Chapter 164: Chapter 160: Mine Boss Du Youqian
When the various families and minor sects heard this news, they all cursed inwardly.
’An outstanding disciple from a First-class Sect like you, coming to our backwater to fleece us? Have you no shame?’
’It’s said that you Guardian Envoys normally cultivate on Tier Two Upper Grade Spirit Veins.’
’The cave residences for rent here only have a single, pathetic Tier One Upper Grade Spirit Vein. You’re going to build your Guardian Envoy’s Mansion here? Don’t you find it beneath you?’
And so, the various families were less than cooperative.
Later, seeing that Du Youqian didn’t have any drastic reaction, their attitude shifted from merely uncooperative to staunchly resistant.
’What a joke. If the Guardian Envoy really established a mansion in the Marketplace, how could they possibly continue doing business?’
’From now on, they’d have to be on pins and needles every time they wanted to pull a shady deal, worried they’d end up dying mysteriously like Feng Siyong.’
Du Youqian, of course, wasn’t going to coddle them. He had Gu Xiaofang return to the Holy Blood Sect and recruit a batch of Qi Cultivation Late Stage and Perfection Cultivators for Miscellaneous Tasks.
There was only one requirement for selecting them: the more they looked like Demons, the better.
When Gu Xiaofang returned to the North Shore Market with the selected disciples for Miscellaneous Tasks, the entire atmosphere of the place changed.
Someone got lost in the Marketplace and saw an old woman ahead, bent over and sweeping the floor.
So he walked over and asked politely, "Ma’am, could you please tell me which way the *** shop is?"
The old woman turned, her voice a man’s as she growled, "Do I look that old to you?"
Then, he had a sudden realization. "Ah, I must’ve put on the wrong skin."
As he said this, he twisted his body. The old woman’s face split down the middle and peeled off in a bloody mess, revealing a short, ugly man underneath.
The man unhurriedly put the old woman’s skin away and slipped on the skin of a beautiful young woman instead.
And the person who asked for directions?
He had long since fainted on the ground.
Then there was the libertine Cultivator who emerged after dark from a session of "sparring" with the Divine Maidens. Reeking of alcohol and humming a tune, he wore a lewd smile as he replayed the titillating scenes in his mind.
Suddenly, his body went rigid. A hand made of nothing but bone had settled on his shoulder, and a ghostly voice echoed in his ear, "Brother, have you seen my head?"
The libertine Cultivator turned to look and saw only a bare skeleton. The spot where its head should have been was empty.
A scream tore through the night sky...
A Cultivator brought his Mortal concubine to the Marketplace. The concubine had an urgent need to relieve herself and rushed to the latrine, only to never return.
After waiting for a long time, the Cultivator felt something was wrong and went to look for her. He found his concubine collapsed outside the latrine, having been dead for some time.
Looking closer, he saw a Soul-Devouring Banner lying at her feet.
The Cultivator was furious and cursed, "What kind of inconsiderate bastard just leaves a Soul-Devouring Banner lying around!"
The most tragic incident occurred on a street in the northwest section of the Marketplace. After nightfall, more than ten Cultivators died in their sleep.
An investigation revealed that a disciple from the Holy Blood Sect assigned to Miscellaneous Tasks had suffered a cultivation deviation while refining a Soul-Extinguishing Lamp. Not only was his own soul completely incinerated by the lamp, becoming fuel for its flame, but he also ended up taking more than a dozen nearby Cultivators down with him.
There was no way to hold anyone accountable, as the perpetrator was already dead. It was a crime without a culprit, a debt without a debtor.
Incident after incident like this turned the North Shore Market into an uninhabitable place.
In just over half a month, more than two-thirds of the shops chose to break their leases, willing to forfeit their deposits. The remaining third were also preparing to leave, as they hadn’t seen a single customer in days...
The handful of stakeholders had no choice but to come calling, but the Guardian Envoy was in seclusion and had no time to see them...
After leaving them to wait for many more days, Du Youqian finally deigned to see them.
With the exception of the Feng Family, the Patriarchs of the other four families and the Sect Leaders of the two sects all came to Du Youqian’s room.
They found Du Youqian resting his head on a pair of snow-white, delicate thighs. One woman was kneading his shoulders, while another knelt and gently massaged his legs.
A beautiful woman, her ample bosom half-exposed, giggled coquettishly as she fed Du Youqian Spirit Fruits, occasionally leaning down to steal a kiss.
The stunningly beautiful Kun Cultivator with the astonishing Sword Intent—dressed in a goose-yellow, front-fastened short blouse and a long skirt—stood hugging her sword. Her captivating, wide eyes swept over the visitors, as if contemplating where on their bodies to strike with her Treasure Sword.
This scene was not beyond their expectations.
In fact, in their minds, this was exactly the kind of life a Guardian Envoy of a nation ought to live.
Du Youqian drawled lazily, "You were all crying and begging to see me... Now you’re here. Why so quiet?"
The men glanced at one another, none of them willing to be the first to speak.
Finally, after a brief exchange via Divine Sense, they began to speak, one after the other.
Finally, the Sect Leader of the Qu Shui Sect pleaded, "Lord Yu, please properly restrain your Miscellaneous Tasks! If this continues, we won’t be able to do any business in the Marketplace."
Du Youqian sneered. "Can’t do business? Then don’t!"
Everyone knew Du Youqian was retaliating. When he had wanted to build the Guardian Envoy’s Mansion, they had stalled and refused to cooperate.
The Sect Leader of the Qu Shui Sect said tentatively, "We’ve discussed it. If we’re going to build a Guardian Envoy’s Mansion, we should build a proper one, not just some slapdash affair. Lord Yu, leave this matter to us. We’ll handle everything perfectly, and you won’t have to spend a single Spirit Stone. We guarantee we’ll build you a magnificent mansion befitting your status. However... once the Guardian Envoy’s Mansion is complete, your Miscellaneous Tasks... they’ll stay within the mansion and won’t be wandering around anymore, will they?"
Du Youqian continued to eat his Spirit Fruit and tease the beautiful maids, not saying a word.
Fang Hua, standing to the side, said coldly, "Does the Guardian Envoy need you to teach him how to manage his own people? As for the Guardian Envoy’s Mansion, build it if you want. If you don’t, that’s fine too. The Guardian Envoy couldn’t care less. Don’t stand here trying to negotiate with him. What gives you the right? Even Sect Leaders from Third-class Sects can only kneel and beg before our Guardian Envoy. It’s been many years since I’ve seen someone dare to so brazenly bargain with him like you are."
The men had been rebuffed. They were furious, but dared not show it. All the while, Du Youqian refused to make any promises.
After another exchange via Divine Sense, they bowed and took their leave.
Du Youqian waved his hand, dismissing the beautiful women.
Fang Hua looked a little worried. "Will this be all right? Aren’t you pushing them too hard?"
Du Youqian laughed. "It’ll be fine. Who taught you to say all that? It was perfectly delivered."
Fang Hua looked down, a little embarrassed. "I came up with it myself."
"You did a good job, but don’t bother in the future. You don’t need to choose your words so carefully. As long as your sword is sharp enough, people will listen to whatever you have to say."
Fang Hua thought for a moment, then nodded firmly. "You’re right."
She then jutted her chin at Du Youqian. "Let’s go."
"Do what?" Du Youqian feigned ignorance.
Fang Hua didn’t reply with words. Her Flying Sword, imbued with the "Broken Water" Sword Intent, shot forward in a lightning-fast strike.
Jinhuan flew out at the perfect moment to block the blow, using neither a shred too much force nor a shred too little. It was exactly enough.
From that single block, Fang Hua understood that there was still an immense gap between her Swordsmanship and Du Youqian’s.
Still, she had improved immensely compared to before.
There was a time when she could only stare at Du Youqian’s back, unable to even comprehend the true extent of the gap between them.
But now, she could at least see where the disparity lay. As long as she continued to advance, step by steady step, she was confident that one day she would close that gap entirely and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him...
~~~~~~~
The Guardian Envoy’s Mansion was built quickly.
Du Youqian also recalled the Miscellaneous Tasks and had them quartered in the mansion.
The major stakeholders of the Marketplace wept with joy. ’We’re not going to go bankrupt after all!’
’Yu Guardian Envoy really is a good man; he didn’t make things difficult for us.’
Meanwhile, Luo Jinyu and Gu Xiaofang had spent several months traveling the outside world, secretly searching for unattached Loose Cultivators. They promised them great rewards and sent them to the Guardian Envoy’s Mansion.
Du Youqian had previously acquired a Restriction technique from the Holy Blood Sect used for controlling Cultivators. Now, sparing no effort, he used it to control all these Loose Cultivators and set them to work mining the Flower Cyan Gang Jade.
Fearing discovery, the mining conditions were extremely harsh. The use of Magic, Talismans, and high-powered Magical Artifacts was forbidden.
They were forced to mine purely by hand, so progress was slow. The Loose Cultivators all learned how to slack off and feign work.
At Gu Xiaofang’s suggestion, Du Youqian placed Restrictions on the disciples assigned to Miscellaneous Tasks as well, making them overseers and promising them handsome rewards.
These disciples had come to Du Youqian for two reasons: first, for safety, to avoid being used as cannon fodder within the Sect; second, for resources, in the hopes of continuing their path of the Dao.
Although being controlled by Du Youqian’s Restrictions made them somewhat unhappy, in the Demon Sect, where the weak were prey for the strong, it was not an unacceptable fate.
On the contrary, here they were supplied with Spiritual Flesh and Spirit Fruits, had a steady stream of Elixirs and Spirit Stones, and even received a monthly bonus. This gradually made them forget their displeasure, and they focused wholeheartedly on supervising the mining operation.
Du Youqian, for his part, spent some time each day in meditative Breathing, ensuring his Cultivation wouldn’t regress in this place where Spiritual Qi was not abundant. Most of his energy, however, was spent devising a new Secret Technique for Burning Essence Blood.
He wanted two brand-new Secret Techniques. One needed to be usable by ordinary people without Magical Power, or even by masters of the Martial Arts.
The other needed to burn Essence Blood at the fastest possible rate while maximizing its power output.
Ultimately, he planned to combine the two.
He had nearly completed his research on the first one. Du Youqian was confident he could create such a Secret Technique within a year.
For others, such a Secret Technique might be completely useless.
But for someone like him, who might be endlessly reincarnated, it would be a trump card.
As for the latter, however, Du Youqian had run into some difficulties.
After careful study, he concluded that he would need to get his hands on many more types of Secret Techniques for Burning Essence Blood before he could create the ideal one he envisioned.
But with Du Youqian currently holding down the fort at the Ore Vein, he didn’t dare leave. He could only entrust Luo Jinyu with the task of searching for them.
Luo Jinyu was gone for several months.
Then, finally, something good happened.
A nutrient solution that Du Youqian had concocted caused the Stone Egg to have a slight reaction, its life-signs increasing just a little.
