Having heard that, the smile froze on the Valley Master and the Elder.
They were delighted when they heard that Cheng Xiao Xiao has a request for them. They thought that Sacred Land Zhongyuan would ask to have them concoct their pills for them in the future and they would be able to make some profit off of them. That way they would not need to worry about resources when they deal with Sacred Land Zhongyuan in the future.
It was only natural for them to think that. After all, they had similar deals with all of the other major sects. The Valley of the Alchemists had been concocting the pills for all the major sects and, naturally, Sacred Land Zhongyuan as well. It was only natural for them to make that assumption.
They felt for sure that was the reason of Cheng Xiao Xiao's visit. They were excited from anticipation but the next thing out of her mouth was that they'd concoct their own pills. That had stunned the both of them.
As surprised as they were, neither one of them were born yesterday. They quickly controlled the looks on their faces.
"Young Madam Cheng, you want to concoct your own pills? Do you have your own apothecaries?" asked Ji Hongwei.
After taking a look at Old Man Ji who hadn't said a word, Cheng Xiao Xiao smiled lightly and said, "No, but we can train our own in due time. Of course, it'd be even better if we can borrow 2 or 3 apothecaries from you. Naturally, Sacred Land Zhongyuan will make it worth your while."
"That..." That was another unexpected question. Ji Hongwei chuckled bitterly and had a complicated look on him. He said, "Young Madam Cheng, this is just a question about apothecaries. If we accepted your request, this will establish a precedent for the Valley of the Alchemists and it would put us in a difficult position when other sects make the same request. As for this..."
More importantly, if they start this precedence and all the other sects started concocting their own pills, how would Valley of the Alchemists survive then? This was their livelihood. Accepting her request would be the equivalent of killing off their own livelihood. As the valley master, this was not a request that Ji Hongwei could accept.
Nor would he dare to. There were tens of thousands of elders and disciples at the Valley of the Alchemists and they'd all need roof over head and food on table. How could he possibly just throw away the foundation of the Valley of the Alchemists?
He wasn't the only one who was troubled. Old Man Ji, too, was frowning. This was not a simple request. If this was brought up by anyone else, they would have asked them to leave already. This was just too rude.
Nevertheless, with the two of them presently in front of them, even if they were enraged, they dared not say anything. They could only explain the reasoning to them and hope for their understanding.
"Senior Ji, Valley Master Ji. We will not sell our pills externally. Plus, we will not ask you for your formulas. No matter what kind of pills you sell, we will not concoct the same ones. We will not interfere with your business model and definitely would not try to compete with you."
As soon as Cheng Xiao Xiao finished talking, Old Man Ji couldn't help but asked, "Young Madam Cheng, you mean to say that you have your own formulas?"
"That's correct. We do have our own formula. No offense, but I don't even care about Valley of the Alchemists's formulas. Senior Ji, you should know that I will never lie about something like this. Even if you won't lend us apothecaries, we will still be able to concoct our own pills."
Cheng Xiao Xiao gave him a very confident smile. Her subtext was that the Valley of the Alchemists would not be able to stop Sacred Land Zhongyuan from concocting their own pills. They would not be able to control them at all.
The grandfather and grandson exchanged a look and smiled bitterly. They were both smart people and heard Cheng Xiao Xiao's message loud and clear.
It was, of course, a surprise that Sacred Land Zhongyuan had their own formulas and that they did not even care for theirs. That had displeased them.
That being said, they were smart people and had a pretty good idea of the kind of formulas that they have. They didn't even have any mid-level formulas, which was why it was difficult for them to rebut them when Cheng Xiao Xiao said she didn't care for their formulas.