Chapter 4986 — A Seventh-Rank Pill Order!
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"So that's how it is. It seems Vice Island Master Wu has a keen eye after all—when you burn incense and pray to Buddha, the worst mistake is bowing before the wrong temple. But this time Vice Island Master Wu has truly found the right man. With Master Zheng himself stepping into the fray, refining pills is surely no more than a matter of lifting a hand." Tong Yangxi seized the moment to toss out a flattering word, thinking to himself that no wonder Zheng Dongyang had agreed to help so readily this time; in the past, no matter how high the price, this great deity had been exceedingly hard to move.
Zheng Dongyang laughed heartily, well pleased by Tong Yangxi's flattery. After a moment's thought he said, "How about this: I'll write Vice Island Master Wu a personal letter, and you, Manager Tong, find someone to deliver it. He will certainly come."
"Good—then I'll leave it to Master Zheng." Tong Yangxi was overjoyed. Wei Zhao might be unexpectedly formidable, but if Wu Che could be brought into the game, what was a mere Wei Zhao?
While Zheng Dongyang and Tong Yangxi were speaking, Diao Huanshan, limping along just as Zhao Youque did, suddenly appeared at the doorway, his face a mask of misery.
"You should be resting and healing your wounds—what are you doing here?" Tong Yangxi frowned at the sight. If not for the fact that Zhao Youque, who had come with Zheng Dongyang, had also suffered badly, he would never have shown this creature a kind face; after all, the man had made him lose face before Zheng Dongyang.
"Manager Tong, Master Zheng, disaster has struck!" Diao Huanshan said with a bitter smile.
"What disaster? With Master Zheng and me here, can anything really go wrong? Running about in a panic—it's undignified!" Tong Yangxi scolded.
"Manager Tong, it really is a disaster. Just now a servant came to report that the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion has also begun taking pill reservations—and they are accepting orders for seventh-rank pills!" Diao Huanshan said.
"What?" Tong Yangxi and Zheng Dongyang both sprang to their feet in shock.
"It's true. Because the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion produces top-grade pills, they have built up considerable popularity over the past two years, and their reputation has always been sound. Their only weakness was that their pills were not of high enough rank—but now, with this move, that last weakness has turned into a strength. Seventh-rank pills! That is even higher than our Famous Medicine Sect!" Diao Huanshan said, his face bitter.
This time they had gone to the rare trouble of bringing in Zheng Dongyang to hold the fort, and the Famous Medicine Sect had proclaimed that sixth-rank pills would be refined on the spot. They had already stolen the limelight from the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion, and combined with Diao Huanshan's deliberate provocations earlier, the two houses had become implacable foes. Amid the uproar they had become the focus of public attention without question; the Famous Medicine Sect had thus gained no small measure of prestige and drawn a great crowd of admirers.
Yet now that the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion had let slip word of seventh-rank pills, the following the Famous Medicine Sect had just attracted was snatched away in an instant, and even customers who had already placed orders for sixth-rank pills were canceling one after another—plainly they had all run off to the Heavenly Elixir Pavilion. All their hard work had only ended up making a bridal gown for someone else's wedding; how could anyone bear such a thing?
"Impossible! How could a tiny Heavenly Elixir Pavilion possibly refine seventh-rank pills!" Tong Yangxi's first reaction was disbelief. Seventh-rank alchemists were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns on these Cloud-Tier Islands. Even if one or two did happen to emerge, they were quickly snapped up by those Eastern Continent academies.