Chapter 4979 — Being Sought Out for Trouble

Watching the scene at the Middle Island docks, Wei Zhao could not help but sigh with feeling. The last time he had come to Middle Island, his horizons had been nowhere near as broad as they were now. Back then, he had naively assumed that Middle Island was naturally the supreme land, the very center of the Five Great Cloud-Tier Islands.

Now, however, it seemed to him that although Middle Island was indeed the center, it was only a center in the geographical sense. Its actual strength and standing were perhaps not much higher than those of North Island and West Island, and compared with the unfathomable Eastern Continent and the Southern Continent, where the spirit-beast clans made their lair, Middle Island still fell far short.

Put plainly, Middle Island had been chosen by the many merchant guilds as the seat of their headquarters solely because of its superb location—not because the strength here was anything formidable. Only the Eastern Continent, teeming with experts, was truly capable of representing the pinnacle of the Cloud-Tier Islands.

That said, although Middle Island's strength was far beneath that of the Eastern Continent, it was, after all, the headquarters of the major merchant guilds and the transport hub linking the four great Cloud-Tier Islands of east, south, west, and north. In terms of prosperity alone, it was in no way inferior to the great academy cities of the Eastern Continent—and perhaps even surpassed them.

Strolling idly through Middle Island's commercial district, Wei Zhao unconsciously arrived at the market street. With Tian Chan and Xue Li on his mind, the Heavenly Pill Pavilion was naturally his first stop.

As the master of the Heavenly Pill Pavilion, Wei Zhao felt rather ashamed at this moment. Counting the time since his last departure, it had already been more than two years, and in all that time he had not come back even once. He had truly been an absentee owner of the most thorough sort. Had the people in charge not been his own people, Tian Chan and Xue Li, the entire Heavenly Pill Pavilion might well have changed hands long ago.

Being such an absentee owner had made life easy for Wei Zhao, but it was Tian Chan and Xue Li who had borne the hardship. Though they had the patronage of Di Xingdao and his people behind them, the two of them were, after all, women, and establishing a foothold on Middle Island was no easy matter to begin with. On top of that, Wei Zhao was forever vanishing without a trace, so the pill supply often could not keep up, and the two of them had suffered no end of headaches over it.

That the Heavenly Pill Pavilion had held on to this day was due in the greatest part to Tian Chan and Xue Li. By comparison, what Wei Zhao had done for them was not much at all. Had he still felt no shame at this, one could only say he was too heartless and irresponsible for words.

Fortunately, he had finally returned to Middle Island this time, so he could make up for it somewhat. In truth, for the two women, his mere appearance was already a heaven-sent surprise.

Yet before Wei Zhao could reach the door, he saw from afar that the entrance of the Heavenly Pill Pavilion was thronged with people—a great crowd packed tightly around it in a wide circle. Wei Zhao was struck dumb on the spot. After all this time, was the Heavenly Pill Pavilion still doing such bustling business?

He recalled how, when the Heavenly Pill Pavilion had first opened, business had been extraordinarily brisk because of the various top-grade pills it had as its showpieces, exactly like the scene before him now. But even then it had not lasted long; within a few days the crowds had thinned. Could it be that Tian Chan and Ning Xuefei were such shrewd managers that, after more than two years of effort, they had thoroughly established the Heavenly Pill Pavilion's reputation?

But surely it would not be this bustling even so? Wei Zhao could not help but find it strange. Tian Chan could refine pills as well, but for the most part she could only supply pills of middling-to-high quality; the truly sought-after top-grade pills still had to come from him.

And even though he did deliver pills to the Heavenly Pill Pavilion at regular intervals, because he was often away on his travels and could give no guarantee, sales were normally limited in quantity. It was already impressive that Tian Chan and Xue Li could hold on to their customer base at all; selling this briskly should have been impossible. After all, if all these people really could buy the pills, the small batch Wei Zhao delivered periodically would not last a few days.

A flash in the pan was no good; a steady, lasting stream was the true way. Once the supply of top-grade pills ran dry, the loss would be far beyond anything a day or two of brisk sales could make up for—and what would suffer would be the reputation and good name of the entire Heavenly Pill Pavilion.

Something was definitely going on here! Wei Zhao suppressed his curiosity and quietly edged closer without betraying a thing. Sure enough, this crowd was not because the Heavenly Pill Pavilion's business was booming at all—it was because some petty scoundrel was stirring up trouble.

"Step right up, everyone, don't miss out! Our Hall of Famous Pills has brought in a senior alchemist from the Eastern Continent to preside over things—he can refine sixth-grade pills on the spot! Anyone interested had best hurry over and take a look; come late and you won't even get in line!" The owner of this voice was a familiar face—none other than Diao Huanshan, the deputy manager of the Hall of Famous Pills.

At the sight, Wei Zhao frowned slightly. Back when the Heavenly Pill Pavilion had first opened, this Diao Huanshan had come to make trouble, only for Di Xingdao to be present at the time and dispose of him with a casual flick of the hand. He had not expected this clown to pop up again today. Was he not afraid of drawing Di Xingdao out once more?

Strange as it seemed, Wei Zhao did not reveal himself outright. With his present breadth of vision, he naturally did not think much of such a petty figure, but this concerned the reputation of the Heavenly Pill Pavilion, and until matters were clear, he was not prepared to act rashly.

"The Hall of Famous Pills? Isn't this the Heavenly Pill Pavilion?" asked a newly arrived onlooker in a low voice.

"Where are you from, brother? The Hall of Famous Pills and the Heavenly Pill Pavilion are sworn enemies—you didn't even know that?" A busybody beside him curled his lip.

"Exactly. Thanks to that big draw of top-grade pills, the Heavenly Pill Pavilion has stolen who knows how much business from the Hall of Famous Pills over the past two years. Now this Deputy Manager Diao of theirs is plainly out to win back all the customers! Tsk tsk—refining sixth-grade pills on the spot, that senior alchemist from the Eastern Continent must be something else. He might even be one of those legendary seventh-grade alchemists. After all, an ordinary sixth-grade alchemist wouldn't dare do such a thing!" Another bystander explained with clicking tongue and admiring sighs.

"The Heavenly Pill Pavilion is really going to be outshone this time. It may have all sorts of top-grade pills holding the fort, but their grades aren't high—five-grade at the very most. Even if this man's sixth-grade pills aren't of top quality, they'll still steal far more of the spotlight! Besides, once you reach a certain level, you have to start considering sixth-grade pills; those fourth- and fifth-grade ones are no use no matter how fine their quality." The bystanders all sighed with feeling.

"In the end it comes down to a lack of deep foundations. The Heavenly Pill Pavilion has only been around two years, while the Hall of Famous Pills has stood for centuries. They can casually bring in a senior alchemist from the Eastern Continent to preside over things—what does the Heavenly Pill Pavilion have?" someone said with disdain.