Chapter 100

Of course, Soft Tendon Powder was just the mildest among her many poisons.

Her means of self-preservation were beyond imagination.

“Just stockpiles?” Qin Zheng was a little disappointed.

“Even if it’s just stockpiles, I still have plenty of potent poisons on hand.”

“If it were anyone else, I could easily send them on their way.”

Thinking about what happened with Chu Lan and Lan Yu, Qin Zheng didn’t doubt Chu Ning’s words.

“Alright, I’ll count you in this time. But there’s still Gu Ming—he won’t agree to you going to the Desolate Zone.” Qin Zheng said.

Chu Ning’s eyes flickered.

“Then I’ll go find him.” Leaving those words behind, she walked off.

Qin Zheng shook his head and thought to himself, I hope Gu Ming stops her.

But in reality, he wasn’t as opposed to Chu Ning going to the Desolate Zone as before.

Since his wife had the ability to protect herself, taking her along wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Gu Ming rushed back to the Marshal’s Mansion as soon as he received Chu Ning’s video call.

His opinion was the same as the others—he didn’t agree with her going to the Desolate Zone.

“I’m not just going for the parasol tree. Besides that, I need several rare medicinal ingredients that neither the market nor the military can supply.”

Many of the herbs she needed weren’t commonly used in this world, or hadn’t even been discovered yet.

And it wasn’t just plants—some rare minerals, as well as the blood, flesh, and venom of certain beasts, were all within her interests.

Although the star beasts of this world weren’t the same as the spirit beasts of the cultivation realm, they shared many similarities.

A true master of alchemy didn’t just follow old prescriptions but modified them based on available materials to refine the most suitable pills.

This time, aside from retrieving the parasol tree, she wanted to gather medicinal ingredients and refine unique pills.

Currently, Dan Sect made more money selling secret sect pills to its disciples than selling regular pills to the public, which wasn’t a sustainable development.

At the root of the problem, Dan Sect’s publicly available pills weren’t different from those sold elsewhere.

Back when Dan Sect’s online store first became a sensation, it was because of the highly sought-after Jade Dew Pill.

If they could launch more innovative, exclusive pills, wouldn’t their business expand even faster?

“I’ve thought about it. On this trip, I’ll look for affordable materials to make beauty-enhancing pills.”

“My master left me several pill recipes. As long as I find the right ingredients, I can modify them.”

“Beauty pills may not save lives or enhance mental strength, but they work better than cosmetic surgery and are consumable products. If we release them to the public, they’ll definitely sell well.”

After all, it wasn’t just females who cared about beauty—plenty of beastmen did too.

“When the pills are ready, you and Mother can be the first to try them!” Chu Ning added, seeing that Gu Ming was tempted.

Gu Ming wanted to agree immediately, but at the last moment, he held back.

“If my wife wants to go, then take me with you!” he said shamelessly.

Chu Ning was stunned.

“You… want to go too?” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to bring him, but his strength was too low.

Well, A-rank was considered strong elsewhere, but in the Desolate Zone, it wasn’t enough.

Except for her—she was an exception, okay?

“If my wife is going, I’m going too,” Gu Ming declared.

He had zero interest in the Desolate Zone itself. But if his wife was going, then of course, he had to follow.

“Well… Xia Ye said that anyone going must be at least S-rank. You… don’t meet the requirement.”

“Aren’t you just A-rank too?”

“I may be A-rank, but I have my pills! Even Qin Zheng, a double-S-rank, lost to me.”

“Zheng-ge didn’t lose to you—he just couldn’t bear to hurt you, so he let you win. If it were a real battlefield, he’d take you down in seconds.”

Chu Ning was displeased.

“That’s not necessarily true. He didn’t want to attack me, and I wasn’t using lethal force either.”

“If I had used a high-damage poison that spreads through the air, even a double-S-rank like him wouldn’t escape.”

Gu Ming was a little surprised.

“Alright, no need to argue about this.”

“If my wife wants to go, fine—but you have to convince Zheng-ge and Ye-ge to let me go too.” He shamelessly bargained.

Chu Ning secretly thought, What a hassle.

Still, she agreed to talk to Qin Zheng and Xia Ye.

In the end, not only was Gu Ming going, but even Xia Ye decided to come along.

Of course, Xia Ye wouldn’t enter the Desolate Zone itself—he would stay at the front-line base.

And so, their traveling party grew by three.

Three days later, after all preparations were complete, the group set off.

After a day and night aboard a starship, they arrived at the planet where the front-line base was located.

This was Qin Zheng’s territory, so Chu Ning had to meet his comrades upon arrival.

The military had already received news of their Marshal’s marriage—and not just that, but that he and their strategist had married the same female.

Now that the Marshal and the Strategist had returned to the front lines with their wife, everyone was both curious and excited, eager to see Chu Ning in person.

The most excited of all, however, was Zheng Yuan.

It wasn’t because he was curious about her looks—he had already seen her in video calls. He had another purpose.

Sure enough, as soon as Chu Ning settled in, Zheng Yuan sought her out.

Since her three beast husbands had been called away, Chu Ning couldn’t refuse and agreed to meet him.

“Madam Marshal, we recently had a batch of soldiers about to be discharged due to excessive aggression levels. What do you think—?” After some small talk, Zheng Yuan got straight to the point.

“No problem. If they meet the criteria, they can sign contracts with Dan Sect.” Chu Ning replied directly.

Ever since Dan Sect established its mercenary division, it had been running smoothly.

These mercenaries were all retired soldiers—experienced warriors who not only excelled in combat but were also skilled at gathering medicinal ingredients, supplying Dan Sect with valuable resources.

Xia Ye had mentioned that the mercenary division’s output of raw materials had already surpassed Dan Sect’s consumption of pills.

If the division continued to expand, Dan Sect might even enter the medicinal supply business.

Zheng Yuan nodded but looked a little uneasy.

“Most of these soldiers are A-rank, though there are some B-ranks. But this time, we also have… a double-S-rank.” He looked at Chu Ning meaningfully.

Chu Ning was taken aback.

“A double-S-rank?” Her fingers twitched involuntarily.

A beastman with double-S-rank strength was as rare as a high-level alchemist among females—both were pillars of the Federation.

If she could recruit him…

“Yes. General Wang has always had high aggression levels. During the XL003 star beast outbreak, he overexerted his mental power to save lives, causing his aggression to spike.”

“Technically, his condition already meets the discharge criteria. But with the Marshal on leave and a shortage of double-S-rank officers, plus his own reluctance to retire, he’s stayed on the front lines until now. But… sigh.”

“Madam Marshal, could you help General Wang? He was one of the Old Marshal’s men and is like an elder to the Marshal—he’s not an outsider.”