At this thought, Su Mo’s excitement grew. He took out the third Calamity-Breaking Pill and said, "Father-in-law, you should take this Calamity-Breaking Pill."
"Me?"
Xiao Zhan pointed at himself, stunned.
Su Mo nodded. "Swallow this pill. I’ll help you refine its medicinal power and try to get you to break through to Martial King."
"Alright!"
With a look of excitement, Xiao Zhan swallowed the Calamity-Breaking Pill.
Medicinal power surged!
However, since Xiao Zhan had previously practiced the True Dragon Undying Technique, he wasn’t as fragile as Qingyunzi and Long Chuan, who had nearly burst from the force.
Xiao Zhan did his best to suppress the medicinal power.
"Father-in-law, let me help you!"
Su Mo grabbed Xiao Zhan’s arm, helping him circulate the True Dragon Undying Technique.
This time, it was the complete version.
BOOM!
After he completed the thirty-six stances of the first level, Xiao Zhan’s aura shot to its peak, and he broke through to the Martial King Realm in one go.
"I... I broke through to Martial King?"
Xiao Zhan was incredibly excited.
He remembered how he had only been an Early Stage Grand Martial Artist before.
With Su Mo’s help, in less than a few short months, he had reached Early Stage Martial King.
This was something he had never dared to imagine before.
’It really works!’
Su Mo’s face lit up with pleasant surprise.
The only shame was that there were only three Calamity-Breaking Pills, not enough for all the Xiao Family Elders to have a breakthrough.
"Elder Baiyun, do you have the Pill Formula and ingredients for the Calamity-Breaking Pill?" Su Mo asked.
Bai Yun shook his head. "Apologies, but I am not an Alchemist. I have neither the Pill Formula for the Calamity-Breaking Pill nor the ingredients to concoct it."
"I do!"
A voice suddenly called out from a distance.
It was Shi Lei!
Su Mo asked, surprised, "You do?"
Shi Lei nodded. "To tell you the truth, our Shi Family is most famous for its merchant guild, which controls half the commerce in the Northern Profound Domain. We don’t just have the Pill Formula and ingredients for the Calamity-Breaking Pill; we even have the finished pills."
"Oh?"
Su Mo asked, "Can you get me a few? I’ll buy them at a high price, three times the market rate."
Shi Lei promised, "Elder Su, rest assured. I guarantee I can get you five within half a day. As for more... that would take longer."
"Five is enough!"
Su Mo tossed out a Storage Ring. "There are enough Spirit Stones and Treasures inside. Take however much you need."
However, Shi Lei remained unmoved.
What he valued was befriending Su Mo, not money or treasures.
"You don’t want it?"
Su Mo said coldly, "I don’t like owing people favors, so you should just give up on that idea."
Shi Lei smiled. "Elder Su, you can’t just force a transaction, can you?"
Hm?
Everyone around was stunned.
’What does Shi Lei mean?’
’Is he threatening Su Mo?’
Su Mo said, surprised, "If I don’t accept your favor, you won’t sell me the Calamity-Breaking Pills, is that it?"
"Precisely!"
Shi Lei said calmly, "Moreover, I believe in your character, Elder Su. You are a reasonable person and wouldn’t do something like kill someone for their treasure."
"And what if you’re wrong about me?" Su Mo pressed.
Shi Lei shook his head. "I won’t be wrong. Even if you kill me right now, Elder Su, I’ll still firmly believe I wasn’t wrong about you."
Nearby, several Array Masters frowned in unison.
"Has the young master gone mad?"
"You don’t know shit. The young master is playing a game with Elder Su."
"A game? If he loses, he’s dead."
"But what if he wins?"
The middle-aged Array Master scolded, "All of you, shut the hell up. If Elder Su wanted to kill the young master, he would have done it already. He wouldn’t be wasting so much time talking to him."
Sure enough, Su Mo chuckled. "Heh, you’ve really got some skills. You’re a good judge of character. How about this: for the Pill Formula and five Top-Grade Calamity-Breaking Pills, I can help your Shi Family out one time, free of charge."
"Eight times!" Shi Lei shouted.
A dark expression crossed Su Mo’s face. "You’re too greedy. Do you take me for a fool?"
Shi Lei steeled himself and said, "Elder Su, it’s not that I’m greedy. Calamity-Breaking Pills are incredibly precious. A single one can wipe out a Martial King’s decades of savings, let alone five. Plus, I’m also giving you the Pill Formula and ingredients."
"Twice. No more!"
"Seven times, no less!"
Su Mo stood firm. "Three times, tops. If you try to gouge me again, you can keep your Calamity-Breaking Pills and wait for them to multiply. I’ll just go to the Celestial Tiger Sect tomorrow and ask. I doubt they don’t have any."
"Deal!"
Shi Lei agreed readily.
’Five Calamity-Breaking Pills in exchange for a monster who surpassed Martial Kings taking action three times... This is a huge win.’
Liu Wuxie whispered, "Brother Shi, you’re really brave, daring to haggle with Elder Su. You scared the piss out of me."
"Scared the piss out of you? Heh, I’ve pissed myself twice already!"
Shi Lei pointed to his own crotch, which was soaking wet.
He looked calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was panicking like crazy.
He’d pissed himself from fear long ago.
"Congratulations, Young Master! You won the bet!"
The middle-aged Array Master said excitedly, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart.
"It was just a fluke!"
Shi Lei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and whispered, "Next up is figuring out how to get those five Calamity-Breaking Pills."
"Young Master, those five Calamity-Breaking Pills won’t be easy to get, will they? The Patriarch won’t agree," the middle-aged Array Master whispered.
Shi Lei mused, "It definitely won’t be easy. Father won’t agree to me giving them away for free. The only option now is to steal them."
"Steal?"
The middle-aged Array Master cried out, "Young Master, are you trying to get yourself killed? If the Patriarch finds out, he’ll break your legs!"
"That’s why I’m sending you," Shi Lei said with a smile.
With a mournful face, the middle-aged Array Master said, "Young Master, you’re making things difficult for me! If the Patriarch finds out I stole his Calamity-Breaking Pills, he’ll kill my entire family. You should go yourself. The worst the Patriarch will do is break your legs and disown you."
"Don’t be ridiculous. I need to keep these two legs to serve Elder Su," Shi Lei said proudly.
"But..." the middle-aged Array Master said in a tearful voice.
Shi Lei adopted a devil-may-care attitude. "Fine, then neither of us will go. We’ll just piss off Elder Su and let him turn us both into meat paste."
The middle-aged Array Master: "..."
「Half a day later.」
Su Mo successfully obtained five Calamity-Breaking Pills.
However, Shi Yao was furious.
When he learned that Shi Lei had sent someone to steal the five Calamity-Breaking Pills, Shi Yao was about to explode with rage.
"Speak! Who did you give those five Calamity-Breaking Pills to?"
Shi Yao stared intently at the middle-aged Array Master kneeling on the ground.
The middle-aged Array Master trembled. "Re... Reporting to the Patriarch, the Young Master gave the Calamity-Breaking Pills to Elder Su."
"Elder Su?"
Shi Yao frowned. "In the Northern Profound Domain, is there an Elder with the surname Su?"
"No!"
The people around shook their heads.
They had never heard of a major figure with the surname Su in the Northern Profound Domain.
The middle-aged Array Master trembled. "Patriarch, that Elder Su is newly risen. He’s in the small town just outside the Demon Venerable Burial Ground. If you don’t believe me, you can go and ask yourself."
"Fine. Even if what you say is true, let me ask you: how much did the young master sell those five Calamity-Breaking Pills for?" Shi Yao demanded angrily.
If Shi Lei had sold the five Calamity-Breaking Pills for a sky-high price, it might have been understandable.
But if...
Who would have thought the middle-aged Array Master would say, "The Young Master didn’t sell them. He gave them to Elder Su for free."
What?
For free?