As soon as this price was relayed to Ye Qingxuan, he knew something was wrong. He couldn’t help but curse Zhu Yishan under his breath:
“That old fox has definitely sensed something.”
If this were a normal back-and-forth negotiation, Zhu Yishan would never have offered this price. So he must be testing the waters.
At this point, Ye Qingxuan knew he couldn’t back down too much, but he also couldn’t refuse to budge at all.
If he gave in too much, Zhu Yishan might just bolt immediately.
But he couldn’t hold his ground completely either, since he had given in too easily earlier.
After all, this time, he had already been somewhat in the wrong for not agreeing to the Zhu Merchant House’s condition that the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula wouldn’t be resold within Xingzhou.
If he didn’t yield and instead came across as too aggressive, it would also arouse Zhu Yishan’s suspicions.
The main issue was that Tianfu Shop had a very shallow foundation. Outside of the Xuantian Sect, it had almost no power base to speak of—only the few strongholds Zhu Dafu had established in Xingzhou over the years.
Otherwise, Ye Qingxuan wouldn’t be so passive relying solely on Zhu Chuixiang to set a trap near Liguang Prefecture in Xingzhou. The problem was, he had very few targets to choose from.
After some careful thought, Ye Qingxuan made a direct decision: the final price for the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula would be 16 million high-grade spirit stones. If they didn’t agree, then so be it.
Whether it worked out or not would be up to fate. But even if it failed, it wouldn’t affect Ye Qingxuan much.
So once he made the final decision, he completely relaxed, leisurely sipping his tea as he waited for the outcome.
On the other side.
After quoting a price of 6 million high-grade spirit stones, Zhu Yishan had been waiting for Tianfu Shop’s reply, a thoughtful look constantly flickering in his eyes.
When something out of the ordinary happens, there’s bound to be a catch. Sometimes, when things go too smoothly, it might not be because you’ve received heaven’s help—it might be because someone has set a trap and is leading you by the nose.
If Tianfu Shop had directly agreed to his offered price this time, or if they had given in too much, he was prepared to abandon the deal altogether.
But contrary to Zhu Yishan’s expectations.
When word came back that Tianfu Shop’s final price was 16 million high-grade spirit stones, and they directly stated that if he didn’t agree to this price, then forget it—
Zhu Yishan began to doubt his own judgment:
“Could I have been wrong to worry?”
But unease still gnawed at Zhu Yishan’s heart. If he really got tricked, his losses would be enormous.
Feeling uneasy, Zhu Yishan pestered Tianfu Shop again, pretending to try and haggle the price down to see how they would react.
But this time, without any other leverage or conditions to use, Tianfu Shop didn’t agree.
They directly stated that this was the bottom line—if it wasn’t acceptable, there was no need to contact them further. They acted very casually.
Just as Zhu Yishan was hesitating.
The Zhu family’s ancestor and Zhao Yuanji suddenly came to his room together, asking about the progress of the deal and urging Zhu Yishan to finalize it quickly.
Because they had received news that other factions had already started contacting Tianfu Shop.
Seeing his own ancestor appear, Zhu Yishan reported the current status.
But after speaking, he hesitated for a moment before bringing up the unusual things he had noticed during the negotiation, voicing his suspicion that refining the Nuclear Explosion Pill might not be as easy as everyone thought.
However, the issue Zhu Yishan raised was directly refuted by Zhao Yuanji:
“Don’t be so paranoid. If the Nuclear Explosion Pill were really that hard to refine, Tianfu Shop wouldn’t be able to mass-produce it.”
Tianfu Shop’s daily sales volume was the most effective proof.
One person alone couldn’t possibly refine that many Nuclear Explosion Pills every day. So the number of people at Tianfu Shop refining these pills was definitely not small.
Since Tianfu Shop had quite a few people who could refine the Nuclear Explosion Pill, that meant the refining method wasn’t difficult.
Therefore, Zhao Yuanji was very confident in his judgment.
This is the danger of habitual thinking. Zhao Yuanji probably never dreamed that something like a Nuclear Explosion Pill production line could even exist.
Hearing Zhao Yuanji’s words, the Zhu family’s ancestor, who had already begun to waver, made a decisive statement:
“We’ll buy it for 16 million high-grade spirit stones. If a newly risen shop like Tianfu Shop can do it, there’s no way our Zhu Merchant House can’t.”
In the Zhu family ancestor’s view, Zhao Yuanji was a true disciple of the Xuantian Sect. Why would he go out of his way to come to the Zhu Merchant House just to trick them?
After all, according to the contract they had signed, all costs and profits from the Nuclear Explosion Pill were to be split 50/50.
So Zhu Fatian still trusted Zhao Yuanji quite a bit. It wasn’t as if Zhao Yuanji would screw over himself, right?
Seeing that Zhu Fatian had made a decision, Zhu Yishan gritted his teeth and finally agreed to Tianfu Shop’s price.
Ye Qingxuan, who had been waiting in the stone pavilion at the entrance of the blessed land for the outcome, received the final news and chuckled softly:
“That old fox finally took the bait.”
Once both parties reached an agreement, representatives from Tianfu Shop and the Zhu Merchant House signed a contract under the witness of the Xuantian Sect’s External Affairs Hall.
The Zhu Merchant House ultimately purchased the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula for 16 million high-grade spirit stones and agreed to the conditions proposed by Tianfu Shop.
Disciples of the Xuantian Sect who signed contracts at the External Affairs Hall were required to pay 1% of the contract’s value in contribution points or spirit stones.
The contract itself wasn’t just an ordinary piece of paper. It was a special immortal artifact of the Xuantian Sect. Once signed, breaking it would incur backlash from the artifact.
Moreover, after signing, the contract would be protected by the Xuantian Sect.
If anyone dared to break it, even if they managed to avoid the artifact’s backlash, the other party could directly report it to the Xuantian Sect, and the sect would handle the matter.
So generally speaking, no one dared to break a contract established within the Xuantian Sect.
As for the Zhu Merchant House, which had been pestering him for so long, Ye Qingxuan abandoned some of his original plans and directly asked them to pay for the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula with high-grade spirit stones.
After the Zhu Merchant House’s people handed over the spirit stones to Tianfu Shop and received the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula, they immediately rushed back to the Zhu Merchant House without wasting any time.
The moment the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula was brought back to the Zhu Merchant House,
Zhao Yuanji and Zhu Fatian eagerly immersed their spiritual consciousness into the jade slip containing the formula and began examining its contents.
Meanwhile, poor Zhu Yishan could only stand by anxiously, unable to do anything but watch.
After both Zhao Yuanji and Zhu Fatian finished reading the contents of the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula, they were both stunned. Zhao Yuanji was the first to blurt out:
“What the hell kind of pill is this?”
Which family’s pill required the combined techniques of alchemy, artifact crafting, talismans, and formations?
Seeing Zhao Yuanji so out of character, Zhu Yishan’s heart sank. He thought to himself:
“Don’t tell me… there really is a trap?”
With a sense of unease, Zhu Yishan turned his gaze to his own ancestor, Zhu Fatian.
Although Zhu Fatian didn’t say anything, his face had already turned extremely grim. He glared fiercely at Zhao Yuanji and said through clenched teeth:
“Fellow Daoist Zhao, is this what you call ‘easy to refine’?”
If Zhao Yuanji weren’t a true disciple of the Xuantian Sect with a Nascent Soul stage cultivation, Zhu Fatian would have already lost his temper.
Easy to refine, his foot! Where was he supposed to find a prodigy mastering the four arts of alchemy, artifact crafting, talismans, and formations?
