Chapter 204: When Do We Start?

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: When Do We Start?

「The early morning of the next day, October 19th.」

Ji Suyao and Ye Linglong arrived at the residence with definitive news. Hearing it, Liu Chen breathed a sigh of relief. Since the four elders had no objections, the subsequent steps would be much easier. All that was left was to wait for word from Senior Brother Ren.

Thanks to his earlier sale of Spiritual Cuisine, Liu Chen noticed that the number of Cultivators watching his residence had decreased significantly. Although a few stubborn ones remained, the majority had chosen to leave.

This was good news for Liu Chen, though it didn’t change the bigger picture.

Waiting for Senior Brother Ren’s news was a slow process. A full seven days passed in silence.

During those seven days, Liu Chen mastered the three Basic Magic Techniques from the Secret Manual his master’s wife had given him—Silence Technique, Invisibility Technique, and Clear Wind Technique—cultivating them to Perfection and making them uniquely his own.

The first two techniques were to improve his own stealth capabilities, while the last was for better preparing Spiritual Cuisine.

Although the Clear Wind Technique could also be used in combat, Liu Chen preferred to use it as Support Magic. For battle, there were far more direct and simple spells available.

In addition, Liu Chen began researching the two Intermediate Magic techniques recorded in the Secret Manual: Soul Locking Technique and Puppetry Technique. He might need to use the identity of the Hundred Ghosts Elder in the future, so he had to learn these two spells. More importantly, after becoming a Loose Cultivator, he might encounter Evil Cultivators. It was best to know one’s enemy to ensure victory.

Even if Liu Chen didn’t plan to actively use these two techniques, he needed to understand their functions so he wouldn’t be helpless if he ever encountered them.

The first one he studied was the Soul Locking Technique. Simply put, it sealed a part of a Cultivator’s or Soul Slave’s self, turning them into a subordinate who would obey every command. Liu Chen was quite looking forward to this.

The reason for this went back to Nangong Mu. That guy was completely impervious to persuasion. As the Young Master of the Nangong Family, he certainly had many techniques at his disposal. If it were anyone else, Liu Chen would have just killed them. But he had already gone through the trouble of Refining this guy into a Soul Slave. ’If I still can’t get the corresponding resources, wasn’t all the Spiritual Power I spent Refining him a complete waste?’

Liu Chen was unwilling to simply purify him. But if the Soul Locking Technique worked as intended, then with the right application, whether Nangong Mu complied or not would no longer be up to him.

[Soul Locking Technique: Perfection, 1800/10000]

His current progress was quite good. The originally flawed Soul Locking Technique was developing in the direction Liu Chen hoped. Achieving his goal was now just a matter of time. Only then would his Soul Slaves be perfect, retaining their combat effectiveness while having their own consciousness.

But allowing them to retain too much of their self-consciousness had its downsides. In Liu Chen’s vision, applying the Soul Locking Technique would inevitably weaken their combat power, but the vast majority of their self would be sealed away, turning them into true tools that obeyed his every command.

In fact, what Liu Chen wanted most was the Soul Searching Technique. This was another spell favored by Evil Cultivators, allowing one to forcibly probe another’s soul memories to obtain desired information.

Unfortunately, perhaps his master’s wife found such a technique too vicious, as it wasn’t recorded in the Secret Manual at all.

Liu Chen felt a bit helpless about this, but he wasn’t too concerned. If he ran into an Evil Cultivator in the future, he would most likely be able to acquire the technique. The Soul Searching Technique was probably a Basic Magic Technique, and from a certain perspective, a necessary tool for any Loose Cultivator.

「Afternoon, October 26th.」

As Liu Chen was cultivating in the garden, he suddenly sensed someone approaching the back door.

Taking a closer look with his Spiritual Sense, Liu Chen’s eyes lit up. Senior Brother Ren was back.

"Junior Brother, I won’t say much more. This is the land deed signed by the Hundred Affairs Hall. It was originally an auction house."

Ren Xunchun placed the deed on the table. The Ren Family had traded a spirit vein for it. The vein was valued at 250,000 Spirit Stones. Although it was a little less than the debt he owed, Ren Xunchun didn’t care in the slightest. The grace of saving his life couldn’t be measured by a mere 20,000 Spirit Stones. As for his family, they had no objections either.

Aside from him successfully becoming an Inner Sect Disciple, most of his family couldn’t even make it as Outer Disciples in the Three Immortal Sects. He was, in a sense, the family’s only hope.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Ren."

Liu Chen nodded and immediately took out the Spirit Contract Jade Token they had signed, personally canceling it. As the constraints of the Spirit Contract vanished, Ren Xunchun finally let out a long sigh of relief. The debt was finally paid, and he had repaid a small part of the life-saving favor. Though it was insignificant, he felt a sense of peace at last.

"Please also tell Senior Brother Yang and Senior Brother Xie that if they are willing to get involved in the business, they should come tomorrow afternoon. If they’re not willing, there’s no need to force them."

Liu Chen accepted the deed. With this, the most crucial link in his plan was secured. Now, even if Steward Lin refused and all three senior brothers declined to participate, there was still a high probability that the auction house could continue to exist in the Purple Cloud Valley Marketplace.

Of course, that was the worst-case scenario. If even one of the three senior brothers participated, the auction house would be stable. If all three joined, it was possible for the auction house to expand and flourish. And if Steward Lin agreed, the auction house would become an official enterprise of Purple Bamboo Peak’s Hundred Affairs Hall.

However, whether these ideas could be realized still depended on future developments.

"I will pass on the message. But recently, there have been successive incidents of Loose Cultivators causing trouble within the Great Xia Dynasty. I hope it won’t affect the ceremony."

Ren Xunchun nodded. In just a few days, the number of incidents involving rioting Loose Cultivators in the Great Xia Dynasty had doubled. It probably wouldn’t be long before some came to the Great Xia Imperial City to cause trouble.

"The ceremony will be over in a few days. It shouldn’t be affected."

Liu Chen was a bit hesitant. He had already heard about this from his two junior sisters. The Ye Family was fine, but the Royal Family had been forced to reassign more than half of the Guards who were supposed to be presiding over the ceremony. According to Junior Sister Suyao, they had all been sent to deal with the disturbances caused by the Loose Cultivators.

"I hope so."

Ren Xunchun didn’t say more. He exchanged a few pleasantries and left. His task was finally done, and he was eager to go back and rest. Besides, he still had to contact Xie Xichen and Yang Haichen tomorrow. According to the news he’d received, there seemed to be Loose Cultivators causing trouble near both the Xie and Yang Families’ territories. It was uncertain if the two were even still in the Imperial City.

At dinner, Liu Chen didn’t mention this to his two junior sisters. There was no clear path forward for the partnership yet. It was better to discuss it with the three senior brothers first before telling them.

"Senior Brother, the equipment and ingredients for making the Spirit Tea are ready. When do we start?"

After dinner, Ye Linglong spoke up. It had taken some time to gather all the proper equipment, not to mention the unprocessed tea leaves.

Normally, the tea was harvested once a year. Trying to buy it now was not only more expensive, but there was no guarantee of finding it at all. Fortunately, the Ye Family’s businesses were involved in this area; otherwise, it would have been impossible to gather everything at this time.

As for better quality tea leaves, the Ye Family didn’t have access to them yet. In the Imperial City, trying to step into industries beyond one’s family’s station was a path to ruin.