After a round of friendly negotiations, the Eternal Sect and Alchemy Hall reached an agreement where the dispatched alchemical talent would receive base wages with additional pay based on workload.
Simply put.
They’d receive a fixed monthly salary, with piece-rate calculations based on work volume.
This was actually similar to the fixed salary Jun Changxiao offered, just with an additional calculation method.
Bai Chaoyang agreed?
Facing the King of Haggling, unable to out-negotiate him, he could only retreat step by step.
And he had come prepared! Yet Young Master Yuan had been completely uninformed from start to finish, responding entirely on the fly.
“Hall Master Bai.”
Jun Changxiao said, “As long as both our sides cooperate sincerely, I, Jun, will absolutely not shortchange you on profits!”
He was currently desperate for money, so he was rather stingy. But later when he made it big, left hand Nokia, right hand Motorola, he’d definitely share profits with partners.
“Sigh.”
Bai Chaoyang sighed inwardly.
All eight chief alchemists had joined the Eternal Sect, and alchemists of various grades had already taken their positions. At this point, he could only pray that this capitalist had some conscience as he went all in.
“Sect Master Jun, the Alchemy Hall still has matters to handle. This Bai will take his leave first.”
“Stay for a meal before leaving.”
Hall Master Bai had no appetite for food. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he departed to return to Matchless City. He had arrived in grand fashion, but left with a desolate silhouette.
Dragon Ridge Peak.
Young Master Yuan stood proudly, robes and hair dancing in the wind.
Behind him, Su Xiaomo and Xiao Zuiji wielded fans, vigorously fanning to provide this Vice Sect Master with maximum swagger.
“Hall Master Bai.”
Watching the aged figure gradually depart, Young Master Yuan thought to himself, “You’re also a worthy opponent. I hope we’ll have the opportunity to compete again in the future.”
…
After the negotiations concluded, Jun Changxiao didn’t idle either, pouring all his energy and funds into the branch stores, spending money like water.
No choice.
Renting commercial spaces required money, renovations required money too.
In just one month, the Eternal Sect’s pill shop had spent over two years’ worth of accumulated profits, all thrown in by Dog Leftover.
Fortunately, Young Master Yuan and Bai Chaoyang had negotiated in advance that wages would be deferred for the first three months after the branch stores opened. Otherwise, with the sect’s current resources, they absolutely couldn’t support one hundred branch stores simultaneously.
One day.
Jun Changxiao summoned all the disciples and declared loudly, “From today forward, everyone must tighten your belts!”
“Yes!”
…
In the cafeteria.
Su Xiaomo held a bowl of boiled cabbage with not even a drop of oil, and collapsed. “Girl, at least add some meat! Otherwise this senior brother won’t get enough nutrition!”
“The Sect Master said to economize on meals too.” Liu Wanshi said.
“…”
Though Su Xiaomo felt depressed, he still ate it clean, because no matter how simple and plain the ingredients, in the hands of a gold-medal Food God, they could be transformed into delicacies.
The sect’s economizing trend wasn’t limited to the cafeteria but extended to other areas as well. One could say they were truly tightening their belts in every sense.
“Piggy.”
Standing on a mountain peak, Jun Changxiao gazed down at the area wreathed in swirling mist. “You’ve worked hard this time.”
The Eternal Pill Shop was the sect’s current main profit center, and all of this stemmed from Piggy’s hard work in cultivation. So in terms of contributions, it was the greatest!
Dog Leftover remembered. Dog Leftover hadn’t forgotten.
That’s why he had specifically come to visit and offer condolences.
Piggy puffed out its chest. “For Master, for the sect—it’s not hard work!”
“What level are you at now?”
“Uh… barely comparable to a mid-grade Breaking Sky Realm cultivator.”
“That fast?”
Jun Changxiao’s eyes widened immediately.
After Little Longlong entered its third form, it had only just reached upper-grade Breaking Sky Realm. Piggy only had Sacred Beast bloodline, which was worlds apart from Dragon Clan Emperor bloodline, yet it had actually broken through to mid-grade Breaking Sky Realm!
Piggy said, “If not for Master’s Nurturing Soil, I wouldn’t have advanced so quickly.”
From the Lower Realm onward, it had always been responsible for cultivation and construction, belonging to that type of laborer that made one’s heart ache. But the hard work had also yielded tremendous returns—its strength had improved very rapidly, and it had now become the strongest contracted beast aside from Little Longlong.
Jun Changxiao said, “Your current achievements were earned through effort. No one could help you—I couldn’t either.”
True, strength improvements were related to the Nurturing Soil, but Dog Leftover had merely provided it with a platform. Whether it could ultimately become strong still depended on its own willpower.
Little Longlong had noble Dragon Clan bloodline—it could grow stronger even while sleeping. Though Piggy had Earth-Devouring Sacred Beast bloodline, it was quite ordinary in the Upper Realm, so the two could be said to represent nobility and commoners.
Nobles born noble?
Commoners born lowly?
No!
As long as one worked hard, as long as one had willpower.
Even if one’s starting point was lower than others, one could still surpass them later.
Piggy, who cultivated day and night without rest, constantly eating soil every moment, ultimately possessing strength comparable to mid-grade Breaking Sky Realm, was the best proof—it was the励志 number one!
Readers: “I’m so poor I eat dirt every day, so why haven’t I gotten stronger?”
“Do you still remember the promise between us?”
“I remember!”
It was precisely the power of that promise that constantly spurred Piggy to work harder and continuously improve, achieving today’s accomplishments.
“The Upper Realm is vast and dangerous.”
Jun Changxiao said, “I hope you’ll continue to work hard in the future and face storms together with me.”
“I won’t disappoint Master. I will definitely work even harder!”
The blood in Piggy’s body was ignited once again.
Jun Changxiao’s face showed a gratified expression, then he pointed toward a distant area. “Then hurry and go cultivate that wasteland.”
The System roared, “After saying all that, you’re still making it do hard labor! You use this routine on your own contracted beast so masterfully!”
“What do you know!”
Jun Changxiao said, “I’m motivating it!”
“Ptui!”
…
After that conversation with its master, Piggy received tremendous encouragement and once again entered frenzied wasteland cultivation mode. Piece by piece, the land was improved and made suitable for planting medicinal materials.
Sun Bukong and the others seized the time to sow seeds, making every effort to provide alchemical materials for the soon-to-open pill shops.
“Sect Master.”
Li Luoqiu said, “The Starcloud City branch store has completed renovations, and alchemists from the Alchemy Hall have already taken their positions.”
“What about progress in other cities?”
“Probably just a few more days—everything should be completely ready.”
Jun Changxiao flipped through the almanac. “Half a month from now is an auspicious day, suitable for openings. Send word for all branch stores to prepare.”
“Yes!”
Li Luoqiu hurriedly transmitted the news to various cities. Branch stores that had completed renovations ahead of schedule began preparing their grand opening ceremonies, while the alchemists had already started refining various pills.
Heavenly treasure-grade medicinal materials were limited, so each branch store could only receive a small portion. For now, they could only temporarily focus on refining ordinary pills first.
At the same time.
Large numbers of Drizzle Hall members successively left the sect, establishing sound transmission networks at designated points along the routes.
…
Half a month later.
Firecrackers exploded in unison across major cities, with gongs and drums resounding!
Plaques engraved with ‘Eternal Pill Shop’ were unveiled on the most prosperous streets.
Initially, people didn’t pay much attention, since commercial shop openings were quite frequent in the cities. But as news began spreading to surrounding cities and everyone realized that this pill shop had branches in many locations, it immediately created quite a stir!
“Incredible, incredible!”
“This Eternal Pill Shop actually has branches in dozens of cities!”
“Looks like they’re making a major entry into the pill industry!”
“I heard the Nourishing Essence Profound Pills sold at this pill shop have over ten times the effectiveness of ordinary pills. Come on, let’s go check it out.”
“Don’t bother—these high-quality pills were already snapped up by major families.”
Before the pill branch stores opened, Jun Changxiao hadn’t done any advertising, but many major families who had purchased pills in Linyu City had already learned the news and started preparing.
…
Drizzle Hall.
Li Shangtian and others sat in a row in the great hall while sound transmission networks at various locations continuously sent information.
“Qingyang City branch store has been open for one hour—profit of 860,000 profound stones.”
“Starcloud City branch store has been open for one hour—profit of 2.4 million profound stones.”
“XX City branch store has been open for one hour—profit of 1.2 million profound stones.”
“…”
Members responsible for receiving messages successively called out real-time revenue figures, with specialists inputting them into formations. Numbers on the light screen projected on the wall changed frantically.
Jun Changxiao sat across from them, fingers interlaced, staring fixedly.
“Sect Master!”
Ding Xingwang exclaimed excitedly, “We’ve broken one hundred million in just one hour!”
Jun Changxiao leaned back tactically against the chair back, then placed his interlaced hands on his legs. “Just as expected.”
—