Ultimate True Lord

Jiang Ming's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't rush to interrupt. Instead, he waited for Wen Jin to continue.

Immediately, Wen Jin recounted in more detail to Jiang Ming what he had discussed with his fourth senior brother, Liu Mao, in the inner courtyard. The core reason was that the quantity of red herbs had recently surged deep within the Yancang Mountains.

This is a once-in-a-century opportunity that we cannot miss.

"Old Jiang, I control part of the Wen family's medicinal herb sales channels, as well as several pharmacies in the inner and outer cities. Under my command, there are both herb hunters trained from childhood and two or three ordinary herb-gathering teams."

"The only thing we lack is an elite team capable of venturing deep into the mountains to search for the red herb. After all, the deep mountains are fraught with danger, and it won't work without a master of that caliber in charge."

Wen Jin paused, picked up his wine glass, and downed it in one gulp. Fueled by the alcohol, he stared intently at Jiang Ming, his pupils revealing a glint of ambition.

"Old Jiang, actually we're the same kind of people. Although you're usually quiet, I've been able to sense in the past few months that you're different from the other disciples of the Red Sand Martial Arts School."

"You are far more ambitious than they are!"

He spoke the truth when he was drunk.

"Me too. I just want to start my own business and make something of myself to show my dad. My older brother is the eldest son of the Wen family. He's shrewd, and everyone in the family thinks he'll definitely be in charge of the Wen family in the future."

"But I don't want to live in his shadow forever, always being overshadowed by him. So, I've been begging my dad for this opportunity to make something of myself... and now I've finally gotten my chance!"

Wen Jin took a deep breath and a rather smug smile appeared on his face.

"Previously, I invited you to join my Wen family's herb-gathering team, offering you a higher salary than other normal team leaders."

When my older brother Wen Hong found out about this, he laughed at me, saying I was stupid for spending money to hire a martial arts school disciple with mediocre talent. He called me a spoiled brat and said I was wasting resources.

"And now? Heh."

He chuckled softly, feeling quite relieved.

"Wen Hong never expected that the people I recruited have now truly entered the realm of Soft Power. There are very few Soft Power masters in my Wen family; you can count them on one hand."

Wen Jin became increasingly agitated, and at this point in his speech, he suddenly changed the subject and spoke earnestly to Jiang Ming.

"Old Jiang, come help me."

"You'll lead my herb-gathering team deep in the mountains. If they find any red herbs, you get 50%, I get 50%, we split it evenly!"

"I'll cover all the team's expenses, the shop's operations, and other miscellaneous costs. You don't need to worry about it. All you need to do is protect the herb-gathering team and watch over the shop. That's all you need to do."

He spoke fluently and even frankly told Jiang Ming about his plans.

The beginning is always the hardest. Once Jiang Ming joins, a master of soft strength will be able to support the herb-gathering team in the deep mountains. With the red medicine in hand, Wen Jin will be able to attract more masters of hard strength, and even masters of soft strength, to come and join him.

It won't be difficult to form more teams to collect medicinal herbs in the deep mountains later.

In the long run, Wen Jin is not at a disadvantage.

Moreover, it's unclear whether he intends to bind Jiang Ming, this late-blooming disciple of the Brown Sand Sect who has shown astonishing potential, to his own cause.

Wen Jin actually promised that once his medicinal herb industry grew bigger and stronger and reached a certain scale, he would directly transfer 20% of his shares to Jiang Ming.

That wasn't just Jiang Ming's mountain-gathering team, but all of Wen Jin's herb-gathering teams, plus the profits from various pharmacies. For every red elixir and rare medicinal herb sold, Jiang Ming would receive 20% of the profits from the general ledger.

By doing this, Wen Jin was essentially placing a heavy bet on Jiang Ming. He was betting that Jiang Ming's cultivation would continue to accumulate strength and advance rapidly, breaking through the Red Sand realm and entering the Entangling Force realm!

A master of coiling force is a completely different concept.

Under the pavilion.

Since Wen Jin had already set such a demanding condition, Jiang Ming really had nothing more to say.

He stood up, clinked glasses with Wen Jin again, and downed the strong liquor in one gulp.

"I'll take this job."

Wen Jin chuckled softly.

"good!"

So the two ambitious men continued drinking and toasting each other for a full hour.

After they had talked it out, they got up and went their separate ways.

……

……

The courtyard of a house.

Jiang Ming sat under the bare branches of a large tree, reflecting on the events of the day, and couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing feelings, thoughts, and reflections).

The saying "the tallest tree in the forest will be felled by the wind" is certainly true.

However, being sharp and shrewd also has its advantages.

As soon as news of his breakthrough in Soft Force spread, he immediately gained Master Liu's favor and received the generous resources that originally belonged to Fang Heng. In addition, Wen Jin sincerely invited him to become a partner.

In almost a single day, Jiang Ming's status and position changed dramatically. Most of the ordinary disciples at the martial arts school now respectfully addressed him as "Senior Brother."

If Wen Jin's business can grow and become stronger, he could become the boss of the new pharmacy in the future.

"Indeed, in chaotic times, strength is the most important thing."

"Clenching your fist means clenching power!"

Jiang Ming was deeply moved.

However, he quickly suppressed the turmoil in his heart and calmed his mind. He refocused his attention on the visualization diagram of the Red Sand Palm and began to try to master the method of soft strength.

Time flies, and five days have passed.

The news of Jiang Ming's mastery of soft strength spread far and wide. Every time he returned to the Red Sand Martial Arts School, he could hear people respectfully addressing him as Senior Brother Jiang. Even his former Sixth Senior Sister would call him Senior Brother Jiang.

The new home, in the courtyard.

Jiang Ming slowly unleashed a set of punches, quickly withdrew his strength, and stood quietly on the open ground, glancing down at the back of his left hand.

[Technique: Beginner's Guide to Rushing Water Fist]

With the addition of another cultivation technique he had mastered two days prior, he could now use the Primal Furnace again.

As Jiang Ming entered the realm of soft strength, he could clearly feel that his speed in mastering ordinary hard strength martial arts had increased significantly. He could learn a new fist technique in just two or three days, several times faster than before.

Jiang Ming's heart stirred slightly, and a thought flashed through his mind.

The two beginner-level martial arts manuals were immediately placed into the original furnace slot.

"Buzz..."

The furnace body trembled, and black and gold characters appeared.

[The following is the next enhancement for Red Sand Palm]

Secondly: When breaking through all the bottlenecks of the Red Sand Palm realm, the difficulty is reduced to half of the original! (Success rate: 70%!)

Thirdly: The hardness of the palm when using Red Sand Palm increases by 30%! (Success rate: 100%)

Jiang Ming paused slightly, and he was surprised to find that the option to weaken the bottleneck in Enhancement 2 was available again, and the issue of insufficient essence blood had disappeared.

It seems that his total essence and blood volume has increased significantly after breaking through to the Soft Force realm. Previously, when he first broke through to the Hard Force realm, his essence and blood volume also increased, but it was not enough to restore the second enhancement option to normal.

Jiang Ming's eyes flickered, and he muttered to himself.

"Cultivating the Red Sand Palm and Brown Sand Palm levels takes years, with two options for enhancement; there's no need to rush. However, increasing the hardness of my palms can significantly improve my combat power."

"Next, I'm going to gather herbs in the deep mountains, which might be dangerous. Clearly, upgrading option three is more worthwhile."

He made up his mind, and the thought crossed his mind.

"Primal Furnace, Enhance!"