Touring the Nine Counties, Finding a Beast Bone!

"I'll strive to become a high-grade Alchemist myself, so please rest assured, Patriarch."

Sun Mao put away his smile, his expression solemn.

Seeing this, Sun Bo'an pulled a dark gold token from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Sun Mao.

The words "Autumn Cry" were engraved on the front of the token, and the Sun Clan's emblem was on the back.

"This is the merchant alliance's chief token."

Sun Bo'an tapped the table. "This year marks the merchant alliance's first tour of the nine counties. I intend for you to lead it."

Sun Mao's gaze sharpened. Without declining, he promptly tucked the token into his robes. "Understood. Does the Patriarch have any specific plans for this tour?"

"You'll make the plans yourself. What to buy, what to sell, how to bargain down prices, how to set the rules-it's all up to you."

Sun Bo'an picked up his teacup and gently skimmed away the foam. "As Patriarch, I'll only be there to keep things under control. As long as you don't provoke a Foundation Establishment cultivator we can't deal with, I won't show myself."

He was handing over authority.

Completely handing over authority!

It also meant that the Lineage's heavy responsibilities were being transferred to him.

Sun Mao nodded in agreement and was just about to turn and leave when Sun Bo'an spoke again, this time in a very low voice:

"As for ordinary spiritual objects, Law Artifacts, and pills, it would naturally be best if they earned us Spirit Stones, but those things are secondary."

Sun Bo'an set down his teacup, his gaze growing profound. "Your greatest priority on this trip is to do everything you can to gather all manner of unusual spiritual objects."

"Especially rare things that can promote mutations in Demon Beast bloodlines or strengthen the physical body."

Sun Mao's heart tightened.

Of course he knew who those things were intended for.

That existence on the back mountain was the Sun Clan's true pillar that calmed the seas. As long as this old ancestor stood, the Sun Clan could sleep soundly without worry for hundreds of years!

"As long as there's a lead, obtain it at any cost."

"If there aren't enough Spirit Stones, offer other things in exchange!"

Sun Bo'an's tone brooked no doubt. This was now the highest order in the clan!

"Yes, Mao will remember."

Three days later, at Hongtian City's north gate.

Twelve enormous beast carriages, drawn by Green Scale Horses, formed a long dragon.

The carriages were packed with spiritual rice native to Hongtian City, low-grade talismans, and a batch of pills refined by Sun Mao himself...

Twenty Qi Refining cultivators accompanied them, fully armed and guarding both flanks.

Clad in a moon-white robe with a longsword hanging at his waist, Sun Mao leaped onto the back of his spirit pet, a black dog. The black dog let out a low growl, wind rising beneath its four paws as it walked steadily at the very front of the procession.

"Set off!"

Sun Mao waved his hand, and the merchant caravan rolled out through the city gates in grand procession.

Atop a tower on the city wall, Sun Bo'an stood with his hands behind his back, watching the caravan depart. His figure flickered, turning into a wisp of nearly imperceptible green smoke that trailed the procession from afar.

The caravan's first stop was Qinghe County.

The Li Household of Qinghe was the first Foundation Establishment Lineage to answer the Sun Clan's call back then.

The Li Household's ancestor attached great importance to this merchant alliance tour and had sent a clan elder to welcome them at the county border well in advance.

When they reached the Li Household's market,

Sun Mao did not rush to set up a stall and sell his wares. Instead, he booked the largest restaurant in the market and held a banquet for Qinghe County's cultivation Lineages, large and small, as well as the leaders of its Rogue Cultivators.

At the banquet, Sun Mao sat upright in the seat of honor. Facing a group of old foxes two or three dozen years his senior, he showed no timidity.

"Elder Li, this batch of Clear Spirit Grass is a little lacking in age. If we buy it at market price, our Sun Clan will take a loss."

Sun Mao picked up a stalk of spiritual grass and casually tossed it onto the table.

The Li Household elder gave a rueful smile. "Young Master Sun, this is already the best batch our clan has. Perhaps you could..."

"Eighty percent."

Sun Mao cut him off and held up two fingers. "At eighty percent of the market price, I'll take the whole lot. The Li Household will also save on travel expenses and losses on the way to White Cloud Market. Payment in Spirit Stones on the spot."

"What do you say?"

Hearing this, the Li Household elder gritted his teeth and finally nodded in agreement.

Over the next two days, Sun Mao displayed exceptionally shrewd business skills.

For bulk transactions, he cut through tangled hemp with a sharp knife and never dragged things out. When he encountered rare items, he spared no Spirit Stones and gave the other party plenty of face.

He sorted Qinghe County's resources out in perfect detail!

Yet he had no leads at all on spiritual objects that could promote bloodline mutations. Such things were rare to begin with, and even if ordinary cultivators obtained them, most would not recognize their value.

The caravan did not linger and continued on to its next stop.

Feng'an County, the Lin Household's territory.

The people here were far more fierce and unruly than those in Qinghe County.

Though the Lin Household's ancestor had also signed the contract and acted quite submissively, the younger members of its branch families had plenty to say about the Sun Clan, this dragon crossing the river.

On the second day after the caravan arrived and set up camp at Feng'an Market, trouble came knocking.

Sun Mao was in the shop's rear courtyard, inspecting a batch of Demon Beast materials they had just acquired.

The black spirit dog lay at his feet, dozing. Suddenly, its ears pricked up, and it sprang to its feet, barking toward the front hall!

Sun Mao frowned slightly, lifted the door curtain, and walked into the front hall.

Several young cultivators wearing Lin Household robes were blocking the counter. The one in the lead, a Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivator, tossed a Storage Bag in his hand, his face full of mockery.

"What's the matter? Is this all the Sun Clan Merchant Alliance can do?"

"Don't you even dare name a price for what I've brought out?"

the Lin Household young master sneered.

The Sun Clan shopkeeper behind the counter was drenched in sweat. Seeing Sun Mao come out, he hurried over and whispered:

"Young Master, this Young Master Lin brought a broken bone and insists it's the remains of a second-tier Demon Beast. He wants two thousand Spirit Stones for it."

"In my humble opinion, it's just an ordinary beast's decayed bone. There's no fluctuation of Spiritual Qi at all. This fellow is here to make trouble."

Sun Mao walked up to the counter, his gaze falling on the bone.

It was a palm-sized fragment of bone, pitch-black all over and pitted on the surface. Indeed, he could not sense the slightest fluctuation of spiritual power from it.

But Sun Mao noticed that the black dog beside him was staring fixedly at the bone fragment, saliva dripping constantly from its fangs onto the floor.

It was also letting out restless whimpers deep in its throat...

The black dog's reaction made Sun Mao's heart jump.

"Two thousand Spirit Stones for this bone?"

"That's right! I'm in urgent need of Spirit Stones, so I'll let you have it cheap." The Lin Household young master held his chin high, looking exceedingly arrogant.

Sun Mao wasted no words. He pulled two thousand low-grade Spirit Stones from his robes and piled them on the counter without the slightest hesitation!

"Payment and goods are settled."

Sun Mao reached out to take the black bone fragment.

The Lin Household young master was stunned.

He had come to pick a fight. The bone fragment was a piece of junk he had picked up from a pile of corpses, brought here to disgust the Sun Clan Merchant Alliance.

He had never imagined the other party would buy it.

Just as Sun Mao's hand was about to touch the bone fragment, the Lin Household young master suddenly went back on his word and snatched it away...

"Wait!"

"I've changed my mind. This bone fragment now costs five thousand Spirit Stones!"

Greed surged in the Lin Household young master. He thought Sun Mao must have recognized the bone fragment's origins, or he would not have bought it so decisively.

Sun Mao froze for a moment, his hand stopping in midair before slowly withdrawing.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, business depends on trust. You named a price, and I paid it. If you go back on your word now, it's your Lin Household's reputation that will suffer."

"In Feng'an County, my Lin Household is the law!"

The Lin Household young master sneered. "Cut the nonsense. Five thousand Spirit Stones, or I won't sell it for a single stone less!"

Sun Mao sighed.

"Little Black."

Before his words had even faded, the black dog turned into a black shadow and pounced straight at the Lin Household young master.

The Lin Household young master went pale with fright and hurriedly raised a shield of spiritual power around himself, but the black dog's claws tore straight through it!

Then it bit down on the wrist of his right hand, the one holding the bone fragment.

Crack!

The sound of bones breaking rang out. The Lin Household young master let out a scream, and the bone fragment slipped from his hand.

Sun Mao stepped forward and caught the bone fragment neatly, then kicked the Lin Household young master in the chest, sending him flying!

Bang!

The Lin Household young master flew backward and crashed into the counter, overturning the whole thing.

The Lin Household disciples who had come with him turned ashen with fright. They brought out their Law Artifacts, but not one dared step forward. After all, they had been in the wrong first.

"Go back and tell Ancestor Lin."

Sun Mao toyed with the black bone fragment in his hand, his tone cold and hard:

"The Autumn Cry Merchant Alliance's rules were established together back then. No one can break them."

"I've bought this bone fragment for your original asking price of two thousand Spirit Stones. As for your hand, consider it the price of my teaching you the rules on Ancestor Lin's behalf."

"Now, get lost!"

Seeing this, how could the Lin Household disciples dare linger? They picked up their unconscious young master and fled in panic.

On the second floor of the teahouse across from the market, Sun Bo'an held a teacup and watched the scene, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

This boy had some of the ruthlessness he himself had possessed back then.

No, that wasn't right. He was even more decisive than Sun Bo'an had been back then!

Late that night.

Sun Mao sat in a secret chamber at the caravan's encampment, the black bone fragment he had bought for "two thousand Spirit Stones" laid out before him.

The black dog lay to one side, staring fixedly at the bone fragment, looking extremely eager.

Sun Mao sent his spiritual power into the bone fragment, but it vanished like a clay ox entering the sea, without any response. After some thought, he forced out a drop of Essence Blood and let it fall onto the fragment.

Hum!

A faint red light suddenly appeared on the bone fragment's surface, and an exceedingly ancient, savage Yao Qi seeped out from within it.

This presence was extremely aggressive. Just a trace of it made the Qi and Blood in Sun Mao's chest churn, making it seem especially extraordinary!

"What an overbearing presence. This definitely wasn't left behind by an ordinary Demon Beast."

A flash of delight passed through Sun Mao's eyes. The more extraordinary the object was, the more it showed its value. It might even be some kind of secret treasure!

Just then, the door to the secret chamber was pushed open soundlessly.

Sun Bo'an walked in.

"Patriarch, you're here."

Sun Mao hurriedly rose and bowed. Sun Bo'an waved a hand, his gaze fixed on the black bone fragment on the table. His expression did not change, but he seemed to be thinking.

"You got this from the Lin Household young master?"

"You saw everything that happened today? What is it, Patriarch? Do you recognize this object?"

Sun Bo'an walked forward. Without reaching out to touch it, he studied it carefully for a moment, then confirmed what he had been thinking:

"Of course I recognize it. I just didn't pay attention at the time. I didn't expect it to be this."