Chapter 4121 — A Grand Opening
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"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.