Wang Hao swiftly summoned the four assistants back. Wang Wenxin and the other young man took charge of crowd control, while Wang Wenmei and the remaining assistant handled pill sales. Wang Hao himself stood ready to meet with clients commissioning custom pill refineries—and for a while, the shop hummed with activity.
On that very first day they served over a hundred customers and moved more than two thousand spirit stones' worth of goods, depleting some 20% of Clan Wang's pill inventory. The real draw was the prize draw! Astute errant cultivators pooled their funds, bought in bulk, and split the freebies—each saving a stone or two.
Wang Hao realized he'd overdone it. It was only day one, and this "group-buy Pinduoduo" tactic was downright addictive. The floodgates would only burst wider in the days to come! He rubbed his temples:
"Why does such a simple sales trick pull in so many people? At this rate, I'll have no time left for cultivation! If I'd known, I'd have trimmed the discounts or scaled it back."
Wang Wenyan and Wang Wenmei were already drained, far more than the two men, who had a bit more service experience. Wang Wenmei, polishing off a table's worth of snacks, belched contentedly:
"Fifth Brother, if this keeps up, I'll die of exhaustion!"
Wang Wenyan, more ladylike, sipped her tea and said:
"Fifth Brother, we came here not only to earn spirit stones, but also to seek cultivation advice. Now we barely have time to sleep!"
A good boss thinks of more than just profit—he'd caused this whirlwind and must set it right:
"I guarantee this only lasts ten more days. Tomorrow I'll send Wenxin off on my Swiftwind Horse back to the clan to report in. With such profits, they'll surely send reinforcements!"
Clan Wang's fortunes had soared thanks to the pill trade. Though they'd long relied on only two Second-Order alchemists, they'd always trained many First-Order adepts. Among these, Wang Hao and Wang Yanfeng were high-grade First-Order, plus nearly ten mid- or lower-level apprentices! If they called all of them in, the workload would lighten—and reinforcements travel fast by flying sword. News spread, and under this gold rush mentality, the whole clan mobilized.
Meanwhile, the culprit behind it all—Wang Hao himself—faced a tongue-lashing.
"Hmph! Do you think you're clever? Now our pill sales have shot through the roof, but look at the other shops—who do you think they hate most?" Wang Yanzhao slammed his fist on the table.
Wang Hao barely flinched. "Business is a jungle where the strong devour the weak," he said. "I only sell low-margin common pills. Do you really think Qingyuan Pavilion or the Four Seas Alliance cares about small profits? And those tiny mom-and-pop shops? Clan Wang can handle them."
"They wouldn't dare act alone—but what if they band together?" Yanzhao countered.
"They're disorganized," Wang Hao smiled. "Even united, if they try to undercut our prices, they'll starve themselves. In the meantime, Clan Wang will have the economies of scale. Under equal conditions, errants choose Clan Wang every time!"
"Arrogant," Yanzhao scowled—but Wang Hao's logic rang true.
"Old Wang, if we were really afraid, would they have sent you here with the entire stock? Our shop used to make under a thousand stones a year—now, even in this small Qingniu market, we're clearing over five thousand!"
Clang! Wang Hao banged the table in triumph:
"Five thousand spirit stones. In ten years, Clan Wang could fund a Foundation-Establishing Pill!"
Yanzhao fell silent. Indeed, the lure was massive—worth the price to secure that future.
Wang Hao sipped his tea and added casually:
"Old Wang, Clan Wang already has three Foundation cultivators. You know the clan's spirit veins are almost tapped out, right? With our windfall, logistics will be a breeze—numen troops and mounts first!"
Yanzhao glared:
"How do you know that? It's clan secret!"
"Cough, cough—just a guess," Wang Hao grinned. "But if you're worried, go ahead—these decisions aren't my concern. I'll focus on cultivation. I've already worked day and night; now I'll rest and recoup!"
And so Wang Hao returned to his routine. With Yanzhao and Yanfeng managing operations, he no longer needed to man the shop himself. He simply accepted a handful of pill-refinery orders each day to hone his alchemy, then devoted the rest of his hours to cultivation.