Chapter 311: Having A Guest
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Damn it. Why haven’t you told me earlier? Do you know how much time has it taken me to refine this Air-frozen Bead?”
“Of course I know. Without my guidance, do you think you can refine it successfully in such a short time?” Green Spirit did not care about Zhou Bao at all. Looking at his distorted face, he said leisurely, “You’ve known that it isn’t complete, haven’t you? If it was a Pure Yang Celestial Device, this wouldn’t happen. However, it’s a pity that it’s just a Mysterious Level celestial device. Do you think Essential Qi Tide that has hindered so many powerhouses can be easily overcome? It’s not bad for a Faux Air-frozen Bead like yours to do this.”
“Anyway, you should tell me earlier!”
“Is there any difference whether I tell you earlier or later? Could you turn it into a Pure Yang Air-frozen Bead if I told you earlier? Wouldn’t you enter the Azure Secret Area if I told you earlier?” Green Spirit snorted. “Kiddo. You’d better stop complaining since you’ve gained a lot benefits in the Azure Secret Area.”
“Yeah. I should be contented.” Zhou Bao thought for a moment, and he had to admit that it was a helpless thing. Although he felt distressed about the materials he had used on Air-frozen Bead, he had benefited a lot in the Azure Secret Area. When he realized he had recouped the cost and made a profit as well, he had no regret. Furthermore, although these materials were priceless, since he could scrape together one portion, he could gather the second portion, too. With his current strength and resources, he would refine a Pure Yang Air-frozen Bead someday and by then, the Azure Secret Area would be his backyard.
He was no longer dissatisfied as soon as he had thought through this point.
Compared with entering the Azure Secret Area, everything was smoother on his way home. Zhou Bao was afraid Air-frozen Bead did not function, so he shrunk the coverage of it to a circle of a five-feet radius and left the Azure Secret Area at his top speed. When he appeared in front of the exit to his mine vein, he was shocked.
For what?
There were a lot of people standing here, including Wang She, Golden Rooster, Moon Deer of Extended Net, Sun Rat of Emptiness as well as Elder Qing. Behind him were four people who were all in the 28 constellations. Zhou Bao could tell that they were all Level Seven or Level Eight powerhouses and they should be members of the Immortal Palace.
Since they found the light at the entrance, they all stared at the smooth and glassy wall. As soon as Zhou Bao showed up, they turned to stare at him, which made him shiver and feel bad.
“What’s up?” He asked with his mouth twisting.
“Have you refined Air-frozen Bead successfully?” This was the first sentence of Elder Qing, and then he asked, “Can it enter Essential Qi Tide easily?”
Zhou Bao stunned and then he looked at Elder Qing’s greedy eyes, laughing. “Yes, it can help you get into and out of Essential Qi Tide freely, but it was disposable!”
He took out Air-frozen Bead, which was about to break. “Look, though it’s secured my safety on this trip, it’s been destroyed!”
Elder Qing took over Air-frozen Bead hurriedly. He checked it carefully and looked a little delightful.
“A disposable bead? That’s okay, as long as it can help me enter Essential Qi Tide.” He looked at Zhou Bao. “It’s not easy for you to collect so many materials in such a short time!”
“I have no other choice!” Zhou Bao smiled bitterly. “But I think it’s not hard for the Immortal Palace to gather enough materials.”
“Yes, we can collect the materials for five or six Air-frozen Beads in one year!” Elder Qing looked at Zhou Bao thoughtfully. “Air-frozen Bead belongs to you, Water Leopard of Winnowing Basket. However, we sent you a piece of Heavenly Peach Wood because of the shortage of materials last time. This time, no matter what you’ve entered the Azure Secret Area, you’ve proved that Air-frozen Bead can help us move freely in Essential Qi Tide. What’s more, the entrance of Azure Secret Area was founded by you. You’ve made great contributions to the Immortal Palace, and we’ll make it up to you since your Air-frozen Bead was destroyed. We’ll give you a portion of materials this time. Of course, it’s unequal to your contributions. When this is finished, we’ll give you a satisfactory account.”
“Am I that lucky?”
Zhou Bao didn’t expect that Elder Qing would say so. He was stunned and then laughed. “It’s very kind of you. Elder Qing, you’re so wise. Immortal Palace will definitely prosper under your guidance! Haha…”
“Stop. Don’t flatter me!” Elder Qing smiled and waved his hands. “I’m not the leader of Immortal Palace. I’m only responsible for the 28 constellations and other foreign affairs.”
“Even so, you’re our leader!” Zhou Bao said shamelessly.
“Don’t flatter me anymore. Be serious. You must have gained a lot on this trip?”
“What a bullshit. All the pneuma had mixed together. I only collected a little extreme cold Evil Qi and practiced a special technique successfully. It’s not a big deal!”
“You’ve practiced a special technique?” Elder Qing was somewhat surprised. Then he laughed. “I’m afraid that you’ve gained more than that special technique. You should have broken through Level Eight, but your Internal Qi isn’t so hard as steel since it’s very special.”
“Elder Qing, you really have good insight!”
“You’re my person, so you don’t have to hide from us.” Elder Qing laughed loud and he pointed at Golden Rooster and other people who were standing behind him. “They’re unruly and they only honor the strength. The stronger you are, the more respectful they are. Therefore, you don’t have to conceal your strength. You can only keep one or two trump cards as your secret.”
Upon hearing this, all the people here laughed out.
“Since Elder Qing came to handle this matter personally, the Azure Secret Area has to be more valuable than I’ve imagined.”
“If it had only ordinary value, I wouldn’t come here personally. However, if we can enter it during the period of Essential Qi Tide, it’s worthy to come. Since you’ve entered it, you must know what I mean.”
“Of course. As long as we have Air-frozen Bead, condensing Gang Qi in Essential Qi Tide will be our best option!” Zhou Bao said emphatically. “Besides, if we could work out the Evil Qi, we may save effort and lead to better results when we practice special techniques in it.”
Upon hearing this, all the people surrounding him were excited. They were Level Seven or Level Eight powerhouses, who had already condensed Gang Qi. Therefore, they did not need to practice Gang Qi in Essential Qi Tide, but others did.
Most of the 28 constellations of Immortal Palace had double identities. Took Zhou Bao and Wang She for examples, apart from being the constellations of Immortal Palace, they had another identity in the secular world, which would be never simple. Besides, they had a lot of disciples from big sects. If their disciples had great aptitude and cultivation, they needed to condense Gang Qi. In this case, the Azure Secret Area located in Essential Qi Tide would be the best choice. Except condensing Gang Qi, there were various of spiritual qis and Evil Qis that were suitable for them to practice some powerful special techniques. After all, it was the only place in the world that Evil Qi could be found during nearly 10 months of a year.
Looking at these excited people, Zhou Bao seemed to have heard their accelerated heartbeats and blood circulation. Even Level Eight cultivation and culture could not cover their wolf-like greedy eyes.
“Let me speak frankly!” Zhou Bao suddenly said. “I won’t interfere with the use of the entrance of the Azure Secret Area, but I don’t want others to know about it!”
“Of course. We’ll keep it between us even if you don’t mention it!”
“All right!” Zhou Bao was contented. He walked toward Elder Qing and said, “Elder Qing and brothers, you’ve come from afar and you must be tired now. I’ll try my best to treat you in my place. Everybody, please!”
“No, thank you! We came here for two purposes. The first one is to make sure that the entrance has been built up. The second is to ensure your safety. Now since you’re okay, there’s no need to stay any longer!” Elder Qing smiled and gently patted Zhou Bao’s shoulder. “Besides, if we stayed here too long and were seen by some people with ulterior motives, it would be troublesome!”
Zhou Bao nodded and did not speak anymore. He bade farewell to them reverently.
He did closed-door training in the Azure Secret Area for several months. Now there were plenty of things in the territory that needed handling.
Although he was a hands-off leader, he was a lord after all. As passageways of the whole Blacktail Plain were opened, the northwest region began to become prosperous. As the starting point and the transfer station of these passageways, his territory became the focus of the whole northern region. Jiang Xiao and Zhu Ba were unable to make decisions on many things.
Wang She came to his territory but did nothing. The experts he brought here were the same. Except for drinking and eating, they had not done anything serious. Wang She said that his purpose here was to be a hatchet man. But now, no one had the guts to find Zhou Bao’s trouble. So, there was no need for them to take action.
Indeed, no one found Zhou Bao’s trouble now. Instead, more and more envoys of well-known families, schools, and chambers of commerce came here to negotiate their businesses with him.
Jiang Xiao could make decisions on some of these things, but he was helpless when he encountered other things.
Zhou Bao used Golden Flame Mirror to open the passageway of the Blacktail Plain. But he was not a good Samaritan. The Blacktail Plain was broad and there lived a kind of evil beast that had been tamed by him. He would not turn all the Blacktail Plain into passageways. In fact, he just opened a straight passageway that led to his territory from Dragon-pressing River. All goods from the Dragon-pressing River could reach his territory through this passageway. As for other lords whose territories bordered on Blacktail Plain, they were not so lucky. Zhou Bao also opened passageways for them, but these passageways all led to Zhou Bao’s territory directly. If they wanted goods, they would pass Zhou Bao’s territory. It was the same case like what they did on River Heart Island in those days. Navy of Jiang City was quite familiar with these things.
At the beginning, Jiang Xiao and Zhu Ba had not encountered any difficulty. As time went by, more and more people realized the importance of the Blacktail Plain and the value of the transfer station in the boundary of Zhou Bao’s territory and the Blacktail Plain. Businessmen saw great business opportunities and swarmed there. During that period, Jiang Xiao was extremely busy.
He was too busy to treat all these comers. Frankly speaking, Zhou Bao’s territory was a wasteland without any facility. The transfer station merely was a broad prairie without any population. Jiang Xiao originally wanted to build a huge warehouse and a crucial point just like what they did on the River Heart Island. But they had forgotten that this was not River Heart Island and the market they faced was not a small Jiang City. It was the whole northwest region of Dragon-pressing River. Though there were no people here, business opportunities were created. Never belittled shrewd businessmen.
Shortly after, temporary camps were built up in the broad prairie to store goods. More and more people came to visit Zhou Bao.
Of course, not everyone was qualified to meet Zhou Bao. Most of them came here to visit Jiang Xiao. They all knew that he was the butler of Zhou Bao and the upstart of the northwest region.
Jiang Xiao became the most famous celebrity in the whole northwest region now. He was busy welcoming and sending guests all day long. His life now was better than that of the time when he was a Captain of the navy.
He clearly knew that thanks to Zhou Bao, he could gain this prestige and status. Without what Zhou Bao had done, as a soldier, he would never be respected by those arrogant senior officials.
Hence, he became more prudent and did not make decisions on most of the things. When Zhou Bao came back, he was startled by the one-feet-thick documents piled on the table.
“Jiang Xiao, what do you mean? I just come back, and you mean to let me handle so many things now. Are you serious?”
“Oh, no, your Excellency. These things are quite important. I can’t make decisions on them without your permission. So I have to leave them to you.”
“I told you that no matter how important they are, you can handle them properly. Don’t bother me with these things. If you’re too busy to do it, you can recruit some people to help you. If there are really important things, you can just tell me. Don’t put so many things in front of me, I have no mood to see them!”
“Yes, Your Excellency. I understand!” Jiang Xiao smiled bitterly. “Your Excellency, even if you don’t want to look at these official documents, there are other things need you to do. You’ve opened the passageway of the Blacktail Plain, our territory has become the core of the northwest region now. I don’t have enough men to help me and can’t handle most of the things. Besides…”
“If you need men, you can recruit some. As long as there are enough people, everything can be handled. Don’t tell me these things particularly!” Zhou Bao stared at him. “Jiang Xiao, I’ve told you. You can do things boldly. Don’t care about me. I’ve no idea to spend energy on these things!”
“Your Excellency, except these documents, a lot of people came to visit you during your closed-door training. I declined most of them, but some of them had special identities. I’m afraid you need to meet them.”
“Special identities? Okay, tell me now!”
…
…
Many people wanted to visit Zhou Bao, but only a few of them were qualified.
Zhou Bao wore three hats. Firstly, he had the rank of nobility given by the Great Jin. From this aspect, most people that Jiang Xiao had met were eligible to meet him. Secondly, he used to be known as a Level Seven expert. But now, he was a Level Eight expert and nearly had Level Nine combat capability. However, others did not know this. Only half of these people could see him from this aspect. Thirdly, he was the spokesperson cultivated by Tian Long Taoism in the northwest region!
Adding these three identities together, only two comers were qualified to let him welcome them in person. One was Yun Peng, vice chairman of Prosperous Chamber of Commerce of Great Jin. The other was Nie Wushang, the imperial envoy.
The name ‘Prosperous Chamber of Commerce’ was vulgar and popular. But it had existed for over 10 thousand years. It was one of the three biggest chambers of commerce in Great Jin and even the whole Central Plains. It was supported by countless well-known families and mysterious schools. It seemed ordinary. However, if it took any action, it would be more powerful than the Great Jin which was founded only several hundred years ago. If we took Zhou Bao’s Anyuan Store as an ant, Prosperous Chamber of Commerce was no more an elephant but a blue whale. It could easily eliminate Anyuan Store if it wanted. Likewise, it could help Anyuan Store prosper readily.
No one knew who was the chairman of Prosperous Chamber of Commerce. Yun Peng was the person in charge of it publicly. He had high status, so Jiang Xiao listed him as one of the must-see people of Zhou Bao. The other one called Nie Wushang was the imperial envoy who represented the imperial court. After all, Zhou Bao was one of Great Jin people. Surely, he should not be slighted.
After hearing the analysis of Jiang Xiao, Zhou Bao thought for a while and asked, “Where is Yun Peng? I’ll visit him now. As for Nie Wushang, he has waited so long, it’s nothing to let him wait two more days!”
“All right. I’ll invite vice chairman Yun Peng right now!”
“No, no, no. I’ll come to meet him personally!” Zhou Bao waved his hands. Now that he was going to meet Yun Peng, he should be polite and considerate. Otherwise, he would rather not do it.
Yun Peng and Nie Wushang were arranged to live in the best yard. Jiang Xiao felt lucky, for Yun Peng’s yard was far from that of Nie Wushang. Otherwise, it would humiliate the imperial court if Zhou Bao met Yun Peng personally but left Nie Wushang alone.
Yun Peng looked not that old. He was in his forties and at the prime of his life. He was a Level Five expert whose cultivation was not weak. He would be a famous person even in Jianghu. But as vice chairman of Prosperous Chamber of Commerce, he was too weak, especially when he stood beside a Level Eight expert.
A Level Eight expert!
When did experts become worthless and all come to his territory?
Prosperous Chamber of Commerce was so generous to let a Level Eight expert to be his bodyguard!
The expression of Level Eight expert, Fu Yi, changed when he saw Zhou Bao. He knew that Zhou Bao was a Level Seven expert and had a Pure Yang Celestial Device. He had trapped other Level Nine experts with Wang She. Thus Fu Yi had already thought highly of Zhou Bao. But after seeing Zhou Bao, Fu Yi found that he had underestimated Zhou Bao.
Because he could not know Zhou Bao’s real cultivation.
Zhou Bao had completely covered his spirit. He looked like an ordinary teenager, who was about 17 or 18 years old. Nevertheless, his eyes showed maturity that could not fit his age.
“Zhou Bao, pay my respect to chairman Yun!”
Zhou Bao cupped one hand in the other after entering the door, wearing a faint smile.
“Haha, I’ve heard that Yunzhou Zhou Bao is the No.1 talented teenager of Great Jin. Meeting you in person today, I finally know that you well deserve your reputation!”
Yun Peng laughed loud and welcomed him. “Several days ago, I came here to visit Excellency Zhou. But I heard that you were doing closed-door training. I didn’t dare to bother you. Now you’ve exited the training, and I guess your cultivation must be more profound.”
“Chairman Yun, you must be joking. I’m so audacious and aggressive during practice that my basis isn’t stable. Thus I need to do closed-door training to stabilize it. Don’t mock me, chairman Yun.”
The two were as cunning as foxes. After the conventional greeting, they began to sit down and got down to the topic.
Zhou Bao had received over 10 years’ education and thus knew something about economics. He would not do stupid things like building customs post to levy on goods that were written in the books. In fact, as a bleak place without any independent industry and product, the most important thing was to use free tax to attract businessmen, people, and business.
Therefore, they had an agreeable conversation. In fact, they did not have that many things to discuss. Yun Peng’s subordinates and supervisors had already discussed details with Jiang Xiao. In order to show respect to Yun Peng and Prosperous Chamber of Commerce, Zhou Bao visited him personally. They were here to go through the motions and sign their names. It was somewhat like the signing ceremony of later ages.
So, they said some beautiful words before making dirty jokes and sending gifts to each other. Then, they began to eat and drink. They had not discussed anything serious, but only made agreements on the cooperation of Anyuan Store and Prosperous Chamber of Commerce and the openness of northwest market.
Zhou Bao directly went home for a rest after meeting Yun Peng. He tended to visit imperial envoy two days later.
But little did he expect that Nie Wushang came to visit him early in the next morning. Apparently, he knew that Zhou Bao had met Yun Peng yesterday.
Since he had come, Zhou Bao had to meet him, because he didn’t want to give others the excuse to gossip. Hence, he treated Nie Wushang respectfully.
