Chapter 475
475 Cooperation
A few days passed.
On the first day, the Lion Heart Hall didn’t immediately recognize Chen Yiming and treated him as an ordinary customer.
It was only when Chen Yiming took out a top-quality cauldron that they reported it to the powerful elder behind the medicine hall, causing chaos to occur. It was said that the powerful elder had come personally to apologize.
The next day, the news that Chen Yiming had gone to the medicinal hall to buy the Heaven Combining Pill spread throughout the 12 medicine halls and other factions in the same line of business.
“Is this Heaven Combining Pill that magical?”
“How is that possible? The Heaven Combining Pill is just something for kids to use. It’s not worth mentioning.”
“The Heaven Combining Pill must be a cover. Could it be that Chen Yiming is using an excuse to get the 12 medicinal halls to help him refine the Holy Spirit Divine Pill?”
“Holy Spirit Divine Pill? That’s a legendary pill related to the divine source ore experts!”
“Otherwise, why would all the 12 medicine halls become so lively?”
In the medicine capital, various versions of the rumors had spread widely. However, 99% of the people didn’t believe that Chen Yiming had really just bought the Heaven Combining Pill from the medicinal hall.
However, this was the truth. After Chen Yiming left the Lion Heart Hall, he went to the other 11 medicinal halls to trade items for the Heaven Combining Pill.
In addition, since Chen Yiming needed more of the pills than they had in stock, the 12 medicinal halls joined forces with other small and medium-sized medicinal halls to refine the Heaven Combining Pill.
This caused all kinds of untrue rumors to spread widely.
…
In a courtyard filled with the fragrance of flowers and birdsong.
“Smack!”
A black piece was placed down heavily, causing the chessboard made of stone to shake violently.
Chen Yiming was playing chess with an old man.
The two of them placed their pieces like lightning, and the surrounding air emitted sounds from the vibrations. They did not give the other party any time to think as they alternated between their turns and placed their pieces.
Not long after, Chen Yiming’s expression remained the same and he stopped playing. Although the game wasn’t over, the opponent had already lost.
A game of chess was not only a competition of technique and experience, but also the speed at which one’s mind worked. If one could calculate faster and further ahead than their opponent, the chances of winning were naturally higher.
No miracles happened in this round. After one side fell into a disadvantageous position, they were forced to retreat step by step until they lost the game.
“Thank you for letting me win!”
Chen Yiming smiled and looked up at the other party.
The old man’s face twitched. He let out a long sigh and looked up from the chessboard.
“I’m getting old, I’m getting old…” The old man grimaced.
The old man’s real name was unknown. His nickname was the Herb Elder, and he was the true mastermind behind the 12 medicinal halls in the Medicine Capital. He was a god at the level of the star evolution realm, and was a powerful elder who had been active for a long time.
If not for the fact that Chen Yiming’s arrival might bring about a disaster for the Medicine Capital, the Herb Elder wouldn’t have appeared, let alone be playing chess here.
“Victory and defeat are commonplace in war. Senior, there’s no need to fuss over a temporary victory or defeat,” Chen Yiming said with a smile.
“I’m all alone, so of course I don’t understand the difficulties of running a large business.” When the Herb Elder saw the expression on the face of the person opposite him, he was furious. The main reason was that he felt that he couldn’t defeat the other party, and he couldn’t forcefully chase him away.
“Senior, I can’t be bothered to beat around the bush. I hope to reach a long-term partnership with the Medicine Capital. What do you think?” Chen Yiming suddenly asked.
“…” The Herd Elder was speechless. The Medicine Capital did not want to get involved. In the conflict with the Infinite Island Group, they didn’t stand to gain anything from it, and he had offended the Infinite Island Group first.
“What I need is only the Heaven Combining Pill. Even a child from a village would have a chance to use it. I believe that before the Infinite Island Group captures the hidden factions from the source ore shops, they will not have any internal strife.”
Chen Yiming stated the obvious.
Since the Medicine Capital could operate normally in the south mountain range, it was naturally a faction under the control of the Infinite Island Group.
However, most of the large cities that had been taken over by them did not really participate in the search for the hiding place of the source ore shops.
In other words, factions like the Medicine Capital were just following the trend. If the Infinite Island Group lost its power one day, they would immediately cut ties with it.
After all, from the beginning to the end, there were many neutral forces like this, and they had not really offended any side. Even the Infinite Island Group could not completely control all the factions under them.
Otherwise, with a single order, it would have made a big move a year ago. It would not have given the immortal factions from another galaxy a chance to interfere in the matters of the abandoned world.
“Oh? So what if we work together? So what if we don’t?” the Herb Elder asked.
“…” Chen Yiming didn’t reply. He looked like he was deep in thought.
To be honest, the Herb Elder felt a little guilty.
After all, his opponent had killed the Heavenly Immortal Tong Tian. As someone who had pretty much already retired from the public eye, he could tell at a glance that he was one of the weaker ones among those of the same level.
If… if the other party pushed his own agenda, he would probably have to agree in the end. At the very least, he had to agree on the surface. Next, he would have to feign civility.
This show on the surface would not just be for the other party, but for everyone outside the Medicine Capital.
Thinking of this, the Herb Elder could not help but sigh in his heart. The source ore shops should be regretting it now. Thinking back, if they had been willing to pay a higher price, the Infinite Island Group might have…
Not long after, Chen Yiming smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter if we don’t work together. I’ll naturally buy the Heaven Combining Pills from the Medicine Capital. On the other hand, you can’t possibly keep your doors closed and not open for business, right?”
When the Herb Elder heard this, the veins on his forehead bulged.
It seemed like he really couldn’t hide it anymore. As long as Chen Yiming came to the Medicine Capital from time to time, the people from the Infinite Island Group would definitely be suspicious, regardless of whether they worked together or not,
unless Chen Yiming’s enemies took advantage of the fact that he had appeared to mobilize people to surround and kill him. However, an existence with the ability to kill those of the same level and a special spatial ability wouldn’t die so easily.
After all this time, they were still stuck in a deadlock. In the end, his strength was inferior to the other party. Otherwise, he would not have been so passive.
After a pause, Chen Yiming sighed and said, “The achievements of the Medicine Capital in making medicine are unparalleled in the south mountain range. For example, the Heaven Combining Pill is of very good quality. There are many other examples…”
The medicinal pills he had listed had all appeared in the Lion Heart Hall. Their use was to help those who were not talented enough to use external forces to help them break through.
The most precious among them included the divine pill that could help one to condense the inner world. Its value was countless times higher than the Heaven Combining Pill.
In other words, Chen Yiming was telling the Herb Elder which pills he needed.
If they could really work together for a long time, the pills prepared for the humans from the blue planet, now and in the future, would quickly increase their overall cultivation level.
“Our 12 medicinal halls have more than 10 master alchemists and more than one grandmaster alchemist presiding over each of them. There are also countless ordinary alchemists…” the Herb Elder said with a smile.
Of course, he understood the meaning behind Chen Yiming’s words. Since the collaboration had been forcefully reached, he couldn’t keep showing a bitter expression.
He smiled. As long as he was not dead, everything would eventually pass.
Chen Yiming nodded.
There was naturally a reason why he had suddenly become more proactive.
In the past few days, the speed at which the faith in him was being converted into Skill Points had undergone another qualitative improvement. At first, he thought that it was contributed by those cultivating to become knights.
Later, after careful investigation, he realized that something was amiss. It was contributed by the huge number of humans from the blue planet.
After thinking about the reason, he quickly understood the cause and effect.
In the era of the feudal society on the blue planet, before the industrial revolution, the country was mainly ruled by the emperor. Ordinary people held true faith in the gods and the emperor.
Later, as superstitions were broken and the technology developed, atheism became mainstream. It was the same even after the invasion of the otherworld.
In people’s hearts, the so-called gods were only stronger creatures, not mysterious existences like those in superstitions that required believers to offer incense to.
Therefore, even though Chen Yiming had repelled the black tide, in the hearts of ordinary people, it could be respect or something else, but it wasn’t to the extent that they truly had an unshakable faith in him.
The society of humans from the blue planet was still relatively free. Martial arts and technology coexisted. Other than vigorously promoting martial arts, they would hardly force the people to do anything.
However, after the idea of establishing a brand new empire and fighting in the abandoned world had pretty much been decided, the situation was different.
Many times, it was only a change in name, but in the hearts of the people, the meaning was completely different. A large amount of power of faith crossed the space.
After Chen Yiming thought it through, he was shocked.
In the abandoned world, the source ores were mainly produced in the restricted areas. After a large amount was taken away, it was unknown how long it would take for the supply to gradually recover.
However, humans from the blue planet could continue to develop. The higher the average level of cultivation, the larger the population would be, and the more faith they could provide.
This was a long-term solution. If his sphere of influence continued to expand in the future, he would eventually control the entire abandoned world and completely become a rising star for the humans from the blue planet.
At that time, even if he did not leave the Hidden Dragon Galaxy, he could still become stronger.
…
Another half a month passed.
Many large cities in the outside world were discussing the matter of Chen Yiming’s appearance in the Medicine Capital. He had snatched food from the tiger’s mouth during the battle between the immortal factions and the Infinite Island Group. The impact was far-reaching.
It was impossible for the Infinite Island Group not to know what had happened in the Medicine Capital. Even if they did not know, someone would have passed on the message.
However, after waiting for a long time, nothing much happened. The Infinite Island Group did not mobilize many gods at the star evolution realm to surround and kill him, contrary to the expectations of many people.
“Could it be that the Infinite Island Group is afraid of this person?”
“How is that possible? The Infinite Island Group is an existence that has the ability to conquer one world after another in the space-travel distortion. It’s even stronger than ordinary inter-galactic overlord factions.”
“It’s said that even the ruler of a galaxy has to respect a faction like the Infinite Island Group. They are not existences that can be easily bullied.”
“Then we should ignore that possibility for the time being. After all, after putting in so much effort, how can it compare to the gains from hunting down the source ore shops?”
“Indeed. After dealing with the factions from the source ore shops, if he dares to show himself again, the Infinite Island Group will definitely send out a powerful force to attack him.”
The mainstream view was that it wasn’t that Chen Yiming could really make the Infinite Island Group give him free rein, but that the effort involved to hunt him down was not proportional to the gains. Hence, they temporarily put aside the grudge between them.
Although the value of the huge rock forming the space teleportation portal was very high, an existence like the Infinite Island Group that could enter and exit the space-travel distortion at will definitely had a similar treasure. Otherwise, it would not have made such a name for itself.
There were also many people who helped the Infinite Island Group find other suitable reasons. Unless they had a chance of crushing Chen Yiming and setting up an inescapable net to kill him, it would be very difficult to deal with him.
Coupled with the fact that he was working with Gao Shuai, whose whereabouts were unknown, there was a high chance that attacks targeted towards them would fail. In that case, there was no need to make a big fuss at this juncture.
The truth was just as many people had guessed.
The ruler of Heaven Suppression City and the powerful elder of the Roc clan, who clearly had a huge grudge against Chen Yiming, didn’t make any moves. The Infinite Island Group was focused on dealing with the factions from the source ore shops.
…
Time passed day by day.
Chen Yiming was still in the Medicine Capital.
Every day, he would only meet with the Herb Elder, drink some tea, chat, and play chess. He rarely went out.
To the 12 medicinal halls, a batch of pills at the level of the Heaven Combining Pill could be produced in three days and three nights. The quantity that could be produced was far more than expected.
The reason why the price did not drop was mainly because the medicinal hall had never specially refined such pills. Usually, they were made from the leftover materials after refining other pills.
Now, they specially produced the Heaven Combining Pills. Each furnace could contain hundreds of pills. In the end, they had used a total of more than 300 furnaces, producing tens of thousands of pills at once.
On the day of his departure, after Chen Yiming and the Herb Elder played another round of chess, he waved his hand and the row of boxes piled up in the courtyard were kept away with his Hidden Universe divine power.
The boxes were filled with the Heaven Combining Pills prepared by the medicinal halls. There was also the lingering fragrance of the pills in the air.
Seeing this, the Herb Elder’s expression turned bitter, but what else could he say?
From the ingredients to the alchemist to the medicinal halls, it involved a chain of factors. Since they made so many Heaven Combining Pills, they would definitely have used up a large number of ingredients.
This would definitely have a huge impact on the Medicine Capital in a short period of time. Many of the pills that were originally planned to be refined would be forced to be put on hold because they lacked certain ingredients.
Chen Yiming coughed and said, “Why are you worried, Herb Elder? You have to give up something to gain something. Now, the production of medicinal pills is still limited to only one city, the Medicine Capital. It’s all because of your strength.”
He did not say anything else after that. It was fine as long as he understood what he meant, regardless of whether the other party believed him or not.
Hearing this, the Herb Elder still smiled bitterly.
How could he not understand? However, Chen Yiming was just one person. Unless he reached the level of the ruler of a galaxy, he could not make big moves all by himself.
Perhaps he could live a carefree life and others would not dare to provoke him easily. However, without a group of strong people behind him, he would not be able to have enough influence to occupy a piece of land and lay claim to a territory.
As for nurturing subordinates from now on, the Herb Elder felt that it was possible, but he did not know how long it would take for it to work out.
The Medicine Capital would be affected now, but what it might benefit from would happen in the distant future. At this critical moment, the disadvantages would definitely outweigh the benefits.
In fact, it was even possible that the medicinal halls would be destroyed by the Infinite Island Group at some point because of this.
In short, the Herb Elder didn’t think highly of Chen Yiming’s words. He thought that he was just trying to comfort him.
Soon, they bid their farewells.
Chen Yiming left the Medicine Capital and used the space anchor to make a few space-jumps.
All the traces related to him disappeared as the faint spatial ripples calmed down. No one knew which direction he was heading in next.
After returning to the secret realm in the otherworld, Chen Yiming distributed the Heaven Combining Pills. As long as one met the requirements of being a top warrior, they could receive one pill first.
Silently, in the extreme west of the south mountain range, a certain species was preparing to undergo a transformation. However, the outside world did not notice this.
On the surface, the small human town just maintained its size as a small town.
There was actually no change in the number of gods at the star condensation realm. The three dragon gods could only show off their might in front of the village-level factions.