Chapter 23 – Chen, good things shouldn’t go to outsiders. How about… you take in your sister Ling?
"Sixty... sixty top-grade Spirit Essence Pills?!"
When Xiao Chen casually mentioned the number of pills he had, Xiao Zhan, Xiao Mingyi, and the others gasped in shock, nearly collapsing to their knees in front of him.
In the Floating Cloud City’s pill market, it was rare to see even one top-grade Spirit Essence Pill in years.
Whenever one appeared, it would be snatched up instantly.
A single top-grade Spirit Essence Pill would cost at least five thousand Spirit Crystals.
Yet Xiao Chen had produced sixty of them in one go, a resource worth hundreds of thousands of Spirit Crystals, enough to cause a sensation among all the merchant associations in Floating Cloud City!
"Are these really... all top-grade Spirit Essence Pills?!"
In disbelief, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Mingyi trembled as they took the pill bottles, opened them, and sniffed. Their eyes shook as they looked at Xiao Chen.
"Did you really refine all these yourself?!"
It wasn't that Xiao Zhan and the others doubted Xiao Chen, but the situation was simply too unbelievable.
Refining pills was an extremely intricate process.
To refine sixty top-grade Spirit Essence Pills in just two days was something even a Heaven Rank alchemist couldn't achieve.
Moreover, Xiao Chen’s side room lacked a pill furnace or the vast amount of herbs needed for such a task. How did he manage to refine so many top-grade Spirit Essence Pills?
Could it be...
As the thought crossed their minds, they exchanged glances, seemingly having realized something.
They remembered that two days ago, they had given Xiao Chen a hundred low-grade Spirit Essence Pills. Could these top-grade pills have been refined from those?
"That's right, just as you guessed, these were refined from that batch of low-grade Spirit Essence Pills."
Seeing their speculative expressions, Xiao Chen nodded with a faint smile.
"Wow, Chen has such incredible skills; he truly is the Xiao Family’s blessing!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhan and the others gasped again, their faces lighting up with joy and excitement.
They hadn’t expected Xiao Chen not only to help with Marrow Cleansing and Vein Remolding but also to be able to purify and refine pills.
Even a Heaven Rank alchemist couldn't achieve such feats.
With Xiao Chen in the Xiao Family, how could they ever lack top-grade pills?!
"Uh, don't get too excited just yet. This process also consumes a lot of resources."
"If there aren't enough resources to support it, I can't purify any pills."
Seeing them getting carried away, Xiao Chen had to pour some cold water on their enthusiasm.
"Hahaha, we understand."
Hearing Xiao Chen’s words, Xiao Zhan and the others laughed heartily, then handed him a spatial ring.
"These are the various resources we’ve acquired from the major merchant associations over the past two days, including damaged weapons, demon cores, defective pills, and so on."
"We spent a total of 470,000 Spirit Crystals. This should be of some help to you."
"470,000 Spirit Crystals?"
Xiao Chen's eyes lit up at Xiao Zhan's words.
Without any hesitation or false modesty, he took the spatial ring.
470,000 Spirit Crystals.
This must have been gathered from the Xiao Family’s funds and the spoils from defeating the Wang and Lin families.
He hadn’t expected the Xiao Family to invest everything in acquiring resources, a selfless act that surprised him.
As his spiritual sense probed the spatial ring, he saw a mountain of various resources.
There were damaged weapons, defective pills, demon cores, leftover herbs, and even some beast corpses and scales.
If all these were taken out, they would form a mountain.
"This should be worth tens of thousands of points!"
After a rough assessment, Xiao Chen immediately issued the recycle command.
"Ding! The system has recycled all resource items, totaling 73,534 points."
"Over seventy thousand points?"
Hearing the system prompt, Xiao Chen was a bit surprised.
It seemed there were many valuable items in this batch.
Otherwise, resources worth over 400,000 Spirit Crystals wouldn't yield such high points.
With this influx of points, he could upgrade more pills.
As the thought crossed his mind, Xiao Chen mentioned it.
"What?"
"You want to help us purify pills?"
Hearing Xiao Chen’s offer, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Mingyi were overjoyed.
"Yes, try to purchase some pills for cultivation or breakthrough, as long as they are low-grade."
"As long as I have enough resources, I can purify them into top-grade pills."
"With these pills, you can quickly enhance your cultivation or break through, ensuring the Xiao Family’s safety."
Xiao Chen nodded and replied.
"Hahaha, as expected of our Xiao Family’s prodigy, your character is truly commendable."
Seeing Xiao Chen’s selflessness and dedication to the family, Xiao Mingyi smiled with satisfaction.
He even felt like making Xiao Zhan step down and letting Xiao Chen become the patriarch right away.
"Wait, I almost forgot something important!"
As Xiao Mingyi was feeling emotional, Second Elder Xiao Chixiong suddenly slapped his thigh and ran excitedly to Xiao Chen, grabbing his wrist.
"Chen, you are outstanding in both appearance and talent. Your future offspring will surely be exceptional."
"As the saying goes, 'fertile water should not flow to others' fields.' Why don't you... take your sister Ling'er as your wife?"
Pfft!!
Hearing Xiao Chixiong’s words, Xiao Chen almost spat out blood. What kind of twisted logic was this?
Because he was too outstanding, Xiao Chixiong suggested he marry Xiao Ling'er?!
"Xiao Chixiong, you shameless old man."
"You're even willing to push your own daughter; aren't you afraid she'll rebel?"
Xiao Mingyi and Xiao Delong, standing nearby, shouted with wide eyes.
They were clearly shocked by Xiao Chixiong’s suggestion.
"She wouldn’t dare!"
"Chen is so outstanding and sensible. If she can warm his bed and bear his children, it would be the greatest honor of her life!"
Hearing Xiao Mingyi and Xiao Delong’s words, Xiao Chixiong retorted, blowing his beard and glaring.
"Besides..."
"Although we are all from the Xiao Family, my branch and Chen’s are several generations apart. From a bloodline perspective, we are already distant relatives."
"It would be better to take this opportunity to strengthen our ties, which might even enhance the Xiao Family’s bloodline."
The Xiao Family had been established for hundreds of years, and many descendants were now separated by more than ten generations. Even if they married within the family, it wouldn't be considered incest.
So, instead of letting Xiao Chen marry outsiders, it would be better to marry within the Xiao Family.
This could avoid some family conflicts and better protect the Xiao Family’s interests.
"Hmm... I suddenly think this idea might work."
After Xiao Chixiong’s twisted reasoning, Xiao Mingyi and Xiao Delong’s eyes lit up.
Why hadn’t they thought of this? Instead of benefiting outsiders, it would be better to benefit their own girls.
With Xiao Chen’s talent and potential, even being a concubine by his side would bring unimaginable opportunities.
By then, they could have outstanding descendants, even if they were just grandchildren, it would be a source of pride.
"Hahaha, Chen, Second Elder makes a good point. What do you think of my daughter?"
"She’s even more beautiful than her mother, and her bloodline is six or seven generations apart from yours. You two would be a perfect match."
As the thought crossed his mind, Xiao Mingyi eagerly promoted his daughter to Xiao Chen.
"Damn it, I have no daughters, so I can't take advantage of this."
Third Elder Xiao Delong, standing nearby, was very frustrated.
He only had three useless sons, which he had once been proud of.
Having three sons in a row seemed like a great blessing for his branch.
But now, he was deeply frustrated, unable to take advantage of such a good opportunity.
Should he reserve a spot and try to have a daughter?