Chapter 50: The Saintess Descends, the Light of the Righteous Path!

“Cost is one percent, efficiency is a hundredfold?”

Elder Liu Changqing’s fingers were trembling. He snatched the gray pill, no bigger than a grain of rice, and held it up to his eyes, his eyeballs nearly pressing against it.

The pill’s surface was rough; one could even see bits of unblended herbal residue. A faint burnt odor mixed with a trace of spiritual energy stung his nostrils.

“This… this is impossible!” He jerked his head up, his voice cracking, “Leng girl, are you trying to fool me with some scraped-off pill mud? You dare call this a pill? This is nothing but waste residue! Who would want it!”

His words echoed the thoughts of everyone present.

Wang Teng, Wu Hao, and several other core members crowded around, craning their necks.

Their expressions were a colorful mix of curiosity, confusion, and above all, disdain.

This thing was truly too unsightly to show to anyone.

Compared to the lustrous, fragrant spirit pills from the Pill Pavilion, or even the “Youth Edition” Chu Feng had refined before, this one looked a thousand times worse.

Yet facing a room full of doubt, Leng Yanran simply stood quietly, her gaze passing over the crowd to rest upon Chu Feng, as if awaiting the only verdict that mattered.

Chu Feng smiled.

He picked up that “Beggar Edition” pill from between Liu Changqing’s fingers and rubbed it lightly. A small puff of gray powder drifted down.

“Excellent.”

He nodded.

His voice was calm, yet it made the entire room fall silent.

“Cold CPO, you have completely grasped the essence of our Ascension Group’s principle of ‘reducing cost and increasing efficiency.’”

“Ah?” Elder Liu Changqing was utterly dumbfounded. “President, this… this counts as good?”

“Of course it’s good.” Chu Feng’s gaze swept slowly across the crowd, like that of a patient teacher. “Family members, once again your vision is too limited! You’re still judging a ‘product’ through the mindset of ‘alchemists’ and ‘users.’ But I, and our Cold CPO, have already ascended to the level of the ‘rule-makers!’”

He paused, then threw out a question: “Tell me, who is our Group’s largest potential customer base right now?”

“Is… is it those chore disciples and outer sect disciples?” Wu Hao replied hesitantly.

“Exactly!” Chu Feng snapped his fingers, his expression turning solemn. “It’s those bottom-level disciples who can’t even split a single spirit stone! Tell me, what is their greatest despair? Is it that they can’t afford pills?”

“No!” Chu Feng answered himself, his tone sinking. “It’s that they don’t even dare to dream of owning pills!”

“One standard Qi Nourishing Pill costs ten low-grade spirit stones. To you, that’s nothing. But to them—it’s months, even a year of hard labor! They can’t afford it, so they stop thinking about it altogether. Their desire dies!”

“But,” Chu Feng raised the gray pill high, his eyes gleaming with a light that made hearts tremble, “what if a pill only cost ten copper coins? Or could be exchanged just by completing the simplest sect mission?”

“Yes, its potency is weak—only one percent of a standard pill. But what does it solve? It solves the problem of ‘from nothing to something’! It gives those struggling in the mud a tangible, reachable hope!”

“When they get used to popping one of our Group’s ‘Beggar Edition’ pills every day, and realize that their cultivation speed is just a tiny bit faster than those around them… what do you think will happen then?”

“They’ll never leave us again!”

“We’re not selling pills!” Chu Feng’s voice carried a mesmerizing conviction. “We’re selling habit! Dependency! And the superiority of feeling above others!”

“When the entire Qingyun Sect—hundreds of thousands of bottom-level disciples—become loyal users of our ‘Beggar Edition’ pills, how vast is that market? How terrifying are those profits? Have any of you calculated it?”

Chu Feng’s words exploded in everyone’s minds like thunder.

Everyone stood frozen, breathless.

Elder Liu Changqing’s mouth hung open for a long moment. His hand loosened, and a pile of gleaming spirit stones clattered to the floor—but he didn’t even notice.

Wait… the accounts could be done like this?

Sell waste pill residue, earn mountains of profit, and bind hundreds of thousands of people to your own chariot?

What… what kind of divine and demonic method was this!

“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”

Elder Liu Changqing was the first to recover. He slapped his thigh, his old face flushed red.

The look he gave Chu Feng had transformed from admiration into fanatical worship.

“President, you’re no mere business genius—you’re a living Celestial Venerable sent down to enlighten us mortals!”

“Indeed! Our Ascension Group is carrying out Heaven’s will!” Chu Feng raised his arm, his voice full of passion. “Our next goal is to use the ‘Qi Nourishing Pill – Beggar Edition’ to completely capture Qingyun Sect’s grassroots market! We’ll make sure every chore disciple can have pills to eat! This—this is our Group’s corporate social responsibility!”

“To carry out Heaven’s will! Let every family member have pills to eat!” Zhang Daniu shouted at the top of his lungs.

“President Celestial Venerable, boundless divine power!”

The entire courtyard was instantly engulfed in a wave of fanatical fervor.

Yet, just as the Ascension Group—no, the “Qingyun Sect Strategic Development and Model Innovation Research Association”—was cheering for their glorious cause...

Outside Qingyun Sect’s mountain gate, a flying vessel drawn by six majestic immortal cranes slowly descended.

The vessel was carved entirely from ten-thousand-year white jade, surrounded by a soft, sacred radiance—extravagant beyond words.

A pure white hand lifted the beaded curtain, and a woman dressed in holy white robes stepped out.

The moment she appeared, it was as though all light between Heaven and Earth converged upon her.

A vermilion mark glowed between her brows; her eyes were cold as snow, yet carried a majesty that pierced the soul.

She simply stood there quietly, and the restless spiritual energy around her calmed.

All who saw her felt ashamed and dared not meet her gaze.

The disciples guarding the mountain gate looked up at her, then saw the cloud-pattern insignia on the flying vessel—emblem of the Heavenheart Holy Land.

Their legs gave out as they dropped to their knees, their voices shaking uncontrollably.

“G-greetings, Your Highness the Saintess!”

The woman ignored them.

Her clear eyes gazed deep into Qingyun Sect’s interior.

There, a chaotic yet concentrated aura was surging skyward—an aura filled with greed, desire, and frenzied faith.

Her brows furrowed ever so slightly.

“What a sinister aura… to twist human desire to such an extent.”

“Qingyun Sect has indeed fallen into corruption.”

Her cold voice was like an icy spring dripping onto jade—clear yet carrying an undeniable authority.

“I am Murong Xue of Heavenheart Holy Land.”

“By order of my sect, I have come to investigate the Qingyun Sect heretic—Chu Feng.”

“Such demonic corruption must be eradicated.”