Daily Intelligence: From Miner to Dao Ancestor of Alchemy and Talismans

"Third," Xu Yuan held up his third finger, "erasure all my unusual records in the market. What I bought, what I sold, who I contacted, how many times I entered and exited the market—you need to clean up all this information completely, leaving no trace."

That's easy.

Li Qinghe nodded rapidly, "That's easy! I'll get back and do it right away! I guarantee it'll be spotless by today, not even a single record will be left in the Zhao family's archives!"

After stating the three conditions, Xu Yuan paused, curled the corners of his lips, and looked calmly at Li Qinghe.

"That's all. If you do it, we'll live in peace. You can continue as the head of your market, and no one will know anything about it. But if you dare to play any tricks or leak even a single word about my affairs..."

He didn't finish speaking, but the meaning couldn't be clearer.

"I wouldn't dare! I absolutely wouldn't dare!" Li Qinghe slid off the chair and was about to kneel again when Xu Yuan stopped him.

"Alright, stop kneeling." Xu Yuan waved his hand. "There's one more thing."

Li Qinghe immediately stood up straight, looking at him nervously like a prisoner awaiting sentencing: "Brother, what are you saying!"

"Pretend the Black Wind Valley incident never happened. You didn't arrange anything for those three Tribulation Cultivators, and I don't know them. If anyone asks, do you know what to say?"

Li Qinghe's mind raced, and he quickly replied, "I know, I know! Those three Tribulation cultivators courted death; they were killed in Black Wind Valley. It has nothing to do with me, and it has absolutely nothing to do with you, brother! I've never seen them, and I've never contacted them!"

Xu Yuan glanced at him, nodded in satisfaction, and waved his hand: "Alright, you can go back now. Get things done as soon as possible."

Li Qinghe felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He quickly bowed and agreed, then turned and walked towards the door, his steps unsteady.

As he reached the door, he suddenly stopped, turned around, took out a black iron token from his pocket, and respectfully handed it over with both hands.

"Brother, this is the deputy deacon of the market. With it, you can freely enter and exit all parts of the market, including the archives, the guard post, the medicine storehouse, and you can also mobilize the lower-level guards of the market."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 10 ...

He bowed his head, his attitude more respectful than could be: "I prepared this myself. It's not registered with the Zhao family, so it's absolutely safe. You can use it; it'll be more convenient if anything comes up."

Xu Yuan took it and looked at it.

The token is palm-sized and two fingers-wide, made of black iron, and feels quite heavy in the hand. The front is engraved with the character "Zhao," and the back features a map of Qingya Ward, confirming that it is indeed a ward's token.

"Aren't you afraid the Zhao family will question me if I give them this?"

"Don't worry, brother, no one will ask any questions," Li Qinghe quickly said with a smile. "This is my private order; no one knows about it except me. Just take it and use it; no one will dare stop you in the market."

Xu Yuan put the token into his pocket, nodded, and said nothing more.

Upon seeing this, Li Qinghe quickly bowed and took his leave, then strode out of the courtyard as if a ghost were chasing him, disappearing swiftly into the alleyway.

Xu Yuan stood in the room, looking at the black iron token in his hand, and then at the wooden box that Li Qinghe had given him on the table.

Inside is a fifty-year-old Qi-Gathering Grass, which is much more precious than the Spirit-Returning Grass from last time.

He casually tossed the wooden box aside, a cold smile playing on his lips.

He finally got that old dog Li Qinghe under his control.

With this dog, all the resources and information of Qingyafang became his possession.

Six months later, after the bloodbath, he was no longer completely in the dark.

Xu Yuan walked to the window, opened it, and saw that the sunlight outside was just right, shining into the courtyard, warm and cozy. On the streets of the market, people came and went, and the cries of vendors rose and fell, creating a lively and peaceful scene.

But Xu Yuan knew that beneath this calm surface, undercurrents were already surging.

But now, he is no longer the mine slave who can be manipulated at will, nor is he the lowly rogue cultivator who has been at the third level of Qi Refining for ten years.

He has a system, trump cards, and pieces he holds in his hands.

On the afternoon he gained control of Li Qinghe, Xu Yuan thoroughly reviewed all the records about himself in the market archives.

With that deputy deacon present, the old clerk in the archives didn't dare ask a single extra question. He respectfully brought out all the records and let him look through them.

As expected, Li Qinghe was quite efficient. The records of his comings and goings in the market, buying alchemy furnace materials, and selling pills had been mostly cleared up, leaving only some unimportant daily registrations.

Xu Yuan then personally erased the remaining few sensitive records to ensure nothing was missed before leaving the archives.

As he walked back to the courtyard, his mind kept racing.

Li Qinghe's supply line is now stable. But what he lacks most right now is a stable source of spirit stones and a continuous supply of alchemy materials.

The spiritual energy required to progress from the fourth to the fifth level of Qi Refining is several times greater than before. Simply relying on saving spirit stones through frugality is too slow. Half a year may seem like a long time, but in the world of cultivation, a single period of seclusion can easily last one or two months, which is simply unaffordable.

Alchemy is currently his only way to make money.

Previously, he only dared to secretly sell pills once before the Zhao family spotted him and launched a city-wide search for anonymous alchemists. If he continued to sell them sporadically as before, his identity would be exposed sooner or later.

We must find a stable and secure shipping channel.

The first person that popped into Xu Yuan's mind was Wu Song, the manager of Baodanlou.

That plump, middle-aged cultivator was very generous when he took his Qi-building powder last time, even giving him a batch of medicinal herbs for free. He was a businessman who knew the rules and had a good eye for quality. Most importantly, Bao Dan Lou was a property of the Zhao family, and Wu Song was the manager hired by the Zhao family.

As long as Wu Song keeps it a secret for him, the Zhao family becomes his best protection – who would suspect that their own largest alchemy workshop is secretly receiving pills from a “wanted criminal”?

But this can't be rushed; we have to take a roundabout approach and absolutely cannot reveal our identities.

Back in the courtyard, Xu Yuan closed the door, cut a palm-sized piece of talisman paper, and wrote a note with his left hand. He was right-handed, and the characters he wrote with his left hand were crooked and messy, like scribbles, and no one could possibly recognize his handwriting.

The note contained only one sentence: "Good stuff at the back alley of Baodanlou tomorrow at noon. Same as always."

There was no signature, no markings, but Wu Song would definitely understand the phrase "the usual rules." When he sold the pills last time, Wu Song had personally told him that if he had any good stuff in the future, he could always go to the back door to find him.

After writing the note, Xu Yuan changed into some old clothes, smeared his face with charcoal ash, and disguised himself as the down-and-out old rogue cultivator he had been before. Taking advantage of the crowded market at dusk, he took a detour to the back door of Baodan Tower.

There was no one in the alley. He looked around to make sure no one was watching, then slipped the note under the door, turned and left without ever seeing anyone or leaving a trace.