Chapter 10

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Tenant and Landlord

Although this world was one of cultivation, based on Lu Xingzhou’s years of observation and understanding, he felt it was, at most, a low-level Xuan (Mystic) or low-level Immortal realm.

At Lu Xingzhou’s current Seventh-Grade Daoist cultivation level, he was still quite far from being able to fly. Curing a mere broken leg was like dealing with a life-threatening illness… The so-called powers of “moving mountains and filling seas” were only in legends, let alone anything like exploding stars or planes. The most top-tier cultivators pursued “ascension to immortality,” and only after that could they be considered true immortals.

Whether immortals had sects and how those sects operated resources was currently unknown. In any case, at the current low-level immortal realm, everyone was still essentially a mortal, and gold and silver currency were still very useful most of the time. Every sect or gang naturally needed to earn money and resources, and individuals also needed “work” to accumulate resources for their own cultivation.

If Lu Xingzhou were to describe it, gangs were similar to various companies, and sects were akin to private universities. Disciples who graduated from sects would enter various gangs or join various government departments. Of course, many also “stayed on campus” to take up positions or pursue further studies.

Business alliances were also a type of gang, with their main business being the circulation of various resources. High-end ones would deal with heavenly treasures (天材地宝).

Of course, these were all considered orthodox paths (正道). There were also demonic path (魔道) sects and gangs, whose business involved pillaging, murder, and various gray-market activities. The principles of the two worlds were still somewhat interconnected.

The organization Lu Xingzhou had previously helped Yuan Muyu establish was the “Palace of Yama” (阎罗殿), now the most dreaded assassin organization in Great Qian, a typical demonic path entity.

The assassin from the Palace of Yama who had abruptly attacked him earlier must have been hired by the Danxia Gang. If an enemy within the Palace of Yama wanted to kill him, they certainly wouldn’t send just a low-level assassin. Speaking of which, the Danxia Gang was quite interesting: they kicked out their landlord, and hired an assassin who turned out to be a former elder of their own organization. Their bad luck was truly something else.

The Heavenly Sword Sect, on the other hand, was a very orthodox sword sect. Many of its graduating disciples chose to join government departments. As swordsmen, their cultivation direction primarily led them to the Demon Suppressing Bureau and the military. Therefore, the Heavenly Sword Sect had some influence in official circles, but on the surface, it seemed relatively low-tier.

Shen Tang understood what Lu Xingzhou meant by asking “what business model,” and she said, “The Heavenly Sword Sect secretly used to be one of the Imperial Merchants (皇商), assisting the imperial family in handling finances and managing their private treasury.”

Lu Xingzhou was extremely surprised by this answer, and his heart stirred. “So your so-called sect being annihilated because you offended someone was actually due to being caught in an imperial succession struggle (皇室嫡争)? I heard the Eldest Princess disappeared last month. Is that related to this?”

Shen Tang’s perpetually gentle smile finally solidified somewhat. “Your information is quite timely. The court hasn’t made this public. How do you know?”

“I have my own channels. That’s not important. What’s important is whether you were involved in the imperial succession struggle?”

“The reason is unknown; the court is also investigating the case. In any case, we don’t dare openly seek refuge in the capital, fearing we might die even more inexplicably if we go there,” Shen Tang sighed. “Currently, only I know the channels for contacting the imperial family. So, no matter how unwilling they are, they can only acknowledge me as their leader. Otherwise, how would it be my turn, a cripple?”

“That channel won’t be easy to keep secret. The imperial family transporting goods to you, and you remitting funds back—that line is too obvious.”

Shen Tang had initially thought Lu Xingzhou’s questions about the succession struggle meant he was more inclined to retreat, but his attitude seemed otherwise, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Not only that, I also don’t want to be targeted by enemies again. So, in the short term, I won’t contact them. I need to establish ourselves first.”

“At least consolidate your internal structure first?”

“Precisely.”

“So your so-called business alliance currently has no source of goods… Perhaps you have some money, and plan to purchase medicinal ingredients in Xiazhou to refine elixirs yourselves, effectively starting from scratch. For this, you specifically hired Master Bai Chi, who came from the renowned alchemy sect, Incense Burning Tower. Your next phase of plans were all centered around him. And then he was poached by the Danxia Gang?”

“Yes,” Shen Tang said with a wry smile. “Bai Chi is from Xiazhou, so he was quite suitable. But we never expected he had childhood ties with Liu Yan’er and was swayed by a few words…”

Lu Xingzhou lightly tapped the armrest of his wheelchair, pondering. “The Danxia Gang has its own herb mountains, but you need to purchase medicinal ingredients. Your alchemy costs are not on the same level. If you try to compete with them from this angle, you’re bound to lose. If you trust me, my suggestion is to abandon the alchemy plan and find an alternative.”

Shen Tang sighed. “How could I not know this…? But we truly have no other viable plans in the short term.”

“Since I’m suggesting this, I naturally have another plan for you to establish yourselves. In fact, there are too many people doing this kind of business in Xiazhou. Even if Bai Chi were still here, at most you’d just become a second Danxia Gang, and what good would that do…? Your original plan was flawed.”

Shen Tang nodded. “We understood the principle. We were just thinking of settling down first. Upon arriving in Xiazhou, our first thought naturally turned to medicinal ingredients.”

“This is a cognitive bias. Who says places abundant in medicinal ingredients must engage in medicine-related businesses?”

“But if we do something else, why choose Xiazhou?”

Lu Xingzhou chuckled. “Xiazhou is one of Great Qian’s medicinal ingredient bases, yet there are few skilled alchemists here. Do you know why?”

Shen Tang said, “Naturally, it’s because the medicinal ingredients here are common crops, only suitable for refining low-grade elixirs. High-grade alchemists don’t care for this place.”

“But correspondingly, low-grade alchemists like me flock here in large numbers. The quantity of low-grade elixirs produced here is unmatched in Great Qian, and prices become lower and lower due to competition. Many business alliances procure elixirs from here and sell them elsewhere for profit margins. Local cultivators even eat low-grade elixirs like candy,” Lu Xingzhou blinked. “The question is, since Xiazhou people consume so many elixirs, why hasn’t their cultivation speed increased compared to other places?”

Shen Tang blurted out, “Firstly, consuming too many similar elixirs diminishes their effect. Secondly, they accumulate too much elixir poison (丹毒)!”

All medicine has some toxicity, and elixirs are no different.

The reason why supreme-grade and excellent-grade elixirs are more valuable than ordinary good-grade ones is not primarily because their efficacy is stronger. The real key is that they contain less elixir poison. So-called supreme-grade elixirs are almost entirely free of elixir poison and are incredibly rare. However, supreme-grade pills are scarce, and excellent-grade ones are expensive. The vast majority of people still consume ordinary good-grade pills.

Elixirs in other regions are much more expensive than in Xiazhou. Even good-grade pills are not consumed in large quantities, and the elixir poison can generally be expelled by the body itself, so it’s not a major issue. But Xiazhou people consume far too many, accumulating some elixir poison deep within their bodies. Yet, because of the prevailing atmosphere, few reflect on this.

In fact, it’s not just Xiazhou people; most Daoist cultivators rely heavily on elixirs, willing to endure the toxicity. Swordsmen, on the other hand, are more resistant to them.

Sure enough, Lu Xingzhou said, “Sword Sects emphasize purity the most. With jade-like sword bones (剑骨如玉) and clear-sighted sword hearts (剑心通明), they often disdain relying on medicine and have more experience in expelling these miscellaneous impurities than other schools. If your sect uses some special mental cultivation method to achieve this, could that technique be inscribed onto talismans or placed into magical artifacts like accessories, allowing people to carry them long-term to purify elixir poison?”

Shen Tang paused, went through it in her mind, and her eyes gradually lit up.

Elixir poison could, of course, be dissolved by detoxification elixirs. For severe accumulation, high-grade detoxification elixirs would suffice, which isn’t a problem; the issue is the cost.

However, creating these purifying sword talismans would be very cheap. They would just need to be carried long-term, not as immediately effective as detoxification elixirs, but perfectly suitable for Xiazhou’s situation.

This idea sounds simple, and many sects could do it, not just sword sects. But other places don’t have Xiazhou’s characteristic of treating low-grade elixirs like candy, so elixir poison isn’t a significant problem there, and naturally, no one studies this. This is a specific strategy tailored to Xiazhou’s local conditions, yet the Xiazhou people themselves lack the awareness to pursue it!

In other words, they would be the first to engage in this business. As long as it could be promoted, it would be a highly profitable venture with minimal investment.

Shen Tang took a deep breath, unable to resist asking, “Actually, leveraging our resources to refine elixirs and compete head-on with the Danxia Gang would be more satisfying for you, wouldn’t it? Why do you consistently refuse to do that, and instead offer me such a valuable idea?”

Lu Xingzhou smiled. “You haven’t realized that competing in alchemy isn’t competing head-on with the Danxia Gang; it’s falling into the vast ocean of Xiazhou’s elixir competition. For the Danxia Gang, at most, it would just make them a bit uncomfortable, with no real significance.”

Shen Tang asked curiously, “Are you truly not going to bother with them?”

“The anger I originally wanted to vent has already been vented. If they don’t trouble me, I truly couldn’t be bothered with them,” Lu Xingzhou smiled warmly. “But now that they don’t want me to live in Xiazhou, I’ll just have to make it so they can’t live either.”

Shen Tang clearly saw a faint, chilling murderous intent flash in the man’s smiling eyes.

He wants to make the Danxia Gang unable to survive?

His cultivation isn’t high, and he’s alone with a child. How could he do that?

Shen Tang hesitated for a moment, then whispered, “Given our current situation, it’s difficult for us to engage in martial conflicts with other gangs.”

“When did I say you needed to engage in martial conflict…?” Lu Xingzhou’s murderous intent had already receded, and he was still smiling. “If Miss Shen thinks my idea just now is worth something, then perhaps you could help me procure a batch of Cold Dew Grass (寒莹草). The more, the better.”

Cold Dew Grass, effective for promoting tissue regeneration and healing, is often mashed and applied externally to treat skin ulcers, erosion, burns, and so on. As it’s not widely used in alchemy, not much of it is grown in Xiazhou, and its price isn’t high.

Shen Tang didn’t know what Lu Xingzhou needed it for alchemy, but she said nothing, merely nodding. “I will arrange it. Thank you for your guidance, Master.”

Having said that, she turned her wheelchair and headed for the door.

Lu Xingzhou watched her slowly move away, remaining silent for a long time.

Ah Nuo’s voice then spoke from beside him. “Master, what are you doing, Master? You actually started teaching them…”

Lu Xingzhou snapped out of his reverie and said sternly, “That gentle expression, those words of accommodation and understanding… I’m clearly the landlord, yet she made it seem like she was taking me in. Isn’t that annoying?”

Ah Nuo wrinkled her nose. “If being annoyed means giving someone a priceless idea, then please, Master, be annoyed with me.”

Lu Xingzhou reached out and pinched her cheeks, pulling them horizontally, then suddenly released them with a thump, making her chubby cheeks jiggle.

Under Ah Nuo’s aggrieved gaze, Lu Xingzhou was expressionless. “That was just to put myself back in a position of power. This idea sounds simple, but in reality, they’ll likely struggle to implement it on their own. They’ll have to ask me for help later.”

Ah Nuo sighed. “Why bother, Master…?”

Lu Xingzhou said coldly, “Because the taste of being dependent on others—I never want to experience it again in this life.”

Ah Nuo slowly said, “Master, since you understand human power dynamics so well, you must have many girlfriends, right?”

Bang! The little Daoist boy was curled into a ball and thrown out the door.

– Mochinuna.