In six months, he had created more than a thousand talismans. After they were ready, he called Shu Tao again.
This time, Shu Tao brought a list of over fifty thousand outer sect disciples who did not have any backing and were suffering in the sect, just like Han Cai would have been, If Elder Du had not been consumed.
Han Cai said, "Find the thousand most needy ones. Give them a hundred medium-grade spirit stones and tell them they will receive the same amount of spirit stones on a monthly basis as long as they sign a contract with you by imprinting the talisman. Also, explain the rules to them."
Shu Tao nodded, took the storage ring, and left. Han Cai had decided that he would take it slow this time. He would use his talents and grow gradually. But that did not mean he wouldn't be prepared for any unexpected situations. He would have a large number of followers doing his bidding. He didn't have to worry about expenses, as Alchemy was a very profitable business, offering four to five times the returns on investments. After Shu Tao left with the talismans, Han Cai returned to his schedule.
While Han Cai progressed in the sect, his clan was growing too. Han Cai had heavily invested in the Clan, especially the Rui household. He wanted to pay them back and didn't want them to be his weakness.
The rapid growth of the Yan Clan in the last few years was not hidden from any of the clans. Just last year, the Clan bought another heaven-grade treasure and hired ten more clans to work for them. The growth of the clan surprised not just the normal clans but also the Pei, Hu, Qi, and Xu Clans.
They all understood that after their seed joined the sect, the Yan Clan had been on a continuous rise without stopping. Sometimes, the Yan Clan made some bad business deals. For example, one business they bought in Verdant City was supposed to cost them two hundred thousand medium-grade spirit stones, but they paid four hundred thousand for it. They bought a mansion that was supposed to cost only a hundred thousand medium-grade spirit stones, but they paid fifteen hundred thousand for it.
The Yan Clan also absorbed many declining martial clans and agreed to pay for their members' cultivation resources in return. Those clans became official guards, each clan having around ten thousand members. Now, the Yan Clan was bearing the cost of a hundred thousand more guards. If rumors are to be believed, the Clan had invested in many underground organizations in the Verdant area.
The Yan Clan also surrounded Yan City with a massive wall. It is said that they had purchased the highest-grade defense array in an auction, and now Yan City was impenetrable. People started to consider Yan Clan, the strongest clan in the Verdant area. The amount of investments they made was always top-notch, and they never compromised when it came to money.
The Hu, Qi, Pei, and Xu clans were beyond surprised. They had their own children in the Azure Dragon sect and they believed that besides the advantage of being able to do business in the major cities, their Clan never received any of such perks. They could not fathom the drastic effect having an Alchemist in the Azure Dragon sect would have.
They decided to use the Ren Clan, which used to be the enemy of the Yan Clan, to create trouble for them.
One day, when members of the Yan Clan were delivering large batches of quality goods to Verdant City, they were attacked by members of the Ren Clan, and the materials were robbed. Many of the members of the Yan Clan who were delivering goods escaped, while some died.
They returned back to Yan City and informed the patriarch about the robbery and how the attackers were from the Ren Clan. The patriarch was furious, but he did not take any immediate action. Instead, he called an elders' meeting.
When the meeting commenced, the patriarch informed everyone about what the Ren Clan had done. All the elders were furious and wanted to take action. They demanded that the Ren Clan pay for their transgressions. After all the discussion was done, the patriarch did not make a decision right away. He looked at Yan Rui, as did the other elders.
Even though the patriarch was the head of the family, the final decision always depended on him. After all, he was the sponsor of the whole clan. Before Han Cai joined the sect, they were making maybe three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand medium-grade spirit stones a month, but now this had grown to millions, and Yan Rui was providing them with more resources each month.
After giving it some thought, Yan Rui nodded in agreement.
A few days later, an uproar swept through the verdant area when the city of the Ren Clan was attacked by more than fifty thousand cultivators. Half of Rui City was destroyed and plundered. Everyone knew who the culprits were; it was an open secret that the Ren Clan had stolen goods from the Yan Clan.
This act demonstrated to the Hu, Qi, Pei, and Xu Clans that the Yan Clan had surpassed them in power. Understanding this, they saw no reason to hassle the Yan Clan further.
Two weeks later, the Hu Clan patriarch arrived at Yan City with a marriage proposal for Yan Yue, another heaven-grade talent of the Yan Clan. Another two weeks later, the Qi Clan followed suit. The Yan Clan responded by saying that the elders would discuss and then give a final answer.
The Xu Clan was the third to arrive, bringing a reminder of Han Cai's and Xu Qiaolian's engagement. This put the Yan Clan in a dilemma, as Elder Du had stipulated that Yan Kai would only marry after he became a grandmaster alchemist. Initially, this sounded unbelievable, but considering Han Cai's talent, it didn't seem impossible. He was concocting medium-grade pills at the age of ten, after all.
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If we reach 2000 power stones, I will release two supplementary chapters.
If we reach 1000 golden tickets, I will release five supplementary chapters.
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