There were no surprises in the subsequent battles. Aside from Yan Sen and Li Wei, the only other Grade 2 contestants that the VIPs were paying attention to were Zhou Ren and Guan Wei. Aside from Yan Sen and Li Wei, none of the other contestants could defeat them, as they had an advantage in cultivation at the 7th level of skin tempering over most of the other Grade 2 participants. However, whenever they fought either Yan Sen or Li Wei, they were both soundly defeated.
Guan Wei was so unlucky that he even ended up facing Zhou Ren before the semi-finals even began. The fight was close, and they were almost evenly matched. Zhou Ren only won by a thread. Because Guan Wei had already lost to Li Wei earlier, and lost to Zhou Ren now, he was eliminated without making it to the semi-finals.
The assessment continued, and to no one's surprise, Yan Sen won first place, Li Wei came in second, and Zhou Ren took third. After announcing the first-place winner, the Silver Pine tree was awarded to Yan Sen right away.
After receiving the sapling, Yan Sen was about to go back to the Yan family area when Guan Wei blocked his way. Yan Sen frowned, but Guan Wei spoke right away. "Brother Sen, don't misunderstand. I'm not here to cause trouble. I've already seen how capable you are. I just wanted to apologize for my past behavior. I hope you can be magnanimous and let bygones be bygones. A lot of people in our generation will still be depending on you in the future when we are together on the battlefield."
In Yan Sen's mind, he thought, "I don't believe that you're really apologizing because of my talent. I know it's because you're afraid of my master." But what he actually said was, "Don't worry about it, Brother Guan Wei. It's nothing."
Guan Wei said, "If there's anything you need help with, you can tell me and I'll do my best to help you." But in his mind, he thought, "My father told me to befriend you so I can get closer to your master. My talent was better than yours before you met your master. If he noticed me, he might accept me as his disciple as well."
While walking back to the Yan Family's designated place in the audience, the Time Sovereign spoke to Yan Sen's mind. "Little Sen, don't believe any of those brats' nonsense. I can feel that he's up to no good and completely insincere."
Yan Sen answered to his master in his mind. "He wants to take advantage of me? Let's see how I play with him, hehehe."
The Time Sovereign just smiled and thought, "This kid, if I didn't know the truth, I would think that he is his reincarnation." He thought back to his past life.
He said, "Yan Sen, go to a place where no one can see you, and put the silver pine sapling inside the Chrono Orb right away. The Silver Pine tree is no more than a meter tall right now. It will fit inside the space of the Chrono Orb, which is constantly growing thanks to the Qiwood blossom."
Yan Sen asked Li Wei and Mei Lin, along with two guards, to send them home to his courtyard. He used the excuse that they were all exhausted and needed to cultivate. His mother agreed and sent him home. They were not worried about his safety at all. In Faybrook, who would dare hurt the Yan Family's young scion? Besides, she was aware that Yan Sen was under his master's care, and Qin Baoyu, his husband's most trusted aide, was also secretly watching over him.
After arriving in his courtyard and there were only him and his two friends present, he put the tree inside the Chrono Orb right away. He then asked his master, "Master, we are already at the 7th level of skin tempering now, and we can feel that the effect of the Rubber Jade Elixir has reached its limit. We also need to wait for the Silver Pine tree to produce extract. What should we do for the time being?"
The Time Sovereign said, "Inside the orb, the tree needs five days to produce a single dose of its extract. There are three of you, so you will need to wait for half a month. For this half a month, I have a task for you three.
* I want you to ask your grandfather for a smithing workshop. Tell him I want to teach you about artifact smithing. It will be very useful.
* Tell Mei Lin to train in the Ming family about sewing garments. I will show you a design and I want you to give it to her. It is also important.
* Lastly, Li Wei's family is a merchant family. We can use his family's help to buy the minerals and materials that we need to make the artifact that I am talking about.
Remember, no matter how much they ask what we need the materials for, just tell them that your master is asking you to look for them and you do not know their use. You are just a kid, so they will believe you."
Yan Sen said, "But master, if the materials that you need are valuable, I cannot afford them. I can't even ask my mom for money because we will tell them that it is you who needs the materials. I don't want them to think that my master is a pauper."
The Time Sovereign almost choked at what Yan Sen said. He was the Time Sovereign! Since when did anyone think of him as a pauper?
"You can just tell your family that you need it for your smithing training. And we can also sell Rubber Jade Elixir. This way, you can help with the faster development of skin tempering kids in Faybrook."
Yan Sen said, "That is a good idea, master. I will ask for my mother's help to set up a store where we can sell the elixir. Besides, the materials for making it are almost everywhere, and the effect is a lot stronger than expensive ordinary skin elixir. And they won't dare ask about its origin if I tell them it's the elixir that you have given us."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The Time Sovereign nodded. "Very smart."
Yan Sen told his two friends about the plan. He did not want to waste any time, but his mother and almost all of the people in the manor were not present because they were still watching the assessment for higher grades. Yan Sen was not the only Yan family member who studied at Faybrook Spirit Academy, but he was the youngest.
He boiled some essence elixir for the three of them, and then they started cultivating their souls again. A few hours in the Chrono Orb is equivalent to a few months in the outside world, so the time was not wasted.
After a few hours, the sky started to turn dark and the Yan manor started to become lively again. Yan Sen's grandfather, mother, uncles, aunts, and cousin had all arrived. Yan Sen did not waste any time and went to his mother to tell her about his master's plan to sell Rubber Jade Elixir.
He explained to her how amazing the elixir was, and his mother believed him, seeing him as a living proof of its effect. He also mentioned that the money that they would get from it would be used to buy the materials needed for his training as a blacksmith and artificer. He also asked for a medium-sized smithing workshop to be built next to his courtyard.
His mother thought to herself, "Yan Sen's master is really grooming them. He is not just giving them training materials, but he is also teaching them how to acquire resources for their own cultivation."
She told Yan Sen that she would discuss it with his grandfather first and would have his answer tomorrow.
After that, Yan Sen went back to his courtyard. His master told him that they needed to once again enter soul cultivation and let their souls reside inside the Chrono Orb. The reason was that he wanted to teach Yan Sen the theories about artifact smithing and refinement, and wanted Yan Sen to relay the information about inscription and arrays to Li Wei.
To save time learning the theories, they had to do it inside the Chrono Orb and learn through their souls. When they went outside, they would just need to acquire experience and apply all that they had learned. This was a much more efficient way.
Early in the morning, Lady Meilan brought four servants to Yan Sen.
"Sen'er, these are Lao Ann, Lao Ming, Lao Baishu, and Lao Lao. From now on, they will be your personal servants. They will take orders directly from you, and you will be responsible for their monthly salary. Please treat them well. The Lao family has served our Yan family for generations. Do not mistreat them.
As for the store, your grandfather has decided to give you our store number 7 in the marketplace. It is located in a good spot for selling elixirs and other cultivation supplies. We will help you with the materials needed for renovation if you want to renovate it. All of your aunts and uncles have no objections. The Yan family will support you in any way we can."
Yan Sen said, "Thank you so much, Mom. This is a big help. I will personally thank Grandfather for this. I love you, Mom.
Aunt Ann, Uncle Ming, Aunt Basha, and Uncle Lao, starting today I will be in your care, and I will also take care of you. Do not hesitate to ask if you need anything. For now, let's go to my courtyard. I will discuss what needs to be done."
With that, the five of them went to the courtyard. Yan Sen said, "I need to group you into two pairs, each pair with one male and one female. I want one of the pairs to be responsible for our store in the marketplace. Who among you four has a better public relations skills?"
Lao Lao answered, "If it's talking to people, Ann and I are more suitable. We have thicker skin, young master."
Yan Sen said, "That is good to hear. From now on, you two will be responsible for the store. You can delegate the roles as you see fit. I trust your judgment. For now, I want you to renovate the store. I want it to look clean and minimal, with a white and gray color scheme. You can ask the family supply officer for materials, and you can ask other servants for help with the renovation. I will let you know when I have further instructions. You can go now."
The two of them left, and Yan Sen looked at the other two remaining servants. "Uncle Ming, Aunt Basha, the task that you two have is not simple either. It needs to be kept a secret. Do you understand?"
The two of them nodded their heads. "Yes, young master."
Yan Sen explained, "As you know, we have a master who gave us a recipe for an elixir that is very effective for skin tempering cultivators. Although the effect is very effective, the materials are easy to acquire...."
Yan Sen continued to tell them about the Rubber Jade Elixir, how to make it, and its recipe. He asked them to secretly gather the herbs needed from the foot of the mountain and concoct as much elixir as they could.
Yan Sen said. "I will also give you a bonus depending on our sale and the number of elixir you make"
Uncle Ming and Aunt Basha were excited about the task. They knew that this was a great opportunity to earn some extra money and to help Yan Sen succeed.
"We will do our best, young master," they said.
Yan Sen smiled. He knew that he could count on them.
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