Shen Yu looked at the bottles, his golden eyes reflecting the soft green light of the office. He didn't even have to think. He had seen enough "Supreme" and "God-Tier" trash in his past lives to know that true power didn't need a crown of adjectives.
"The Peng Clan sells dreams and headaches," Shen Yu said, his voice a dark, melodic rumble. "We are selling results. We don't need to chase their vanity. We will name them based on the very laws of the body they serve."
He leaned forward, his long finger tapping the first jade bottle.
"For the Tier-0, call them 'Tang Clan's Iron-Blood' pills. It's a name that promises raw, visceral vitality. It tells every young cultivator exactly what their foundation is currently missing."
His hand moved to the second bottle, his golden eyes flashing with a cold, sovereign light that seemed to pierce the very glass.
"And for those in Tier-1... call them 'Tang Clan's Pure Flow' Pill. No exaggeration, just the absolute promise of a meridian system that is clear, efficient, and lethal."
Mei Yilan repeated the names softly, her eyes lighting up as she grasped the psychological weight behind them. "Iron-Blood and Pure Flow... It's brilliant, Yu'er. It sounds humble, almost modest, but the moment they experience that twenty-percent efficiency boost, those names will become the most terrifying words the Peng Clan has ever heard."
"Exactly," Shen Yu said, his lips curling into a wild, ruthless smile. "Let them keep their 'Dragon-Tigers' and their hollow grandeur. By tomorrow morning, the city will realize that a 'Pure Flow' is worth a thousand meaningless titles."
At that moment, a sharp, crystalline chime resonated within Shen Yu's mind. The world seemed to pause for a heartbeat as the abyssal-black interface materialized before his eyes, glowing with a cold, neon-pink light.
=========================================
[ NEW QUEST ISSUED ]
Directive: The Peng Clan's Collapse.
Objective: Systematically dismantle the Peng Clan's economic, social, and martial standing within Thousand Waves City.
Target Goal: Force the Peng Clan to shutter their medicinal halls and officially close their clan doors in disgrace.
Time Limit: 30 Days.
Reward: 1,000 DP, Random Item Lottery Ticket x1.
Failure Penalty: [Dual Cultivation Restricted] The Host's Primordial Yang will be locked for three months.
=========================================
Shen Yu's smile didn't falter, but his eyes darkened. The system was truly a double-edged sword, the rewards were tantalizing, but the penalty was a direct strike at his primary source of power and pleasure. Three months without the nourishment of supreme Yin would be an agonizing delay in his path to the 10th Stage.
A month, he thought, his gaze returning to the pill bottles on the desk. I won't even need half that time.
.
.
.
The dawn that broke over Thousand Waves City was exceptionally clear, the sun rising like a polished gold coin against a pale blue sky. In the bustling streets, the common folk and low-level cultivators went about their routines, unaware that the tectonic plates of the city's economy were about to shift.
At the center of the merchant district, the Tang Clan's storefronts had undergone a silent transformation overnight.
When the first morning mist cleared, passersby stopped in their tracks. Gone were the dusty banners and half-hearted displays. In their place stood magnificent, high-polish mahogany plaques. Gold-leaf lettering shimmered under the morning sun, announcing a new era of cultivation. There were no flashy promises of "God-Ascension" or "Dragon-Slaying." Instead, the signs were clinical, bold, and undeniably confident.
--------------------------------
[ JADE SPRING HERB HALL]
Tier-0: Tang Clan's Iron-Blood Pill - 20 Gold Coins.
True Body Tempering begins in the veins.
Tier-1: Tang Clan's Pure Flow Pill - 70 Gold Coins.
Unrivaled meridian clarity. Zero resistance.
Efficacy Guaranteed: 20% Higher than Standard.
--------------------------------
A young mercenary named Kael, scarred from years of slow progress at the 3rd stage of Qi Condensation, stared at the sign with a skeptical sneer. He had been using the Peng Clan's "Violet-Vein Qi" pills for weeks. They were good, certainly better than the old trash, but something about the Tang Clan's blatant claim of "20% higher" piqued his desperation.
He stepped inside, the bell above the door chiming softly. "Is this real?" he barked, slamming seventy gold coins onto the counter. "If this 'Pure Flow' is just another marketing gimmick, I'll have your manager's head."
The clerk, trained under Xu Yi's strict new protocols, smiled with unsettling calm. "Try it, traveler. The results will speak louder than your threats."
Kael didn't wait. He popped the pill right there, sinking into a cross-legged meditative stance in the corner of the shop to immediately circulate his Qi.
The clerk made no move to object; in fact, he watched with a knowing, expectant smile. He knew that Kael's reaction wouldn't just be a personal breakthrough, it would be the spark that ignited the entire market, the living catalyst they needed to turn skeptical whispers into a city-wide roar.
Within minutes, his eyes snapped open, glowing with a faint silver light. His breath hitched. Usually, the Peng Clan's pills felt like a heavy, surging tide, powerful but muddy. This... this was like liquid starlight. It surged through his meridians with terrifying speed, scouring away bottlenecks he had struggled with for months.
"Holy... heavens," Kael whispered, his voice shaking. He stood up, looked at the clerk, and grabbed five more bottles. "Give me everything I can afford!"
By midday, the spark had become a forest fire.
In the local tea shops, old cultivators leaned in close, their voices hushed but frantic. "Have you heard? The Tang Clan's Iron-Blood Pills... my grandson broke through a layer of Body Tempering in a single session! The blood vitality is so dense it's like he's been reforged in a furnace!"
At the Red Lotus Restaurant, a merchant slapped his table, attracting the attention of every patron. "Forget the Peng Clan's big names! I just used a Pure Flow pill. My meridians didn't just expand; they cleared. It felt like my Qi was a stagnant pond that suddenly became a mountain spring. And the price? It's the same as Peng's 'Dragon-tiger' trash!"
Word of mouth, fueled by the sheer, undeniable quality of Shen Yu's refinements, shook the city to its foundations. By evening, a literal tide of people had abandoned the Peng Clan's shops, forming lines that stretched down several blocks in front of the Jade Spring Hall.
The city buzzed with a singular realization: The Tang Clan hadn't just returned to the market; they had conquered it.