Chongming Xianzong

Chapter 109 Ambition
Kang Dabao signed the contract with Tie Xishan and drank with the latter for three days. After warmly seeing Tie Zhubu off, he stayed alone in Chongming Market for another ten days.

During this period, He Degong came to visit several times. Kang Dabao only hid the first time, but he saw him the following times.

After all, the two families are related by marriage. Now, the head of Kangda still relies on the He family for many things. It would not be good if the relationship with He Dezong, his brother, became too strained.

The one-eyed shopkeeper named Ye had just opened a shop in Chongming Market, and was still doing some business of appraisal and information sales.

These days, he only came to Chongming Tower to see Kang Dabao once. After their eyes met, neither of them spoke, as if they were both familiar and unfamiliar with each other.

Thanks to the thundering attack of the Immortal Dynasty, the evil cultivators in Pingrong County either kept their tails between their legs and waited for an opportunity, or left their homes and fled to other states and counties to make a living.

Therefore, the speed at which Chongming Market gained popularity was much faster than Master Kang had expected, and the business of Lingshan Accommodation on the second floor of Chongming Building also showed a significant recovery.

This meant that even though Kuai Wu's cousin who was a chef had returned from vacation, Jin Shilun was unable to leave for the time being and had to continue staying in the store to help.

It is true that it is important to study the various arts of cultivation, but cultivation itself is more important. Jin Shilun is in his prime years, so he cannot focus his main energy on this.

In addition, even though Kang Dabao had mentioned that he could give an extra amount of spirit stones to Kuai Wu's cousin, the latter still made it clear that he was unwilling to give Jin Shilun real stuff to teach him. As a result, the significance of Jin Shilun staying in the store became much smaller.

It's no wonder that people are so proud of what they have. It's not easy for low-level cultivators to survive, and they don't know much. Of course, they have to be careful not to "teach their apprentice and starve themselves to death".

It can only be said that it is difficult to find a master as generous as Zhou Yixiu to Kang Rongquan to teach martial arts, and cultivators like cousin Kuai Wu who are reluctant to use their own abilities to make a living are the majority in the cultivation world.

In order not to delay his apprentice's practice, Kang Dabao decided to hire another chef.

It doesn't matter even if he hasn't entered the realm. Anyway, Jin Shilun can only do some miscellaneous work of processing spiritual materials most of the time. There should be quite a few cultivators who can do this job.

No one had responded to the job posting, but the He family caravan led by Patriarch Lu had arrived at Chongming Market first.

The head of the Lu family looked quite energetic. He had been following the caravan for a few years and had become familiar with the world. Although his cultivation had not improved at all, his horizons had broadened a lot. Compared with when he was a small family head who stayed at home in Fangshi Mountain, his experience was very different.

The Xue family disciple and the Du family cultivator in the team looked miserable. The former had lost an arm, and the latter had a horrible scar on his neck.

Fortunately, they were all still alive, and compared to the several corpses on the last animal cart, they didn't have much to complain about.

Kang Dabao was somewhat glad that after Ye Pinglin was injured, he specially called Ye Pingshui back from the caravan to learn how to practice weapons with Yuan Jin. If this kid was still in the caravan, it is hard to say what would have happened to him.

This business is indeed a life-threatening business, just as Master Kang said.

The cultivator who led the He family's team this time was the younger generation of the He Dezong brothers. He briefly explained the situation to Kang Dabao.

The reason why people in the caravan were injured this time was that several bandits who had some friendship with the He family in the past became uneasy to talk to after collecting the usual bribe. After a fight and some minor friction, the caravan escaped.

"Uncle, the world is getting more and more difficult. This kind of thing is not a one-time occurrence. Several other caravans led by my uncles and brothers have also encountered it several times this year."

The young man of the He family only had a brief chat with Master Kang. As the leader of the caravan, there were many things to be arranged in every market where the caravan passed through, so they couldn't delay too long.

The He family caravan would stay in the market for five or six days to do business. Kang Dabao took He Degong to make an appointment with the young He family members at a suitable time and set up a table for dinner and drinks.

Since it was a dinner party, Kang Dabao simply invited everyone from the He, Lu, Xue and Ye families in the market to gather together, just to warm up the relationship.

Except for Ye Yaoling who timidly came to the banquet alone carrying two baskets of spiritual fruits, all other families were present.

The He family was indeed a family of merchants with many years of experience. The atmosphere at the banquet was extremely heated up by them. Even younger generations like Ye Yaoling and Jin Shilun dared to interject from time to time without feeling left out.

The head of the Lu family was also a very good communicator. He carried a wine decanter and toasted everywhere, even the younger ones at the table were not left out, looking like a kind elder.

The banquet was a great success, and the guests praised the chef of Chongming Xiaolou for his excellent cooking of delicacies from the wild.

After eating and drinking, it was already after the first watch, and each family dispersed.

Kang Dabao asked the female cultivator of the Lu family to send Ye Yaoling home, and then returned to the quiet room to discuss matters with the head of the Lu family who stayed behind.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, are you sure?" The head of the Lu family was also a smart man. Naturally, he knew what Kang Dabao was asking, and said bluntly, "If we have enough manpower, pack animals, and connections, we may have a 30% chance of running this trade route."

"Only 30%," Kang Dabao sighed, thinking that He Dezong's previous efforts were really aimless. Even if an experienced person like the head of the Lu family wanted to fully acquire the ability to manage a caravan, it would take three or four years of study.

After being promoted to the position of lieutenant of Pingrong County, Master Kang began to think about making plans for his future, and he was a little too hasty in running the caravan.

"Then there's no need to rush. Fellow Daoist, you should be more careful. The world is more turbulent now, and the business road must be more dangerous." Kang Dabao had to comfort him politely. His family didn't even have a single person of their own in the caravan, and only threw the cultivator named Du in to make up the numbers. Therefore, he couldn't say too much about running the caravan.

After all, that wandering cultivator named Du was so numerous that Master Kang almost forgot his name. Only when the annual salary was distributed every year, he would remember it when he looked at the jade slip book of his disciples.

Master Kang is definitely doing something wrong. The other person only receives five spirit stones a year. If he continues to ignore the matter like this, the cultivator named Du will just run away one day. What's wrong with that? If one really wants to find someone like him, there is no shortage of such people among the independent cultivators.

However, this is not the pattern that a sect leader should have. Unlike the chef hired by Chongming Xiaolou, the Du surnamed cultivator is a formal disciple who has been recorded in the sect's roster. Sect Leader Kang either did not accept him before, or he had to treat him as one of his own after accepting him.

Kang Dabao suddenly remembered the horrible scar on the neck of the casual cultivator named Du that he saw today. Feeling a little guilty, he decided to find the latter and have a good talk tomorrow.

The head of the Lu family discussed with the head of the Kang family until late at night before leaving. When he walked through the empty streets under the stars and returned to the Lu family store, the female cultivator of the Lu family was still waiting for him inside.

"Yunniang, why haven't you rested yet?" Patriarch Lu was a little surprised and said. His second cousin had a cold personality and it was not easy to get close to her.

There are only a few cultivators in the Lu family of Fangshi Mountain. The two siblings have practiced together for so many years, but they rarely have time to be alone together on weekdays. Therefore, the head of the Lu family never thought that Lu Yunniang would wait for him so late.

"There has been some progress regarding the locust flower honey. I would like to discuss it with my brother." Not only was Lu Yunniang plain-looking, but her voice was also a little hoarse, lacking some of the gentleness of a woman.

"Well, Yunniang, you are right. I have seen his locust tree and it is of a high quality. If it can really recover, our black spirit bees are of a low quality and may not be able to damage his locust flowers when collecting honey."

The head of the Lu family nodded and listened carefully to Lu Yunniang talking about the details of the two families' joint collection of locust flower honey.

After hearing the end, the head of the Lu family knew that he was most likely taken advantage of by the Chongming Sect this time, but he did not feel too much emotion in his heart.

The head of a family should avoid seeing things through a narrow lens. No matter how much advantage Chongming Zong has taken from his family, it is probably true that the black spirit bee can complete the advancement by relying on the locust tree flowers, and that is enough.

There was nothing wrong with Lu Yunniang's idea. As long as the Lu family could really master a large number of first-grade, mid-quality spirit bees, it would be of great help in improving the strength of the entire family.

You must know that if the first-grade medium-quality spiritual honey is drunk directly for cultivation, the effect is much higher than the Qi Condensing Pills taken by cultivators in the early stages of Qi training, and it can almost be compared with some elixirs commonly used by cultivators in the middle stages of Qi training.

More importantly, the first-grade intermediate spiritual honey can already improve the success rate of some first-grade or even second-grade elixirs to a very small extent.

Although the effect may not be great, alchemists are extremely wealthy. Even if it is just for good luck, they will prepare some for use when refining important pills.

If the Lu family can really gain such a huge benefit, then what's wrong with letting the Chongming Sect, which has a relatively harmonious relationship with the Lu family, also gain some benefits?
Those who can accomplish things will get along with others and will not only consider their own interests. If they want to win the support of others, they must be able to share the spoils.

Since Kang Dabao was chosen by a high-ranking official of the Immortal Dynasty to be an official sent to his death, there was a high probability that he would die at any time.

As long as the leader Kang Da dies, there may not be a second person in the Chongming Sect who can do the job of the leader as well.

By then, if there are a few capable descendants of their Lu family, they may have a chance to turn things around.

When Patriarch Lu thought of this, a trace of resentment flashed in his eyes, and he secretly thought in his heart: "You want me to work hard to pave the trade route, and then send your people from the Chongming Sect to take over and pick my peaches. Don't think I can't see it, right?"

At this point, Lu Yunniang had explained everything about the spirit bees and the spirit honey. She had nothing else to say to her brother, the head of the Lu family. She bowed to the head of the Lu family and took her leave, returning to her room to rest.

The door leading to the backyard slowly closed, leaving the head of the Lu family alone in the shop filled with the aroma of honey.

He narrowed his eyes, stroking a string of white gabas in his hand, and thought of the disgusting fat face of the head of Kangda in his mind: "I, Lu Xun, will not always be suppressed by you, right?"

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(End of this chapter)