Step-by-Step Management, Cautious and Prudent

Walking slowly through the market within Sunward Dao Academy, Liu Dongqing wore an unusually leisurely, tranquil expression.

Though he had entered the Innate Sacred Sect to cultivate more than three years ago, Liu Dongqing had rarely had the spare time to stroll through a place like this.

During the years Manager Hou had squeezed him dry, it was far more than just his cultivation that had steadily regressed time and again.

Equally "unwavering" was his perpetually threadbare financial state.

Only after he had successfully cultivated a new variety of Jade Cloud Fruit through grafting had Liu Dongqing once tried selling them at the Sunward Dao Academy market.

The result was that Manager Hou, who had happened to be strolling around, had spotted him as "promising talent" for the Sacred Sect and tricked him into being mercilessly exploited day and night.

From then on.

The demands from all the senior brothers and sisters of Rising Mist Dao Academy had come one after another without fail, yet after handing over so many Jade Cloud Fruits, Liu Dongqing had received only a pitiful few scraps in return.

Many times, even setting aside the decline in his cultivation realm, merely counting the financial returns against the cost of cultivating the plants themselves, it had been a losing deal—one that required him to pay spirit stones out of his own pocket.

With life so straitened and survival itself already difficult to maintain, how could Liu Dongqing have had the leisure to wander through the market?

Even this time, after I used both carrot and stick, I finally saw some return money from that Hou bastard.

But put those two cloth pouches together, and they're probably not even a fraction of the deposit Senior Sister Zhang of Rising Mist Dao Academy actually paid!

The children of great clans are extravagantly wealthy. Their struggles for position may be brutally vicious, with ghostly schemes and dark intrigues springing up one after another, but when it comes to straightforward business, they have never been stingy with their money.

Just the little Jiang Qi has revealed over these past two days is enough to glimpse the extravagant splendor of true great-clan heirs.

Heaven knows how much cultivation sustenance that should have been mine, from Senior Sister Zhang and all those other senior brothers and sisters, has been swallowed up by Manager Hou alone!

That dog-fucked Manager Hou! The debt you owe me is truly far, far too great!

Thus, while venting his anger by cursing Manager Hou with every sort of filthy obscenity in his heart, Liu Dongqing strolled with rare leisure along the market streets, examining every stall laid out by his fellow disciples with curious, meticulous eyes.

At last.

Liu Dongqing stopped before a certain stall.

Long before Liu Dongqing arrived, the young man at that stall had already been watching his figure for quite some time.

Though this market was deeply unfamiliar to Liu Dongqing, Liu Dongqing himself had long been well known among the disciples of Sunward Dao Academy.

After all, even within the demonic sects and sacred schools, there were few who had suffered as miserably as Liu Dongqing.

Indeed.

Liu Dongqing's past experience in the Sunward Dao Academy market had become a cautionary tale passed from mouth to mouth, warning one newcomer after another and illustrating the perils beneath Departure Peak.

Therefore, when Liu Dongqing came to a stop before the stall, the sharp-eyed young man manning it took the lead, speaking in a somewhat teasing tone.

"Yo—if it isn't Senior Brother Liu? You came to buy something too?"

At this, Liu Dongqing did not take offense. He even smiled mildly.

"What? You alone refuse to do business with me? Have I offended this junior brother?"

Seeing how unruffled Liu Dongqing was, the young man at the stall instead gave an embarrassed smile. "Not at all, not at all. This is our first time dealing with each other. It's just that I heard Senior Brother, you..."

He trailed off, but his meaning was obvious enough: he simply thought that Liu Dongqing, whose poverty was notorious, did not look like someone who could afford to buy anything.

Liu Dongqing did not respond to that. It was as if he had not heard the contempt woven between the young man's words. Instead, he crouched down before the stall and looked over the small, square birdcages woven from thin iron strips.

The vast inheritance of the Demon Refining Mystic Sect flowed unceasingly through his mind.

Then, raising a hand, he pointed at several of the birdcages and asked, "These are Ash-Feathered Crows? I hear they can barely be considered distant relatives of distant relatives to the Crimson Fire Divine Crow? They possess a wisp of exceedingly thin Crimson Fire Divine Crow bloodline, but it is too thin—so thin that there is no longer any hope of atavism?"

The young man was rather patient, and he nodded repeatedly. "Senior Brother has a sharp eye. These are indeed Ash-Feathered Crows. Heh! If the Crimson Fire Divine Crow bloodline in these flat-feathered beasts were any richer, how would it be our turn, little Qi Refinement cultivators, to catch and raise them?"

Liu Dongqing nodded in full agreement.

"Then how are these Ash-Feathered Crows priced? How many spirit stones for one? Do you specifically raise these Ash-Feathered Crows, Junior Brother, or did you catch them by chance? If I place long-term orders, can Junior Brother continue supplying Liu?"

Hearing Liu Dongqing's question, the young stall owner instinctively replied, "Only six spirit stone fragments each. Though I don't raise them myself, I know of a hidden place where many Ash-Feathered Crows roost. Long-term supply won't be a problem..."

As he spoke, the young stall owner's words abruptly cut off.

As if he had suddenly lost all patience, he shot Liu Dongqing a cold glance.

"Senior Brother Liu, let's speak plainly. I know about your experiences in Sunward Dao Academy too. You're penniless—why come here to toy with me?"

At this, the smile on Liu Dongqing's face only widened.

"The moment you opened your mouth and called me Senior Brother Liu, I guessed you knew about Liu's affairs. Since you recognize me, then this will be easy.

"Liu here may be poor, but Manager Hou has deep pockets. He's the one who sent me to buy these Ash-Feathered Crows. He said he obtained an ancient recipe today—make medicinal cuisine from Ash-Feathered Crows, and it can strengthen a man's vigor.

"As for why Manager Hou needs to strengthen his vigor, that story begins half a month ago. Perhaps you don't know: he took up with a widow, only to discover that age had caught up with him and he could no longer do as he pleased.

"And speaking of that widow—the Zhang Family, the Zhang Family of the Eight Great Families of the Yang Fire Path. Do you know—"

At that point, Liu Dongqing's voice abruptly stopped.

For with every sentence he spoke, he watched the young stall owner's face turn a shade paler.

The moment he mentioned the Zhang Family of the Yang Fire Path, cold sweat began streaming down the young stallholder's forehead.

Those who could do business in the market of Sunward Dao Academy were either greenhorns like Liu Dongqing had once been, or they had long since grown familiar with the Holy Cult's inner workings and understood what mattered and what did not—

There were some things that could cost you your life even if they merely reached your ears!

Liu Dongqing simply watched the young stallholder with a genial smile. Only when the stallholder's lips had begun to tremble did he continue.

"You see, I felt an instant kinship with you, Junior Brother, and let a few too many things slip.

"As for these matters, Manager Hou told them to me alone, and today, I only...

"So if one day Manager Hou comes storming to me, saying that some rumors from outside have reached his ears and that he wants to hold me accountable—

"You know what I've been through, Junior Brother. Manager Hou had me in his grasp for three years. I wouldn't be able to withstand the slightest attempt at holding me to account.

"Giving up your background would be inevitable.

"So some things need to rot in your heart. Understand?"

The young stallholder hurriedly nodded. "I understand! I understand! I didn't hear anything!"

Liu Dongqing's smile grew even warmer.

"Then are you still selling these Ash-Feathered Crows?"

The young stallholder kept nodding like a pecking chicken. "Selling! I'll sell them all to you, Senior Brother!"

"Then from now on, we'll trade once every six days. I won't come to the market anymore, but you aren't to come looking for me at my courtyard either.

"Starting from today, at midnight on the sixth day, we'll complete the trade beneath the shortest half-broken tree in the woods north of my courtyard.

"Manager Hou's meaning is that it must be secret, and it must be thorough. Understand?"

The young man nodded so fast his head nearly left afterimages. "Understood! Secret! Thorough! I understand it all!"

Liu Dongqing went on smiling. "Very good. Then let me ask again: how many spirit stones for one Ash-Feathered Crow?"

The stallholder froze for a moment, then blurted out, "N-no money! This junior brother won't take a single coin!"

At that, a meaningful smile appeared on Liu Dongqing's face. "Junior Brother, do you want to do a business deal with Manager Hou for free? Think about it. Think again. Think it through before answering your senior brother."

The young stallholder's face was now filled with nothing but panic and helplessness, as though he might burst into tears the next moment. He hesitated for several breaths before finally forcing out his words.

"Then... one Ash-Feathered Crow will be one spirit-stone fragment. This junior brother runs a small business, and catching Ash-Feathered Crows doesn't take much effort... There's still a profit in one spirit-stone fragment..."

Liu Dongqing's smile turned radiant. "Good, excellent. Here are the spirit-stone fragments for these three Ash-Feathered Crows. At midnight tonight, I'll wait for you at the place we just agreed upon."

As he spoke, Liu Dongqing took out the cloth pouch Manager Hou often used. Before the young stallholder's eyes, he counted three spirit-stone fragments from within and placed them in front of him.

By the time Liu Dongqing rose leisurely to his feet, he already knew that the fabricated "secret" he had just spun would become the strongest and most powerful restraint in this young man's heart.

Life in the Holy Cult was difficult; one had no choice but to proceed step by step, cautiously and with care.

Amid his fear, the young man would do everything in his power to keep this secret transaction involving the Ash-Feathered Crows hidden for him.