Su Yun spoke up. "Boss Wang, what price can you offer?"
Wang Fugui quickly ran the numbers in his head.
At market prices, ordinary top-grade Blood Qi Pills went for forty low-grade spirit stones apiece.
They were rarely available, and being out of stock was the norm.
The three pills before him far surpassed ordinary top-grade quality.
Their medicinal essence was vibrant, their potency pure, and their pill patterns flawless.
Pills like these could fetch at least seventy low-grade spirit stones apiece if sold to a great family or an inner sect disciple.
If he bought them at the market rate, offering thirty-five each,
the old man before him would most likely walk away.
If he missed this chance, he might never encounter such top-tier first-grade pills again.
More importantly, he was betting on the person behind the old man.
Wang Fugui kept turning possibilities over in his mind.
There was definitely a third-grade alchemist hidden behind this old man.
As long as he could get connected to that network, it wouldn't matter if he paid a high price for the pills and made no short-term profit.
With a long-term partnership, the Pill Pavilion could monopolize the entire Azure Cloud Market's top-grade, low-tier pill trade.
Reputation, customers, connections—all of it would be pure profit.
In an instant, he weighed the pros and cons.
Wang Fugui gritted his teeth, steeled himself, and fixed his gaze.
"Fellow Daoist Han."
"This batch of top-grade Blood Qi Pills is of exceptional quality, a rare find in this world."
"I won't lowball you or play games."
"Sixty low-grade spirit stones each!"
Su Yun sat in the wooden chair, his stooped body unmoving.
Yet his heart gave a sudden leap.
He was stunned.
Truly stunned.
He had made a rough inquiry about the going rate earlier.
Ordinary top-grade Blood Qi Pills sold for forty spirit stones each.
Wang Fugui had offered sixty right off the bat.
A full twenty spirit stones more.
A fifty percent premium!
That price was already far beyond the normal buying rate.
Su Yun kept his expression calm, his aged eyelids drooping slightly.
That high?
Was this shopkeeper an idiot?
Or just stupidly rich?
He had estimated that getting fifty per pill would already be the most he could hope for.
He hadn't expected the man to toss out such an exorbitant price.
Su Yun suppressed his inner shock and deliberately put on a casual, aged tone.
"Boss Wang, you're refreshingly straightforward."
"But I don't just have two or three pills on hand."
"I have quite a few top-grade pills."
"Are you sure you'll buy them all at this price?"
That one simple sentence left Wang Fugui reeling.
His fat body stiffened abruptly, and his eyes flew wide open.
His chest heaved, and his breathing grew noticeably heavier.
There are more?
Not just those three?
Holy crap!
I'm rich!
I'm really rich this time!
Wang Fugui's heart pounded, his mind buzzing.
If the old man had only a few pills, it would be a minor bargain.
But if he had batches of top-grade pills...
then the person behind him was definitely no ordinary third-grade alchemist.
At least third-grade, perhaps even someone who had reached the threshold of fourth-grade!
A single scrap from an alchemist of that level would feed his Pill Pavilion for years.
At that moment, greed completely overpowered Wang Fugui's reason.
Profit, costs—none of it mattered anymore.
He wanted to get aboard this great ship.
He wanted to cling to the leg of a high-tier alchemist.
As long as he secured the relationship, pills would keep coming, and no one in the entire market could compete.
Wang Fugui didn't hesitate. He slapped the table and spoke decisively.
"Absolutely!"
"Fellow Daoist Han!"
"That's the price!"
"However many you have, I'll buy them all!"
"I'll settle the bill in spirit stones on the spot. No delays!"
He was even prepared to take a substantial loss.
He could stock up at a loss early on and win the alchemist's favor.
In the long run, it would be a windfall.
A merchant's eye was razor-sharp.
Across from him, Su Yun took in every flicker of Wang Fugui's expression.
In that instant, he understood everything.
The corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest curve, subtle enough to go unnoticed.
I see.
Now I understand.
The shrewd shopkeeper had misunderstood.
He thought a high-tier alchemist stood behind Su Yun, and that Su Yun was merely a middleman running errands and delivering messages.
That was why he had deliberately raised the price, willing to pay a premium.
He wanted to offer a favor, build connections, and bet on a long-term partnership.
Su Yun chuckled to himself.
Well, well.
You're raising the price, handing me money, and treating me like someone important's right-hand man.
Since that's what you think, I won't stand on ceremony.
Only a fool would refuse.
Wang Fugui's face was wreathed in smiles as he waited for Su Yun to take out a second batch of pills.
In his view, no matter how much the other man had stashed away, he could at most produce another dozen or twenty bottles.
Top-grade pills were hard to refine; there couldn't possibly be that many.
Just then,
Su Yun casually tapped his storage pouch with a fingertip.
Clatter!
The clear sound of jade bottles colliding suddenly rang out.
Rows of green jade bottles poured forth like a flowing stream.
They piled up neatly across the solid wood table.
One bottle, ten bottles, fifty bottles, one hundred bottles...
They packed together in dense layers.
The bottles covered the entire tabletop, with more than half a pile tumbling onto the floor.
A full three hundred jade bottles stood in a tightly packed mass.
Su Yun's hoarse, aged voice rang out.
"There are three hundred bottles here in all."
"Five kinds of first-grade pills."
"Qi Gathering Pills, Blood Qi Pills, Body Tempering Pills, Rejuvenation Pills, and Hemostasis Pills."
Those few simple words
struck Wang Fugui's mind like five peals of thunder.
The smile on his face froze, stiffened, and vanished.
His fat body trembled uncontrollably, the flesh on his back quivering.
His throat bobbed. His breath caught in his chest.
He couldn't breathe.
An overwhelming sense of suffocation.
Holy crap...
Three hundred bottles?!
He had been in the pill business for decades.
Never had he seen anyone take out top-grade pills by the heap, as if they were ordinary goods.
Since when had top-grade pills become so common?
His body went rigid, and even his hands began to tremble slightly.
It took a full three seconds for Wang Fugui to manage to raise a shaking hand.
He casually grabbed a bottle of Blood Qi Pills from the table and twisted off the stopper.
The pill fragrance surged out, and the blood-red pill patterns swirled clearly into view.
Three round, plump top-grade Blood Qi Pills lay quietly at the bottom of the bottle.
Every one flawless, without the slightest imperfection.
They really were top-grade.
He swallowed, his hand shaking as he grabbed a bottle of Body Tempering Pills.
He opened it.
The pills were crimson, their sheen translucent—standard top-grade quality.
He switched to another bottle.
Qi Gathering Pills.
Pure white and frosted, with their spiritual energy contained within. Top-grade, as expected.
The next bottle.
Hemostasis Pills.
Then another.
Rejuvenation Pills.
He opened three bottles, five bottles, ten bottles in a row.
No matter which kind of pill he examined,
there were no exceptions.
Every last one was a top-grade first-grade pill.
Their quality was flawless, their medicinal essence vibrant, and they contained no pill toxins at all.
Wang Fugui's breathing grew more and more ragged, his chest heaving violently.
Cold sweat slid down his forehead, dampening the hair at his temples.
His legs went weak. Without the back of the chair to support him, he would have collapsed to the floor.
This is madness.
It's all madness.
Even the Azure Cloud Sect couldn't have so many top-grade first-grade pills in its internal stores.
This old rogue cultivator, who seemed so utterly ordinary—
what on earth was his background?
Was the alchemist behind him even human—or some kind of ghost?
Wang Fugui didn't dare think any further. The more he thought, the more his scalp prickled.
Fear, elation, and shock churned wildly together in his heart.
He stared at the bottles covering the table, his eyes both greedy and reverent.
For a long while, he fought down his trembling and quickly began calculating the prices.
The five kinds of pills were all of the same grade, but their market prices were worlds apart.
He silently recited the market's purchase prices.
First, the Body Tempering Pill.
A necessity for body-refining cultivators, with high demand.
Supreme quality: twenty low-grade spirit stones each.
Second, the Blood Qi Pill.
It strengthened the foundation and nurtured the essence; cultivators kept it on hand. One supreme-quality pill cost sixty low-grade spirit stones.
Third, the Hemostasis Pill.
A simple remedy for injuries, moderately priced. One supreme-quality pill cost forty low-grade spirit stones.
Fourth, the Qi Gathering Pill.
It aided cultivation and sped up the circulation of spiritual energy. One supreme-quality pill cost seventy-five low-grade spirit stones.
Fifth, the Rejuvenation Pill.
The most expensive kind of first-grade pill. It healed injuries quickly and repaired hidden damage.
The market was perpetually short on stock. One supreme-quality pill cost one hundred low-grade spirit stones.