Suijun starts with the principle of rewarding diligence.

The Xia family and the Su family were never on good terms.

When Xia Zhuxin was with Su Miaoyin, she always had a smile on her face.

Xia Zhuxin was tall and slender, almost like a man, and spoke in a rather capable voice. Su Miaoyin secretly called her a "tomboy."

Su Miaoyin was half a head shorter than her, and her voice was soft and alluring. Xia Zhuxin also disliked her, thinking that a woman as cheap and seductive as her should be sold to a brothel to serve customers.

Seeing Su Miaoyin raise the price, Xia Zhuxin immediately changed her mind: "Fifteen taels."

Su Miaoyin held up two fingers: "Twenty taels."

The two women exchanged another glance, neither willing to back down.

Twenty taels a month, that's two hundred and forty taels a year. Even for a prominent family like the Xia and Su, that's a considerable expense.

Furthermore, they also planned to help raise the elixirs needed for Buqu's cultivation.

This is a huge investment; is it really necessary to spend so much money just to keep a retainer?

Seeing Bu Qu hesitate, Jiang Linyuan couldn't help but tease, "Tsk tsk tsk, a monthly salary of twenty taels is no small sum. If I were Brother Bu, I would accept it."

He glanced sideways at Bu Qu, a comical expression on his face: "Could it be that Brother Bu has the Zhong family backing him, which is why he looks down on such a small amount of money?"

"Brother Jiang, you flatter me. I am merely a fisherman and have no connection whatsoever with the Zhong family."

Bu Qu smiled to himself, thinking, "When it comes to spiritual energy cultivation alone, why would I need the Zhong family's support? In fact, the Zhong family's prodigies are waiting for me to feed them. If I didn't sell the Zhong family's Crimson Scale Sturgeon, Old Master Zhong's granddaughter still wouldn't be able to realize her full potential."

Thinking of this, he pondered how to extricate himself.

The most urgent matter now is to get to Blackwater Lake to fish. The offers from the Xia and Su families are of no real help to him.

You can just leave.

Xia Zhuxin and Su Miaoyin both greeted her with smiles.

You can't hit someone who's smiling, especially when they're extending a sincere invitation.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Linyuan was quite satisfied with his test.

Since Bu Qu doesn't have the Zhong family as a backer, the Taoist priest is still willing to keep him, most likely because he caught the Red Scaled Sturgeon.

After all, he's a fisherman!

In other words, the red-scaled sturgeon that Zhongfu had was sold to them by Buqu.

Jiang Linyuan found it amusing:

"This man appears calm and collected, but he's actually quite the smooth talker. He must have persuaded the Taoist priest that he could catch a continuous stream of Red-scaled Sturgeon before the priest agreed to take him in."

The red-scaled sturgeon had been extinct for several years, and this kid just happened to catch one, so he mistook luck for skill.

Even in the past, only three or four red-scaled sturgeon could be caught in Blackwater Lake in a year.

You think you can keep making money forever?

Having figured out the reason, he had lost interest in Buqu.

I don't think this kind of person can become my competitor, so there's no need to waste any more time on him.

Jiang Linyuan is a young master of the Jiang family in the inner city. Wouldn't it be beneath him to associate with a fisherman?

"Please continue your conversation. I have some matters to attend to, so I must take my leave now."

Jiang Linyuan cupped his hands in greeting to the group and strode away.

Seeing him leave, Lu Xiu also cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the two women: "Brother Bu and I also have some matters to attend to, so we will take our leave first."

After saying that, he pulled Bu Qu away and left.

"Hey!" the two women exclaimed in unison, trying to call out to stop him.

But Lu Xiu ignored him completely, and without turning his head, pulled Bu Qu away.

The two women exchanged a glance, then turned their heads together, facing away from each other.

Xia Zhu thought to herself, "There's no rush. Since he has no background, he certainly won't be able to cultivate his spiritual power to perfection within two months. I can find another opportunity to recruit him gradually."

Su Miaoyin thought to herself, "Let me observe him further. If he truly has the ability to cultivate spiritual power to perfection, I must recruit him into the Su family."

She glanced behind her, scoffed inwardly, and thought smugly, "That tomboy has no femininity whatsoever; how dare she try to steal my man?"

.....

Lu Xiu pulled Bu Qu outside the dojo. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the two women hadn't followed.

It wasn't that he couldn't stand Bu Qu being a retainer of the Xia and Su families. His main problem was that he couldn't stand being invisible to everyone.

The two women, Xia and Su, were vying to recruit Bu Qu, leaving him standing aside, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Furthermore, in terms of potential alone, Bu Qu is better than him. If he could gain the support of a prominent family, he would be even more powerful.

If Bu Qu manages to cultivate his spiritual power to perfection within two months, wouldn't Lu Xiu become number two?

The Lu family had always been suppressed by the Zhong family, and now they were finally no longer competing with the same dojo.

Without the Zhong family as a powerful force, Lu Xiu can't continue to be second-in-command, can he?

"Even if it's a year later, it's fine. By next year, he'll have to call me senior brother."

Thinking of this, Lu Xiu was overjoyed.

Bu Qu was just thinking about how to get away when Lu Xiu unexpectedly did him a big favor.

He cupped his hands in thanks to Lu Xiu: "Thank you."

After saying that, Buqu turned to leave.

Lu Xiu quickly grabbed him: "Brother Bu, why are you in such a hurry? It's getting late, shall we go to Huanhua Courtyard for a stroll?"

"Huanhua Courtyard?" Bu Qu frowned slightly.

Although he was new to the area and not very familiar with the entertainment venues in the county, he was still quite new to the area.

However, Huanhua is a perennial herb used in folk medicine. It has small white flowers, a bitter taste, and contains contraceptive components.

It can't be a respectable place if it has this name.

"Thank you for the invitation, Brother Lu, but I have other matters to attend to, so I will not be able to keep you company any longer."

Bu Qu politely declined, but inwardly he thought, "You're at the eighth level of the Innate Realm, you're at your peak from the start, you don't need to spend time cultivating at all. But I'm just an Innate Heavenly Spiritual Power, how can I have time to indulge in your debauchery?"

"What a pity," Lu Xiu sighed, then asked, "What are you busy with, Brother Bu?"

"Of course, we're going fishing."

Lu Xiu chuckled: "Go fishing? You really think you're a fisherman?"

Bu Qu rolled his eyes: "That's who I am."

Lu Xiu chuckled and pointed at Bu Qu: "There's no one else here, are you still pretending with me?"

After pondering for a moment, Bu Qu said to Lu Xiu, "Brother Lu, you see, I told you I'm a fisherman, but you wouldn't believe me. But I wear fisherman's clothes and do fisherman's things, so what else could I be but a fisherman?"

Lu Xiu thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, "I understand, I understand everything!"

Bu Qu sighed: "You finally understand."

Lu Xiu grinned lewdly, "So Brother Bu has a taste for this. I've heard there's a kind of boat outside the city called the Red Boat. Although the ladies there aren't as beautiful as those in the brothels, it's still quite a unique experience to indulge in romantic escapades on a boat."

He patted Bu Qu on the back and said, "Brother Bu, wait a moment, I'll go change into a fisherman's outfit like yours. Let's have some fun together tonight."

Bu Qu stared blankly at Lu Xiu's departing figure, thinking to himself, 'What did you figure out? Fine, hurry up and get out of here, don't waste my precious fishing time.'

Two months is a period of time, neither a long nor a short time.

If everything goes smoothly, there is a good chance that I can cultivate my spiritual power to perfection before the Dragon Gate Election!