Chapter 184: Chapter 86: Every Cause Has Its Effect

Having spent eight years in Liuyun City of Yan Kingdom, Li Jizhou had already gained a thorough understanding of the major powers within Yan Kingdom through various channels.

Feihong Immortal Manor was not particularly strong in the entire Yan Kingdom, occupying a Tier Three Middle Grade Spirit Vein, formed by several families, with its highest cultivation level being a Late Stage Core Formation elder.

However, to Li Jizhou personally, this was a formidable presence.

Especially since Feihong Immortal Manor had a major partnership with the Shangmeng Alliance.

Feihong Immortal Manor focused on artifact refining as its main industry, specializing in flying magical artifacts for over a century.

Before the Shangmeng Alliance entered Yan Kingdom, it had established Feihong Immortal City as a distribution center for flying magical artifacts in Yan Kingdom, almost capturing half of the market share for flying ships and related artifacts.

Later, its self-established Immortal City was gradually taken over by Shangmeng, which eventually changed its status and began opening shops in various Immortal Cities.

The annual tax contributions it made to Shangmeng were a hundred times that of today’s Taobao Pavilion, making it a major partner in the eyes of Shangmeng.

As per the nature of Shangmeng, even if Qin Changhong did anything to Li Jizhou, they would at most use the pretense of seeking justice for Li Jizhou and maintaining Shangmeng’s operating environment to take advantage of Feihong Immortal Manor.

As for Li Jizhou’s fate, it was of no concern to them.

Profit takes precedence as the principle of Shangmeng’s conduct.

Unless one day, the profits Li Jizhou contributed could surpass those from Feihong Immortal Manor, otherwise, any entanglements between Li Jizhou and Feihong Immortal Manor would not prompt their intervention; they would merely collect their dues afterwards.

Qin Changhong’s Perfect Foundation Establishment was not something to fear, and the old servant behind him, with a lifespan of up to 470 years and at Early Stage Core Formation, was also not a threat considering Li Jizhou’s various Tier Three trump cards.

Including Alchemist Xue, although at Middle Stage Core Formation, his foundation was severely damaged, his lifespan was limited, and Li Jizhou was similarly unafraid.

However, Feihong Immortal Manor and Shangmeng were unavoidable fears.

“Alchemist Xue, Young Master Qin, I hope you can understand, I am in a difficult situation with minor operations and troubles with cash flow. Coincidentally, a senior offered a high price for the main herb, and after careful consideration, I decided to sell it. I plan to directly purchase a Crystal Condensing Pill when preparing for Perfect Foundation Establishment in the future.” Li Jizhou could only muster up the courage to explain.

In an instant, the atmosphere turned slightly cold.

Qin Changhong’s expression was gloomy,

Alchemist Xue’s eyes also showed displeasure.

“Li Xiaoyou, do you not trust my integrity, fearing that I and Young Master Qin would seize your Crystal Condensing Pill?”

“No, no, Alchemist Xue, you misunderstand. How could a junior like me not trust you? This was indeed an unavoidable action,” Li Jizhou quickly replied.

“Hmph! Enough with the nonsense, hand over the storage bag. This young master wants to inspect it. If you are found to disrespect Elder Xue, don’t blame me for standing up for him and don’t claim that this young master is bullying the weak.” Qin Changhong asserted firmly.

Li Jizhou’s face slightly changed, turning to look at Alchemist Xue.

Alchemist Xue, however, slightly closed his eyes, clearly giving tacit approval.

“Friend Qin, this is too overbearing,” Li Jizhou frowned and said in a deep voice.

Qin Changhong ignored Li Jizhou and turned slightly: “Hmm?”

The old servant behind him instantly surged forward, vanishing mysteriously, and in the next moment, he was already in front of Li Jizhou, reaching for Li Jizhou’s waist storage bag.

They had already investigated Li Jizhou’s identity thoroughly.

He had migrated from a small cultivation country in the Southern Domain,

without background or backing,

had not engaged in battle or duel in eight years,

his strongest network was with a Middle Stage Core Formation Steward in Liuyun City’s Shangmeng,

operating a Taobao Pavilion that was upgraded to a fourth-tier shop a few years ago,

barely maintaining a decent standard of living.

As for their Feihong Immortal Manor, leaving aside its foundation and status, even within Shangmeng, its shop rating was top-tier.

They could handle him at will!

With Li Jizhou’s current Divine Sense equivalent to Early Stage Core Formation, he could fully sense the actions of the old servant at Early Stage Core Formation, but he did not act rashly.

At this moment, he couldn’t help but sigh that small countries with fewer resources had their benefits, while large countries with abundant resources had their drawbacks.

In Qi Kingdom, with scarce resources, the power dynamics were clear; as long as he sought backing from one side, remained alert to that side’s enemies, and avoided major interest conflicts, he was generally untroubled.

But in Yan Kingdom, the web of power was intricate, making it hard to truly secure a patron, and unforeseen troubles could easily arise.

Under normal circumstances in Yan Kingdom, high-quality Crystal Condensing Pills were not considered a particularly scarce resource; their scarcity was due to most people only seeking standard pills, and with Feihong Immortal Manor’s financial and social status, they could certainly obtain them with some effort over a few years.

That’s why Li Jizhou hadn’t been overly worried before.

However, the current situation clearly indicated that Alchemist Xue, in order to curry favor or repay Feihong Immortal Manor, had deliberately provided them with the information.

Seeing Li Jizhou as easy to bully, Qin Changhong had the thought to save some effort and time.

“Whoosh~” In a flash, Li Jizhou’s storage bag was handed over to Qin Changhong by the old servant.

Fortunately, Li Jizhou was in the habit of placing valuable items into Guagua’s treasure pouch, which Guagua held in its mouth.

With the unique shielding divine sense detection effect of the treasure pouch, coupled with Guagua’s protection as it was now in the middle stage of Core Formation, it could basically shield against investigations by anyone below a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

After inspecting the storage bag, Qin Changhong frowned slightly, looked at Li Jizhou with contempt, and threw the storage bag back to him.

Already with timely and appropriate anger of humiliation on his face, Li Jizhou.

“Alchemist Xue, I will explain this to Steward Liu, farewell!”

After deliberately bringing up Alchemist Xue’s backing, which was clearly unimpressive, Li Jizhou left angrily.

If he did not show anger now or bring out a backer, he feared that he would be seen as deeply scheming, potentially leading to troubles afterward and risking being extorted heavily by the alliance despite the danger.

And by bringing up the steward as a backer, Alchemist Xue and Young Master Qin both showed a trace of disdain, almost tagging Li Jizhou as someone to be easily manipulated again.

Anyway, Alchemist Xue had little lifespan left and was already indifferent to reputation and such.

Moreover, afterward, just letting the steward warn Li Jizhou a few times was enough, most likely he wouldn’t dare to speak rashly.

After Li Jizhou left,

Alchemist Xue looked at Qin Changhong with some guilt: “Ah, this matter was my oversight, and I’m afraid it’s hard to repay Qin Brother’s favor.”

“Old Xue, you’re too kind; when I came, the old ancestor had already stated clearly that it’s already commendable and worthy of praise for you to still care about our Qin family; our old ancestor bluntly said that in this life, having you as a confidant is enough.” Qin Changhong said respectfully.

“Ashamed, ashamed, definitely need to have a good drink with Qin Brother before I pass away.”

“The Qin family always welcomes you any time.”

——–

After leaving Alchemist Xue’s residence, Li Jizhou first went to the alliance guild hall to inform Steward Liu of what had just happened.

Sure enough, Steward Liu, having heard the details, didn’t have any special reaction.

He comforted Li Jizhou, saying it was just a minor issue, and since Alchemist Xue didn’t force him into a transaction and although Qin Changhong’s actions were inappropriate, it involved a first-tier shop, so he needed to report it upwards, but since there were no consequences, there likely won’t be any substantial result.

Li Jizhou showed a look of being comforted, eventually sighing and expressing that he let it slide.

Until returning to Taobao Pavilion, Li Jizhou sat in the elegant room, calmed his mind, and began to deduce the causes and effects of the matter, dismissing all negative emotions.

Judging by Qin Changhong’s nature of inspecting his storage bag right in front of him, the man was reckless, arrogant, and unrestrained, lacking much depth, not worth worrying about.

Moreover, based solely on Qin Changhong and his old servant’s strength, they were not his match.

He had some confidence to eliminate them.

However, if the two died recently, he would not be able to escape suspicion.

Feihong Immortal Manor was not something he could provoke at present.

As for Alchemist Xue, who had been hiding in the Immortal City for years to heal and try to prolong his lifespan, there was temporarily no opportunity, unless possibly enticing him with longevity-related fortunes.

The only worry was that his lifespan was short, fearing he might not wait until that day.

Since there was a cause, there must be an effect!

As for when and how this effect would manifest, Li Jizhou temporarily had no clue and wasn’t in a hurry.

He pondered for a moment, then dismissed it, unwilling to expend mental energy on it.

The cultivation world is ever-changing, complex and unpredictable, with alliances always fearing chaos, anything could happen, just need to wait for the right moment.

In the days that followed, Li Jizhou purchased a cultivation technique for the Divine Soul, apart from continuing cultivation to solidify the Foundation Establishment Realm, he spent most of his time on Divine Soul refinement.

With the five percent aid from his past life, plus his Divine Sense already at the early stage of Core Formation, his cultivation of the Forging Spirit Skill was smooth.

However, the cultivation technique he could buy for Divine Soul surely wasn’t too profound, the progress wasn’t significant, its limitation was low, ordinary cultivators practicing it could barely advance by a small realm.

Yet, it’s rumored that the secret skill “Carefree Skill” from Carefree Palace, when cultivated to the extreme, can surpass a major realm!

Through the information about the Carefree Skill, Li Jizhou learned that the Divine Intent Sect in the Qi Kingdom was founded by an elder’s descendant banished from the former Carefree Palace, and within the sect, the “Carefree Travel” was the first three layers of the Carefree Skill.

Time flies, and on this day, three years later, Li Jizhou, who had been following information related to Feihong Immortal Manor, raised an eyebrow, realizing the opportunity for result had arrived.

At this time, his Divine Sense had also slightly progressed on the original foundation, barely reaching the middle stage of Core Formation level, ready to attempt advancing as a Tier Three Pill Master and begin refining Crystal Condensing Pills.

As for the Tier Three Pill Master heritage, he had long set his sights on Alchemist Xue’s inheritance.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep