CHAPTER 734: A Grand Occasion

There were many small rooms built on top of the gymnasium. Carmelita pulled Han Shuo into a secluded corner and asked quietly, "What took you so long to come back?"

"I ran into some problems on the way and was held up," Han Shuo explained casually before asking, "Speaking of which, you came to the Celestial Pearl twice looking for me. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Of course there is!" Carmelita replied, "The first time I looked for you was to tell you to save some of your medicine for these two. The second time was to tell you about Andrina. You separated from her on your way back, didn't you?"

Han Shuo's heart skipped a beat when Carmelita mentioned Andrina. He nodded and replied, "How did you know that?"

"Andrina contacted the divine guards at Fort Verka and asked them to deliver a message to me. She said that after you led the Godhunters away, she ran into some trouble while taking your friends to the City of Shadows, and that she was slightly injured. She also said not to worry and that your friends would get to the city safely.

"Andrina is injured!" Han Shuo was almost desperate. "Did she say anything else? Did she mention who hurt her?"

"She did not." Carmelita continued, "She just wanted you to know that you don't have to worry and that your friends are all fine!"

Han Shuo's face went dark. "I had clearly drawn the Godhunters away from them. How could Andrina have been injured so close to the City of Shadows? Who did she run into? In the city, all the members of the great family clans would know that Andrina is a member of my Celestial Pearl Pharmacy and would logically not attack her. But apart from the big family clans, who in the city could possibly hurt Andrina? I'm at a loss!"

"Don't worry, Andrina said everything will be fine. I think they will return to the city safely soon," Carmelita comforted.

Han Shuo nodded. Then he said to Carmelita, "Thank you. If you get any news about Andrina, please let me know as soon as possible!"

"I will," Carmelita promised.

"Alright. I'll go back to refine the medicine. This will take some time," Han Shuo replied and immediately returned to the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy.

Andrina had delivered the message to Carmelita because she was aware of Carmelita's influence in the City of Shadows. She also trusted Carmelita. Most of the people in the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy were just apothecaries. The only expert there who could fight was Akley. She had given the message to Carmelita instead of Akley because he was too weak and did not have much influence in the town.

On the way back to the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, Han Shuo debated whether or not to go in search of Andrina. But in the end, after much hesitation, he decided to stay in the city. The areas under the influence of the City of Shadows were vast. It was extremely difficult to find anyone in the vast mountain ranges and valleys, especially when Han Shuo couldn't be sure exactly which region Andrina was in. The chances of him finding Andrina by sheer luck were slim.

But most of all, Han Shuo had faith in Andrina. He was sure that if Andrina claimed that she could take his friends safely to the city, then she would. He planned to ask Andrina about the mishap she had met upon her return.

The great family clans soon learned of Han Shuo's return to the city. They sent men to reserve his medicine in advance when they heard that Han Shuo would be making a new batch of medicine. As a result, the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy was packed with people. This even boosted the sales of regular medicines made by regular pharmacists.

By this time, Han Shuo had a private room within his living quarters for refining medicines. Inside, there were large cabinets mounted on the walls where all sorts of medical ingredients could be stored. There were also countless medical containers in the room, mostly for decorative purposes. Han Shuo instructed his staff not to disturb him while he was refining medicine in this room.

The two avatars within his Cauldron of Myriad Demon were not idle while his main body was occupied with pellet production. Both of his avatars had made significant progress after absorbing divine energies from those godhunters. His Avatar of Destruction was on the verge of breaking through to the Midgod realm. He had enough divine energy in his body and all he needed was a flash of enlightenment.

The Avatar of Death seemed to be able to reach the Mid-stage of the Midgod Realm very soon. Han Shuo was thrilled by their progress. He thought that if he ever needed more Divine Energy in the future, he would use this quick shortcut that allowed for rapid improvement - to venture around the vast mountain ranges, hunting and consuming the Divine Energy of the Godhunters.

Time flew. Two months had passed.

After producing a new batch of pelleted medicine, Han Shuo finally came out of seclusion. During the two months, his Avatar of Death had finally broken through to the Mid-stage of the Midgod Realm. However, his Destruction Avatar was still stuck at the Late-stage of the Lowgod realm.

Han Shuo inwardly remarked that if there was a pure divine soul of a Midgod of Destruction that he could fuse with, the process of advancing to Midgodhood would be much faster.

Han Shuo's Death Avatar used to fuse with a Midgod Divine Soul in the Void. Therefore, it was relatively easy to make breakthroughs as long as he accumulated enough divine energy. It was crucial to have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the energy you were cultivating in. Without the proper understanding of the energy, no amount of divine energy would allow one to break through.

This also signalled the end of Han Shuo's level-up bonanza. The divine soul his death avatar had fused with was only a Mid-stage Midgod. This meant that from this point on, Han Shuo's Death Avatar would have to rely on his own efforts and ability to gain a deeper understanding of the energy of death in order to make any improvements. He had reaped all the knowledge that the unconscious divine soul had to offer.

Soon after leaving his private pharmaceutical laboratory, Han Shuo discovered that divine guards from various family clans were lingering around the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. Some of them would enter his pharmacy and walk around, perhaps buying a few ordinary medicines.

These divine guards were excited to see Han Shuo. They ran to greet him, expressing the immense interest their respective family clans had in his medicines.

"After three days, the medicines I personally refine will be for sale here at the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. Tell them to come at that time," Han Shuo announced loudly to the dozens of divine guards who suddenly surrounded him.

The divine guards thanked him and hurriedly left, disappearing from the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy in an instant. It seemed that they had gone to inform their masters of the news.

After these people left, Han Shuo went to talk to Anito and asked him to announce to everyone that after three days, all gods except the great family clans would be able to purchase the medicine he had personally refined with enough crystal coins in hand, before the stock ran out.

Han Shuo's plan was to further enhance the reputation of his pharmacy and overwhelm all of the city's competitors in one fell swoop.

Those foreigners and non-aligned gods who purchased Han Shuo's medicines would surely promote and spread the good name of his Celestial Pearl Pharmacy as they travelled around the various Divine Dominions. This would greatly benefit his pharmacy's sales.

Although Anito was of ordinary strength, he was a very good helper. Thanks to his hard work, advertising scrolls were placed in every region of the City of Shadows. Many of the gods in secluded cultivation heard the news.

The sale of Han Shuo's medicine suddenly became the most talked about and anticipated event in the City of Shadows. It wasn't just the residents of the city who showed immense interest, even the gods from foreign lands who had come to trade were excited about the Celestial Pearl sale.

***Three days later.

A swirling mass of people had gathered at the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. It was as if the entire population of the city were packed like sardines into the small area around the building. Some had come alone, some in groups of three to five, some as representatives of their family clans.

Before Han Shuo's medicines were put on sale, the regular medicines in the pharmacy had brought in fifty to sixty thousand black crystal coins. The employees of Celestial Pearl Pharmacy could not be busier. They rushed to help customers check out and restock the shelves with medicine.

Han Shuo stood at the top of the Celestial Pearl's tallest building and looked down at the crowd below. He mentally remarked that it would be an achievement to be proud of if he could attract such a crowd every time his medicines were on sale.

Han Shuo was in no hurry to release the medicines he had personally refined to the public, instead he waited patiently. Finally, when it was noon, he instructed Gu Li, "It's about time. Put the medicines I made on sale!"

"What about the members and representatives of the great family clans? Do they have to stand and wait in line with the average Joes?" Gu Li hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Of course not. Arrange for them to gather in the banquet hall where this pharmaceutical conference was held. We should give special treatment to these important figures of the great family clans. After all, not only will they buy most of my medicines, they will also be my long-term customers!" Han Shuo replied with a smile.

Gu Li nodded, "Of course."

Gu Li then proceeded to carry out his instructions. The staff filled the empty shelves with Han Shuo's pellet medicines that had been ready for a long time.

The crowd that had been waiting for this moment cheered loudly when they saw that the medicines Han Shuo had personally refined were finally available for purchase.

There was no shortage of people with deep pockets in the crowd. Having heard the rumours about how great a pharmacist Han Shuo was, these people were all willing to pay a lot of money to acquire his medicines. The shop was packed in no time. The area where Han Shuo's personally refined medicines were sold, was particularly chaotic.

In the centre of the banquet hall, there was a large, long, oval table covered with delicacies and fine wines. Nearly every powerful and respected figure in the City of Shadows had gathered in the hall. Portlem and Charlotte were among them.

At that moment, Rugersey, who had been standing awkwardly at the entrance, looked at Han Shuo and asked, "Um, Mr Bryan, do you still hold a grudge against me?"

Lately, in order to salvage his relationship with Han Shuo, Rugersey had been throwing a lot of money at Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. He even delivered small gifts every now and then to apologise for the mistake he had made the last time.

It had been a long time since that incident and Rugersey had been overly humble and apologetic to Han Shuo since then, so much so that even Andre decided to speak for him, "Bryan, just let it go already. Rugersey has done more than enough to atone for his mistakes. Since this is an auspicious day for the Celestial Pearl, and for my sake, just let it go, okay?"

In fact, Han Shuo had long since stopped holding any grudges, so he nodded his head after Andre spoke. Rugersey immediately put a big, bright smile on his face. He walked into the hall, found a seat, grabbed a glass of wine and toasted Han Shuo, "To your good health!"

Rugersey had shown more than enough of his sincerity. Han Shuo could not give him the cold shoulder in front of the audience, so he also raised his cup and drank to the toast. After that, he announced to the crowd with a smile, "Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby announce that I will personally refine medicine once every five years. Of the batch of medicine I have produced this time, thirty percent will be sold to the public, while the rest will be reserved for each and every one of you in this room."

Upon finishing these words, Han Shuo clapped his hands twice. A huge glass container was pushed into the hall. Inside the huge container were neatly arranged medicine bottles of all colours. The prices were clearly marked.

The members and representatives of the great family clans stood up excitedly and rushed to surround the container.

A group of people arrived at the entrance of Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. They were momentarily stunned by the sight of the pharmacy overflowing with customers.

"Andrina, is this the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy that Bryan runs?" Emily asked the little girl standing next to her with a surprised look on her face.

Andrina nodded. She smiled softly and replied, "It is. Great, isn't it?"

"It's so crowded! It's as if everyone in the city has gathered here. How did Bryan manage this? How did he get so many people here?" Phoebe cried out quietly. "I don't remember Bryan ever being very good at business. But how could he be so remarkable at it on Elysium?"

"It's the medicines he produces that are remarkable!" Andrina explained, "In the City of Shadows, Bryan is known as a gifted apothecary. Every great family clan in the city fights to get their hands on the medicines he personally refines. From the looks of it, I think he is putting his medicines up for sale again!

Having been around Han Shuo for some time, Andrina was able to deduce this after a quick observation.

Anito, who had been guarding the entrance, invited Andrina in as soon as he saw her.

"Follow me, we will look for Bryan." Andrina nodded and led the group into the campus. The mortals from the Profound Continent gasped and exclaimed in amazement at the scenes they saw along the way. They had not expected Han Shuo to be in possession of such an enormous store on Elysium!