Chapter 275

Chapter 275: Background

After realizing this shop had Immortal Sect backing, the three men who had come to suppress it left behind a storage bag and ran off dejectedly.

Zhou Luo quickly dispatching that Potion Alliance group amazed the two present attendees even more.

Yao Wu, especially, her beautiful eyes sparkling like stars, couldn’t help but ask, "Brother Zhou, your child… is actually an Immortal Sect disciple?"

She knew Zhou Luo was powerful and that he came from long-life families, yet she had never imagined his child would actually be an Inner Sect disciple of the Immortal Sect.

The Inner Sect and the Outer Sect were completely different.

In Yao Wu’s eyes, Zhou Luo’s status grew increasingly exalted.

Wang Lang laughed heartily and commented, "Brother Zhou, you should have mentioned how impressive your family connections are earlier! We might have gotten a discount on this place."

With the banner of an Inner Sect disciple of the Immortal Sect, it was likely Yao Yuan Pavilion would face far less trouble in the future.

"I just wanted to keep a low profile," Zhou Luo said modestly.

This talk of a low profile was ultimately just a convenient excuse.

To firmly establish himself within this mixed-bag Immortal City, he needed backing and connections. The status of his children as Inner Sect disciples would be his greatest source of confidence.

Presumably, after tonight, word would spread that Yao Yuan Pavilion had Qinyuan Sect Inner Sect disciples supporting it from behind the scenes.

When that happened, anyone wanting to target him or scheme against him would have to carefully weigh the consequences. This would spare him a lot of trouble.

Yao Wu silently watched him from behind. Only after receiving confirmation did she lower her gaze, but a feeling like soft ripples stirred once more within her heart.

Lin Xi had returned home early. Wang Lang declared he was certainly too keyed up to sleep tonight and would rather stay at the shop and watch over it, so Yao Wu followed Zhou Luo as they walked in the direction of home.

Along the way, Yao Wu could no longer contain her curiosity. "Brother Zhou," she asked, "how many wives and children do you actually have?"

She had previously learned from Wang Lang that Zhou Luo had many wives and concubines and a large number of children, and her curiosity had been piqued.

Now, finally, she had the chance to ask properly.

Zhou Luo thought for a moment, then answered directly without concealment.

Hearing the numbers—more than a dozen wives and concubines, and nearly forty children—Yao Wu was momentarily stunned.

Her gaze towards Zhou Luo shifted to one of utter astonishment.

"Brother Zhou," she stammered, "…can you really handle so many?"

Zhou Luo gave a faint smile. "Cultivation is about living one’s best life. Given that, why shouldn’t I follow my heart?"

"Actually," he continued, "I really admire Wang Lang. Compared to me, he indulges his desires even more freely and sees the path of cultivation far more clearly."

This was, of course, just talk. If cultivation wasn’t pursued for the sake of Changsheng (immortality), he might as well have stayed home as a wealthy man.

But such thoughts weren’t something to share with outsiders. This was the most reasonable explanation he could offer.

Yao Wu fell into deep thought.

In all her experiences, she believed a cultivator should focus single-mindedly on their practice, unmoved and unswayed by worldly distractions.

This was what her own master had taught her, and why her master had remained unmarried all his life.

Yet Zhou Luo seemed to have opened a door to a completely different world for her. What struck her most was that regardless of his strength or talent, neither appeared diminished by such distractions.

Could he… possibly be the one seeing the truth?

She felt only a bit lost.

At that moment, Zhou Luo continued, "Of course, everyone has their own path. What I mean is, as long as you follow your heart and stay true to yourself, you’ll surely achieve success in cultivation."

These words struck Yao Wu like a bolt of enlightenment.

Gazing at his handsome profile, blinking her beautiful eyes, she suddenly felt his figure seemed taller and more imposing.

"Brother Zhou is right. Following your heart is the true way. If you like something, you like it; don’t hide it or hold back." Yao Wu murmured to herself.

It didn’t sound like she was speaking to Zhou Luo, but more like a reminder to herself.

Zhou Luo pretended not to understand. Yao Wu lowered her head, silently clenching her skirt, lost in unknown thoughts.

When they returned home, she looked at the brightly lit side courtyard and her own darkened yard, feeling somewhat hollow inside.

"See you tomorrow." Zhou Luo waved to her and opened his courtyard gate.

"Mhm, Brother Zhou, see you tomorrow." Yao Wu nodded.

She watched him enter. Through the gate that hadn’t fully closed, she could vaguely see someone stepping forward, smiling to welcome him.

"Ah."

She sighed and walked towards her own courtyard.

…

The next day, as expected, Yao Yuan Pavilion remained bustling.

Moreover, the number of people coming with gifts seemed even larger than on opening day yesterday, and the gifts were more precious.

Evidently, the events of last night had spread throughout the neighborhood.

People naturally dared not offend a shop backed by the identity of Immortal Sect Inner Sect disciples; some came purely to offer apologies.

Zhou Luo didn’t go to the shop that day.

Because business was booming, the reserved inventory would only last about five or six days; he still needed to focus on Alchemy.

Similarly, Yao Wu also entered Closed-Door Training at home, refining Gu insects every day.

As for Wang Lang, this guy, he had a decent stock of spiritual symbols, and since people were more interested in potions and Gu insects, he wasn’t as hard-pressed.

Though it was his first time being an owner, he proved highly skilled in this kind of social interaction.

With him around, Zhou Luo basically didn’t need to worry about Yao Yuan Pavilion’s daily operations.

Once things stabilized, Zhou Luo planned to have a few offspring learn to manage the business too, preventing a situation where no one was available when he eventually took charge of the family.

Speaking of which, several years had already passed since Xu Changsheng took his children to the spiritual mine.

Though letters arrived every six months reporting the spiritual mine remained stable for the time being.

But with the Lu Family and Zhang Family pressing step by step, the Lin Family, standing alone, likely wouldn’t hold out much longer.

Zhou Luo imagined Lin Tian Xiong hadn’t anticipated the Wang Family plunging into internal strife at such a critical moment.

Last time Wang Lang mentioned it, he’d said the Wang Family elders had split into two factions now, squaring off against each other.

Perhaps once Wang Yu Wei returned from her studies, the Wang Family might very well change hands.

Although Wang Lang was from the main lineage, he’d left the family early and so wasn’t concerned.

He even thought it might not be a bad thing if Wang Yu Wei’s faction ended up controlling the family, considering she had a Golden Core master as her teacher and trained in the Biquan True Sect; her future achievements were bound to be extraordinary.

To ensure his children at the mine were safe, Zhou Luo had frequently sent them supplies like talismans and potions, especially top-quality talismans and top-quality potions.

It was precisely because of these supplies that the Lu Family had been unable to capture the new spiritual mine after prolonged efforts, forcing them to temporarily give up.

Zhou Luo felt he needed to achieve Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.

Currently, he only lacked six types of auxiliary herbs and one main ingredient.

He estimated it would take about two or three more years to gather everything.

But the main ingredient remained elusive; the only potential lead involved crowdsourcing for alchemy.

He didn’t want to do that.

Half a year passed in a flash, and Yao Yuan Pavilion’s business continued to boom, overwhelming its competitors and sparking considerable envy.

There were primarily three reasons. Firstly, the goods were affordable but high-quality, especially the potions Zhou Luo crafted; their quality was generally the best in their category.

Secondly, the first-level potions he concocted were scarce on the market and highly effective.

Lastly, Yao Wu’s Gu insects had also become a major attraction of Yao Yuan Pavilion.

By this time, Zhou Luo had essentially recouped all the initial investment and even made a small profit.

It was also on this very day that Lin Xi gave birth to her sixth child.