In her residence, Lady Gu Xue was speaking with another man. He was her closest advisor. The two of them were sitting leisurely in her private chambers. There were many layers of security to hide themselves. Even a middle Accomplished Demon would barely be able to listen in on them. However, such measures were not enough against a Spirit Warrior. Indeed, Accomplished Demons' Demon Souls were more powerful than Soul Embryos, but they were not subtle at all. A Spirit Warrior would have been able to get around those measures. But the Desolate Sepulcher had never dealt with a Spirit Warrior before.

"I do not think it wise to align yourself with this Mo Yun. I know you wish to get your hands on some pill to improve your Jing. And obviously, this would be a great thing. But I do fear he will become a problem. The more I try to dig about his past, the more confused I get. From what I gather, he simply didn't exist a few weeks ago. Such an alchemist cannot go unnoticed. The only explanation I could get was that he had fled from somewhere. With his cultivation and his alchemy, it's not out of the question that he was able to alter his own blood to hide his true origins."

As they were talking, the two were also playing some kind of board game. It looked similar to Go but also very different. Instead of stones with two different colors, there were three colors in total. And the rules seemed to differ a lot as well. Although the board itself looked similar, they were sometimes placing several stones in one move, and even placing stones in strange places. Anyway, they were both focusing on their conversation more than on the game. That being said, their game still required a bit of focus.

"So you think he actually made some powerful enemies and tried to reach a small city like ours to live peacefully the rest of his days?"

"I'm not too sure about the peaceful part. But although I have no actual proof, this is what makes the most sense. And since he's already caused some stir among our own city, I can imagine how he made enemies. In the last few days, almost everyone in Ruohe with a bit of influence lodged complaints about this man. Yes, his trade is very good, but I'm not sure he's worth the trouble."

With a small smile, Lady Gu Xue placed a red stone and suddenly took several black and white stones from the board. Suddenly, her advisor was more concerned about the game as he was stroking his large and disheveled beard. Nodding, he told her how good her move was. But he was not done yet.

"Jia Lao, you are missing the big picture. If this Mo Yun is indeed fleeing form someone, he will have more incentives to help us out. Besides, if we let those nice gentlemen deal with him, we don't even have to hold the stick. We can simply wave the carrot in front of him. Then, his business will even be ours. I already made sure that some news could reach those people. If they want to antagonize Mo Yun, let them do it. We'll just reap the benefits of the trouble they've sowed for themselves. In fact, the best outcome would be for Mo Yun to get angry and kill one of them without just cause."

"And what if he tries to attack us? To deal with a 2nd-grade Accomplished Demon, we would suffer some losses..."

"Of course, if we were to fight with him. Don't misunderstand me though. If we truly need to fight, I am ready for it. I already mobilized a small part of our best soldiers, just in case. But let those idiots fight him head-on. We'll play the friendly part in this drama. But it would be a good thing if we could actually know who he's been fleeing from."

"I understand, my Lady. Apparently, there are some rumors about City Lord Sihe. But I couldn't find anything to corroborate it."

As he was speaking, Jia Lao finally made a small comeback in the game as he replaced several black stones with a few red ones. But before he could savor this move, Lady Gu Xue closed a trap around some white stones.

"If he's fleeing from City Lord Sihe, that would be very beneficial for us. He's far enough from our city that he probably won't find out about this Mo Yun anytime soon. And this alchemist might even have a bit of knowledge about City Lord Sihe's business. I am sure that Boss Gui would be very interested in knowing more about his seal, in particular his Slavery Brand."

"Oh... It seems that you have lost, my Lady."

Jiao Lao's tone suddenly changed, from serious, he became amused and playful. Between his left index and middle finger, he was holding a golden stone. There was a single golden stone in the small bowl in front of each player. Then, he slowly placed it somewhere on the board. This brought Lady Gu Xue's full attention on the game. After several minutes, she heaved a deep sigh.

"It would appear so... Hopefully, our enterprise will be more successful."

-

Like he was used to, Cao Yun was walking toward the Silver Conch. However, he was met with some resistance. The head waiter who was usually welcoming him with a large smile had a difficult face today. With his senses, Cao Yun could clearly see through his facade. Although he was affecting a sorrow face, Cao Yun could see that he was terrified. There was no doubt that someone, most likely the owner of the restaurant, was forcing him to play this part. And the poor waiter was terrified that Cao Yun would kill him.

According to the laws, offending or insulting an Accomplished Demon could warrant death to any Blood Child. For Golden Blood Children, the requisites were a bit higher for such a sentence to be carried out on the spot. But everything was always subject to corruption. It wasn't too rare for a wealthy demon to kill someone for an insignificant offense and then buy off enough officials for it to be considered lawful. Unfortunately, the Nalupu Kingdom's administration and its laws were mostly for show. After all, even if it was illegal to enslave the nomad tribes without cause, many were doing so overtly with no repercussion because it was bringing a lot of money to Lord Wanghuo.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Anyway, Cao Yun had no intention of killing this head waiter. However, he still had to play his part. As soon as he got to the door, Cao Yun saw the head waiter kowtow before him.

"I am terribly sorry, Lord Mo. We can't accept your patronage today. Trust this poor incompetent old man. Nothing would bring us more joy than to serve you, but we encountered some problems and we can't do so at the time. Please, understand our difficult situation and visit us at another date."

"What kind of difficulties would prevent only my visit?!"

In fact, Cao Yun had already a good idea of what was going on. Although he was acting crossed, he was quite happy at the time. Everything was going very well apparently.

"Please, this one is full of contrition. Our situation is a bit complicated. If we could welcome you, we would gladly do so. Please, understand our turmoil."

No matter how much Cao Yun would press, the head waiter would not give out any straight answer.

"You...!"

Full of anger on his face, Cao Yun raised his fist as though he wanted to strike the poor head waiter. The old man was literally cowering in fear. But he knew that being beaten up right here would be better than to disobey his master's orders. Indeed, this waiter was a slave. This was obviously not apparent at all. The Silver Conch was trying to keep up appearances after all.

When he thought Cao Yun was going to hit him, nothing came. Thus, the old man raised his head.

"I will come back later. And I certainly hope that you will have a good explanation! Humph!"

Putting on a show, Cao Yun left in front of everyone. Immediately, many rumors spread like wildfire in the entire Ruohe. Many other shops refused to serve Cao Yun and anyone affiliated to him. Each time, they had either no explanation or ridiculous ones. It was obvious to everyone that this was a coordinated tactic to put pressure on the Blazing Swallow.

-

After a few days, Xixue received a letter from the Silver Conch. Without a moment's delay, she brought it to Cao Yun. The young man who was usually cultivating or refining pills was only reading some books at the moment. Indeed, he was expecting something like that to happen so he stayed free.

"Lord Mo, they've finally made their move. The main merchants and traders of Ruohe ask that you visit them. They've privatized the Silver Conch for a meeting with you this very night."

Cao Yun didn't even read the letter. Since he had been expecting something like that for some time now, he was ready for it and what was to come. In fact, it was going even better than he had hoped for.

"I imagined that everything is ready on your side?"

"Obviously, I made sure of it. You won't have to worry about that."

After their lively conversation, Xixue's attitude toward Cao Yun had changed for the better. She was still harboring some deep emotions, but she treated Cao Yun with much more respect now. Even in her eyes, he couldn't see the content he had seen before. Although he himself had some doubts about his own actions tonight, he was happy to have laid some things in front of her. Wallowing on her own weakness and use it as an excuse to justify all of her actions was not a good thing. She had to feel like she had a choice in her own fate, because she actually had.

"Then it won't be long before this city is fully under our control. This will be a huge help for what we'll do next. As soon as we're finished here, we'll go to Duma and deal with Boss Gui, I can promise you that."

"Thank you."

-

Then, Cao Yun left his residence. Once again, he put up a show for the outsiders. With his senses and his array formations all around his residence, he knew that he was being observed. First of all, he was observed by Lady Gu Xue's servants, that was a certainty. Even without his senses, he would have deduced as much. After all, in a matter of weeks, he had become a big part of this city's economy. Obviously, Lady Gu Xue was going to have him monitored. But he didn't mind. In fact, it had helped him a lot. Having everyone believe that they were watching him without his knowing had allowed his plans to progress even faster than they could have otherwise.

Although it was nighttime, Cao Yun quickly went to the Silver Conch. This time, the old waiter let him in. Clearly, there was relief on his face. Since he had no part to play in the upcoming events, he was quite happy. But he would still have preferred to be as far away from this place as possible after seeing all the faces of those present.

When he entered the restaurant, Cao Yun saw that the entire establishment of Ruohe, apart from Lady Gu Xue, was present. The entire Silver Conch had been privatized for this meeting. Cao Yun recognized all the faces. And he could see various emotion son them. Some were delighted and were already savoring their victory. Others were a bit more distorted. They didn't want to be here or to oppose Cao Yun but they had been strong-armed into joining this association. Although Cao Yun's business could not be directly attacked, theirs could. And they had way more ties to other shops than Cao Yun. They were not self-relying at all.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Without even saluting anyone, Cao Yun shouted toward the main group at the center of the room. Those were the people who truly ruled Ruohe's economy. Even Lady Gu Xue would have had a hard time dealing with them. Thankfully though, she had powerful backers in the Nalupu Kingdom. Thus, no one would threaten or attack her. However, she still had to take their opinions into consideration in order to maintain peace and prosperity. If her city's economy was too unstable, she might lose her backers. Then, she would probably get replaced very soon by someone else. And obviously, her retreat would probably not be too pleasant.

A bald man with a huge pimple on his forehead talked first.

"Sir Mo Yun, this is no way to greet your esteemed colleagues. But once again, you don't seem to be able to play too nice with others. I wonder whether City Lord Sihe would agree with us on the matter..."

Acting as though his deepest secrets had been exposed, Cao Yun kept quiet as blood drained from his face.

"You see, my friend, a rising tide should lift all boats, not just yours. If you keep working alone, you might drown yourself in your ambition. You almost suffered a terrible fate because of your arrogance once. Since you've exiled yourself to our prosper city, I sure hope you can learn from your mistakes. We'd all be happy to teach you the best way to enjoy life."

"I don't know what you're talking about! But if you think you can teach me anything, think again. Dare to speak to me like that again and I will have you flayed alive."

The bald man laughed. There was sinister intent in his laugh.

"My friend, I meant no offense at all. We should all learn from one another. For example, I learned a lot from your contract with Miss Jie. And I would like to give you an opportunity as good as that one. However, if you don't want to join us in business, we'll have to turn to other competitors. City Lord Sihe would be a very good prospect for that. But he might require a bit of convincing to come to our humble Ruohe himself..."

Obviously, those were barely veiled threats. And Cao Yun was making sure that they at least looked like they were working on him. Although he was speaking loudly, he wasn't acting too much. And this pushed this bald man to become even bolder with his words.