The negotiations over their cooperation went very smoothly. For the first month, Liu Wuxie would refine the pills himself, and they would collect them from the Xu Household every five days.
The profits would be split evenly. After one month, he would hand the refining method over to the Pill Treasure Pavilion, and the profits would be split seventy-thirty: seventy percent for the Pill Treasure Pavilion, while Liu Wuxie took thirty percent without doing any work. The contract would last three years, after which ownership of the Heavenly Spirit Pill would pass to the Pill Treasure Pavilion.
"These are some medicinal ingredients I need. Once you've gathered them, deliver them to me. Advance the gold needed for now and deduct it from the profits."
He took out the list he had prepared beforehand and placed it on the table. Lei Tao picked it up, his brows furrowing slightly.
After their discussion, his attitude toward Liu Wuxie had changed considerably. He already suspected that the rumors outside were untrue. That air of someone in power could not be faked; it appeared only in powerful figures who held authority over life and death.
"Our Pill Treasure Pavilion can gather all these spirit medicines, but the Nine Yang Fruit and Crimson Spirit Grass will have to be shipped from the imperial capital. That will take at least five days."
Lei Tao set down the list, his tone somewhat helpless.
"Then I'll come back in five days." These two ingredients were the main materials for refining the Meridian-Restoring Pill, and nothing could be allowed to go wrong with them. Having achieved his purpose, he rose and headed outside.
Both men rose, especially Master Huo, whose attitude had changed completely. He followed behind with a respectful expression.
His life was still in Liu Wuxie's hands, so he had to attend to him with the utmost care.
"Master Huo, are you certain the pill formula is genuine? If this cooperation fails, it will have an enormous impact on our Pill Treasure Pavilion. The pavilion master will certainly blame us when he returns."
Lei Tao had not participated in the negotiations from beginning to end. Master Huo presided over many of the Pill Treasure Pavilion's affairs; he was responsible only for sales.
"I've worked through it more than a dozen times. The pill formula is most likely genuine. Once it reaches the market, our Pill Treasure Pavilion's standing in the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty will rise considerably. Go see him out. If he has any other requests, satisfy them as well. We'll know whether it's genuine in five days."
As Master Huo finished his last sentence, a trace of viciousness showed at the corners of his eyes. If Liu Wuxie could not produce the Heavenly Spirit Pill in five days, he would personally go to the Xu Household and kill him.
Only an hour had passed when he stepped out of the inner chamber. The hall was packed, and the broken counter had already been replaced. The blue-clad attendants who had been beaten gritted their teeth in hatred the moment they saw Liu Wuxie.
"Brat, you actually came out alive. Die!"
The purple-robed man suddenly launched a sneak attack. The instant Liu Wuxie appeared, he slashed down through the air with the ruler in his hand.
The sound of cleaving air bore straight toward him, catching everyone off guard. Who could have expected Liu Wuxie to emerge completely unscathed after entering the inner chamber? It made no sense.
"Steward Lei, is this how you treat your guests?"
Liu Wuxie did not strike. With a stir of his Divine Sense, he detected Lei Tao deliberately hiding behind the curtain, wanting to test his true abilities. With matters having reached this point, Lei Tao could no longer remain hidden. They still had a partnership.
"Zhou Tong, stop!"
He strode into the hall and interrupted Zhou Tong with a cold shout. The ruler in Zhou Tong's hand stopped in midair, and the Innate pressure Lei Tao released nearly sent him flying.
The powerful force drove Zhou Tong backward, his hair coming loose and his face twisting hideously. He did not understand why Lei Tao would stop him from killing Liu Wuxie.
"Steward Lei, I'm adding one more condition. I don't want to see this man in the Pill Treasure Pavilion again. If you can't do that, our cooperation is-terminated!"
With that, Liu Wuxie headed outside, and the crowd automatically parted to make a path.
Leaving behind the sight of his retreating figure and countless unanswered questions, he vanished from everyone's view.
"Zhou Tong, pack your things and leave the Pill Treasure Pavilion. I'll pay you three months' wages. From this moment on, you have no connection to the Pill Treasure Pavilion."
Lei Tao spoke expressionlessly, leaving everyone present feeling as though they had been struck by lightning. What was going on? Expelling Zhou Tong for the Xu Household's insignificant live-in son-in-law-what exactly had happened between them?
"No..."
Zhou Tong threw back his head and roared before collapsing onto his backside. The Pill Treasure Pavilion paid extremely generous wages. Over the years, he had enjoyed a flourishing life by relying on his position as a minor supervisor there. Without the Pill Treasure Pavilion as his backer, he was nothing. This undoubtedly cut off his path of retreat.
"It's all that trash's fault! I'm going to kill him!" Zhou Tong rose, his eyes bloodshot, and left the Pill Treasure Pavilion without even collecting his wages.
Lei Tao did not stop him and let him leave. "Gather all the medicinal ingredients on this list and deliver them to the Xu Household." He took out the list Liu Wuxie had left and told the medicinal ingredients shopkeeper to prepare them quickly.
"Yes!"
The supervisor responsible for medicinal ingredients noticed that something was amiss. He hurriedly took the list and began filling the order. As for Zhou Tong's furious roars, everyone had long since ignored them. They were curious about just what Liu Wuxie had done to cause such a tremendous change in the Pill Treasure Pavilion's attitude toward him.
After leaving the Pill Treasure Pavilion, Liu Wuxie did not return directly to the Xu Household but headed toward West Street.
The disreputable friends who had invited him out last night lived there. He had to investigate exactly who wanted to kill him.
Just as he turned the street corner, two Xu Household servants happened to pass by and saw Liu Wuxie heading toward West Street.
"Hurry back and inform the master. That trash has gone to find his disreputable friends again."
It had long been no secret that the Xu Household's servants called Liu Wuxie trash behind his back.
After passing through two narrow alleys, he came upon a courtyard. Ordinarily, Liu Wuxie liked coming here to find the three of them and go out eating, drinking, and making merry.
The three of them were certain to know about what had happened last night.
He pushed open the courtyard gate and found it completely empty. Striding into the house, he discovered that all their valuables were gone. They had left Canglan City overnight.
His gaze swept across the hall before suddenly fixing on a corner, where an inconspicuous little sachet had been discarded. It was roughly the size of a baby's palm.
He reached down, picked it up, and held it beneath his nose to sniff. From what he knew of his three friends, none of them ever wore this kind of sachet. Who had left it?
"Hallucinogenic Powder!"
His eyes narrowed. The sachet gave off the scent of Hallucinogenic Powder. A single breath could muddle a person's mind and make them commit all manner of irrational acts.
"Just as I thought. Someone bribed the three of them last night to lure me to the brothel, then secretly killed me with a palm strike, creating the illusion that the entire brothel had collapsed and crushed me to death."
He put away the sachet. Hallucinogenic Powder was extremely difficult to refine, and no one in all of Canglan City could make it. Just who wanted to kill him?
With no other clues, he turned and left the house, quickly returning to the Xu Household. Many servants had gathered outside the main hall, craning their necks to look inside. What had happened?
Xu Yilin's brows were tightly knitted. Several baskets of weapons sat before him, containing sabers, swords, forks, and halberds. The Xu Household's weapons were very famous in Canglan City, with demand exceeding supply. The lineage's main source of income depended on its weapons workshops.
The Xu Household had five weapons workshops in total, producing at least several thousand weapons each day, yet they still could not meet the demands of Canglan City's martial artists.
His mother-in-law, Yang Zi, was there too. Xu Lingxue sat quietly inside with her delicate brows slightly furrowed. Like a pure white lotus, she was spotless and flawless, with a trace of worry showing between her brows.
"I heard that the Tian Household poached all our Xu Household's master artificers and even took our unique artifact-refining method with them. This is a devastating blow to our Xu Household."
Quiet discussion drifted from outside the main hall. Liu Wuxie passed through the crowd, hearing every word clearly.
Of Canglan City's four great lineages, the Xu Household made its living through artifact refining, holding around seventy percent of Canglan City's market, while the Tian Household controlled the remaining thirty percent.
Their artifact-refining techniques were far inferior to the Xu Household's. In his youth, Xu Yilin had risen through his artifact-refining techniques, forging excellent weapons and becoming famous throughout Canglan City.
In recent years, the Tian Household had invited a master artificer from somewhere unknown, and their artifact-refining techniques had gradually shown signs of surpassing the Xu Household's. The Xu Household's weapons had always been relatively affordable. Although the Tian Household's artifact-refining techniques had caught up, the Xu Household continued to dominate the market.
The two households fought both openly and in secret. The Xu Household was relatively conservative and did not actively provoke trouble, but the Tian Household pressed them aggressively and had already poached several of their artificers.
These masters had been personally trained by Xu Yilin, their relationship much like that of master and disciples. To think they would betray the Xu Household too!
The weapons scattered across the floor were crudely made. Xu Yilin picked up a long saber and lightly flicked it with his right index finger. A notch appeared in its edge. Its quality clearly failed to meet standards.
He set down the weapon and glanced outside, his gaze falling on Liu Wuxie. Liu Wuxie could only steel himself and walk in, while everyone's faces filled with schadenfreude.
"You went to West Street again."
Xu Yilin's expression darkened. He had not yet settled accounts with him over yesterday's incident, and barely any time had passed before he ran off to West Street again. It sent his fury soaring thirty feet high. The lineage's affairs were already as urgent as fire singeing their eyebrows, yet he still had the inclination to go out fooling around.
"You worthless trash! You still have the nerve to come back? If not for you, how could our Xu Household's reputation have plummeted a thousand fathoms?"
Yang Zi stepped forward and pointed at Liu Wuxie, shifting all the blame onto him alone.
The Xu Household's senior stewards were all in the main hall. They covered their mouths and chuckled, their expressions contemptuous. This trash had squandered all the Xu Household's good name.
"Mother, let's deal with the weapons first."
Xu Lingxue rose and interrupted their conversation. However inadequate Liu Wuxie might be, he was her husband in name. Mocking Liu Wuxie was no different from making fun of her.
After glaring fiercely at Liu Wuxie, Yang Zi paid him no further attention. Unwelcome, he could only retreat to one side and watch quietly.
"Steward Lan, how many of these defective products were sold?"
Xu Yilin's brows drew tighter as he questioned Steward Lan. He was responsible for weapon sales, and all the accounts passed through his hands.
"Around five hundred. Once we discovered the problem, we immediately cut off the supply. These are all defective products we recovered. There aren't many left on the market."
Steward Lan answered truthfully. Fortunately, they had discovered the problem in time, and no large batches had reached the market.
Liu Wuxie picked up a long saber and flicked it lightly, producing a muddled series of ringing notes. The fine materials had not been put to full use, and the artifact-refining methods were far too unpracticed. His mind rapidly analyzed it.
"Young master, people claiming to be from the Pill Treasure Pavilion have delivered a large bundle of medicinal ingredients. Please go receive it."
The steward walked in. The Pill Treasure Pavilion's medicinal ingredients had arrived. Liu Wuxie said a word to his father-in-law and left the main hall.