Just moments ago, a cultivator who purchased a spiritual power pill experienced a breakthrough in their cultivation. Another, injured, bought a healing pill, and their wound instantly closed. Consequently, the reputation of these pills spread with visible speed before everyone's eyes.
Most of the female disciples from the Zhenghe Sect returned to the mountain after purchasing their pills. Only Jin Yan and another female cultivator remained. Seeing Wu Siqi busy and a bit flustered by himself, they proactively stepped forward to help.
The other female cultivator had a well-proportioned figure, but half her face was covered by a blood-red birthmark. To put it bluntly, she looked like a ghost.
Furthermore, she didn't have many spirit stones. Faced with the "sky-high" prices of Mo Shi's pills, she had the desire but not the means. Yet, she desperately wanted to try the pills, as she had tried many methods without success in removing the birthmark on her face.
However, she kept lingering around the counter, clearly causing more trouble than help. Wu Siqi, sometimes having to dodge her, affected his work efficiency. Several customers who had come in to buy pills were so frightened by her face that they fled.
Seeing this, Mo Qi called the young lady aside and said, "Miss, I know you want to buy my Beauty Skin Pill and Beauty Face Pill. Tell me, how many spirit stones do you have?"
The young lady was not timid; perhaps her demeanor was forged through trials. She immediately raised her head and said, "My name is Shui Ling, and I only have two spirit stones."
Shui Ling? The aspirations were good, but reality was so cruel!
"Two spirit stones?" Mo Qi gasped.
Shui Ling immediately waved her hands, "I know this is nowhere near enough. How about this," she lowered her head, "if you can help me remove the birthmark on my face, I'll offer myself to you."
Mo Qi suppressed a wave of nausea and quickly waved his hands, "No need. If my pills can truly help you, you can come help out when you have time. However, don't get your hopes too high. I don't think my pills will have much effect on your birthmark."
Shui Ling also sighed, "Let's try. It doesn't matter if it fails, it's not the first or second time anyway."
So, Mo Qi took out a Longevity Pill and a Beauty Skin Pill from his storage bag and handed them to Shui Ling. Shui Ling received them with trembling hands.
At this moment, a fierce commotion erupted from outside. Mo Qi could no longer afford to wait to see the effects and immediately went out.
Mo Qi saw at a glance that a person who looked like a wealthy young master, accompanied by a group of followers, was surrounding the counter and arguing with Wu Siqi. The other customers were blocked behind them, and some were already leaving one after another.
Jin Yan was heard saying, "Xie Yucai, not only are you not queuing, but you're also causing trouble and making unreasonable demands here. This is not a place for you to run wild. If you have any sense, you'll leave immediately."
Xie Yucai chuckled, "So what if I'm being unreasonable? What can you do to me?" As he spoke, he gripped the bottom of the counter with both hands, intending to overturn it.
Mo Qi flashed past, kicked out, and sent Xie Yucai flying, over the heads of the queuing crowd, straight out the shop door. His followers quickly followed him out.
Mo Qi turned back to ask Jin Yan who that person was and what had just happened. Wu Siqi and Jin Yan then recounted the events.
It turned out that this person was Xie Yucai, the second young master of the Xie family, a cultivation family in the city. He had entered with a group of people aggressively, claiming he wanted to buy pills but refusing to queue. Others dared not speak up. Wu Siqi tried to reason with him, but Jin Yan stopped him, saying it was better to avoid trouble and to quickly give him the pills to send him away.
He bought a Longevity Pill, ate it on the spot, and then threw a tantrum, saying, "I spent a huge sum to buy a Longevity Pill, and it has no effect at all. You must refund me."
He then looked at his followers, "Did any of you see any changes in me?"
The followers immediately chimed in, "No changes, no changes."
Wu Siqi had patiently explained to him, "How can the effects of the Longevity Pill be seen immediately? It will surely take decades or even a century to see any results!"
Jin Yan had already realized that this fellow was deliberately trying to stir up trouble. It was likely that he felt Mo Qi's newly opened pill shop was affecting his family's pill business, so he had come specifically to cause trouble, with the ultimate goal of driving Mo Qi away.
Jin Yan revealed her identity as a disciple of the Zhenghe Sect, but Xie Yucai remained dismissive. He even attempted to further overturn the stall, which Mo Qi promptly prevented.
After understanding the cause and effect, Mo Qi was furious. He not only kicked the opponent out but was still not satisfied and immediately rushed out again.
Xie Yucai, who had just gotten up from the ground, was also gritting his teeth in anger, "Who was it? Who ambushed me? Come out and die!" His five followers stood behind him again, their arrogance immediately reaching its peak.
"Do I need to ambush you to hit you?" Mo Qi flashed in front of Xie Yucai and delivered a blow with lightning speed. To outsiders, it looked like a beam of light flew directly from the shop and struck Xie Yucai. It wasn't until Xie Yucai's body fell to the ground again that everyone realized the attacker was a person.
Seeing their master humiliated, the five followers immediately surrounded Mo Qi and began raining blows upon him. The continuous screams of agony were heard, but they were only the followers' screams.
Mo Qi ignored them and flashed in front of Xie Yucai again. As Xie Yucai was about to summon his flying sword, Mo Qi threw a flying knife, shattering the sword. Simultaneously, Mo Qi's fists rained down on Xie Yucai.
A crowd had already gathered around, pointing and discussing animatedly.
"Who is this person? How dare he attack Xie Yucai? Doesn't he know about his family's influence? He must be tired of living."
"I never thought a Xie family member would ever be in this situation!"
"It takes one to catch one."
Mo Qi beat Xie Yucai until he was crying and wailing, begging for mercy. With every blow, more wounds appeared on his body and face. In a moment, Xie Yucai was bruised and battered, covered in injuries. He began to beg for mercy. His five followers watched the two from a distance, no longer daring to attack Mo Qi, or even approach. Because every blow Mo Qi landed seemed to be on a sea of blades and flames, yet Mo Qi remained unharmed. Such a losing proposition was best avoided.
Mo Qi had shown mercy to the followers; otherwise, their limbs would have been crippled long ago. At this moment, they had only sustained some injuries.
Seeing Xie Yucai beg for mercy, Mo Qi finally stopped. He took out a healing pill from his storage bag and handed it to Xie Yucai, "Eat this, and then you will see the efficacy of my pills."
Xie Yucai hesitated whether to take it. Mo Qi made a move as if to strike again, and Xie Yucai immediately took it and swallowed it in one gulp.
A moment later, the redness and swelling on his face and body gradually subsided, and his wounds began to heal.
"Is there any effect?" Mo Qi stared at Xie Yucai with an imposing aura.
Xie Yucai said with a dejected face, "My clothes are ruined, and they couldn't be repaired."
Mo Qi raised his hand again. Xie Yucai immediately covered his head, "It's not the pills' fault, it's my clothes. The pills have an effect, and a miraculous one at that. They are simply divine elixirs."
Mo Qi scratched his head, "I was just tickling you, you got so scared."
His demonstration was more convincing than any advertisement. The surrounding crowd was greatly amazed, "These pills are too magical, they're simply defying the heavens."
Thus, a long queue began to form again, and Mo Qi couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
Seeing that Mo Qi's attention was no longer on him, Xie Yucai cautiously prepared to slip away.
Mo Qi shouted, "Stop!"
Xie Yucai jolted and immediately stopped. He met Mo Qi's sharp gaze with his eyes, then immediately lowered his head, "Is there... anything else?"
"You ate my pills, shouldn't you pay?" Mo Qi said.
Xie Yucai mumbled, "I thought it was compensation for hurting me!"
Mo Qi kicked him, "Compensation for what? People like you need to be taught a lesson. I haven't even charged you for the education fee yet."
"I'll pay, I'll pay, alright?" Xie Yucai said repeatedly.
"Ten million spirit stones, thank you," Mo Qi said.
"Ten million? You're robbing me!" Xie Yucai's gall bladder almost burst.
"Then are you going to pay or not?" Mo Qi kicked Xie Yucai again.
"I'll pay, I'll definitely pay, but I don't have that many spirit stones on me. I only have one million spirit stones."
Mo Qi fell into thought.
Xie Yucai looked at Mo Qi, "You can follow my usual operating procedure. We usually let the other party hand over all the money they have on them, and then the remaining amount is settled with a promissory note with a deadline. If they don't pay by the due date, they get a good beating."
A smile appeared on Mo Qi's face, "That's a good idea," he then glanced at him, "Then what are you waiting for? Go inside, pay, and write the promissory note."
Xie Yucai obediently went inside and paid Wu Siqi. Then, he took out brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone from his storage bag (he actually carried these things with him). He wrote a promissory note on the counter and handed it to Mo Qi. Mo Qi glanced at it, "Not bad, not bad. You're quite capable of handling things, child." He then put the promissory note away.
Xie Yucai then cautiously asked, "Can I leave now?"
"Yes," Mo Qi said indifferently. Mo Qi shifted his gaze elsewhere, not even looking at him. Xie Yucai then fled shamefacedly.
At this moment, a beautiful woman walked out from the inner room. She had a melon-shaped face, willow-like eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and skin as white as snow. Mo Qi's eyes were glued to her. From her attire and facial features, it was vaguely recognizable as Shui Ling, but Mo Qi still couldn't believe such a drastic change was possible.
"Are you Shui Ling?" Mo Qi asked tentatively.
Shui Ling nodded shyly.
Let alone Mo Qi, even Jin Yan was stunned. Was this still the Shui Ling who had always been there to highlight her beauty? From now on, she would probably only be there to highlight Shui Ling's beauty.
Wu Siqi also stared at Shui Ling, stunned for a long time, until a customer impatiently reminded him, and he snapped back to reality.
"I think I heard you say you would offer yourself to me earlier," Mo Qi said, looking at Shui Ling.
Shui Ling smiled slyly, "I also think I heard you say you didn't need me to offer myself, and that I only needed to help out with some chores."
Mo Qi let out a sigh, "Yesterday you ignored me, today I can't afford you."
After speaking, Shui Ling went to the counter to help Wu Siqi.
Mo Qi went into the inner room to continue refining pills. Judging by the current sales speed of the pills, if he didn't hurry up and refine more, they would be in short supply.
As soon as a batch of pills was refined, more trouble arrived. It was Wang Fu, the eldest young master of the second branch of the Wang family, a cultivation family, who had come to cause trouble.
Wang Fu was even more arrogant than Xie Yucai. Without deliberately picking a fight, he walked in directly with three followers and asked, "Who is the owner?"
Mo Qi knew they meant trouble and stared at the other party with fierce eyes, "I am. What's wrong?"
Wang Fu was startled. This oppressive aura was not something ordinary people could emit.
"I'd like to ask, do you have any connection with the local Xie family?" Wang Fu asked after regaining his composure.
"No connection."
"Any connection with the Cui family?" Wang Fu asked again, feeling slightly more at ease.
"No connection," Mo Qi replied.
"He does," Jin Yan and Shui Ling from behind the counter said in unison. "He is a disciple undergoing training at the Zhenghe Sect."