Chapter 4121 — A Grand Opening

One has to remember, this was no auction—just the ordinary business of a small shop. No one would be foolish enough to bid wildly, and Wei Zhao had deliberately kept his prices low. For first-day sales to reach six figures was already an astonishing feat; even many of the great merchant guilds could boast no better.

Of course, Di Xingdao deserved some of the credit. Had his appearance not set off a buying frenzy—had his very presence not kept drawing in more and more customers—the sales figures would likely have been less than half what they were.

A six-figure take on opening day left Wei Zhao and the others merely delighted. Cai Zhongxuan, however, a seasoned man of the trade, nearly choked when he heard the number, and for a long moment was struck so dumb with shock that he could not utter a word.

"Young Hero Lin, are you aware that our Five Elements Merchant Guild had the mighty Central Island Pill Hall at its back? Do you know what our sales were on our first day of business?" Cai Zhongxuan asked, his expression strange.

"How much?" Wei Zhao and the others asked, curious. The Five Elements Merchant Guild was indisputably the foremost guild of them all; its figures could almost be taken as the industry record.

"Ninety-six thousand spirit jades," Cai Zhongxuan said with a bitter smile. "From what I know, that already left every other top-tier guild far behind—a record without precedent. But set against your Heaven Pill Pavilion, Young Hero Lin, tsk tsk..."

At this, Wei Zhao and the others exchanged glances. Founding the Heaven Pill Pavilion to sell pills had been no more than a passing impulse, its sole purpose to give Tianchan and Xueli a foothold on Central Island—nothing more.

Yet never had they imagined that, almost by accident, they would outstrip even a colossus like the Five Elements Merchant Guild. Had these words not come from the mouth of Cai Zhongxuan, vice steward of that very guild, none of them would have dared believe it.

"Brother Wei Zhao is a heaven-sent prodigy—is it any wonder he outdid the Five Elements Merchant Guild? To my mind it is perfectly natural. Your honored master, Old Zhang, may be an unreasonable freak himself, but he truly has no head for business. Had he not founded the Pill Hall early and made its name, I reckon your Five Elements Merchant Guild would not have earned even a fraction of the Heaven Pill Pavilion's take on its first day," Di Xingdao said with a hearty laugh.

"Quite so. The grade may not be high, but with so many top-quality pills, there is really nothing surprising about selling at that figure," Hou Guanqi put in with a nod, then asked curiously, "By the way, Young Friend Wei Zhao, where on earth did you get all these top-quality pills?"

"Yes, I have been wanting to ask that myself. At the auction on the Far North Island, Hong Zhong was clearly cornered by a joint effort, yet all at once he produced more than a hundred top-quality pills. The tale has become a legend in the trade. That would not have anything to do with you, would it, Young Hero Lin?" Cai Zhongxuan asked, equally curious.

Their curiosity was understandable. Outsiders might merely be astonished, assuming the Central Island Pill Hall possessed such strength and simply did not display it ordinarily. But the two of them, as registered disciples of Zhang Lifeng and core figures of the Pill Hall, understood the situation far more clearly than any outsider.

Unless Zhang Lifeng himself took up the furnace, even the combined strength of the entire Central Island Pill Hall could hardly produce so many top-quality pills on short notice—unless the strategic reserve warehouses were opened.

"To be frank with you both, Seniors, I am myself an alchemist. These pills were refined by my own hand," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"What? Truly?" Hou Guanqi and Cai Zhongxuan looked at each other, all the more astonished. "Young Hero Lin, you really are an alchemist? One capable of refining top-quality pills in bulk? And with such peerless medical skill besides—do we not have grounds to suspect you are our honored master in disguise?"

Even the Pill Hall, for all the excellent alchemists it gathered, counted but a handful who could confidently refine top-quality pills. As for one who cultivated both alchemy and medicine, and had attained profound mastery in both—scanning the whole world today, there seemed to be only one such precedent: Zhang Lifeng himself.

"Ha ha, Little Hou, Little Cai, what sharp eyes you have! Come, come, aren't you going to kowtow and call him Master?" Di Xingdao teased from the side, laughing loudly.

"Heh heh, I rather think he is not our master himself, but a disciple our master took in out in the world. Apart from our master, I cannot think of anyone who could have taught a prodigy as heaven-defying as Young Friend Wei Zhao!" Hou Guanqi chimed in, laughing as well.

Wei Zhao laughed inwardly at this. Hou Guanqi had actually guessed right—but until he had acknowledged Zhang Lifeng as his master, this was hardly a thing he could admit. He could only smile and say nothing.

After they had joked a while, Cai Zhongxuan suddenly recalled the day's events and asked, "I hear that fellow Diao Huanshan of the Famous Medicine Sect came by to make trouble?"

He and Hou Guanqi had been busy preparing for the auction and had not come to show their support until the afternoon, so they had not run into Diao Huanshan. Otherwise, with the two of them present, Diao Huanshan would surely have recognized them, and the day's unpleasantness would likely never have happened.

"Indeed. He threatened me with some inspection by the Pill Alliance, insisting I distribute the Famous Medicine Sect's pills for them free of charge—and hand over half the profits on our own pills besides." At this, Wei Zhao frowned slightly. "Elder Cai, how much power does this Pill Alliance truly hold? If they decide to make things difficult, could it hurt the Heaven Pill Pavilion's business—or even force us to shut our doors outright?"

"If it were merely some ordinary little pill shop with no strong backing, the Pill Alliance could indeed force it to close. But rest easy, Young Hero Lin. With this old man here, you need not pay the Pill Alliance any mind at all—treat it as so much fart," Cai Zhongxuan said, curling his lip in disdain.

"Then, within the Pill Alliance, the Five Elements Merchant Guild must carry decisive weight?" Wei Zhao asked, his heart stirring.

With Di Xingdao stepping forward as guarantor, he was not truly worried. No sane person with eyes to see would offend a legendary expert like the Deputy Island Lord of Central Island over a single small pill shop—it defied all business logic.

Still, formidable as this umbrella of Di Xingdao's protection was, the man was no man of the trade and surely knew nothing of its crooked byways. If the other side did not provoke him openly but set snares in secret, even Di Xingdao would be hard-pressed to help. In that case, Cai Zhongxuan, vice steward of the Five Elements Merchant Guild, would prove more intimidating than the great expert himself.