Inside the private chamber, Yang Kai took his seat but showed no immediate interest in the tea before him.
The shopkeeper of the Spirit Pill Workshop was being far too enthusiastic, which gave him the impression that such unsolicited hospitality could only mean trouble. As such, he maintained his customary caution.
Kang Siran clearly noticed this but paid it no mind. He smiled faintly and said, "I hear the guest has come to purchase pill recipes?"
"That's correct." Yang Kai nodded.
Kang Siran's eyes lit up. "In that case, the guest must be an alchemist?"
Yang Kai frowned slightly and replied evenly, "Does your shop pry into your customers' backgrounds while selling goods?"
The words carried a note of reproach, but Kang Siran showed no offense. Instead, a look of apology crossed his face. "Please don't take it the wrong way, Young Master Yang. It was remiss of me. Allow me to offer this tea in place of wine as my apology!"
As he spoke, he drained his entire cup in one gulp.
He wiped the moisture from his chin and continued, "If you truly are an alchemist, and your rank is sufficiently high, then whatever pill recipe you need, I can provide it to you at no cost."
"What do you mean?" Yang Kai was thoroughly confused.
Kang Siran let out a bitter laugh and did not answer immediately, as though carefully choosing his words. After a moment, he spoke. "In that case, allow me to be direct."
"Please, go ahead."
"The truth is," Kang Siran began after a brief pause, "our Spirit Pill Workshop is currently short on alchemists… If you are a Void King-rank alchemist or above, I would like to hire you as a resident pill master. The compensation would be very generous. I have two options for you to choose from — a fixed monthly salary of a set amount, or a profit-sharing arrangement with the workshop. It's entirely up to you."
Yang Kai was taken aback. "Your workshop is short on alchemists?"
"I won't hide it from you." Kang Siran seemed to have been troubled by this matter for quite some time, and now that a glimmer of hope had appeared, he had no intention of keeping secrets. "Our workshop originally had three alchemists. However, two of them left not long ago, and only one remains. The pills being produced simply can't meet demand, which is why… But rest assured, any pill recipe in our Spirit Pill Workshop's possession will be available for you to browse. I will absolutely not hold anything back."
This answer was genuinely tempting to Yang Kai. After all, he had very few Source Crystals on hand. If he were to buy pill recipes outright, he could probably only afford one or two ordinary ones. As for the recipe for the Source Condensing Pill — that would undoubtedly be extraordinarily expensive, far beyond his current means.
He had originally intended only to inquire about the prices of pill recipes before going to gather Source Crystals for the purchase.
He hadn't expected that coming to this Spirit Pill Workshop would yield such an unexpected surprise.
Keeping his expression neutral, Yang Kai asked, "Why did those two alchemists suddenly leave? Was the pay not sufficient?"
"Nothing of the sort." Kang Siran shook his head with a bitter smile. "I like to think that in Maple Forest City, my business practices are fair and honest, and the compensation the workshop offered was by no means low. It's simply that… people move upward, water flows downward. That's an eternal truth. When greater profits are on the table, it's only natural that they chose to leave."
Hearing this, Yang Kai understood.
"Poached by a rival, then?"
At this, a flash of irritation crossed Kang Siran's face. He nodded. "Exactly. Our Spirit Pill Workshop is, in fact, an enterprise under the Purple Source Commerce Association. The Pill and Artifact Pavilion across the street belongs to the Seven Luminaries Commerce Association, so it's only to be expected that they would target us."
"Purple Source Commerce Association? Seven Luminaries Commerce Association?" Yang Kai frowned.
"You haven't heard of them?" Now it was Kang Siran's turn to be surprised.
Yang Kai gave an awkward smile and shook his head.
Kang Siran stared blankly for a good while. He hadn't expected that a Void King Third Stage cultivator like Yang Kai would be unaware of these two great associations. After all, in the Southern Region, below the supreme authority of the Star God Palace, the next tier of powerhouses consisted of the Purple Source Commerce Association, the Seven Luminaries Commerce Association, and other major forces.
Yang Kai's strength was hardly negligible — how could he not have heard of them?
But Kang Siran was a businessman at heart, skilled at reading people. To spare Yang Kai any embarrassment, he quickly smiled and said, "It seems the guest is a dedicated cultivator. No wonder someone so young possesses cultivation comparable to this old man's. I'm truly impressed."
Yang Kai gave a dry laugh but did not respond.
Judging from the information Kang Siran had let slip, the two great commerce associations seemed to be rivals. That wasn't hard to understand — competitors in the same trade are natural enemies, and when both sides are in the business of commerce, rivalry is inevitable.
The Seven Luminaries Commerce Association had offered higher pay and poached the two alchemists from the Spirit Pill Workshop, leaving it in its current awkward predicament.
Without enough alchemists, there naturally wouldn't be enough pills. Over time, customers would stop coming, and as the shopkeeper of the Spirit Pill Workshop, Kang Siran could see this looming crisis all too clearly.
He had been searching for suitable alchemists to recruit for some time now, but Maple Forest City wasn't a large city within the Star Boundary. Even if there were alchemists around, they already had affiliations. Those of low rank would be of little use even if hired.