Sect Leader's Rise to the top!

"A new alchemy store opening?, how rare..."

"Seems sketchy to me, that sign also looks rushed...it's probably a scam", said a random passerby to his companion.

"Heavenly Medicine Pagoda?, haha, what a pretentious name!. I wonder if they have a 10,000-year-old ginseng! haha!".

"hehe, yeah. Also, who in their right mind opens an alchemy store in this neighborhood?. They'll probably go out of business in a few weeks..."

The passerby and his companion laughed as they walked down the street. A few more people walked past the store but only glanced at it before walking past.

"Hmm, are they right about this being a bad location..." Kai thought while watching from his balcony. He had also been able to hear all the comments thanks to his enhanced hearing.

"Maybe I should just sell my goods to a large family. After all, Old Man Song did say that I don't have to follow the Pill Association's rules anymore now that I'm a Master-Alchemist. I technically outrank him so he's happy as long as I don't leave the association...", Kai thought while watching the crowds pass by.

"No...I don't want to be a simple pawn in Huang City's family politics. I'd rather struggle as an independent alchemist!", Kai thought while looking down at the street.

"Old Lao, coaxing a passersby with a sample. Once they know the quality, I'm sure their tones will change..." Kai said to Old Lao through his telepathy skill.

"Understood Master!" Old Lao said with a grin as he grabbed a bottle and confidently walked out of the store.

There was always quite a bit of foot traffic outside of the building since it was nestled on the road leading from the lower markets to Hunter's Lodge. Both merchants and hunters took this route all the time. Old Lao walked out of the store and stood by the entrance. He opened his mouth and spoke in a loud yet controlled tone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, come and witness to the birth of what will one day be Huang City's premier alchemy store, The Heavenly Medicine Pagoda!. All the pills within our store are of High-Grade. If you do not believe my words, then you can check them for yourself!", Old Lao said as he opened one of the pill bottles.

Despite it being outside, the scent of medicine from the bottle wafted out onto the street and captivated those who were close by.

"High-Grade? ha, what nonsense!", said a wrinkled old man with a cane. Behind him was an attendant who was carrying the old man's belongings.

Old Lao turned to the man with a smile and walk up directly to him."Well friend, as I said, if you don't believe me, you can try one for yourself..."

"Who are you calling friend, I'm probably old enough to be your father, young people these days don't resp..." the old man quickly stopped speaking as his eyes bulged open in surprise while taking a whiff of the open pill bottle.

Old Lao looked at the old man with a smile. They were likely the same age. The sides of his still had grey accents, but his skin was a lot smoother than before, making him look like a handsome middle-aged man. This was all thanks to his recent breakthroughs in cultivation.

"Impossible...what type of pill is this?", said the old man as he tried to grab the pill bottle, but old Lao quickly moved it out of his reach and walked back to the crowd and ignored the old man.

"These are healing pills. Any non-fatal injury suffered will immediately be relieved by simply consuming one of these. The pill will also temporarily boost your body's natural healing rate by over 70%. Even existing ailments can be temporarily overcome by taking just one pill", Old Lao said while throwing the old man a single pill.

The old man's attendant quickly caught the pill and looked at it with wonder, but it was quickly snatched out of his hands by the old man who had a look of greed in his eyes. The old man quickly ate the pill to the surprise of the small crowd.

"Is that old man senile? why would he eat a random pill like that...also wasn't he the one who said that it was a scam?..."

The crowd watched the old man with bated breath as he swallowed the pill, wondering if he would just drop dead. However, to their surprise, the old man's eyes opened wide and he began to laugh hysterically.

"hahaha, it works!. In all my years I have never heard of a pill that works this quickly! he said while dropping the cane in his hands to the ground. The old man stood up by himself and stretched his back to the surprise of his attendant.

"Is this the same old man who complains about his back pain every few minutes?", thought the attendant as he watched the old man stretch his body as though his years of back pain had been nothing but a dream.

"Young man, I would like to buy all such pills you currently have, name your price!", Said the old man with excitement in his voice.

"Each pill will be sold at one gold...", Said old Lao casually

"One...one gold each..and not per bottle, but per pill...H...how about a discount if I buy in bulk?...",Said the old man quickly while chasing after Old Lao who was heading back to the store.

"One gold per pill?!, I knew this was a scam!"

"But if one pill can do all that, isn't one gold a steal?"

"Don't believe it, that old man is probably a paid actor!"

"Maybe I'll buy one and try it myself..."

The crowd broke out into a frenzy with some becoming even more skeptical while others had become intrigued enough to try the pill for themselves.

Old Lao ignored the old man who kept insisting on a lower price and walked back into the store. He stood behind the counter and welcomed those from the crowd who wanted to give the pills a try.

The old man pushed the crowds away while hounding old Lao. Mina and Ryu saw this and were about to take action when they felt a sudden pressure from above. The old man also felt the pressure that made him look up in terror. When he did, he saw a massive and monstrous image of Kai standing over him. The image was so realistic and imposing that might as well have been a real hundred feet tall monster standing before the man.

The Old man fell to his knees with foam coming out of his mouth.

"Sir?, are you OK?... Sir!", yelled his attendant while shaking him furiously. The crowds were also affected by the powerful aura and looked up, but they only saw the masked and armored figure of Kai standing quietly on the balcony. Despite it not being as terrifying, it was still quite imposing.

"It seems this store is not ordinary, we best behave ourselves...", said one of the patrons to his companion who quickly nodded his head.

The others overheard this and also quieted down.

Kai deactivated his skill and watched as the old man's attendant quietly dragged him away in fear. He then sent Old Lao a message of approval for not losing his cool while Mina and Ryu both looked on in confusion.

The remnants of the crowd quietly shuffled into the store and bought no more than one pill each before they swiftly left the area in fear. Some were still skeptical about the whole thing, but others we're too curious to pass up the chance. As quickly as it was filled, the store became empty again within a few minutes. However, less than an hour, the same people started to show up again, followed by a mass of other people rushing in droves.

"I swear this is the place!", said a young woman. "That pill healed older brother's injury almost instantly!. You usually can't even buy pills that effective! come on!", continued the young woman in an excited voice as she ran with an older man following closely behind her.

"And you say the pills are being sold for one gold each?...", said the man skeptically.

"Father, just trust me! you saw the state that brother was in. He was clearly on death's door! yet the pill brought him back. We can't let this opportunity pass us by...", Said the young woman hysterically.

"Right...This father of yours has 3 gold right here, we will buy as many of these life-saving pills as we can!", said the man as he thought about his son who had almost died while out on a hunting excursion.

More and more people showed up, each buying at least one pill, however, no matter how many people showed up, the store never seemed to run out of the high-grade pills which surprised the people and sent them into an even bigger frenzy.. Many of those present would remember this day as when the doors of the [Heavenly Medicine Pagoda] were first opened to the public.