"Heh heh, Brother Tong, what an unfortunate coincidence. We've been using that shop ourselves. We have new plans for it recently. I'm afraid you've made this trip for nothing."
"Patriarch Wei, you're not deliberately jerking me around, are you? That shop of yours has been running half-dead all this time. Rent it to me, Tong, and I guarantee your income will more than double. What else could you possibly do with it? On Shennong Market, if you're not in the pill business, you're on a dead-end road."
Patriarch Tong rattled off his words like firecrackers, speaking at breakneck speed with an overbearing air.
Patriarch Tong chuckled. "Care to share what you're planning? You're not thinking of getting into the pill business, are you? Your Wei family — heh heh — pills — you might want to save yourself the embarrassment..."
The words were exceedingly rude. Even
But
Patriarch Tong's eyes darted about, and he immediately flashed a confident smile: "No matter what you're planning, Patriarch Wei, that shop will end up rented to me in the end. Ha ha ha — farewell."
It was unclear where he got such confidence. Having finished, Patriarch Tong gave
Such rude behavior was nothing like a conversation between patriarchs of equal standing. Patriarch Tong conducted himself with condescension at every turn.
Even
Patriarch Tong had already reached the doorway when he froze. He abruptly turned back, a cold glint shooting from his eyes: "A mere junior like you — aren't you afraid the wind will snap your tongue off with talk like that?"
Patriarch Tong was so furious he laughed. He was about to retort when
Clearly,
They had never been in the same camp to begin with, and with Patriarch Tong tearing off all pretense,
Patriarch Tong laughed insolently, gave a nod, and cast a meaningful glance at the Wei father and son. He said nothing further, merely smiling contemptuously as he strode away.
"Nephew Jiang, rest assured — the Wei family always keeps its word. Since we've reached an agreement, we would never rent the shop to anyone else. Least of all to the Tong family from an opposing camp."
He turned to
After bidding
It could almost be considered the most famous market in all of Liuli Royal City — the most bustling and prosperous of them all.
Not only was it the core pill distribution hub of Liuli Royal City, but its influence radiated to seven or eight surrounding domains. Its prosperity was ranked among the finest in the entire Upper Eight Regions.
Moreover, buoyed by the pill trade, every industry here thrived.
Pills, talismans, spirit beasts, formations, spirit stones, weapons...
Every trade related to martial cultivation could be found on Shennong Market. Shops of every description lined up in tight rows — a dazzling spectacle.
The Wei family was clearly no stranger to Shennong Market. Though they were not major players here and were somewhat marginalized in the pill trade, they had other industries to fall back on. Otherwise, how could they sustain a great Ninth-Rank family?
Along the way,
In Liuli Royal City, the Seven Great Emperors were mysterious and reclusive, completely removed from these worldly disputes. In practice, those who controlled the core of Shennong Market were the Twenty-Eight Great Houses and the powerful families beneath them.
On Shennong Market, the first-tier pill forces numbered over a dozen, each backed by a Great House. The second-tier numbered several dozen to over a hundred, mostly controlled by powerful families.
The third-tier were too numerous to count — hundreds upon hundreds.
These shops might seem like a great many, but when measured against the sea of cultivators in Liuli Royal City — including those from the surrounding domains — the pill shops were still far from meeting demand.
After all, the cultivators of the surrounding domains were truly numerous — more than the stars visible in the sky.
After all, even the tiny Eastern Kingdom had a pill market so prosperous it could accommodate so many pill forces.