The matter had yet to be settled, and the General Association could not immediately announce Li Ling's admission into its upper ranks, so they could only take a break for the time being.
Later, at their lodgings, Mu Qingsi asked Li Ling about it. He explained, "The reason I insisted on this was to guard against the General Association."
Mu Qingsi was startled. "Guard against the General Association?"
Li Ling said, "I've never shied away from imagining the worst possible intentions on the General Association's part. If, thousands or tens of thousands of years from now, they crack the secret method for refining this substance and cultivate their own Incense Path talents to oppose the Incense Accumulation Sect, our sect could even face complete annihilation.
"When that happens, the Incense Path might survive, but who knows what sort of people would inherit my tradition and enjoy the legacy I leave behind?"
Emptying the cage to replace the bird was nothing new. However magnanimous Li Ling might be, he still had to protect his own legitimate lineage. The Incense Ancestor was not merely the ancestor of the Incense Path, but also the founder of the Incense Accumulation Sect.
"Besides, we won't know the actual auction market for this substance or the basis for dividing the proceeds until we put things into practice. If we don't participate or take charge, we can only let others arrange everything. When they start arbitrarily deducting commissions and distribution fees, won't we be left staring helplessly?
"Don't be taken in by those elders' pretty promises to give us another ten or twenty percent, or even twenty or thirty percent of the profits. Without autonomy, even a full hundred percent would mean nothing."
While they were speaking, elsewhere, in a secluded location.
Several experts in the Pill