Before leaving the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall, Cao Yun still had to finalize his deal with Qinghe Ming. If Cao Yun kept his business rolling, according to Hall Master Qinghe's predictions, he would probably earn close to five hundred Yuanbao in around four months. As a comparison, the biggest income of the Huang family was the ore extracted from the Xiliang Mines. Each year, they produced around three to four thousand Yuanbao, that was a bit less than ten times what Cao Yun could hope to gain. So this amount of money was absolutely incredible for a single cultivator. Of course, the Huang family also had many more assets and combined they could profit way more than that. Besides, Cao Yun could sustain his model as long as the True Essence pills were not flooding the market. To ensure that this wouldn't happen, he had decided to never sell twice the same kind of pill. Every one of True Essence pills would be different, no matter in what province it was sold.
Although Cao Yun wasn't a businessman, he liked dealing with this sort of things to an extent, maybe it had been his time holding a small shop in the Wubei Sect. Now that money wasn't a problem, he didn't really care but was still somewhat interested in it. Most likely, he would get some figures from Qinghe Ming to be sure that everything was going well and that there was no way to improve on what they were doing. For him, just like was the case for most cultivators, money was just a means to an end, not an end in itself. Indeed, cultivators often required very costly materials.
Moreover, Cao Yun didn't need to keep it up very long to get rich. Indeed, soon he would get an income from the new mines of the Huang family. So there was absolutely no problem. In the months and years to come, Cao Yun would have all the money he could ask for. In fact, he might even become one of the wealthiest cultivators of his generation. Maybe Huang Cixi would beat him as she would become the next matriarch of the Huang family. As such, a part of the family's wealth would technically be hers, but it wouldn't be money that she had earned. Cao Yun was certainly the Human alchemist who would earn the most money in such a short time with his alchemy alone.
For an instant, Qinghe Ming hesitated but he still decided to add some words. The sudden possibility for him to climb the organization even more had awakened his dormant ambition.
"I might be bold to ask this, but would sir be interested in getting a 5-petal cherry card? The benefits in themselves might not be that great, but there are still some. Usually, only organizations can ask for them. But if you were to formally set up a shop, even if only on paper, then you could claim one for sure. Although I will keep your involvement in the auctions of the True Essence pills a secret, the higher-ups of our Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall will surely know anyway. Thus, they would agree to a 5-petal cherry card."
Indeed, as much as Qinghe Ming could try and hide the truth, even with Fang Shaolong and Xiao Xuefeng's influence, he wouldn't be able to hide it from the Main Hall. But they had no reason to make this known to anyone else. After all, they were also making a substantial profits off of his pills. Besides, the Subei branch was in the red. Thanks to Cao Yun, they might be able to balance the accounts.
Moreover, the mystery of the alchemist behind the True Essence pills would also be alluring to the buyers. In fact, the auctions would become events and that could increase the price of everything else. All the bad events that had happened had had a negative impact on transactions, but it was getting a bit better lately. The rumors of True Essence pills appearing randomly would stir some rich cultivators. Revealing everything would be bad for business. What if someone was able to convince Guai Mo to work for them instead? Besides, the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall wouldn't want to have bad blood with this Guai Mo.
"What kind of benefits does this card provide?"
"Well, first of all, it allows for various advantages with credits and payments. But it can also help you be prioritized when trying to obtain ingredients. There are also various advantages that really only concern larger organizations or families. But the gist of it is that dealing with our Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall will be easier for you. It could also help you get the Universal Spanning Frost and the Eternal Frostfire Fir faster. Of course, I'm not saying that we won't help you get it otherwise. But it would speed things up for sure."
"I guess that there are financial counterparts, right?"
"Indeed, you have to pay the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall ten Yuanbao each year. If you fail to make the payment, then your 5-petal card will be invalidated. But you will still keep the 4-petal card. In fact, they are two separate systems of cards. From the 5-petal card to the 8-petal cards, they are reserved to organizations, families or some exceptional characters, most of the times members of those organizations and families, or members of our own Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall."
"Ten Yuanbao? That is acceptable. But if I have to officially open my shop, I will ask your Major Hall to take care of all the administrative part of things. And just like with those auctions and sales, you'll take care of all the taxes for me as well. I don't have time to deal with it. If you have to hire someone to take care of it all, I'll even pay for it... as long as the price is within reason, of course."
"Great, esteemed patron! I will take care of everything. You'll just have to put your personal seal on the final documents and everything will be done by the time of the first auction."
Qinghe Ming did take care of everything. Since the first auction would be very soon, he worked as fast as he could. After carefully reading the papers, Cao Yun was satisfied. The only problem was that he was still using a fake name. Of course, he didn't intend to enter the Alchemy Conference with this Guai Mo identity. He was just using it to hide from Gu Song and deceive him. In the Imperial City, he would be protected by the Wubei Sect, the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute and even the Huang family. Of course, he would hide his real identity but he wouldn't conceal his title of Young Sect Master.
Thankfully, Cao Yun had ties with Hall Master Fang Shaolong and Xiao Xuefeng was in relation with some of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall's higher-ups. Thus, they would make sure that those documents would cover both Guai Mo and then later Chen Guo.
When everything was settled, Cao Yun decided to visit his friend in Qingyun City. By now, his cultivation of 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior was perfectly stable and had progressed a lot. It was hard to tell exactly when he would break through but the Hellish Dragon Fruit was incredibly useful. And it was so rich in Fire element that it would probably last Cao Yun a year or two. That meant that he would probably be able to use it as a 4th-grade Mortal Warrior to accumulate Fire Qi in his Middle Dantian.
After asking Yong Ke to keep an eye on things in Qingyun City, Cao Yun went toward the Yun residence. It was easy enough to find as the Xue residence, Governor Jiahe's residence and the Yun residence were all in the same area. There were also the residences of a few big families, but only the Xue and the Yun families were the major players apart from the representative of the Imperial City who was the Governor. This was also a way to keep all the families in line with the Governor. Since the Hongchen Kingdom was so vast, it was necessary to be sure that everyone would respect the authority of the Emperor. But this was even more true when it came to such a militarized province. Most of the major families had personal armies. Obviously, the Hongchen Kingdom would fear a rebellion.
With his alchemist insignia, Cao Yun could easily walk through the streets without being accosted by any guard. But they were still watching him closely. It wasn't just because they were protecting the city, but also because he was a man of interest. All alchemists were viewed with great respect as they were most useful to the kingdom. Soldiers knew that even more than other cultivators. On a battlefield, physicians were important and could save many lives, but pills were absolutely necessary. Even a great physician without the proper pills and medicines couldn't do much. There were also pills that could help a soldier save his own life by becoming stronger for a time, always with a price though.
Despite that, Cao Yun chose another approach. It wasn't that he wanted to sneak into the Yun family's mansion. But he didn't want others to know that he had visited them first.
A few days earlier, he had sent a missive to the Yun family. Hopefully it had reached his friend and he was expecting his visit.
He got as close as the residence as possible and activated his full 'Ashen Feather Seal'. Then, he waited for the night and came out. With the Yun residence in view, he slowly progressed toward it. He had no problem avoiding the guards who were all Mortals. Within the residence, there were Mortal Warriors but they were unable to detect Cao Yun either. His skill with 'Ashen Feather Seal' had become so good that not even middle Spirit Warriors could see through his Guai Mo facade. In fact, Xiao Xuefeng was certain that almost no one in the entire Hongchen Kingdom could find him out if they didn't know what they were looking for.
Of course, this didn't mean that his stealth was perfect, especially when he was moving around, but it was still good enough to deceive most early to middle Spirit Warriors. And it proved to be true as not a single guard was able to discover Cao Yun.
Although it was the night, Mortal Warriors didn't need to sleep as much as Mortals. As such, the Yun residence was almost as active during the night as it was during the day. Still, for psychological reasons, cultivators were following the cycle of the sun and their nocturnal activities were different. That meant that there was almost no one in the gardens. Most people were inside doing various things. In fact, Cao Yun could hear some soldiers who were training in a large facility. Outside though, Cao Yun only saw a handful of members of the Yun family. He saw a couple of them who were admiring the stars while having some fancy dinner.
Finally, Cao Yun reached the chambers he had been slowly progressing toward. Those were Yun Ping's chambers, the friend he had met in the Wubei Sect. They had fought against one another on the duel platform, and Yun Ping had also fought with his friends in Yinmen City. Back then, he had sacrificed his left arm to help protect the city and its people. Cao Yun was absolutely certain that this man was trustworthy.
What really marked Cao Yun was that the Yun family seemed to be rather frugal. Although their residence was almost as large as that of the Xue family, they were clearly not as rich as them. Indeed, the Yun family had gained most of their real estate thanks to their military successes, and they had few other venues. Besides, they had a large force and they had spent a lot during the stampede. Even though their reputation had improved, their treasury had decreased. That also explained why Yun Ping had been rather poor in the Wubei Sect. The Yun family was mostly made of soldiers. They had no alchemist and some expensive physicians in their ranks. They had even been forced to borrow money as of late. Some of their debt was owned by Governor Jiahe. This was also a way for the Governor to control this family.
On the other hand, the Xue family was doing much better. They were not rich like the Huang family of course, but they were way above the Yun family. Of course, General Xue didn't miss an opportunity to flaunt his wealth.
When he got closer to Yun Ping's chambers, Cao Yun heard him train. He was wearing a normal robe. That meant that his left sleeve was fluttering as he was moving around. Although he had lost his left arm, Yun Ping was still wielding a spear. In fact, he was still wielding 'Eternal Rampart'. This monstrosity was longer than Cao Yun's 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. Now that he was wielding it with a single arm, the weapon seemed even larger than before. And this wasn't a good thing at all.
Observing Yun Ping for quite some time, Cao Yun saw how slow he was compared to their last fight. Instead of improving, Yun Ping had clearly become worse over time. Maybe he had improved since his injury, but what was certain was that he was not at the level he had been before. Of course, Cao Yun felt some pain in his heart when he saw it. Even a great alchemist could not easily reform an arm. Reattaching a lost limb was easier, but Yun Ping's arm had been devoured and digested. Regrowing limbs or organs was something else entirely. Even with his improved blood, Cao Yun was certain that he couldn't fully regenerate a lost limb or a missing organ. He could only regenerate wounds in his flesh, not large missing parts.
Before revealing himself to Yun Ping, Cao Yun made sure that no one was around. Then, he jumped into the private garden of Yun Ping. He was in his blind spot. Since he didn't want anyone to know he was there, Cao Yun used a technique he had learned from Sect Leader Xuan's library. It was extremely useful as it allowed for someone to send their voice in a very specific direction by using Qi to control the wind. Furthermore, Cao Yun was familiar with controlling wind thanks to his martial art.
But the very moment Yun Ping heard a voice in his ear, his 'Eternal Rampart' was sent toward Cao Yun. Under this pressure, the young man did not move at all and simply waited. When Yun Ping finally realized whose voice it was, he suddenly halted his movement and paused.