Dragon's Origin

“Ling’er, enough!” This time, Marquis Lu Wen rebuked her with a very stern tone. After reprimanding his maid, Marquis Lu Wen turned to Wang Sheng, cupping his fist and saying, “Brother Wang, please forgive me. I’ve spoiled this girl. We’ll go with the price Brother Wang mentioned, deal!”

Wang Sheng could tell that Lu Wenhou and Ling’er were playing the classic good cop, bad cop routine, a common tactic in business.

However, even though he saw through it, Lu Wenhou’s attitude never made anyone angry. He was very proper, very pleasant, and with such a beautiful woman, it was pleasing to the eye, making it hard to refuse.

“Brother Wang can take the gold coins at any time.” Lu Wenhou bowed to Wang Sheng again, asking, “I wonder, what did Brother Wang mean by saying we could make a small profit? I hope Brother Wang will enlighten us.”

“What do you usually do with the young snakes you catch?” Wang Sheng wasn’t annoyed. Eight thousand gold coins weren’t just for the snake eggs; it was definitely for an entire industry.

Ling’er was just a maid, so she couldn’t see it, but Lu Wenhou understood Wang Sheng’s meaning immediately, which is why he agreed to the high price without hesitation.

“Either kill them for meat, or use their venom sacs to poison weapons,” Ling’er replied grumpily from the side, glaring at Wang Sheng as if she wanted to devour him.

“What a waste of resources!” Wang Sheng sighed after hearing that they were using them for such basic purposes.

“Please enlighten us, Brother Wang!” The smile on Lu Wenhou’s face grew wider, and he immediately cupped his fist to ask Wang Sheng for guidance.

“Eating the meat is the lowest use.” Wang Sheng didn’t beat around the bush and directly refuted Ling’er’s suggestions one by one: “Young snakes aren’t big, so there isn’t much meat. And they haven’t matured, so they don’t help with cultivation much. It’s just that the meat is a bit more tender, a waste!”

“Using the venom for poison is a good use.” Seeing Ling’er’s unconvinced look, Wang Sheng smiled, took a sip of tea, and put on airs. He waited until Ling’er’s eyes were almost spitting fire before continuing, “Using venom sacs for poison requires killing the snake each time. Also, directly applied venom can only stay active for a few hours, making it ineffective and wasteful!”

Ling’er mentioned two uses, and both were dismissed as wasteful by Wang Sheng. Ling’er wanted to argue, but what Wang Sheng said was true, logical, and undeniable. The problem was, she always prided herself on her extensive knowledge, so how could she be outdone by a barbarian?

Wang Sheng spoke casually, but Lu Wenhou was actually shocked. He maintained a calm smile on the surface, but a storm was raging in his heart.

Ling’er was nominally Lu Wenhou’s maid, but in reality, she was his most important assistant. Despite her young age, Ling’er was knowledgeable and had a photographic memory. Lu Wenhou had specifically searched the world, allowing Ling’er to read all kinds of books. She could quote almost anything that was recorded, but today, she was defeated by Wang Sheng using a few eggs of the Thousand Illusion Poisonous Serpent.

Everyone knew that eating the meat wasn’t worth it, but the fact that the poison would lose its effectiveness after a few hours was something that one of Lu Wenhou’s subordinates, who specialized in poison, had told Lu Wenhou and Ling’er. How did Wang Sheng know?

It wouldn’t be strange if barbarians, who drank blood and ate raw meat, knew that snake venom used on weapons had a time limit, but from Wang Sheng’s words, it was clear that he wasn’t the kind of shallow person who only knew about these problems. He clearly knew the solution.

“Actually, snakes are good things, especially snake venom.” Wang Sheng took another sip of tea, looking at Ling’er, and only after she pouted and refilled his cup did he open his mouth.

“Taking the venom sac is the worst method.” Since they had paid, Wang Sheng didn’t mind explaining in detail: “Snake venom can be extracted using a simple method, without killing the snake at all.”

Next, Wang Sheng explained in detail the modern self-milking venom extraction method used on Earth. He didn’t mention massage extraction or electrical stimulation; this one method was enough for them to ponder.

The live venom extraction method left Lu Wenhou and Ling’er dumbfounded. Extracting venom from live snakes, wouldn’t that mean an endless supply of snake venom?

Of course, snake venom couldn’t just be extracted. Snake venom is an active protein, and if not stored properly, especially if the temperature is too high, the protein will denature, and the snake venom will become useless. So, preservation is also crucial.

Wang Sheng explained this in detail and emphasized it. If Lu Wenhou and Ling’er didn’t pay attention to this, then they deserved to lose their money.

Wang Sheng wouldn’t talk to them about the high-level topic of protein denaturation. He just told them how to do it, which also explained why direct application of venom to weapons would lose its effectiveness after a while, because of improper storage.

“There are many things you can do with it.” Wang Sheng introduced the process of venom extraction and then began to talk about its uses.

“The simplest is to use the venom from various different snakes to research antidotes.” Wang Sheng first introduced the concept of antidotes: “Don’t tell me that your Imperial Treasure Firm can’t hire the best doctors and alchemists.”

Wang Sheng had learned that there were simple snake medicines in this world. How could he not prepare these when going to kill the Thousand Illusion Poisonous Serpent? However, snake medicines were too simple and were a kind of broad-spectrum anti-toxin, unable to detoxify. After being poisoned, taking this medicine would only give you a bit more resistance, and whether you could recover would depend on your physical fitness and many other factors.

Wang Sheng would definitely live in this world, and he would inevitably come into contact with these things, so targeted antidotes were very necessary. Wang Sheng himself didn’t have the time and energy to do these things, so it was perfect to let the wealthy Lu Wenhou spend money on research. Once researched, there would definitely be people who would buy it.

“Even if there are doctors and alchemists, where would you find a group of people willing to be bitten by snakes to test the medicine?” Ling’er still wanted to regain her position and asked grumpily.

Then, she saw Wang Sheng looking at her like she was an idiot, and Ling’er didn’t know if she had said something wrong. Didn’t snake medicine need to be tested on people?

Lu Wenhou was also somewhat puzzled, but he didn’t ask. Ling’er and Lu Wenhou always cooperated well on this point, and Ling’er asked their doubts in a timely manner.

“Wouldn’t you find some mice, rabbits, monkeys, or something to test it on? Are your family’s lives so cheap?” Wang Sheng really looked at Ling’er with the eyes of an idiot. How could such a smart little girl not think of this method?

Ling’er almost wanted to bury her head under the table in shame. Such a simple method, and she had wanted to argue back so righteously. It was really embarrassing!

The method was simple, but no one had thought of it before. How many doctors and alchemists had always used people to test medicine! There were people willing to be test subjects for high prices. Speaking of which, those doctors and alchemists were really not as good as this barbarian, at least in this method, they were far behind.

“After all, they aren’t people, so the efficacy…” Lu Wenhou explained with a smile, not wanting to make Ling’er too embarrassed, right?

“But at least after testing on rats, rabbits, and monkeys, it wouldn’t be too dangerous to use on people, right?” Wang Sheng casually said a sentence that left Lu Wenhou with nothing else to say.

“It would probably be difficult to make money from snake medicine.” Wang Sheng didn’t care if the two were embarrassed and said to himself, “Not everyone goes looking to get bitten by a snake. But…”

“Then you still said there was a profit to be made?” Ling’er finally caught a flaw in Wang Sheng’s words and raised her head to ask before Wang Sheng could say the rest.

“It’s saving lives after all, a great deed.” Wang Sheng glared at Ling’er and continued, “If it spreads, the Imperial Treasure Firm will also have a great reputation.”

Ling’er immediately withered, her face flushed. She knew she shouldn’t have been so talkative; he was going to say the second half of that sentence anyway. Who didn’t know that if a business had a good reputation, the benefits would naturally follow?

“Snake venom has many uses, depending on what your doctors and alchemists can do.” Wang Sheng continued. This time, without Wang Sheng staring at Ling’er to wait, Ling’er would proactively refill his tea after he took a sip.

“Being bitten by some snakes can cause paralysis, and sometimes you don’t even realize you’ve been bitten.” Wang Sheng said something that Ling’er and Lu Wenhou both remembered. There was a kind of demon snake whose bite was undetectable.

“If the dosage is right, this kind of snake venom is actually the best painkiller.” Wang Sheng said another use of snake venom.

“Are you kidding? There’s no way to survive being bitten by that kind of demon snake!” Ling’er’s stubborn temper flared up again, and she couldn’t help but question, “Are you killing people or relieving pain?”

“I give up!” Wang Sheng looked like he was defeated: “Didn’t I say ‘if the dosage is right’? If a whole bite doesn’t work, then half a bite, if half a bite doesn’t work, then even less. Let your doctors and alchemists try it little by little! Salt isn’t poisonous, but if I feed you ten pounds in one meal, it won’t kill you, but it’ll make you sick. Do you understand what an appropriate dosage means?”

Ling’er withered again, barely daring to lift her head, and could only desperately remember what Wang Sheng had said, not daring to forget a single word.

Lu Wenhou’s eyes also lit up. Snake medicine might not make much money, but if this kind of painkiller could be produced in large quantities, cultivators would inevitably have injuries, and who wouldn’t need it? This wasn’t just a few snake eggs; it was a gold mine!

“Some snakes, when they bite people, cause their blood to clot.” Wang Sheng continued to speak. This time, neither Lu Wenhou nor Ling’er spoke, only listening.

“Study it, and with the right dosage and some other medicinal materials, it can be a good hemostatic drug.” Wang Sheng said another use of snake venom and didn’t say anything else. He didn’t bother mentioning anti-cancer, blood pressure reduction, or thrombolysis, as they wouldn’t understand it.

“Snake venom is a good thing! Raising a large batch of them, young snakes don’t have the strength but have enough venom, wouldn’t that be perfect?” Wang Sheng concluded, summarizing the snake venom industry.

Seeing the little girl Ling’er looking unconvinced but unable to say anything, Wang Sheng couldn’t help but provoke her, “Girl, if you’re fat, you have to eat less; if you’re ugly, you have to read more! You don’t understand too many things, you need to read more books!”