My Fiancee Has a Merchant Guild

On the morning of the third day, Zhen Jin slowly awoke.

Everything was peaceful.

He had rested well last night. Beneath him was no longer hard, dry stone, but a layer of fluffy, dry branches and leaves.

Zi Di had specially gathered them for him.

Thinking of his fiancée, warmth rose in Zhen Jin's heart.

But Zi Di was nowhere nearby.

Before going to sleep last night, Zi Di had suggested drawing some of Zhen Jin's blood to check whether any fire poison remained. If possible, she might even be able to determine his true cultivation level.

Zhen Jin had agreed.

That girl... didn't she rest all night? Zhen Jin's expression darkened slightly as worry filled his heart.

Though he had been asleep, he was confident that if there had been the slightest movement nearby, he would have noticed immediately.

Zhen Jin looked at the straw bedding on the other side. It was fluffy, without the slightest sign of having been pressed down. He was certain that Zi Di had not slept there last night.

After entering the Mountain Cave, she had never come back out.

Zhen Jin got up and headed deeper into the cave.

Zi Di had set up something in the depths of the Mountain Cave, creating a temporary area for preparing potions.

During the two days Zhen Jin had been recuperating, she had rarely gone out. Even when she did, she stayed near the Mountain Cave. Apart from tending to Zhen Jin, she spent most of her time inside the cave tinkering with her potions.

As Zhen Jin entered the cave, he saw Zi Di kneeling among a number of pits, just as expected.

The pits varied in size. The larger ones contained processed beast blood, bones, pelts, and more, while the smaller ones held potions of various colors, like a tiny, brilliantly colored dye workshop.

"My lord, you're awake?" Hearing him, Zi Di glanced back at Zhen Jin but did not rise. Her hands continued moving as she prepared a potion.

"Forgive my discourtesy, my lord, but I'm in the middle of preparing a potion." Zi Di shook the glass vial in her hand while the fingers of her other hand continuously rubbed together, sprinkling out ingredients as fine as grains of sand.

The vial was only as large as an adult's finger, and the potion inside appeared to be Bear Blood, dark red in color.

The finely ground, sand-like ingredients dissolved into the potion and clung to the inner wall of the vial.

Zi Di stared intently at the vial. Sometimes she added more grains, while at other times she scooped Bear Blood from a pit on the ground and poured it in.

At last, some sort of balance seemed to be achieved. The grains clinging to the inside of the vial completely dissolved, not a single one remaining.

Zi Di nodded faintly. Only then did she satisfactorily stopper the vial with a wooden cork and place it on a wooden rack beside her.

The rack had been crudely assembled from several dead branches, and it was nearly filled with glass vials.

Seeing that the vials all contained Game Potion, Zhen Jin could not help asking, "So you spent the whole night preparing this kind of potion? Is it really alright to work yourself so hard?"

"Thank you for your concern, my lord." Zi Di smiled and immediately explained, "If I didn't prepare them now, the Bear Blood would lose its potency. These are all excellent materials. It's such a shame that I don't have enough refining tools. Using Silver-level Bear Blood merely to make Game Potion is far too extravagant, far too wasteful!"

Most magical materials had a limited shelf life. Once that time passed, their value dropped drastically.

Zhen Jin nodded, acknowledging Zi Di's efforts. "You've worked hard."

As he spoke, he looked at the glass vials, and his gaze lingered on them.

It was strange.

He seemed to smell a sweet fragrance from the vials, and from the deepest part of his heart came an urge to drink his fill of Bear Blood.

Am I too hungry? Zhen Jin immediately suppressed the strange sensation.

To be honest, during these past two days of rest, he had not had a single full meal. Though he knew he was recovering well, he had still carefully controlled how much he ate.

"With that, the Bear Blood and Leopard Blood are all used up. Next, we need to deal with this meat." Zi Di licked her dry lips. Having worked here for so long, her forehead was covered in sweat.

Zi Di took a piece of beast meat from a large pit, covered it with a layer of greenish-yellow herbs, then took out a small tube of potion from a leather bag and slowly poured it over the meat.

This potion tube was not made of glass. It seemed to be fashioned from pitch-black ironwood.

Only a small amount of liquid poured out, but it quickly spread and seeped into the meat, releasing a pungent smell.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

After a faint sound of corrosion, the once plump beast meat shriveled dramatically.

Zi Di reached out and tore apart the dried meat, then kneaded it repeatedly. The dried meat first became strips of shredded meat, then was squeezed into a clump of meat floss.

Over the past two days, aside from Dried Food, this meat floss had been what Zhen Jin ate most often.

They had not lit a fire.

On one hand, the bloody lesson taught by the Fire Poison Bees had made them extremely cautious about making fires.

On the other hand, it was inconvenient to light a fire inside the Mountain Cave. It could easily cause oxygen depletion, smoke pollution, or even poisoning.

Though the meat floss prepared this way tasted terrible, it retained its nutrients and killed any bacteria or toxins that might be present in the flesh.

"These are all excellent magical materials. Outside, they could sell for quite a few gold coins. What a waste. Even the most ordinary crucible would be good enough for me right now!"

As she worked, Zi Di shook her head, expressing profound regret.

Zhen Jin smiled. Rather than urging Zi Di, who had worked all night, to rest, he sat cross-legged beside her. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Zi Di smiled. "Since you say so, my lord, I won't stand on ceremony."

After that, Zi Di handled only the delicate task of pouring the potion, while Zhen Jin tore apart the dried meat and made it into meat floss.

With the two of them dividing the work, their efficiency immediately increased greatly.

While working together, Zhen Jin awkwardly discovered that several pits in a corner stored the urine and feces he had excreted over the past few days.

"Studying these can help me investigate your physical condition, my lord." Zi Di's expression remained calm. "Unfortunately, I still cannot determine your true strength."

"There is one more thing. I also wanted to recreate the Healing Potion I used on you through analysis. If it was truly my potion that healed your injuries, then the value of that formula would be immense!"

Is this what one should expect from a mage's attitude toward research? Zhen Jin muttered inwardly, but aloud he agreed, "You did the right thing. Have you gained anything?"

Zi Di sighed, her expression dimming slightly. "The situation was extremely urgent at the time. For some crucial steps, I acted purely on instinct. I cannot even estimate the proportions of the various herbs used then. It is impossible to completely recreate that potion. I can only do my best."

"However, it's not as though I gained nothing else. Using Bear Blood and minerals, I prepared two kinds of potions. One can help fuel a fire, while the other can retard flames."

Zhen Jin nodded. After helping Zi Di process all the beast meat, he patted her shoulder and suggested, "Let's eat something together."

The two of them ate some Dried Food, along with freshly made meat floss and water.

The water was warm.

Though they had not lit a fire, they could use minerals to heat it.

Under such circumstances, a sip of warm water could bring the greatest comfort. As it flowed down the throat and into the stomach, it was as though one's entire soul had been gently soothed from head to toe.

They had plenty of food now, but not much water left. Both were frugal. After taking a few sips, Zhen Jin said, "Tell me about yourself, Zi Di."

Zi Di nodded. "My lord, I am your fiancée. There is no doubt about that."

"Then which family do you belong to? Where is your family's territory?"

Zi Di gave a bitter smile. "My lord, you overestimate me. I am not a noble. I am merely a merchant. My family has engaged in trade for generations."

"Oh?" Zhen Jin raised his brows slightly. The answer was somewhat beyond his expectations.

The marriage partners of nobles were almost always nobles.

Some nobles even married among relatives in order to preserve the purity of their bloodlines.

"So you awakened some kind of superior bloodline?" Zhen Jin asked again.

That was also possible.

Although nobles had only one wife, they usually had many lovers, and illegitimate children were therefore not uncommon.

Looking only at a family tree, it was difficult to determine one's true bloodline.

History was not lacking in examples of lower nobles with rich superior bloodlines, or even commoners who suddenly displayed astonishing potential. Tracing their origins often revealed that their bloodline came from some superior noble.

Those with rich bloodlines were often recruited by nobles and incorporated into their own families.

But Zi Di shook her head again, a trace of bitterness appearing on her face. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, my lord. My bloodline is utterly ordinary. In truth, reaching Black Iron-level strength has nearly exhausted all of my potential."

"I am not a noble, nor were any of my ancestors nobles. My father was the previous president of the Purple Vine Merchant Guild. Now it is my turn to take charge of the entire guild."

"The Purple Vine Merchant Guild? The name sounds familiar... Wait, could it be?"