Chapter 34 – A New Kind of Friendship

Lynn Naya could sense the spiritual energy fluctuations within Yun Xian’s body, and she knew her friend had succeeded. She wasn’t sure why it had taken her longer than the others, but as long as she was safe, that’s all that mattered.

To celebrate, Lynn Naya did as she had promised and brought out the wild grape wine that Xue Yong had brewed last year. But she didn’t have to get it herself. Xue Yong and his wife had eagerly dug up the wine jar and helped Lynn Nayahost her friend.

The Xue family provided the wine, and the Scarface Qing family took care of the food. The two families came together to create a feast for Lynn Naya.

If you give me a peach, I’ll return a fine jade. Lynn Naya knew they had been worried about mortal cultivation but had held back out of trust in her. Since they didn’t ask, she couldn’t pretend she didn’t know. Now that Yun Xian was here, Lynn Naya simply invited everyone to the table.

During the feast, she took the lead and asked Yun Xian about the entire process of being a test subject, including everything they needed to pay attention to. Yun Xian answered everything honestly and thoroughly, even explaining the details that Lynn Naya hadn’t considered.

Throughout the meal, Xue Yong and the others repeatedly raised their cups to Yun Xian, but she always waved them off. “I’m just doing a favor for someone. I’m only telling you all this because of Naya. If you want to thank someone, thank her.”

Scarface Qing and the others then turned their cups to Lynn Naya, who drank it all without hesitation.

After three rounds of drinks, Scarface Qing gave a knowing look to the others, and they all left the table, leaving the two of them to talk alone.

Seeing this, Yun Xian laughed. “Your neighbors are all very good people.” They are both kind and sensible.

“They are.” Lynn Naya said. Putting aside everything else, just looking at the most recent events, they were anxious, but they never complained about her stopping them. “They’ll probably take the elixir in the next few days. It might be a hassle for you to watch them. Don’t worry about anything else; just make sure they don’t die.”

“Of course. I’ll make sure to watch over them for you.” Yun Xian took a sip of her wine. “If they’re going in the next few days, when do you plan to take it?”

The beast cores hadn’t entered the market yet. When taking one, there had to be a spiritual cultivator present, and a Daoheart oath had to be made. In short, the process was quite complex.

“I’ll wait a little longer,” Lynn Naya said, making an excuse. “I’ll do it when I feel ready.”

“And when will you feel ready?”

“I don’t know.” Definitely not now, when everyone is paying attention. “I’m a coward. I’m eating the emperor’s rice and living a relaxed and comfortable life. There’s no need to take that risk. I’m different from you. You have ambition and revenge in your heart. I just want to live a little longer.”

After saying that, she gave Yun Xian an embarrassed smile. “Am I being spineless?”

“A little bit, yes.” Yun Xian was also very direct, but she didn’t look down on her and didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. “But fear of death is normal. I was scared, too. But if you’re too scared or have a cluttered mind, it’s easy to fail when refining a beast core. If you still want to think about it, then take your time. Anyway, I’ll be here to protect you in the future, so there’s no need to rush.”

Lynn Naya smiled. She raised her cup and clinked it against Yun Xian’s. “Okay. I’ll be counting on you to protect me from now on.”

Yun Xian clinked her cup back. “It’s what I should do.”

They drank until the moon was high in the sky.

The next day, Lynn Naya’s neighbors left together, and the three children were left in Lynn Naya’s care.

Because of their daily body-strengthening classes, the three children were as obedient as little lambs in front of Lynn Naya, and they didn’t give her much trouble.

A month later, Scarface Qing and the others returned from taking the elixir. Fortunately, three of the four of them succeeded. Only one person failed to refine the beast core.

That person was Scarface Qing. When Lynn Naya found out, she was surprised because Scarface Qing was better than the other three in both age and physical condition. It seemed that refining the beast core also required a bit of luck.

Putting aside Scarface Qing’s disappointment—an emotion that he needed to slowly digest on his own, as anyone else’scomfort would just be empty words—Lynn Naya first checked the spiritual energy of the other three. Compared to YunXian’s powerful spiritual energy, their spiritual energy was a little weaker.

If Yun Xian was in the first layer of Qi Condensation, they were only at the stage of just successfully absorbing the spiritual energy.

“Are there any discomforts?” Lynn Naya asked.

“None.”

“Then what do you feel is different?”

“I feel much stronger, and my sight and hearing are much better. If I ran into a tiger like the one I did three years ago, I wouldn’t have to run away this time.” Xue Yong said excitedly.

“That’s good.” Lynn Naya nodded. For now, their changes were similar to when she first introduced spiritual energy into her body. As for any other differences, she would have to observe them over time.

Three days later.

Lynn Naya found Scarface Qing, who had already accepted his fate, and asked him to find reliable people to give the Qi-Blood Pills she had stockpiled.

“It would be more suitable to have Xue Yong and the others do this.” Scarface Qing said after hearing her request.

“They don’t have time.” Lynn Naya said honestly.

Every month, the mortal cultivators needed to spend contribution points to buy beast cores to maintain their cultivation. The fastest way to get contribution points was to go out and collect useful cultivation resources or complete sect tasks assigned by the Dao Palace.

Both options required a strong foundation, so Xue Yong and the others were desperately trying to practice martial arts. Sometimes, Lynn Naya wouldn’t even see them once a day.

“Besides, it’s best to give it to you,” Lynn Naya added. “Your greatest strength has always been your mind.”

“Should I thank you for the compliment?” Scarface Qing was still a little dejected.

“You don’t have to. Just think about this: you have a daughter, and if you can’t do it, your daughter will definitely have a chance. And if your daughter can’t do it, your grandchildren will. It’ll be passed down from generation to generation until one of them succeeds. They’re all waiting for their ancestor to build a foundation for them to rise up and amaze everyone.”

This time, before she could finish, Scarface Qing had already gotten up and left with the pills.

Lynn Naya couldn’t help but laugh.

It’s true what they say. Water flows downhill.

Those Qi-Blood Pills were like seeds being scattered. It was a matter of seeing which ones would blossom and bear fruit.

Lynn Naya had stockpiled nearly forty Qi-Blood Pills, all of which Scarface Qing had bought from Senior Xie for twenty contribution points less than the Hall of External Affairs.

Now, the price of the Qi-Blood Pills wasn’t so cheap. Although the price hadn’t gone up, Senior Xie wouldn’t sell them for less than the original price. He wouldn’t sell them no matter what, and you could either buy them or not.

If these Qi-Blood Pills weren’t for building connections, Lynn Naya could have sold them herself for a small profit. This made Scarface Qing a little regretful that he hadn’t bought some to save.

The total population of the mortal area had decreased by a quarter after the disaster last year, but the base number was still there. Scarface Qing easily found forty people to give the Qi-Blood Pills to.

“They were all healthy people who haven’t done anything bad,” Scarface Qing said to Lynn Naya in private after he was done. “They were all very grateful and said they would repay me in the future. I wonder how many of these forty people will actually keep their word.”

“Just do it and see. If three of the forty people do, we’ve already made a profit.” Lynn Naya didn’t have much hope.

But Scarface Qing didn’t agree. “Only three? That’s too few. I think at least half of them will. Some of them have a good reputation, so their character shouldn’t be too bad.”

“It would be great if there were that many. But I feel that some people act good not because they are good, but because the people around them want them to be good. We are both normal people, but once they become cultivators, they’ll be on a different level from us. How much courtesy do you think they’ll show us then?” Lynn Naya was never optimistic about things like this.

Scarface Qing fell silent.

Because of the pills Scarface Qing gave them, the forty people took the elixir over the next two months. In the end, thirty-one of the forty people successfully refined the beast core.

Nine of the thirty-one who succeeded never spoke to Scarface Qing again. Sixteen of them scrambled to get enough contribution points to buy a Qi-Blood Pills and gave it to Scarface Qing, saying they were grateful for his help and that they were now even. The remaining six came to Scarface Qing’s house with gifts and said that from now on, ScarfaceQing was their brother.

“I told you it wouldn’t be only three.” Scarface Qing said. But his ugly expression revealed his true feelings.

“You were a genius.” Six is enough.

“Healer Lynn, stop teasing me.” Scarface Qing couldn’t help but curse. “Damn them, they were so polite when they took the elixir, but now that they succeeded and don’t need me anymore, they look down on me.”

“There’s nothing to be angry about. Now the real work begins.” Lynn Naya stood up.

Scarface Qing: “…What are you saying?”

“You must have noticed,” Lynn Naya said, picking up a charcoal stick and drawing on the stone table between them. “Now there are mortal cultivators setting up stalls on the streets, and with the increase in mortal cultivators, more and more people will join in.”

“You need to use your connections to get a piece of land and build a cultivator market. Charge a daily fee for each stall and a per-person fee for every cultivator who enters.”

Scarface Qing felt that this was a good idea, but then he became a little hesitant. “If we charge on both ends, will people be willing to come in?”

“That’s where the important part comes in,” Lynn Naya continued. “After the market is built, you give 70 percent of the shares to Yun Xian. You and I each get 10 percent. The remaining 10 percent, you and Xue Yong, along with the six people who came to thank you yesterday, will form a market security team. They will be responsible for the market’s safety, and that 10 percent will be theirs.”

“I understand the rest, but isn’t 70 percent too much to give to Lady Yun?” Scarface Qing was still unaware of Yun Xian’s true power.

Lynn Naya didn’t mind giving him another hint. “Let me tell you this: once that 70 percent is in Yun Xian’s hands, no other place in the entire mortal area will be allowed to have trading stalls. Do you believe me?”

That 70 percent was a tribute to the Dao Palace.

The Dao Palace might not be short on money now, but in the future, there would be more and more mortal cultivators, and the market would inevitably grow larger. In a few hundred years, it would have a different meaning.

Most importantly, with 70 percent of the profits, the market would become one of the Dao Palace’s assets. Why wouldn’t the Dao Palace support its own property?

Scarface Qing finally understood. It seemed that all of Healer Lynn’s inside information came from Lady Yun. “I believe you. I know what to do now.”

Scarface Qing was always quick to act. Three days later, he got the land. Half a month later, a new cultivator market was built, and a market for normal people to trade was also built next to it.

On the third day of the market’s opening, two cultivators got into a fight outside over a trade. When they heard that the cultivator market had cultivators to maintain order and that the daily rent was five contribution points, most mortal cultivators started to move to the market.

They would rather spend a few contribution points than get into trouble. After all, a fight meant an enemy, and once you have an enemy, you never know when you’ll get stabbed in the back.

As mortal cultivators increased each month, the market gradually became more lively, and the owner of the market made a lot of money without doing anything.

Some people tried to follow suit and build a market, but they were stopped at the first step of asking the Dao Palace for land. The Dao Palace didn’t refuse but didn’t approve it either, dragging it out for a year or two until the chance was long gone.

Gradually, some people realized what was happening. They understood that Scarface Qing was lucky enough to have connections with the Dao Palace to be able to control such a thriving business as a mortal.

They also understood that the Dao Palace was the real owner of the market, and Scarface Qing was just a manager on the surface.

When this rumor spread, some people who wanted to target Scarface Qing backed off. They could take down ScarfaceQing, but they wouldn’t dare to touch a manager of the Dao Palace.

In this way, with Scarface Qing as the face and the Dao Palace in the background, Lynn Naya, who owned two parts of the market, successfully hid in the shadows.

As for why she had two parts, besides the original one, Yun Xian had generously given her another one as pocket money, thinking that Lynn Naya had nothing.