Chapter 1183: Operating Without Restraint
During the great battle between Yang Haoran and Ding Tianhua that day, after Yang Haoran unleashed his full power, he intentionally informed Ding Tianhua that he had consumed a Rising Yin Pill and that it would soon be available in the Underworld. This was to prevent the mastermind behind the scenes from covertly monitoring him.
In his report to Luo Yao, Yang Haoran had indeed mentioned the Rising Yin Pill and explained its medicinal effects, otherwise his report would have had a flaw. However, he didn't mention the detail about soon stocking the Rising Yin Pill in the Underworld pharmacy because it was merely a minor point, and he simply forgot about it at the time, not intending to conceal it.
In other words, under normal circumstances, only Yang Haoran and Ding Tianhua should have known about this matter; there shouldn't have been a third party. The fact that Huo Laoban knew about it indicated that the battle had been under his observation the entire time, otherwise he wouldn't have been privy to this detail, especially since Ding Tianhua, the only other person aware of it besides Yang Haoran, had already undergone Soul Transformation.
Yang Haoran chuckled coldly to himself. If he hadn't considered this point at the time and promptly released the lie, it would have been another troublesome matter.
After Huo Laoban left, Yang Haoran saw Xu Meijing with a cold expression, radiating murderous intent from head to toe. He quickly spoke a few soothing words, which finally eased Xu Meijing's emotions slightly.
Although the reason for Xu Meijing's anger wasn't himself, Yang Haoran still didn't want to see her remain angry. After all, anger was a painful emotion to endure, which was why he kept speaking pleasantries, coaxing Xu Meijing to cheer up, hoping to help her emerge from her angry mood as quickly as possible.
The reasons for Xu Meijing's intense anger were threefold: firstly, Huo Laoban had tried every means to kill Yang Haoran; secondly, Huo Laoban, the mastermind, had framed Yang Haoran in front of Luo Yao, transforming from an aggressor into a victim; and finally, it was due to the extremely insulting words Huo Laoban had uttered before leaving.
Xu Meijing's personality wasn't extremely fiery, but it certainly had nothing to do with gentleness, nor was she one to passively accept setbacks. With these three factors combined, how could she not feel a fire in her heart?
Fortunately, Yang Haoran was no longer awkward when facing Xu Meijing, and he was becoming increasingly skilled at coaxing words. Thus, after some effort, Xu Meijing's mood finally improved to a certain extent.
Jingran Pharmacy had undergone significant changes; it was completely different from the last time Yang Haoran had visited. While its area hadn't increased, the decor and details had undergone earth-shattering changes, making it appear more imposing and higher-class than before.
The reason for such a significant change in Jingran Pharmacy was naturally due to its manager, Gu Yi, and her renovations. According to Gu Yi, both bosses of Jingran Pharmacy were Guardians, so the shop's decor and every detail had to match the status of Guardians, ensuring Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing didn't lose face.
When Gu Yi first started following Yang Haoran, she was just a young woman with a tragic fate who had only recently arrived in the Underworld. Although she possessed a photographic memory, she didn't have much experience in managing or operating a shop. Fortunately, at that time, Jingran Pharmacy only had her and Ban Kui, and the elixirs they sold simply needed to be sold according to their prices. Thus, there weren't high requirements for management or operational capabilities.
Now, with Jingran Pharmacy's business booming and its staff growing, both personnel management and operational capabilities needed to reach a certain level.
Gu Yi had certainly not been idle in this regard. Relying on her photographic memory, she learned knowledge from books and then consolidated it through practice. As a result, she had not only become a qualified manager but also an exceptionally intelligent one.
Thanks to the good quality and low prices of the various medicines sold at Jingran Pharmacy, coupled with the fact that both the boss and the boss lady were Guardians, Jingran Pharmacy's business was exceptionally good. Aside from some niche medicines, other commonly used or essential medicines for combat were frequently sold out, and even the Medicine God Society's day-and-night refining couldn't keep up with the supply.
After all, the Medicine God Society had only recently been established, and the number of Pharmacists was still too few. With their current refining speed alone, they certainly couldn't meet Jingran Pharmacy's demands.
Gu Yi had not left the Underworld since her soul entered it. Although she didn't know much about the outside world, she was aware of the Medicine God Society's existence. She knew about it because the Emissaries of Death in Yang Haoran's Guardian District would deliver refined medicines to Jingran Pharmacy every so often, handing them directly to her. Through these repeated interactions, she gained a certain degree of understanding about the Medicine God Society.
As the manager, Gu Yi naturally understood better than anyone how Jingran Pharmacy's business was faring and how many medicines were needed daily. Therefore, she was very clear that the current output of the Medicine God Society's various medicines simply couldn't satisfy Jingran Pharmacy's needs.
To solve this problem, Gu Yi thought of a solution: to recruit Pharmacists herself in the Underworld to refine various medicines for Jingran Pharmacy.
This idea was not a wild fantasy. Other large pharmacies in the Underworld also employed varying numbers of Pharmacists. While Pharmacists were indeed rare, there were still some whose souls arrived in the Underworld after dying for various reasons. Although they had lost their powers, their experience in refining medicines and knowledge of formulas did not disappear with their physical death. These memories were etched deep into their souls, and as long as they didn't undergo Soul Transformation, they would absolutely never forget them.
Therefore, as long as such Pharmacists could be recruited, even if it couldn't immediately resolve Jingran Pharmacy's situation of supply falling short of demand, the problem would definitely be improved. And as more Pharmacists were recruited, the improvement would become increasingly significant.
Gu Yi's idea was undoubtedly correct. However, how to recruit Pharmacists was the problem. Talents like Pharmacists, no matter what realm they reached in life, as long as they were Pharmacists, would be eagerly vied for by merchants in the Underworld. Without certain financial resources or background, it would be impossible to outcompete rivals and acquire these deceased Pharmacists.
In the past, Jingran Pharmacy certainly didn't have the qualifications to compete with those large merchants, as Jingran Pharmacy couldn't compare to them in any aspect. As soon as the souls of these deceased Pharmacists arrived in the Underworld, people from large merchants would immediately go to win them over and recruit them. Gu Yi couldn't even get close to such a scene.
However, after Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing became Guardians, everything changed. As the manager of Jingran Pharmacy, Gu Yi represented not only the pharmacy itself but also its two Guardian bosses. Consequently, Gu Yi's status also rose with the tide.
The change in her status gave Gu Yi the qualification to compete with those large merchants for Pharmacists. Over time, she actually managed to recruit two Pharmacists.
Although these two Pharmacists had not even reached the Spirit Medicine realm during their lives, and there were only a scarce two of them, this was definitely a good start for Gu Yi. As long as she continued to work in this direction, reaching a satisfactory level would only be a matter of time.
Yang Haoran was both affirmed and comforted by Gu Yi's idea and her actions. He gave her ample support, telling her to act freely. If she encountered any unsolvable problems, she could come to him or Xu Meijing, and they would find a way to step forward and resolve the issues.
Receiving Yang Haoran's affirmation and full support was definitely a good thing for Gu Yi. Nothing could have made her happier. She had originally been worried that Yang Haoran might blame her for acting on her own initiative, but instead, he not only didn't blame her but fully supported her to act without restraint. How could she not be happy?
With Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing's full support, she now dared to do things she had previously not dared to do. So, besides happiness, an extra surge of excitement welled up in her heart. She couldn't wait to immediately set about doing those things she had feared before but now dared to attempt.
When Yang Haoran first entrusted Jingran Pharmacy to Gu Yi, he felt somewhat uneasy because Gu Yi was not very old and her professional capabilities were quite lacking. Therefore, he was genuinely concerned whether Gu Yi could manage Jingran Pharmacy well for him.
However, he had long ceased to worry about this. Not only was there not the slightest bit of worry in his heart, he even firmly believed that if things continued this way, Jingran Pharmacy would undoubtedly march towards glory under Gu Yi's leadership.
Since Luo Yao had said that the Spirit Mediums were highly likely to make another big move recently, Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing, even if unwilling, could not linger in the Underworld for too long. In the end, they had no choice but to say goodbye, reluctantly parting ways and returning to their respective Guardian Districts.
Before leaving the Underworld, Yang Haoran handed Gu Yi a bottle of elixirs. This bottle contained Rising Yin Pills, personally developed by Xiang Chuan, which could temporarily boost the Spirit Power within an Underworld Official's body.
Since he had released the lie, to avoid unnecessary trouble, it was impossible not to stock the Rising Yin Pills in Jingran Pharmacy. That's why Yang Haoran took out a bottle and gave it to Gu Yi.
As for why he only took out one bottle instead of more, on one hand, Yang Haoran didn't have many of these Rising Yin Pills himself. It wasn't due to a lack of spiritual herbs, but because Xiang Chuan had refined only a small quantity of them.
On the other hand, Yang Haoran didn't want to stock too many of these elixirs. Rarity makes something precious; stocking too many would invisibly reduce the elixir's value. To fully realize its value, and even to far exceed expectations, Yang Haoran decided to temporarily stock only one bottle and enforce a limited purchase policy. It would not be too late to stock more once the elixir became popular.
Yang Haoran wasn't worried at all about whether the Rising Yin Pill would become widely popular among the Underworld Office's personnel. He had great confidence in the Rising Yin Pill. Let alone during wartime, even in times of peace, many Underworld Officials would prepare such elixirs to keep on themselves. If they encountered danger, having one such elixir could very likely turn the tide and snatch victory from defeat. This demonstrated the importance and necessity of such elixirs.
Although the major pharmacies in the Underworld also sold various elixirs similar to the Rising Yin Pill, these types of elixirs were, without exception, not cheap. Even if they could only slightly boost power and had significant side effects, their selling price remained high. As for those elixirs that offered a greater power boost with minimal side effects, their selling price was naturally even higher.
The Rising Yin Pills refined by Xiang Chuan could significantly boost power in a short period, and their side effects were not too great. The sales of such elixirs would naturally not be an issue; it would be hard for them not to become popular.
Yang Haoran simply conveyed his general requirements to Gu Yi, leaving the specific operations to her. He believed that with Gu Yi's current capabilities in this area, she would have absolutely no problem handling the matter well.
After leaving the Underworld, Yang Haoran returned to Tongyou City. It wasn't that he wanted to return to Tongyou City, but because he had opened the Ghost Gate in Tongyou City when he went to the Underworld. So, when he returned to the mortal realm through the Ghost Gate, he naturally appeared in Tongyou City.
Upon returning to Tongyou City, Yang Haoran gave Uan some instructions, then completely handed over Tongyou City to him before rushing back to his Guardian District.
Tongyou City was indeed a mess, but the more chaotic a situation, the more it revealed a person's capabilities. Yang Haoran wanted to learn about Uan's abilities, so he generously handed over the Tongyou City Underworld Division to Uan, allowing him to develop everything himself.
However, before leaving Tongyou City, Yang Haoran also took a few people from the Tongyou City Underworld Division. These individuals were, without exception, Pharmacists. They were a group of Pharmacists whom Ding Tianhua had managed to retain with great difficulty over the years by using various means of coercion and enticement. Yang Haoran had originally intended to leave these Pharmacists in the Tongyou City Underworld Division, which would have provided considerable help to Uan. But to Yang Haoran's surprise, Uan refused. According to Uan, he also employed Pharmacists under him and would re-establish Tongyou City Underworld Division's medical team according to his own needs and ideas.
Since Uan himself said so, Yang Haoran naturally didn't refuse. After all, his newly established Medicine God Society was severely lacking Pharmacists, and the addition of these Pharmacists would give the Medicine God Society a considerable boost in strength. So, in a good mood, he took these Pharmacists and rushed back to his Guardian District.
As for whether these Pharmacists were willing to follow Yang Haoran to the Guardian District, Yang Haoran handled it quite appropriately. He not only promised these Pharmacists more benefits than Ding Tianhua had, but also gave them more freedom and protection. Not a single one of these Pharmacists refused; they were all willing to follow him to the Guardian District.
Since these Pharmacists were willing to work for Ding Tianhua in the past, they were naturally willing to work for Yang Haoran now. Moreover, Yang Haoran offered much more generous benefits than Ding Tianhua had, so they had even less reason to refuse.
Beyond that, one other point was crucial: with the world now in chaos, although Pharmacists had become even more sought after, they had also become more dangerous. Without the protection of an absolute power, while they might not necessarily suffer a tragic death, they certainly couldn't expect to live a peaceful and stable life. This was also one of the reasons why they had followed Ding Tianhua in the first place, because Ding Tianhua's mid-stage Earth Soul realm strength was indeed strong enough in their eyes, and following Ding Tianhua would provide considerable assurance of safety.
If they could even accept Ding Tianhua's strength, how could they possibly refuse Yang Haoran, who was even stronger and held a higher status than Ding Tianhua?
When Yang Haoran handed the Pharmacists over to Xiang Chuan, Xiang Chuan's face lit up with joy. Although he was only the vice-president, he handled all matters, big and small, for the Medicine God Society. Feng Xiao, the president, only had research and refining various medicines on her mind and had no mood to manage the Medicine God Society's affairs. Thus, nearly all matters, big and small, were handled by Xiang Chuan.
As vice-president, Xiang Chuan naturally knew how desperately the Medicine God Society lacked Pharmacists. This time, Yang Haoran brought back several Pharmacists in one go, and three of them had even reached the Spirit Medicine realm. How could he not be happy?
Compared to Xiang Chuan's happiness, Bai Xue, who was also a president, was somewhat unhappy. She also wished Yang Haoran could bring back a few masters for their Flock of Demons Society to strengthen its power.
In response, Yang Haoran could only give Bai Xue a verbal promise: as long as the opportunity arose, he would definitely recruit a few powerful masters to join the Flock of Demons Society.
Although Bai Xue didn't really believe Yang Haoran's verbal promise, she was still very happy to receive his commitment, and thus, she didn't continue to be unreasonable.
A few days after Yang Haoran returned to the Guardian District, he successively obtained two sets of data from different individuals. One set came from Tang Shi, and the other from Shui Ling. The subject of both sets of data was the same person: Uan, who had only recently taken over the Tongyou City Underworld Division.
Both sets of data, whether collected by Shui Ling or Tang Shi, far exceeded the information about Uan found in the Underworld Iron Tome in terms of detail.
However, in comparison, the data collected by Tang Shi was even more detailed, considerably surpassing what Shui Ling had gathered.
With these two sets of data, Yang Haoran gained a deeper understanding of Uan. Through this information, Yang Haoran also learned why Uan had agreed to take over the mess that was the Tongyou City Underworld Division.
Uan was a very ambitious person. Jiangyu City, which he had previously managed, was merely a medium-sized city, a considerable gap compared to a large city like Tongyou City. As his strength increased, a medium-sized city like Jiangzhong City could no longer satisfy him.
Tongyou City, in contrast, was different. Although Tongyou City was a mess, if he could sort out this mess, he would not only gain more resources but also demonstrate his own value and be given important responsibilities. It was certain that his status would undoubtedly rise quickly.
Through Yang Haoran's analysis of Uan's data, he believed this was likely the reason Uan agreed to take over the mess that was the Tongyou City Underworld Division.
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