Dimensional Storekeeper - Chapter 167

Chapter 167: How Cola Pill Created a New Legend
If someone pulled out a brush to start drafting a future legend, no one would even raise an eyebrow.

One of the elders finally broke the stunned silence.

“Master Alchemist Bai, what’s the name of this pill?”

Ji Yunzhi didn’t even blink. “Cola-Inspired Enhancing Pill.”

The sudden elevation of address didn’t move him. He didn’t care that they were now calling him Master Alchemist. He had no intention of bowing to anyone, much less playing their politics.

If anything, he found it mildly amusing.

The elders exchanged glances, muttering the name again under their breaths.

“Cola Pill, huh?”

“Cola Pill…”

The word spread quickly around the hall, taking root in their minds.

Ji Yunzhi cut through their contemplations. “How many crystals can you offer per bottle?”

“I won’t sell them by the pellet. Only in batches.”

That jolted them again.

Each of those pills, if auctioned to the right buyer, could fetch more than what an inner sect elder earned in a week. They all knew it. Even low-tier cultivators would fight over something that could give them a sharp edge in a battle.

If word got out, external sects and rogue cultivators alike would swarm the markets.

Some of them had already begun plotting how to wring the best deal from this aloof youth.

But before they could dig too deep into their petty schemes, Ji Yunzhi spoke again.

“Ten crystals per bottle. Each contains twelve pellets, as you’ve already seen.”

“You’ll supply the ingredients. I’ll do the rest.”

A sheet of paper appeared in his hand, and he passed it to Sect Master Jiang Xianwei.

The sect master gave it a single glance before handing it over to Tang Sheng. He wasn’t focused on the contents. His attention was still fixed on the man who called himself Bai Chen.

He found it odd.

This boy could have easily demanded triple, and none of the elders would dare argue. Yet he set the price low, almost casually. Jiang Xianwei narrowed his eyes slightly.

Was it pride? Arrogance? Or just confidence that this was only a stepping stone?

The list of ingredients, now in Elder Tang Sheng’s hands, was concise. Rare herbs and spiritual reagents, some of which hadn’t been requested in years, but still nothing overly absurd.

Their sect had most of them stored in abundance. The few that were missing could be restocked easily and cheaply.

In short, the Drifting Sword Sect was walking away with the upper hand in this deal.

Ji Yunzhi wasn’t shortchanging himself either, but the worth of his pills far exceeded the cost.

And it was clear to every elder in the room –

This was a business.

Not a favor.

Not a plea.

And just like that, the elders’ expressions began to shift.

At first, stiff and skeptical, their brows loosened as the paper passed from hand to hand. By the time the third elder received it, someone in the back had already let out a low whistle. Another elbowed the alchemist next to him, whispering something with a grin.

The atmosphere in the room flipped faster than a spirit beast sensing free food.

“Eh? That’s it?” one elder mouthed silently, eyes widening.

No Skyheart Lotus. No Abyssal Beast Cores. No “plucked only under moonlight by a left-handed immortal” sort of nonsense.

Just decent, solid ingredients – some rare, yes, but not the “we need to dig through an ancient ruin and fight a flame turtle” kind of rare.

Their moods instantly improved. A few even sat straighter in their chairs, shoulders relaxing.

Some even started nodding to themselves, as if they’d always supported this young man.

“We misjudged him.” one whispered.

“He’s got backbone.” another added.

And just like that, Bai Chen – who had previously turned down every invitation to join, dine, or even talk with them – had somehow crawled his way into their hearts using nothing but ingredients they already had.

The sect’s elder alchemists stared at the bottle in Tang Sheng’s hands with growing disbelief.

They could feel the effects of Cola Pill even now, rippling through their meridians, and quickening their bodily responses.

They knew the ingredients. They had brewed dozens of pills from these same herbs over the decades.

Yet Bai Chen had somehow twisted them together and forged a pill that wasn’t just a minor boost – but a completely new class of stimulant!

It wasn’t in the alchemy books. Not in the ancient scrolls.

Just madness and genius in the same path.

How the hell did he even think of combining these?

And the kid had priced it at ten crystals a bottle?

Ten!

A bottle had twelve pellets. That was less than one crystal per pill!

‘Is this brat looking down on us?’ one elder couldn’t help but thought half in admiration, half in wounded pride.

It wasn’t that they were offended at him. They were offended for him. As alchemists, they understood what it meant to grind day and night perfecting a concoction, only to sell it off like a stall vendor peddling street snacks.

This wasn’t just a pill. It was a damn milestone in alchemy!

What kind of prideful genius undersells his own brilliance?

But the truth – though none of them could guess it – was far simpler and far more ridiculous than any of them would’ve believed.

Ji Yunzhi had tasted a can of Cola.

It cost two crystals.

And that thing had burst through his senses. Its a divine elixir brewed by a master far beyond everything he understood alchemy to be.

It made his own version, the so-called Cola Pill, feel like a child’s drawing compared to a full landscape painting.

It had the same type of effect – but they weren’t even in the same category!

So how could he justify pricing his version higher?

Sure, he needed to profit a little. And yes, he did add the clause that they would be supplying the ingredients. But really, the price was just a polite nod to fairness.

He wasn’t trying to rob anyone. The Cola Pill was useful, and that was enough.

He got the materials he needed.

They got pills that were practical and powerful.

Everyone walked away with their pockets heavier.

A clean deal. No need to be greedy.

Even if it left a group of aging alchemists quietly questioning their life’s work while whispering about whether it was too late to take on a young master as their teacher.