Chapter 2057: What's So Hard to Say?

Ye Yuan looked at Yun Yi, a hint of approval in his eyes.

Only those who were not 'fools' or 'idiots' could see through his intentions.

Those so-called geniuses, short-sighted and only seeing immediate gains, would have limited achievements in the Dao of alchemy.

They considered themselves clever, but were in fact foolish beyond measure.

Only the 'fools' and 'idiots' in others' eyes possessed a true heart for the Dao.

Did those people think that talent could solve everything?

That was the most foolish notion of all!

Without countless hardships, without great perseverance and determination, how could the gates of the Great Dao open to you?

"In teaching disciples, I emphasize only two words: diligence and fundamentals. You must keep them in mind," Ye Yuan said calmly.

Yun Yi and the others felt a chill in their hearts and quickly replied, "Yes, Master. Your disciples will bear this in mind."

How could Ye Yuan not see what they were thinking? He said, "On the path of the Dao, where are there shortcuts? If you ask your master how he attained the Dao, I can only tell you that the Dao is beneath your feet! Walking steadily on solid ground is the Dao! You saw Si Yu shine at the Cloud Alchemy Convention, but you don't know the hardships and efforts she put in behind the scenes. So, if you want to learn some peak alchemy from me, you can leave now. I have nothing to teach you."

Their expressions changed, and they quickly denied any such thought.

But the shock in their hearts was beyond words.

If they couldn't imagine Sister Si Yu's efforts, then how much had their master sacrificed behind his glory?

"Master, your disciple understands! From today on, I will set aside all pride and follow by your side."

Yun Yi was not humoring Ye Yuan; these words gave him a sudden sense of enlightenment.

And these ten years of arduous cultivation had made him better understand the meaning behind his master's words.

Since that was the case, he might as well start from scratch.

"But... Master, is it really all right that you and Piao Yu Tianzun withdrew from the Southern Domain Alliance this time?" Yun Yi asked worriedly.

He wasn't taking sides against Ye Yuan, but Yun Yi was now very conflicted.

After all, one was his great-grandfather, and the other was his master.

He didn't want to see either of them get hurt.

Ning Si Yu laughed and said, "You underestimate Master too much. You'll soon understand his methods!"

...

Three months passed in the blink of an eye!

One morning, all the managers gathered again at the Cloud Alchemy Tower.

Ding Xiao said proudly, "Everyone, we have lived up to expectations and fought a brilliant battle these past three months! Now, in this Changfeng Imperial Capital, we have captured over seventy percent of the market! At this point, no matter how capable Qiu Tianyu is, he can't turn things around!"

"Haha... We can finally report back! Maybe in less than ten years, the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower will be completely defeated by us," Manager Lin laughed heartily.

"Heh, that's inevitable. No matter how strong the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower is, no matter how strong Piao Yu Tianzun is, no matter how strong Ye Yuan is, they can't be a match for the entire Southern Domain Alliance! The resources we control, excluding those hidden forces, account for over half of the Southern Domain. If we still lose under these circumstances, we might as well find a piece of tofu and knock ourselves dead!" another manager laughed.

Ding Xiao nodded and said, "According to the information I've gathered, the rear is now concentrating the most elite alchemists from the entire Southern Domain to produce pills continuously. These pills will be supplied to us without stop, and soon we can expand from Changfeng Imperial Capital to other imperial capitals."

The managers were greatly encouraged by this.

Having captured seventy percent of the market, it was no wonder these managers were so elated.

There were no fewer than forty or fifty forces present, large and small.

This almost represented the peak forces of the entire Southern Domain. The word 'defeat' simply didn't exist in their vocabulary.

Even if Ye Yuan had some trump card up his sleeve, in their eyes, it would only prolong the inevitable collapse of the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower by a little time.

"By the way, didn't Qiu Tianyu say he was going to raise prices? Haha, I'd like to see who would still buy pills from the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower after the price hike!" Manager Lin suddenly remembered something and laughed loudly.

"Bad news! Terrible news!"

Manager Lin had barely finished speaking when a servant rushed into the hall, panicked.

Ding Xiao snorted coldly and scolded, "What is it? Making such a fuss, where are your manners?"

The servant, too frightened to care about protocol, pointed across the street and said, "Manager Ding, terrible news! The Ten Thousand Treasures Tower across the street is about to burst at the seams! Those martial artists are going crazy, desperately grabbing their pills. The martial artists who were originally on our side have all run over there."

"What did you say?"

Ding Xiao's eyes bulged, doubting whether he had heard correctly.

Why would those martial artists go to the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower across the street?

The other managers' faces showed disbelief.

At this moment, their thoughts were remarkably consistent: the servant was lying!

"All the pills at the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower went up in price today. Why would martial artists rush to buy from them? What nonsense are you talking?" Ding Xiao said coldly.

Even though he knew the servant wouldn't dare deceive him, he still couldn't believe it.

The servant said bitterly, "Manager Ding, even if you lent me the courage, I wouldn't dare talk nonsense!"

Ding Xiao frowned and said, "Let's go take a look!"

With that, he took the lead and went downstairs.

As soon as he reached the main hall, Ding Xiao was blocked by several people. He quickly put on a smiling face and greeted them.

These were all big clients of their Cloud Alchemy Tower, not to be offended.

"Haha, Patriarch Su, Patriarch Ren, what brings you here?" Ding Xiao said with a cupped-fist salute and a smile.

These two were the patriarchs of the Su and Ren families, two of the five great families in Changfeng Imperial Capital.

Over the past few months, Ding Xiao had exhausted every effort and used every trick to pry them away from the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower.

Now, the pills for these two families were all supplied by their Cloud Alchemy Tower.

Patriarch Su smiled and said, "Today, Su and Brother Ren have come to ask a favor of Manager Ding."

Ding Xiao quickly replied with a smile, "Of course, of course. You two are my benefactors; I am at your service! Is it that you're running low on pills? No problem, I'll have someone send a batch over right away."

Patriarch Su waved his hand and said, "No need. The Su family's pills are sufficient for cultivation!"

Ding Xiao asked in surprise, "Then... Patriarch Su, what brings you here?"

Patriarch Su looked awkwardly at Patriarch Ren, who was clearly hot-tempered and said impatiently, "What's so hard to say? Manager Ding, Ren and Patriarch Su have come to terminate our contracts with the Cloud Alchemy Tower. From now on, we won't trouble the Cloud Alchemy Tower for our cultivation pills!"