"Lady Bai! This is the full sales total for today!"
Su Lin had just pushed open the door into what used to be a back hall of the Palace, now converted into a sprawling records office. All the information related to the Alchemy Palace had been consolidated here to keep operations running smoothly. A few of her capable junior disciples sat in the corner, heads spinning as they worked to organize the data.
"Hmm... Good enough."
Bai Fanxian, seated behind her large desk, leaned back against the chair and skimmed through the report. At moments like this, she genuinely missed the old butler who used to handle all these headache-inducing matters for her.
I should have brought Huang Zihuan along.
"This is far more than 'good enough'! Even after renovating the entire Palace, this sum would still last us years!"
Su Lin beamed. The sum she had just handed over to Bai Fanxian had taken her ages just to count. She had gone over the figures again and again, hardly able to believe her own eyes that this Alchemy Palace had earned more in a single day than a top-tier sect's entire annual budget.
As substantial as the first floor's sales had already been, they barely amounted to a fraction of what the second floor brought in!
That was the power of dozens of Grade-6 medicines!
Every faction had practically lost their minds the moment Luo Qingyan revealed the full stock. They had scrambled to contact their own sects, desperate to get their hands on whatever wealth they could gather as quickly as possible.
Though some of the medicine had not sold for quite as much as the first "Heaven's Reprieve Elixir" the young lord of the Seabound Caravan had bought, that made perfect sense — the medicine Bai Fanxian had authorized for sale today was not limited to restoration-type elixirs alone, and a great many had been released for sale all at once.
There was power-boosting medicine, body-conditioning medicine, medicine with highly specific effects, all the way up to medicine that improved one's chances of breaking through to Ancient Sage!
Naturally, they could hardly believe the Goddess Alchemy Palace would dare put medicine like this — practically an heirloom in its own right — up for sale. Even without any guarantee that whoever swallowed it would actually reach Ancient Sage, as long as a faction had even one peak Sage on hand, every single one of them was ready to gamble on it.
"Are you sure this will really be all right, Lady Bai?"
Su Lin could not help but think the same thing. Selling this high-grade medicine to other factions felt like handing them knives and swords, with no telling when those very blades might turn and press against their own throats.
She feared that one day, this would put the Alchemy Palace in a difficult position.
"It's fine..."
"Your true enemies aren't those people."
Bai Fanxian spoke without a flicker of unease. She took a sip of hot tea and closed her eyes.
"The demonic beasts and those Ancient Demons are what you should really be watching out for..."
Bai Fanxian had been mulling this over the whole time. The real problem with this Myriad Demon World was the existence of beings like the Seventy-Two Ancient Demons. As long as threats like that still existed, she could not fully rest easy.
On top of that, whatever the reason was that let this world's demonic beasts slip through into the modern world, if she did not resolve the problem completely, she would likely never be able to go back for good.
So what she needed to do was not just keep the Goddess Alchemy Palace afloat — it was to build up humanity's own strength until it could stand against both demonic beasts and Ancient Demons.
Back then, even Moondrift City's army, with several Sages among its ranks, had not been able to stand against a single Ancient Demon. If she had not happened to appear over the battlefield's skies and struck down Marsosius by pure chance, there was no telling how many would have made it back alive.
Besides, even if other sects gained a few more Sages, or even if an Ancient Sage or two were born among them, it would not be a problem.
Because by the time that happened, under her leadership, the Goddess Alchemy Palace would have already grown far beyond anything that kind of power could shake!
"Understood."
Su Lin, seeing the confidence in Bai Fanxian's expression and eyes, nodded in agreement. She did not know why, but the longer time went on, the more her trust in this lady grew, until it very nearly matched the trust she held for Luo Qingyan herself.
"This Ma Junfei..."
"Yes. Young Master Ma of the Seabound Caravan alone bought nearly half of all the Grade-6 medicine we released for sale today."
Su Lin gave a strained smile. She had been present for a good while as Ma Junfei negotiated the trade terms with Luo Qingyan. Famous as he was for his vast wealth, that did not mean he could pay it all out at once. After nearly half a day of back-and-forth, they had finally settled on letting Young Master Ma pay in installments.
And what the Goddess Alchemy Palace stood to gain from extending this favor was a trade partnership with the Seabound Caravan itself!
From now on, nearly all the Palace's ingredients and herbs would be sourced through the Seabound Caravan. They could order materials at nearly cost price while still getting top quality. On top of that, thanks to the Caravan's vast network, they could even track down ingredients that were not sold anywhere in Moondrift City at all!
With access to region-specific ingredients like these, the range of medicine the Palace could refine in the future was bound to expand enormously.
On top of that, the Caravan was even willing to serve as their distributor, selling high-grade medicine on to other cities. That meant the Palace's income would no longer come from just a single source.
"I understand... Is there anything else?"
"...Yes. Mu Xia reports that a large number of people are now hoping to apply as disciples of our Palace. There are disciples from other sects, young masters and ladies from prestigious families, and then..."
"..."
"A number of people who used to be disciples of our Palace have come back as well..."
"What does Luo Qingyan say?"
"...The Empress says the decision is entirely up to you, Lady Bai."
Bai Fanxian nodded. She had already heard something about this. During the Goddess Alchemy Palace's decline, a number of disciples and elders had withdrawn from the Palace. Some had been upfront about leaving, while others had simply vanished without a trace.
"Anyone you recognize among them?"
"Yes... A group of elders who used to hold high positions in the Palace — the ones we thought had died on a mission..."
Su Lin bit her lip. She used to genuinely respect those elders for their sacrifice. But now, she knew the truth — they had simply cut their losses and fled to save themselves. And now that the Palace once again had hope of prospering, they had not hesitated for a second to come crawling back.
"What should we do?"
The young woman had already braced herself to accept that, in Bai Fanxian's view, the Palace might need more manpower to keep developing — meaning it might be unavoidable to take those elders back.
But—
"Turn them all away. The new applicants too."
"...!?"
As if Bai Fanxian did not already know about the disciple situation. In just one day, the Goddess Alchemy Palace had made an unbelievable profit selling high-grade medicine, and most of its customer base was made up of exactly these sects and prestigious families. The shrewd ones among them, sensing an opportunity for profit, were certainly not about to sit idle — they would surely be eager to rush their own children in as disciples.
As for those elders, one look at Su Lin's face was enough to tell her what decision to make.
"Are you sure that's wise?" Su Lin raised an eyebrow, uncertain.
"Or are all of you simply too exhausted? If so, I'll reconsider..."
"We're not tired at all!"
Su Lin cut in with a wide grin before Bai Fanxian could even finish. These days, even though she was run ragged juggling every little matter in the Palace, barely getting any rest at all, she was more than happy to keep doing this kind of work for a good while longer.
Taking on new disciples had its upsides — more manpower for the Palace — but compatibility mattered far more. Those young masters and ladies from prestigious families had never lived through the hardship and decline her fellow disciples had endured. She believed there was not a single disciple currently in the Palace who would not dare sacrifice themselves to protect their own.
"Then just do as I said..."
.
.
.
"What do you mean, you won't accept anyone!"
In front of the Palace, dozens of people now stood clustered together, their faces twisted with displeasure after Mu Xia delivered the decision to them with an utterly flat expression.
"That's exactly it. Our Palace has no plans to take on new disciples at the moment."
"Mu Xia! Don't you recognize me!?"
"Oh! Your face does look rather like Elder Yao, who vanished without a trace years ago. What a coincidence?"
"I am Elder Yao!"
"Yes, yes, ma'am who looks like Elder Yao, could you please step aside — you're in my way, and I need to close the gate."
"!@$#!@%!?"
The one Mu Xia was toying with was a middle-aged woman known as Elder Yao. She had once been one of the elders of the Goddess Alchemy Palace, someone who had abandoned the Palace back when it was struggling. She and several other elders had rushed here from a neighboring city the moment they heard Luo Qingyan had become an Ancient Sage.
And the moment she learned the Palace had sold off an enormous stock of Grade-6 medicine today, her eyes lit up even brighter.
With her status restored as an elder, a life of wealth and comfort was about to begin!
If only this infuriating brat hadn't blocked her right at the gate first!
"I don't know what grudge you all have with each other... but we have nothing to do with it. Please, reconsider."
Besides the former elders, a number of scions from powerful families were also present. One of the young men stepped forward, pressed his palms together, and offered Mu Xia what he believed was his most dashing smile.
"Or does the Goddess Alchemy Palace simply not accept men?"
"Honestly, there's no rule like that..." Mu Xia shook her head, staring at the young man with an utterly flat expression. His charm had absolutely no effect on her whatsoever right now.
"Then are you saying even children like that can get in, but we can't?"
He said this while pointing at two small girls walking together in the distance. One had her cheeks puffed out, chewing on a snack in her hand, while the other cradled a black kitten dozing contentedly in her arms.
"..."
"Of course. Their ability outstrips all of yours, easily."
That remark made several brows furrow. Every one of them had been carefully groomed and nurtured by their own powerful families, and now here was some young woman telling them their abilities fell short of a girl who could not be older than ten. How exactly were they supposed to feel about that?
"Hmph! I won't accept that!"
One hot-blooded young man ground his teeth. He launched into his family's signature footwork technique and rocketed toward the two girls at full speed, ignoring his companions' shouts to stop.
Elder Yao narrowed her eyes; she had never seen either of these two girls before. And besides, if a junior disciple were about to get hurt, Mu Xia, standing right there, was not showing the slightest sign of concern at all.
Did that mean she was not worried at all?
...Of course it did.
Crack!?
A violent impact rang out in the split second the young man reached for the hem of the girl's clothes, the one with her mouth still full of food. A blurred black shadow shot straight through his body at a speed no ordinary eye could follow, and bright red blood sprayed out in a stream.
His body curled forward like a shrimp. His internal organs were injured badly enough that he could not even stand. His vision, already blurring, struggled to lift toward the face of whoever had struck him, filled with confusion.
Whoosh!
The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was one of the girls standing before him, her face utterly blank. Her eyes looked distant and unfocused, even as a red flame flickered to life at the tip of one finger.
The pressure radiating off her was enough to send people into outright panic. Every hopeful applicant trembled with dread, especially as that finger slowly crept closer and closer to the unconscious young man...
...until it no longer looked like a mere threat at all!
"..."
"Sister Hui'er!"
Tang Yeye grabbed her sister's wrist at once, snapping Hui'er back to her senses. The pressure she had been releasing vanished instantly as she gave her head a light shake and stared at the unfolding scene with empty eyes.
The instant that man had reached for her little sister, her mind had gone completely blank. Hui'er was not even aware of what she had done in that moment. Fortunately, Tang Yeye had been right there beside her and managed to stop her in time.
...Otherwise—
She might genuinely have already killed him!