txolops Chapter 51 Trading
Chapter 51 Trading
When the Huang family's invitation arrived at the county government office, he only had Xuanji deliver a congratulatory gift on his behalf and did not set off himself.
There are many advantages to not going. Firstly, it makes his status as a county magistrate clear. He can take care of the Huang family, but he will not condescend to personally visit them to offer his congratulations.
Secondly, he also wanted to see Huang Yuanji's reaction. If Huang Yuanji reacted negatively, it would mean that this person was impatient and not worth worrying about.
If Huang Yuanji doesn't react but instead comes to him on his own initiative, it means that the Huang family's plans this time are quite significant.
Of course, he wasn't just waiting for Huang Yuanji, but also for the messenger from the Heavenly God Sect.
From the day he received the definite news that Huang Yuanji was about to return, he sent Li You to investigate, but the recorded information was very limited and not enough for him to make a judgment.
He needed the detailed battle report brought back by the sect's messenger to truly assess the significance of this Foundation Establishment Level 3 cultivator who had returned alive from the Chuzhou battlefield—whether it was due to genuine exceptional strength or sheer luck.
Therefore, even though the time for Zhao Yuanlang to report on his work was approaching, he still stayed in Qinghe.
Just after midnight, Zhao Yuanlang heard very light footsteps coming from outside the courtyard.
This was neither the sound of yamen runners on patrol nor the footsteps of the clerk Xuanji.
Zhao Yuanlang raised his head, a slight smile playing on his lips, and thought to himself, "They've arrived."
The courtyard gate was gently pushed open, and a burly figure walked straight in under the moonlight.
Huang Yuanji was not wearing the splendid clothes he wore at the banquet, but rather an ordinary blue cloth robe, cloth shoes, and his hair was neatly combed, making him look like an ordinary Taoist priest.
Zhao Yuanlang did not get up, but simply raised his hand to indicate that he should sit down.
Huang Yuanji didn't stand on ceremony, sat down opposite the chessboard, and picked up a white piece.
Neither of them spoke. Zhao Yuanlang did not ask Huang Yuanji why he had come, nor did Huang Yuanji ask Zhao Yuanlang who he was waiting for.
Only the sound of chess pieces falling onto the board was crisp and monotonous.
White moves first, followed by Black.
This game of chess lasted from midnight to noon.
There were no tentative small talk, no polite preamble.
Both of them were intelligent people, and they both knew what they were going to talk about tonight. They also knew that before discussing that matter, they needed to understand each other's true character.
The game of chess is a battlefield between two people. The speed of placing pieces, the choice between advancing and retreating, and the judgment of the situation—these subtle details reveal a person's character more than any words.
Huang Yuanji played very slowly, each move carefully considered; Zhao Yuanlang played even slower, each move testing Huang Yuanji's patience.
When the last white stone was placed, the overall situation on the board was decided, with Hwang Won-je, who played white and moved first, winning by five and a half points.
Zhao Yuanlang stared at the chessboard in silence for a moment, then began to tidy up the pieces.
He moved slowly, picking the white pieces one by one back into the chess basket, and then neatly stacking the black pieces.
"In the end, Brother Huang was still one step ahead."
"Thank you for your concession."
Huang Yuanji picked up the teacup, which had long since gone cold, took a sip, and put it down. "Since Lord Zhao did not come to my humble abode for the banquet, I came by myself."
"Brother Dao has not returned for three years. I should have personally visited your residence to offer my congratulations. However..."
Zhao Yuanlang put the last black stone into the basket, looked up, and said, "Brother Dao, I'm afraid your mind isn't on the banquet today either."
Huang Yuanji didn't respond to that. He put down his teacup, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the few slender bamboos in the courtyard outside the window.
Huang Yuanji said unhurriedly, "Lord Zhao, I have come to your door today to tell you a story. I wonder if you would be interested in hearing it?"
"Oh?"
Zhao Yuanlang pushed the chess basket aside, turned slightly to the side, and adopted a posture of listening attentively.
Huang Yuanji then began to speak, his voice low and slow, as if recalling something from an extremely distant era.
He was telling the story of Huang Gongwang, the first ancestor of the Huang family. A hunter accidentally entered a valley while hunting on the outskirts of Qingyun Mountain and by chance obtained a fragmented cultivation method.
Then it took him more than forty years to cultivate from nothing to the ninth level of Qi Refining.
Finally, on a stormy night, he heard a mysterious Daoist voice coming from Qingyun Mountain. Relying on this voice, he had an epiphany on the spot and forcibly succeeded in establishing his foundation without any Foundation Establishment Pills or guidance from his master.
Zhao Yuanlang listened quietly, initially paying no attention, until Huang Yuanji mentioned Huang Gongwang's forty years of foundation building, at which point he interrupted the story.
"What were the qualities of the first ancestor of the Huang family?"
Huang Yuanji glanced at him. "He has a single wood elemental root."
Zhao Yuanlang remained silent upon hearing this, but raised his hand to signal Huang Yuanji to continue.
As a disciple from the Chuzhou Heavenly God Sect, what genius legends hadn't Zhao Yuanlang heard of?
In a remote and impoverished place like Qinghe, a single spiritual root is extremely rare. While not numerous in the Heavenly God Sect, it is by no means unusual.
As for obtaining cultivation techniques by chance and cultivating to the ninth level of Qi Refining on one's own, such cases occur once or twice every few decades in the cultivation world, which is not surprising.
Zhao Yuanlang's fingers tightened slightly when he heard "a mysterious Taoist voice in the stormy night".
Zhao Yuanlang tapped the chessboard lightly with his finger. A single spiritual root is an exceptional talent, without a doubt. But a single spiritual root can achieve foundation building solely through a series of spiritual sounds, without pills, spirit stones, or the guidance of a master.
Zhao Yuanlang pondered this sentence over and over in his mind, and the more he pondered it, the more something seemed off.
He himself was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he knew very well what it took to progress from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment.
Besides accumulating spiritual energy, one also needs to comprehend the Dao, which requires the assistance of elixirs and spirit stones.
Even disciples of the Heavenly God Sect are equipped with special protectors, elixirs, and spirit arrays when they reach the Foundation Establishment stage.
Huang Gongwang had nothing, but he achieved Foundation Establishment simply by hearing a voice.
Zhao Yuanlang looked at Huang Yuanji and continued to ask, "Did the Huang family ancestors ever consume elixirs, use spirit stones for cultivation, or use Foundation Establishment Pills to aid their cultivation?"
Huang Yuanji shook his head. "My ancestor was just a hunter back then. Let alone Foundation Establishment Pills, he couldn't even find the lowest-grade Qi Gathering Pills. He didn't even have a single spirit stone."
Zhao Yuanlang's heart was finally in complete turmoil. He could accept a single spiritual root, a rare gem hidden in the vast ocean.
He obtained a fragmented cultivation method by chance, and although he felt the probability was extremely small, he could still barely believe it to be true.
To cultivate to the ninth level of Qi Refining in this remote and impoverished place using an incomplete method without the aid of elixirs or spirit stones is already an extremely rare feat.
But the idea that one could establish a foundation without Foundation Establishment Pills and simply rely on the sounds of the universe completely overturned his understanding.
Although Foundation Establishment Pills are not a necessity for Qi Refining cultivators to break through to Foundation Establishment, based on Huang Gongwang's experience, Zhao Yuanlang didn't think he had even a 10% chance.
Even under such circumstances, Huang Gongwang did not need Foundation Establishment Pills; he crossed the threshold that countless cultivators could not cross in their entire lives with just a voice.
What exactly is that thing?
Zhao Yuanlang remained silent for a long time. Huang Yuanji did not urge him, but simply sipped the tea that had gone cold.
He knew that Zhao Yuanlang needed time to process the story, and he also knew that the real negotiations would only begin after Zhao Yuanlang had finished processing it.
After a long while, Zhao Yuanlang raised his head and said, "Brother Dao, you didn't come here today just to tell me stories, did you?"
Huang Yuanji put down his teacup, knowing that the time was right.
"I wish to make a deal, or rather, an alliance, with Lord Zhao."
"What kind of deal?"
"My Huang family wants Qingyun Mountain."
Huang Yuanji spoke calmly, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him. "I hope Lord Zhao will not interfere. The evil deeds and wicked people will be done by my Huang family, and the dirty and tiring work will be borne by my Huang family."
"Once the matter is accomplished, everything gained from Qingyun Mountain, whether it be Daoist sounds, inheritances, or spirit stones and veins, will be split equally between Lord Zhao and himself."