40: cooperate

Seeing this, Xiao Zhan timely opened his mouth and laughed, "Young Friend Mo, refining medicine is hard work. You always need someone to take care of trivial matters around you. Xiao Mei is only fifteen years old, and her cultivation has already reached the eighth stage of Dou Qi. She is quite meticulous and has a slight understanding of medicinal ingredients."

"I wonder if Young Friend Mo would be willing to let her attend to you, help with miscellaneous tasks, grind medicinal ingredients, and hand over tools? It can also be considered a form of experience for her."

His words were well-spoken, giving Mo Yuhan ample face.

Xiao Mei's heart instantly leaped to her throat, her watery eyes gazing at Mo Yuhan, filled with silent pleading.

Evidently, following Mo Yuhan to become the connection point between the Xiao Family and Mo Yuhan was Xiao Mei's own initiative.

If she could become the maid of this genius Alchemist, even if only a nominal assistant, her status in the Xiao Family would be completely different.

Mo Yuhan held the teacup, his slender fingers gently caressing the warm surface of the cup.

The Xiao Family's gesture was truly grand.

A fifteen-year-old at the eighth stage of Dou Qi, and so charming, yet they were willing to send her to him as a maid.

However, he needed to focus on refining medicine, and indeed needed someone to handle trivial matters to save time.

Moreover, Little Fairy Doctor also needed to cultivate and couldn't always look after his aunt.

Xiao Mei was from the Xiao Family; using her would both put the Xiao Family at ease and save him the trouble of finding reliable help.

As for those little intentions... as long as they didn't affect important matters, he didn't care.

"You may," After a moment of silence, Mo Yuhan put down the teacup and uttered two concise words.

Xiao Mei's pretty face instantly bloomed with a joyful radiance, like spring flowers suddenly unfurling. She immediately curtsied gracefully, "Thank you, Young Master Mo. Mei'er will definitely do her best and never disappoint Young Master!"

Her voice was filled with excitement and exhilaration. She seemed to have already seen her bright future.

The grand curtain of cooperation between the Xiao Family and Mo Yuhan was drawn with thunderous momentum.

The Xiao Family quickly cleared out a secluded, well-equipped independent courtyard within their family as Mo Yuhan's exclusive Alchemist workshop, and dispatched their most reliable guards to protect it day and night.

The Mittel Auction House's medicinal ingredient procurement channels were operating at full speed, with large quantities of high-quality basic medicinal ingredients continuously being sent into the workshop.

And at the Mittel Auction House, under Ya Fei's personal management, she displayed astonishing business acumen and power.

First, it was about building momentum.

Ya Fei utilized all of the Mittel Auction House's promotional channels. Overnight, the streets and alleys of Wutan City were plastered with eye-catching notices:

"Mittel Auction House, in collaboration with the Xiao Family, proudly presents—the supreme healing medicine, Fushang Pill, is making its shocking debut! Exceptional efficacy, benefiting the people with its price. Starting today, special sales at the Mittel Auction House's first-floor counter and all Xiao Family market pharmacies!"

The notices specifically emphasized phrases like "quality far surpassing Huichunsan" and "Mittel exclusive channel," instantly igniting the enthusiasm of mercenaries and low-level cultivators throughout the city.

Doubts? In the face of the Mittel Auction House's golden reputation and the Xiao Family's name, they appeared pale and powerless.

Next, was the distribution of goods.

Ya Fei did not fully expand at first, but instead adopted a strategy of hunger marketing.

Only a limited supply of Fushang Pill was provided daily at the Mittel Auction House's first-floor counter and a few designated core pharmacies of the Xiao Family.

Those mercenaries who had received the news in advance and flocked to purchase often bought out the day's quota within an hour of sales beginning.

The explosive scene and the reputation of being in short supply, like the best advertisement, pushed the fame of Fushang Pill to its peak.

The third step, the price cut.

When the market's fervor was thoroughly ignited, and the Jia Lie family's market saw a sharp decrease in visitors, falling into panic.

Ya Fei held a small Fushang Pill special promotion conference at the Mittel Auction House.

She personally took the stage, clad in a red dress, radiating dazzling beauty. With a charming smile, she announced, "Thanks to the great support from everyone in Wutan City, and to show our appreciation, starting today, Fushang Pill will be supplied without limit, and the price... will be only eighty percent of Ningxue Powder!"

Boom!

This news was like a thunderclap, instantly stunning the entire healing medicine market of Wutan City.

Better quality, lower price, and unlimited supply.

The stockpiled Huichunsan in the Jia Lie family's market instantly became worthless garbage.

The Jia Lie family's market withered at a visible rate.

The bustling mercenary teams that used to buy healing medicines disappeared without a trace, leaving only a few dispirited shop assistants guarding the dusty counters.

In contrast, the Mittel Auction House and the Xiao Family's market were packed with people, forming long queues, exceptionally bustling.

Huge profits flowed like a torrent into the coffers of Mittel and the Xiao Family.

Jia Lie Bi's roar almost tore off the roof of the Jia Lie family mansion: "Useless! All useless! Investigate for me! Where did the Xiao Family's medicine come from?! Lower the price for me! Lower it to seventy percent! No, fifty percent! Throw out all the inventory! Quick!"

However, it was too late.

Once the price war began, the initiative was no longer in his hands. The Mittel Auction House and the Xiao Family, relying on the absolute quality advantage and lower price of the Fushang Pill, as well as Ya Fei's precise marketing strategy, firmly controlled the market.

Even if the Jia Lie family sold Fushang Pill at a loss, no one was interested—the quality gap was too great.

Mercenaries weren't fools; for medicine that could save lives at crucial moments, who would use a substandard product?

Not to mention, Ya Fei also timely launched an event of "purchasing Fushang Pill to redeem Mittel Auction House discount coupons," further locking in customers.

The Jia Lie family's capital chain was breaking at an alarming speed.

Market revenue sharply decreased, family guard salaries began to be delayed, and the small factions originally affiliated with the Jia Lie Family started to become restless, secretly contacting the Xiao Family or Mittel.

The entire Jia Lie Family was like being roasted over a fire, overwhelmed and on the verge of collapse.

On the top floor of the Mittel Auction House in Wutan City, within Ya Fei's exclusive luxurious office.

The air was filled with a mixed scent of incense and paper ink. Outside the enormous crystal floor-to-ceiling windows, one could overlook most of the brightly lit Wutan City.

Ya Fei leaned lazily in a wide, velvet-covered armchair, her long, straight, jade-like legs, encased in smooth black silk, crossed, outlining a breathtaking curve.

In her hand, she held an urgent assessment report that had just arrived from the Mittel Family headquarters in the Empire's capital. On her exquisite face, a brilliant smile bloomed, enough to dim the stars.

That smile carried a hint of relief, and even greater satisfaction and ambition.

"Hehehe..."

She let out a low laugh, like mellow wine, intoxicating the soul.

"Wutan City branch, total profit for this quarter, year-on-year increase... over three times, comprehensive performance evaluation, ranked... first among all third-tier city branches in the Empire!"

She read out the core data from the report word by word, each word seeming to sparkle with the light of gold coins.

This dazzling report card was almost entirely due to the cooperation with Mo Yuhan.

The exorbitant profits brought by monopolizing the healing medicine market were merely the tip of the iceberg.

More crucially, the immense success of the Fushang Pill completely established the reputation of the Mittel Auction House in Wutan City, attracting mercenary groups and merchant caravans from several surrounding cities and even further afield to trade, driving a comprehensive boom in the auction house's other businesses, such as weapons, materials, and intelligence.

The name Mo Yuhan, and the Alchemist ability subtly revealed behind him, had already become the most dazzling calling card and core competitiveness of the Mittel Auction House in Wutan City.