Scripture of Days Past

Chapter 29: Customer Experience

That night, Chu Qiguang returned to the Wang Manor to continue Wang Cailiang’s “treatment”.

Wang Cailiang was very pleased to see him and personally led Chu Qiguang into his room, saying, “Come. I haven’t had dinner yet, so let’s have a drink together, Brother Zhou.”

He then turned to a nearby servant and ordered, “Go fetch us some dishes and wine.”

Chu Qiguang noticed that Wang Cailiang was occasionally swinging his sleeves from side to side, seemingly trying to show off his clothes, so he remarked, “These look like some very fine clothes, Brother Wang.”

A pleased smile immediately appeared on Wang Cailiang’s face as he said, “This robe is made from the finest embroidered cotton fabric sold in the county’s Auspicious Tailor Shop. I heard that the fabric is produced in the East Sea Province Textile Factory, and just a few decades ago, it would’ve been reserved exclusively for the imperial family. This robe alone cost my mother twenty taels of silver.”

What a wasteful prick! Chu Qiguang scoffed inwardly.

However, he hid his disdain behind a look of admiration as he praised, “No wonder the fabric is so vibrant and elegant. It was produced in the East Sea Province!”

Over the past few days, Chu Qiguang had gotten a good grasp on Wang Cailiang’s character.

He wasn’t exactly a bad person, and he certainly wasn’t as much of a stingy tyrant as his father. Instead, he simply enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle and liked to show off and brag to his friends.

Sure enough, Wang Cailiang was even more pleased after hearing Chu Qiguang’s praise, and he returned the favor, praising, “You have a sharp eye, Brother Zhou. The average village farmer wouldn’t be able to tell what’s special about these clothes at all.”

Chu Qiguang chuckled. “You flatter me, Brother Wang,”

“Not at all!“ Wang Cailiang insisted. “Given your looks and character, I’m sure you’ll pass the martial examination someday and become a pillar of our nation.”

Chu Qiguang responded in kind, “With your talents, the top spot in the imperial examination is surely yours for the taking after just a few more years of cultivation. I’ll be in your care when we become colleagues in the imperial court, Brother Wang.”

Wang Cailiang burst into laughter. He thoroughly enjoyed exchanging praise and compliments with Zhou Ergou. His other friends were often unable to keep up with him, but he and Zhou Ergou were always able to take their praise for each other to even greater heights.

“The northern fiendish savages have become far too arrogant, thinking that there’s no one capable of opposing them,” Wang Cailiang said. “In the future, the two of us will step onto the battlefield and wipe out the fiend race once and for all!*

They continued to praise each other while eating and drinking, and before long, Wang Cailiang proposed that they become sworn brothers. Chu Qiguang tactfully turned down the proposal.

Qiao Zhi was standing on the rafters, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

Are all humans this shameless? Then again, maybe Wang Cailiang’s just bragging, but given Chu Qiguang’s talents, he really is destined for great things.

After their meal, Wang Cailiang asked, “Brother Zhou, why is it that I lose consciousness every time you come to treat me?”

“In order to cleanse your body of the residual canine poison, I have to partially cut off your blood flow,” Chu Qiguang explained. “As a result, not enough blood reaches your brain, so you naturally lose consciousness.”

Wang Cailiang didn’t quite understand, but he still nodded in response.

Soon, Qiao Zhi descended stealthily from the rafters to knock Wang Cailiang unconscious again.

“He’s been practicing martial arts for quite a few years, hasn’t he? If the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique is used on him, he should be able to make a breakthrough to the first state very soon, right?” Chu Qiguang asked telepathically.

“That should be the case,” Qiao Zhi replied. “He has indeed been cultivating for a few years. He may not have been especially hardworking, but he certainly hasn’t lacked nourishment since birth, so he has a solid physical foundation.”

After that, Qiao Zhi began administering a series of paw strikes all over Wang Cailiang’s body.

However, for this stage of Chu Qiguang’s plan, Qiao Zhi was no longer just activating or suppressing the effects of fiendification. Instead, he was truly using the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique to strengthen Wang Cailiang’s physical constitution.

As the paw strikes continued, Wang Cailiang’s blood circulation gradually accelerated, and his physical constitution improved bit by bit.

However, Qiao Zhi didn’t complete the entire process in one go. Instead, following Chu Qiguang’s instructions, he spread the foundation establishment process over the course of ten days.

That way, the changes in Wang Cailiang’s physical constitution would occur much slower and subtly, thereby preventing excessive surprise or suspicion.

After completing the treatment for the day, Qiao Zhi looked slightly exhausted as he remarked, “It’s a shame that we only have ordinary rat blood to use on him. If we could use the rat fiend blood to stimulate his bloodline instead, the effects will be even more pronounced.”

“We’ll upgrade to the rat fiend blood at some later date,” Chu Qiguang replied with a smile. “We can’t put him through the foundation establishment process just once. Even among rat fiends, there are different levels, right? We can keep upgrading the blood that we use and put Wang Cailiang through the foundation establishment process multiple times.”

“But no matter how many times we put him through this process, the effects will still be no different from using the highest grade rat fiend blood and performing the procedure on him just once,” Qiao Zhi said.

“So what?” Chu Qiguang countered. “Let me ask you this, does it feel good to sense gradual improvements in your physical constitution over time?”

“Of course,” Qiao Zhi replied with a nod.

“Why would we limit this pleasant experience to just one time when we can give it to him multiple times instead?“ Chu Qiguang asked. “You have to understand the mindset of the customer. For someone like Wang Cailiang, once he senses the rapid improvements in his physical constitution, do you think he’ll keep coming to us for treatment because he wants to become stronger?”

“Is that not the case?” Qiao Zhi asked.

“Of course not!” Chu Qiguang replied. “If he solely wanted to become stronger, then he could simply cultivate more. He turns to us because he wants to grow stronger without having to put in any effort. He enjoys the pleasure of his physical constitution gradually improving without having to do anything.”

Qiao Zhi stroked his whiskers with a thoughtful expression.

“If you give him everything at once, you’ll be depriving him of this joy,” Chu Qiguang continued. “By the way, if someone is disabled and loses their cultivation base, can they still establish a new foundation using the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique?”

“No,” Qiao Zhi replied.

“That’s a real shame,” Chu Qiguang sighed with a shake of his head. “I suppose it’s true that the happy times are always fleeting.”

This man is the devil incarnate! Qiao Zhi screamed to himself. For the sake of the rise of the cat race, I must cling to him with all my might!

About fifteen minutes later, Wang Cailiang woke up, feeling even better than ever after the treatment.

“The three hundred taels of silver have already been used to purchase brain platinum, so starting from today, I’ll begin treating your condition,” Chu Qiguang explained. “As the canine poison is cleansed from your body, your physical constitution will also be improved. This is all to be expected, so there’s no need for you to worry.”

Wang Cailiang wasn’t worried at all. Instead, he was brimming with excitement at this feeling of his body growing stronger without any effort on his part, and he wanted nothing more than to experience it every single day!