Chapter 374: Fang Shaolong

Matriarch Huang gave some time to Cao Yun. She knew exactly what he had seen. Although the young man had lived through several hardships, seeing the corpses of his own family was hard. Since he was seeing them through Huang Liyue's memories, it was as though he had seen them with his own eyes.

"Thank you for treating them with respect."

"Of course. Although it was young, the Cao family had still helped our Wu Province a lot. Cao Wen had even given his life for us. After failing to protect them, giving them a proper burial was the right thing to do, and the least thing we could do for them...

"I imagine that you're going to the Subei Province, right?"

"Indeed." Cao Yun was not surprised since Matriarch Huang had the same information he had.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to send anyone to help you. Just like the Wubei Sect, we have too much to do. Thankfully, your mastery over 'Ashen Feather Seal' is very good. Unless you meet a powerful late Spirit Warrior, no one should be able to see through your disguise. In fact, even late Spirit Warriors might not necessarily be able to do so if they're not looking out for it.

"That being said, we have a local branch both in the Sunmen Province and in the Subei Province. In the Sunmen Province, Huang Jian and Miss Huang Lü will probably be too busy fighting off skirmishes with the demons. But in the Subei Province, Miss Huang Si seems to have some venture to take care of."

Matriarch Huang's eyes laid on Huang Liyue when she said that. Indeed, Huang Liyue had hidden the real reason of Huang Si's presence there. Huang Cixi had found out that she was exploring some new mines in the Subei Province. No one had found that out for now. Hiding such a large mine would be increasingly difficult. But they had to make sure that the entire mine belonged to them. And that meant buying off some lands. That was the reason why Huang Si had gone there. Now that she had stopped fighting for the role of matriarch, she was set on fighting for her money.

Sooner or later she would become the first elder as per her agreement with Huang Cixi. At that moment she intended to be the richest woman in the Hongchen Kingdom. Of course, most of the benefits would go to the Huang family. But as first elder, she would still have a huge control over these funds.

Huang Liyue was not sure whether Matriarch Huang knew. She was fairly certain she did, but even if she didn't, at the very least she suspected. However, she would never say anything as she wanted to let the younger generation free. Besides, this was very beneficial to their family. And as long as she did not officially know, she could still lie to the Imperial City without any problem. After all, they would probably not be happy to learn that someone had found such a large mining vein without noticing them. With the war coming, they might even start throwing around accusations of treason. Of course, against the Huang family, they would be useless as it was the most powerful family of the Hongchen Kingdom. Even the Imperial City had to tread carefully with them. It was especially true now that they had a new 8th-grade Spirit Warrior and that Matriarch Huang was considered as a half-step Sage.

"Those branches are rather small so they probably won't be of much help, but I will send word to them to treat the alchemist Guai Mo as an esteemed friend of our family. That way, we won't cause another incident between us."

Cao Yun and the Matriarch kept talking about minor details on how to organize Cao Yun's travel. Since he was not a beast tamer, he had many things to take into consideration when it came to Hongyu.

Then, Huang Liyue spent some time with him to examine his mastery of 'Ashen Feather Seal'. She was intrigued on how he had been able to mimic the effects of 'Blood Withers While Life Flourishes'. Indeed, she had created this specifically to be used with the bloodline of the True Fiery Fenghuang. Since she already knew about Cleansed Asura, explaining how he had done it was not such a problem. If she had wanted to steal Cleansed Asura's legacy from him, she would have done so a long time ago. As they discussed, this gave Huang Liyue more ideas.

Even now, she felt as though her 'Ashen Feather Seal' was not finished. And the fact that it required a strong bloodline had always seemed like a flaw to her. Although she did not intend to spread it outside of her own family, there was a requirement on the purity of one's blood to use it. As such, not everyone in the Huang family could study and master it. But while talking with Cao Yun, she got a few inspirations. And as it turned out, Cao Yun got a few of his own too. It wouldn't be much, but he might be able to improve his technique even more.

The part he had a hard time understanding was how to protect one's soul. 'Covering the Mud with Cinders' was explaining how to send the ashes everywhere to hide one's cultivation and presence. But the parts concerning the soul and sea of consciousness were extremely vague. In fact, Huang Liyue was also vague on that. Doing it and explaining it were two separate issues. But now that Cao Yun had really started to work on his soul, and after his encounter with a ghost, he was starting to understand more and more about the subject.

-

Finally, Cao Yun left the Huang family.

He first went to Governor Leng. Nothing major happened there. He was briefly received by the Governor. As a 1-star Human alchemist, he wasn't that important. But he was still precious enough that Governor Leng found a few minutes to talk to him in person. He was extremely polite but Cao Yun could tell that he was never showing his true emotions. This man was truly a politician. But Cao Yun found him a bit less competent than Matriarch Huang. With her, sometimes he couldn't tell whether she was genuine or not. On the other hand, Governor Leng was not genuine at all. As soon as he had saluted Cao Yun, he wanted to leave.

Then, Cao Yun went to the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. Immediately after his entrance, a young woman absolutely charming went toward him. At the very same time, he heard several people leaving the main room to inform others of his presence. Under other circumstances, Cao Yun would have thought that this was some kind of trap. But they were just anxious to inform their master that an alchemist was there.

"Senior Guai, please follow me. We've prepared some wine for you, Elusive Peach Wine."

According to what Cao Yun had read, Elusive Peach Wine was supposed to be Guai Mo's favorite drink. This wasn't Cao Yun's, but it was still a great delicacy. So he would drink with pleasure. Contrary to some wines for cultivators, its effects were nonexistent. But the taste was extremely sweet and favored by many. Moreover, it was rare and incredibly expensive. For mortals though, a glass would probably send them into a profound stupor, or even kill them if it was too concentrated.

When Cao Yun entered the room the charming lady lead him into, he was welcomed by two more girls who were pouring the delicious Elusive Peach Wine into his cup. Assuming his role, Cao Yun did not say a thing and sat in front of the cup. Guai Mo was known to be a bit arrogant and impulsive. But he was reasonable nonetheless. In other words, he was a young genius. In fact, he was probably more tamed than other young geniuses.

Taking the cup, Cao Yun smelled the fragrance and smiled as he drank.

"Excellent!"

From his spatial ring, he took out three taels of gold and gave them to each of the young women. For some mortals, this was literally what they could earn in a month. Of course, those women were serving the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall so they were not poor. But it was still two weeks of income for them, in a single day. Of course, they were extremely pleased and they would be grateful to Hall Master Fang for choosing them. They had been afraid to welcome a young alchemist. After all, alchemists had a lot of influence and authority in the Hongchen Kingdom. But this Guai Mo didn't seem so bad.

"How long will your Hall Master be? I have important things to do."

Cao Yun's tone was very different from his usual demeanor. He was not insulting but he talked with arrogance. To Sun Liao's dismay, if he were to meet him, Cao Yun was imitating his demeanor when he had first met him in the entrance examination of the Wubei Sect. Sun Liao had not been a bad guy then, but he was way too conceited.

"I'm sorry if the wait is too long for you, Senior. But we might be able to entertain you in the meantime."

"I do not require entertainment! Do not waste my time. I'm sure your Hall Master knew I was coming at least an hour ago. Tell him that if he's trying my patience, I can go do business with another Major Hall. I do not intend to stay in the Wu Province very long."

As Hall Master, Fang Shaolong obviously received commissions on every transaction in his Major Hall. Besides, it was also a way to be promoted. Well, Fang Shaolong did not care about being promoted any higher since he wanted to stay in Baziyun City. However, he wanted to keep his current function.

As Cao Yun was feigning impatience, a man entered the room. He was Ye Zhiyun. Because Cao Yun had never met him, he did not recognize him at all. Ye Zhiyun would have recognized Cao Yun as Chen Guo. However, he did not recognize Guai Mo at all either. As soon as he entered the room, the three women retreated respectfully.

"You're not the Hall Master. Who are you?"

"I am sorry, Senior. Hall Master does indeed know that you are here. But he is currently busy with a most important task. Believe me when I say that he is absolutely mortified not to be able to receive you. If the wait is too unbearable, I might be able to manage whatever business you would have with us. But if Senior finds me too incompetent, I would urge him to wait for our Hall Master."

"Humph. Fine, I'll wait a bit for my matters. I will only speak to the Hall Master about those. However, you might still be helpful. You look like you have half a brain..." Maybe Cao Yun was doing a bit too much. He was still trying to find his character from what he had read. Maybe he would make him evolve over time. After all, he didn't want to cause trouble everywhere he went.

"Forgive my impatience. The last couple of years have been really trying..."

"For us all, Senior. As an esteemed alchemist, I imagine that you've had a lot of work helping out all the wounded."

Guai Mo had indeed sold his services to the wounded. Although he had increased the prices a bit, he had not gone overboard like a few alchemists. In fact, the Imperial City had even been forced to impose some restriction on what alchemist could bill to people to make sure that they would sincerely help the Hongchen Kingdom and not use the situation to get rich. After all, alchemists were already rich. Fortunately though, most alchemists had stayed reasonable. After witnessing all the destruction and suffering, their solidarity for mankind had taken over their thoughts about profit.

From Cao Yun's spatial ring, two 4-demonic cores appeared.

"I need you to buy those from me. And no need to auction them off. I'll just take the money straight away. Sadly, I don't have time to stay in this city for long."

Auctioning off demonic cores would clearly increase their price. By buying them at the market price, the Major Hall would make a lot of profit. This was a great transaction for them.

"Thank you, Senior. This is a very gracious offer. I'll get the money for you right away."

Ye Zhiyun left the room in a hurry. Guai Mo was clearly an impatient man but he wasn't a bad guy. Ye Zhiyun was used to insufferable nobles and this man was not one of them. Considering his talent as an alchemist, it was understandable that he was a bit arrogant. But Ye Zhiyun had seen hope for him yet. Hopefully he would turn out to be level-headed when he would get older.

As Cao Yun was waiting for Ye Zhiyun, he could sense Fang Shaolong's presence. A 2nd-grade Mortal Warrior was observing him from another room. Of course, he was none other than the Hall Master. However, Cao Yun did not reveal his presence at all. To the contrary, he acted as though Fang Shaolong was absolutely invisible. At the same time, he was also observing him. Fang Shaolong was truly trying to pierce through him. For a moment there, Cao Yun was afraid he had seen through his disguise. In itself, it wouldn't be such a problem. But if a mere early Mortal Warrior was able to do so, his plans would be in danger.

Ye Zhiyun really hurried and quickly brought the money to Cao Yun. In his hand, he had a small bag.

"Senior, please count. My estimation for your 4-demonic cores is 106 taels and 357 coins."

In the bag, Cao Yun immediately saw three strings of a hundred coins as well as fifty-seven other coins. Then, there were two Yuanbao and 6 ingots of gold.

"For your service."

A hundred ingots flew out of the bag and they immediately entered Cao Yun's spatial ring. Then, the bag with all the coins and six ingots went back to Ye Zhiyun.

"Thank you, Senior."

"How long will your Hall Master be?"

As he asked the question, Fang Shaolong finally appeared.

"Excuse me, Senior."

The plump and short man entered the room. He was bowing and was unimpressive but Cao Yun could still feel an aura around him. After entering a room, everyone would notice his presence. Although his cultivation was lacking for his position, he had the charisma for it, that was for certain. But Cao Yun could also sense something else, something oddly familiar.