I'm done for! Tang Yan kept wailing inwardly.
He suddenly remembered that on the day Reach the Summit opened, he had personally promised Zi Yun a Spirit Transformation Pill, only to forget all about it...
"Boss, just what is your relationship with Miss Zi?" Du Shu sidled over and asked slyly, "Could she be our sister-in-law?"
Sister-in-law, my ass! If she really were your sister-in-law, would I be this scared?
Taking a deep breath, Tang Yan finally said, "There's nothing between us. I'll go see Miss Zi later. Right, what development plan were you writing?"
At the mention of work, Du Shu's attention immediately shifted. Looking conflicted, he said, "I expect Reach the Summit to capture most of the Azure Dragon Academy's pill market before long. Even the Sacred Pill Alliance won't be able to compete with us.
"I plan to expand our pill business outside, but I haven't worked out the specifics yet."
Tang Yan looked at the map hanging on the wall and pointed to a marked location. "The Azure Dragon Academy is in a rather remote area, far from the Imperial City, far from Purple Bamboo City, and far from all the major powers.
"But three hundred li from the Azure Dragon Academy lies a city without a master-Ming City. Although no one governs this area, it sits right at the center of several major powers.
"Plenty of people stop in Ming City every day. It's no less prosperous than any other city.
"This could be the place for our next stage of expansion!"
"I've considered that. Geographically, it really is a good location, very suitable for our development.
"But as you said, it's a city without a master. It's too far out of the way, and dragons and fish mingle within it. Quite a few of