"Reporting, sir, the number of people helping the Sea God Company refine pills has indeed decreased significantly recently, but unfortunately, their pills' advantage is too great, and we simply cannot compete!" the subordinate's words came with a troubled expression.
"Cannot compete? How is that possible?"
Upon hearing this, Lord Nie immediately looked incredulous and angrily said, "My Pill Dao Pavilion is backed by the Pill Dao Sect, possessing the best alchemists in the entire alchemy world. How could we possibly fail to compete?"
The subordinate quickly explained, "Reporting, sir, one of the reasons is that the Sea God Company's product pricing is lower than ours..."
"Priced lower than ours?"
Lord Nie was somewhat shocked, but soon he coldly stated, "Hmph, if that's the case, then let's lower our prices to match theirs. I don't believe a mere small company can turn the world upside down!!"
In his opinion, the Sea God Company had merely hired a few alchemists without any sect affiliation, and the pills they refined could certainly not compare to those from the Pill Dao Pavilion. Therefore, he believed that as long as the prices were the same, those cultivators would surely choose them again.
However, seeing this, the subordinate did not immediately nod. Instead, he secretly glanced at Lord Nie before him and said, "Furthermore, another reason is that their pills' effects are better than ours..."
"I see, I thought it was some other issue... Hmm? Wait, what did you say?"
At first, Lord Nie didn't react, appearing indifferent. But soon, his eyes widened, and he looked at his subordinate with disbelief.
"What did you just say? You said their pills' effects are better than ours? How is that possible? Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Lord Nie grabbed the subordinate's collar, incredulous.
The subordinate, though somewhat frightened, truthfully replied, "No, no mistake. Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare lie to you. After our verification, their pills' effects are indeed better than ours, and, and..."
At this point, the subordinate suddenly stopped speaking, looking hesitant at Lord Nie, as if the news he was about to deliver was incredibly shocking.
Seeing this, Lord Nie's expression immediately turned grim, and he coldly demanded, "And what? Speak!!"
"Yes, sir!" the subordinate replied respectfully, "Moreover, their pills' effects are not just slightly better than ours, but far surpass ours. Their effects are almost comparable to first-tier pills!"
"First-tier pills?" Upon hearing this, Lord Nie looked as if he had heard something unbelievable, his entire face instantly filled with shock.
Had he misheard? The Sea God Company's pills were not only better than theirs, but significantly so?
"No, impossible, this is absolutely impossible. They are just an ordinary company, how could the pills they refine have better effects than ours? You're talking nonsense!!"
Lord Nie said in disbelief. This was simply unrealistic. Who were they? They were the Pill Dao Pavilion, an enterprise of the Pill Dao Sect, the leader of the alchemy world in Huaxia. How could anyone have a stronger alchemy level than them?
Hearing this, the subordinate also knew that it was indeed hard to believe. Therefore, he wasted no more words and immediately took out a pill to present it.
"Reporting, sir, this is an unranked pill from the Sea God Company called the Soul Refining Pill. If you examine it, you will know that I am not lying!" the subordinate said respectfully.
Lord Nie still didn't believe it. He took the pill and coldly said, "Hmph, let me see just how good this Sea God Company's pill is that you speak of!"
Saying this, he swallowed the pill in his hand in one gulp. In the next second, his expression instantly changed.
From disbelief to shock, and finally to incredulity.
This was not just better than theirs; it was far, far better. If the subordinate hadn't mentioned that the pill was an ordinary unranked one, he would have even thought it was a first-tier pill.
Therefore, in that instant, he was completely dumbfounded, his mouth agape for a long time without being able to speak. This was inconceivable!!
Seeing this, the subordinate also knew that he had been shocked. He remained silent, as he had been even more shocked than Lord Nie when he first saw this pill.
However, after a brief moment of shock, Lord Nie quickly recovered and said with a somber expression, "Damn it, you go and continue gathering information. I'm going to the Pill Dao Sect."
With that, he didn't wait for the subordinate's reply and hurriedly walked out, as if he had something urgent to attend to...
Ye Feng knew nothing of this. At this moment, he was also troubled, and the reason for his trouble was that the Sea God Company's pill production had been unable to keep up in the past few days.
He had originally planned to recruit more alchemists to catch up with production, but unfortunately, influenced by the words of the Pill Dao Pavilion, many alchemists who were planning to join the Sea God Company had backed out.
If it weren't for the overwhelming advantage of the pills refined by the Sea God Company and the generous compensation he offered, even the few people he had found earlier would have been ready to flee.
Therefore, he was also extremely distressed.
"Damn it, I didn't expect the Pill Dao Pavilion to be so despicable. They can't compete, so they start ordering a blockade against us!" He Shasha said indignantly.
Ye Feng's expression also turned somewhat grim upon hearing this, but he knew this was something they had to face sooner or later, so he quickly stopped being angry.
"The immediate priority is to find a way to increase production. Otherwise, all the momentum we've built up recently will be lost!!"
Ye Feng frowned and said. Soon, he thought of a solution. Since the alchemists in Huaxia were afraid of the Pill Dao Sect and dared not help them refine pills, he would find new people.
As for the location, he had already decided: it would be in the Lost City. Others might fear the Pill Dao Pavilion, but they did not!!
"You manage them here for me for a while. I'm going out and will be back soon!!" Ye Feng left a message for He Shasha and quickly walked out.
He intended to go directly to the island where Mo Qianning and the others were. It had been a while since he had visited, and he also wanted to check on their cultivation progress there.
However, as soon as he left the rocky island, Ye Feng felt something was wrong. A faint, elusive feeling arose from the Sea God's Trident.
"Hmm? What's going on? Why is the Sea God's Trident suddenly reacting? Is it warning me of danger?" Ye Feng muttered with a frown.
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a faint, mosquito-like beeping sound coming from beneath the fishing boat at his feet, like some kind of timer.
"Why is there a timer sound? Could it be that this fishing boat is failing?"
Ye Feng was somewhat puzzled. The sound was very faint. If he hadn't broken through to the eighth level of the Sea God Art, he might not have heard it at all.
However, just as he was about to carefully inspect what was wrong, the Sea God's Trident in his mind began to flash wildly.
Instantly, Ye Feng's expression changed drastically, and he suddenly realized something, shouting, "Damn it, this isn't a timer, it's a... a time bomb!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a violent bang echoed. The fishing boat below exploded like fireworks, and then, a terrifying destructive force slammed towards Ye Feng...