Under the tide of free publicity, Yang Hao’s Spring Medicine Shop was almost flooded with customers, its threshold nearly worn out. Every day, thousands upon thousands of people rushed in to buy the miraculous medicine.
Now, Yang Hao’s biggest headache was insufficient production capacity. He had already been working extremely hard to produce the pills. All ten high-quality steel furnaces he had prepared in the morning were in full operation. With each of his ten fingers acting like an energy emitter, he simultaneously infused true energy into ten pill furnaces. Even so, he could only produce about a thousand pills a day, which was far from meeting market demands.
To secure Yang Hao’s limited supply of miraculous medicine, the citizens of the capital had nearly gone mad. Countless people camped outside his shop overnight, and fights often broke out every evening over prime spots in the queue. Yang Hao’s spring medicine was even being illegally sold on the black market at an astonishing price of two hundred coins per pill—four times the original price—getting close to the price of the “Ten-Thousand-Desires” medicine.
Meanwhile, “Ten-Thousand-Desires” was suffering a sharp decline in business. Although they still controlled the spring medicine supply in the Ling Fei Star Sea, they had practically lost the civilian market. Most commoners now trusted only Yang Hao’s miraculous medicine to save them.
That day, Yang Hao prepared to open the shop as usual. Based on past experience, the thousand pills he had painstakingly made the night before would be snatched up in no time after opening.
“Little brother, you should really consider expanding your business,” Zhuge Jian said, since business was so good that he had even moved into the Spring Medicine Shop to help. Naturally, every time a new batch of pills came out, he would always sneak a few for himself—abusing his position for personal gain.
Yang Hao looked at the surging crowd outside the store, still shaken by the recent frenzied scenes. “I’ll start hiring workers in a few days. But the problem is that making pills requires someone who can manipulate primal energy. Where on earth am I going to find so many energy-wielders to work for me as laborers?”
“That’s true,” Zhuge Jian frowned as well. Primal energy techniques were fundamental skills only taught in the Imperial Army or schools, and common civilians were generally not qualified to learn them. And those who did learn in school usually joined the military. Who would ever think of working at a spring medicine shop?
“Let’s just get through today first,” Yang Hao shook his head. Outside, the crowd was growing denser. It looked like they were about to set a new record for the number of customers.
Just as he was about to open the door, however, the surging crowd suddenly scattered as if blown apart by a strong wind. More and more people in the line were mysteriously thrown aside.
“Somebody’s come looking for trouble,” Hun Yuan Zi said lazily.
Yang Hao had already noticed it too. On the edge of the crowd, about seven or eight burly men had formed a circle and were brazenly pushing their way toward the store entrance. These men were ruthless—anyone who came even slightly close to them was immediately thrown far away, crashing into the ground dozens of meters back.
Though the medicine buyers were wild with desire, they were still city folks who knew how to read the atmosphere. Seeing this situation, they immediately realized these men were here to cause trouble. In an instant, the previously packed area emptied out, leaving the Spring Medicine Shop’s entrance unusually quiet.
Seeing the group approaching with ill intentions, Yang Hao inhaled sharply. After weighing his options, he decided to open the door himself and walk out. It had been hard enough to build this shop, and if the troublemakers really ended up destroying it, that would be a huge loss.
As Yang Hao stepped outside, the troublemakers had already taken their positions. From the circle formed by those muscular men, a person slowly emerged. He was young, looked refined, and was dressed in classical Western-style suit.
“It’s you?” Yang Hao actually recognized this person. The man in the suit was the merchant who had been secretly watching at the ambassador’s house that day—the same one who had transported the spring medicine to Rayman Star and founded “Ten-Thousand-Desires.”
“You know me?” The merchant had originally intended to intimidate Yang Hao, but was surprised to be recognized, showing visible shock.
“No, no, I don’t,” Yang Hao quickly denied, fearing that if it got out that he had once spied on him, it might bring trouble upon himself.
“Well then, now you do,” the merchant sneered. “My name is Li Bo, owner of ‘Ten-Thousand-Desires.'”
“Oh,” Yang Hao nodded foolishly.
“Apprentice, you need to look more like a fierce demon so people will fear you,” Hun Yuan Zi began offering advice again.
Ignoring him, Yang Hao maintained his usual friendly attitude. “Mr. Li, what can I do for you?”
“I recently heard about a miraculous medicine in the capital. It must be your doing,” Li Bo said, a true merchant indeed. Despite his inner hatred, he kept a calm expression, revealing nothing of his true intentions.
In the Galactic Empire, merchants were a formidable force. These merchants were what people used to call traders, but in the age of space travel, true merchants commanded massive fleets, traveling across various star systems. Their scale was even greater.
Before the Galactic Empire had unified so many star systems, merchants had served as the Empire’s vanguard, traveling between hostile star systems, conducting trade while secretly gathering intelligence and technology. These merchants had made an indelible contribution to the Empire’s final unification. At the same time, the Merchant Union had amassed tremendous power, making even the Empire’s nobles reluctant to underestimate them.
Li Bo before Yang Hao was an outstanding representative of the new generation of merchants in the Galactic Empire. He carried the Merchant Union’s new strategic agenda, and the establishment of the “Ten-Thousand-Desires” pharmacy chain also had strong political backing.
But how could Yang Hao know that Li Bo’s influence reached all the way to the heart of the Empire? Seeing Li Bo calmly asking questions, Yang Hao naively replied, “Yes, that’s right. The so-called miraculous medicine everyone is talking about is indeed the one I sell here.”
Li Bo adjusted his glasses, still composed. “I want to buy some.”
“Buy medicine?” Yang Hao was surprised. After all, wasn’t this man the owner of “Ten-Thousand-Desires”? Why would he come to a competitor to buy medicine?
“Will you sell? Name your price,” Li Bo, realizing Yang Hao was just an inexperienced nobody, began to show impatience.
“Fifty Imperial Coins per pill, maximum two per person.” Yang Hao held out his hand. “Pay up.”
Suddenly, a chilling gleam appeared in Li Bo’s eyes. Looking at Yang Hao’s outstretched palm, he slowly raised the corner of his mouth. “I’m not here to buy medicine.”
“You just said you wanted to buy it!” Yang Hao felt uneasy under Li Bo’s strange expression. “Come on, I still have business to do. Don’t mess around.”
“I’m not buying medicine,” Li Bo said, “but I’m buying your shop. Name your price—100,000? 200,000? 500,000?”
Yang Hao was taken aback. Sure enough, the man before him was no small fry. He had the audacity to try and buy out Yang Hao’s spring medicine shop outright. Of course, Li Bo had a good reason—he knew that Yang Hao’s shop was now the only real competitor to “Ten-Thousand-Desires.” If he could acquire it, he would monopolize the entire aphrodisiac market on Rayman Star.
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