Chapter 22: Immortal Alchemical Recipes

"What difficult problem?" Hearing Lin Shuyun speak with such gravity, Xiao Nan couldn't help but feel curious.

Lin Shuyun continued, "With the booming development of the pharmaceutical industry over these many years, the market for traditional medicine has basically become saturated."

"To open up new markets, many pharmaceutical companies, including our Lin Pharmaceuticals, have been investing huge amounts of capital in recent years to develop new drugs, especially beauty, skincare, and anti-aging products, which are most popular among female consumers."

"Whoever can first develop a formula with proven effectiveness in this area will be able to capture this brand-new market. For this, Ziqing has put in tremendous effort."

"However, just today, our biggest competitor, Xie Pharmaceuticals, held a press conference to announce to the media that they have developed a miracle drug with magical effects for beauty and skincare, which will be released in a month."

"Yet, the research Ziqing and her team have been conducting in this field has not yielded any effective results."

"You can imagine that once Xie Pharmaceuticals releases their new drug and it actually has the effects they claim, while Lin Pharmaceuticals has nothing to show for it, we will be completely left behind by the Tangs."

"Although our Lin family is recognized as the wealthiest in Luocheng, we are not without those chasing us, and the Xie family is the most threatening. If we are truly crushed by them this time, our position as the wealthiest family will likely be shaken."

"Now do you understand the immense pressure Ziqing is facing?"

Xiao Nan nodded. "I have a basic understanding."

"Sister, really, why are you telling him all this?" Lin Ziqing, having changed into an exquisite dress, walked down from upstairs and looked at Lin Shuyun with some displeasure. "Telling him this is hardly going to help; I doubt he even understands what you're talking about."

Lin Shuyun rolled her eyes at her. "Even if he doesn't understand now, won't he gradually learn if he hears more about it?"

She then asked, "Where are you going?"

"I have dinner plans with some close friends to clear my head," Lin Ziqing replied. In the past, her sister had been her first choice whenever she felt down. But recently, she didn't know what kind of spell Xiao Nan had cast on her sister that made her always side with him, so she would rather go out with her friends.

Lin Ziqing glanced at Xiao Nan and noticed the guy was burying his head in a pen, writing something. Ignoring him, she turned to leave.

"Ziqing, wait a moment." Xiao Nan suddenly called out to her. He stood up and handed over what he had just written. "This is a prescription called the 'Qi-Gathering Beauty Pill.' It has remarkable effects for skincare and beauty. As long as you follow the method I've written here to put it into production, no matter what this Xie Pharmaceuticals' new drug is, you will definitely be able to defeat them."

After all, she was his fiancée. Faced with such a predicament, Xiao Nan naturally wanted to help. The prescription he gave her was actually the formula for the Qi-Gathering Pill he had refined before, only he had removed the "Purple Heart Vine," the most precious main ingredient.

The Qi-Gathering Pill naturally had youth-preserving effects, which, to a cultivator like Xiao Nan, was its most useless feature. With his medical skills, it wouldn't be difficult to research a new drug for beauty and skincare, but he couldn't be bothered at the moment, so he simply gave Lin Ziqing the Qi-Gathering Pill formula.

"You..." Lin Ziqing looked at the "prescription" Xiao Nan handed her, her face filled with speechlessness. Because she was in a rush to leave and had no mood to waste words on him, she snatched the paper, stuffed it into her pocket, and turned away.

...

Feiyun Pavilion was one of the top Michelin-starred restaurants in Luocheng. Just as Lin Ziqing was about to enter the private room reserved with her friends, she remembered the "prescription" for the whatever-pill that Xiao Nan had given her before leaving.

She scoffed, and without a second thought, she fished it out and tossed it toward a trash can by the hallway. Because she was in a hurry to get to the banquet, she threw it somewhat carelessly, and the paper didn't land in the bin, though she clearly didn't notice and quickly disappeared down the corridor.

Not long after, two men walked toward that spot, chatting. If Lin Ziqing were still there, she would have recognized one of them immediately: Li Yadong, who had called people to deal with Xiao Nan at their engagement banquet, only to be soundly beaten by the very people he had hired. The stout, bespectacled old man beside him was Pan Rongxing, a pivotal figure in the Luocheng Pharmaceutical Association.

After the previous incident, the Li family had reflected deeply and decided to vigorously develop their pharmaceutical industry to expand their family's strength. Unfortunately, they lacked the foundation and had to pay a high price to hire Pan Rongxing as a consultant.

"How uncouth." On the black floor of the hallway, a piece of white paper looked very conspicuous. Pan Rongxing criticized the person who had littered and bent down to pick it up. Just as he was about to throw it into the nearby trash can, his gaze was caught by a line on the paper: "Qi-Gathering Beauty Pill?"

"Heh!" Hearing Pan Rongxing read the words aloud, Li Yadong sneered, "Who wrote such cringe-worthy stuff?"

Pan Rongxing became interested and wanted to see what this so-called "Qi-Gathering Beauty Pill" actually was. He unfolded the note.

Soon, as the note was fully opened, he froze.

"Old Pan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Seeing Pan Rongxing's strange behavior, Li Yadong quickly asked.

"This... this... this is a formula for a Qi-Gathering Pill?" Pan Rongxing stayed stunned for a full minute before speaking in a trembling voice. His aged face was flushed with excitement.

"What is a Qi-Gathering Pill?" Li Yadong asked, full of confusion.

Pan Rongxing's thoughts seemed to have been pulled far away, and after a long time of trying to recall, he slowly said, "It is a legendary immortal pill used by cultivators for their practice."

"An immortal pill?" Li Yadong was dumbfounded. If these words hadn't come from Pan Rongxing, he would have thought the man had lost his mind. "Old Pan, is this really an immortal pill formula?"

"Whether it's real, I cannot confirm; after all, I have never seen a complete Qi-Gathering Pill formula," Pan Rongxing said.

"Uh..." Li Yadong was speechless. This old man was something else; if he hadn't even confirmed it, why was he getting so worked up? Wait... Li Yadong caught a keyword in Pan Rongxing's words: "You haven't seen a complete one, so you *have* seen an incomplete one?"

Pan Rongxing nodded. "My eldest brother has a copy of an incomplete Qi-Gathering Pill formula. It's not only incomplete but also damaged. I once saw it."

"Divine Doctor Pan?" Pan Rongxing's older brother, Pan Guangxing, was one of the three most famous divine doctors in Luocheng, just like Xu Wei.

"Old Pan, if that's the case, can't we just compare this prescription with the damaged one Divine Doctor Pan has to see if it's authentic?" Li Yadong also couldn't help but feel excited. This was something even cultivators used! If it were real, wouldn't the Li family be set for greatness?