Chapter 4118 — Seeking Cooperation

"Hey, hey, am I seeing things? How can there be so many top-grade pills here?" No sooner had one man stepped inside and cast a first glance around than his jaw dropped in sheer astonishment.

"That's right, that's right. This Celestial Pill Pavilion looks rather plain, and the pills on display aren't all that high-grade at first sight—but more than half of them are rare top-grade specimens. Even the Five Elements Merchant Guild doesn't seem this extravagant, does it? Could they be fakes?" The crowd was torn between wonder and doubt.

"Fakes? Just because you're ignorant, you call another's goods fake? A man like you has the nerve to come here to Middle Island and make a fool of himself? This quality, this luster—what part of it looks fake to you?" someone immediately shot back.

"They are indeed no fakes. I am a professional pill appraiser; I have seen no fewer than a thousand pills, or several hundred at the very least. And yet this Celestial Pill Pavilion is plainly a small shop with scarcely a handful of assistants, while the quality and luster of its pills seem in no way inferior to the Five Elements Merchant Guild's. The other guilds simply cannot compare. Most curious indeed!" an old man in the crowd affirmed.

"I'd wager with any of you that the owner of this Celestial Pill Pavilion must have deep connections—perhaps some great figure from the Pill Hall pulling the strings behind the scenes. That would explain how they obtained so many top-grade pills. Otherwise there is simply no explaining it!" another man chimed in, deliberately stirring up attention with his dramatic tone.

"Who cares about all that? As long as they are genuine top-grade pills and the price is this cheap, we'd better snatch them up now—later on there may be no such fine goods left!"

Watching the packed, bustling scene before them—some customers already scrambling to buy—Wei Zhao and the others exchanged glances and breathed a collective sigh of relief. The first day of business had opened with a rare and splendid start.

In truth, such a scene was hardly surprising. Though the shop was newly opened, Cloud Terrace Island—Middle Island especially—was full of discerning eyes that knew quality when they saw it. With so many top-grade pills on display, the kind that could not be bought even by fighting for them at ordinary times, and at prices far cheaper than other shops, it would have been downright strange if they had felt no temptation at all.

Business was booming, and Wei Zhao and the others were naturally run off their feet. Wei Zhao himself took the field as shopkeeper, with Tianchan at his side to help, while Xueli changed into a maid's uniform, deliberately veiled her face, and bustled about as a serving girl.

Hiring beautiful women as serving maids was a tactic many large merchant guilds employed. It not only drew customers but made it easier to close deals with male patrons—after all, few men are willing to lose face before a beauty. So Xueli's appearance aroused little suspicion.

Even if some wondered why she wore a veil, they merely assumed the Celestial Pill Pavilion had contrived it to create an air of mystery and attract customers.

Moreover, she was exceedingly careful, never flaunting her charms before customers while at work. Even those struck by her beauty and Tianchan's were, for the moment, merely feasting their eyes. So no trouble of the sort anticipated had yet arisen—after all, these people had come for the pills, and under normal circumstances would never stare at a serving girl.

Watching the spirit jade pour in ever greater quantities, Wei Zhao could not help but be overjoyed. At this rate, the Celestial Pill Pavilion would soon be on the right track, and this was the very foundation upon which they would establish themselves on Middle Island in the days to come.

Just then, a middle-aged man in fine, bright clothes suddenly entered the doorway, followed by two burly henchmen, both hulking specimens who made no effort to conceal their Golden Core cultivation. Shoving and cursing with fierce looks on their faces, they cleared a space as the crowd, unwilling to invite trouble, hastily drew back.

"Well, well—Celestial Pill Pavilion? What a grand name! A tiny little shop like this dares to call itself a pavilion? There really are too many ignorant, fearless fools these days—aren't you afraid of being laughed out of town? Still, business does seem decent..." the middle-aged man drawled in a strange, barbed tone.

The crowd fell somewhat quiet. Eyes darted back and forth between Wei Zhao and the middle-aged man, and expressions of eager spectatorship crept onto their faces unbidden. From the man's tone, it was plain he had not come with good intentions.

Hearing this, Wei Zhao gave him a cold look. Though a surge of anger rose in his heart, he swiftly tamped it down.

He had steeled himself for such things well before opening. A shop open to all customers under heaven would meet every kind of customer—the easy to serve and, naturally, the difficult. Especially since he was a stranger in a strange land, the first day of business was unlikely to go so smoothly and calmly.

Wei Zhao silently admonished himself: he was now running a business, and he must learn from Hong Zhong—harmony breeds wealth. In all things he must yield a little; he must never let a moment's indignation lead him to act on impulse, or the enterprise would be hard to sustain for long.

Seeing that Wei Zhao paid him no heed, the middle-aged man's tone grew even more peculiar: "I've been standing here all this while and not a single person has come to greet me. A shop like this can open? Can do business? Hmph—the great merchant guilds aren't even this arrogant. Such a tiny, shabby shop, and not only does it talk big, it puts on such lofty airs. I truly cannot fathom where it gets the nerve. It leaves one speechless."

For a moment, the crowd that had been bustling and buying all stopped in their tracks, every gaze fixed on the finely dressed middle-aged man, and whispers broke out on every side.

Seeing this, Xueli did not want to make things difficult for Wei Zhao and steeled herself to step forward and attend to him. She did not hope to make any sale off this man—if only he could be kept from disturbing the other customers, she would count it a blessing.

But Wei Zhao gently held her back and went to face the middle-aged man himself. He could tell the man had come with ill intent and would not be easily sent on his way.

"A small business like ours is bound to fall short in hospitality now and then. I ask the honored customer's pardon. What might the honored customer wish to buy?" Wei Zhao asked, looking at the man in a flat, noncommittal tone.

"Buy something? You truly think I came here to shop? With eyesight this poor, you have the nerve to open a pill shop here?" The newcomer sneered, sizing Wei Zhao up and down, then declared with a haughty air, "Listen well. I am Diao Huanshan, deputy manager of the Famous Pill Sect. My subordinates told me a new pill shop had opened here, so I came in person to see whether there might be some room for cooperation."

So he was in the same trade! Understanding dawned on Wei Zhao at once. Competitors are natural foes, and this creature before him had plainly come with bad intentions; whatever he called "cooperation" would certainly be nothing good.

"So it is Manager Diao of the Famous Pill Sect. Forgive my discourtesy. But my Celestial Pill Pavilion is newly opened, a small business with shallow resources—I fear there is little room for cooperation with a great guild like your Famous Pill Sect," Wei Zhao replied coolly.