Following his routine, Cao Yun found himself in the Silver Conch. And this time, he was discussing business with a couple of hunters. Those two were representing a larger union of hunters. They had organized themselves to support the pressure exerted on them by the few alchemy shops.

There were always hunters outside of this union, but their situation was very precarious. In fact, it wasn't too rare for a hunter to be enslaved because of some debts he ha accumulated. Indeed, they needed some tools to stay alive. Some alchemy shops liked to provide them with the perfect tools, but then they had to pay with the bounty of their hunt. Obviously, when they couldn't repay the loan several times, they were in real danger of being enslaved by said shop. Then, they would work for free in difficult conditions for the shop.

Usually they were able to pay for their freedom in a matter of months, sometimes even weeks if they were lucky. But that didn't mean that their situation was good. It was just bearable considering the alternatives. In the most extreme cases, an alchemy shop could even buy a hunter turned slave. Of course, this was extremely rare as they did need hunters in order to get the ingredients they needed for their pills and products.

"Miss Jie, Mister Jie, this is always a pleasure."

"Lord Mo, the pleasure is ours. Since we all have such busy schedules, please cut to the chase."

Cao Yun had become rather familiar with this couple. And they had developed a professional relation. Although Cao Yun could collect the ingredients he needed himself, relying on hunters was more efficient. Besides, his goal was to completely insert himself in the business network of Ruohe. Disregarding this hunter union would have been a mistake. In fact, Cao Yun had treated them even more fairly than other shops.

Over time, Cao Yun had obtained more and more contracts with them. But now, he was hoping for a more permanent relationship. After building up trust between them, Cao Yun could tell that they were ripe for the taking.

"I understand, Miss Jie. But you should really take some time to savor today's special. It's all on me. Anyway, as I already told you, I would like to consolidate our relationship. And for that, my servant drafted a contract that you should study. Basically, I ask that you provide my shop with a certain amount of goods every month, nothing to fancy. This will ensure a steady flow of pills and various products for my clients.

"Of course, it will still be possible for you to sell other products to my shop, or to any other shop you want. That being said, my Blazing Swallow will pay you a fixed fee every month. Then, all the products required every month will be bought at a rate that will be negotiated every other year. All additional product will however be subject to negotiations like any other sell without said contract.

"Finally, there is a clause stating that every product in the Heaven rank category will have an option on it. In other words, if you want to sell such a product, you will have to warn us beforehand to let us decided whether we want to buy or not. But nothing forces you to sell it to us if you have a better offer."

The dark-skinned man was still thinking about what Cao Yun had just said when the contract appeared in front of them. However, it was his wife who took the contract first. Her face was much more serious and she examined the contract in details. There was a frown on her face as she was studying every single line.

"According to this contract, we'll have to honor this agreement for a minimum of ten years."

"We could still lower it a little if you'd like. Although I would prefer stability, I am fairly confident that if you try this arrangement, you won't regret it at all. This is why my servant found useful to add another clause just below this one."

"Indeed. We can break the contract during the first ten months without any reason and without paying you anything."

"Of course, if you decide to break the contract in such a way, we will not pay the fixed fee of the current month."

"And once this ten months period is over, we would have to pay you three months worth of said fee."

"This is exact. But we are open to negotiations when it comes to the value of said fee."

The muscular woman kept studying the contract while her husband began to eat today's special. With the very first bite, he had to admit that Cao Yun knew his stuff. He truly was a gourmet. Each time he had suggested a dish, it had been exquisite. Although he was a great hunter, Jie Lü was not a businessman at all. In fact, he was often present to support his wife during those meetings, like some kind of bodyguard.

Of course, she was almost as good a fighter as he was. But if they were attacked by a powerful cultivator, they wouldn't handle it alone. However, if the two of them combined their strength, they could probably survive an early Accomplished Demon attacking them. Not only their cultivations but also their techniques were in perfect harmony. Watching them, Cao Yun could tell that they were even breathing synchronously. Once he had noticed that, he then noticed many other small details about them.

Obviously, this reminded him of Feng Yingyue. To be honest, he had realized that he almost ever thought about her when he was doing alchemy. Now that he was away from her once more, he began to doubt his feelings again. When they were close to each other, there was undoubtedly some form of chemistry between them. But the young man was starting to wonder whether it was just physical. Anyway, Cao Yun was not interested in romance at all. However, he would still consider Feng Yingyue as his Dao companion until they had both decided otherwise. He suspected though, that the next time they would meet, they would get both taken over by passion.

Jie Han spent long minutes studying the contract. But Cao Yun couldn't blame her, this was a very unique contract. All the shops in Ruohe liked it when the hunters were in a precarious situation. So they would never have proposed them such an arrangement. No matter what happened, they would get paid monthly. And if they failed to reach a month's quota, this would only either reduce their next salary or increase the next month's quota.

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Besides, the quota seemed very reasonable. And there were clauses to negotiate them every year. After reading everything, Jie Han had perfectly understood Cao Yun's goal. This contract was balanced for both parties, so much so that Jie Han would be foolish to reject it. Furthermore, she knew that Cao Yun's Blazing Swallow shop was performing very well.

There was one party that was at a big disadvantage though, the other shops, and not even just the alchemy shops. The mere fact that there was a quota of ingredients for the Blazing Swallow meant that the hunters would prioritize those ingredients. If there was a shortage of ingredients a month, this would affect the other shops first. And more than that, the Blazing Swallow would be informed of every single Heaven ingredients. They were not too common of course, but there were always a few each year.

By being informed before anyone else, the Blazing Swallow could either make a good proposition to buy it first, or even adapt to the presence of said ingredient on the market. Either way, this was a huge advantage on all the other shops.

Right now, Jie Han was more worried about the reaction of the other shops. Without this consideration in mind, she would have signed already.

On the other side of the table, Cao Yun was well aware of her dilemma. If he had proposed such a contract too early, she would have rejected it and it would have been more difficult to make her reconsider. But by now, she was well aware of Cao Yun's competence. Thanks to his employees, his shop had a very good reputation. Besides, he had always been fair with the hunters and he didn't seem to like slavery too much.

The fact that his employees were receiving a salary and had a chance to buy their freedom was not common knowledge. But almost everyone of importance knew about it. In fact, Cao Yun and Xixue had made sure of that.

Cao Yun enjoyed his meal without pressuring Jie Han into anything. Sensing him so relaxed, she laughed about her own tension. This contract was perfect for their union. In fact, they might be able to gather more hunters around them. There was even a chance they could expand and form a legitimate business. Although they were good hunters, this was a harsh and dangerous occupations. If they could find a way to reduce the strain on them, she had no reason to refuse.

Sighing deeply, Jie Han took her decision. Hearing her, Jie Lü glanced at his wife. With a single look, he knew what she had decided. Before she could ask his opinion, he nodded. With determination in her eyes, she put the contract down on the table.

"We accept. We will come to your residence later today to make everything official."

"Good."

What Cao Yun had learned was that the demons loved their rituals. Even signing a contract needed a very specific ceremony. Without said ceremony, no agreement would be officially recognized.

-

Later that day, the couple came to Cao Yun's residence. Obviously Lady Gu Xue was aware of everything since she lived just beside it. Jie Han and Jie Lü had adorned very specific clothes. They saluted with three bows, one before entering the outside courtyard, another one after entering the courtyard and a final bow when they entered the main building. At that stage, only Xixue had welcomed them.

When they entered Cao Yun's chambers, they bowed once more and sat on their heels. Cao Yun had prepared a small wooden plank that he gave them through Xixue. He gave it with two hands and she took it with two hands. Then, she did the same ceremonial with Jie Han. Once he had the wooden plank with a few characters written in blood, she spoke.

"This humble one has recognized the blood of our ancestor."

Then, Cao Yun took another wooden plank. But this time, it was larger and the main points of the contract were engraved on it. The first plank was simply a way of acknowledging the proposition. This new plank was the proposition itself.

The ceremony lasted almost a double-hour. Everything was scripted to the minute. And it was impossible to do anything else than what was planned. By the end, Jie Lü, Jie Han and Cao Yun mixed their blood into a form of seal on the large wooden plank. This was one of the reasons why Cao Yun had to form his Golden Blood early.

Blood was a way of signing contracts. In fact, blood was also a way being recognized. As he was passing off as a 2nd-grade Accomplished Demon, he had to present his Golden Blood.

The blood of the three of them combined was so heavy that it could barely be called liquid. Finally, their contract was officially signed. Now, they didn't even have to warn anyone of its contents. Apparently, Lord Wanghuo relied more on tradition than on laws. In fact, he might simply have been unable to impose his laws over local traditions.

Despite that, Cao Yun would make sure that Lady Gu Xue heard about it. And in less than a day, every single business in Ruohe heard about this arrangement. Obviously, some of them were more than upset about it. As much as Lady Gu Xue wanted to be on Cao Yun's good side, she was still ruling the city. So she couldn't allow Cao Yun to completely dominate the economy. In fact, she even thought that this might be a good opportunity for her.

If she could help Cao Yun against the combined merchants and businessmen of Ruohe, she might get the pill she wanted from him. To this day, she had bought a few pills from his shop. But he had not yet agreed to refine a pill that would help her break through. And she knew for a fact that he could refine it. After all, he had refined a more complex pill with success.

In urgency, the wealthiest businessmen of Ruohe gathered.

"We've let this Mo Yun prosper for far too long."

"Let?! It isn't as though we had a choice. We can't really use strength against him and even Lady Gu Xue is protecting him."

"And some of us were really happy doing business with him, and still are."

Obviously, everyone looked at the manager of the Silver Conch where Cao Yun was eating every other day. the woman was not just managing a restaurant, she also had interests in other venues.

"Lord Mo Yun is indeed a very good customer. But I do fear that he's grown a bit too bold because of the ease with which his shop grew in our city."

"Miss Ye is absolutely right. It is our fault for not teaching him his place in our ecosystem. It is high time for us to show him how things are done."

"And what do you suggest?! We can't really arm-wrestle him into submission. If we insult or offend him in any manner, he would be justified to kill us. Do you really want to fight an Accomplished Demon?"

"Well, we don't actually know his real strength... As an alchemist, his cultivation should have been brought by pills. Although his blood seems noble, it's not too powerful either. In my opinion, a talented late Golden Blood Child should be able to best him in a fair duel."

"And are you willing to put your own life on the line?"

"Before talking about a life-and-death duel, there are other ways of pressuring his shop without directly insulting or offending him."

"Once again, are you willing to do so yourself?"

"Of course! But I can't do it alone. I will need all of you to pressure him. We'll just show this Mo Yun that he does need our cooperation to live peacefully in our Ruohe."

As a plan was starting to form himself, a man who had never spoken until then decided to do so.

"My friends, I have some information about Mo Yun's past that could interest you."