Chapter 9: You Talk Big

"Hmm?" Mo Qianqian narrowed his eyes.

She still dared to insult him at a time like this?

The glamorous woman shrank back in fear.

"I’ll give you one last chance," Mo Qianqian said coldly. "Take me to see your Pavilion Master!"

"I..."

Meeting Mo Qianqian’s gaze, the glamorous woman was suddenly terrified. She didn’t dare say another word and hurriedly nodded. "Okay!"

She led Mo Qianqian upstairs.

On the third floor.

The glamorous woman knocked on a door and opened it. Inside sat a black-haired elder with a dignified expression.

"Pavilion Master, this senior wishes to see you," the glamorous woman said hastily.

Seeing that Mo Qianqian was wearing a mask, the Pavilion Master frowned slightly. "You may leave first."

"Yes, sir!" The glamorous woman hurriedly retreated.

Mo Qianqian entered uninvited and closed the door behind him, making sure to project an imposing aura.

"What business do you have with me, sir?" the Pavilion Master asked in an unreadable tone.

"I want to discuss some business with you." As Mo Qianqian spoke, he directly condensed a Spirit Body, which materialized between the two of them.

The Pavilion Master sensed something, and his expression changed drastically. "You are a Spirit Master?"

Mo Qianqian was surprised. He had planned to let the Spirit Body show off a bit, but he didn’t expect the Pavilion Master to sense it so immediately. It seemed this Pavilion Master’s strength was not to be underestimated; at the very least, he had achieved a high layer in the Spirit Profound Realm. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have perceived the Spirit Body so easily.

"How do you wish to cooperate, sir?" the Pavilion Master asked straightforwardly.

"The Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion will provide the elixirs. After they are enhanced, we split them fifty-fifty," Mo Qianqian replied.

"The Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion agrees to cooperate with you!" The Pavilion Master agreed without hesitation before asking, "What grade of Spirit Master are you, sir?"

"First-grade," Mo Qianqian answered truthfully.

"That is enough!" the Pavilion Master declared. "If you are willing, you can join our Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion and become an Elder. We will certainly not treat you poorly."

There were barely a handful of Spirit Masters in the entire Great Xia Dynasty, let alone in a small place like Southern Wilderness Cyan City. If he could recruit a Spirit Master, it would be equivalent to securing an endless source of wealth. This would be a monumental achievement!

Mo Qianqian was also taken aback. It seemed the status of a Spirit Master was indeed extraordinarily high. The Pavilion Master had agreed right off the bat and even wanted to recruit him into the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion. The compensation for joining would definitely far exceed a fifty-fifty split. Of course, even without joining, he could have negotiated a higher percentage, but he knew better than to be too greedy. One had to leave some benefits for others.

"My apologies, but I have no such intentions at the moment." Mo Qianqian politely declined.

The Pavilion Master was somewhat disappointed but still said, "If you ever wish to join us one day, you are welcome at any time."

Mo Qianqian nodded. "I will be in Qingcheng for the time being. Since this is our first time cooperating, I’ll leave it to you to decide how many elixirs to provide. Oh, right. I also have one small request."

"Please speak, sir," the Pavilion Master prompted.

"Someone from the Shi family will come tomorrow. I hope the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion can resume its medicinal herb business with them," Mo Qianqian said.

"The Shi family?" The Pavilion Master frowned. "The Shi family and the Chen family are rivals. Suppressing the Shi family is the will of the Qin family, the faction backing the Chen family. Cooperating with the Shi family means disrespecting the Qin family..."

"The Qin family?" Mo Qianqian’s eyes narrowed.

He knew of the Qin family. They were one of the vassal forces subordinate to the Ling family! They were the Ling family’s eyes and ears in the Southern Wilderness. He never expected the Qin family to be the ones backing the Qingcheng Chen Family!

"As long as nothing unexpected happens to me, I will cooperate with you long-term, Pavilion Master, until the benefits exceed whatever the Qin family can offer," Mo Qianqian stated.

Leaving aside the fact that the Qin family was a vassal of the Ling family, even if they weren’t, a long-term partnership would also benefit him greatly. After all, the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion’s influence spread across the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

"Alright, I agree," the Pavilion Master said decisively. "For our initial cooperation, how about I provide you with twenty first-grade inferior elixirs?"

Hearing this, Mo Qianqian was delighted. Since it was their first collaboration and the other party was giving him the goods upfront, he could easily just take the elixirs and run. The Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion was undoubtedly taking a risk. He thought getting eight or ten elixirs the first time would already be pretty good, yet the Pavilion Master had offered him twenty outright.

"Deal!" Mo Qianqian nodded.

The Pavilion Master immediately brought out twenty first-grade inferior elixirs. Mo Qianqian took them and promptly left the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion.

Back at the Shi family estate.

After returning to the room arranged by Shi Muyao, Mo Qianqian sat cross-legged on the floor. He took out one of the first-grade inferior elixirs he had bought earlier and swallowed it. He feared his body couldn’t withstand the medicinal efficacy of a First-Grade Superior Elixir just yet, so he didn’t need to enhance the elixir’s grade for now.

As the elixir entered his stomach, he channeled his power, and surging medicinal energy rushed violently through his body. Following the World-Ending Heaven-Crashing Technique, he began tempering his physical body.

The next morning, a powerful aura suddenly erupted from his body.

"A breakthrough!"

Mo Qianqian was immediately overjoyed. His physical body had broken through another layer, reaching the First Realm Third Layer! At this moment, he could feel explosive power coursing through him.

Not long after, Mo Qianqian set off with Shi Muyao toward the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion.

In the early morning, the pavilion had a moderate number of people. When Mo Qianqian and Shi Muyao stepped inside, many gazes fell upon them.

"Who is that woman? So beautiful! She looks so pure!"

"She... looks like Shi Muyao from the Shi family?"

"Wasn’t Shi Muyao paralyzed? How did she recover?"

"That man beside her, could he be her husband, Mo Qianqian?"

"He’s a fresh face, so it must be him. He still carries himself with some dignity. As expected of someone who was once ranked first on the Hidden Dragon List. No wonder Young Master Chen was frightened by him yesterday."

"That’s just because Young Master Chen is a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong... Anyway, Mo Qianqian is just a cripple now. It’s such a pity for a stunning woman like Shi Muyao to be stuck with a cripple."

"I heard the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion recently started canceling their partnerships with the Shi family. I wonder if it’s true."

"The Chen family has begun suppressing the Shi family. Those two must be here for this exact reason."

Waves of surprise and hushed discussions rippled through the crowd.

"Yaoyao, is that you? You’ve recovered?"

Inside the pavilion, a glamorous woman walked up to them.

Mo Qianqian frowned. This was the exact same glamorous woman who had treated him with such arrogance the day before. Did she know Shi Muyao?

"Yes, I’ve recovered." Shi Muyao nodded. "Rong’Er, it’s been two years since I last visited. Have you been doing well lately?"

"Thanks to the Deputy Elder’s care, I’m doing quite well at the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion!" Rong’Er declared. As she spoke, the corners of her lips curled up, and an involuntary look of arrogance crossed her face.

Shi Muyao furrowed her brows. The Deputy Elder... Kong Mingcheng!

"Rong’Er, we came this time to discuss some business with the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion."

Just as Shi Muyao started to speak, Mo Qianqian interjected, "Let’s just go straight to the Pavilion Master." He had no desire to waste his breath on this glamorous woman.

Hearing this, Rong’Er’s face twisted with displeasure. "Do you think our Pavilion Master sees just anyone who asks?"

Her tone was almost identical to yesterday’s, except this time, she didn’t know she was speaking to the very same person. She looked at Mo Qianqian. "Yaoyao, is this that useless live-in husband of yours, Mo Qianqian?"

A smug expression appeared on Rong’Er’s face. In the past, Shi Muyao had been a legitimate daughter of the Qing Clan, blessed with both beauty and talent. She completely outshone Rong’Er in every aspect. To get on Shi Muyao’s good side, Rong’Er used to humble herself completely. To say she hadn’t been jealous would be a lie. They were both women. Why was Shi Muyao born into a better family and gifted with innate talent?

After Shi Muyao’s accident, Rong’Er’s mood had improved significantly. Just now, seeing that Shi Muyao had recovered, that sense of unfairness flared up once again. However, seeing her accompanied by a complete cripple brought a renewed sense of joy to her heart.

"Yaoyao, it seems that being paralyzed for the last two years has really narrowed your horizons," Rong’Er mocked with thinly veiled sarcasm. "With your looks, even without cultivation, you could have still married into a wealthy family. What a shame that you married a cripple instead. Now that you’re parading him around in public, I’m afraid it’ll be quite difficult for you to remarry in the future."

"Rong’Er, let’s not talk about that. We came today because we need to see the Deputy Elder of the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion," Shi Muyao replied, her displeasure evident.

"Let’s just go straight to the Pavilion Master," Mo Qianqian repeated. A mere Deputy Elder? Was he even qualified?

"What an arrogant tone!" Rong’Er grew angry. "You’re already a cripple, yet you still think you’re the number one genius on the Hidden Dragon List? You still think you’re a lackey for the Ling family?"

As soon as those words left her mouth, Mo Qianqian’s eyes narrowed, a glint of murderous intent flashing within them.

Rong’Er’s heart involuntarily trembled. Why did his gaze feel exactly like the masked man’s from yesterday? Of course, she didn’t dwell on the thought, failing to connect Mo Qianqian with the masked figure. It was just that the feeling itself frightened her.

She didn’t continue insulting Mo Qianqian and instead turned her attention back to Shi Muyao. Thinking of Shi Muyao’s beauty, a malicious smirk crossed Rong’Er’s mind. She spoke up, "Yaoyao, you’ve certainly come to the right person for this. I happen to be quite close with the Deputy Elder. If I put in a good word for you, there might be hope for the Shi family’s business to recover."

Glancing around, she leaned in and lowered her voice. "However... it might require some sacrifices. Nothing too difficult, really. You just need to sleep with the Deputy Elder a few times. With your looks, I’m sure he would agree."