had amassed a considerable fortune.

Day after day, the trio toiled away at refining pills, suffering worse than laborers sent to the mines, while Lekai lounged on a reclining chair, eyes closed in repose, his purse swelling daily with Wolfcoins. What could the three do but sneak extra pills to themselves whenever they could?

Lekai smiled wryly. These three were no ordinary people. Take Wu Niantian: once, he’d been far from achieving perfection, but after months of gluttony, his cultivation had shot up dramatically, now reaching the peak of the Unity of Heart and Mind—just three months behind where Lekai once was. Once he broke that final barrier and transformed his strength into true qi, he would become a true martial artist.

This final step had stymied countless martial artists, requiring not just strength and talent but also opportunity. Wu Niantian, clearly oblivious to this, was so pleased with his recent progress that his confidence had swelled—one of the perils of progressing too quickly. Lekai had no intention of warning him; a little failure was, in the long run, beneficial for cultivation.

Now, the time had come. It was finally time to refine the medicine he most needed for himself.

The pill Lekai intended to make was precisely the one his cultivation realm required most...