"Miss,"
Suddenly, a stern voice came from outside the pavilion. The middle-aged coachman sharply lifted his head, stepped forward, and looked at his young mistress. When his gaze inadvertently swept past Zhao Sheng, it was filled with murderous intent.
"Stop being unreasonable! Step back,"
"Yes!"
The coachman, Wang Si, bowed and acknowledged, immediately retreating back to his original position and bowing his head silently.
After dismissing the coachman with a word, Wang Yu Yan said with a full sense of apology, "I apologize for the rudeness of my servant; I didn't mean to startle you, Mr. Zhao."
Zhao Sheng smiled faintly and replied, "It's fine; a mere Half-Step Innate cannot hinder me. However, these ways of handling situations by force after failing negotiations are not good in my view. It can easily bring trouble to the family."
"Oh, really? Just with you?" Wang Yuqi interjected indignantly, feeling offended.
Zhao Sheng shook his head calmly and responded, "Well, I obviously can't. But the world is so vast, and there are many entities you cannot afford to provoke. Even if your Wang family belongs to a Cultivation Family, it won't be enough."
On hearing this, Wang Yu Yan's expression changed, and she questioned, "How do you know our background?"
Zhao Sheng, while plucking the strings of his instrument to produce a lingering note, spoke in a calm tone, "This... isn't this easy to guess?"
Without waiting for them to ask further, he explained, "Having a Half-Step Innate top expert willing to serve as your coachman and both of you young ladies bearing the surname Wang, not to mention your exceptional beauty. I can't think of any other family that fits these descriptions besides the Cultivation Wang Family in Ganzhou."
"I see."
Upon hearing Zhao Sheng's explanation, Wang Yu Yan's expression eased.
Meanwhile, Wang Yuqi, hearing his words, felt joyful and displayed a proud look, for they had never been described as divinely beautiful before.
The key being that the man who said this was also quite handsome himself.
"I didn't expect Young Master to have such exceptional discernment. I suppose your background must also be extraordinary?"
"Not hiding it from Miss Wang, I hail from the Zhao family of Ganzhou," Zhao Sheng straightforwardly revealed his identity.
He had no intention of concealing his background. In fact, other than the perfume, everything up to this point was going according to plan.
From his past life's experience, he knew that marrying a woman from a Cultivation Family couldn't rely too much on schemes or trickery; going with the flow was best.
And certainly not by abducting her, since the bloodline tracking spell was one of the most common basic spells in the Cultivation World.
"The Zhao family of Ganzhou?" Wang Yu Yan looked puzzled. She had never heard of a Zhao family in Ganzhou.
Zhao Sheng knew that people from Cultivation Families tended to be arrogant, but he hadn't expected such disregard.
"Well, originally from Nanyang, my lineage is somewhat of a Martial Arts family. It's normal that Miss Wang hasn't heard of us," he explained.
Although Zhao Sheng strove to maintain respect, Wang Yuqi turned to the coachman and queried, "Wang Si, you come from the Martial World, you must know about the Zhao family, right?"
Are you polite?
At this moment, Zhao Sheng really wanted to retort with a comment.
Wang Si answered flatly, keeping his face expressionless, "Master, the Zhao family from Nanyang is considered a significant family in Ganzhou and is somewhat known in the Martial World too, having produced two Innate Grandmasters."
Wang Yuqi, being outspoken, realized, "Oh, Innate Grandmasters! I know them; my third Uncle and sixth Uncle are both Innate Grandmasters. They are almost as powerful as those in the early stages of Qi Refinement."
"Yuqi, stop talking,"
Wang Yu Yan nudged her sister and then added with slight apologetic tones, "My sister always speaks without thinking, Mr. Zhao; please don't take it to heart."
"Haha, Miss Wang is innocent and joyful. I like it enough as it is, why would I be offended?"
Zhao Sheng's words were bold and forthright. The Wang sisters blushed at his comment, with Wang Yuqi's face turning as red as a tomato.
From childhood to adulthood, no one had ever spoken to them so insolently in their presence.
It was only because Zhao Sheng had initially made a good impression that if an ordinary person had dared to speak this way, their grave would be overgrown with grass by now.
By using slightly outrageous remarks, Zhao Sheng had successfully resolved the awkward atmosphere and regained control of the situation.
Wang Yu Yan no longer focused on Zhao Sheng's family background, but rather returned to the original topic, "Mr. Zhao, I am determined to obtain the perfume formula. Please name your price!"
Her tone was very firm, indicating her resolve to achieve her goal at all costs.
Hearing this, Zhao Sheng frowned and quickly weighed his options.
It now seemed that the true value of the perfume significantly exceeded his expectations.
However, such a surprise was clearly more advantageous for him.
After pondering for a while, he decisively said, "I don't want to go against my ancestors' wishes; the formula cannot be sold, but we can collaborate."
"How should we collaborate?" Wang Yu Yan's eyes lit up, and she immediately asked.
Her obsession with the perfume formula was simple—it was a means to earn Spirit Stones.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the Wang family was highly esteemed.
But in the Cultivation World, the Wang family was always at the bottom of the food chain, only slightly better than Loose Cultivators.
The entire Wang family had only nine cultivators: two in the Qi Refining Late Stage, three in the Qi Refining Middle Stage, and four novices in the first and second layers of Qi Refining.
It is worth mentioning that Wang Yu Yan was the least skilled cultivator in the family. With Five Spirits Roots, she had struggled for five or six years to barely advance to the first level of Qi Refining.
The Wang family relied solely on twenty acres of spirit field, crafting First-rank magic talismans and refining spirit materials to earn some Spirit Stones. Together, they earned just over a thousand Spirit Stones a year, barely enough for the family's cultivators' needs, making life quite tight.
Thus, after trying out the perfume, Wang Yu Yan keenly spotted a business opportunity. After experimenting for several days, she became even more convinced of this.
Perfume had great financial prospects!
In the Cultivation World, female cultivators had many ways to keep themselves fragrant all day, such as the First-stage Spirit Pill Hundred Fragrance Pill. Just by consuming one, a female cultivator's body would emit a strong fragrance for an entire year.
However, buying a Hundred Fragrance Pill required ten Spirit Stones. For some female cultivators, this might not seem like much.
But do not forget that the largest number of people in the world always belong to the lowest level. There are many Qi Refining female cultivators who are unwilling to buy Hundred Fragrance Pills.
And this is where the value of perfume lies.
Is the Hundred Fragrance Pill too expensive, and scented powder too low-end?
No problem, you can buy a large bottle of perfume for one Spirit Stone, enough to last you a year.
Wang Yu Yan had calculated that earning a hundred and eighty Spirit Stones a year should not be a problem.
By such calculations, the business in perfume was equivalent to one-tenth of the family's annual output, which was simply a huge profit.
Wang Yu Yan was very aware that once the family noticed the perfume, neither Mr. Zhao nor she and her sisters would be able to keep the perfume formula secret.
Therefore, Wang Yu Yan and her sister had already agreed to earn as much as they could before the perfume was exposed.
After all, even daughters of a Cultivation Family need to save up for their dowries.
With Spirit Stones by her side, even if she married into another family, she could stand tall and speak her mind.
This was true, whether for immortals or mortals.
Furthermore, Zhao Sheng's proposal hit right at Wang Yu Yan's needs. She had no trusted aides on her side; even if she obtained the perfume formula, she could not keep it a secret.
On the other hand, Mr. Zhao had ample manpower and was better at keeping secrets.