Chapter 167

Chapter 167: The Twin Wonders of the Pill and Divination

A voice came from outside: “Master, a customer wishes to see you.”

Yi Hao furrowed his brow. “Do not see them.”

“The customer claims they are seeking a large quantity of pills and asks if you can assist.”

Yi Hao’s interest was piqued. “How much are we talking?”

“At least several million starstones.”

“Tell the customer to wait. I will be out shortly.”

Such a large-scale pill purchase could mean that some people were gathering together, hoping to establish a foothold within the Zhi Academy. It was a common occurrence—whenever there was a shift in power, there were always those who came together for support.

Within the Zhi Academy, the paths of weapons, alchemy, and formations reigned supreme. Beneath these three, there were countless factions, each supporting the shops that dotted the Four Path Marketplace. Without these factions, no shop would be able to afford a stall. New forces rose each year, while old ones disappeared just as quickly.

After a short while, Yi Hao stepped out and saw a man waiting. The man looked fierce, the type who clearly practiced martial arts but had no connection to the three main paths.

Upon seeing Yi Hao approach, the man hurriedly bowed. “I greet you, Master. This humble one, Qiu Fu, offers my respects.”

Yi Hao nodded. “What kind of pills are you looking for?” He sat down as he spoke.

Qiu Fu smiled. “I wish to purchase a batch of restoration pills, obstacle-breaking pills, indigestion pills, star force pills, and primal bone pills. Among these, the quantities of restoration pills and star force pills are enormous. I noticed your store may not have enough in stock, so I dared to trouble you, Master. I hope you can forgive my imposition.”

Yi Hao was pleased with Qiu Fu’s polite attitude. Despite his fierce appearance, the man showed proper respect. “Just tell me exactly how much you need, and I will personally make them for you.”

Qiu Fu smiled again. “May I perhaps see a sample first?”

Yi Hao furrowed his brow. “You don’t trust the quality of my pills?”

“Not at all, Master. Please don’t misunderstand. This humble one is simply making such a large purchase for the first time, and many people are entrusting me with their entire fortunes. I cannot afford to be careless. Please understand.”

“Go, fetch a bottle of restoration pills to show him.”

“Master, don’t you have one on hand?”

Yi Hao gave him a sharp glance, then casually took out a bottle from his storage ring and tossed it to him.

Qiu Fu opened the bottle and inspected the pills inside, his eyes lighting up with surprise. “Such quality! Truly worthy of Master’s name. This humble one is convinced.”

Yi Hao’s previously uneasy feelings were now calmed.

Qiu Fu quickly stepped forward, respectfully handing the bottle back to Yi Hao. He even circled around him to present it from the other side.

Yi Hao smiled and waved dismissively. “Take it. It’s yours.”

“Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!”

“Mm. Now, speak with my little apprentice here. Tell him exactly how many you need.” Yi Hao turned and walked away.

Qiu Fu responded promptly, almost as if he were the servant, not the customer.

After Yi Hao left, the little apprentice approached. “How many pills does the customer want? Write down the exact quantity and pay half as a deposit. That will be fine, right?”

Qiu Fu glanced at him, then turned and walked away. “I won’t be buying anymore.”

The little apprentice stood stunned, watching the man walk off. What just happened?

Qiu Fu glanced back after walking a short distance, a card now attached to the man’s back. It was a good move. The man was in the full star realm, his power was just right—not too influential, yet his actions would go unnoticed.

As long as the card stayed on the man, it would soon vanish, and naturally, he would complete the task.

The same scene played out across many shops specializing in artifact forging, formations, and alchemy throughout the marketplace.

Days passed, and finally, Qiu Fu returned to his residence, passed through the Nine Form Diagram, and reverted to his original appearance—revealing himself to be Wang Jie.

He had purchased information from so many people, and he had chosen certain individuals to attach the cards to. Now, it was time to prepare for the opening of the shop.

It had been a while. He wondered how things were progressing with Du Xian. It should be close, right?

Far away, Master Bian was reprimanding his subordinates. “They’ve been searching for so long and still haven’t found him? What are you all doing?”

“Master, please calm down. We can’t find any trace of Wang Jie. He must be hiding out of fear, knowing he’ll meet the same fate as the other Frost Radiance Sect disciples. Please give us a little more time.”

Master Bian snorted coldly. “If alchemy dao or formation dao gets to him first, you know what will happen.”

“Yes, Master. I will continue searching.”

Days later, someone reported back. “Master, we’ve found Wang Jie’s whereabouts. He’s at Four Path Marketplace.”

“Notify Ji Zheng and Gao Chi immediately! Tell them to kill him!”

“Yes, Master.”

Wang Jie stood outside the Star Dome Trading Hall, glancing subtly around. Someone was tailing him—he had been targeted.

He entered the hall and found Du Xian.

Du Xian was engaged in a conversation with someone else, smiling just as he did when talking to Wang Jie.

Wang Jie didn’t hurry, instead waiting in a private room. Before long, Du Xian entered. “Apologies for the wait, customer.”

“How did the business go?”

“Ah, not everyone is as generous as you, customer.”

Wang Jie chuckled. “Not many fools like me, indeed.”

Du Xian rolled his eyes. “Customer, you can’t say that. We’re always offering great value, and we’ve helped you plenty. Are you dissatisfied?”

Wang Jie didn’t reply. Instead, he got straight to the point.

Du Xian opened his personal terminal and projected a star map. A planet slowly rotated on the screen. “This is the strange planet you’re selling. We’ve done our research, and this planet does indeed belong to you. Neither Black White Heaven nor Lie Qiu know about it, and they won’t reveal it to anyone, so, customer, we can finally discuss price.”

Wang Jie had never seen the planet before. From the outside, it seemed unremarkable.

“How much?”

“Typically, the starting price for a strange planet is one hundred billion starstones,” Du Xian said slowly.

Wang Jie’s heart skipped a beat. One hundred billion? That number felt foreign to him. He forced himself to stay calm and took a sip of tea, saying nothing.

Du Xian glanced at him. “However, because this planet is located in the Lock Path Interval, within the Black White Heaven’s domain, if it gets discovered, it would be detrimental to our ability to exploit and use it. Plus, Lie Qiu can only say they are not revealing it for now. If anything happens, she might spill the beans. Also, the star force on this planet is strange…”

Du Xian rambled on, but Wang Jie interrupted him. “Just tell me the price.”

“Thirty-three billion starstones.”

Wang Jie frowned. “That little?” If Du Xian hadn’t mentioned one hundred billion as a starting price, he wouldn’t have thought it was so low, but now…

Du Xian shrugged. “We can’t help it. This is due to its location in the Lock Path Interval. If it were in Zhi Academy, we could sell it for ten billion starstones, but we have to account for all the risks involved in dealing with this planet in someone else’s domain. If Black White Heaven ever discovers it, we’ll lose everything.”

“We’ve seen too many similar cases in the history of Star Dome Trading.”

“In essence, it’s a gamble. We have to offer the smallest price possible.”

Wang Jie’s dissatisfaction grew. “No one from Black White Heaven will go to the Lock Path Interval.”

“Is that so?” Du Xian smirked. “What about that rare starstone you handed over to Black White Heaven? Are you saying no one from there will go to that strange planet?”

Wang Jie was left speechless.

He had given the Strange Planet along with the cultivation methods to Zhi Xing Xue in order to stop Xiao Rong from returning to the Lock Path Interval. Zhi Xing Xue had clearly mentioned that Black White Heaven would send people to cultivate there.

If that was the case, why wouldn’t they also go to Lie Qiu’s strange planet?

Du Xian clearly knew everything.

Even so, Wang Jie still wasn’t happy. But he had no choice—he needed to sell. His situation was dire.

After several rounds of haggling, the price was finally settled at thirty-seven billion, with an additional four billion added. Du Xian refused to go any lower.

Wang Jie reluctantly agreed to the price.

However, thirty-seven billion starstones would be settled with rare starstones, which meant another loss. Since rare starstones were not available in the market, the exchange rate wouldn’t be as precise, and Du Xian would call the shots.

Normally, the price of a rare starstone was equal to that of a starsea stone, but in today’s market, one starsea stone wouldn’t necessarily buy a rare starstone.

At first, Du Xian wanted to trade with 150,000 gravity starstones, 140,000 black snow starstones, and 50,000 blazing sun starstones, but Wang Jie refused. He insisted on swapping black snow starstones for gravity starstones. Du Xian disagreed, so in the end, black snow starstones were exchanged for starsea stones.

Black snow star force was Wu Yun’s cultivation energy.

Wu Yun had been hiding away, so the black snow starstones were of much less value now. If the black snow star force couldn’t be used to improve the pill quality, it would just be wasted, as no one would buy them.

After everything was settled, Wang Jie looked at his storage ring, filled with starsea stones and rare starstones, and couldn’t help but sigh. Strange planets really were profitable.

“You should store them in a Star Fusion center, customer. It’s more convenient for trading. Otherwise, if you run into danger, all the things in your storage ring might just end up in someone else’s hands.”

“A Star Fusion center? Which one is the most reliable?”

“Of course, it’s our Star Dome Star Fusion center.”

Wang Jie…

He left the Star Dome Trading Hall. Some time ago, he had already purchased a shop. It wasn’t big, but it was in a prime location, not far from the Star Dome Trading Hall. The price had been quite high—no wonder Du Xian had used the shop to lure him in.

Now, it was time to open for business.

After some simple decorations, there wasn’t much to sell at first. On both sides of the shop, two scrolls hung: Divine Pills Swallowing Sun and Moon, Wonderful Divination Settles the Universe, with the horizontal inscription The Twin Wonders of Pill and Divination.

The shop was named Green Grass by the River.

Wang Jie entered the shop and closed the door.

In the distance, someone was watching. This person even had the leisure to open a shop? The Twin Wonders of Pill and Divination? Quite an arrogant name.

Alchemy was for refining pills, but what was this divination? Fortune-telling?

Wang Jie stood in the second field, starting to study the combination of gravity starforce and blazing sun starforce with pills, hoping to enhance their quality and efficacy.

Oh right, he had forgotten to buy a whisper bird. Most pill shops had one for pill quality identification.

Never mind, he’d deal with it later.

Ten days later, the shop doors opened, and Wang Jie began his business.

That day, a large group of people from Star Dome Trading Hall came to congratulate him. Du Xian, as the hall’s manager, was quite influential in Four Path Marketplace, so their visit immediately drew the attention of the entire Four Path Star Cluster.

Wang Jie warmly invited them inside. Three or five people entered, and there was no room left.

“Green Grass by the River? What kind of shop is this?”

“It looks like it’s selling pills, but what’s with the divination?”

“Either way, Du Xian is here, so it must be something special.”

“Could it be affiliated with Star Dome Vision?”

“Who knows? Let’s wait and see once they leave…”

Du Xian and the others’ arrival turned the shop into the center of attention within Four Path Star Cluster.

“Are you satisfied, customer?” Du Xian asked with a smile, his gaze falling on the three items in the shop.

Wang Jie chuckled awkwardly. “Satisfied, but the prices are too high.”

Yes, Du Xian and his group were here to show support because he had paid them. Since information could be bought, why couldn’t support be as well?