Shijue City was huge, and the entirety of the city was under the domain of Ten Ultimates Sect. However, just like every other city, there were numerous, wide-open roads that winded and intersected. And on every street, the great majority of businesses shared familial or friendly relationships with Ten Ultimates Sect’s disciples.
After Gu Zuo left Ten Ultimates Sect, what he saw were countless lofty and expansive stores. Contained within them were commodities and goods of all sorts and sizes. These stores towered above those streets.
The streets here were wider than any Gu Zuo had seen before, and were built using heavy and massive bluestone slabs. There practically wasn’t a single crack or seam in the masonry — He did a cursory estimation. Even if the giant wild beast his family’s big brother rode on every day and multiple ranks of troops travelled side by side, they would be able to smoothly pass through these streets.
In other words…
Suppose Gu Zuo was standing on the left side of the street and looked at the things inside a certain store on the right side. If he wanted to run straight across at normal speeds, it would take quite a few minutes.
As a result, after Gu Zuo looked around at the start of this street, he discharged his psychic power. Once both sides were swept over, he walked to the right side of the street.
In comparison, there were more medicinal pill stores and medicinal ingredient stores on this side.
Gu Zuo intended to look through each and every business.
In fact, while he strolled past many medicinal ingredient stores, it was still his first time going through such a big city.
At the present time, the ingredients he needed should’ve been at the golden level. Based on his hypothesis, since the source sand could be refined into a medicinal pill for his big brother to use, the corresponding ingredients wouldn’t be outside the limits of his capabilities.
Currently, it wasn’t a problem for him to refine golden-level pills. However, if it was a profound-level pill, then he was still a long way off.
It had to be said that every medicinal ingredient store here had its own advantages. For example, some rare ingredients normally required bounties or other methods to be found. But some of the stores that could gain a firm foothold here also secretly possessed the means of securing some rare ingredients at certain intervals. Different medicinal ingredients would have different product grades. Some medicine stores could obtain thousand-year old herbs, while others could get a hold of several-thousand to ten-thousand year old herbs. Likewise, this would cause people to develop preferences in their selections.
As such, although the majority of medicinal ingredients could be found in every store, there were fierce competitions between individual stores. They would use all kinds of methods to draw the attention of would-be customers.
Right now, Gu Zuo had three hundred thousand spirit crystals in hand. After purposefully walking through several medicinal ingredient stores, he bought dozens of types of ingredients. Every type was purchased in sufficient quantities. All of a sudden, he spent over a thousand spirit crystals.
How long had it been just now…
Sure enough, a pharmacist spent money like running water.
After considering things, Gu Zuo felt his heart aching. He turned to look at his faithful guard behind him: “Ao Ying, do you know which places accept medicinal pills and have comparatively fair prices?”
Ao Ying respectfully said: “Treasure Source Pavilion, Medicine Heart Pavilion, Dosage Hall…”
In one breath, he mentioned a handful of names. All of them were relatively famous in Shijue City, and their fairness was well-known. Merely, each had at least a dozen or so branches in just this city alone.
However, the current Gu Zuo wasn’t the same as before, who listened without asking for details. After thinking about something, he inquired further: “What kind of people are backing these places?”
They definitely had backers.
Ao Ying had long prepared for things of this respect. He answered without batting an eye: “Treasure Source Pavilion is a property of Ten Ultimates Sect. Behind Medicine Heart Pavilion is the existence of a gold-ranked organization’s disciple. Dosage Hall is a property of another silver-ranked organization’s disciple. The others&#k2026;”
In short, these couple of famous stores were backed by large organizations.
When thinking about this, it made sense. Shijue City was Ten Ultimates Sect’s main city. Which ordinary forces would have faces this big? Organizations would need to be at least on equal footing with Ten Ultimates Sect to open more than ten store fronts in its main city.
Gu Zuo understood in a flash: “In that case, let’s go to Medicine Heart Pavilion.”
He wanted to know what kind of shop someone from a gold-ranked organization would open.
On the street that Gu Zuo was walking on, there happened to be a branch of Medicine Heart Pavilion.
Gu Zuo came to the entrance, and lifted his eyes to see the three large characters written by some unknown person. Between the various brush strokes, there were stern and austere qi emissions — The calligrapher ought to have been a martial artist?
He didn’t reflect on this too much. Instead, he walked straight inside.
The composition within Medicine Heart Pavilion was normal. It was a lot like other medicinal ingredient stores where numerous transparent lattices leaned against the four walls. It was just that medicinal ingredient stores would have herbs placed within their lattices, but in Medicine Heart Pavilion, one type of medicinal pill was placed within each of these frames. On the labels in front of the frames were written the names of these pills. The handwriting was either shining or dull. This showed whether the pills within the designated frame were in stock or not.
In the rear of the store was an enormous sales counter, and standing behind the counter was a woman with a beautiful and alluring appearance. She looked graceful and charming, and possessed a mature and lovely appeal.
This woman’s qi emissions were indistinct, which prevented people from seeing the strength of her realm. It could only be vaguely seen that she was a martial artist. Anything more than that would require careful prying. However, if one didn’t want to cause trouble, nobody would forcefully scope out the other party in the store.
Standing respectfully on both sides of the charming woman were some men and women who wore uniformed white robes. It seemed that they were trained rigorously. Whenever a customer came inside and asked questions, these customers could receive precise answers.
This was just a branch store, but the layout was in good taste, and all of the arrangements were clear and orderly.
Gu Zuo inwardly nodded his head.
It looked like the Central Continent also knew about the importance of service attitude… Indeed, there wasn’t a shortage of managerial talents anywhere one went. Even though he had knowledge of another world, he wasn’t necessarily ahead of the people here.
However, the service attitudes weren’t the important point that Gu Zuo wanted to consider. It was only because he followed Gongyi Tianheng, and saw that his big brother had many properties to manage. Thus, he had a better sense of these things.
Right now, Gu Zuo mainly wanted to know the variety and quantity of the medicinal pills this place provided. He couldn’t necessarily rely on himself to refine some pills, and he wanted to know if he could obtain them here for the right price.
As a result, Gu Zuo started looking around from the first wall.
While browsing, he couldn’t help praising the system. In this branch of Medicine Heart Pavilion, even though close to a thousand types of medicinal pills were extravagantly displayed, he recognized all of them. Moreover, their pill prescriptions appeared in his item books.
At this time, Gu Zuo furthered his understanding of just how massive the wealth he possessed was!
After looking around for one round, Gu Zuo knew the ins and outs of the matter.
He didn’t go directly to the sales counter to communicate with the charming woman. Rather, he went straight to an attendant on the periphery. He asked in a low voice: “Does this place accept medicinal pills?”
This attendant had good manners: “What might be the rank of this honorable pharmacist and the types and product grades of the supplied medicinal pills? This small store shall appraise them. Our house offers sincere treatment to all and fair trade to the old and young alike. This pharmacist needn’t worry.”
Gu Zuo nodded: “I have golden-level pills, but the product grades vary. Why don’t you take a look at what I have and quote a price? As for my rank… I’m considered a golden-level pharmacist.”
In this place, one would meet many pharmacists who weren’t willing to divulge their identities, let alone their ranks. Usually, those who weren’t willing to talk either wouldn’t necessarily form long-term transactions, or they still had some doubts in their hearts. As such, if it was the former, it would be a bond of good karma. And if it was the latter, the attendant would do their best to develop a long-term medicine supplier.
This attendant made some calculations, and soon knew the score.
Hence, the attendant replied with a respectful bearing: “In our Medicine Heart Pavilion, we only accept medicinal pills of grade six and above. We use spirit crystals to settle accounts. If it’s a commonly-seen pill, we’ll purchase it at ninety percent of the market value. If it’s rarely seen and has special benefits, the price can be negotiated in private.” He paused, “Which category of medicinal pill does this pharmacist wish to offer?”
Gu Zuo glanced at Ao Ying.
Ao Ying slightly nodded his head.
Gu Zuo realized that these kinds of prices were the same as the purchasing prices that Medicine Heart Pavilion normally put out. Since the other party was sincere, Gu Zuo didn’t keep the attendant in suspense: “The medicinal pills I’ve produced are somewhat unorthodox.”
The attendant revealed a smiling expression: “This pharmacist presumably understands that our Medicine Heart Pavilion is…” His finger pointed upwards, “…the property of a powerhouse. Since it’s backed by such a large organization, naturally the requirements for the subordinates aren’t low.”
To put it simply, even these attendants were experienced and knowledgable. They weren’t just country bumpkins.
These words contained the impression of a bit of pride.
However, Gu Zuo didn’t feel that this pride was abnormal. In any case, they were connected to a gold-ranked organization. For such a person to not look down on others already meant that this attendant had been trained well.
Thus, he directly said: “The first type is the Innate Mending Pill.”
After hearing Gu Zuo’s words, the corner of the attendant’s mouth twitched. His smile also stiffened on his face.
Just now, he had boasted…
The attendant observed the proper etiquettes somewhat rigidly: “Such a medicinal pill should be discussed between the shopkeeper and this pharmacist… Would this pharmacist please wait a moment. This lowly one will fetch the shopkeeper.”
After he finished speaking, the attendant swiftly turned around, walked to the sales counter, and quietly spoke a few words to the manager on the side whose attire was even more tasteful and of a higher quality.
That manager listened, and glanced at Gu Zuo on this side. After that, the manager gestured at the charming woman, and walked over to Gu Zuo in quick steps: “I have troubled this customer for the long wait. I am this small store’s shopkeeper. This pharmacist may call me Shopkeeper Fang.”
Gu Zuo saw how cordial he was being, and relaxed the taut muscles in his cheeks, which had been due to a bit of nerves: “Shopkeeper Fang, this Gu has come here because of a surplus of medicinal pills. Would you be interested?”
When Shopkeeper Fang heard Gu Zuo talk like this, he lowered his tone of voice: “I hear that it’s Innate Mending Pills?”
Gu Zuo asked: “Shopkeeper Fang has heard of it?”
Shopkeeper Fang’s eyes flashed with appreciation, and nodded slightly: “If it’s this kind of pill, and at rank six or above, then it’s exceedingly welcome. If Pharmacist Gu doesn’t mind, why don’t we go to a side room to discuss things?”
Gu Zuo imitated his big brother’s raised eyebrow: “Sure. Why not?”
Shopkeeper Fang became even more solicitous: “Please — Pharmacist Gu, please come this way.”
Gu Zuo didn’t hesitate, and he beckoned Ao Ying. With one in the front and the other in the back, the two followed Shopkeeper Fang as they rounded corners.
Soon, they came to a quiet and small reception hall.
This place had some martial artists on guard. There were also some things hidden from view. It was rather covert.
The customers who normally came here wouldn’t have found this place easily.
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
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