213: Chapter 203 213: Chapter 203 “Good…let us both advance together,” Su Chang’an said, gathering the storage bag, “I hope that one day you can tell me your secret ambitions, but it’s fine if you choose not to.
As long as you are safe, that’s all that matters.” Hope and determination took root in his heart.
“Thank you, Lord Qianchen, for understanding.
I must go into seclusion to refine more pills now.
If we could spread our shops throughout the Cultivation World, even ten avatars of me refining pills would not meet the demand.
It’s exhausting” Jiang Tang said.
Jiang Tang had ambitious dreams and didn’t wish to spin like a top constantly refining pills; he was already capable of creating top-quality pills and did not need to improve his alchemy skills further.
What he wanted was to enhance his own cultivation level.
Only by attaining the strongest cultivation level could he avoid being bullied by others and stop depending on anyone else.
“Keep it up.
I can’t help with alchemy, but I can take care of opening new branches.
Leave it to me,” Su Chang’an said with a warm smile on his face.
Seeing how hardworking Jiang Tang was, he could not sit idly by.
Unable to take on the tasks personally, he could use his authority to have others do them.
“Alright, Lord Qianchen, I’ll leave the other matters in your hands.
I’m off to seclude myself!”
Su Chang’an possessed several storage bags filled with items, which he handed to the shopkeeper who came in upon being called, along with some instructions.
He also gave the shopkeeper storage bags so that as the shop’s stock sold well, the shopkeeper could replenish it as needed.
The shopkeeper was an inside man for the City Lord, instructed by the Immortal Venerable City Lord to keep a close watch on where Jiang Tang’s merchandise was coming from.
The Immortal Venerable City Lord suspected that the pills might be refined by Jiang Tang himself, but with such a vast quantity of spirit rice and spirit grass being sold at the shop, it was puzzling how they never seemed to run out if there wasn’t a reliable source.
In the Cultivation World, spirit rice and herbs of the same type but different quality are sold at different prices.
The quality of goods provided by Jiang Tang was superior to that of other shops in the Cultivation World.
The spirit grass and spirit rice weren’t just of great quality but also contained the highest human influence, emitting the strongest spiritual power when consumed by cultivators.
This spirit rice was affordable, and consuming it was like taking a Spirit Supplement Pill.
It captured all the business from the surrounding shops in Immortal Venerable City, attracting an endless stream of customers from the neighboring regions.
Every customer who came to this shop left with their hands full, each purchasing substantial amounts.
The shopkeeper’s hand grew tired from writing up orders, with wealth rolling into his pockets—a shared cause of tired hands among him and his assistants from counting so much money.
While the sales left his hands sore, the commissions filled his pockets.
Yet, he did not forget his mission; he was to gather intelligence for the Immortal Venerable City Lord.
Not daring to ask Jiang Tang directly about the source of his stock, the shopkeeper only observed where Jiang Tang visited during this period.
In recent days, Jiang Tang had been consistently in seclusion and hadn’t ventured far, yet somehow Su Chang’an managed to bring in so much stock upon meeting with Jiang Tang.
The shopkeeper was baffled by the mysterious origins of Jiang Tang’s supplies.
The formation in Jiang Tang’s room had been set up by the Immortal Venerable City Lord’s men.
Whether the formation within was activated or deactivated, the Immortal Venerable City Lord would be informed.
After giving instructions to the shopkeeper, Su Chang’an did not linger.
He bore a mandate from his Family and headed back to his Family Council Hall.
The last batch of pills had been provided mainly for the high-ranking officials and elites within his family, and the quantity was limited.
Upon his return, his father, the Sect Leader of Sword Sect, gave him a large sum of spirit stones to purchase more pills.
Buying them at outside auction prices was one thing, but the internal price he was offered meant that his family members could become stronger in time to rival the might of the Ten Great Clans.
Su Chang’an did not know that the Imperial Sect of Xuanyuan already harbored greater ambitions, hoping to recruit Jiang Tang into the family.
There was also the grand ambition to become the supreme ruler of the Ten Great Clans, the ruler of the Cultivation World.
Xuanyuan Mengting received a message from her family and could only return to the Imperial City first.
She arrived at the Family Council Hall, a place that had always been reserved for the Family Head and Elders to discuss matters, and as a girl, she had never entered it before.
The main reason was her insufficient ability.
She was not outstanding in the family and held no authority.
The more capable ones were the male disciples, who had their duties and could enter the Council Hall.
Xuanyuan Mengting had previously felt dissatisfied, wondering why as a girl she couldn’t enter this place?
Although she was a young lady, she was not the daughter of the Family Head but the daughter of an Elder, referred to as “daughter”.
The biggest reason was that her grandfather was the former family patriarch, and now she was the niece of the incumbent Family Head.
Xuanyuan Jie’s father was indeed the Family Head, as well as being a boy, had relatively strong abilities, and held a position within the family.
This was Xuanyuan Mengting’s first visit to the Family Council Hall, and upon entering to observe, she found nothing special, only feeling a serious atmosphere inside.
Seated in the main seat of the Council Hall was the Family Head, with several chairs on either side occupied by the family’s Elders, and standing in the hall were two shopkeepers she recognized.
Although she didn’t know why she had been summoned here, she could guess that if the shopkeepers had come, it must be related to Jiang Tang.
“I pay my respects to the Family Head and the Elders.
”
“Xuanyuan Mengting, I hear you know Jiang Tang, and that you are friends?” The Family Head’s usually stern face displayed a hint of a smile, which was discernible from the slight upturn of his lips as he spoke.
Xuanyuan Mengting held great respect for this great-uncle, whom she rarely saw and greatly admired.
In his youth, he had made a name for himself in the Cultivation World.
It was said he had once sought the path to Cultivation Ascension without success, and so he firmly decided to strengthen the family before seeking another opportunity.
“Family Head, Elders, I do know Jiang Tang, and I took him to our family’s shop to buy Spirit Plant seeds.
Previously, at the auction, I bought a pill he was selling, and after consuming that pill, I advanced by one stage,” she reported.
“Oh, Jiang Tang is your friend, and he didn’t gift you any pills?” asked an Elder seated in the hall.
“To report to the Elder, I’ve only known Jiang Tang for a few days, and it was during a time of crisis in Immortal Venerable City when he stepped in to save the people and detoxify them.
I admired him greatly and thus we became friends.
I heard that his other two friends received gifts from him, and the Immortal Venerable City Lord even took the initiative to sell a shop to him to serve as a branch for his sales,” she replied.
Xuanyuan Mengting, while respectful in front of the Elders, found it impossible to ask outright for someone to gift her pills.
On one hand, it was due to her pride, and on the other, because she was a girl.
If one has the means to buy something, why expect a gift?
Unless that person is someone very important to her.
“Xuanyuan Jie is still young, ah!
He hasn’t learned to seize the opportunity to sell a shop and befriend Jiang Tang, to exert effort on behalf of our family.” The Family Head regretted his son’s missed chance to make such a good friend, as the Immortal Venerable City Lord was cunning and shrewd, seizing the opportunity tightly.
“I think we only have Xuanyuan Mengting to step in, as girls may have an advantage in this aspect over boys!” remarked an Elder, suggesting the idea of recruiting a son-in-law.