Early the next morning, as the first ray of sunlight filtered through the window lattice, Lin Yan stretched, feeling utterly relaxed.
Lin Yan went to the medicine shop's main hall and called over the two assistants, Uncle Zhang and Brother Li.
Uncle Zhang was slightly older, around thirty-five or thirty-six, with an honest face; Lin Yan had originally chosen him for his meticulous work. Brother Li was a few years younger, quick-witted and good at dealing with people.
When the two saw Lin Yan, their respectful expressions held a barely perceptible trace of nervousness. After all, the young proprietor had been away for over a month, and there was bound to be an inspection upon his return.
"Uncle Zhang, Brother Li, sit." Lin Yan pointed to the chairs beside the table, his usual gentle smile on his face, though his tone carried more composure and unquestionable authority than before he had left. This bearing was not deliberate, but had naturally settled into him after his brushes with death in the Star Dou Great Forest and his absorption of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
The two sat as instructed, their backs ramrod straight.
"Thank you both for your hard work while I was away." Lin Yan got straight to the point, gently pushing the account book he had carefully checked the previous night into the center of the table. "The accounts are clear, every receipt and expense is documented, and the inventory count matches the records. Even the shop is cleaner and better organized than when I left. You've done very well, far beyond my expectations."
Hearing such firm praise from their employer, Uncle Zhang and Brother Li instantly relaxed, sincere smiles spreading across their faces. Rubbing his hands, Uncle Zhang said earnestly, "Young proprietor, you trusted us and left the shop in our hands. If we'd made a mess of it, could we still call ourselves decent men? We were only doing our duty."
Brother Li hurried to agree. "That's right, young proprietor. Your rules were clear, and following them wasn't particularly difficult. It was just that during the first few days, some regular customers grumbled a little when they saw you weren't here. We answered as you instructed, and they understood."
Lin Yan nodded. Before leaving, he had indeed told them to say he had gone on a long journey to seek medicinal herbs if anyone asked. He reached into his clothes and took out two money pouches he had prepared in advance, both clearly substantial, and pushed one toward each man.
"These are..." Uncle Zhang and Brother Li both froze.
"These are bonuses for you both. The shop's steady profits owe much to your dedication and hard work. You've earned this." Lin Yan's tone was calm, but allowed no refusal.
The two picked up the heavy money pouches. A slight heft told them that the contents far exceeded a month's wages, and surprise and delight immediately filled their faces. Uncle Zhang was so excited that he stumbled over his words. "Young proprietor, this... this is too much. We..."
"It isn't." Lin Yan interrupted him. "The Hundred Herbs Shop is our foundation. Taking good care of it is the greatest help you can give me. From now on, I intend to leave more of its daily operations in your hands. Uncle Zhang will take primary responsibility for routine herb purchases, sales, and account management. Brother Li will assist him, while also receiving important clients and handling outside communications. Report to me whenever a major matter arises that you cannot decide yourselves. After setting aside funds for the shop's development and your wages, I'll take twenty percent of each month's profits and give it to you as a performance-based profit share."
"A performance-based profit share?" Brother Li's eyes lit up. The concept was new to them, but its meaning was not difficult to understand. It meant their income would be directly tied to the shop's performance, which would greatly increase their motivation.
"Exactly," Lin Yan confirmed. "I believe the shop will only grow better in your hands."
These arrangements and generous rewards thoroughly ignited the two assistants' loyalty and drive. They immediately rose and bowed deeply to Lin Yan, solemnly pledging to spare nothing, even if their livers and brains were dashed across the ground, to run the Hundred Herbs Shop well.
With the shop's staffing matters settled, a great stone lifted from Lin Yan's heart. Only with a stable, reliable source of income and a base could he pursue the path of a Soul Master without distraction.
Over the next few days, Lin Yan's life became highly regular. He spent most of each day cultivating in the rear courtyard. His rank-fifteen Soul Power needed consolidating, and he circulated it repeatedly to make it denser and purer. More importantly, he needed to master his newly acquired strength.
His first Soul Skill, "Illusory Color Concealment," was crucial to preserving his life and launching surprise attacks. No longer satisfied with concealing himself while stationary, he began attempting to use it while moving. At first, fluctuations in his Soul Power would blur his figure after only a few steps, greatly reducing the concealment's effectiveness. But he was not discouraged. After each failure, he adjusted the rhythm of his Soul Power output and its coordination with his movements. Sweat soaked his clothes, and by dusk, he could finally conceal his presence and most of his Soul Power fluctuations almost perfectly while moving at high speed within ten paces. Only the faintest ripples remained, extremely difficult to detect without deliberate probing.
At the same time, he did not neglect training the Blue Silver Grass's own "derived abilities." With a thought, more than a dozen translucent, emerald-green blades of grass swiftly grew from his palm, dancing like nimble snakes. He controlled them to coil around wooden posts and stone training weights in the courtyard, testing their toughness and strength. He discovered that when infused with Soul Power, these blades were far tougher than ordinary vines, enough to briefly restrain objects weighing several hundred jin. Although they still could not compare to the Soul Skills of a true control-type Soul Master, this was undoubtedly an extremely encouraging beginning, proving that the Blue Silver Grass was evolving in the control-type direction he had envisioned.
At night, he burned the lamp late, organizing the notes he had brought back from the Star Dou Great Forest and beginning to plan his next step-choosing an Intermediate Soul Master Academy.
Nuoding City was, after all, only a small border city, relatively cut off from information. He visited the Spirit Hall Branch several times, taking the opportunities afforded by consulting on Spirit Hall's profit share to chat with Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo and indirectly inquire about the various major Intermediate Soul Master Academies. Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo was talkative as well and very willing to converse with Lin Yan, giving him introductions to quite a few academies.
In addition, Lin Yan became a regular at several teahouses and taverns in Nuoding City, places where information from all walks of life tended to converge. He sat quietly in a corner, listening to the idle conversations of traveling merchants and mercenaries from various regions, sifting out fragments of information about the reputations, distinctive features, and admission difficulties of academies in different places.
After several days of gathering and comparing information, he drew up a preliminary shortlist:
The first was the Suotuo Intermediate Soul Master Academy, located in Suotuo City, the capital of the Balak Kingdom. It had a long history and a strong faculty, and its graduation assessments were said to be extremely strict.
The second was the Filast Intermediate Soul Master Academy, located in a city renowned for commerce in the Silves Kingdom. Close to a trading hub, the academy had abundant resources and had conducted some research into plant-type Martial Souls.
The third was the Fasinuo Intermediate Soul Master Academy, located on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire and renowned for its beautiful surroundings and large botanical garden. Its library was said to have a considerable collection of books on plant Soul Beasts.
Each of these three academies had advantages and disadvantages. Unable to decide for the moment, Lin Yan intended to investigate further.
That evening, after finishing his cultivation, Lin Yan carefully sorted through the luggage he had brought back from the forest. Most of the miscellaneous items had already been dealt with, leaving only some precious medicinal herbs and the completely withered remains of the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern. He had intended to discard the remains, but the instant his fingers touched them, the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul within him gave an exceedingly faint tremor, as though resonating with something inside them.
Stirred by a thought, he carefully parted the dried remains of the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern. Deep within their folds, he discovered three spores, each smaller than a grain of rice and shimmering with strange, iridescent colors! These spores had not lost their luster with the death of the parent organism. Instead, they faintly emitted barely perceptible fluctuations of life energy.
"These are... Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern spores?" Lin Yan was both surprised and delighted. He had not expected this Soul Beast to leave behind such an unusual "inheritance" after its death. He could sense a faint life essence within the spores, carrying something akin to the concept of "withering and flourishing." Though exceedingly dilute, its fundamental nature was of an extremely high order.
He immediately found a smooth, lustrous jade box, carefully placed the three spores inside, labeled it, and stored it away for safekeeping. He had a premonition that these spores might play an unexpected role at some crucial moment in the future. Perhaps they could be cultivated, perhaps used in medicine, or perhaps... they had a deeper connection to his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
After putting the spores away, Lin Yan walked to the window and gazed at the stars in the night sky. The shop's foundation was secure, his own strength was steadily improving, and he had a direction for his choice of academy. It was time to make more concrete preparations for his next move. He decided to visit the market district again tomorrow, where information circulated most widely, to see whether he could learn more specific details about academy admissions, or perhaps... find other opportunities that might help him grow stronger.