That evening.
Li Wenxu limped his way home and made a firm decision: he was never opening a shop in the black market. Ever.
His expression was pure dejection. If he'd known this was how things would turn out, he would've just stayed in Nancang City.
He'd come back to build up his hometown. Instead, he got the beating of a lifetime.
Were the locals always this savage?
"I have to call my professor!"
Li Wenxu didn't pay much mind to the bruises on his body. What truly shook him was Chen Shu's potion-crafting technique.
"Hello? Professor Zhou!"
"Wenxu? How's the business venture going?"
"Professor..."
Li Wenxu paused for a moment, then spoke. "Do you believe someone can brew potions blindfolded?"
Zhou Yujiang, a man in his fifties, pushed his glasses up and replied, "That's as ridiculous as a sow climbing a tree -- no, scratch that, it's even MORE ridiculous!"
"..."
Li Wenxu said, "I'm sending you a video. Take a look."
As he spoke, he forwarded Chen Shu's potion-crafting video.
Li Wenxu added quickly, "Professor, the blindfold is real. I can vouch for it from personal experience..."
Zhou Yujiang nodded and hung up the phone.
He assumed his student had gone a bit loopy and didn't think much of it.
But the moment he opened the video, his composure shattered instantly.
"How in the world can something like this even exist?!"
Zhou Yujiang stared at the footage, already deep in contemplation.
Potion-crafting couldn't tolerate the slightest bit of negligence. How could someone possibly do it with their eyes closed?
"And how the hell is this kid brewing so fast? Is this some kind of magic trick -- no, actual sorcery?"
Professor Zhou Yujiang of Nancang Pharmacy University didn't sleep a single minute that night. He had begun questioning life itself...
...
In the days leading up to the Spring Festival, Chen Shu hadn't found anything to stir up trouble with, so he had no choice but to behave himself and play the role of an upright citizen.
The festive atmosphere thickened across the city. Shops along every street hung red lanterns and colorful decorations, rolling out all kinds of promotional sales.
Chen Shu, naturally, didn't let this opportunity pass.
He seized the moment to hike the price of the High-Grade Dali Potion by 2,500 yuan.
While every other shop was slashing prices, he did the exact opposite -- and instantly locked every pair of eyes in the market onto his storefront.
Now THAT was commercial genius.
Thanks to Li Wenxu's humiliation serving as the ultimate free advertisement, the Dali Potion Shop was thriving like never before. No shortage of customers whatsoever.
"Hello? Sis Fang Si?"
Chen Shu answered a call from Fang Si.
She'd been missing for several days straight, clearly taking the matter of that Black Iron-rank assassin to heart.
"Come out! I've got something!"
Half an hour later.
The "Long Time No See" Cafe, at a street corner.
"Sis Fang Si, did you find out who that guy was?"
Chen Shu got straight to the point. He was equally curious -- someone who dared to assassinate a Dragon Guard, could that really be an ordinary person?
As protectors of Huaxia, assassinating a Dragon Guard was practically an act of treason.
Fang Si's brow furrowed slightly. She took a sip of coffee and said, "I did."
Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. "You found out, and you're still making that face?"
Fang Si didn't elaborate. She pulled out several sheets of A4 paper and slid them directly to Chen Shu.
"Liu Ping, 28 years old, leader of the Iron Fist Beast Taming Squad. Contract Spirit: Purple Fire Bird..."
The pages documented Liu Ping's entire life -- every school he'd attended from childhood onward, family members, relatives, all of it.
Clearly, Fang Si had leveraged the Dragon Guard's investigative apparatus to dig this up.
Everything on those pages looked completely, utterly normal. And that was precisely what made it the biggest abnormality of all.
The man was nothing more than a law-abiding citizen.
But would a normal Black Iron-rank Beast Tamer just march up and attempt to assassinate a Dragon Guard? Would he throw his own life away?
Neither the weapons nor the explosives had any traceable origin.
The organization behind him clearly had the power to obstruct Dragon Guard investigations.
Chen Shu mulled it over for a moment, then spoke:
"Sis Fang Si, did you dig up someone's ancestral grave or something? Otherwise why would they send a Black Iron-rank Beast Tamer after you?"
"That's YOUR thing, not mine!"
Fang Si's mouth twitched. "I've beaten up a lot of people, sure, but nobody should have a reason to spare no expense trying to kill me!"
Huaxia Academy was fiercely competitive, but since every student there was a genius, they all had their own pride.
Even if you got demolished in a fight, you'd only push yourself harder to surpass them next time.
Nobody resorted to dirty, underhanded schemes for revenge.
"I have no leads. It's tricky. There could be a next time."
Fang Si's expression turned solemn. Last time, if Chen Shu hadn't intervened, she might genuinely have died.
Specialized armor-piercing rounds weren't something flesh and blood could withstand.
Fang Si sighed. "You should probably keep your distance from me."
"The hell are you talking about? Anyone in Nanjiang City who'd dare touch my people hasn't been born yet."
Chen Shu waved his hand dismissively, looking entirely unbothered.
He had the System to give him advance warnings. Under normal circumstances, nothing would happen -- unless they sent Silver or even Gold-rank Beast Tamers to force-kill him right in the middle of the city.
But no organization would sacrifice that caliber of Beast Tamer just for Fang Si. It wasn't worth it.
"Oh right, take these."
Chen Shu flipped his right hand over, and like a magic trick, two vials of potion suddenly materialized.
One red. One grey.
These were the only two potions Chen Shu had left -- one Berserk Potion and one Explosion Potion.
He would absolutely not allow anyone to lay a hand on Fang Si or Zhang Dali.
"One of them boosts your Contract Spirit's power. Roughly a tenfold amplification. The other one is basically a nuke."
Chen Shu kept his voice low as he explained the effects of both potions to Fang Si.
Fang Si's heart hammered in her chest. She kept eyeing the two vials, and without even realizing it, she'd slowly pushed her coffee cup farther and farther from the grey one.
She definitely did NOT want to be sipping coffee when Nanjiang City ceased to exist.
"Keep the grey one yourself. It's useless against high-rank Beast Tamers."
Fang Si shook her head. From Chen Shu's description, it couldn't even kill a Black Iron-rank Lord. Its only real function was wiping an entire city off the map...
She could hardly say to a criminal, "If you kill me, I'll blow up the whole city."
That'd just be a win-win for them.
"Take this one."
Chen Shu handed Fang Si the Berserk Potion. If her Contract Spirit took it, it would instantly gain Silver-rank power -- more than enough to turn the tide in any fight.
"Deal."
Fang Si carefully tucked the potion away. Given how close they were, she didn't need any superfluous words of thanks.
Chen Shu looked her dead in the eye, his expression completely serious. "Sis Fang Si, if you die, I'll definitely come to your funeral banquet."
"..."
Fang Si's mouth twitched. This little shit didn't wish her well one bit.
"And then I'll tear your enemy to pieces. Whoever it is."
Chen Shu followed up immediately. His eyes were clear and his expression was dead serious -- as if he were making a solemn oath.
"Alright."
Fang Si smiled, a genuine warmth stirring in her chest. "I'm taking you to meet someone."
The two of them left the cafe and stepped out into the bustling street.
"Sis Fang Si, where's your car from the Capital? You didn't drive back with that flashy license plate?"
The two stopped by a street-side shop and picked up some fruit.
Fang Si said, "You think I'd drive all that way just to show off? You think I'm like YOU?"
With Chen Shu's insufferably flashy personality, he would absolutely drive across the country just to flaunt a license plate.
As the saying goes: if you've got it and don't flaunt it, your heart won't rest.[1]
"Can you hook me up with a Huaxia Academy plate too? I wanna cruise around right in front of the Spirit Suppression Bureau!"
Chen Shu grinned, already picturing that glorious scene in his head.