Chapter 4120 — Seeing You Out

By this point, Wei Zhao was so furious he almost laughed. He was peddling pills for the Famous Medicine Sect for free, not earning so much as a copper in price margin or hard-earned commission—and now the man actually wanted a cut of his own pills' profits. To be that brazenly shameless, one truly had to be a rarity in this world.

"Oh, I have heard you out quite clearly. As for the sort of cooperation Steward Diao proposes, forgive me, but I find it hard to accept. Steward Diao, please see yourself out." Wei Zhao spoke flatly on the spot and made a gesture that said, *take your leave, no escort needed.*

Though the man was using the Pill Alliance's inspection as a threat, Wei Zhao did not take it to heart at all. His pills were flawless; no matter how many inspections they ran, they could hardly conjure faults out of thin air. And should matters truly blow up, Cai Zhongxuan and his people would certainly not stand by with folded arms.

Cai Zhongxuan was the vice steward of the Five Elements Merchant Guild. In terms of status and in terms of say, he could never possibly rank below a mere vice steward of the Famous Medicine Sect. And besides, Wei Zhao himself had the legendary great one, Di Xingdao, standing at his back.

"What?" Diao Huanshan had been fully convinced that Wei Zhao, having seen the reality of his position, could only swallow his humiliation and survive, incapable of any further resistance. That the man should suddenly turn so unyielding caught him utterly off guard, and he was both shocked and enraged.

"I will not cooperate with your Famous Medicine Sect. Steward Diao, you may leave now. Is that clear enough?" Wei Zhao repeated, his expression calm and unruffled.

"Fine! Fine! You had best think this through. Refuse to cooperate with the Famous Medicine Sect, and you can forget about doing business in peace. I will see to it that you never find a foothold anywhere in Central Island Market!" Diao Huanshan, stung into fury, hurled out his threat.

He made no attempt whatsoever to hide it, and in an instant every customer in the shop was struck dumb, glancing at one another, and the looks they cast at Wei Zhao now held a measure of pity.

Wei Zhao's eyes went cold. But before he could speak, a frigid voice suddenly rang out from the doorway: "I have not set foot outside these past few years, and never did I know that Central Island had become a place where bullies run the market? Does doing business in Central Island Market mean one must bow and scrape to others' moods?"

With those words, Di Xingdao strode in, head high. Diao Huanshan was taken aback at the sight; instinctively he felt the man looked familiar, yet for the moment could not place him. Still, he had long since decided that a tiny shop like the Heaven Pill Pavilion could not possibly have any deep backing—and even if it did, it could never match the Famous Medicine Sect.

Some hick from who knew where had popped up and dared speak to him, the vice steward of the Famous Medicine Sect, in such a manner. Diao Huanshan was hardly about to let that slide, and with a cold snort he said, "Hmph. This is not bullying; this is mutual cooperation. But if you insist on calling it bullying and on confounding black and white, then there is nothing I can do. After all, your mouth is your own—I have no obligation to go running after you to wipe your backside."

Diao Huanshan, self-assured and still gloating over his own cutting eloquence, suddenly heard someone in the crowd exclaim in astonishment: "Eh? Isn't that Vice Island Master Tian?"

"That's right—years ago I had the good fortune to see him once. I do believe it really is Vice Island Master Tian!"

"No, surely not. Was it not rumored that Vice Island Master Tian suffered a deviation in his cultivation, that his meridians were all severed and he could no longer move? How could he be standing here hale and whole?"

"Indeed. They say he has not appeared before anyone in many years. It can't really be him, can it?"

Di Xingdao paid no heed to the crowd's doubts. He merely gave Diao Huanshan a cold glance and flicked his hand. A blast of frigid, overbearing true qi burst forth in an instant. Before Diao Huanshan could even register what was happening, he felt his body jolt and the whole of him was sent flying backward as if slapped across the room.

"Since the man does not wish to cooperate, then I shall see you on your way, lest you soil the Heaven Pill Pavilion." Di Xingdao said coldly. At his level he disdained wasting words on the likes of this; a vicious dog had come to the door, so it was simply a matter of beating it out.

Bang! Diao Huanshan crashed heavily into the middle of the street, sprawling spread-eagle on the ground, seeing stars from the impact and unable to get up for quite some time.

The two burly men who had come with him contorted with rage and moved to strike at Di Xingdao. But Di Xingdao gave them merely a single look, and the two nearly wet themselves in fright, cold sweat pouring down as they froze where they stood.

Di Xingdao had not struck hard. Though Diao Huanshan had landed in wretched, humiliating fashion, his injuries were not serious, and he sized Di Xingdao up and down, shaken and afraid.

A moment later, Diao Huanshan gave a sudden start, finally realizing that this man before him was none other than the legendary figure who had once commanded Central Island—the only man in history to hold the post of vice island master while still at the Nascent Soul stage, a fearsome being for whom slaying foes of higher cultivation was as commonplace as meals—Di Xingdao!

In that instant, Diao Huanshan, like his two henchmen, was well and truly frightened out of his wits. He had just spoken disrespectfully to Di Xingdao. What accursed luck had possessed him to leave the house today?

Diao Huanshan was overcome with shock and dread, knowing he had brought great disaster upon himself yet not knowing how to make amends. Then Di Xingdao's voice came again from inside: "Today is the grand opening of the Heaven Pill Pavilion, the shop of my younger sister, Tianchan, so I do not wish to open a slaughter. I hope certain people will be sensible and not come here looking for trouble. Otherwise, I would not mind stretching my limbs a little."

At those words, the onlookers erupted into discussion. Even those who had harbored doubts could now be certain that this man was indeed the legendary Di Xingdao.

Who would have thought a humble little Heaven Pill Pavilion possessed such formidable backing? Even those who had guessed it had a patron could never have imagined this—that it belonged to the sister of Di Xingdao, vice island master of Central Island. That backing was deep beyond all measure!

As for Diao Huanshan, sent flying out the door, he was now scared witless, no longer daring to linger a moment longer in this place, and he scrambled and crawled away for dear life.

Di Xingdao's unexpected appearance instantly set off a buying frenzy among the crowd. Even on Cloud Terrace Island, the celebrity effect held sway, and Di Xingdao was a living, breathing emblem of it. With the guarantee of his name as vice island master of Central Island, the people felt all the more assured of the pills' quality.

Customers drawn by the news came in ever greater numbers. In less than a single day, the pills on the display racks were being snapped up in a ceaseless rush.

And with Di Xingdao's fearsome reputation preceding him, another benefit of his appearance was that those who had harbored other designs no longer dared harbor any crooked thoughts whatsoever. Even those who lusted after the beauty of Tianchan and Xueli would never dare act outrageously in the shop.