At Yi Yang's question, Xu Min chuckled. "My lord, there is indeed some other news, though some of it is hard to separate from rumor."
"A month ago, Crossing Peak Stronghold saw its first trading expedition since it opened. An elder of the Heavenly Heart Sect in Qing Province led it. His name was Han Ji, a master of the third stage of the Profound Mystery Realm who had formed a Dharma Body."
Xu Min lowered his voice. "Han Ji personally led a caravan assembled by the Heavenly Heart Pavilion into the Shaman Kingdom. They took pills refined in Qing Province, fine silk, and expertly forged ironware.
"They reportedly returned with more than a dozen large wagonloads of goods: mutant beast pelts from deep within the Shaman Kingdom, ore produced in the Southern Border, and several wagonloads of spirit medicine and gold. The veteran traveling merchants in the taverns did the sums. Judging by the number of wagons and what they carried alone, the Heavenly Heart Pavilion made twentyfold profits on that trip."
Xu Min's eyes shone as he reached this point.
Twentyfold profits. In any prefectural city, that was an astronomical figure no one would dare dream of.
"But the people at the stronghold's Trade and Commerce Office weren't having it." Xu Min's tone changed, as though he were enjoying a spectacle. "They said every trade passing through Crossing Peak Stronghold had to pay them forty percent of its profits."
"Forty percent." Yi Yang repeated the figure. He had not expected the Trade and Commerce Office to have such an enormous appetite.
"Exactly, forty percent." Xu Min spoke with animated delight, like a storyteller. "Han Ji belongs to the Heavenly Heart Sect, one of the greatest sects in Qing Province. He's also a mighty third-stage Profound Mystery Realm master