Capítulo 168: Chapter 168: Everyone Can Change
As they watched the dwindling spider silk outside, everyone widened their eyes, silently waiting for a miracle to happen.
Princess Qianyou's eyes sparkled as she watched the slowly advancing spider silk. According to her intuition, Zhongshan might actually succeed this time.
With tens of thousands of pathways inside, could the ant miraculously find its way to the exit?
Everyone patiently waited, only Zhongshan exuded boundless confidence. After half an hour, to the astonishment of Ada, A'er, and Shuitianya, the robust ant successfully navigated the maze and emerged from the exit, dragging the silk toward the queen ant.
"Zhongshan, is this the art of animal control?" Princess Qianyou exclaimed in amazement.
"Animal control? Is this an animal?" Zhongshan looked at Princess Qianyou with a strange expression, pulling the silk.
From what happened next, even without Zhongshan's explanation, Princess Qianyou knew what to do.
Zhongshan tied the grain of rice to the silk, then coated the silk and rice with soybean oil. He gently pulled from one end, and soon the rice came out from the other end.
Obviously, the soybean oil was used to lubricate, preventing the rice from getting stuck midway.
"Isn't this the art of animal control?" Princess Qianyou exclaimed in astonishment.
Princess Qianyou had considered seeking help from experts in animal control, but those experts could only control large beasts. They were powerless against such tiny ants. Could it be that Zhongshan was even more capable than those animal control experts?
Seeing the puzzled looks of everyone, Zhongshan explained, "This is common knowledge among us ordinary folks."
Zhongshan's explanation left everyone speechless. Common knowledge?
Pointing at the two ants from earlier, Zhongshan explained, "The large ant tied to the exit is the queen ant, and the sturdy small ant is a worker ant. When the queen ant is in distress, it emits a special scent for help. The worker ants will definitely come. I blew into the hole earlier to spread the scent inside, making it easier for the worker ants to find. Additionally, ants can emit some distress signals that you and I can't hear. The worker ants rushed over because of that."
"Scent? Distress signals? Indeed, this queen ant has been emitting strange sounds and a slightly peculiar scent," Princess Qianyou nodded.
Surprised by Princess Qianyou's senses, Zhongshan was astonished. She could smell that? She could hear that? Just how strong was Princess Qianyou's cultivation?
"However, I don't think this is what you call common knowledge among ordinary folks, right?" Princess Qianyou smirked.
"I apologize, Princess. I was bored as a child, so I observed ant nests and figured it out myself," Zhongshan said helplessly. To be honest, the knowledge about the queen ant and worker ants was indeed common knowledge on Earth, but since Princess Qianyou didn't believe it, there was no choice but to say it was self-observation.
Princess Qianyou naturally wasn't angry. At this moment, she was more pleasantly surprised. Why would she blame him? Observed ant nests as a child? Figured it out by himself? If it were an ordinary person, how could they observe it?
"You said there were many methods, didn't you? If you can come up with another method, I won't blame you," Princess Qianyou looked at Zhongshan again.
"Um, other methods require some time to find," Zhongshan said.
"Oh?" Princess Qianyou looked puzzled.
"The refining sphere has two holes, but only one pathway. So, there must be airflow inside the maze. Even if it's subtle, too subtle for us to notice, there must be extremely subtle airflow. As long as we find small insects sensitive to airflow, bind them with silk, and place something the insects are interested in at the other hole, just like how the queen ant attracts worker ants, we can quickly guide the insects across," Zhongshan explained.
Shuitianya, Ada, and A'er were extremely convinced because Zhongshan's second method, if mentioned before the ant navigation, would definitely have a higher success rate. However, Princess Qianyou keenly sensed the difficulty of this method. It was too difficult; finding such insects would undoubtedly require a great deal of effort. However, Princess Qianyou didn't expose it.
Fanning herself with her folding fan, Princess Qianyou smiled faintly and said, "You've solved the first question. Now, do you want to think about the second one?"
Did Zhongshan just happen to know about the ant navigation? Princess Qianyou didn't think so. The questions weren't known beforehand; Zhongshan just had a way of solving them as soon as they were presented. Although he solved it casually, it showed insight. Princess Qianyou was already very confident in Zhongshan's abilities, so she suggested he think about it.
Looking at the grain of rice turning into an infant pill, Zhongshan smiled slightly. The first question relied on luck, but turning the grain of rice into an infant pill was something Zhongshan was extremely skilled at. No, it should be said that after arriving at Wushuang City, this became extremely easy. If it were on Tianlang Island, there would never be a way.
"Like threading the grain of rice through the refining sphere, turning the grain of rice into an infant pill is just as easy. In fact, once I explain the method, anyone can do it," Zhongshan said with a light smile.
Hearing Zhongshan's words, Ada, A'er, and Shuitianya widened their eyes. It could be said that solving the previous question was a matter of luck, and Zhongshan had observed ants as a child. But turning this grain of rice into an infant pill? How could that be possible? Even for alchemy masters, they wouldn't dare boast like this. No one could do it without adding anything, except perhaps immortals.
But Zhongshan's tone was as if anyone could do it? Wasn't that a deception?
"Oh?" Princess Qianyou exclaimed in surprise.
"In that case, I won't do it myself. I'll write down the method, and let this...," Zhongshan said, pointing to Ada.
"Ada," Ada volunteered.
Actually, Zhongshan already knew this person's name was Ada. He just didn't know if it was his real name or a title given by the princess. So, he pretended to hesitate slightly. Since he volunteered himself, Zhongshan wouldn't be polite.
"Then let Ada give it a try?" Zhongshan smiled.
After Zhongshan finished speaking, Ada became somewhat excited. Alchemy? Turning the grain of rice into an infant pill? What kind of magical spell was this? How powerful was it? Wouldn't it be possible to turn a batch of grain of rice into a batch of infant pills in the future?
Shuitianya and A'er looked at Zhongshan in amazement. Seeing Zhongshan's attitude, it seemed extremely confident. Could he really do it?
Princess Qianyou stared at Zhongshan and smiled slightly, "Good."
Zhongshan stepped aside, took out a piece of paper again, and then took out the pen and ink. He wrote densely on the large piece of paper, while everyone patiently waited on the side.
After half an hour, Zhongshan blew on the still-wet ink marks, put away the pen and ink, and handed the paper over.
"Princess, please take a look," Zhongshan presented the paper.
The princess took it gently.
Seeing what was written on it, Princess Qianyou's eyes lit up, and she understood the reason instantly. A burst of excitement flashed in her eyes.
"Ada," Princess Qianyou immediately handed the paper over.
"Yes," Ada eagerly stepped forward. Meanwhile, A'er and Shuitianya watched with curiosity as Princess Qianyou handed the paper to Ada.
Princess Qianyou understood it immediately, but Ada looked at it for a long time and couldn't understand it.
"Princess, what's this?" Ah Da frowned.
Upon the rice paper, it was written:
"One Ascension Pill = Ninety-five High-grade Spirit Stones = Ninety-five Spirit Crumbs = Sixteen Sleeping Pills + Twenty-six Titanium Papers = Two Thunder Shock Fruits + Thirteen Jin of Dragon Saliva Cinnabar = ... = Twenty-five Thousand Spirit Stones = One Infant Transformation Pill"
Looking at the densely packed characters, Ah Da was puzzled. But Princess Qian You seemed to harbor a slight anticipation. Her gaze towards Zhongshan was no longer one of initial hostility, but rather a kind of courtesy, waiting only for this method to succeed.
What method was this? It was a method of commodity circulation, Zhongshan's most adept method.
Trade! Where there's a market, Zhongshan will never starve.
That day, while strolling through the commercial district of Wushuang City with Nan Batian and Shui Wuren, Zhongshan had already noted down the prices of numerous items. Zhongshan was no ordinary person; although these prices were uniform throughout Wushuang City, he quickly found loopholes within them, making profits by exploiting the price differences of two goods, earning the difference. Zhongshan had learned this since he was young, but what if the prices of two goods were the same? Zhongshan had already created value differences for goods without price differences. It might be a bit more complicated, but he would find more goods.
Bartering might seem fair, especially since it was so uniform in Wushuang City, where things exchanged for other things would still amount to the same number of items. However, as long as Zhongshan took a glance, his mind quickly analyzed the moisture between the price and the value of a commodity. If two goods had the same value, but one yielded huge profits while the other earned very little, then Zhongshan could easily exploit the profitable one to squeeze out the oil from the profits.
This was a merchant, a great merchant, a truly shrewd merchant. Making profits from price differences? Better yet, make profits from value differences.
"No need for assistance, within Wushuang City, there's buying and selling of goods, as well as item exchanges. Take this Ascension Pill to any commercial district, follow my sequence for exchange, and in the end, it will turn into the Infant Transformation Pill," Zhongshan smiled.
"Make a copy, and you handle it," Princess Qian You said.
"Yes," Ah Da nodded with a hint of curiosity. Then, he took out a jade slip, quickly transcribed the characters written by Zhongshan, dropped the rice paper, and swiftly flew out with the Ascension Pill.
"Princess, may I take a look?" Shui Tianya said.
"Of course, you happen to be from the southern part of Wushuang City," Princess Qian You nodded with a smile.
Meanwhile, Ah Er also seemed eager.
"Ah Er, you take a look too," Princess Qian You said.
"Yes," Ah Er excitedly stepped forward.
The two grabbed the rice paper and began to read it carefully.
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