Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 12 The Legendary Elixir
Two days later, Chen Xuan visited Baicaotang Pharmacy again.

The same receptionist came forward as before, "Welcome, do you have a prescription?... Oh, did you forget to bring the decocted medicine last time?"

She actually remembered herself.

"Yes, something came up and I forgot. But I'm not here to buy medicine this time, I'm here to sell it," he said bluntly.

"Selling medicine?" She looked Chen Xuan up and down for a moment, a hint of doubt in her eyes, because Chen Xuan's hands were empty and he wasn't carrying any bags. However, she still pointed to a door inside the pharmacy, "Go over there and find Doctor Jiang."

He walked to a private room next to the lobby, where a middle-aged man in a white coat greeted him. "Are you here to sell medicine? Dry or wet?"

Because of Lushan Mountain, a famous mountain in China, most local pharmacies both sell and buy medicinal herbs, primarily from farmers who rely on the mountain for their livelihood. Wild Ganoderma lucidum and wild ginseng, in particular, have indistinguishable medicinal effects from cultivated ones, but simply adding the word "wild" allows them to fetch several times the price.

Chen Xuan had learned beforehand that dried goods were herbs that had been sun-dried, while wet goods were freshly picked from the mountains. For insects that could be used in medicine, such as snakes, scorpions, and centipedes, pharmacies generally only accepted dried goods, meaning they had been roasted.

He sat down opposite Dr. Jiang and took out a blood orange, placing it on the table.

"Young man, what is this?"

Doctor Jiang smiled, as if he had seen something extraordinary. He picked up the pill, looked at it, and then smelled it twice. "Take it and eat it yourself. We don't buy processed medicine here."

Chen Xuan didn't take it seriously. "It's called blood orange, and it's a medicine specifically for treating external injuries."

“Even if it were a panacea, it wouldn’t work,” Dr. Jiang said with a chuckle. “If you’re going to sell over-the-counter medicine, do you have a drug production license? Have you conducted pathological and toxicological tests? We’re a legitimate pharmacy here, and all the over-the-counter medicines we sell have legal sources. You don’t even have any outer packaging; who would dare to take it?”

The other party's reaction was exactly what Chen Xuan had expected.

Joan of Arc's men proved the prescription's effectiveness, and selling the medicine to earn money for the shop remained his easiest means of operation. These past two days, he'd been mainly busy gathering and refining herbs, and he had about twenty in stock, most of them blood oranges with more immediate effects. However, conventional trading methods wouldn't work, because to outsiders, this stuff was just a lump of mud; no one would take it seriously until they witnessed its effects firsthand.

Chen Xuan quickly pulled out another pair of scissors.

"Hey, young man, speak properly!"

Dr. Jiang's expression changed instantly. "Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. If you have a problem, go to the hospital next door!"

Chen Xuan took a deep breath and made a cut on the back of his hand with the scissors!
A sharp, piercing pain shot through him, and blood immediately gushed out.

The doctor's face turned even paler.

Stabbing yourself before taking action—what a ruthless person!
"Medicine." He pointed to the pill in Dr. Jiang's hand.

"Ah, here you go, here you go..." The latter hurriedly offered it up, afraid of being misunderstood as trying to steal the medicine.

Without a word, Chen Xuan crushed the piece on the spot, swallowed one piece, and applied the other to his wound. In less than ten seconds, the pain began to subside, and a white frost gradually appeared on the wound.

Dr. Jiang was dumbfounded when he saw the changes on the back of his hand.

"...This isn't magic, is it?" The other person finally managed to utter a sentence after a long pause.

"Then give it a try." Chen Xuan pushed the scissors towards him.

He hesitated for a moment, but surprisingly did not refuse. "This won't do, I'm afraid of cross-infection... Wait for me."

After speaking, Dr. Jiang rummaged through his desk for a while and took out a finger prick needle used to test blood sugar.

Although this thing causes smaller wounds, it is convenient and sterile.

And he didn't act immediately.

Perhaps out of caution, he first personally brewed two cups of tea and served them. After waiting for a full fifteen minutes, he re-examined the wound on the back of Chen Xuan's hand and even performed a full set of diagnostic methods on Chen Xuan, confirming that there were no signs of poisoning before he began to test it himself.

Following Chen Xuan's demonstration, he pricked his fingers several times, then swallowed and applied blood orange juice, and then squeezed the wound forcefully. However, despite his best efforts, he could not squeeze out a single drop of blood.

"Wow, amazing!" Doctor Jiang exclaimed, his previous attitude completely changed. "Young man, where did you get this medicine?"

"It's not convenient to say."

"Why sell it to Baicaotang? Can't they mass-produce it?" he asked, puzzled. "As long as traditional Chinese medicine is effective, the drug administration will issue a license. If you take it and sell it yourself, you can make as much money as you want."

That's the problem.

Even if the same materials are used, without an alchemist using qi to help the pill condense, what comes out is just dregs.

It's fine to do it occasionally, but Chen Xuan doesn't want to sit in front of the pressure cooker all day to refine pills.

Besides, going through the process requires approval. When asked where the factory is, what machines are used, and how many trials have been conducted, he couldn't answer any of them. Does he think only he can manually process this medicine? He's thinking about making money to support his business, not about being studied as a new kind of human being.

"How would I know? I'm just running errands," Chen Xuan said, making a move to leave. "Just tell me if you want it or not. There are plenty of pharmacies around here anyway."

"Wait, I can't make the decision on this. I'll call the boss over."

Dr. Jiang picked up his phone, walked to the door, and quickly said a few words, interspersed with vigorous nodding, as if trying to prove that what he said was true.

Less than half a minute later, the boss came down from upstairs.

The man was estimated to be around sixty years old, with slightly graying temples, but he was in excellent spirits and walked with a brisk pace. As soon as he entered the room, he asked in a loud voice, "Are you the customer who sells medicine? What's your name?"

"Chen Xuan." "Boss Xu." Doctor Jiang introduced, "He's the one who calls the shots at Baicaotang."

Chen Xuan nodded. Actually, he could tell without any introduction. There were photos of the boss on the walls of the pharmacy and office, with the words "Xu Wangxian" written below them.

"Have you tried it?" the boss asked his doctor.

"Hmm...it really works. But the wound I made was rather small—"

"Let me try too. Go get a knife and disinfect it with alcohol."

"Ah? This..."

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" Xu Wangxian waved her hand. "It's not that I don't trust you, but I have to confirm this with my own eyes. There's a top-tier hospital right next door, so we're not afraid of any problems."

Seeing Chen Xuan's surprised expression, Doctor Jiang explained while searching for the knife, "Hehe, don't let the boss's age fool you, he used to often climb mountains alone to collect herbs."

Chen Xuan's opinion of Boss Xu changed slightly. He originally thought that the old man was just using Baicaotang as a tool to make money, and didn't care much about whether the medicine was effective or how effective it was. But now it seems that this man not only cares about the efficacy of the medicine, but also has a strong sense of practicality.

After a series of operations, the result was exactly the same.

Xu Wangxian watched as the wound was gradually covered by frost, his face equally shocked. However, compared to Doctor Jiang, his expression was more complex, as if tinged with mixed feelings. After a long while, he finally looked at Chen Xuan, "How much do you want to sell it for?"

"One hundred thousand per pill."

How many are there?

"26. But only 19 of them are blood oranges, and the other 7 are for treating pneumonia and respiratory diseases. I call them Ganbiqingdan."

Dr. Jiang looked at the boss with a troubled expression, "That would cost two million six hundred thousand..."

Xu Wangxian didn't hesitate for long. "I'll take them all, at the price you said."

Chen Xuan nodded in satisfaction. If the other party showed even the slightest inclination to haggle, he would simply walk away. "To be fair, this price isn't high. If you encounter someone in dire need of life-saving help, it wouldn't be difficult to multiply it several times over."

It's inconvenient for him to search for such candidates, but it's easy for pharmacies that cooperate with hospitals to do so.

“You’re right, but medicine is ultimately for treating illnesses and saving lives… If only a very few people can afford it, then it loses its purpose.” Xu Wangxian gave a wry smile. “Can the money arrive this afternoon? It takes some time to transfer so much cash…”

"Okay, let's sign the contract." Chen Xuan didn't make things difficult for him.

The price of 100,000 also takes into account working capital. Of course, he could set it higher, and there would certainly be pharmacies willing to buy it, but it would be difficult for them to come up with several million or even tens of millions of dollars in cash at once. In today's sluggish economy, it is common to wait several months before making payment, and he cannot wait that long.

Besides, this is just the price of one batch of medicine.

He can practice again later.

After the contract was signed, Xu Wangxian said, "Young friend, I have another request, I wonder if you can grant it."

He used to be called a young man, but now I call him a young friend.

"You said."

"If you have any new drugs you want to sell in the future, could you give priority to Baicaotang? The price is negotiable... We will definitely try our best to meet your needs."

This wasn't a big problem, and Chen Xuan agreed immediately after thinking about it.

After Chen Xuan left, Doctor Jiang couldn't help but say, "Give him the payment first. The procurement of other medicinal materials may be problematic... Moreover, not only are there few people who can afford the miraculous external injury medicine that costs 100,000 per dose, but we also need to find a patient who happens to need it... Isn't it too risky for you to take it all?"

"So what are your thoughts?" Xu Wangxian carefully put the contract into a file bag, as if it were some kind of treasure.

"Wouldn't it be better to take half first, or to share it with another pharmacy? No need to trouble the young man, we can discuss it ourselves."

"No need, I'll accept whatever he offers; it's the most basic expression of sincerity."

"Sincerity?" Dr. Jiang looked at him as if he were meeting his boss for the first time.

"Have you ever heard of elixirs of immortality?" Xu Wangxian suddenly asked.

"Like in the movies?"

“Some things in this world are inherently different from the rest, and medicine is no exception. No one knows where they come from, so they are collectively called celestial objects. These things rarely circulate and are only found among a small number of people.” He looked at the file bag and said slowly, “I’ve seen them before, thirty years ago, though I only caught a glimpse of them from afar. I never imagined that I would see them again after so long… and that they would even be delivered to my hands. How could I possibly miss this opportunity?”

This was the first time Dr. Jiang had ever heard of such a thing. "Old Xu, are you serious?"

“You’ve been with me for so long, when have I ever lied to you? I didn’t mention it before because there was no evidence, and mentioning it would have made it seem like a pipe dream. You’re a graduate of a prestigious university, tell me what kind of medicine can achieve this? The pharmacology is so complex that it can’t even be made up. Do you think it’s just an ordinary traditional Chinese medicine?” Xu Wangxian’s tone was full of excitement. “I bet if you took this medicine and had it tested right now, and found out all the ingredients, you couldn’t even replicate one tenth of its current effect.”

"I... need to calm down..." Dr. Jiang said incredulously, "You mean there really are elixirs of immortality in the world? Are there any medical students who know about these things?"

“Nationwide? I guess so. But these things are beyond common sense, and talking about them would only add to the confusion, so they definitely won’t be written into textbooks.” Xu Wangxian patted his shoulder. “Before we got the elixir, we were just outsiders. You can treat it as a story or a joke. But now that we have the elixir, Baicaotang has the opportunity to squeeze into that circle, so we should show our young friend enough sincerity.”

"Chen Xuan said he was just selling medicine, and he wasn't the one making the medicine..."

“Is what he said necessarily true?” Xu Wangxian laughed. “Even if he didn’t make the medicine, what is the relationship between him and the medicine maker that would allow him to act as the sole agent for selling the medicine? Since it’s related to the elixir, it’s all about fate. Whether the sincerity is shown to him or to the medicine maker, it’s the same.”

(End of this chapter)