C16 Feng Yan Feng Yu

As soon as the Foundation Building Pill touched his tongue, it dissolved, sending a warm current surging through his limbs and bones. Chu Yang promptly sat down cross-legged, adopting the five-hearts-to-heaven posture, and began circulating the warmth through his body as the technique prescribed.

The warmth quickly reached his dantian, where it swirled into a vortex of spiritual energy. But after only ten minutes, Chu Yang opened his eyes, puzzled. The pill's effects were supposed to last for hours, yet they had vanished in less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea.

Had he been sold a counterfeit or expired pill?

With this concern, Chu Yang reached out to Tushita Palace's customer service.

Chu Yang: Wasn't it said that the effects of the Foundation Building Pill should last between five to twelve hours? Why did mine fade in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea?

The Tushita Palace was a major enterprise, and the Great Monad certainly didn't handle customer service personally. Instead, his disciple took care of pre- and post-sales inquiries.

Chu Yang's Amazon account soon buzzed with a response.

Xuan Qing: May I inquire which cultivation technique you practice, Immortal Friend?

Chu Yang: Swallow the Heavens and Earth...

Truth be told, he found the name of the technique somewhat embarrassing to utter, almost cringe-worthy. He would never mention it if it weren't essential to his practice.

Xuan Qing: No wonder you're puzzled. Allow me to offer a brief explanation. Cultivation involves refining the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth to enhance one's own power, with pills serving merely as aids. When the primary and secondary methods are properly aligned, one can achieve twice the results with half the effort. The technique you're practicing extracts the spiritual energy directly from the pills, which is why the effects of the Foundation Building Pill are fleeting for you.

Chu Yang's brow furrowed. "So, there are no side effects to this technique, right?"

Xuan Qing: This technique is quite prevalent in the Celestial Realm, and I've not heard of any issues arising from its practice. However, while it allows for rapid advancement, it consumes resources heavily and reaching Great Completion is quite challenging. I would advise switching to a different technique sooner rather than later.

After hearing Xuan Qing's explanation, Chu Yang breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared that the God of Cookery hadn't deceived him after all.

Though the technique of devouring the heavens and earth was resource-intensive, Chu Yang harbored no grand ambitions, nor did he aspire to become a Transcended One.

His current priority was settling his debts. He could worry about other matters later.

In light of this, the technique of devouring the heavens and earth seemed to be the most appropriate method for his cultivation.

The bottle contained ten Foundation Building Pills, which would allow him to practice non-stop for a maximum of two hours. With the remaining nine thousand soul stones in his account, he could only get enough pills to last him until the next day.

"This really is a cultivation method fit for a Taotie; it's an insatiable beast!" Chu Yang sighed and logged off Amazon.

It was clear that he needed to prioritize the promotion of instant noodles; otherwise, his funds would be depleted long before he achieved any significant level of cultivation.

When noon arrived, Chu Yang made a trip to the supermarket.

The variety of instant noodles was overwhelming.

Sour pickled beef noodles, mushroom chicken stew noodles, tomato and bamboo shoot pork rib noodles...

Chu Yang browsed the snack aisle and was amazed at the plethora of instant noodle flavors.

After half an hour, he had selected over twenty different flavors of instant noodles, and he wobbled his shopping cart over to the checkout counter.

The cashier, noticing his large purchase, couldn't help but comment, "Hey handsome, eating instant noodles all the time isn't good for you. You should try to eat more wholesome meals."

As Chu Yang scanned his items, he replied, "I don't have much of a choice. I'm just too poor to afford anything else but instant noodles."

It wasn't until he had vanished through the exit that the cashier girl muttered skeptically, "Who's he kidding? If he's so broke, why would he splurge on a 68-yuan bucket of express delivery gourmet noodles?"

Back at home, Chu Yang opened Amazon, stored the instant noodles in his virtual warehouse, and began to revise the product descriptions.

This time, Chu Yang was more cautious. In selecting the main image, he made sure to include a prominent disclaimer: The actual product may differ slightly from the images shown. Please refer to the actual item.

In the product details, he cleverly included a disclaimer at the very end, stating that buyers who failed to read the description carefully would bear the consequences of any issues that arose.

"I must be quite the shrewd merchant. With this in place, let's see who can accuse me of false advertising!"

After Chu Yang listed the product, he quickly messaged the God of Cookery, urging him to make a purchase before it was all snapped up by others.

Truth be told, his store didn't have the built-in traffic like the Moon Palace, nor had he spent soul stones on promotions, so very few people actually saw it. He was essentially just amusing himself!

The God of Cookery, who had been eagerly waiting, saw the message and immediately clicked the link to check it out.

Seeing the variety of instant noodles listed, the God of Cookery's face flushed with excitement.

However, upon attempting to make a purchase, he was shocked to find that the price per bucket had soared to 100 soul stones!

He considered asking Chu Yang for a discount but hesitated, remembering that Chu Yang hadn't taken him to task for his previous mischief.

After some deliberation, the God of Cookery bit the bullet and bought ten buckets. What's 1,000 soul stones compared to his year-end bonus, after all?

Chu Yang, watching the new orders roll in on the backend, felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. His prospects for wealth hinged on this venture.

Once he logged off Amazon, Chu Yang resumed his cultivation.

...

As dawn broke the next day, Chu Yang emerged from his cultivation refreshed.

His face showed no signs of weariness; he was brimming with vitality, his eyes sparkled with life, and he radiated an energetic aura.

"This cultivation technique is truly remarkable. At this rate, I'll soon reach the Foundation Building stage. The only issue is the rapid consumption of pills..."

Chu Yang examined the few Foundation Building Pills he had left and furrowed his brow.

To date, he had spent the 9,000 soul stones he had diligently accumulated, all contributing to the earnings of Tushita Palace. If not for the God of Cookery's pending order confirmation, he might not have been able to hold onto the last 1,000 soul stones.

"Forget it, I need to focus on my cultivation. Once I've handled Yang Wanli, I can take a breather."

Realizing he still had some time, Chu Yang resumed his seated position and continued his cultivation practice.

He cultivated straight through until noon.

"Looking back, I can still see the moon over my hometown..."

He hadn't fully assimilated the last Foundation Building pill when the familiar ringtone of his phone suddenly interrupted.

Chu Yang checked the caller ID and saw it was Su Yue.

Su Yue typically communicated via WhatsApp for routine matters, so a phone call was unusual and likely meant something urgent.

Chu Yang reluctantly continued to channel his energy while he answered the call.

"Hello, Class President..."

"Chu Yang, where are you? There's been a serious incident!"

Chu Yang's heart skipped a beat as he hastily inquired, "I'm at my rental place. What's going on?"

Su Yue sounded frantic, "The news about you owing money to Yang Wanli has gotten out. The department is rife with rumors, and there are all sorts of stories circulating. Some are even saying you borrowed money for gambling, and it's gotten the dean's attention..."

Upon hearing this distressing news, Chu Yang was rooted to the spot, completely stunned.