109 — Business Plans

Look who's back! I've made it a goal to write a chapter daily. I'll probably absolutely fail to do this, but if I don't you guys will know.

***

The Lord’s attention was a tangible thing. Like an unseen weight on your shoulder, in the form of a physical manifestation. I knew it wasn’t a real sensation but merely a result of my spirit responding to the Lord’s spirit, yet it was nearly impossible to convince my body of that.

I gulped, trying not to hesitate as I continued. “Yes, a business proposition my lord. One regarding my own capabilities and knowledge being used in your service.”

The Lord raised his head to look at me, his neatly set eyebrows raising ever so slightly on his face to indicate his interest. “And how do you wish to do so?”

I smiled, spreading my arms out as if it was obvious. “Why of course, by taking over the drug market spreading on the seventh peak.”

A moment passed in silence, before the lord scoffed, shaking his head. “Do not talk nonsense. Why would we ever want to take over what must be purged?” The Lord said, returning his attention to his texts.

“If I may be so bold, my lord. That is where you are wrong,” I said, stepping forward as I began to put more passion in my voice. “As you are already aware, I possess memories of a past life from a different world. It was a world far more advanced than this one, yet even there, the market for illegal substances had not been eradicated, far from it instead.”

“And how does that have anything to do with our situation?” The Lord asked, slight annoyance evident in his voice.

“Everything, my lord. Because, we can never eradicate thieves. We can never eradicate murderers, and we can never eradicate drug dealers. So long as the market exists, they too, will exist. But what we can do is control them. And what better way to do so than to have someone working for you in charge of it?” I said, waiting for a response from the Lord.

The man raised a hand to his chin in thought, before looking up at me. “And how does this benefit your purpose?”

I straightened my back, putting hands behind me as I looked at the lord. “I’ve got problems with the man in charge. He goes by the name of Silver Fang. Not to mention, I would benefit from the money earned from such a venture.”

The Lord hummed in thought for a moment, before looking up at me. “I can see how this would benefit us, and you. Yet I see no reason why you must be the one to undertake this task.

“Because of my knowledge. That of my previous life, and of the truths that the heavens guard. Not to mention, I will be far easier for you to keep under control, and you will have an understanding of my motives,” I replied, looking up for a moment to gauge the Lord’s expression. The man’s face remained as unreadable as ever, yet I didn’t let that stop me and continued.

“What I’m asking you to do My lord, is to fund my research. Something that I’ve only sort of been doing all this time, but had been my primary goal upon arriving in this world. But instead, I can do this now,” I said, walking closer to the man. The pristine room around me warped for a moment as I flooded Chi into my feet to instantaneously move a couple of feet ahead.

The lord gave me a slight nod, as if to acknowledge the feat I’d performed. “Stepping. Coarse technique, but I am surprised that you are capable of performing it. It is not a technique I expect someone who just broke through into the fourth realm to know. Yet, this doesn’t answer our question in any way.”

I smiled. “The point of my demonstration was to show that I do not understand my abilities. No one does. It is something that I must explore for myself and further my understanding of. But so far, I have merely been bumbling blindly forward all this time, jumping from one thing to another, without any focus besides the core tenants of my Path. And while the blind searching has led me to one truth of the world, if only by sheer coincidence due to my soul, I doubt it would do that for the rest,” I said, looking at the lord with a firm gaze.

“What I need is a sponsor. Someone who can provide me with the resources, tools and materials that will allow me to engage in the research that I have wanted to do since the start. The very primary purpose is to improve the process of alchemy itself. To answer the question of why every alchemist has a chance of failing in the creation of even the most basic of pills. Why fixed factors cannot be traced to these processes and how does the aspect of soul and spirit and Qi factor into things and change them. My goal is to answer these questions and produce what would essentially be a factory, capable of producing guaranteed returns from spirit herbs in the form of pills, and even allow us to produce said pills in vaster quantities than has ever been possible before.”

Silence filled the chamber, disturbed only by the sound of my breathing, as I finished my rant. The Lord sat in thoughtful silence. A moment later, he raised his face and looked at me. “What would you require for this?”

This time, I let the smile reaching my face blossom as I spoke the words. “Access to the alchemy hall's recipes, and a whole lot of money.”

***

I walked across the hill side atop which the Lord’s manor rested. I’d not been given an immediate answer, but given that the idea was not dismissed immediately, I still held out hope. The Lord had enough resources to fund my equipment, and if I could provide him with concrete improvement and a solid increase in production rate for pills alongside purer pills as a whole, then I could establish a brand name for myself, above the rest in the black market. With the heavy control on what was allowed to circulate in the market with regards to pills, if I could provide these pills that you could only get your hands on through secured channels in the Alchemy halls on my own… I held back my grin, imagining what was possible.

All of this was the first step in my long plan to take down the alchemy halls and become the drug lord, without actively having to step into politics myself. Being able to allow change and reform to spread to the populace while using the Lord as an authority figure to validate the changes I planned to bring was the end goal.

That and a cozy retirement in Taizhou where I lived comfortably with my drug money and messed around in my lab with Labby, and did not have to worry about the end of the world and the breaking of cycles or any of that nonsense for a good while.

I wondered if anyone was up for a spirit plant in their soul.

“How is your spirit rat coming along?” Elder Tian Feng asked, sleeves fluttering beside me. That or one of his clones did, not that I could tell them apart.

“She’s recovering. Her Dantian is healed for the most part, so all that remains is for her to rest a while before she should be back to normal,” I replied, keeping my pace with the Elder.

“That is good to hear,” Tian Feng replied, glancing back at me once. “Sect Elder Yan has not been very pleased by this turn of events. As you must already know by now. All the more so because his prodigal daughter went with you of all people. I suggest keeping your eyes on the shadows that may lurk,” Tiang Feng said, glancing behind me once.

I looked back around and saw nothing, yet a strange creeping sensation still crawled up my spine. Alright, warning received.

“How about the twins?” I asked. I hadn’t heard much of anything about the sect recently, and I was curious.

“The one you crippled has been cured. The cost was significant enough to further add to Elder Yan’s rage, especially because the boy now has to cultivate all over again, and his talent has been broken. He will not reach the heights he once did.”

I walked silently. It was a harsh punishment. Yet, not for a moment did I feel it was undeserved. Not after what they’d done to Labby. I glanced once towards Tian Feng as he continued.

“The other, curiously enough, has chosen to keep the scars you gave him. His face is now half marred with your flames. He will seek vengeance, there is no doubt about it. But for now, the Lord’s shelter wards the worst of it.”

A tried not to grimace, thinking of having to deal with that mess. I did have plans in place, in regards to both the Elder and the twins, yet these were vague things set far in the future. No one knew how things would turn out at the end.

“All the more reason I appreciate what he has done,” I said to Elder Tian Feng.

We walked a few more moments in silence, before I saw the chamber we were headed to. It was set within the central corridor of the manor, the innermost chamber of the three layers of the Lord’s manors. Each later formed a square corridor that connected with the other square corridors. Like a tesseract cube, but in two dimensions instead, and spread over a hill.

Tian Feng walked ahead of me, pushing open the door to the chamber, before walking in. I followed right after through the pristine doors that brimmed with Qi, and froze as I stepped inside.

Rows of shelves with books, scrolls and a myriad of jade slips greeted me. Tools, herbs, equipment and everything else that I could think a typical alchemist would need was here in these chambers. My eyes glanced across the empty jade slips of white, sitting in rows on the shelf.

“These are for taking notes,” Elder Tian Feng pointed out. “The others contain alchemical arts the Lord’s Manor has collected over the centuries.”

I walked inside, taking in the sight, and feeling a strange sense of joy at the beautiful room. Suddenly I could understand why so many alchemists picked the halls, and chose to serve, if they could have a chance at something like this.

“You can pick any resources you need from this chamber. And if you require others, you can request them from me,” Tian Feng said, handing me a jade slip. “Use that to enter the chamber.”

I looked up at the Elder, slightly confused. “Does this mean the Lord agreed?”

“He’s willing to support your path. The rest is still under consideration, and depends on what results you can provide him,” Tian Feng replied.

I looked back down at the jade slip in my hands, pressing them tighter. I looked up at Tian Feng, as I pressed my fists together and bowed.

“I won’t disappoint.”