When Lu Qing started to engage in closed-door training, the development of the clan did not stop.
The changes that he brought to the Lu Clan after his revival were showing its effects bit by bit.
It was tough taming the group of Water-Spirit Horses. As a Level One high-grade Beast Tamer, Lu Xueting faced several problems when she attempted to tame the horses, and all she could do was learn from the process of taming these beasts.
She achieved tremendous growth throughout the process.
As time passed, her performance in the area became more and more adept. In her own words, she was confident that her beast-taming techniques would reach Level Two in a year.
Other than the issue with the group of Water-Spirit Horses, the clan also experienced another major affair.
There was finally a conclusion to the situation where Lu Mingsi was injured in Pingyao County two months after Lu Qing went into closed-door training.
******
"Father, I still don't understand. Why do we have to fear the Lu Clan?"
"The Zhao Clan have never feared the Lu Clan," Zhao Pingsong said. "You were wrong in this incident. If you cannot figure out where you went wrong, then you are not to step out of this door!"
Zhao Qingan knew that his father was scolding him, but he felt indignant. "I don't think that I dealt with the situation wrongly!"
"Who does Pingyao County belong to?"
"The Zhao Clan, of course."
"Who will suffer the heaviest loss if the reputation of Pingyao County's public market got destroyed?"
Zhao Qingan was silent.
"Who gave you the gall to threaten unaffiliated cultivators who wanted to purchase something in Pingyao County?"
"I was threatening the members of the Lu Clan…"
"Nonsense! You were threatening the customer! Do you know who the unaffiliated cultivator who wanted to purchase the horse was? Did you check up on his background? He is the disciple of Sishui County's Mu Yangcheng, yet you dared to threaten him?"
"I...I didn't know. It was those unaffiliated cultivators… Also, just who is Mu Yangcheng? Isn't he just an unaffiliated ninth-tier Foundation Building cultivator? Why does the Zhao Clan have to fear him?"
"Shut up! The Zhao Clan fears no one. What we fear the most is the dumb people of the clan!"
Zhao Pingsong waved his arm and ignored his son as he walked out of the room.
He had many things to worry about.
Zhao Pingsong was a ninth-tier Foundation Building cultivator and was the current county officer of Pingyao County. At the same time, he was the person in charge of Pingyao County, representing the Zhao Clan. He dealt with everything that the Zhao Clan was involved in within Pingyao County.
Initially, the Zhao Clan always had a Foundation Building cultivator stationed at Pingyao County. However, even though the tensions between the Zhao Clan and the Lu Clan had always been high, they no longer had any large-scale bloodshed due to the mediation of the Qingfeng Sect. So they no longer stationed any Foundation Building cultivators in Pingyao County.
The Zhao Clan was massive and had many businesses. They needed manpower wherever they went. They only had a handful of high-level cultivators and would definitely station them at places that were more important to them.
This time, his son had committed a foolish act. He had taken a fancy to a Water-Spirit Horse but was unwilling to buy it for 200 Spirit Stones. He also found out that he was dealing with a member of the Lu Clan and thus decided to use a despicable ploy. He gathered a bunch of unaffiliated cultivators to cause trouble. He wanted to both get a good deal and find an opportunity to disrupt the Lu Clan's business in Pingyao County.
It was not that such acts could not be condoned, but what disappointed Zhao Pingsong was that his son's methods were too crass.
Not only did he fail to obtain a good deal and impact the Lu Clan's authority, but also the unaffiliated cultivators he sent to do the dirty work got caught red-handed with a crime. The unaffiliated cultivators even identified Zhao Qingan as the mastermind during the trial at the magistrate's office.
That was not all. After that, there was even the bad news that the unaffiliated cultivator who was stubborn enough to continue purchasing the Water-Spirit Horse had some level of notoriety.
That unaffiliated cultivator was the cherished disciple of Mu Yangcheng.
Mu Yangcheng was a rather famous unaffiliated cultivator from Sishui County. He was a ninth-tier Foundation Building cultivator who had hopes of reaching the Initial Enlightenment Stage. He was a notable figure within the Anling Prefecture. The Zhao Clan was not afraid of him. After all, even without the Golden Core Patriarch, Zhao Zidan, the Zhao Clan also had Initial Enlightenment cultivators. The clan also had seven Foundation Building cultivators.
However, it was best not to forge any new enemies. No one would want to offend other people for no reason.
But what could he do? His son had caused the trouble, which meant that he, as a father, had to step out and solve the problem.
Over this period, he had been shamed in Pingyao County. He also had no choice but to carve out a portion of the Zhao Clan's interests and hand them over to the Lu Clan.
He also spent a great deal of money to appease Mu Yangcheng's fury.
There would have been a better way to resolve the issue if he asked the clan for aid and tapped on the strength of the Zhao Clan.
However, he did not do so for the sake of his son.
He would have to report clearly the incident to the higher-ups if he wanted to further tap into the strength of the Zhao Clan. His son had committed such a foolish mistake and damaged the reputation of Pingyao County's public market. He was also caught in the act. With all of these reasons combined, his son deserved a fitting punishment from the clan.
While he had fiercely scolded his son, he could not bear watching his son receive any severe punishment.
Thus, he could only give a summarized report of the incident to the higher-ups. He had to pay an even greater price to cover the matter up.
The Lu Clan now had two more shops in the public market. The assignments in the magistrate's office had also been secretly adjusted. Several high-paying positions fell into the hands of the Lu Clan.
If Lu Qing were not in closed-door training, he would have seen an objective measure of these advantages in the system.
The control that the Lu Clan had over Pingyao County had increased from 27% to 31%. Their annual income from Pingyao County had also increased from 284 to 339. They had an extra 55 Spirit Stones a year. While that amount did not seem like much, it would grow to become a significant sum of money if they allowed it to accumulate over the years slowly.
The profit of the Lu Clan was equivalent to a loss for the Zhao Clan.
Zhao Pingsong felt vexed. He had to have an explanation for the decrease in Spirit Stones he handed over to the clan every year.
He was deliberating the matter while he sat in the main hall of the magistrate's abode.
Suddenly, a person walked in.
"Lord, there's news."
"Speak."
"The Lu Clan seemed to have reestablished the merchant route to Luyi County."
"Is their team led by a cultivator?"
"Yes, their team is led by a cultivator. However, according to the information we obtained, they would not have a cultivator leading them in the future. They would allow humans to traverse the merchant route alone."
"Are they not afraid that the humans would die or be injured? Who would help them do business in the future?"
"They have already exterminated the Cave Foxes on the merchant route toward Luyi. Around 20 or so demon fox hides are already on display in the Lu Clan's shop."
Zhao Pingsong stood up abruptly. He knitted his brows tightly and said, "Arrange for Lu Chaojun. I want to have a chat with him."
"Yes."
He paced around the main hall after his servant left.
He wanted to curse when he first heard the news.
Ever since the horde of Cave Foxes migrated to the side of the merchant route, there had been no peace on the path between Pingyao County and Luyi County. While the connection between the two counties had not been fully broken because of that, not many people used that route after several human merchant teams experienced death and injury. Interaction between merchant teams could only happen if they employed cultivators to open the path for them.
How high of status did cultivators have? Even unaffiliated cultivators were people that an ordinary merchant team could afford to employ.
The Zhao Clan and Lu Clan, as well as the Han Clan from Luyi City, had tried to clear the nest of Cave Foxes. However, all of their operations failed.
In the end, they decided that the profit from the merchant trade between the two counties would belong to whoever could clear the horde of foxes.