Chương 141: Securing Wealth

Ch141 Securing Wealth I charge my Azure Lightning Attack Talisman back up, and watch the damage it's done to Lan Xin heal at the same time. Her innate physique is still extremely fragile, but her physical body suffers no lasting damage. Lan Xin's soul is used to a constant state of turbulence, so the intense reaction has only left her with a mental shock. Her soul itself is not harmed, but the serpent that often swims inside her does not come to the surface to even look at me.

She swaps out her burnt robes with a new pair, and slowly walks toward me. She touches her lips with her fingertips, and looks me up and down.

"I didn't know you felt that way about me. You really do understand how my life in this sect has been… I thought no one else understood…" After a few cycles of my Jade Purity Soul Scripture, my mind becomes completely clear. There are still lingering sparks of heat deep in the younger strands of my soul, but they are no longer at the surface affecting my actions. She stops to look me in the eyes again.

"Do you know what that force was…? That golden glow…" I shrug, "I don't. Though, I do believe it has to do with our conflicting cultivation techniques." Her eyes darken,"Does this mean you won't accept me as your woman? I- I can change my cultivation technique to one that compliments yours if you think it would help." Without standing on the jade step above her, Lan Xin and I are roughly the same height. Her physical growth as a 12th level qi refiner far outpaces mine.

Her physique's aura is far stronger than mine too, but she still acts timid as I reply.

"I don't think that's the only issue, I told you, it's complicated. I believe it will just take time." My Jade Purity Soul Scripture activates. Instead of using it to cycle qi, I concentrate on only maintaining control of my mental state, and slide an arm around Lan Xin's waist. I whisper in her ear while opening up the bronze door in my mind.

"I will accept you. Though, it will not alter my goals. Lingshi City, the Beast Mastery Peak, even the entire Outer Sect… These are small stepping stones to where I wish to go. A sturdy foundation must be built before I can climb higher, and now I wish for you to be a part of it." We're teleported back outside into the back courtyard of my shop. Sharp pressure starts to build up in my souls again, but I can feel it far more clearly. The hot younger strands are aching, and straining to be released.

When I let go and walk toward the back door of my shop, the pressure goes away in an instant. A smile grows as I realize I've figured out how to combat this pressure to an extent.

"You can show yourself to me, but you must remain unchanged to the sect. You wonder why I never want to show my full strength to others? It is because hierarchies must be climbed in a predictable manner. It is far too dangerous for any seat of authority to believe you're capable of challenging them directly. They will begin to view you less as an asset, and more as a threat." Lan Xin nods, and takes a few breaths to rid the blush from her cheeks.

She lifts her chin, and focuses to put on the arrogant face of the 3rd Ranked Beauty of the Azure Cloud Sect that everyone knows.

"Understood. I will not let you down." I put on a dull unassuming expression to match what any below average outer sect disciple would, and walk back into my shop. Wang Ruze is still here, overseeing the construction. On our way out I toss him a storage ring, holding a single barrel of perfect grade wine inside.

"Separate that into reasonable serving sizes, with high grade bottles. Feel free to sample some yourself, but do not sell any yet until I give you further instructions." The old 10th level qi refiner politely bows and accepts before even looking inside the ring to see what it is. Once outside, my presence is quickly overshadowed. Whispers from passing cultivators only focus on the woman by my side.

"That's Lan Xin, the qi refiner that killed 5 foundation establishment cultivators alone…"

"Is it just me? Or is she more beautiful than she's ever been? It's like she has a whole new aura!"

"I think you're right, last month I saw her shopping in the city! She becomes more stunning every day!"

"Why isn't someone like her in the inner sect? Normal qi refiners can't kill foundation establishment cultivators, the difference in qi density should make it physically impossible…"

"I bet she'll be getting offers soon. This fairy won't be visiting Lingshi City much longer, we have to admire her presence while we still can."

"What about that Li Hao? The weak outer sect disciple next to her! I heard he killed a foundational cultivator too, the Fu Patriarch!"

"Ha! That kill doesn't count. You felt the aura of that shield artifact he borrowed from the Mu family, didn't you? They displayed it in the center square all morning before it was sold. My grandmother on her deathbed could kill a foundation establishment if she had an artifact like that. It's not impressive at all!" Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"He leeched off the Wang Family to even get into the sect, now he's taking credit for foundational kills from the Mu Family. Shameless!" We walk all the way out of the Jade Market Alley and onto the main center square, and the whispers and gossip of cultivators around only get louder. Many stop what they're doing to bow and greet Lan Xin. Nearby shops even empty out and their customers line the streets just to catch a glance.

Her chin stays pointed to the sky filled with confidence, and to an outsider nothing has changed, but I can tell her cheeks stay rosier than usual. We eventually walk into the Mu Family Pavilion, past the growing crowds. The first floor of this wide open storefront is multiple times larger than the shops on the street over. The walls and center displays are full of pills, talismans, weapons, booklets, element stones, fruits, and miscellaneous items.

It has everything a cultivator would ever need to grow from the 1st to 6th level of qi refinement. There are dozens of active arrays, making the air full of qi, dampening the noise of other customers, and basic shielding arrays so no one fights in the shop. Near every wall, there is a robed member of the Mu Family available to process items for purchase. At the back of the shop, I see Mu Zhiheng's gaze meet mine. He stands by a closed off staircase in the back leading up to a private floor.

We walk straight toward him for mutual greetings. I examine the injured man again as he leads us up the long stairs. His dantian is fragile, cracked all over, held together by a layer of an external innate physique manifestation. His own acquired physique tethers to this orb of green wood for support. The raw qi density flowing slowly through his meridians is strange, close to that of a foundation establishment cultivator, but his dantian is not large enough anymore to hold much.

The dense soul of a foundation establishment cultivator is still present in his body, maintaining the entire system as an anchor. He's fallen to the 10th level of qi refinement, but his strength still feels closer to a higher realm. It is a very complicated injury, one that no heavenly tier 1 healing elixirs, or even session with my soul fox could fix. I'm certain of it.

"May I speak freely?" he asks while pressing control disks to separate our voices from the floor below.

"Yes, Lan Xin is aware of the truth. You do not have to hold back." He smiles and stops in front of an empty table. There are a few display cases on either side of it, mostly holding high grade weapons and pills. I recognize a perfect grade Verdant Steel short sword on display further away, one of the items I sold to Mu Shulan in the Red Pine Market a long time ago. It's on display with a tag marking it not for sale. There is no one else here on this floor. The many other private tables are all empty.

This is where larger deals are usually made, not open to the public. Mu Zhiheng pulls out a pile of papers and a jade tablet.

"Well, the first good news is that the shield was advertised as you wished. The city knows of it as the Mu Clan's gift that saved your life. It was purchased by the Lin Clan for 820 foundational crystals, even more than expected. One of their elders in the capital caught wind of its uniqueness, and it will be hand delivered by the Patriarch on his trip over. It will make the items you asked for very simple to buy now." He then turns to Lan Xin.

"And for you, here are 102 individual plots of spirit fields as requested. I'll need signatures on these papers, and imprints into this jade tablet as per usual. Some have as little as 2 veins present, while others have over 20, similar to the ones you purchased from us before. In total, it is 837 inferior grade veins." Mu Zhiheng reaches into the pile of papers to grab a map and unfolds it toward me.

It shows a detailed diagram of the three tier 2 mountains making the city borders, then hundreds of smaller plots outside for a few hundred kilometers in every direction. The three plots Lan Xin already secured are circled, and there are small dots on them detailing where spirit veins lie. Directly connected to these three, there are 32 new plots, increasing the amount of land by over ten times. This is the most densely populated area of individual veins around the entire city.

There are 611 new inferior grade overstrained veins on all of these connected plots. The remaining 70 plots hold 226 more veins in total. They are scattered around the outside of the city limits, making an enormous circle hundreds of kilometers wide. Some are landlocked by privately owned mountains from other clans, and a few have main travel roads cutting right through their centers. Some of them are low grade veins, making them more valuable on paper, but the grade of vein is meaningless to me.

A clear plan comes to mind, to slowly expand my perfect grade vein farm only in this area where the plots are connected in one land mass. The additional scattered plots are too far apart; it would be a hassle to keep secure. I point to the connected area of inferior grade plots.

"We'll just take these. The scattered plots are of no use for now." Lan Xin spends the next half hour signing papers and imprinting the jade tablet to transfer ownership of these spirit stone mines. Mu Zhiheng provides us with all of the large range concealment arrays they have in stock, capable of shielding the existence of low grade veins from an aerial view. It seems like overkill for these inferior plots, but truthfully, it's barely enough for what they'll become.

The leakage from the harvesting arrays is enough to be full outputs of low grade veins. Even the three plots that have already been exposed look slightly greener and livelier. The wildlife is even becoming slightly stronger from the excess qi. We leave right after our purchase, taking off on her flying vessel to inspect the new land. Many of the 32 new plots look just like the original three.

Some are barren and rocky, a few have medium sized hills that used to be bigger veins, and streams run through a couple plots as well. All together, the plots create a rough looking oval from above. It's an enormous amount of barren land. It's a slightly larger landmass than the entirety of Lingshi City and the three tier 2 peaks surrounding it. It's almost half the size of the entire Beast Mastery Peak's controlled land mass. Though, to the sect and to everyone else in the city, it's basically a wasteland.

Slowly pulling spirit fragments and spirit stones from the tiny veins left could turn a profit for clans that have decades to wait, but these are not sought after properties. We fly to the back of the 35 plot landmass, where there is only one large lake. Most of the small streams from other plots run into it, and there is a small forest surrounding it already. I can barely see across the whole pale blue water to the other side. It's almost a kilometer across. I have Lan Xin leave me behind here.

"Lay down new concealment arrays around the edges of all the new plots. It will make the mines in the center even more secure. When you're done, pick up the spirit stones that were collected during the wedding, it should be well over a hundred thousand more by now. Come back and I'll fill you in on my plans for the future, you won't be left in the dark any more." She nods obediently and agrees.

"I will get it done." There is still a lingering dreamy expression on her face when she turns back to look at me for approval a few times. Eventually, her flying vessel leaves my sight. The 85 upgraded veins left, given the current harvesting tools, bring in 577, 150 spirit stones a week. I do not have the upgrade card stash necessary to upgrade 611 more right now, but in time, this wasteland will become more valuable than Lingshi City and the Beast Mastery Peak's plots combined…

I walk to one of the nicest shorelines of the lake, with a small rocky hill behind it, and upgrade the spirit vein marked nearby. It expands halfway under the hill, and the other half deep underground beneath the lake. The tier 2 concealment qi gathering array flags are placed down to contain it, but the radius of its center lands slightly into the water. I breathe in the fresh qi filled air and open the bronze door in my mind. Meimei's excited yips echo out over the lake as she pops out of my hidden realm.

The tiny fox immediately runs toward the shore to splash in the water, curious about what this new place is. I pull out my four remaining upgrade cards, along with a few old handwritten booklets on various elements and spells.