"News of the Millennium Snow Lotus must not leak out, but it cannot be consumed directly. A highly skilled physician must incorporate it into medicine. Would you like me to find you a master physician?" Qi Shiyun offered with concern.
Since she had already made her decision, there was no need to agonize over it.
True companions in the Chosen of Heaven Lineage were hard to find, and Qi Shiyun sincerely hoped Lianshan Xin would grow into his potential.
Lianshan Xin finally set his mind completely at ease and thanked her. "Thank you for your concern, my lady. My father is a physician with a modest reputation in Jiangzhou City. He can handle this, and there is no need to worry about him leaking the secret."
"Your father possesses such medical skill? How rare."
Qi Shiyun was a little surprised, because ordinary physicians would not dare touch a divine medicine like the Millennium Snow Lotus.
Still, highly skilled physicians were not especially rare in the martial world. What was truly hard to find was the Millennium Snow Lotus.
Qi Shiyun did not dwell on it. Instead, she turned her attention back to the Qu Family's storehouse.
As she paced around the room, more and more of the treasures the Qu Family had collected over the years came to light.
Many were things Lianshan Xin had never seen before. Even Qi Shiyun found her horizons broadened.
"Lotus seed grass."
"Jade-Chime Elixir."
"Five-colored dragon saliva jade."
"Golden phoenix bamboo."
"Silver dew flower."
"Starlight sand. There is actually starlight sand here! This is superb material for forging divine weapons."
"Is this... myriad forms stone?"
Qi Shiyun grew increasingly delighted.
"Could the Demon Cult's supplies take a long time to transfer? Why does the Qu Family's storehouse contain so many treasures?"
"My lady, are these things worth an astonishing amount?"
Lianshan Xin did not really understand. His horizons were still too narrow. Even with treasures right before his eyes, he did not know their value.
Qi Shiyun thought for a moment, then said seriously, "In all of Jiangzhou, probably only Kuang Mountain, the provincial governor's residence, and the White Deer Grotto Academy have more treasures than this place."
Lianshan Xin was deeply shaken.
Great Yu had nineteen provinces, and that was by no means a small number. The Great Yu Immortal Dynasty, with its thousand-year legacy, ruled only nineteen provinces in total, and Jiangzhou was one of them.
The fourth-richest place in Jiangzhou could rank among the top hundred even across the entire country.
"Even without this Millennium Snow Lotus, you would have rendered a great service this time. Of course, you can forget about receiving any credit from His Majesty or the crown prince."
Qi Shiyun cracked a dark joke.
Lianshan Xin had yet to enter officialdom, but what he had done today was already enough for the Yu Emperor and the crown prince to put him on their blacklist.
"Still, if we turn in these treasures, the rewards from within the Nine Heavens certainly will not be small. The Qi Condensation Pill you have been yearning for will be no problem at all," Qi Shiyun said.
Lianshan Xin felt reassured, then summoned his courage and asked, "Third-Place Qi, even if we only handed over half, that should still count as a considerable contribution, shouldn't it?"
Qi Shiyun glanced at Lianshan Xin and shook her head. "Keeping half would be too much. We couldn't handle the consequences. We can keep one-tenth at most."
One-tenth was no small amount, but Lianshan Xin knew how much money practicing martial arts consumed.
He did not yet know how expensive immortal cultivation was, but common sense told him it would cost more, not less.
So, when an opportunity to get rich overnight presented itself, he had to seize it.
"Third-Place Qi, of course the two of us cannot keep half for ourselves. Every brother who came to the Qu Family to slay fiends and exterminate demons deserves a share."
As Lianshan Xin spoke, he casually grabbed a handful of banknotes and stuffed them into his pocket.
The whole process flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water, almost leaving Qi Shiyun dumbfounded.
"I am still here," Qi Shiyun had to remind him.
She was not someone who could not tolerate a single grain of sand in her eye, but he could not fill her eyes with sand right in front of her, either.
This exceeded what her moral standards allowed her to tolerate.
Lianshan Xin remained unbothered. Instead, he argued with complete conviction, "Third-Place Qi, if we hand everything over to Lord Heavenly Sword to deal with, won't Lord Heavenly Sword have to turn it all over to headquarters in the capital?"
"Of course."
"But if Lord Heavenly Sword wants to gain a foothold in Jiangzhou City, surely he needs silver to pave the way?"
Qi Shiyun said nothing.
But the answer was self-evident.
Money could solve every problem. If your problem could not be solved, you simply did not have enough money-this rule applied throughout the universe.
"Third-Place Qi, what sort of family do you come from?" Lianshan Xin continued.
Qi Shiyun answered honestly. "A hereditary military family. But after I joined the Nine Heavens, I was expelled from the family."
The Dragon Aiders Art she practiced was simply too costly for all nine branches of her clan. Those nine branches had told her to get lost.
No wonder she looks so valiant and spirited, Lianshan Xin thought. She really does come from a military family.
"In that case, you have to procure some of the materials needed for your cultivation yourself, don't you?"
Qi Shiyun nodded.
Outsiders all assumed the Nine Heavens prepared everything she needed for cultivation.
In fact, the young leaders of the Nine Heavens' other factions did receive that treatment.
But in her case... the Chosen of Heaven Lineage was a little different.
No powerful figure within the court dared openly support the prodigies of the Chosen of Heaven Lineage. The princes and princesses, who were the most generous spenders, especially loved and hated the lineage in equal measure, but did not dare have any connection with it on the surface.
"Third-Place Qi, you grew up privileged, so you probably never experienced the hardships of ordinary people. With my hand on my heart, I tell you that making money is truly difficult. If you want to get rich overnight, you need a windfall like this."
Every word Lianshan Xin said really was the honest truth, straight from the bottom of his heart.
As he spoke, he stuffed another handful of banknotes into his pocket.
Then he continued introducing his circumstances with heartfelt sincerity. "As it happens, my mother was a wealthy young lady whose family fell on hard times. My father is a skilled physician with a trade to his name, so our family is not considered poor in Jiangzhou City. But I have practiced martial arts since childhood, and before I have achieved anything worth mentioning, I have nearly drained our family's savings. The poor study letters; the rich practice martial arts. Third-Place Qi, even if you are wealthy now, as long as you keep cultivating, you will become poor too. You have to prepare for danger even in times of peace."
"And that is your reason for stuffing handful after handful of banknotes into your pocket?"
Qi Shiyun was not entirely persuaded by Lianshan Xin.
The education she had received over the past twenty-odd years would not allow her to fall so quickly.
But Lianshan Xin's next two remarks truly set Qi Shiyun's entire worldview tottering.
"Third-Place Qi, I am actually taking this money for you."
Qi Shiyun nearly laughed in anger.
But Lianshan Xin was serious.
"If I don't take any, how can you? If you don't take any, how can Lord Heavenly Sword? If Lord Heavenly Sword doesn't take any, how are we supposed to advance?"
Qi Shiyun: "..."
"Are you so certain Lord Heavenly Sword is upright and incorruptible, and accepts no bribes whatsoever? Third-Place Qi, don't forget that our Nine Heavens is merely a blade. What we need is loyalty and a sharp edge, not clean hands and incorruptibility."
If a blade was more upright and incorruptible than all the civil and military officials, that would be a serious problem. The emperor would probably lose sleep over it.
When it was time to covet wealth, one had to covet wealth. When it was time to lust after beauty, one had to lust after beauty.
That was the proper way for a secret-police organization to operate.
Qi Shiyun felt herself being persuaded.
"Is this really all right?"
Lianshan Xin smiled faintly, took the myriad forms stone that had delighted Qi Shiyun so much earlier, and placed it in her hand, holding her hand tightly.
He was not deliberately taking advantage of Qi Shiyun.
Men and women of the martial world did not stand on petty formalities.
He simply held Qi Shiyun's hand, looked into her eyes, and said earnestly, "If you trust me, give me a list of what you need, then leave the handling of the Qu Family to me. I took the Millennium Snow Lotus and offended His Majesty and the crown prince, so I am bound to be someone you can trust absolutely. From now on, I will handle the many things you cannot conveniently do in person. Third-Place Qi, your intentions will always be good. Even if something goes wrong, it will surely be because I botched the execution."
Qi Shiyun and Lianshan Xin looked into each other's eyes for three seconds.
There was not the slightest hint of romantic attraction in their gazes, only ambition to get into the department.
Then Qi Shiyun spoke from the heart. "Lianshan Xin, you truly are a man of talent."
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