Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It just so happened that Su Yu also wanted to go to the Inner City to look for an elixir production ground, and he could just conveniently participate in the Elixir Meet along the way.
The Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store was situated in the Inner City’s most prosperous region. It was packed with people, and both the sky and the land were filled with a great mass of people.
Su Yu managed to easily find the Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store without wasting any time looking for it. This was because it was imposing, and it looked like a palace! In fact, because of its tremendous size, it would be difficult for someone to miss it!
The Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store occupied around ten thousand square-meters, and it was a rarely seen great elixir store in Tianya City, where each piece of land was worth its size in gold!
After he entered the Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store, he saw that its inside was also quite luxurious, and it had elixirs’ fragrances permeating throughout it. It was divided into ten areas, with each area housing spirit elixirs of different grades.
These spirit elixirs’ grades ranged from the lowest to the highest, as they had every single grade available! Moreover, they even had Divine Master Realm’s elixirs, but those were all expensive elixirs, which cost fifty thousand crystals apiece!
Su Yu couldn’t help but click his tongue as he looked at all of this exorbitance! That alone was fifty thousand crystals’ worth, and the profit they could get from such should be insanely high. It was clear that the Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store didn’t manage to become a high-grade elixir store through any shady means, as they obviously had the goods!
Su Yu showed his shopkeeper badge and was allowed to go to the second floor. The second floor wasn’t open for business, but only contained the Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store’s employees lodgings and a place where they all dined. Moreover, it was most importantly the place where the store’s official meetings were held.
There were already a hundred shopkeepers who had come into the main hall. They were all sitting here restlessly, whispering to each other as they waited…
“Hehe, that guy surnamed Fei started a meeting once again, just like I expected. He was just scolded by the Deputy General Manager, yet he quickly looked for us and started a meeting. It seems like he was so anxious that he forgot himself!”
“However, since he’s this anxious, then our current elixir industries’ situation should be quite grave. I have a bad feeling about this upcoming Elixir Meet…”
“Let’s hope that Fei won’t go overboard! Otherwise, I won’t mind sacrificing some of my connections just to fight against him!”
…
As the crowd was discussing theses matters spiritedly, Su Yu just listened to them and waited quietly for the meeting to start. In the end, they ended up waiting for two hours.
All of shopkeepers had already come here early on, yet the Great Shopkeeper Fei still hadn’t shown himself. It was only when everyone became impatient that two pretty maids came out from a side chamber. They both just stood at the entrance and lowered their heads respectfully.
Upon seeing them, the noisy hall immediately calmed down. All of the shopkeepers hid their resentful expressions and became solemn.
Thump! Thump!
A steady sound of footsteps echoed from the side chamber, while a middle-aged man, clothed in a long robe that was adorned with gold and silk, walked in. He was clasping his hands behind his back and his face was expressionless.
His footsteps were steady, his gaze was ice-cold, and his aura was extremely powerful. At this moment, the hall calmed down completely, and all whispering ceased.
Su Yu looked at this man. He already had an impression of him from the past. He was one of the three Great Shopkeepers, the Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store’s Great Shopkeeper.
As Su Yu witnessed the reactions of the people in the surroundings, it seemed like the Great Shopkeeper Fei came late on purpose, just to put on airs because of his status as a Great Shopkeeper. Great Shopkeeper Fei sat on the main seat and swept his gaze over everyone present.
It seemed like he was examining the crowd, trying to see whether someone was not accounted for among the crowd. It was only after sweeping his gaze over them completely that he verified that they were all present, then said, “My dear colleagues, you surely all have an understanding of the current state of the Red Blood Palace’s elixir business…”
He paused, then continued, “The Central Prefecture’s factions recently released several new elixirs, each having great effects and a suitable price. This caused our Eighteen Blessed and Heavenly Lands’ business to go downhill. It’s now time to put you all to the test. At such a critical juncture, we must all unite and resist the Central Prefecture’s attack together.”
Great Shopkeeper Fei stopped for a moment, before he continued once more, “I held this meeting to strengthen our advantage and gather us together in order to face the Central Prefecture as one. I will now announce a plan to remedy this situation.”
The crowd looked in confusion at Great Shopkeeper Fei upon hearing his words.
He then said, “My plan is as follows… We must unite all of the elixir stores with the Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store as their core, then concentrate on selling three main elixirs, which are the Pure Blood Pills, Spiritual Nourishment Pills, and Exquisite Powder. ”
He paused, then added, “Recently, the Central Prefecture’s most popular elixirs were elixirs like these three. So, if we can lower the price of these three elixirs in all of our combined elixir stores, we will surely manage to snatch a large number of customers and sell a large number of elixirs. This will be a grave blow to all of the Central Prefecture’s elixir stores! So, how do you feel about that?”
The crowd quickly started whispering to each other and discussing this matter excitedly. Su Yu was not necessarily surprised by this plan.
He was quite familiar with such a tactic, and it was simply referred to as joint marketing. They would give up focusing on their profits in the short-term by lowering their prices, just to attract more customers for the long-term.
Tianya City had more than a hundred elixir stores, and if they all carried out this plan at the same time, they would surely cause a sensation and attract a large number of customers. If they do this for a long time, the Central Prefecture’s sales of similar elixirs would surely decrease.
However, they still couldn’t use this tactic for long, as it was tantamount to drinking poison in order to quench one’s thirst. But, if they used it for just a short while, it would still be temporarily effective.
One couldn’t deny that Great Shopkeeper Fei’s suggestion was quite logical. However, Su Yu still couldn’t help but smile because Great Shopkeeper Fei didn’t explain an important matter clearly. After five minutes had passed, the crowd finished discussing this matter.
“So… What do you all think? If you have any questions, you can raise them now, as once we started carrying this plan out, there’s no going back! Any person who dares to go against me in secret will become my enemy!” Great Shopkeeper Fei said.
Several shrewd shopkeepers exchanged glances, then they pushed forward an ordinary low-grade store’s shopkeeper, who said, “Great Shopkeeper, may I ask you where can we get those three elixirs? Should we look by ourselves for elixir dealers to provide them to us?”
Most of their elixir stores had alchemists making elixirs, but the elixirs produced by them were far from being good enough. This why they still needed to depend on elixir dealers and purchase elixirs at a low-price from them.
Great Shopkeeper Fei revealed a faint smile as he replied, “You don’t need to worry about this, as my Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store will provide you all with the necessary elixirs.”
Since there wasn’t an issue with the supply of goods, it was time to discuss the true issue…
“Great Shopkeeper Fei, since you will provide them, we can set our mind at ease about that matter. However, I wonder at what price we will purchase them?” that former shopkeeper asked the question that all of the people cared about most.
Great Shopkeeper Fei replied, “I will give you all a good offer. If you purchase those three elixirs elixirs from me, you can get them for just nine crystals apiece. You must all be aware that those elixirs are usually sold for ten crystals apiece in the market.”
Upon hearing this, shock and anger appeared on everyone’s faces. Great Shopkeeper Fei was really bullying them and taking advantage of them!
In fact, if they purchased those three elixirs from elixir dealers, they would usually pay just five crystals apiece. Yet, if they purchased them from Great Shopkeeper Fei, they would unexpectedly pay nine crystals!
In that case, even if they sold them all, they would just earn a crystal from each sale. That wouldn’t even be enough to cover the costs of their business’s expenses!
Great Shopkeeper Fei was obviously using the guise of resisting the Central Prefecture’s attack as an excuse to rip them all off and compensate for his Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store’s severe losses! Before the start of the meeting, they were all worried whether Great Shopkeeper Fei would go overboard, and at this moment, it seemed like their fears had been logical!
However, strangely enough, even though they all wished to skin Great Shopkeeper Fei alive at this moment, none of them dared to oppose him. They didn’t even dare to reveal infuriated expressions on their faces.
The face of the low-grade shopkeeper, who had just asked this question, turned pale, and his body swayed.
“Do you have any more questions?” Great Shopkeeper Fei asked.
All of the low-grade shopkeepers shook their heads and quickly sat down. They didn’t dare to object.
Great Shopkeeper Fei revealed a faint smile. “Sirs, to ensure the products’ quality, you must all buy those three elixirs from the Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store. Moreover, if you dare to buy them from other elixir dealers, don’t blame me for turning against you if I discover it!”
It was obvious that what he meant was that he wanted them all of them to purchase the elixirs only from his Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store at a high price. The Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store could then depend upon this business deal to increase its monthly profits. As for the other stores, it was obvious that their profits would go downhill drastically.
Great Shopkeeper Fei would surely manage to bypass this crisis, while the other elixir stores would end in terrible states. All of the low-grade and middle-grade elixir stores’ shopkeepers ended up choosing to submit to him because they were worried that Great Shopkeeper Fei would use his connections to suppress them and make trouble for them if they didn’t.
Before Great Shopkeeper Fei came here, they all spoke indignantly and declared that if Great Shopkeeper Fei went overboard, they would rather give up on their businesses than submit to him and compromise. However, even though Great Shopkeeper Fei treated them all like sacrificial animals, none of them dared oppose him in the end.
Upon witnessing this, Su Yu couldn’t help but shake his head. He then stood up and asked, “Great Shopkeeper Fei, do you have any other matters to raise? If you don’t have anything else to say, I will take my leave now.”
At such a critical juncture, when the whole hall had descended into absolute silence, Su Yu was actually deciding to leave! They were all shocked by this, and they all turned their heads to see this fearless elixir store’s shopkeeper.
Upon witnessing him, many people were surprised. This person had stayed for a long while in the Deputy General Manager’s side chamber on this day, and as such, he had left an impression on many people.
However, most of them were still at a loss because they had never seen Su Yu before now. But, they still couldn’t help but click their tongues in awe because of how daring he was.
Leaving before this matter was settled was tantamount to giving Great Shopkeeper Fei a sharp slap in the face! It must be known that he was then just forcing all of the shopkeepers to lower their heads, yet it was then that Su Yu jumped up to leave. It was like he was challenging Great Shopkeeper Fei’s authority!
Great Shopkeeper Fei still wore a faint smile on his face as usual, but all of the people noticed that a gloomy look appeared on his face for a moment as he asked, “May I ask who you are?”
Su Yu glance at him and replied nonchalantly, “I’m the Tonglin Elixir Store’s new shopkeeper. I won’t participate in your plan. Moreover, I’m busy now, so just continue without me.”
All of the shopkeepers were dumbfounded upon hearing this! They couldn’t believe that he had unexpectedly dared to talk back to Great Shopkeeper Fei!
“This lad is done for, and so is his Tonglin Elixir Store!” Great Shopkeeper Fei’s expression stiffened. He already forgotten the last time someone dared to talk back to him during an Elixir Meet, as it had been so long ago!
He then asked, “You are the Tonglin Store’s shopkeeper? This plan is related to the fate of the Red Blood Palace’s elixir industries in Tianya City. If you don’t participate in it, and it ends up failing, who will take responsibility for it?”
Su Yu wore an odd look as he replied, “I’m just in charge of a small elixir store, which is burdened by debts, so even if I don’t participate in your plan, it won’t affect anything. Besides, if your plan fails, it’s your responsibility alone. Is it possible that you can still blame another shopkeeper for such a thing?”
Su Yu then added, “As this plan is being proposed by you, you should be the one who will assume full responsibility for it. I really don’t know why you can’t figure out such a simple thing.”
Su Yu shook his head. It was obvious that he was cursing him for how stupid he was. All of the people present couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air as they wondered… Has this lad gone crazy? Or… Doesn’t he want to continue making a living in Tianya City?
Great Shopkeeper Fei’s expression became gloomy, and he slapped the table, stood up, and glared at him angrily. “How impudent! I was just sincerely thinking of the Red Blood Palace’s industries, yet you are trying to sow dissension between us! What do you mean by this? It seems to me like you are just a spy, sent here by the Central Prefecture’s factions!”
Su Yu shrugged his shoulders. “You can believe what you want, and you can also go report it to the Deputy General Manager! Inform him that I’m a spy if you want! As long as the Deputy General Manager agrees to punish me, I can only accept it. In any case, I won’t let your Heavenly Fragrance Elixir Store rip off my Tonglin Elixir Store!”
In the end, Su Yu stood his grand, and Great Shopkeeper Fei was so infuriated that his face became flushed and his whole body shivered. He then pointed at Su Yu and said angrily, “You are really daring!”
Su Yu replied calmly, “I’m daring… So what? Great Shopkeeper Fei, what do you plan to do about it? You are just a trifling shopkeeper! We should have been on an equal footing here, and it isn’t up to you to criticize me!”
