Chapter 567
Chapter 567
“Then, does a man like me have any charm?”
“Of course. You’re the heir to the Count of Xuanwu’s Estate and a top noble. That alone gives you a fatal appeal to many women. But women like that don’t catch your eye, do they? You haven’t said it out loud, but deep down, don’t you want to marry a precious daughter from a similarly noble house?”
Jin Mucong nodded frantically.
“There you have it, then. We’re all worldly people. So don’t blame Zhu Ying for being too realistic and not some transcendent being.”
“Brother-in-law, will I have another chance to marry Zhu Ying?”
“Of course. For example, if Ning Zheng defeats Crown Prince Ning Yi and becomes the young monarch of Yue. Or, for instance, if Zhu Ying’s face were disfigured, or the Zhu Clan was destroyed. But if that happened, I wouldn’t let you marry her. That’s reality, too.”
“Then besides the scenarios you just mentioned, is there still a chance for me?”
Shen Lang patted Jin Mucong’s shoulder and said.
“There is. If you become handsome and strong, you’ll have a chance. Fatty, either you transform yourself or you continue to be looked down on by others—it’s your choice. Writing novels is a very grand dream, but you’re the heir to the Count of Xuanwu’s Estate, so you have to carry on the family legacy. It’s ridiculous for someone like you to even talk about dreams. Only a talent like your brother-in-law is qualified to talk about dreams. Understand?”
“Brother-in-law, then what’s your dream?”
“To have no enemies in the world! If someone becomes my enemy, I eliminate them. If someone displeases me, I eliminate them!”
***
Elder Huang Dong of the Heavenly Path Society—he’d been promoted—had traveled a long way to the capital.
“Young Master Shen, we can provide three million gold coins. However, doing so would result in a loss of seven to eight million gold coins.”
Anyone in business would understand what he meant. The Heavenly Path Society was in a state of expansion, and every coin on hand was allocated for a purpose. Taking several million gold coins at a time like this for other uses would stagnate many of the projects necessary for expansion and development.
Shen Lang smiled and replied.
“Brother Huang, your words are more than enough. As I said, I will earn those three million gold coins myself. I won’t be borrowing from the Heavenly Path Society.”
Huang Dong was stunned.
‘Earn it himself? Three million gold coins in half a month? That’s unbelievably absurd.’
In half a month, you couldn’t even pick up that much money off the ground, though it might be enough time to steal it. Huang Dong said.
“I have absolute faith in Young Master Shen’s abilities, but I’m truly curious. How on earth do you plan to earn three million gold coins in half a month?”
Shen Lang took out a test tube. Inside was a golden liquid.
“Look spectacular?”
Huang Dong nodded.
“It is spectacular and beautiful to look at. What is this?”
“The Blood of the Golden Dragon. Extracted from the body of a colossal dragon from the deep sea. We have a total of one thousand vials, three thousand gold coins each, no discounts. When they’re sold out, that’s it. The moment to change your destiny has arrived. The chance to be appointed a general and rise to prominence is here. For three thousand gold coins, your descendants can be ennobled for generations! Only ten days! We’re only selling for ten days! Miss this chance, and you’ll regret it not for one lifetime, but for ten. The Blood of the Golden Dragon will astound the world!”
The newly promoted elder of the Heavenly Path Society, Huang Dong, took the glass vial containing the Blood of the Golden Dragon and examined it. It was a liquid that glittered with a deep golden hue.
“Young Master Shen, is this real? Or fake?”
“Fake, of course.”
How could there be dragons in this world?
“I naturally know the Blood of the Golden Dragon is fake, but you have certainly created miracles. You not only discovered the Ten Lan Brothers but also turned two thousand rejects and imbeciles into the State of Yue’s most elite army. So what I’m asking now is whether the effects of this Blood of the Golden Dragon in this vial are real or fake.”
“Fake. If it were real, how could I bring it here to sell?”
“If it’s fake, it will be hard to sell.”
“Consuming this will increase your strength, mental fortitude, and agility. The effects are extremely noticeable, even astonishing! However, the medicinal effects only last for a month before they disappear.”
‘What?’
Huang Dong was shocked. Shen Lang, too, had been shocked by this effect at first. As mentioned before, even the lowest-grade golden-blooded parasites were too much for an ordinary person’s bloodline to handle. Only those with a blank bloodline could have their bloodline modified; any other bloodline, even that of Fatty Jin Mucong, would cause the body to explode instantly. This was because the parasites continuously emitted new energy to remodel the host’s bloodline. However, this caused a violent clash between the host’s original bloodline power and the energy emitted by the parasites.
During experiments, numerous failed samples were bound to emerge. What were these failed samples? They were the dead golden-blooded parasites. The quantity of dead parasites was not small, filling hundreds of test tubes. Shen Lang had originally sealed these failed samples away, but one day, on a whim, he experimented by injecting them into an animal. The test subject didn’t explode, but it died bleeding from its seven orifices. Subsequently, Shen Lang had the animal ingest the failed sample liquid. The animal didn’t die, which proved that it was safe to consume, just not to inject directly into the bloodstream.
Moreover, he obtained astonishing results: the animal that consumed the parasites showed a massive increase in strength and speed. However, the effect waned after half a month and was completely gone a month later, having no further effect. So, how should this liquid be described? It could be called the most potent performance-enhancing drug in history. It was a substance that greatly enhanced the body’s capabilities and maintained them for a long time, but a temporary boost in athletic ability would ultimately be useless.
But didn’t he say there were only about three hundred of them? Shen Lang processed them, diluting them with a bit of water and mixing in other random things. For example, deer antler blood or seahorse blood. Of course, he couldn’t use pure blood; he had to separate the serum. In any case, he desperately mixed all sorts of things into the dead parasites. When dozens of substances are mixed together, you get one word: complex.
Only when no one could discern its ingredients could it be called a mysterious item. After completing that step, the only thing left was to create a very brilliant color. Shen Lang spent a long time creating the deepest yellow dye and even mixed in gold dust. Finally, the magnificent effect was revealed. The glittering golden appearance looked exactly like dragon’s blood. By mixing this and that, three hundred vials turned into more than two thousand.
Hah! It seems Lord Shen found his conscience too quickly. If it were one of Earth’s health supplement companies, they would have made at least a hundred thousand bottles after mixing everything. The makers of *Zhonghua Biejing*—a popular health supplement from the 90s advertised to contain soft-shelled turtle—used a single turtle to produce ten million bottles, and they still hadn’t used the whole thing. The rest of the turtle, minus the parts they’d cut off, was still being raised in a pond. Considering the state of society these days, there weren’t many conscientious merchants like Shen Lang.
The important thing was that after taking this drug, not only would one’s strength become boundless, but countless men who were powerless in *that* department could once again stand tall and proud, to the point where one man could handle five women without a problem. Selling you such an amazing Blood of the Golden Dragon for three thousand gold coins—is that expensive? Place a hand on your heart and tell me. Is it?
“Is it really that miraculous?”
Huang Dong asked in a trembling voice. From the sound of it, he seemed quite moved.
“In certain aspects, it will be more miraculous than you can imagine. Of course, I must make it clear: I have never used it myself. You know me well. Why would someone of my boundless prowess need such a messy thing?”
“Yes, I… I am certainly aware of Young Master Shen’s capabilities. But does this substance have any side effects?”
“None! I’ve already tested it dozens of times on humans and animals, and there were no side effects whatsoever. Why do you ask? Old Huang, surely you don’t need this yourself, do you?”
“I don’t. Of course not! Of course not! I have an uncle who has some… unspeakable issues. Perhaps I could take a few vials for him?”
Oh? Is it trendy now to pass off one’s own problems as an uncle’s? Didn’t it used to start with, “My friend was saying…”?
***
The Fifth Prince, Ning Zheng, had been having a real headache lately. Since he took charge of the Commandery, the capital’s garrison, originally part of the Commandery, refused to submit to him, voicing their opposition daily and slacking off on their duties. The underworld bosses in the capital were not compliant either, neglecting to control the street thugs and disrupting the city’s public order. Incidents of robbery, plunder, murder, and kidnapping occurred frequently. On top of that, thefts were common in the warehouses of the defense sectors assigned to the capital garrison, and the management of weaponry had become lax. Even the repairs on the city walls had come to a halt.
Ning Zheng had previously been a completely neglected prince, so he had no experience handling such complex political affairs. Furthermore, his superior was the Third Prince, Ning Qi, so the Central Commandery treated him with utter coldness, and officials both above and below him obstructed his work in various ways. The biggest problem was that Ning Zheng had no capable people under him; by his side were only Gao Duhuan, the Ten Lan Brothers, and Madman Lan. For the rest, he had to use the people who were originally in the Commandery.
Zhang Zhao had managed the Tianyue Commandery for years, so after his dismissal, the officials who had been his subordinates were trembling with anxiety, if not outright voicing their discontent. Moreover, they didn’t look kindly on Ning Zheng, so while they pretended to obey his orders on the surface, they defied them behind his back. Faced with these numerous and complex challenges, Ning Zheng was in a predicament, but the King did not step in to help, and neither did Shen Lang.
If Shen Lang had handled it his usual way, he would have, without a second thought, seized some of the disobedient Commandery officials, killed them, and co-opted others. He had not a shred of patience. In contrast, Ning Zheng was patient. When Ning Zheng didn’t know where to start, he would pore over ledgers and records and inspect the sites firsthand. Without a proper investigation, he couldn’t know where the problems lay. When the capital garrison refused to listen, instead of beating or killing them, he implemented strict military training. The twenty thousand-strong garrison was divided into four groups and sent in sequence to the Northern Plains Hunting Ground for training.