Volume 1, Chapter 28: To Steal a Chicken Only to End Up Losing the Rice

The launch of the Rejuvenation Pill was met with unprecedented market fervor. The Li Group’s decision to make the formula for their Beauty-Fixing Pill public was like casting a giant boulder into a tranquil lake, triggering massive waves and earning them instant, widespread acclaim across Nanjiang City.

From street vendors to established merchants, everyone spoke highly of the Li Group’s magnanimous gesture. Countless ordinary consumers took to social media to shower them with praise, hailing the move as an act of noble righteousness. Overnight, the Li Group became a paragon of the business world, adorned with titles such as "Conscience of the Industry," "National Brand," and "Backbone of the Nation." The intensity of this adulation left the typically low-profile and steady Li family feeling both flattered and bashful.

As for the Rejuvenation Pill itself, thanks to its superior efficacy and affordable price, it shone like a brilliant star, capturing the gaze of consumers and becoming a highly sought-after commodity. Its effects were nothing short of remarkable, with visible results that could be observed with the naked eye. It granted the skin an unprecedented radiance, causing the traces of time to retreat before it. This magical quality, combined with its accessible price, made the sales of the Rejuvenation Pill exceptionally explosive. The Li Group had finally swept away its previous decline and regained its vibrant vitality.

Behind all of this, naturally, lay the wisdom and strategy of Ye Tian. His simple, calculated maneuvers were like a masterstroke, instantly propelling the Li Group to new heights. The younger generation of the Li family regarded Ye Tian as their idol, while the senior leadership treated him with ever-increasing reverence, as if he were a deity. Li Dingguo and Li Cheng even repeatedly approached Ye Tian regarding his marriage to Li Qingcheng. By this point, the Li family had firmly become a reliable ally to Ye Tian.

In stark contrast, the Zhou family found themselves deep in a quagmire, having been thoroughly outplayed. On one hand, a tidal wave of negative news crashed down upon them. Simultaneously, various rumors spread rapidly among the public—stories of how the Zhou family had colluded with regulatory agencies and resorted to despicable tactics, including orchestrating poisoning incidents, to forcibly seize the formula for the Li family’s Beauty-Fixing Pill. These reports not only sent the reputation of the Zhou Group plummeting but also placed the regulatory authorities in an incredibly awkward position. Public outcry grew, and law enforcement agencies were overwhelmed by anonymous reports and complaints.

While the reputation of the Zhou Group was a thorny issue, it remained somewhat manageable because they had always lacked a favorable public image and their daily business operations rarely dealt directly with consumers. The truly fatal blow to the Zhou family was their strained capital chain. Previously, in their rush to seize the market after obtaining the Beauty-Fixing Pill formula, they had impatiently poured massive amounts of capital into production. They had expanded production lines on a grand scale, spent heavily to poach technical experts from the Li family’s factories, hired a large number of new workers, aggressively expanded sales channels, and spared no expense in maintaining terminal customer relations. All of this required vast sums of money. Furthermore, to grease the wheels, they had spent heavily to bribe regulatory officials and high-level government figures. Every single one of these actions was a massive drain on their finances.

The Zhou family’s capital chain was now teetering on the brink of collapse. They had counted on recouping vast sums once their own Beauty-Enhancing Pill hit the market, but Ye Tian’s maneuver had crippled them. The sales of the Zhou family’s meticulously crafted Beauty-Enhancing Pill were dismal. Even after repeatedly slashing prices in a desperate attempt to entice consumers, the market remained cold, and they could not recover their capital. With no other choice, the Zhou family was forced to cut their losses, dropping the price of the Beauty-Enhancing Pill to nearly the cost of production. Even then, they only saw a marginal increase in volume, with every bottle sold representing a massive loss. The Zhou family had effectively lost their shirt. In this round, they had been utterly devastated by Ye Tian’s trap.

In truth, had the Li Group released the Rejuvenation Pill through normal commercial channels and gradually expanded their promotion and sales, the Zhou family might not have been dealt such a fatal blow. After all, the Li family’s Beauty-Fixing Pill already held a significant market share, and the Zhou family was long accustomed to competing with them. However, the Zhou family had attempted to use unfair competition and underhanded tactics to steal the formula, investing heavily in mass production and even unnecessarily increasing product quality and costs, all in an attempt to drive the Li family out of the market entirely. They had not anticipated such a fierce counterattack.

The Li Group’s Rejuvenation Pill was of higher quality and better value, far outperforming the Zhou family’s product. More fatally, by making the formula public, the Li Group rendered the Zhou family’s Beauty-Enhancing Pill—a product they had poured their heart, soul, and capital into—a laughingstock. The costs they had incurred to boost quality now became a heavy burden, tightening around their throats like a noose and ensuring their total defeat in this commercial battle.

The Zhou family had brought this upon themselves, lifting a rock only to drop it on their own feet. Now, busy dealing with internal financial crises and external public pressure, they were far too occupied to concern themselves with anything else; their former arrogance had vanished without a trace.

Ye Tian, meanwhile, had finally found some leisure time. Within a thatched hut on Longshou Mountain in the suburbs of Nanjiang, he was focused on refining Body Tempering Pills. Having reached the late stage of Body Tempering, the difficulty had increased significantly, and his progress had begun to slow; at his current pace, it would take at least three months to reach the peak of the Body Tempering stage. However, given the current climate, Nanjiang was not entirely safe, and he did not have the luxury of slow growth. Thus, using Body Tempering Pills to assist his cultivation became his only option for rapidly increasing his strength.

The batch of pills he was refining today was costly, and to Ye Tian, they were of vital importance. Inside the hut, he sat on the floor before a pill furnace engraved with ancient inscriptions. He carefully removed various rare herbs, purchased at great cost by the Li Group, from a wooden box and placed them into the furnace in a specific order. Each herb was hand-picked and rich in medicinal essence, capable of producing high-quality pills. Driven by the internal energy within Ye Tian, the fire beneath the furnace grew hotter. As the temperature rose, the herbs began to emit a fragrant aroma.

"Success!"

After an unknown amount of time, Ye Tian’s expression changed, and a hint of pleasant surprise appeared in his eyes. Looking down, he saw more than thirty pills, each the size of a thumb, resting in the furnace. For his first attempt at alchemy, such a high success rate was an unexpected delight. The pills were vibrant in color and full in shape—unmistakably high-quality Body Tempering Pills.

"Excellent, excellent! With these, I am certain I can reach the peak of Body Tempering within a month!"

After storing the pills in a bottle and leaving instructions for Li Qingcheng, Ye Tian began his closed-door cultivation, preparing to push toward the Qi Refining stage.