While Ming Li was deep in thought, from the corner of her eye, she noticed Xiang An’ge pinching Qing Ying’s face. She snapped back to attention and asked, “What are you doing?”
Xiang An’ge turned to look at her and said, “The puppet’s stiffness has improved a lot. I can already pinch out some flesh. Want to try?”
Ming Li placed the paper she had written on the table, got up, and pinched Qing Ying’s face. Indeed, as he had said, the puppet’s stiffness had improved significantly, and the cracks had gradually decreased, though she remained completely pallid.
Only after the blood nourishment technique would she return to looking like a normal person.
Ming Li asked, “How is my junior sister’s Spiritual Court meridian recovering?”
Xiang An’ge replied, “You can ask her about your senior brother’s whereabouts now.”
“Really?” Ming Li was a bit surprised. “She can speak?”
Xiang An’ge: “No.”
How can you say that so confidently?
Ming Li looked at him speechlessly, and Xiang An’ge raised an eyebrow: “Seeing how anxious you are, unable to wait even a day. Although she can’t speak or communicate through her Spiritual Court meridian, she can already understand complex information and respond.”
Then he added, “She’s very intelligent.”
Ming Li returned to the table and spread out the papers she had written earlier. They listed places where star power was forbidden.
Xiang An’ge sat across from her with Qing Ying and said to Qing Ying, “Look at these and see if any of them might be where your senior brother is.”
Qing Ying’s extended hand hovered hesitantly, as Ming Li read out place names one by one. After a long impasse, she didn’t select any of them.
“Are there any other places where star power is forbidden?” Ming Li asked Xiang An’ge, who shook his head. “You’ve already mentioned all the ones I know. Perhaps he’s not in any of these places.”
Ming Li thought for a moment, expanded the scope, and simply wrote down the four directions—east, south, west, and north—and asked Qing Ying, “What about now?”
Qing Ying’s hand moved slowly toward one of them, her extended finger finally pointing to the paper.
On the white paper was written a single character: West.
*
News of the feud between Nan Que and Bei Dou had spread in all directions, with people everywhere watching the drama unfold. In the west, the First Red Commerce Guild began establishing a presence in the south, providing healers and medicine trade to Nan Que.
Now that the North and South were at war, all major commerce guilds saw the business opportunity and either frantically withdrew investments or rushed to send people to the South.
A thousand-year-old major sect wouldn’t collapse so easily. At least before it collapsed, there would be enough for them to feast on.
About eighty percent of the important commerce guilds on the entire Tonggu Continent were in the west.
Everyone knew about the flourishing commerce in the West. Those who wanted to make money and build their fortune ran to the west, while those who wanted to become officials and grow wealthy climbed toward the imperial capital.
Most cultivators in the West served the commerce guilds.
The martial academies here had courses specifically designed for graduates entering commerce guilds, such as teaching them how to travel for business and inspect goods in various terrains, and how to use spiritual techniques to produce commodities.
Such martial academies would have a small “commerce” character on their signboards as a symbol, indicating that this academy offered commerce guild courses and also representing that the academy had a certain commerce guild as its backing.
In other regions, martial academies were dominated by major sects and the Imperial Martial Supervision Alliance. Private martial academies were even rarer, and commerce guild academies were practically non-existent. Only in the West did the number of commerce guild academies once exceed those of sects and the Martial Supervision Alliance.
This was unique to the West.
So cultivators who wanted to work for commerce guilds and earn money would travel thousands of miles to apply to western martial academies, or join the super-sect of the west—Tai Yi.
If it were said that eighty percent of the important commerce guilds on the Tonggu Continent were in the west, then among these eighty percent, thirty percent belonged to the Seven Sects of Tai Yi.
Every commerce guild needed to obtain precious resources from the Seven Sects of Tai Yi to varying degrees, and most disciples from the Seven Sects of Tai Yi joined their family commerce guilds.
Of the remaining five guilds, four were supported by imperial capital nobles. Only the Zhou Clan Commerce Guild had no backing, yet it had carved a bloody path amid the competition between super-sects and imperial capital nobles, firmly securing its position as one of the eight major guilds.
Rumors said that the Zhou Clan’s ancestor was also a Pilgrim, but information about this was scarce, and it was difficult to verify. The Zhou family was low-key and had never actively mentioned this rumor.
*
The Zhou Clan’s patriarch had been troubled recently regarding his two children.
The business world’s conflicts had inevitably involved his son and daughter.
Recently, the chairman of First Red told him that the news about Tai Yi Pilgrim Ye Yuanqing’s daughter, Ye Yiyi, holding a martial arts contest to find a husband was not a rumor but a fact.
His son Zhou Yi had affections for Ye Yiyi and followed her around all day. He had even joined the Seven Sects of Tai Yi as a disciple, bringing shame to the family. He had been beaten and scolded, but he simply wouldn’t listen.
If the martial arts contest for marriage were real, Zhou Yi would certainly participate.
First Red was a commerce guild controlled by Tai Yi. At a banquet, the guild chairman smiled meaningfully at him and said, “Your young master’s intentions, the great person of Tai Yi is well aware of and keeps in mind. This martial arts contest for marriage might just be an opportunity specially created for your young master.”
The meaning was already very clear.
Tai Yi was sending him signals of friendship.
But the Zhou patriarch also felt that Ye Yuanqing shouldn’t be the type of person who would use his daughter as a bargaining chip for friendship. Using his son as a bargaining chip seemed more credible.
The next day, news also came from the imperial capital nobles, saying that the person who was second only to one and above ten thousand had fallen in love with his daughter Zhou Caicai at first sight during a visit to the west, and asked if she was willing to stay long-term in the imperial capital.
If she agreed, the Zhou family would be worry-free for the next hundred years.
On the Tai Yi side, Ye Yuanqing was still in his prime, and Tai Yi’s position in the west was unshakable.
Either choose Tai Yi or choose the imperial capital.
These two forces were forcing him to make a choice.
While the Zhou patriarch was still pondering, today his daughter Zhou Caicai came to him, kneeling outside the door and saying, “Father, I already know about the rumors from the imperial capital.”
“Why are you kneeling?” the Zhou patriarch asked, puzzled.
Zhou Caicai raised her head, her almond eyes bright and moist, her tone sincere as she said, “Father, I want to go to the imperial capital.”
The Zhou patriarch paused, then asked, “Do you like the Crown Prince?”
Zhou Caicai answered honestly, “I don’t like the Crown Prince, but I want to be the Crown Prince’s consort.”
The Zhou patriarch: “…”
He looked around to make sure they were alone before sighing in relief. He reached out to tap Zhou Caicai’s forehead and said irritably, “Don’t think you can just do whatever you want. This is not something to be spoken of casually.”
“Father, I’m serious,” Zhou Caicai grabbed his sleeve, her tone more serious than ever before. “I promise you, I will not do anything that harms the family’s interests.”
“The Crown Prince needs our Zhou family’s influence now, and we can lend it to him for a while. Father, trust me, no matter how the imperial capital’s situation changes, our Zhou family will always profit without loss.”
It was the first time the Zhou patriarch had seen his daughter so serious. She wasn’t seeking his opinion; she had already made up her mind. Whether he agreed or not, she was determined to proceed.
“If I agree to you… Then your brother will never be able to marry the person he likes.” Before the Zhou patriarch could finish speaking, Zhou Caicai smiled and said, “Father, I know very well that you never approved of my brother’s matter anyway.”
The Zhou patriarch sighed and reached out to help her up. “I’ll call him home first.”
*
When Ye Yiyi left the sect with her father, she specifically asked Zhou Yi to help take care of her spirit field. The Azure Blood Grass and Flowerless Blood Fruit planted there were meant to assist her senior brother’s cultivation.
Zhou Yi happily agreed, getting up early and staying up late to watch over the spirit field, watering and weeding on schedule, and infusing it with his star power. He hoped that when Ye Yiyi returned, she would see that these medicinal herbs had grown taller.
He was single-minded and didn’t think about anything else.
Ye Yiyi’s brother, Ye Fengming, sat crouched at the edge with a jar of wine, watching Zhou Yi bustling about in the spirit field like a big fool. Once again, he pondered how such a silly yet wealthy person had managed to survive until now.
If it weren’t for his family’s money, he would probably have starved to death on the streets long ago.
Ye Fengming took a sip of wine as Zhou Yi came running over, scratching his head and asking, “Brother Ya, what should I do about the Azure Blood Grass that has wilted for some reason?”
“When it wilts, it means it’s about to die. When it’s about to die, it means it’s useless. So why are you just standing there? Pull it out.”
Zhou Yi shook his head repeatedly. “I can’t pull it out. If the Azure Blood Grass is missing when Yiyi returns, she’ll be angry… How about I go buy some Azure Blood Grass to replace it? Would that work?”
Ye Fengming sat on the railing, leaning against a pillar with a casual smile. “I don’t think that will work. These were planted by my sister for her precious senior brother. If you buy replacements from elsewhere, won’t she be even angrier when she finds out?”
Zhou Yi looked slightly stunned.
Ye Fengming laughed, “Why that expression? Didn’t you already know that everything in this spirit field was prepared by her for Zhong Anqi?”
Zhou Yi shook his head. “I just found out.”
Ye Fengming asked, “Now that you know, will you continue to take care of it?”
Zhou Yi nodded. “If I don’t continue to take care of it, everything in this spirit field will truly die, and that would be wasteful.”
Ye Fengming found this particularly incomprehensible and said frankly, “I’m asking you, do you have any self-respect at all? My sister knows you like her, yet she makes you help take care of the spirit field. Even after she treats you like this, you’re still playing the nice guy, acting like such a fool.”
Zhou Yi was momentarily stunned, then sighed. “There’s no need to insult me like that.”
Ye Fengming rolled his eyes skyward. “You deserve to be insulted.”
“Is she coming back tonight? I’ll go to the commerce guild and see if there’s any Azure Blood Grass left for sale.” Zhou Yi said as he removed his tools. “Please help me watch the spirit field, Brother Ya, to prevent more ghost insects from appearing.”
Ye Fengming: “I won’t help.”
Having no choice, Zhou Yi returned to the spirit field to spread some medicine before leaving, mentally calculating the time to rush back for pest control.
After seeing him walk away, Ye Fengming narrowed his eyes, thinking this fool needed to wake up. So he jumped down from the railing, went to the spirit field, and spread the medicine again, continuing to sprinkle it occasionally. He laughed out loud when he saw the already wilting medicinal herbs begin to lose leaves due to excessive medication.
There would be quite a show to watch when those two returned.
Halfway through his journey, Zhou Yi received a message asking him to return home for a family discussion. So he accelerated his shadow-step speed. Just as he was leaving the Tai Yi territory, he saw a familiar figure near the reed-filled riverbank.
It was Tai Yi’s senior brother, Zhong Anqi.
He intended to pretend he hadn’t seen him and leave, but then he witnessed the usually gentle and refined Zhong Anqi suddenly kick someone violently, sending them flying into the water. Zhou Yi stopped his shadow-step and carefully raised his head to look through the reeds. He quietly activated his Thunderous Roar meridian to hear the conversation ahead:
“You dare to come back and find me? Who told you to impersonate him and go to Bei Dou? All these years, you’ve been living as Bei Dou’s Gleaming Light Academy’s senior brother, being revered by everyone in Bei Dou. Have you forgotten who you are?”
The person who had been kicked into the water stood up shakily, coughing blood. He raised his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, his disheveled hair concealing his features so Zhou Yi couldn’t see clearly. He heard the person laugh coldly, “You’re afraid that I’ve come back to find you? I’ve come back specifically to thank you. Thank you for allowing me to spend these years in Bei Dou. If it weren’t for you, the real Bei Dou senior brother wouldn’t still be a slave in the Heavenly Pit, working desperately for Tai Yi.”
Zhong Anqi raised his hand, about to strike again, when both of them suddenly looked toward the reeds: “Who’s there?!”
Zhou Yi turned and ran, but a powerful star force relentlessly pursued him from behind.