Within the Blood Staunching Pill Sect, there were many powerful figures, but all those with any real strength had fled to Jing City.
They knew all too well that the Blood Staunching Pill Formula was the foundation and bottom line of the entire sect—it absolutely could not be leaked.
Because of this, they were prepared to do whatever it took, even resorting to forceful robbery, just to get their hands on the formula!
The remaining strong cultivators and administrators stayed within the sect’s grounds to maintain order and prevent any theft.
As a result, places like the taverns at the foot of the mountain were completely unguarded by the core forces of the Blood Staunching Pill Sect.
They didn’t even realize that a terrifying idea was spreading among the lower-level disciples of the sect.
Soon, a tiny spark dropped from the tavern below quickly spread by word of mouth, from one to ten, and ten to a hundred.
Staring at the long line of applicants before him, the head of the Taiming Sect disciple reception was filled with confusion.
What’s going on? Are these refugees fleeing a famine or disaster?
“Uh, sorry, our Taiming Sect currently only accepts Outer Sect Disciples, but if you perform well, you can be promoted to Inner Sect in the future… What? Outer Sect is fine?”
Finally, finally it was almost over!
The Bloodpill Ancestor had completely lost his mind.
He anxiously watched the opening of over ten thousand Lucky Bags to prevent any disciple from secretly hoarding the formula.
He absolutely refused to believe that his luck was so bad that none of the final batch had produced the formula!
These so-called Lucky Bags had to be fake! A rigged system! There was no formula at all!
The endless lines wore down even the Blood Staunching Sect Cultivators who had come just to fill the numbers.
Besides, because there were over ten thousand Lucky Bags, more than a thousand disciples had to queue to purchase them.
Recruiting disciples took time, so the long queue was not made up of just Blood Staunching Pill Sect disciples.
There were also ambitious cultivators from other sects who wanted to try their luck on a whim.
Though the Bloodpill Ancestor was displeased, under the watchful eyes of the Nine Palaces Chamber of Commerce, he dared not make any blatant moves.
Those cultivators from other sects who sneaked into the queue didn’t dare open their Lucky Bags on the spot to avoid deadly consequences, instead hiding their bags and escaping quietly.
But the Bloodpill Ancestor naturally would not let them go.
He immediately sent the sect’s strongest forces to tail them out of the city.
Though the pursuers were powerful, the Blood Staunching Pill Sect had invested heavily this time, so the others didn’t dare to fight head-on.
They obediently opened their Lucky Bags on the spot to show their contents.
Fortunately, no one had found the formula so far.
“The last one, finally the very last one!”
The Bloodpill Ancestor was almost in tears; this nightmare of a day was finally coming to an end!
No matter if there was anything in this last one or not, everything would finally be decided!
Yet, as he came back to his senses, he was slightly stunned.
The final buyer at the stall wasn’t wearing Blood Staunching Pill Sect robes; he wasn’t part of the sect.
He was a Scattered Cultivator, plain-looking, even a little rustic, with a dull expression that looked like a background character who wouldn’t survive past three chapters in a roadside novel.
“One thousand? So expensive…”
The Scattered Cultivator painfully took out a thousand Magic Crystal Stones in cash and handed them to the seller.
The seller passed over the bag.
The Scattered Cultivator took it without hesitation and ripped open the bag right then and there!
The Bloodpill Ancestor thought: this guy must be an idiot.
Besides, he himself had drawn over ten thousand times with no success, and each draw was randomly selected from the pile of bags.
There was no way the formula would be hidden in this last bag!
Absolutely impossible!
The Scattered Cultivator reached inside and rummaged around, his brow furrowing slightly.
Seeing him frown, the Bloodpill Ancestor let out a huge sigh of relief.
Then the Scattered Cultivator pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, scratched his head in confusion, and said, “Newbie question…”
Staring at the paper, the Bloodpill Ancestor felt like the last thread in his mind snapped instantly.
“Question! What kind of question!”
The air within a ten-mile radius suddenly grew heavy with sorrow.
The Bloodpill Ancestor snapped, his Heavenly Crystal Battle Armor creaking under the surge of his emotions.
All sorts of Calamity Immortal-grade Artifacts rattled around him.
He felt an urge to flatten the entire city!
But no, he couldn’t.
After raging, he calmed himself and coldly said, “One million Magic Crystal Stones! Sell it to me!”
“That much?” The Scattered Cultivator’s mouth dropped open. “That much money just to buy a scrap of paper? Are you crazy?”
“…”
The Bloodpill Ancestor was speechless again.
Finally losing his patience, he snapped angrily, “Enough nonsense! Will you sell it or not!”
“Selling it to you, selling it!” The Scattered Cultivator gave him a look as if he was mentally deficient.
He had been treated like an idiot by an idiot.
The Bloodpill Ancestor trembled, his mouth twitching wildly, already numb with anger.
But at least he had bought the formula, temporarily preventing further losses and delaying the collapse of the Blood Staunching Pill Sect.
He paid the money, took the crumpled paper, unfolded it, and was stunned once more.
What was this?
On the crumpled paper were the words [First Prize: Grade A Hemostatic Pill Formula] written in large characters.
And that was it.
Just those few words.
It really was the Grade A Hemostatic Pill Formula!
The Bloodpill Ancestor laughed maniacally as his world collapsed, then the darkness overwhelmed him, and he fainted.
When he woke, the Bloodpill Ancestor felt a sharp ache in his chest.
Even his meridians had broken a few strands from anger.
After swallowing expensive pills and quickly recuperating, he let out a long breath, his mood suddenly brightening again.
It seemed the Scattered Cultivator was just a con artist.
Although he had been cheated out of over ten million Magic Crystal Stones, while it was a loss, the result was still acceptable.
At least no one could threaten the foundation of the Blood Staunching Pill Sect, right?
He could continue being a rich and willful patriarch; just thinking about that brought him comfort.
Yes, losing money to avoid disaster!
Besides, there was still a long future ahead.
He had plenty of time and opportunities to hunt down that scoundrel and make him pay dearly for today’s incident!
As long as the formula wasn’t leaked, as long as the formula wasn’t leaked, hey…
The Bloodpill Ancestor sat in his small recliner, rocking leisurely as usual.
He no longer scrutinized his ledgers because he knew the price of pills would rise back up eventually.
“Ancestor, there’s mail for you!”
A disciple brought over several letters.
Today’s mail was far fewer than usual.
Perhaps because the Blood Staunching Pill Sect was in trouble and he had lost much of his usefulness, many shops didn’t even send letters of sympathy.
Hmph, shortsighted fools.
Still, even in these circumstances, some shops sent letters and advertisements to show goodwill, believing he hadn’t lost his usefulness.
Those shops were truly rare and precious.
The Ancestor resolved to take good care of these sensible little shops.
While pondering, the Bloodpill Ancestor tore open an envelope.