Watching the two of them, Lin Chang'an could not help but smile. He played with the wine cup in his hand and said with a laugh, "Tell me, I'm sitting in the Patrol Prefecture within the Market, without having to worry about anything, yet not a single bit of cultivation resources or Spirit Stones has been withheld."
"Why should I go stirring up trouble for myself over such a tiny bit of authority?" Lin Chang'an paused, then looked at the two of them with amusement.
He wanted to meddle too, but as an outsider, he simply could not get a hand in. This was far better—his Spirit Stones and cultivation resources were not reduced in the slightest, everything could be tossed to Zhang Qing, and he could enjoy leisure without taking responsibility. Only a fool would go looking for trouble.
Moreover, he understood even more clearly where his own value lay.
Upon hearing this, Qi Feng and Li Han immediately wore expressions of enlightenment and cupped their hands in unison. "Brother Lin is truly farsighted."
Seeing their flattery, Lin Chang'an snorted and waved a hand. "The two of you can stop buttering me up. Even if we racked our brains fighting for power and profit, nearly everyone above and below us is a cultivator raised in the sect. Do you think they would listen to me or Senior Brother Zhang Qing?"
"You two!" Seeing their suddenly enlightened expressions, Lin Chang'an smiled and waved his hand. "As long as our cultivation resources are not reduced, why bother with so much? Rather than wasting time on this, we should cultivate properly. In the end, for cultivators like us, strength still has the final say."
"If you two want to gain a firm foothold, raise your cultivation to mid Qi Refining as soon as possible. When the time comes, if you truly have such ambitions, others will naturally be convinced."
Just then, a burst of footsteps came from outside. Qi Feng and Li Han hurriedly rose and stood to one side. After all, before outsiders, they still had to show Lin Chang'an the respect due his status.
"Brother Lin."
As the doors to the main hall were pushed open, a gust of cold wind carrying snow howled inside, instantly dropping the temperature in the room. When Lin Chang'an saw the newcomer, he immediately smiled.
"Come, come. Junior Brother Li has arrived at just the right time. Have a few drinks with us."
Good heavens, he had barely entered when he saw this drinking feast. Junior Brother Li's mouth twitched twice. Then he took a deep breath and respectfully cupped his hands. "Brother Lin, the rent for the Hu family on West Second Street is almost due..."
Before he could finish, Lin Chang'an smiled and waved a hand. "Junior Brother Li, you have come to the wrong person for this."
That single sentence left Junior Brother Li stunned. Elder Lu had personally appointed him as a steward of the Patrol Prefecture, responsible for the Market's patrol duties. How could he have come to the wrong person?
Seeing his bewildered look, Lin Chang'an narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Junior Brother Li, don't forget that my Senior Brother Zhang Qing is the principal person in charge here. Though we are both stewards, I am merely lending a hand."
"Then this...?" Junior Brother Li was dumbfounded, his eyes full of blank confusion.
Seeing that he still had not caught on, Lin Chang'an could not help shaking his head. "Of course you should go to Senior Brother Zhang Qing for this. I have only been here for a few days. What do I know about the Market's businesses? Every day, I am either refining pills or cultivating. Where would I find the time to handle such matters? Don't come to me with this again in the future."
"Oh, right." Lin Chang'an seemed to remember something and sighed as he shook his head. "In the end, I cannot disappoint Master Lu's expectations of me, can I?"
Junior Brother Li nodded out of habit. Right—Elder Lu had sent him here to manage affairs, so he really could not act like a hands-off shopkeeper.
"From now on, send all the accounts for the businesses under our responsibility to me. We cannot throw everything onto Senior Brother Zhang Qing. Otherwise, if Master Lu finds out, he will surely whip me."
Lin Chang'an spoke with an utterly candid expression. Junior Brother Li finally understood. After all this, this lord simply did not want to do any work at all; he had only taken on one easy task.
"Brother Lin, is that really all right?" Honest Junior Brother Li's voice weakened as he asked awkwardly.
Although none of them had been pleased with Lin Chang'an, this steward who had descended from above, at first—though he was Elder Lu's disciple, he was still an outsider. How could he be as close as those who had grown up in the sect since childhood?
But now, this disciple of Elder Lu's seemed rather pleasing to the eye.
"What is not all right about it?" Lin Chang'an smiled as he stood and invited him to sit. "It's so cold outside. Come, have a few drinks to warm yourself first."
At Lin Chang'an's signal, Li Han and Qi Feng, standing nearby, also nodded along, smiles covering their faces.
"Junior Brother Li, hurry and have some food."
"I've filled your cup."
Under such warm hospitality, Junior Brother Li was dazed for a moment. He seemed to have forgotten why he had come in the first place and actually joined the lively drinking table.
The wind and snow outside grew ever heavier, heralding the arrival of a new year. They had also been in this place for half a year now.
Mine District.
"Senior Brother Zhang..."
After leaving, Junior Brother Li headed straight for the Bronze Ore District. Once he found his Senior Brother Zhang Qing, he braced himself and relayed everything Lin Chang'an had said.
Yet Zhang Qing smiled upon hearing it. Through the window, he watched exhausted, numb cultivators file into the mine tunnels one after another. That bleak and tedious sight somehow became pleasing to the eye.
"Junior Brother Lin truly knows how to conduct himself. Hahaha."
Zhang Qing could not help laughing aloud. Junior Brother Li behind him carefully asked, "Senior Brother Zhang, is Lin Chang'an's way of doing things somewhat inappropriate?"
"Inappropriate?" Zhang Qing shot Junior Brother Li an annoyed glare, as though looking at some fool who had not yet opened his eyes.
"What do you know? Junior Brother Lin is talented. He has no time to play with these power games right now. What he wants is not some tiny scrap of this."
With limited talent, as one gradually matured with age, the lofty ambitions of youth had long since been worn away without notice.
Thinking of this, Zhang Qing could not help sighing in envy. His cultivation had stagnated for years—had he not also gradually begun craving power and authority?
After struggling for so many years, could he not enjoy himself a little? If his cultivation had not stagnated, he would not even spare such things a glance.
"Tell everyone below to behave themselves. Junior Brother Lin is deeply valued by Elder Lu, and besides!" At this point, Zhang Qing turned back and saw the contempt in the other man's eyes, causing him to sneer.
"That kid is only eighteen, yet he is already at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation. So long as nothing happens to him, breaking through to late Qi Condensation in the future is almost a certainty. And do not forget that he is also an alchemist, and his talent is not low."
"An alchemist's pills—whether our own people buy them, or you find spirit herbs and ask Junior Brother Lin to refine them—do you still think that is unimportant?"
That lightly spoken sentence made Junior Brother Li's pupils contract. All his disdain for Lin Chang'an vanished without a trace.
"Besides, you may not need them, but what about your descendants?" Zhang Qing's words completely enlightened Junior Brother Li.
"Senior Brother Zhang, I understand. I will warn everyone below. Whoever dares look down on Alchemist Lin is looking down on all the brothers."
The temptation of befriending an alchemist was simply too great. Junior Brother Li even patted his chest, his eyes filled with determination.
Thank you all, fellow Daoists, for your support.
Before you continue