Help from My Brother

As the headquarters of the world's premier chamber of commerce in Di'an City, the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce is not a magnificent building, but rather a street block.

Yes, not one, but a whole area.

In the prime Di'an City, Tian'an Chamber of Commerce directly occupies hundreds of acres of land.

Horse-drawn carriages traveled through the area, with shops lining both sides of the street, each displaying the logo of the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce.

From brothels to casinos, from everyday necessities to high-end luxury clothing, from ordinary people to high-level cultivators, everything you need to buy and everything you want to spend money on can be found here.

The carriage of the Left Vice Minister of Ministry of War attracted much attention as it passed through the bustling streets, but there was no silence in the streets.

Within the territory of the Tianan Chamber of Commerce, one could often see carriages of high-ranking officials from the imperial court and high-ranking members of various sects heading deeper into the Chamber. Although high-ranking officials of the third rank were rare, they were not so numerous that they would silence anyone.

The carriage traveled slowly through the bustling streets for about fifteen minutes before finally stopping in front of a three-story building.

This is a pawn shop.

The plaque bore two large characters written in a vigorous, dragon-and-phoenix style.

Chang'an.

This pawnshop was named after Hua Hong's second brother after his death, and the old man always made it his habit to handle official business in this pawnshop.

As long as Hua Hong isn't at the Prime Minister's Mansion, you can easily find him here.

Xu Yuan followed behind Wang Yuqian and slowly walked into the pawnshop.

Business inside was neither good nor bad. There were five pawnshop windows, and only a few people were sparsely lined up in front of each window, but the atmosphere was quite lively.

There was a lot of noise at each window, with customers arguing with appraisers about the prices of their items to be pawned.

However, after the two stepped into the pawnshop, the hall fell silent at an eerie speed.

Because Wang Yuqian was wearing an official robe, the robe of a third-rank official.

This pawnshop is not the largest within the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce. Most of the people who come here to pawn their items are wealthy merchants or low-level cultivators. A third-rank official is already considered a high-ranking official to them.

As his gaze swept across the room, Xu Yuan even saw some guests kneeling down directly in their direction.

After a brief silence, a lean and capable young man rushed out from backstage.

Dressed in a somewhat dated shopkeeper's uniform, he stood before the two, nervously rubbing his hands together, and asked cautiously:

"Esteemed guests, are you here to pawn something?"

Wang Yuqian nodded calmly, then casually took out a rather exquisite jade pendant from his official robes:

"Find someone with sharp eyes, lest I misjudge them."

The skinny young man's pupils contracted the instant he saw the jade pendant, and he chuckled.

"Gentlemen, please go upstairs."

Having said that, the thin young man bowed with both hands behind his back and expertly called out to the upstairs:

"Qu'er, two guests, please prepare some Red Gold tea."

After saying that, the thin young man quickly led Xu Yuan and Wang Yuqian upstairs.

Upon reaching the second floor, the hustle and bustle of the street below instantly subsided, with green plants and incense dotting the corners, and seven or eight sandalwood tables and chairs hidden behind screens equipped with Sound-Isolation Array.

What's puzzling is that although the thin young man mentioned the second floor, there were no servants on that floor, and he didn't stop walking upstairs, leading Xu Yuan and Wang Yuqian straight to the third floor.

However, as they approached the third floor, the thin young man suddenly stopped, turned around to look at Wang Yuqian, and said with a smile:

"Honorable guest, Master Hua has met this young master. Please follow me to the second floor."

Wang Yuqian nodded silently, without showing any dissatisfaction.

A third-rank official is very prestigious, but compared to the most important person in the Prime Minister's Mansion's residence, he is still nothing.

He bowed to Xu Yuan and followed the thin young man down to the second floor, leaving Xu Yuan alone at the entrance to the third floor.

As the two disappeared around the corner of the stairs, a helpless voice came from the third floor:

"Stop looking, kid. Red Gold is my confidant; he won't expose your identity."

Xu Yuan chuckled lightly, touched the Sumeru Ring on his fingertip, and stepped into the third floor.

There is only one room on the third floor.

The layout was somewhat similar to the old man's study, with a dozen bookshelves filled with all sorts of documents and files, and an old man with white hair and beard sitting behind the desk.

Looking around, Xu Yuan walked forward, took a chair from his Sumeru Ring, placed it on the table, and sat down facing the old man opposite him, smiling broadly.

"Old Hua, it's been a long time. How have you been lately?"

"If you hadn't poisoned me, I probably would have lived for another ten years or so."

Hua Hong snorted coldly, "Didn't I tell you to be careful? Many people in Di'an City know that I live here. Although Wang Yuqian's status is not low, bringing you along might arouse suspicion."

"Don't worry, I've considered that."

Xu Yuan said casually, "Crown Prince Highness the Crown Prince thinks highly of my identity now, so it's not too conspicuous for Wang Yuqian to take me, his illegitimate son, around to pay homage to powerful figures."

Hua Hong stared at Xu Yuan with his piercing eyes for a few moments, then sighed:

"Alright, speak now, what brings you here specifically to see me?"

Xu Yuan leaned forward slightly, tapped the table, and said with a smile:

"This is a pawn shop; I'm here to pawn items, of course."

"Pawned items".

Hua Hong frowned slightly, but then relaxed and snorted, "Hmph, Lou Ji took all your money, are you trying to freeload off me?"

While speaking,

Hua Hong, annoyed, pulled out several hundred-tael silver notes from his pocket and threw them on the table.

That's all, no more.

"."

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan's expression turned serious:

"Old Hua, I'm serious."

Hua Hong's expression became even more serious:

"I'm serious too."

"." Xu Yuan.

Prejudice in people's hearts is a damn mountain.

Thinking it over, Xu Yuan leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and casually tossed a Cultivation Method from his Sumeru Ring onto the table.

"Since you don't believe me, why don't you take a look at this Cultivation Method first?"

Hua Hong looked at the rogue-like appearance of the boy opposite him, casually picked up the paper Cultivation Method and flipped through a few pages, then his eyes narrowed as he looked at Xu Yuan:

"Changtian, where did you get this Cultivation Method?"

"Found it."

"I'm serious."

"I'm serious."

"."

Hua Hong's eyes flashed with a hint of anger as he stored the Cultivation Method into his Sumeru Ring, saying softly:

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. This Cultivation Method is quite good. I'll take it for thirty thousand taels."

After saying that, he threw three 10,000-tael notes in front of Xu Yuan, and then silently put the previous 100-tael notes into his pocket.

Seeing the stingy old man's behavior, Xu Yuan was not surprised. He glanced at the three ten-thousand-tael notes in front of him, his face showing no urgency, and asked with a smile:

"Old man Hua, are you planning to force a sale again?"

Hua Hong, without batting an eye, casually made up a story:

"While your Cultivation Method, it can only be rated as upper-grade B at best, not even reaching grade A. Thirty thousand taels is already quite a lot."

Alright.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan grinned, picked up the three banknotes in front of him, and turned to leave.

Hua Hong's eyes showed a hint of doubt upon seeing this.

This kid has never been one to suffer a loss.

Back in the day, before this kid even started cultivating, he dared to fight to the death with a Origin Beginning expert for a few thousand taels of New Year's money. Now that his cultivation has improved, why is he so calm?

"Wait a minute," Hua Hong suddenly said.

"Hmm?" Xu Yuan.

"What are you up to, kid?"

"What medicine?"

Xu Yuan turned around and said with a smile, "Since you old man don't know its value, then I'll just have to sell it at another pawnshop."

Hua Hong's eyes widened upon hearing this:

"You little bastard, you're breaking the rules! Cultivation Method to both sides will get you hunted down!"

"Ah"

Xu Yuan opened his mouth, blinked at Hua Hong, and said with slight surprise, "Old Master Hua, are you planning to hunt me down?"

"."

Hua Hong's cheek twitched, and his previously relaxed fist gradually hardened.

Sensing through his Spirit Sight, Xu Yuan immediately smiled and said:

"Mr. Hua, it was just a joke. I know my limits."

Hua Hong stood up and walked step by step towards Xu Yuan:

"You know nothing! Every time you get into trouble outside, I'm the one who has to clean up your mess!"

Xu Yuan kept his eyes straight ahead, seemingly unaware that Fatty was about to knock on the door, and said with a grin:

"It's just a Cultivation Method."

"Besides, who told you that this is the only Cultivation Method I have?"

Hua Hong stopped in his tracks.

Upon seeing this, Xu Yuan immediately waved his hand and whispered:

"If you don't recognize its value, I'll naturally have to go to other chambers of commerce and see if they do."

After saying that, Xu Yuan turned around and pushed open the door, only to find that the originally thin wooden door was now as heavy as a mountain.

Upon seeing this, Xu Yuan immediately turned around and muttered a curse:

"Old man Hua, you old codger, are you trying to double-cross me?"

"Hey, Changtian, what do you mean by that?"

The gloom on Hua Hong's face vanished, replaced by a cheerful smile. He didn't seem to mind Xu Yuan's way of addressing him at all. "As Xu Yinhe's son, you should naturally give priority to our Tian'an Chamber of Commerce when you have good stuff."

As he spoke, Hua Hong walked over to Xu Yuan and forcibly dragged Xu Yuan back to the desk with his wrinkled hands.

He sat down again.

Xu Yuan stared expressionlessly at the stingy old man opposite him.

Hua Hong wore a kind smile and spoke in a very gentle voice:

"Changtian, let's talk behind closed doors."

"A physical closing?"

"I was just worried you'd go astray. If this kind of Cultivation Method were to leak out, it wouldn't be a good thing for our Prime Minister's Mansion."

"Hehe."

"Alright then, for the same Cultivation Method, one hundred thousand taels per book. I'll take as many as you have, payment first, then delivery."

"Hehe."

"Changtian, 100,000 taels is already a high price. Pawned items are usually discounted by 30% to 40%."

"Hehe."

"Alright, a fixed price. I've watched you grow up, I definitely won't rip you off. One Cultivation Method 150,000."

"Hehe."

"Changtian, you've gone a bit too far."

"Oh"

"Xu Changtian, if you dare utter another sound, do you believe I'll beat you so badly that even Xu Yinhe won't recognize you?!"

"Tsk tsk tsk."

"." Hua Hong.

Gently rubbing his brow, Hua Hong forcibly suppressed the urge to give the kid across from him a good beating, and sighed as he said:

"You can give me your own quote."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan finally slowly propped himself up and uttered a sentence:

"A Cultivation Method worth 500,000 taels of silver."

Hua Hong frowned slightly.

"You really dare to ask for such an exorbitant amount, kid."

Xu Yuan shook his head and said in a low voice, "Old Hua, as Origin Beginning expert, you should be very clear about the value of this Cultivation Method. If it were in the outside world, it could become the most treasured technique of some sects."

Hua Hong chuckled and tried to lower the price:

"Then the sects you're talking about must be some third-rate sects."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan immediately spread his hands:

"I've given you my price; if you don't accept it, I'll go to another chamber of commerce."

Hua Hong sighed deeply and said in a low voice:

"Alright, five hundred thousand taels it is. How many books do you have in total?"

Xu Yuan chuckled, then seemed to suddenly remember something and reminded him:

"By the way, the 500,000 taels I mentioned were the silver used for purchases within the Prime Minister's Mansion."

"What did you say?!"

Hua Hong's wrinkles twitched, and he glared at Xu Yuan, puffing out his beard and staring intently.

The various factions under the Prime Minister's Estate are independent of each other, but there are also some exchanges of interests among them.

For example, the Institute of Investigation frequently purchases various equipment from the Tian'an Chamber of Commerce, and the intervals used by the Institute of Investigation are what is known as the internal purchase price.

While Tian'an Chamber of Commerce wouldn't necessarily lose money from these internal exchanges, it also barely made any profit.

The 500,000 taels purchased internally would be equivalent to between 700,000 and 900,000 taels of silver circulating in the outside world.

Meeting Hua Hong's murderous gaze, Xu Yuan simply smiled and met his eyes calmly.

He was well aware of the value of these Cultivation Method.

Whether it's used as a reward for a high-ranking advisor within the Prime Minister's Mansion or taken out as a prized possession at an auction, a transaction with Hua Hong can easily double the profit.

Finally, Hua Hong shook his head and said helplessly:

"You're getting harder and harder to fool, but I need to confirm the content and type of the Cultivation Method Cultivation Method first."

"Good."

Xu Yuan agreed readily this time, immediately stacking the twenty thick paper Cultivation Method Secret Manual on the table in front of Hua Hong: "Take your time to check them, I'm not in a hurry."

"." Hua Hong.

Six hours later.

Hua Hong let out a long breath, looking somewhat tired.

Confirming the Cultivation Method is an extremely mentally taxing task, because the person confirming it needs to guide the Source Qi to circulate through one cycle according to the route in the Cultivation Method.

This process involves not only studying the content of the Cultivation Method, but also constantly preventing errors that could lead to Cultivation Method deviation and Qi Deviation possession.

Even for someone like him who had cultivated for a hundred years at the Origin Beginning Realm, confirming twenty Cultivation Method at once was physically too much for him.

Fortunately, all twenty Cultivation Method were correct and there were no errors.

Thinking to himself, Hua Hong glanced at the little brat who was already asleep on his guest couch. He hesitated for a moment whether to wake him, then gave a soft hum:

"Kid, get up."

"."

Xu Yuan woke up groggily, subconsciously circulated his Cultivation Method for a moment to clear his head, and then yawned as he slowly walked to the desk.

Glancing at the Cultivation Method Secret Manual on the table, Xu Yuan asked with a slightly suppressed tone:

Why did you only divide these Cultivation Method into two categories?

The Cultivation Method that Old Man Luo gave him were all sorts of strange and unusual; if one wanted to categorize them, there should be many different types.

Hua Hong, with a cold face, pointed to a pile on his left:

"This type is a dual Cultivation Method."

As he spoke, he pointed to a stack on his right:

"But these are ordinary Cultivation Method."

Xu Yuan pulled out a chair and sat down, glancing at the two piles of Cultivation Method, and asked softly:

What's the difference between these two categories?

"The difference is that I can only offer 200,000 per book for these seven dual cultivation Cultivation Method."

"Ha?"

"Kid, stop pretending."

Hua Hong's tone remained flat as he pointed to the stack of dual cultivation Cultivation Method and said, "I know you've already read through all the files and internal documents in Xu Yinhe's study, so you should be well aware of how worthless these dual cultivation Cultivation Method are."

"The reason I'm willing to offer you 200,000 taels per book is entirely because the other thirteen Cultivation Method are very important to our Prime Minister's Estate."

"."

Xu Yuan opened his mouth, wanting to bargain, but in the end he just smiled awkwardly.

As a promising young man who once aspired to the Joyous Union Sect, he was naturally curious as to why the vast Great Yan Dynasty did not have a single sect founded on dual cultivation.

After obtaining the title of the Prime Minister's Mansion Crown Prince of the Prime Minister's Mansion, he also went to the Prime Minister's Mansion father's study and Library Pavilion to look for many documents related to dual cultivation.

These documents detail the reasons for the decline of dual Cultivation Method.

The decline of dual cultivation can be attributed to a combination of factors, including changes in secular ethics, advancements in practitioners' research into Cultivation Method, and deliberate planning.

After the collapse of the traditional sectarian system and the rise of dynasties, the world could no longer tolerate such unbridled behavior.

Sects that establish themselves based on dual cultivation are generally labeled as unorthodox Evil Dao, and if they grow too powerful, they may be purged.

However, the main reason why the dual cultivation method has almost disappeared in the Great Yan territory is because of a Grade A internal reference document that was kept in the corner of his father's study.

That old internal reference document.

It was written by a staff member in the Prime Minister's Mansion, but it's unknown who it was because the signature was crossed out.

Judging from the date on the last signature, this internal document should have been submitted by an advisor to Li Yaoxuan's father as political counsel after Li Yaoxuan ascended the throne and when he and his father were preparing for reforms to strengthen the country.

It seems that back then, my father must have considered using the dual cultivation method to quickly train a group of cultivators, but this internal document dissuaded him.

This paper discusses the drawbacks of dual cultivation in training practitioners from various perspectives.

From a top-level perspective, the dual cultivation method is more beneficial than harmful in the short term, but once the time period is extended to more than half a century, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

The cultivation speed of dual Cultivation Method is indeed very fast in the early stages, but this comes at the cost of overdrawing the cultivator's potential.

After all, the essence of dual cultivation is to use Cultivation Method to enable the two practitioners to exchange and resonate their energy, and the meridians, sea of consciousness Dantian of the human body all have extremely strong repulsive properties.

One or two times won't affect one's aptitude, but over time, the Source Qi of others will accumulate in one's own body, causing a repulsive reaction, making cultivation as slow as a tortoise's pace, and making it easy to Qi Deviation.

Even Innate Dao Body cannot withstand such extravagance.

However, the practice of dual cultivation involves the fundamental human desires of food and sex, which easily attracts a large number of exceptionally talented individuals.

Over time, the number of top-tier combatants will decrease.

As for its promotion among lower-level military personnel...

An army corrupted by debauchery and lust is difficult to manage and hard to fight.

besides,

That internal report also included a ruthless plan to wipe out any offspring.

They planted spies within the sect, spreading the practice of dual cultivation among its lower-ranking disciples and even within the sect's martial arts schools, in order to cripple its combat capabilities.

The book, spanning tens of thousands of words, almost completely outlines the plans for the future.

At the very end of this internal report, his father had personally written a single word.

Can.

The wicked plan was carried out, but it failed.

Among the various sects in the world, there were also capable individuals who saw through the imperial court's schemes and began to strictly prohibit their disciples from practicing the dual cultivation method.

As time has passed, the practice of dual cultivation has completely fallen into decline.

"Since you don't deny it, then I will calculate it for you based on 200,000 taels per book of the Dual Cultivation Method."

As Hua Hong stored the Cultivation Method on the table into his Sumeru Ring, he said softly, "A total of seven million nine hundred thousand. I've noted it down. You're currently feigning death and it's inconvenient for you to show your face. If you need anything, just contact me directly."

"Old man Hua, you've misunderstood."

Xu Yuan interrupted Hua Hong with a smile, "This money isn't for me; it can be registered under Xin Yao's name."

Hua Hong raised an eyebrow slightly, his voice tinged with surprise:

"Xin Yao, why are you giving her such a large sum of money?"

"Um"

Xu Yuan looked up at the Inscription Lamp on the ceiling, pondered for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his lips:

"This silver can be considered a small token of my support for the path that girl has been pursuing."

Even if she is destined to fail.

Happy New Year.

Thank you to all the readers who have been voting for me and reading this month.

This month's update was indeed... no, it was particularly poor, so I apologize for that.

After hiding like a turtle for a month, its shell became very strong, providing a three-dimensional defense.

Sigh, after hiding in its shell for so long, it's time to pop out and offer some excuses.

Xianyu is an author who relies heavily on inspiration. Compared to authors who are used to using outlines and detailed outlines, Xianyu will suffer greatly when writing without inspiration, even if he has prepared a detailed outline.

And of course, there's laziness.

Long-time readers probably know that when Xianyu (a writer) reaches a certain word count, he gets tired. It's a strange feeling; he can't find the passion for writing he had before, nor can he find the desire to express himself. His writing style and ability to design plots decline, and he's never satisfied with what he writes.

This situation likely occurred during the "Northern Border" arc. This arc failed to capture the feeling I wanted to convey. The Barbarian King 'Barbarian King character design, his manner of death, Li Qingyan, and the interactions between Li Qingyan and the protagonist all fell short of my expectations. As a result, this arc became a long, tedious, and rambling mess.

This may be a flaw in the novel itself, or it may be due to the author's own lack of ability.

I looked into the reasons over the past month and realized that it was because I hadn't "recharged" for a long time.

Since I started writing <The Fairy>, I have basically had no reading experience; I have hardly read any books, watched any movies, watched any anime, or read any comics.

During the two months I was away, I read a lot of books, watched anime, and also watched TV series and played games.

I feel like we've almost broken through this bottleneck.

It should have been a breakthrough.

Updates will resume as usual next month. Thank you to all the readers who have made it this far!