Artifacts capable of traveling to the True Realm were scarce, after all. Once the news was released, only a handful of factions responded.
And the faction most likely to have such an item in stock was naturally the Life-and-Death Sect, the alliance of forces native to the True Realm.
At a secret foothold some distance from Jin Gate, Young Master Lu stood in his study, quietly writing.
Through each deliberate stroke of regular script, he settled his mind, achieving the effect of nourishing qi and concentrating the spirit. This, too, was a form of cultivating the heart.
Those who accomplished great things feared nothing more than a restless, impetuous heart. They had to maintain the clearest and calmest judgment at all times, placing profit above all else.
Even yielding profit for the moment was done for the sake of greater profit later.
Just as, to deal with the return of the Golden Age, even knowing full well that Huo Yuanhong had a grudge with his faction for blocking his path, he could still tolerate it and temporarily join hands with the New Faction behind Huo Yuanhong.
To him, there were no eternal enemies and no eternal allies. He could join forces with his adversary Huo Yuanhong, and he could just as easily betray his ally Eunuch Wei.
"How are things with the Zheng Family?"
After finishing a passage from the Tao Te Ching, Young Master Lu set down his brush and inkstone and questioned the Life-and-Death Sect elder waiting respectfully at the side.
"These past days, the Zheng Family's preliminary arrangements overseas have begun to bear fruit. They have gained control of industries of a certain scale in three duchies, purchased farms and estates across a sufficient area to establish settlements, and appear to have a training base for deathsworn