Wind Spirit Root

The Merchant Associations in the Gan Yue Kingdom primarily gather merchants, families, and individuals to trade goods. They frequently hold auctions of various scales, from which they profit. Naturally, some merchant associations also own their own industries.

Within the capital city, there are quite a few merchant associations, most of which are branches sent from their headquarters.

"What's your merchant association called?" Qin Jun asked curiously. A merchant association that Qin Yu took notice of absolutely couldn't be ordinary.

"Yan Bei Merchant Association," Yan Mo Bei replied helplessly, causing Qin Jun's pupils to constrict.

The Yan Bei Merchant Association was the number one ranked indigenous merchant association in the Gan Yue Kingdom. No one knew the extent of its wealth.

"That's impossible. If your Yan Bei Merchant Association is so wealthy, can't you afford strong bodyguards?" Qin Jun frowned and asked. His past impression of the Yan Bei Merchant Association was simply that they were rich.

Money makes the world go 'round!

The Blood Saber Guards were generally at the Qi Refining Realm. Qin Jun didn't believe the Yan Bei Merchant Association couldn't hire Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

Yan Mo Bei said awkwardly, "As soon as those cultivators heard we offended the Fifth Prince, they all ran away..."

Qin Jun overestimated the merchant associations. The merchant associations in the Gan Yue Kingdom were basically ordinary folk. The goods they traded could at most attract Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, and even then, very few. Thus, the Yan Bei Merchant Association hadn't managed to recruit many Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Upon hearing that the Yan Bei Merchant Association had offended the Fifth Prince, they all turned their backs and left.

Cultivators who could reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in the Gan Yue Kingdom were basically disciples of sects. After all, lone cultivators had few resources and were weak, making it difficult to achieve much.

Who in the cultivation world didn't know that the Fifth Prince was close with the Purple Light Sect and was widely considered the future emperor? Who dared to offend him?

Unless they didn't want to get by in the Gan Yue Kingdom anymore!

"This group of Blood Saber Guards is at the bottom of the barrel in the Blood Saber organization. The experts of our Yan Family were killed by stronger Blood Saber Guards. The remaining ones are the old, weak, sick, and disabled, which is why they were sent to hunt us down and eliminate us completely," Yan Mo Bei said with a bitter smile.

Qin Jun couldn't help but narrow his eyes. A different idea surfaced in his mind.

"Your Yan Bei Merchant Association has offended Qin Yu, so you likely can't continue to establish yourselves in the Gan Yue Kingdom," Qin Jun said, stroking his chin. Yan Mo Bei felt a wave of despair upon hearing this.

The reality was indeed so. Even if they wanted to flee the Gan Yue Kingdom, it was impossible. The Gan Yue Kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms were separated by wastelands and forests filled with terrifying demonic beasts. Without the strength of the Foundation Establishment Realm, no one dared to leave the Gan Yue Kingdom.

It was clear that Yan Mo Bei was not a Foundation Establishment Realm expert, nor were his three guards.

By this calculation, their Yan Family was still doomed.

"Ding! Side Quest triggered - Subjugate the Yan Bei Merchant Association! Completing the mission will grant 4000 Experience Points and one Random Draw opportunity!"

The system's prompt sounded in a timely manner. Since Qin Jun had developed ambitions towards the Yan Bei Merchant Association, triggering a side quest didn't surprise him.

Once the mission was completed, he could level up and also get a chance for a random draw!

His first draw yielded the Desert Eagle, a small but deadly weapon, so he was looking forward to the next draw.

"Join me. I'm also an enemy of Qin Yu. The enemy of my enemy is my friend!" Qin Jun said frankly, which moved Yan Mo Bei.

However, Yan Mo Bei didn't agree immediately. If it were the Qin Jun from a month ago, he might have agreed.

But now, Qin Jun was disgraced. If he appeared in the capital, he would surely incur the emperor's wrath.

Offending the Fifth Prince was already bad enough. Offending the emperor again would truly lead to the extermination of his entire clan.

"Don't worry. I've returned this time precisely to clear my name. I will settle you all properly. Once I regain my princely title, I will openly support your Yan Family!"

Qin Jun could naturally see Yan Mo Bei's concerns, so he chuckled lightly.

Yan Mo Bei still felt a bit uneasy, "But if this group of Blood Saber Guards doesn't return with their report, the Fifth Prince will definitely send more assassins..."

"It's fine. Follow me into the city, I'll protect you!" Qin Jun waved his hand. Yan Mo Bei felt this was the best arrangement currently. As for fleeing, he didn't dare to even think about it. In the Gan Yue Kingdom, was there anyone Qin Yu couldn't find?

Afterward, Qin Jun walked towards the ten children. Daji and the Howling Celestial Dog also followed.

"Ding! Potential talent with Wind Spirit Root aptitude detected!"

The system's prompt suddenly sounded, and Qin Jun froze. Wind Spirit Root?

To cultivate immortality, one must possess a Spirit Root. This was also a major reason why there were few cultivators in the Gan Yue Kingdom; most people lacked Spirit Roots.

Qin Jun didn't know what Spirit Roots looked like yet, but all cultivators understood that the purer the Spirit Root's attribute, the better. It would lead to twice the results with half the effort when learning cultivation techniques of the corresponding attribute.

If the Spirit Root's attributes were too mixed, cultivation would become very difficult, as single-attribute Spirit Roots were rare.

Being versatile sometimes meant being mediocre.

Qin Jun himself had a mixed Spirit Root aptitude, possessing all five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Although suitable for cultivating five-element techniques, achieving great heights was basically impossible.

Five-element Spirit Roots were common among cultivators. Having three attributes could be considered genius, with cultivation speed far surpassing that of those with four or mixed Spirit Roots.

A dual Spirit Root aptitude was a treasure that cultivation sects vied for.

A single Spirit Root aptitude was also known as a Heavenly Spirit Root aptitude, a rare existence that the Gan Yue Kingdom rarely saw in centuries.

Furthermore, the wind attribute was extremely rare. It wasn't among the five elements but was even stronger.

Other rare attributes included lightning, light, space, and so on, known as Sacred Spirit Roots. Currently, in the Gan Yue Kingdom, only the three major sects had the means to detect Sacred Spirit Root aptitudes; other forces could not.

Qin Jun had only read about Sacred Spirit Roots in some books.

Sacred Spirit Roots existed only in legends. This meant that the child with Sacred Spirit Root potential discovered by the system was likely undiscovered by the Yan Bei Merchant Association.

Following the system's prompt, Qin Jun looked at a boy standing at the very back. This boy was about twelve or thirteen years old, extremely thin, but his eyes were very clear. Although he was also crying, he wasn't as distraught as the other children.

"What's his name?" Qin Jun asked, pointing at the boy with the Wind Spirit Root.

"His name is Yan San. He's my nephew. He doesn't have any cultivation talent; he's quite ordinary," Yan Mo Bei quickly explained.

No talent for cultivation?

Qin Jun chuckled inwardly, it seemed his guess was indeed correct.

Under Qin Jun's gaze, Yan San quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at him.

"Young Master, you don't mean you want to recruit them, do you? They look so weak!" Daji asked in confusion, causing Yan Mo Bei and his three guards immense embarrassment.

At the same time, they subconsciously sized up Daji. Aside from her stunning beauty, they couldn't discern her true strength.

She was as mysterious as a dense fog, clearly no ordinary person.

"Yes, let's enter the royal capital together next!"

Qin Jun said without room for argument. Naturally, a Void Transformation Realm expert like Daji would look down on the Yan Family, but he clearly understood the importance of Merchant Associations to a kingdom. After all, the Gan Yue Kingdom was mostly populated by mortals, and money, which cultivators viewed as dirt, was incredibly alluring to them.

Most importantly, he had discovered Yan San, a genius with a Wind Spirit Root!

A genius with a Sacred Spirit Root, once grown, would undoubtedly be a world-shaking figure.