Sovereign of the Three Realms

Everything was going all according to Jiang Chen’s plan. Two days later, We Jie came calling to invite Jiang Chen once more. “Brother Jiang, as expected, Wei Tiantong has sent out a request to hold a family meeting. It will be held this evening. My father has requested your presence at the meeting to ensure that everything goes smoothly, as well as participate in the discussion about the shop.”

Jiang Chen knew that this was likely the last time Wei Tianxiao and Wei Tiantong were going to clash against each other. He himself didn’t want to skip this meeting. Although Wei Tianxiao’s victory was firmly in hand, Jiang Chen wouldn’t feel at ease unless he saw this matter through to the end with his own eyes. Wei Tiantong himself might not be able to cause any sort of trouble, but he had that pill master right by his side. That was why Jiang Chen had to be on guard.

Judging from Wei Tiantong’s stance, although Jiang Chen still had no idea who the Majestic Clan was, he guessed that Wei Tiantong had sworn loyalty to the Majestic Clan in secret a long time ago. Jiang Chen had seen numerous high level conflicts in his capacity as the son of the celestial emperor in his past life. Even if House Wei was a ninth ranked aristocratic house, even if they were a reputable force in Veluriyam Capital, the act of switching patrons carelessly was absolutely inadvisable. If Jiang Chen wasn’t involved in this conflict, he wouldn’t have cared either way. However, he was now in the same boat as House Wei, he couldn’t possibly just sit by and watch the disaster unfold. Moreover, his cooperation with House Wei would be null and void if Wei Tiantong really did take over House Wei.

Brother Jiang, have you figured what you want to name your pill shop?”

“Taiyuan Tower,” Jiang Chen smiled faintly. Taiyuan had been his father’s title in his past life and the name had blossomed in his mind at first light. Although he wasn’t sure if the Taiyuan worlds and planes in his past life had anything to do with the Divine Abyss Continent, there was no harm in naming a pill shop Taiyuan Tower.

Wei Jie mulled over the name for a moment before praising, “What a good name!”

Jiang Chen smiled. He suddenly recalled something and asked, “Brother Wei, just call me Brother Zhen in the future. We should keep our stories straight. From here on forth in Veluriyam Capital, my name will be Zhen Shi.”

Wei Jie was surprised for a second, but quickly felt that it was a sound idea. It was better to use a single appellation. After all, what if he accidentally slipped up one day and used the wrong name?

Jiang Chen hadn’t told Huang’er to join him even though he was heading out with Wei Jie. He wasn’t willing to involve Huang’er in House Wei’s affairs.

“Be careful, Sir Jiang,” Huang’er reminded Jiang Chen before he went out. Their thoughts met as they looked and smiled at each other.

……

Inside the manor, Wei Jie had gone to meet Wei Tianxiao first with Jiang Chen in tow. He also greeted Wei Tianxiao’s uncle, Wei Zhi. Wei Zhi was one of the four House Wei elders and Wei Tianxiao’s confidante. He was the only one out of the four elders who’d remained absolutely loyal to Wei Tianxiao. Thanks to Wei Jie’s introductions, Jiang Chen also came to know this elder whose eyes were filled with unspoken wisdom.

“Father, great uncle, it would seem that Wei Tiantong is ready to bare his fangs at this family meeting, no?” Wei Jie started the conversation.

Wei Tianxiao nodded slightly and gave Wei Jie and Jiang Chen an appreciative glance, “Jie’er, thank goodness that you and Pill Master Zhen are present, else they might have actually taken me by surprise. With Elder Zhuo and Elder Feng on our side, victory is all but certain.”

“House lord, are you sure that Elder Zhuo and Elder Feng will support us?” Wei Zhi still looked a little worried.

Wei Tianxiao cast a glance at Wei Jie and smiled, “Both Elder Zhuo and Elder Feng are not people who make promises easily. If they’ve given their word, they will definitely not go back on it.” He looked at Jiang Chen as he spoke again, “You’re not an outsider anymore, Pill Master Zhen. What do you think of Elder Zhen and Elder Feng?”

“I doubt that the two elders will turn against us. In fact, I don’t think Wei Tiantong will be much of a threat at all. However, I am worried that the pill master next to Wei Tiantong would cause trouble. He may be able to change the situation if he were to act, so you must be on guard against him, house lord.”

Wei Tianxiao’s expression froze. In reality, his biggest worry was the same as Jiang Chen’s. He was afraid that that evil pill master would be up to no good. House Wei was currently lacking a pill king. They really had no countermeasure for him, making their moves far more difficult and inconvenient. However, Wei Tianxiao’s eyes immediately fell on Jiang Chen’s face with a hint of expectation, “You must have readied a plan, Pill Master Zhen?”

Jiang Chen smiled and took out a pill bottle, “Young master Jie mentioned that we would be discussing our partnership today, so I’ve brought some pills with me. These are some pills I’ve refined called the Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill. It’s the gold standard of pills that can prevent its user from being poisoned.”

“Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill?” Wei Zhi raised his eyebrows, “I’ve only heard of the Immortal Elixir Pill, but I’ve heard tales that all pills of its nature are held up to the Immortal Elixir Pill as a point of comparison. But what is this Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill?”

Wei Tianxiao was also looking curiously at Jiang Chen. It was obvious that he was very interested in this topic.

Jiang Chen smiled confidently at them and looked them in the eye, “Naturally, this Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill is better than the traditional Immortal Elixir Pill. The average Immortal Elixir Pill will only take effect one hour after it has been consumed. However, my Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill will take effect instantly even if it were consumed half a step before the user is poisoned. That is why it is called the Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill.”

“You mean it will take effect instantly?” The look in Wei Zhi’s eyes sharpened.

“You could say that,” Jiang Chen sounded very confident.

“So what are the effects, and how long will it remain effective…” Wei Zhi asked further.

“It has a greater coverage of poisons than the traditional Immortal Elixir Pill, and lasts longer too. The traditional Immortal Elixir Pill lasts for only twelve to fourteen hours, but this Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill lasts for an entire day!”

Even Wei Tianxiao’s expressions changed slightly as Jiang Chen explained its characteristics. A hint of joy appeared in his eyes. He could sniff the scent of a business opportunity from Jiang Chen’s words. If this pill really was as effective as Jiang Chen described, then it was a pill that would utterly annihilate the traditional Immortal Elixir Pill! Although poison prevention pills weren’t the most mainstream pills on sale, they were still very popular. Moreover, while there were plenty of poison prevention pills in Veluriyam Capital’s market, their effects were all mediocre and unimpressive. Poison prevention pills had always been a great problem in the world of pill making, and an especially convincing poison prevention pill had always been difficult to find. The Immortal Elixir Pill was one of the top contenders amongst the lower ranking pills. If this pill really was better than the Immortal Elixir Pill, then the resulting profits would be shocking once it was released into the market!

This business opportunity… once the effects rippled through the market, House Wei would immediately advance in the pill industry from a third-rate faction to a second-rate faction. They might even be able to make a dash to capture a spot as a first-rate faction. When his thoughts travelled to this point, Wei Tianxiao asked in a deep tone, “Pill Master Zhen, if I could inquire about the Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill’s refinement cost, difficulty and refinement period…”

These were all important elements of a pill. Even if the Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill was better than the traditional Immortal Elixir Pill, they wouldn’t be able to earn anything if the cost of production was overly high. If the cost wasn’t high, but the refinement process was either too difficult or too long, the pill’s inability to be mass produced would also mean that it had no market value. A pill had to possess all of the marketable characteristics before a power could use it to dominate the market.

Since they were working with each other, there was no need for Jiang Chen to keep this part of the process vague. He answered smilingly, “The cost would be twenty to thirty percent lower compared to the traditional Immortal Elixir Pill, but it’ll be slightly harder to refine. However, I can help solve that problem.”

Joy appeared in both Wei Tianxiao and Wei Zhi’s eyes when they heard this. They were both worldly people, and both could now smell the business opportunity in this pill.

Wei Jie smiled, “Father, great uncle, Pill Master Zhen has come up with the name for his shop already. It will be called ‘Taiyuan Tower’. All that’s left is to open it.”

“Taiyuan Tower? That’s a good name, a very good name!” Wei Tianxiao applauded with a smile.

Jiang Chen chuckled and poured out a few pills from the bottle, “Everyone, please keep a Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill with you in case the evil pill master tries to do anything during the family meeting.”

Wei Tianxiao and Wei Zhi didn’t turn down his offer. They were also worried about the same thing. When the the Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill entered their palm, they noticed that it brimmed with a wondrous aura even though it looked rather small. It definitely looked like it was of a higher quality than the traditional Immortal Elixir Pill too. Wei Tianxiao and Wei Zhi exchanged glances with each other. They were obviously quite satisfied with the appearance of this pill.

“Young master Jie, give the others to Elder Zhuo and Elder Feng when you welcome them later,” Jiang Chen poured out the rest of the pills and gave it to Wei Jie.

Wei Jie sighed, “We’re using up quite a bit of money with this.”

The traditional Immortal Elixir Pill cost about fifty thousand saint spirit stones or five hundred thousand origin spirit stones. It wasn’t really too expensive. But if this Half-step Immortal Elixir Pill really was better than the traditional Immortal Elixir Pill, then it could easily be sold for sixty to seventy thousand saint spirit stones.

“Alright, it’s almost time. Jie’er, come join your father in welcoming our guests. Third uncle, please accompany Pill Master Zhen.” It was obvious that Wei Tianxiao hadn’t informed Wei Zhi of Jiang Chen’s true identity due to his worry that the latter would let his imagination run wild. The duo began to exchange some small talk.

Fifteen minutes later, the leaders of House Wei entered the room in succession. Elder Zhuo and Elder Feng arrived together into the meeting, but they were not accompanied by anyone else. Wei Tiantong came together with his trusted elders. There were two people who were always standing by Wei Tiantong’s side, the sinister looking pill master and his son Wei Xiu.

Wei Tiantong swept a glance across the room as they entered the hall, stopping his gaze on Jiang Chen. He laughed loudly, “I see that there’s an uninvited guest in this room?” His tone was both arrogant and a little overbearing.

Wei Zhi responded coldly, “It doesn’t look like that person next to you is someone you can bring to a family meeting either, does it?” It was obvious that Wei Zhi was talking about the pill master next to Wei Tiantong.

However, Wei Tiantong laughed leisurely, “Haha, today is a good day to introduce Pill Master Yu to everyone, so I’ve brought him along with me. From today onwards, Pill Master Yu will become House Wei’s guest pill king. With him in residence, he will surely be able to fully display his abilities and bring House Wei to new heights like never before!”

Wei Tiantong was in high spirits as his confident tone rang through the room. He cast a glance at House Lord Wei Tianxiao once before smiling somewhat subtly at both Elder Feng and Elder Zhuo, “You’re early, Elder Zhuo, Elder Feng.”

They both smiled faintly in return. It was obvious that Wei Tiantong thought that the two elders were fully under his thumb, so he didn’t bother chatting further. Instead, he locked his gaze onto Jiang Chen, “House lord, a family meeting is a secret matter. Shouldn’t we send all unrelated personnel away first? House Wei’s doors aren’t opened to just any random strays, you know.”

Any random strays? Wei Jie’s face immediately changed at the comment. Jiang Chen was his savior and the helper he’d personally invited. How dare Wei Tiantong call Jiang Chen a random stray?!