Evan Lin took out a piece of paper from the side and quickly jotted something down.
Warren Wu focused his gaze and, seeing the name of the pill written on the paper, was instantly stunned.
"Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill?"
When Warren Wu saw the pill's name, he immediately understood and his face lit up with joy. "Young Lord, are you planning to sell this pill to women?"
"Exactly! Before, I was always thinking about selling pills to save lives. Sure, every time we made a sale, we earned a ton of money, but it's not like people are dying every day and have that kind of cash for treatment. As for those martial artists, even though they need pills, they don't have much money, and there aren't that many of them anyway."
"But women are a whole different story!"
Warren Wu slapped his forehead, his face full of excitement. "In this world, men earn money just to spend it on women, right? And women naturally love beauty! Your Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill will definitely work better than most cosmetics on the market!"
"This... this is a gigantic market!"
Warren Wu was visibly thrilled.
The previous Valley Master of Medicine King Valley was stuck in his old ways and didn't care about money, but Warren Wu was different.
He'd suffered plenty in the mortal world and understood all too well the power of money. Back then, he used the Medicine King Valley name to treat patients and make a living—for the sake of earning cash.
Now, with just a word from Evan, everything clicked. Instantly, his face was full of excitement.
"The Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill only needs ginseng and Polygonum multiflorum. It's not hard to refine—the main challenge is just removing the toxicity from the Polygonum, then blending the two herbs together with the right technique."
"Before, I had them try refining the Small Nourishing Spirit Pill, but that's still too tough for most people right now. The Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill is different—I'll teach you the method in a bit. After that, go buy these two herbs in bulk and have the Miracle Hand Sect alchemists practice with them."
After giving some quick instructions, Evan went out to find Old Sun, handed him some money, and sent him into Oceanport City to buy ginseng and Polygonum multiflorum.
Soon, Old Sun came back to the Zheng family with the goods, apologizing to Evan: "The herb shops only had ten-year ginseng and five-year Polygonum. If you want, I can ask around and see if anyone has older ones?"
"This is enough."
Evan took the herbs. After Old Sun left, he called Celine Lin and Alex Fu over. Right in front of them, he used the ten-year ginseng and five-year Polygonum to refine a batch of Youth-Preserving Beauty Pills.
"Since the ginseng and Polygonum are so young, this batch of Youth-Preserving Beauty Pills is pretty weak. But compared to ordinary cosmetics and beauty supplements, the effect is still way better."
Evan explained the key points of pill-refining, then handed the leftover herbs to Celine and Alex for practice.
Later that evening, Old Sun came to invite Evan, Warren Wu, and the others to dinner.
The meal was held in another villa's main hall at the Zheng estate. By the time Evan and his group arrived, quite a few people were already seated inside.
The Southriver Sword Sect disciples were treated with respect, and since there were so many of them, they had their own table.
Dominic Ding, whose arm had recovered, looked full of energy. As soon as he saw Evan enter, he quickly stood up, ready to bow in greeting. Evan just nodded in response.
Warren Wu sat to Evan's right, while Celine Lin firmly claimed the seat to his left. Dominic Ding and Alex Fu took the next seats.
At this table, Old Master George Zheng sat at the head. On his right, Old Madam Grace Zheng gazed at Evan with doting eyes; on his left was the pale-faced Ben Moran.
Further down the table, Leon Zheng looked at everyone and couldn't help but sigh a few times to himself.
Ever since the Zheng and Qi families fell out over a decade ago, the Zhengs had lost face. In all these years, they'd never had such a lively gathering as tonight.
The Southriver Sword Sect disciples were all Vajra-level, and at the Zheng family's main table sat the sect master, plus Warren Wu, head of Medicine King Valley and Miracle Hand Sect. If word of this lineup got out, the other Oceanport clans would be shocked.
Joy Zheng sat beside Claire Zheng, while Autumn Zheng kept company with the now unusually quiet Faye Zheng. As for Susan Xu and Leon Zheng, they didn't even dare approach the table.
"Today is truly a big day for our Zheng family—it's all thanks to you, child."
Old Master George Zheng raised his glass and stood up. "Come on, grandson, have a drink with your grandpa?"
The way Old Master George stood up was almost like a junior addressing his elder.
His gaze at Evan was complicated, with more than a hint of awe. Blood may be thicker than water, but after more than ten years apart, things had changed.
Now that Evan was so exalted, the old man suddenly felt a bit humble.
"Xiaoyi."
Evan was about to just raise his glass and go through the motions, when Joy Zheng softly called out to him. Her eyes held a gentle plea.
Family bonds, for Evan, only meant lingering feelings for Joy Zheng and Lucy Lu. The Zheng family itself held no value for him, and he didn't care about their fate. But for Joy, her parents and relatives were part of the Zhengs—she couldn't let go.
Evan sighed inwardly, shook his head slightly, raised his glass, and stood up. "Let me drink to you."
"Good, good, good!"
Hearing Evan's words, Old Master Zheng instantly relaxed, laughing heartily as he tipped back his glass and drained it in one go.
"I told you, a child raised by Joy could never turn out spoiled!" Old Madam Grace Zheng beamed, looking at Evan with pure happiness. "Good grandson, do you have a girlfriend? If not, how about letting Grandma introduce you to someone?"
"There are plenty of good girls in Oceanport, but Grandma will make sure to find one who truly matches you!"
As Old Madam Grace finished speaking, Celine Lin shot Evan a subtle sideways glance, her eyes full of hidden meaning.
On the other side, Faye Zheng felt a jumble of emotions, especially when she heard Old Madam Grace talking about matchmaking for Evan. For a moment, she felt so stifled she could hardly breathe.
That indescribable feeling slowly rose inside her. Autumn Zheng glanced at Evan, trying to ease the tension and steer the conversation back to normal. She gently asked, "The results for the last Hundred-School Joint Exam should be out soon, right? Have you called your teacher to ask?"
"I bet your aunt wants to know your scores too."
Autumn Zheng smiled.
Joy Zheng turned to Evan. "Right, and Lillian Chen's scores should be out too, right?"