Chapter 4117 — The Heavenly Pill Pavilion
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Wei Zhao fell silent for a moment at this. Cai Zhongxuan had told him earlier that on the Middle Island market these days, almost no one bought pills below the third grade; fourth- and fifth-grade pills were the hot sellers here, and sixth- and seventh-grade pills even turned up now and then. If the pill shop they opened was to be competitive, the pills it sold would have to be at least third-grade—that was the bare minimum.
"Then here is how we shall do it: from now on, Tianchan, you will concentrate on refining third- and fourth-grade pills, and I will handle fourth-grade and above. Over these three days, let us refine as many as we can," Wei Zhao decided on the spot.
To date, the highest grade of pill Wei Zhao had successfully refined was only the fourth. He would certainly attempt fifth-grade and even higher in future, but for now the pill shop would have to make fourth-grade pills its mainstay.
"All right, I will do as you say," Tianchan agreed readily.
"And what about me? What should I do?" Xueli asked from the side. Unlike Tianchan, she was no alchemist and could not help Wei Zhao with this, and so she felt a little superfluous and useless.
"For now, Xueli, you had best conserve your strength. Once we open, you will be the manageress at the front counter—you will have your hands full then," Wei Zhao teased with a smile.
"Very well, then." At the word "manageress," Xueli's pretty face flushed red, and she lowered her head and said no more.
Wei Zhao and Tianchan exchanged a knowing smile. Hou Guanqi had by then sent over the spirit herbs and materials, and the two at once brought out their pill furnaces, ready to begin refining.
Yet at the thought of Han Jingyi, of whom there was still no word, Wei Zhao and the two women could not help but sigh, and each secretly prayed that Han Jingyi would not, like the two of them, be subjected to every manner of bullying.
Three days is neither long nor short, and when Wei Zhao poured all his attention into pill refinement, aided by the Shennong Cauldron, his efficiency was nothing short of astonishing.
Just as before on the Far North Island, in a mere three days Wei Zhao once again refined a full one hundred and twenty fourth-grade pills, all from the formulae Hong Zhong had given him—a great variety, and what was more, every last one of them of the finest quality.
By comparison, Tianchan's output over those three days could only be called respectable: thirty fourth-grade pills of middling quality and thirty third-grade pills of superior quality. Many of these, of course, were stock she had refined earlier; she had no Shennong Cauldron and could not possibly refine so quickly.
Their combined efforts came to a full one hundred and eighty pills. Compared with a great merchant guild like the Five Elements Merchant Guild, the number was far from enough, but for a newly opened little pill shop, it was already enough to sustain it for a time.
With the pills prepared on this side and the renovation of the shop completed by the men Cai Zhongxuan had found on the other, Wei Zhao had no intention of choosing a special auspicious day. Better today than some chosen date—after a simple round of preparations, he decided to open at once.
The pill shop was named the Heavenly Pill Pavilion. Wei Zhao had chosen the name himself and had Di Xingdao, deputy island lord of the Middle Island, write out the inscription in his own hand. Though no master calligrapher, his strokes on the plaque flowed like dragons and serpents and carried a grandeur all their own, lending the shop an added air of distinction.
On opening day, Wei Zhao showed no inclination to hoard his wares. He put the full one hundred and eighty pills he and Tianchan had refined over those days on display, and to draw in customers he priced every pill more than ten percent below the other shops. R1152