Jia Lie Clan

Xiao Clan Medicine Hall.

"Elder Xiao, something terrible has happened!"

"Why are you so flustered?"

Xiao Chen sat upright in the hall, leisurely blowing the foam from his tea.

"These past few days, the Jia Lie Clan's drugstores suddenly slashed their prices. They're a full thirty percent lower than ours!"

The shopkeeper wiped away his sweat.

"What's worse, who knows where they got a batch of shoddy medicine passed off as quality goods? They mixed it in with their cheap stock and sold it off, stealing all our customers!"

"Now the Drug Hall is practically empty, and business has plummeted. If this goes on, we may not even be able to pay wages!"

Xiao Chen's brow lifted slightly at those words.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper grew anxious.

"Elder, please think of something!"

"Several elders in the clan heard about this and are demanding that we confront the Jia Lie Clan. But the Jia Lie Family is powerful, and the City Lord's Mansion backs them. If we clash with them head-on, I'm afraid we won't come out well!"

"What's the rush?"

Xiao Chen finally set down his teacup.

"Since Jialie dares to make a move, we'll follow his lead and strike back."

"Strike... back?"

The shopkeeper froze. "But how do we strike back?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

Xiao Chen smiled faintly without explaining further, then turned and entered the inner hall.

The shopkeeper watched his retreating figure, completely baffled. Yet for some reason, he felt that this unfathomable elder truly seemed to have a plan.

That afternoon, at the Xiao Clan's council hall.

Xiao Zhan gathered several clan elders to discuss a response.

Yet everyone held a different opinion, and the argument went on without end.

Some proposed retaliating with lower prices. Others suggested filing a complaint with the City Lord's Mansion. The more hotheaded ones even clamored to send people to smash the Jia Lie Family's shops.

The hall erupted in noise and chaos. Xiao Zhan frowned as he listened, but no one could offer a workable plan.

"Enough!"

Xiao Zhan slammed his palm onto the table and roared, "What are you accomplishing by arguing like this?!"

The hall instantly fell silent.

Xiao Zhan's gaze slowly swept over everyone before finally settling on the gray-robed elder who had not spoken a word.

"Elder Xiao Chen, do you... have any brilliant insight?"

Only then did Xiao Chen slowly open his eyes.

"The Jia Lie Clan can cut prices only because they have ample supply and strong backing. They dare do this because they're certain our Xiao Clan cannot handle this move."

"But what they don't know is that our Xiao Clan now possesses a trump card they could never imagine even in their dreams."

Xiao Zhan's eyes lit up. "What trump card?"

"Pill formulas."

Xiao Chen spoke those two words, then rose to his feet with his hands behind his back.

"With the same medicinal ingredients and the same cost, I can make pills of far better quality than theirs while selling them at even lower prices. The Jia Lie Family's inferior medicine will be worthless before my superior pills."

The elders exchanged looks, all of them utterly shocked.

They had heard that Elder Xiao Chen knew how to refine pills, but they had never imagined he would make such an outrageous claim.

The same cost, better quality, and an even lower price?

It was simply inconceivable!

"Elder Xiao Chen, are you joking?"

One elder could not help saying, "In pill refinement, every increase in quality sends costs soaring. How could the quality be higher while the price is lower?"

"Yes, that sounds far too presumptuous..."

"Whether it is true or not, one trial will tell."

Xiao Chen did not argue, merely saying calmly, "If I fail within three days, I am willing to relinquish my position as elder and request that I be expelled from the Xiao Clan."

The hall fell silent again.

This wager truly put his entire future on the line!

"Elder Xiao Chen, do you mean that?" Xiao Zhan's voice trembled slightly.

"If the Clan Head trusts me, then grant me full authority over this commercial battle."

Xiao Chen smiled faintly.

"Within three days, I will make the Jia Lie Clan's drugstores as empty as ours are now."

The council hall was deathly silent.

After a long while, Xiao Zhan slapped his thigh and said solemnly, "Good! Elder Xiao Chen will have full authority over this commercial battle! Whoever refuses will answer to me, Xiao Zhan!"

After the meeting ended, Xiao Chen walked out of the council hall with his hands behind his back. He looked up at the sky, a confident curve slowly forming at the corner of his lips.

He had long since sent his trusted men to investigate everything.

The Jia Lie Clan's recent supply channels, even its secret dealings with the City Lord's Mansion—he had uncovered them all.

Meanwhile, the Jia Lie Clan estate was filled with celebration.

"Hahaha! That Xiao Clan must be so thoroughly crushed that they can barely breathe!"

Jia Lie Ang, a Jia Lie Clan steward, crossed one leg over the other and spoke smugly.

"Clan Head, your price-cutting strategy is truly brilliant! If we keep this up for another month, the Xiao Clan Medicine Hall will probably have to shut down for good!"

"Hmph. A mere Xiao Clan dares compete with my Jia Lie Clan for profit?"

Galle Bi, the Jia Lie Family's head, sneered, a vicious glint flashing through his eyes.

"Once we deal with the Xiao Clan, the pill business of Wutan City will belong to the Jia Lie Clan alone!"

"However..."

Galle Bi paused before saying gravely, "I heard the Xiao Clan recently produced some Elder Xiao Chen who seems to know a thing or two about pill refinement. Send someone to watch him. Don't let him pull any tricks."

"Rest assured, Clan Head!"

Jia Lie Ang patted his chest in assurance.

"What waves could a collateral-line elder possibly make? We only need to wait and see how long he can keep jumping around!"

What they did not know was that the collateral-line elder they spoke of had already taken every one of their movements into his sights.

"Jia Lie Clan, Jia Lie Clan... You think you're facing off against a mere drugstore shopkeeper, but little do you know... you've run into a freight train."

Xiao Chen returned to the Drug Hall.

"The Jia Lie Family thinks cutting prices can bring down the Xiao Clan?"

A cold smile curled across Xiao Chen's lips.

"They must have forgotten that there is another way to play: assembly-line pill refinement!"

"Since you want to play, then I, Xiao Chen, will play a big game with you."

Three days later, Mittel Auction House.

Inside Ya Fei's hall at Ya Garden, Xiao Chen gently pushed three pill formulas toward Ya Fei.

"Miss Ya Fei, these three pill formulas are the results of my work over the past few days."

Xiao Chen lifted his teacup and said leisurely, "With the same ingredient costs, the finished pills are thirty percent better in quality than those on the market, while the price can be lowered by another twenty percent."

Ya Fei's pupils contracted sharply, and the round fan in her hand nearly fell.

She abruptly opened the pill formulas and examined them page by page. The more she read, the more shocked she became.

The ingredient combinations, heat control, and refining methods on those formulas were all exquisitely ingenious. Many of their unique insights left even her, a veteran steeped in business for years, in utter admiration!

"Mr. Xiao... did you truly improve these within only a few days?"

"Just a trifling trick, not worth mentioning."

Xiao Chen waved his hand with a smile.

"The Mittel Auction House will have exclusive rights to sell them. We split the profits fifty-fifty."

Ya Fei took a deep breath and carefully put away the three pill formulas. The light in her eyes had completely changed.

She rose to her feet and gave Xiao Chen a respectful curtsy.

"Rest assured, Mr. Xiao. Ya Fei will not fail your trust!"

After Xiao Chen left, Ya Fei held the three pill formulas, unable to calm herself for a long time.

As the person in charge of the Mittel Auction House, she had seen countless rare and precious pills. Yet she had never seen anyone improve pill formulas to such a degree in so short a time.

Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed that the tiny Xiao Clan of Wutan City concealed such a deeply hidden figure!

"Xiao Chen..."

Ya Fei watched the gray-robed figure gradually recede in the courtyard, her eyes shimmering as she murmured softly.

"Just who... are you?"