Chapter 6

The negotiations for the collaboration went smoothly. For the first month, Liu Wuxie would refine the pills himself, and he would go to the Xu family to collect them every five days.

The profits would be split fifty-fifty. After one month, he would hand over the refining method to the Pill Treasure Pavilion, and the profit split would then be thirty-seventy, with the Pill Treasure Pavilion taking seventy percent and Liu Wuxie taking thirty percent. The contract would last for three years, after which the ownership of the Heavenly Spirit Pill would belong to the Pill Treasure Pavilion.

"These are the herbs I need. Once you have gathered them, send them to me. The gold coins required, you can advance first, and they will be deducted from the profits."

He took out a list he had written in advance and placed it on the table. Lei Tao picked it up, his brows slightly furrowed.

After the negotiations, his attitude toward Liu Wuxie had greatly changed. He now suspected that the rumors outside were not true. The aura of a superior, which could not be faked, only appeared on those who held life and death in their hands.

"These spiritual herbs, our Pill Treasure Pavilion can gather, except for the Nine Yang Fruit and the Red Spirit Grass, which need to be transported from the imperial city. It will take at least five days."

Lei Tao put down the list, his tone somewhat displeased.

"I'll come back in five days." These two herbs were the main ingredients for refining the Pulse Continuation Pill, and there could be no mistake. His goal had been achieved, so he stood up and walked out.

Both of them stood up, especially Master Huo, whose attitude had completely changed. He followed respectfully behind, as his life was still in Liu Wuxie's hands, and he had to be cautious.

"Master Huo, are you sure the pill formula is genuine? If this collaboration fails, it will have a huge impact on our Pill Treasure Pavilion. The Pavilion Master will surely blame us when he returns."

Throughout the negotiations, Lei Tao had not participated. Many matters of the Pill Treasure Pavilion were handled by Master Huo, while he was only responsible for sales.

"I have deduced it over a dozen times. The pill formula is most likely genuine. Once it is released, the status of our Pill Treasure Pavilion in the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty will be greatly enhanced. Go and see him off, and if he has any other requests, meet them. We will know the truth in five days."

With the last sentence, a hint of ruthlessness appeared in Master Huo's eyes. If Liu Wuxie did not produce the Heavenly Spirit Pill in five days, he would personally go to the Xu family and eliminate him.

Stepping out of the inner hall, only half an hour had passed. The main hall was crowded, and the broken counter had already been replaced. The young servants in green uniforms, who had been beaten, glared at Liu Wuxie with hatred.

"Boy, you actually came out alive. Die!"

The man in purple suddenly launched an attack. The moment Liu Wuxie appeared, he slashed down with a ruler.

The sound of the ruler breaking the air caught everyone off guard. No one expected Liu Wuxie to come out of the inner hall unscathed, which defied logic.

"Deacon Lei, is this how you treat guests?"

Liu Wuxie did not counterattack. His divine sense moved, and Lei Tao, who had been hiding behind the curtain, wanted to test Liu Wuxie's true abilities. Now that the situation had reached this point, he could not hide any longer, as they still had a collaboration.

"Zhou Tong, stop!"

He strode into the main hall and shouted coldly, interrupting Zhou Tong. The ruler in Zhou Tong's hand paused in mid-air, and the innate aura Lei Tao released almost knocked him over.

The powerful aura pushed Zhou Tong back, his hair disheveled and his face twisted. He did not understand why Lei Tao was stopping him from killing Liu Wuxie.

"Deacon Lei, I have one more condition. I don't want to see this person in the Pill Treasure Pavilion again. If you can't do that, the collaboration—ends!"

Liu Wuxie said this and walked out, the crowd automatically making way for him.

He left, leaving a back view and countless questions, disappearing from everyone's sight.

"Zhou Tong, pack your things and leave the Pill Treasure Pavilion. I will pay you three months' salary, and from now on, you have no connection with the Pill Treasure Pavilion."

Lei Tao said this with a blank expression, shocking everyone present. What was going on? To expel Zhou Tong for the sake of the Xu family's insignificant son-in-law, what had happened between them?

"No..."

Zhou Tong roared to the sky, sitting on the ground. The salary from the Pill Treasure Pavilion was very generous, and he had lived a prosperous life as a minor leader there. Without the Pill Treasure Pavilion, he was nothing, and this cut off his future.

"It's all because of this waste. I will kill him!" Zhou Tong stood up, his eyes bloodshot, not even taking his salary, and left the Pill Treasure Pavilion.

Lei Tao did not stop him, letting him go: "Gather all the herbs needed and send them to the Xu family." He took out the list Liu Wuxie had left and instructed the herb supervisor to prepare them quickly.

"Yes!"

The herb supervisor, sensing something was wrong, quickly took the list and started gathering the herbs. As for Zhou Tong's angry shouts, they were already ignored. Everyone was curious about what Liu Wuxie had done to change the Pill Treasure Pavilion's attitude so much.

Leaving the Pill Treasure Pavilion, Liu Wuxie did not return directly to the Xu family but headed toward West Street.

The few friends who had invited him last night lived there. He needed to investigate who wanted to kill him.

Just as he turned the corner, two Xu family servants happened to pass by and saw Liu Wuxie heading toward West Street.

"Quickly go back and inform the master that the waste is looking for his friends again."

Secretly, the Xu family servants called Liu Wuxie a waste, which was no longer a secret.

After passing through two alleys, a courtyard appeared. Normally, Liu Wuxie liked to come here to find his three friends to go out and have fun.

The three of them must have known about what happened last night.

He pushed open the courtyard gate, and inside, it was empty. He quickly entered the house, and all the soft furnishings were gone. They had left Canglan City overnight.

His gaze swept the hall and suddenly stopped at the corner, where a small, unremarkable sachet, about the size of a baby's palm, was discarded.

He picked it up and smelled it. Based on his understanding of his three friends, they never wore such sachets. Who had left it?

"Delusion Powder!"

His eyes narrowed. The sachet emitted the smell of Delusion Powder. Inhaling it could cause mental confusion and make people do irrational things.

"Indeed, last night someone bribed the three of them to lure me to the brothel and secretly kill me, making it look like the brothel collapsed and I was crushed to death."

He put away the sachet. Delusion Powder was very difficult to refine, and no one in Canglan City could do it. Who wanted to kill him?

Without any other clues, he turned and left the house, quickly returning to the Xu family. Many servants were gathered outside the main hall, craning their necks to look inside. What had happened?

Xu Yilin's brows were furrowed, and several baskets of weapons were laid out in front of him. The Xu family's weapons were very famous in Canglan City, in high demand, and the main source of family income came from the weapon shop.

The Xu family had five weapon shops, producing thousands of weapons daily, yet still could not meet the needs of the martial artists in Canglan City.

Xu Yilin's mother-in-law, Yang Zi, was also there, and Xu Lingxue's brows were slightly furrowed as she sat quietly, like a pure white lotus, her face showing a hint of worry.

"We heard that our Xu family's weapon masters have all been poached by the Tian family, taking our unique weapon refinement techniques with them. This is a huge blow to our Xu family."

Outside the main hall, whispers could be heard. Liu Wuxie passed through the crowd, hearing their discussions clearly.

The four major families of Canglan City, the Xu family, were known for their weapon refinement, controlling about seventy percent of the market, with the remaining thirty percent controlled by the Tian family.

Their weapon refinement techniques were far inferior to the Xu family. In his youth, Xu Yilin had risen to prominence through his weapon refinement skills, known for his excellent weapons in Canglan City.

In recent years, the Tian family had hired a weapon master from somewhere, gradually surpassing the Xu family's weapon refinement techniques. The Xu family's weapons were always more affordable, and despite the Tian family's improvement in weapon refinement, they still dominated the market.

The two families were in constant competition. The Xu family was more conservative and did not provoke, but the Tian family was aggressive and had already poached several of the Xu family's weapon masters.

These masters were personally trained by Xu Yilin, like master and apprentice, yet they betrayed the Xu family!

The weapons scattered on the ground were very crude. Xu Yilin picked up a long sword and lightly flicked it with his right index finger, and a notch appeared on the blade, clearly substandard.

He put down the weapon and glanced outside, his gaze landing on Liu Wuxie. He had to force himself to walk in, and everyone's faces showed a look of schadenfreude.

"You went to West Street again."

Xu Yilin's face darkened. He had not yet settled accounts for what happened yesterday, and now Liu Wuxie was back in West Street, which made him furious. The family's affairs were already in a critical state, yet he still had the nerve to go out and fool around.

"You, waste, still have the nerve to come back. If it weren't for you, how would our Xu family's reputation have plummeted so much?"

Yang Zi stepped forward, pointing at Liu Wuxie, and blamed him for everything.

The high-ranking executives of the Xu family in the main hall covered their mouths and laughed, showing a look of contempt. This waste had ruined the Xu family's reputation.

"Mother, let's deal with the weapon issue first."

Xu Lingxue stood up, interrupting their conversation. No matter how bad Liu Wuxie was, he was her nominal husband, and mocking him was like mocking her.

She glared at Liu Wuxie and ignored him, showing her disapproval. He had no choice but to step aside and watch quietly.

"Deacon Lan, how many of these defective items have been sold?"

Xu Yilin's brows furrowed deeper as he asked Deacon Lan, who was responsible for weapon sales and all the accounts.

"About five hundred. After we discovered them, we immediately cut off the supply. These are the defective items we have recovered, and not many are left on the market."

Deacon Lan answered truthfully. Fortunately, they were discovered in time and did not flood the market in large quantities.

Liu Wuxie picked up a long sword and lightly flicked it, producing a muffled sound. The material was of high quality, but its potential was not fully realized due to the crude refinement technique. His mind quickly analyzed the situation.

"Son-in-law, someone claiming to be from the Pill Treasure Pavilion has delivered a large package of herbs. Go and collect it."

The steward walked in, and the herbs from the Pill Treasure Pavilion had arrived. He greeted his father-in-law and left the main hall.

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