A Clan Didn't Need Mediocrities to Grow Stronger-Give Him a Chance? Evolution Time Had Shortened

Black Cloud County.

Tooth City.

At the Qiu residence, Qiu Tongdan was busy handling the family's businesses.

She was swamped with adjusting businesses in different regions, transferring family members, and reviewing the accounts of the various enterprises.

"Miss, here's the list of Blood-Tempering Realm warriors who've made breakthroughs in Black Cloud County recently. They're from Flying Cloud Pavilion and five martial academies. There are seven newly advanced warriors in total."

A broad-shouldered woman handed her a thin stack of documents and said, "Besides those from Black Cloud County, quite a few warriors from elsewhere have come as well. They want to serve as attendants or guards for the Qiu Family. Please look over their records, Miss."

"Mm."

Qiu Tongdan took the documents and first went through the ones from Black Cloud County.

First, she wanted to see which geniuses had emerged from the local powers, since they could be recruited and cultivated. Second, she wanted to assess the forces represented by these people.

Unfortunately, after a quick look, she was quite dissatisfied.

There were two geniuses on the list. One was Qin Heng of Li's Fist Academy, who had an eighth-grade bone structure and had officially become a Blood-Tempering Realm warrior within half a month.

The other was Li Jingyang, the genius from Flying Cloud Pavilion with a tenth-grade bone structure. According to the reports, he had refined his qi and blood today as well, so becoming a warrior was all but certain.

Apart from them, there were no other outstanding talents worth recruiting.

The rest had either refined their qi and blood during the two-to-three-month trial period or practiced martial arts for about half a year before forcing their way into the Blood-Tempering Realm.

They weren't worth much investment.

"Send an invitation to Li Jingyang from Flying Cloud Pavilion. Ask him to meet me at Yuejiang Tower tomorrow at noon."

Qiu Tongdan put a check beside Li Jingyang's name.

As for Qin Huan, the other one, she fell into thought. "If I remember correctly, that boy from the Yan Family was trying to recruit Qin Huan, wasn't he?"

"Yes, Miss. Yan Kai and Qin Huan are very close. They may have already reached some kind of agreement."

The maid answered at once.

"Never mind. Make it tomorrow night. Set up a meeting with Qin Huan. I'll offer him better terms. Whether he accepts or not, I can still make things difficult for that boy from the Yan Family!"

A strange glint flashed in Qiu Tongdan's eyes.

The Yan Family and hers had many points of conflict in business.

In recent years, especially, the Yan Family had cozied up to the county magistrate and expanded its businesses in Black Cloud County. As a result, their business interests overlapped with those of the Qiu Family.

Neither side was willing to back down, so conflict was inevitable.

On top of that, her family served as County Lieutenant and had never gotten along with the county magistrate.

If she got the chance to snatch that genius from the Yan Family, she could deal them a heavy blow and humiliate them at the same time!

"As for the other two, send them a reply and offer them the chance to affiliate with us. Let them decide whether they want to."

Qiu Tongdan continued flipping through the documents below.

Qiu Tongdan picked up a pen and began marking the documents. "For these warriors from elsewhere, reduce the fees for affiliation and service by twenty percent across the board. If they're willing to come, let them. If they aren't, join forces with the other merchant associations in town and suppress them. Don't let these outsiders get too arrogant."

"Yes!"

The maid nodded quickly.

"Also, tell the warriors in our residence that their affiliation fees are being cut by twenty percent and their service fees by ten percent."

At Qiu Tongdan's words, the maid hesitated, but still asked, "Miss, won't lowering their fees cause a dispute?"

"What dispute could there be? The times are so bad. If they won't do it, plenty of others will!" Qiu Tongdan sneered. "So many warriors from elsewhere are waiting for work."

"But it won't do for the Qiu Family to cut pay on our own. I'll speak with the other merchant associations and get this settled."

"All right, that's enough."

Qiu Tongdan waved a hand, and the maid hurried off with the documents.

But a moment later, she returned and handed Qiu Tongdan a letter. "Miss, a letter just arrived from Li's Fist Academy."

"Is it from Qianqian?"

Qiu Tongdan opened the letter and read it. Only then did she understand. "So Li's Fist Academy has someone who broke through today too. Shi Wen reached the Blood-Tempering Realm within half a month. Qianqian is asking whether I'd invest in him."

"How strange. How could someone with a fifth-grade bone structure reach the Blood-Tempering Realm in half a month?"

"Could he be exceptionally compatible with Baji Fist?"

"Shi Wen... I feel like I've heard that name somewhere."

Seeing her mistress lost in thought, the maid quietly said, "Miss, he's the man Miss Qianqian introduced to you for a blind date last time."

"So he's that country bumpkin..."

Qiu Tongdan remembered him, and a peculiar discomfort came over her.

When she'd turned Li Qianqian down last time, she'd said she'd look for an opening in the family business where the man could make a little money.

But she'd gotten busy and forgotten all about it.

She hadn't expected the fellow to become a Blood-Tempering Realm warrior.

Now, apart from feeling a little awkward, Qiu Tongdan had no other thoughts about him.

She crumpled the letter in one hand, then opened her palm again. "Forget it. I'll send a reply later and offer the fellow a chance to affiliate with us. Whether he comes or not is up to him. It'll be a favor to Qianqian, at least."

"Only true geniuses like Li Jingyang and Qin Huan, such talented young men, are worth recruiting."

"If the Qiu Family wants to grow stronger, we need geniuses like them, not mediocrities..."

"Breathing technique?"

"I never expected to get a breathing technique from an outsider before obtaining one from the Extreme Seal. And it came from those Daoists of the Prosperity Society..."

Shi Wen stared at the little booklet.

He opened it and began to read, but just then, the Extreme Seal suddenly manifested a string of text.

[Detected an extremely faint trace of calamity on the incomplete breathing technique. Evolution Branch 2 is available.]

[Evolution Branch 1: Severely Incomplete Gen Meridian Breathing Technique: A breathing technique evolved and improved from this manual. It can be used to explode blood and lock in essence, increase the density of flesh and skin, build strength, and improve digestion. It grants immunity to all poisons. Each month, it can steal a wisp of extremely faint Earth Qi from the ground to nourish the body! (1 year)]

[Evolution Branch 2: Incomplete Gen Meridian Food-Refining Origin Method: An incomplete origin method that can transform the body through devouring, making it indestructible. Anything in the world can be devoured as nourishment. Once you've eaten enough, your body will undergo mutations. When you stand on the earth and are exhausted, you'll receive a boost from the land, while also attracting the attention of earthly calamities! (700 years)]

[Evolution Branch 3: Incomplete Earth Demon Gen Meridian Delusion-Watching Spirit-Infusing Source Method: An incomplete source method that can temper the entire body until it becomes imperishable. Gluttony, devouring, vajra, shapeshifting, absolute hardness, absolute digestion. It can trigger eruptions of magma beneath the earth and contain a tiny portion of the source of earthly calamity! (8,000 years)]

The time required for evolution had shortened!!