"Grandpa Bone, who's visiting that has you in such a hurry?" Ning Rongrong looked curiously at Bone Douluo, who had just descended from the sky.
"Who else could it be? The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's leader, Yu Yuanzhen. He says he wants to buy pills." Gu Rong replied. "Yu Tianheng is here too. Yan Yan, do you want to see him?"
"He still hasn't given up? That doesn't make sense!" Dugu Yan blinked, her face showing confusion. She remembered clearly rejecting Yu Tianheng's advances.
"Who cares? Let's go see. If Yu Tianheng still has designs on Sister Yan Yan, then Sister Yan Yan can just beat him up."
Ning Rongrong clung to Dugu Yan's arm.
"Anyway, I don't think Yu Tianheng stands a chance against Sister Yan Yan."
"Uh, Rongrong, I'm not that violent." Dugu Yan's forehead creased with faint exasperation. "Besides, isn't it bad manners to beat up a guest?"
"What's the big deal? The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan were never on good terms anyway."
"Yu Yuanzhen coming here is probably just to show off his grandson's strength."
"They're here to buy pills." Dugu Yan couldn't help but retort. "Didn't you say 'the customer is god' before?"
"Come on, Sister Yan Yan, does your grandfather's pills really need us treating customers like gods? It's the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan begging us, not the other way around."
Dugu Yan: "..."
You really have a way with words.
You've already argued both sides what's left for me to say?
In the end, Bone Douluo used his soul power to carry both Dugu Yan and Ning Rongrong, flying straight to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's main hall.
...
Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Main Hall.
Ning Fengzhi and Yu Yuanzhen sat on adjacent sofas, the furnishings luxurious yet not overly extravagant.
Standing beside Ning Fengzhi was the white-robed Sword Douluo.
Next to Yu Yuanzhen was a handsome young man around twenty years old.
"Clan Leader Yu, to be honest, it's rather regrettable." Ning Fengzhi sighed deeply. "The Breakthrough to Elder Pill you want we can hardly provide it!"
"Sect Leader Ning, weren't the pills sold in the Heaven Dou Empire's capital sourced from your sect? How could you not have any?"
Yu Yuanzhen sat upright, his tone laced with confusion.
The trade relationship between the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Crown Prince Xue Qinghe wasn't a secret.
Any major faction could easily uncover this, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had never made efforts to hide it.
"I won't ask why you're in such a hurry for the Breakthrough to Elder Pill, but..."
Ning Fengzhi lifted his teacup, took a sip, and slowly set it back down.
"Clan Leader Yu, you must know that our sect has been searching for a way to evolve the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda into the Eight Treasure Glazed Pagoda."
"The Breakthrough to Elder Pill and Breakthrough to Master Pill are actually byproducts of that research. They're nearly impossible to replicate."
"Byproducts?"
Before Yu Yuanzhen could respond, the young man beside him couldn't hide his surprise.
"That's right, Nephew Tianheng." While there were tensions between their sects, they were both part of the "Three Upper Sects" and maintained trade relations. Ning Fengzhi's casual address wasn't out of place.
"Truthfully... those pills were sold at a loss, partly to recoup costs and partly to build reputation."
"Pills that break through bottlenecks even low-grade ones with side effects are still highly coveted by certain nobles."
After all, between a two-ringed Great Soul Master and a three-ringed Soul Elder, who wouldn't prefer flaunting a purple thousand-year soul ring?
"So there's really no way?" Yu Tianheng's eyelid twitched, unwilling to give up.
The Breakthrough to Elder Pill wasn't for him it was for his uncle, Yu Xiaogang.
Realistically, breaking through from two rings to three wouldn't change anything for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
But if it could fulfill his uncle's long-standing wish, then so be it.
As for the pill's side effects slower cultivation speed after forcibly breaking through who cared?
Did the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan seriously expect Yu Xiaogang to become a Title Douluo?
With his half-rank innate soul power, reaching level 40 in his lifetime was already questionable. Without the pill, he might never even reach level 30.
Memories of Yu Xiaogang flashed through Yu Tianheng's mind as Ning Fengzhi's voice reached his ears again.
"It's not completely impossible." Ning Fengzhi sighed heavily. "What you do with the pill is none of our concern we're just sellers."
"But those pills were actually refined by Elder Dugu. Whether more can be made... I can't say for sure."
"Dugu Bo? The Poison Douluo?" Yu Yuanzhen's eyes widened in shock. "So the rumors are true?"
Recently, especially in the Heaven Dou Empire, word had spread that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's pills came from Dugu Bo.
Yu Yuanzhen had dismissed these claims with a laugh. He knew exactly what Dugu Bo was capable of.
After all, Yu Tianheng's attempts to get close to Dugu Yan were mainly to recruit Dugu Bo.
Dugu Bo increasing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's profits by 20%? And mastering pill refinement? That was nonsense.
If someone said Dugu Bo's combat prowess or poison skills were unmatched, Yu Yuanzhen might have believed it.
He knew better than anyone how formidable Dugu Bo's poison abilities were hence his desire to recruit him.
So when he heard the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's claims, Yu Yuanzhen had scoffed.
He even suspected Ning Fengzhi was spinning wild tales just to win over a Title Douluo.
But now, hearing Ning Fengzhi say it himself that changed everything.
As fellow leaders of the "Three Upper Sects," the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had no reason to lie to his face.
What would be the point?
"It's true." Ning Fengzhi nodded. "Using our sect's resources, Elder Dugu successfully condensed a Poison Core and advanced his pharmacological knowledge."
"So a significant portion of our sect's recent profit growth comes from him."
Ning Fengzhi had no issue promoting Dugu Bo's reputation.
In his eyes, Dugu Yan was practically destined to become Ning Rongrong's guardian, and the two were already inseparable friends.
Truthfully, aside from a handful of factions, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect feared no one and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan wasn't one of them.
Seeing Ning Fengzhi's serious expression, Yu Yuanzhen sighed.
"As expected of Sect Leader Ning. It seems I've underestimated you."
"It was just good timing. Finding a way to detoxify Elder Dugu was unexpected for us too. We never imagined he'd join our sect afterward."
The corner of Ning Fengzhi's lips curled up.
Nothing was more satisfying than showing off in front of another "Upper Sect" leader.
Well, except maybe doing the same in front of Spirit Hall.