Lady Gu Xue was accompanied by Jia Lao. The man was bald and had a very discreet mark between his thin eyebrows. If Cao Yun had not known any better, he would have thought that this man was some kind of monk or priest. He was however a eunuch. From what Cao Yun had gathered thanks, in large part, to Xixue, this man was a former slave Lady Gu Xue had taken in. Somewhat similar to what Xixue had imagined of her role at Boss Gui's side, he had grown from slave to advisor.

And his advice was so precious he had now almost as much influence in Ruohe as Lady Gu Xue herself. Since the woman was childless, this Jia Lao had filled in that role in a political sense. For everyone in Ruohe, he was most likely to be her successor considering that he was less than half her age and his cultivation was going very well. In fact, this Jia Lao might have a chance of becoming an Accomplished Demon if given enough time.

While Lady Gu Xue was trying to hide her victorious smile, Jia Lao was concealing his apprehension. Immediately, Cao Yun found out the same thing Xixue had discovered. This Jia Lao was smarter than his mistress. However, he wouldn't change anything. As soon as Cao Yun had come to this city, their fate had been sealed. In fact, unless a real Accomplished Demon had come, they were doomed to fall in front of him. After all, they had almost no defense against his soul attacks and none of them could beat him. Moreover, they were relying on slaves a bit too much for their defenses. Because the city wasn't too rich, buying slaves had been cheaper than hiring guards for many positions.

In theory, there was no problem to that. Besides, the slaves they had to guard the city were all former citizens of the city. In fact, most of them had been tricked by the likes of Tu Jianhe. As soon as they had accumulated enough debts, they sold themselves to repay them. As such, many hunters were forming the guard. Although they were attached to the city, they had absolutely no love or loyalty for its elite. Thus, they were very easy to bring to his side as soon as he erased their Slavery Brands.

Right now, with all his array formations and the men he had freed, Cao Yun already controlled the entire city. At the moment, he was simply making things more official by breaking the news to Lady Gu Xue. Furthermore, she had some connection with Boss Gui that might be useful.

Cao Yun lead the two of them to his chambers. There, wine had already been served and they sat down to enjoy it. Immediately, Lady Gu Xue realized that Cao Yun was way too relaxed considering his current situation. Looking briefly at Jia Lao, she began to be as worried as he was. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come to him so directly. After all, Cao Yun had the strength to kill her easily. But if he had been suppressed by mere businessmen, she was certain that she could deal with him politically. Suppressing that foreboding, she tasted the wine and was charmed by it.

Clearly, this was one of the finest wines she had ever drunk. What she didn't know was that this wine didn't even come from the Desolate Sepulcher, it had come from the Hongchen Kingdom. And indeed, it was an extraordinary wine. Before she could take another sip, Cao Yun's voice resounded.

"Lady Gu Xue, I guess that you've heard about the nasty rumors surrounding me... Slanders produced by those fools wanting to suppress my shop, nothing more."

"Obviously, Lord Mo. I didn't even deign to listen to those, but I did hear people spreading them around like a disease. Surely, we should put an end to this! Do not worry, my friend, I will deal with them accordingly. No one else needs to hear any of those stupidities."

"Thank you for your proposition. But I already took care of those. I found the men behind those rumors and made them understand that it was bad for all of us. After all, all of our business was being affected by such falsehood spread with abandon in the streets."

Lady Gu Xue's smile was starting to crack. She had meant to pressure Cao Yun by using Tu Jianhe's campaign against him. But if he had already taken care of him, this would be more difficult to do so. In fact, she might be forced to try and pressure him herself. However, she felt like it was a terrible idea indeed. By his tone, the rumors were clearly true. He had been working for City Lord Sihe one way or another. If the man before her had been able to escape from City Lord Sihe's rage and plotting, he was absolutely terrifying.

While he was observing the conversation, Dian Mo finally saw through Cao Yun's local plan. All along, he had been wondering why Cao Yun cared about this city so much as it wasn't too important. At the same time, if he cared so much, he could simply kill those in his way, threaten the others and even use seals on them. Apart from City Lord Sihe, he had no reason to believe anyone could see through them. And even he might not be able to if Cao Yun was cautious enough, especially if he followed Dian Mo's advice and he didn't use too many of them. Even an expert would need some time to figure out exactly what Cao Yun was doing with his seals.

At that moment though, he had finally understood his point. His goal wasn't just to control the city. No, he wanted to make sure his identity was recognized by all. Thanks to this rumor of him working under City Lord Sihe in the past, no one would question his absence of history. Indeed, City Lord Sihe was cunning and it was absolutely possible for him to conceal even a powerful alchemist's existence. Moreover, the rumors would obviously spread like wildfire among the elite of the cities. In fact, the more Cao Yun was trying to silence them while calling them ridiculous, the more people would believe them. Of course, there was a risk that City Lord Sihe might learn of them, but he was very far from Ruohe so it would take a lot of time.

The best thing was that if City Lord Sihe tried to deny those rumors, people would never believe him. They would all think he was trying to preserve his secrets. Thus, Cao Yun had created a perfect persona. Nobody would ever wonder where he had come from as they would all assume he had been discovered and trained by City Lord Sihe until some fallout took place. Since then, Cao Yun had escaped and had tried to hide himself. Then, they could imagine everything they liked. Maybe, he had broken through recently and wasn't afraid of City Lord Sihe anymore, especially so far from his city. Maybe he had found some dirt on him and was holding it against him to keep safe. It wasn't very important.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Obviously, there was a risk. But any plan of Cao Yun was risky to begin with. If demons learned he was human, it was impossible to guess what they would do to him. Considering his knowledge in alchemy, he would probably be enslaved to benefit from them. And if they learned that he was an important figure of the Hongchen Kingdom, they might try to sell him to the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. In any case, Cao Yun didn't intend to be found out, by anyone. Even the young boy Dan Yao could never learn about this. Despite the adoration Cao Yun could see in his eyes, he wouldn't risk it. Furthermore, even if he reacted well, it wasn't impossible that someone could force some information out of him. And so was also the case for Xixue.

"Lady Gu Xue, I summoned you here because I have many things to discuss with you and your advisor."

'Summoned?!' Lady Gu Xue and Jia Lao were both infuriated by the word, but there was something urging them to wait to hear more before saying anything.

"Recently, I crafted a mutually beneficial contract with the hunter's union. And I just signed a very good contract with Tu Jianhe. Without even speaking about my prosperous Blazing Swallow, I have a huge influence on Ruohe now. In fact, you could say that the entire economy of your city is now in the palm of my hands. Thus, I did think that it was high time for us to talk about this so that we could find a way to live together in harmony. You see, I have no intention of staying in this small city for too long. In a few days, I will go to Duma to meet Boss Gui. And since you have some connection with her, it might be interested if you were to write me a letter of recommendation."

"Lord Mo, I do admit that your presence, and your pills, have changed some things in our Ruohe. But I will have to review all those contracts to make sure that they are in accordance with our laws. I am sure that the Xinian Confederation would frown upon someone hoarding too much influence and power. In fact, Lord Wanghuo might also find it distasteful. You should wait and allow me to smooth things over."

"I have no time for such matters. And there is no reason for them to hear anything about those contracts, they are strictly private. Besides, I have another one for you."

As soon as Cao Yun spoke, Xixue entered the study with the contract. Just like the rituals demanded, she brought two wooden planks, a small one and a larger one. The small wooden plank was there to signify Lady Gu Xue about the contract and the larger one was the contract.

"If the Xinian Confederation or Lord Wanghuo don't approve of your contracts, they are null. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Clearly, Lady Gu Xue was more than upset and she intended to call for reinforcements straight away. However, it was too late for that. Before she could fully get up, Jia Lao fell to his knees. Cao Yun had focused his killing intent on the eunuch. Despite his cultivation that was going smoothly, he was only a middle Golden Blood Child. Besides, he was no fighter at all. Against Cao Yun, he had no chance to even keep standing. On the other hand, Lady Gu Xue could put up a fight which would obviously reveal Cao Yun's cultivation.

"You...!"

Furious, Lady Gu Xue was about to strike Cao Yun. But seeing his calm demeanor, she stopped herself. If she were to fight a 2nd-grade Accomplished Demon, she would die before knowing what had happened. The mere fact that Jia Lao was still breathing showed that he didn't intend to kill them.

"Lady Gu Xue, do not think that I don't know who spread those rumors, or that I don't know what your intentions were. Even if I were to kill you here and now, do you think I would be punished for that?! I have all the evidence I need to prove that you slandered me in order to pressure me into a terrible contract. As long as the Xinian Confederation learns of that, they won't care about your corpse. I'll just have to pay them for the inconvenience. In your opinion, how much will your blood cost me?"

There was truth in Cao Yun's words. He was after all a talented alchemist. But Lady Gu Xue could tell that there was bluff in there as well. He didn't want City Lord Sihe to hear about him. Not yet at the very least. Then, she had still room to negotiate.

"Lord Mo. I fear that this Tu Jianhe pig lied to you to exonerate himself of his crimes. As much as I understand your anger, this is no way to act. I serve directly under Boss Gui. Killing her retainers wouldn't help you do business with her. However, I can help you with that. And I can also make sure that all your contracts are approved without anyone ever hearing about your presence in our Ruohe. Our city is small and insignificant for someone of your stature. Do not tarnish your name because of the lies of some second-rate loan shark."

Playing around with 'Weeping Demon', Cao Yun mostly released Jia Lao.

"You might be right on that account, Lady Gu. I'll have to think about it for a few days... In the meantime, I am sure that my servants will be very welcoming to you."

There was no doubt that Lady Gu Xue and Tu Jianhe were now Cao Yun's prisoners.

-

"Are you sure about this, boy?"

"Isn't that what you taught me about demons? They think that might makes right. By acting too meekly, I will be trampled upon and that was precisely what that woman wanted to do to me. On the other hand, by being domineering without going past certain limits, I will earn respect. And I am in dire need of this respect, both from the Nalupu Kingdom and the nomad tribes. First of all, I need to establish my presence in this Desolate Sepulcher. Don't you agree with me?"

"Well... this is a dangerous game. As you said yourself, if you go past certain limits, someone is bound to confront you. And the moment your cultivation is found out to be fake, you'll suffer a fate worse than death, boy. As you said, might makes right."

"I know, this is why I truly need to keep up appearances. If I act too weakly, they will think I am weak, and sadly, they would be right. At the same time, I need to become stronger and stronger. That is why I will adapt the blood runes and seals you found in Xixue's body. And I will also keep up my mind cultivation to make it appear as though my cultivation is very stable among the Accomplished Demon realm."

While Cao Yun was speaking with Dian Mo in his meditation, Xixue came to his chambers.

"Lord Mo, everything is ready. Lady Gu Xue will accept our terms. Ruohe's economy is completely under your control."

"How much were you able to negotiate?"

"I didn't even reach your upper limit. We will pay her 6.3% of our total income in Ruohe and she will make sure our Blazing Swallow flourishes without anyone from the outside prying into it. On the other hand, she also wished for some pills."

"Give me the list."

Looking through the pill names, Cao Yun had Dian Mo translate them into pills he was familiar with. Since there was no requirement of quality, Cao Yun could accept it with no problem. The first part of his plan for that continent was a complete success. He still had a few loose ends to take care of though.