Niu Tan wanted to keep up the ruse of a mysterious organization, so he decided to create a contract that looked completely unlike what the Yan family would have seen until now.

First, he took out a blank page from one of the books in his library space. Just the completely white and smooth paper was already something that would blow Yan Mo’s mind.

But Niu Tan obviously didn’t stop there, he copied designs that looked mystical and ancient to decorate the page, giving it an air of mystery.

He further heated the edges with the design carefully over flames to dry the ink and give some light browning to make it look even more mystifying.

After all that, regarding the contract itself, Niu Tan didn’t make it too complicated. He tried making it as short and vague as possible. The main point was to overwhelm the Yan family with bizarreness and have them overthink.

The contract read something like this;

………………………………………………

The Yan family agrees to cooperate with the ancient order of Dao Seekers in their pursuit to disseminate knowledge to the world and create more knowledge through the Dao Seeker School.

The Dao Seekers will provide the Yan family with the means to obtain immense wealth and power and in return, the Yan family will provide assistance, funding, and protection as agreed upon to the just cause of the Dao Seekers.

So long as both parties don’t harm each other’s interests, this contract will be in effect.

……………………………………………….

Dao Seekers was the name Niu Tan had given to the nonexistent organization. It perfectly described his motivation for creating this fake organization while also sounding mystical.

As for the contract, the content didn’t really matter as long as it had the desired effect. He was aware that this was not his previous world where you could sue someone over a breach of contract.

In this world, right and wrong were usually distinguished depending on whose fists are stronger and whose blades are sharper.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t outsmart these people and make them believe that his fists were made of metal and his blades could cut stone like butter, without ever having to prove it.

Anyway, going by how easy and fast his martial arts training was going, he would have a decent enough strength within a year or two.

As long as his internal energy broke through the current bottleneck he would reach the 2nd rate martial artist stage and be able to reinforce his body with qigong during fights or any activity.

Niu Tan estimated that he would take at most half a year to reach 1st rate martial artist stage where he would be able to project his internal energy out to coat his hands or weapons in it to form sword qi or blade qi.

For the Martial Master stage, it might take a year or a year and half. Then he would be able to use his qigong to affect his surroundings a little and even step on air for a short while by solidifying the air with qigong.

Grand Master stage was what the body’s previous host Jian Fan’s grandfather was at. That old man could blast stones by throwing qigong at it. Niu Tan would probably need half a decade or more to reach that even with his insanely fast and efficient training.

As for the Divine Master, being able to fly and all, Niu Tan didn’t want to think too much about these legends. He would tackle it when he was close to that stage.

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“This…” Yan Mo was speechless while he kept staring wide-eyed w at the agreement that Niu Tan had brought to him.

Disregarding everything, just the quality of the paper floored him. Paper could also be made like this? Just what kind of organization was Dao Seekers? The more he knew about them, the more mysterious they became.

“Does your organization make this paper?” Yan Mo asked, trying to sound calm and casual.

Niu Tan nodded, “Yes. Actually, depending on your performance on the test and the tasks you do for us, the process to make better and cheaper paper is actually something we are prepared to provide you.”

It was something Niu Tan would need if he wanted to print multiple books as well as make notebooks for the students. But he couldn’t outright say it that way.

Yan Qi, who was also in the room could be heard gasping.

“The paper wouldn’t be of the quality you are holding of course, it is still only used internally by us and is a secret.” Niu Tan added to remove any misunderstandings.

The technology of this era was just not good enough to make paper like that. So he just made it a secret of the organization.

Yan Mo put on a calm and collected front as he put the seal of the Yan family on the contract without hesitation.

Niu Tan also walked forward and picked up the ink stone with some freshly ground ink from the desk. He smeared a little ink on his thumb and while the uncle-nephew duo looked on in confusion he placed the thumbprint over the contract.

Seeing the confused looks on the duo, Niu Tan smiled and explained while he cleaned his thumb.

“Every person has a different fingerprint. Our organization has records of each member’s fingerprints so that even if anyone tries to make forgeries we can easily know if one of our own really did sign a document.”

Does it work like that? Yan Mo could already see this being useful to his business in so many different ways. Every conversation with Niu Tan seemed to bring endless revelations and knowledge that challenged his worldview.

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Unknowingly, Yan Mo and Yan Qi had already started to fear and respect the Dao Seekers. The idea of ‘what else might they be able to do’ had taken root in their minds.

“Can we use that? The thumbprints as a signature. Or is that something exclusive to you guys?” Yan Mo thought it wise to ask permission first to avoid angering the unknown.

Niu Tan waved his hands, “Go ahead. As I said before, our purpose is to create and share knowledge. So except for some secrets and some knowledge that could disrupt the world order, we don’t mind you using any knowledge we provide.”

Yan Mo nodded. Although he was still suspicious and wary, he could feel the righteousness of this organization. He would trust them a little more but he won’t let his guard down.

“Also, make a copy of that agreement for me to bring back, you can keep the original. We will also record and sign agreements for each cooperation we have separately as a business transaction, like that ship blueprint.” Niu Tan added.

So the three men sat down and drafted another contract where the 2% profit from the ships used would go to the Dao Seeker School.

After the paperwork was done, Yan Mo brought up the consortium.

“About the consortium, we have chosen to work Li, Qin and Lin families. I have already set up a secret meeting with their family heads in three days. We will use the ship as a way to start the consortium.”

Niu Tan nodded, “Good. That gives you grounds to be in charge since you brought the blueprint to them. And it also provides a justification to start the consortium since you need to combine forces to handle the pressure from the royal court, the martial clans and the sects when you bring out the ships.”

Yan Mo agreed. He had considered these things and came to the same conclusion. Sharing this bit of profit with multiple parties was nothing. He considered it as building a solid base to build up a large financial empire.

Anyway, as long as he had the Dao Seekers and their school on his side, he will have many more opportunities to make gold. The improved paper that Niu Tan mentioned was already something he was looking forward to.

“While you work on that, I need you to find me some scholars who can help me with the school. I can’t possibly run an entire school on my own.” Niu Tan spoke his request.

He wanted to train some young scholars who already had some foundation and make them into qualified teaching assistants.

Yan Mo’s eyes flashed a little, “Do you have any requirements on what kind of scholars you want me to find?”

He would just send the younger generation from his family if it was possible. If not, he would bring the finest scholars he could hire with money.

Niu Tan has already thought about it.

“They need to be as young and talented as possible. Try finding the righteous and principled ones. If they have some martial attainments then it’s even better. Apart from that, their background, whether they are poor, commoner, or disgraced, nothing matters to me.”

Yam Mo understood. “I will use all my connections and try to give you a list of the scholars with their details by next week.” Instead of recommending some, he would give Niu Tan a list to choose from.

Niu Tan was satisfied. “Okay, get me a secluded courtyard. I’ll wait there while I train.”

He wanted to reach the 2nd rate stage soon so he would train his martial arts for the next few days without distractions.

////////////////////////////////////

Three days later in the White Lotus Restaurant, the fanciest and most expensive restaurant in the city, the family heads of four prominent merchant families were having a secret meeting unbeknownst to anyone.

Lin Hong, the Lin family head spoke first, “Why did you gather all of us here like this? What’re you playing at, Yan brat?” He was a temperamental old man in his late 60s.

Yan Mo took a deep breath and handed over a paper with a description of the ship and an incomplete blueprint.

Lin Hong was quick to snatch it. But he started to read it, his breathing became quicker and quicker.

The Qin family head Qin Shan who was of similar age didn’t stand on ceremony and snatched it from Lin Hong seeing that he was done looking at it.

He had the same reaction as the other old man. He kept quiet too and handed over the paper to the Li family head, Li Xi who was in his 50s.

After everyone was done reading it, there was silence in the room. Yan Mo looked around the room and broke the silence.

“All of you should know the implications of this thing. It is a huge pie. Too huge for the Yan family to digest alone. So I want to propose creating a secret consortium between us four families to share this pie. Of course, the Yan family will take the lead in it”

The others were silent until Lin Hong spoke, “You want us to share the outside pressure?”

“Yes. We can rope in the royal court as well by giving them a part of the pie. But it would only work if all of us worked together. If only one family were to try and take this, their entire bloodline would end up wiped.” Yan Mo was honest.

Li Xi added, “We could ask the quota for the number of martial artists in our families to be increased citing the security of the production facility.”

The other two nodded. They were already prepared for cooperation. The only thing that concerned them was what share of benefits they would get.

Yan Mo gave his opinion, “The greedy king would agree with most of our demands if we tell him we will provide him half of the fleet we produce as an offering to the throne.”

The other three family heads frowned at that. They thought it was a bit too excessive. Yan Mo knew their concerns so he explained.

“The consortium that I just told you about isn’t just about these ships. It’s just a start. So don’t be stingy about distributing some benefits. Strengthening the country’s army is strengthening ourselves as long as we have a hold on them.”

Yan Mo repeated a line he had learned from Niu Tan.

Lin Hong flared, “And how will we have a hold on the army?”

Yan Mo smiled, “When we are the only ones with a fleet of ships, almost all the food, grains, and other supplies in this country will also have to go through us. We will accumulate power through trade.”

This was a completely novel idea when Yan Mo heard it first. With the martial artists walking about swinging their fists, power had almost become synonymous with martial strength to the people.

But martial artists needed to eat too, they also needed more supplies than ordinary people. So if you controlled trade and resources, it was easy to manage the martial artists. Just coax them with favorable treatments and resources

The same logic worked for the army as well. A hungry army without spears and shields can’t fight after all.

When the Lin, Qin, and Li family head heard Yan Mo’s explanation, they were convinced that this would work.

They were skeptical about how Yan Mo thought of all this and where he even got these things, but they could find that out later. For now, they shouldn’t look the gift horse in the mouth, they had to absolutely enter this cooperation. They would be stupid if they didn’t.

//////////////////////////////////

While the four major merchant families sent their representatives to the capital to get the king’s approval, Niu Tan was practicing his martial arts and mental cultivation to full effect.

Combining the modern training methods from his past life, which had a scientific and biological basis, with the training methods of the Jiang Clan, Niu Tan created an optimum training regimen to get the most out of his physical training.

Every morning he would start the day with an internal energy cultivation session. He would then train his body, swordsmanship, footwork, and hand-to-hand combat until he was tired, then after a short rest, he would go meditate and train his internal energy again.

He balanced his training and rest optimally to not stress his body too much while pushing it to the limits.

Although there were some hiccups along the way, he easily understood and embodied the Jiang Family’s martial arts that Jiang Fan used to suck at. He even went a step further and mixed in the modern combat techniques he had learned back in his previous life.

He liked the effectiveness of the modern combat techniques over the showy, almost dance-like moves of the martial artists. While not all of it was like that, some of it could use optimization.

And after a continuous training session for a week, he broke through the bottleneck to become a 2nd rate martial artist. He could now easily take on a couple of well-trained soldiers or 8-10 ordinary men in a fight.

For comparison, first-rates could take on at least 10 well-trained soldiers while the standard for a Master martial artist is 50 well-trained soldiers.

Jiang Fan, the previous host’s grandfather was a Grand Master and could go against an army of 100 men at once. It was said that Divine Masters could compare to thousands of men in battle but it was only a legend. No one had ever seen a Divine Master.