The Qin Family Takes the Helm, Taming the Qing Centipede!

Early the next morning.

The bonfires died, the people scattered, and the desolation after the frenzy rushed in like a tide...

Up and down Yingchuan County, every family and faction with any name or standing had witnessed the strength of the Qin Family, already viewing them as an overlord!

The Zhang household was happy because last night's harvest was abundant.

They had even established ties with Qin Lu, and more interactions in the future would be all the more beneficial...

The Wang and Chen households were also happy; having witnessed the strength of the Qin Family, they could profit from it, and they had even reached certain cooperation agreements with the Qin Family.

For example, with the Wang household, whose main staples were grain and clothing, the Qin Family invited the Wang household to open shops in Bayi Town.

Or take the Chen Family, whose main staples were salt and iron; the Qin Family procured salt and iron from them.

The three households shared mutual benefits in a harmonious atmosphere.

As for the Li household--

Although they departed in desolation, they also left with dignity, and the other households naturally would not make things difficult for them.

They even offered some favors, so to speak, to avoid embarrassing everyone...

After all, cultivation was not all about fighting and killing...

Cultivation was all about human connections and worldly affairs!

When you are strong, I retreat; when I am strong, you leave. The wheel of fortune turns, and this is the will of heaven...

The Li household left straightforwardly. Whatever they could take away, they left not a single piece behind; whatever they could not take away, they sold to the Qin Family at rock-bottom prices, which could also be considered doing a favor...

Qin Lu smoothly took the opportunity to step down from the metaphorical stage and take over the Li household's industries.

Take the port of Yingchuan County, for instance.

From then on, half of all tariffs would belong to the Qin Family, amounting to no less than several hundred taels of silver every year...

In addition to that--

There were all kinds of real estate deeds, among which more than fifty were shops-mostly restaurants and inns-along with a small number of jade and antique shops, mostly dealing in products from the rivers.

There was also the Li household's mansion, the Li Residence, a massive courtyard with nine successive courtyards.

From now on, however, it should be called: the Black Dragon Chamber of Commerce!

This was the name Qin Lu had given to his own fleet over the past two days. Qin Lu liked black, and additionally, his Qin Family was like a fierce dragon crossing a river.

So he named it after that.

Afterwards--

There were also the deeds to five small hills. These five hills were connected together, and because they resembled a human hand, people playfully called them: the Wuzhi Mountains!

These Wuzhi Mountains were covered all over with peach trees.

They were a peach orchard that the Li household had managed in recent years. Their original intention was to establish a new industry, but they never expected that after managing it for only a few years, the Qin Family would come along and reap the fruits of their labor...

As for the Wuzhi Mountains, Qin Lu had no intention of continuing to develop them for the time being.

He only planned that once the county seat stabilized in the future,

he would send some fruit farmers to tend to them. If flat peaches were produced in the future, transporting them back to Bayi to increase the annual tribute would also be excellent...

In the blink of an eye, a month had already passed--

The reputation of the Qin Family had thoroughly spread abroad. Even the neighboring county seats had heard a thing or two, and everyone knew that a great Alchemist had appeared in Yingchuan County!

For a time, countless people poured into Yingchuan County.

The number of boats on the Ying River increased by who knows how much, all heading straight for Bayi.

Mostly to seek pills and medical treatment...

Later on, however, as the number of people grew, Qin Lu personally established rules and announced them to the world:

First: Every September, a "Black Dragon Auction" would be held in Yingchuan City, where all kinds of rare treasures could be purchased.

Second: From March to August every year, ten Yang-Strengthening Pills would be sold at regular intervals each month, to the highest bidder.

Third: From October to December every year, pill production would be sealed, and no pills would be sold at all. (In reality, Qin Lu intended to use this period to complete the tasks assigned annually by the Hundred Arts Office.)

Fourth: Every January, the Qin Family would release ten quotas for a meeting with Qin Lu, which could be for seeking medical treatment, seeking pills,

or seeking cooperation.

Each quota would also be used as one of the auction lots, to the highest bidder.

Overall--

This was the development strategy Qin Lu had formulated for the Qin Family. The saying went that without rules, nothing could be accomplished, and everything was based on profit.

All the hustle and bustle in the world was for the sake of profit, and all the commotion in the world was for the pursuit of wealth...

This was Qin Lu's way of dealing with the world.

He priced everything clearly, established rules, and judged all matters accordingly, creating a relatively fair market...

At the peak of Muxuan Mountain.

During this period, quite a few pavilions and palaces had been built on the mountain, following its contours, making it appear all the more imposing!

The original Alchemy Chamber had now been relocated to a magnificent building, named the Pill Pavilion. The two above-ground floors housed various medicinal herbs, pill formulas, and classics.

The underground floor was an alchemy chamber constructed from profound stone.

In the future--

If he could find a Divergent Flame or channel an underground fire vein, he could refine pills using earth fire, which would greatly increase the success rate of alchemy...

However, that would have to wait until Qin Lu broke through to the Qi Condensation Realm.

Without Spiritual Power as a foundation, it was impossible to control spiritual flames or earth fire.

"Everything has been handled properly..."

"It's time to properly refine pills and cultivate in earnest, reaching True Martial Completion as soon as possible to plot for the Qi Condensation Realm..."

Qin Lu smiled gently, his mind as calm as still water.

It was as if he had returned to the past, becoming that benevolent Qin Doctor...

"Right, I almost forgot about you, little fellow."

Qin Lu seemed to have remembered something, and he opened the brocade pouch in his bosom.

A three-inch-long green centipede slowly crawled out from inside...

The green centipede crawled all the way up along Qin Lu's fingers, climbed onto Qin Lu's face, and then followed his pulse into his bosom.

Qin Lu was not afraid; he took out the Qi Household Heritage and began to examine it.

This green centipede was named: the Yi Wood Qing Centipede.

It was a somewhat rare spirit insect that fed on all kinds of plant stems and leaves, while its excreted waste possessed extremely strong fertility...

It was a spirit insect that coexisted with spirit plants.

Moreover, because it consumed the essence of vegetation over a long period of time, a kind of Yi Wood Toxic Miasma would breed within its body!

It could block the five senses and drain one's vitality...

It was simply extremely difficult to raise and hard to breed, which made its numbers scarce. It was considered a natural companion for spirit planters, and its value was neither too large nor too small...

Qin Lu still felt it was quite suitable.

Leaving aside anything else, being able to gain an additional means of dealing with enemies was also excellent.

"The Beast Taming Method from the Qi Household Heritage..."

"For insect-type spirit beasts, they need to be fed with essence blood to transform them into natal spirit insects. From there, they can be stored in the five viscera and six bowels, using the organs as a nest to establish a linked fate..."

"This... doesn't quite suit me."

"I am not centered around poisonous insects; refining it into a natal spirit insect would be somewhat of a waste."

Eliminating the natal taming method, what remained was nothing more than the Master-Servant Spirit-Seeking Method.

Forcibly establishing a master-servant contract with the spirit insect, where the servant meant a slave...

Seeing this--

Qin Lu grabbed the Yi Wood Qing Centipede, forced out a drop of heart blood, and used True Essence as a guide to forcibly sign a contract with the centipede.

The entire process went quite smoothly.

After all, the gap in strength between the two was too vast, and coupled with the fact that the Azure Wood Scripture Qin Lu practiced was a wood-attribute technique, it was naturally close to the Yi Wood Qing Centipede...

The Yi Wood Qing Centipede did not put up much resistance and subsequently surrendered completely...

"Good dog..."

"No, good centipede, you'll be called... uh... Qing Centipede from now on."

Qin Lu laughed sheepishly.

The more he looked at the Qing Centipede, the more he fonded of it, and the more pleasing to the eye it became.

The Qing Centipede seemed to understand Qin Lu's words, pressed itself against Qin Lu, and sent out a wave of affection before acting as an ornament on his body...