"So, you two are the ones the rest sent up." Shou Xin calmly cast his gaze over them, an overbearing pressure diffusing through the room, "Report."
"With the death of those merchants, their businesses have been thrown up and their properties are quickly being swallowed by the Guo Merchant Armada. I believe we should try and negotiate with them for some of those properties." Yui Luo said evenly, "Right now, we feed our people but in the future if the situation stabilizes, then we will lose all weight over them."
Shou Xin nodded slightly.
"The villages which are still too afraid to come and sell at the city, we will go there and purchase their good and become the intermediaries for the Guo Merchant Armada, I have already arranged this," Shou Xin continued, "Is there anything else?"
Yui Luo thought for a moment and spoke hesitantly, "This area we took over… when the Exiled Courts inevitably send reinforcements to Sea Spring to weed out the demons, we need to take measures to avoid being killed."
"We should prepare a defense force! They can also go on the mercantile runs to the villages for experience!" Liu Gang said loudly, "In this way, we can secure the caravans and raise their strengths."
Shou Xin did not say anything and simply put out that scrolls which he had gotten earlier.
Of the two however, only Yui Luo could read, her breathing increasing rapidly.
"Lord! A man recognized by the Exiled Court! Lord has gained official recognition and been acquitted of the crimes against him!" Yui Luo's eyes spun, "This changes everything! We can recruit properly now and this forest area… if we can use it to hunt then! But what is this scratched out area?"
"Forbidden."
"Congratulations, Lord!" Liu Gang cupped his fists with a big smile.
Shou Xin waved his sleeve.
"Create hunting parties. Liu Gang, you will be in charge. Everything you kill bring it to me before sending it away. We will send out caravans once a month." Shou Xin calmly said as he closed his eyes, "And Yui Luo… go make yourself acquainted with Guo Long. You will be in charge of handling those matters."
The two looked at one another and then cupped their fists bowing respectfully as they departed.
Once the room was empty, Shou Xin vanished.
He sped away into the Baikan Woods which had become his territory.
He felt a huge urgency.
"I need to get stronger. I've wasted a day."
That night he slaughtered everything he could find, absorbing their Primeval Qi into his Inner Sea.
Only once day began to rise did he finally stop.
Gathering his kills all near the entrance of the Baikan he left a note in blood written upon the corpses.
"The Baikan is under the protection of Shou Xin of the Shou Clan." The message was clear.
Do not act recklessly here.
Shou Xin reappeared within the space at the top of the Pagoda Temple, his figure haggard.
As he sat down he could sense several Primeval Qi Beasts already battling fiercely, that same cold energy no longer able to hold them all down.
His mind submerged into his Inner Sea he looked over what was once an abyss now crackling like a lightning dragon were swimming beneath, the once dark and empty Inner Sea boisterous with battle.
His little Mound which was more circular now got slammed by many waves of Primeval Qi, yet it did not even buckle underneath the pressure.
After three almost complete cleansings and the countless thunderbolts, it had been become extremely tenacious and robust.
As he began absorbing the Primeval Qi a little at a time, he felt it was too slow and his instincts told him to take more.
And so he took more, yet it was still not enough.
He took more, such that the lightning had begun to constantly fall and pelt his core.
Yet, his instincts screamed yet again like a bottomless pit.
Shou Xin's gaze hardened and he took a bucket's worth of Primeval Qi from the ocean below, finally he felt himself wane slightly, but it was not to an extreme.
He sensed his body growing hotter and the bucket of Primeval Qi was almost instantly absorbed.
He frowned and grabbed even more, enough to fill his entire body.
This time, he coughed up blood as his organs were slammed by the sudden and huge amount of it.
Yet, his body once again heated up and a thick Inner Strength exploded to life within his Inner Sea causing the absorption to go even faster.
With the Primeval Qi Body Art and the Primeval Absorption, he could quickly and efficiently take in larger and larger amounts of Primeval Qi.
His foundation was of course important in doing this, and so too was his soul.
But his body which bore the burden of the Inner Sea in equal portions to his foundation, was like the other half of the puzzle he did not have before.
Now that it was here, and a balance was struck between his Inner and Outer Strength, absorbing the Primeval Qi became far simpler of a process.
The thirty Primeval Qi Beasts were quickly being drained such that they began to attack his foundation and slam into the walls of his Inner Sea trying to escape anyway they could.
However, the more they attacked the foundation the more refined it became as only the most tenacious and pure Primeval Qi could remain after the bombardments which also made it more compact and dense.
His body which resisted these clashes to prevent Shou Xin from exploding too got stronger the more it managed to resist as it would break and then heal over and over.
Shou Xin's mound was quickly increasing and decreasing in size, storm clouds flew overhead within his Inner Sea striking down now with even greater force, but he had reached a tipping point.
For all the Primeval Qi he lost from the thunder, he regained instantly from his Primeval Absorption.
As if he were a small plug in the middle of an hourglass, both the the lightning fell and the Primeval Qi rose creating pressure on both sides.
By the time he opened his eyes, his Inner Sea had been emptied of everything except for his foundation which had grown in size, but mostly in density.
It was now truly looking like a Mound, yet if one were to unravel it from it's extremely dense state, one might believe it to be closer to a large hill or small mountain.
"The Great Path will not allow you to pack on much more. Do this four more times for a total of five refinements to get the best result you can, though still not great, it is also not too horrible. You will graduate from practitioner trash, to First Chain garbage." Vienna's voice came all too soon ruining the feeling of satisfaction which had grown ever so slightly out of Shou Xin.
"Can't you let me have this moment?" Shou Xin scowled as he stood up.
"It's no fun if I do, though?" Viennas appearance made the entire thing hurt that much more to his pride.
Shou Xin shook his head coldly and stepped out from the top floor, looking down over the boisterousness below.
It was morning and the people of his Shou Clan had come to eat their morning foods.
"How is she?" He whispered.
"Take a look."
Shou Xin looked away from Vienna, his eyes widening slightly.
Far below, Feng Wuqing sat eating alone, a blindfold over her eyes.
Her robust sort of beauty was truly pulled out by the blindfold making her a center of attention, yet due to her frigid atmosphere no one dared approach.
Despite the numbers in the hall having grown to over two hundred, no one dared to sit at her table whilst she ate.
Sensing a gaze on her, she looked up.
Everyone's eyes lingered on her crazily.
She smiled.
They followed her look and found Shou Xin, whose strength had clearly risen by leaps and bounds, unable to hold his gaze, forced to look away almost instantly.
Yet as they looked back to Feng Wuqing, their eyes came up empty of her figure.
She'd vanished in that short period of time.
"Master," Shou Xin said hesitantly.
"Oh? Actually calling me master… what does my little disciple want?" Vienna's head turned his eyes locking onto him.
"...what do you think? To become able to protect her, how strong do I have to become?" Shou Xin made sure ach word was properly enunciated speaking slowly.
Vienna's eyes widened slightly, "You actually like her in that way?"
Shou Xin didn't say anything and Vienna sighed.
"Boy, you are going to have a terrible time," Vienna muttered under his breath and then replied, "You must become unrecognizable."
"I see." Shou Xin quietly felt the strength in his body and began down the steps.
Soon enough he arrived in the storehouse where the fresh kills were placed.
There were tens of Giant Rabbits and in a split second, he had devoured the Primeval Qi from all of them.
Unlike hunting by himself, the group lead by Liu Gang with many people who were more used to the forest could hunt far more efficiently, managing to get the same number of kills as Shou Xin in a short period of time.
He did not waste time and swiftly returned to his station at the highest portion of the pagoda temple.
--
Those from outside the Shou Clan could only look in with hopefulness as they had been far too late to join in for free.
A rumour had began to spread that he was the one who destroyed the underground's forces and the merchant traitors which boosted his reputation, but it was never confirmed.
As a noble who had chosen to stay despite being easily able to leave as well, he'd gained the respect of the people since they only saw nobles as those seeking out comfort like newborn chicks.