“I’m sorry, who are you? A squad like you shouldn't be needing to steal low ranked missions.”

“You kids haven’t heard of us? We are the Black Dragon Hunter Squad! As your seniors, we have to take responsibility and warn you about the dangers of the mission! How can two runts like you fight off a crystal crab, do you think you are Sun Jin or something? Be smart, and put it back” The leader of the group scoffed. He had a long scar from his forehead all the way to his chin which made him look frightening. All of the members of the group wore shiny leather tunics and carried their weapons on their backs. They were all clearly at high stages of the Qi Gathering realm.

“No thanks, we know our capabilities. It can’t be that you want to start something here? If not, please get out of the way” Liu Zhong pushed lightly. The two made their way to the desk, leaving the group behind.

“You Liu family brats are getting more and more daring by the day, huh? Even if the city is safe, no one can predict what will happen outside” The scarred man sneered and waved his hand, leaving with his group.

Liu Zhong and Zhao Fan quickly registered the mission and left the Union. According to the clerk, they now had a period of a month to turn in the mission before it would be nullified and a penalty was issued.

“What was that about?” Zhao Fan asked. He felt the whole interaction was random.

Liu Zhong hesitated for a moment before replying.

“There is a lot of conflict between different powers in the city, the Sun clan is obviously the one at the very top, but there are others like my Liu family, Gong Yu’s Gong family and others who are all vying for power.”

“So the group from earlier was sent by a competing power?” Zhao Fan quickly understood.

“Exactly. Our trip this time might be a bit tricky since they all look quite strong. Don’t hold back if things get heated.” Liu Zhong advised.

Zhao Fan felt puzzled again.

“Hold on, we are still heading out when it’s clear they will attack us? How can we defeat cultivators at the peak of Qi Gathering with all of that powerful equipment?”

“Our party is gradually improving, Huo Long definitely shot up a whole level after the earlier fight, and all the others improved somewhat. If both of us show a few trump cards, it shouldn’t be a problem” Liu Zhong didn’t think about it for long.

Now Zhao Fan was even more stunned. Did he know of what trump cards Zhao Fan had, or was he very confident in his own?

They came to a fork in the road and stopped.

“I already agreed with everyone else, come to the gate in the afternoon tomorrow.”

“Why is it that I’m always the last to get the news?” Zhao Fan felt a bit annoyed.

“Because it’s not difficult to convince you!” Liu Zhong laughed. Zhao Fan smiled, it truly was very easy to convince him. As long as the target was something below Foundation Establishment realm, he would definitely not be putting his life at risk.

The two separated and Zhao Fan finally arrived at his home. He walked in, greeted his father and went to his room.

“So tired..” After he collapsed on the bed, fatigue washed over him in waves. The day was eventful and exhausting, but very rewarding.

“I wonder where I will travel in the future” Zhao Fan smiled and started to dream. It was an incredible feeling to live such an exciting life, filled with new things everyday. As he became stronger and stronger, his life would only continue to grow more and more exciting!

Zhao Fan began snoring with a smile on his face. Suddenly, he shot up, his peaceful expression replaced by a serious one.

“Neigh!”

Zhao Fan looked outside the window next to the bed and saw a horse-drawn carriage standing before his house. He didn’t waste any more time and jumped out of bed. As quietly as possible, he made his way out of the house.

The door to the carriage opened before him, basking the street in light.

“Boss Fan, get in.” A hushed voice beckoned. Zhao Fan made his way in and sat across from Gong Yu who gave him a weird look.

“Back to the Gong Family District!” The carriage moved off smoothly.

“Boss Fan, could I inquire why you want to meet the head of the family?” Gong Yu did not hide his intentions.

“No, it doesn’t concern you. Do you have the book I asked for?” Hei Long did not have a habit of telling his plans to others.

Gong Yu gulped. Although he respected his boss, there was a trace of fear as well. He hurriedly took out a thin booklet and handed it to Zhao Fan. He opened it and read the information in a couple of moments before handing it back.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. In a couple minutes, they arrived before dark iron gates. As they slowly opened, the carriage moved into a different part of the city which was where all of the Gong Yu family lived. Although it was dark out, the streets were well lit by qi lanterns. Zhao Fan looked around and saw huge houses with multiple stories. The further the carriage moved, the larger the houses got, spanning three or four stories.

The carriage stopped and the two got off. In front of them, was a huge manor, with tens if not hundreds of windows.

Gong Yu led the way and the two stepped through the main doors of the manor. In front of them was an expansive hall, with a majestic red rug running through the center of the tiled floor. A set of grand and intertwining stairs was sprawled ahead of them.

“The rich live in a different era from the poor.” Hei Long thought as he observed the exquisite paintings and expensive qi formations filling up the whole manor with light.

“Follow me” Gong Yu hurried up the stairs and Zhao Fan followed behind wordlessly.

On the second floor were even more decorations as well as a hallway leading to both sides of the manor. Directly in front of them was a door.

“Go in, the Family Head is expecting you” Gong Yu quietly stood to the side after leading Zhao Fan to the door. Zhao Fan didn’t hesitate and stepped inside.

“Zhao Fan is it? I’m Gong Jianhong, why did you want to see me?” An old man sat behind a desk. Zhao Fan felt virtually no aura emanating from him, as if he was not a cultivator. But since he knew Gong Jianhong was a Core Condensation cultivator, it was obviously because the latter was extremely strong that he couldn’t feel anything.

“You must know about the pill making process I invented, right? I’m looking for the Gong family’s support in the starting stages of my business.” Zhao Fan outlined the reason for his visit.

“Your invention is very shocking indeed, if it’s financial support you are looking for, we can provide you with some funds.” Gong Jianhong suggested. He would have reached out to Zhao Fan sooner or later anyways, his invention was something so shocking, it would shame Gong Jianhong for the rest of his life if he did not grab it.

“I had a different idea in mind.”

“Go on” Gong Jianhong was an old man with immense patience. He wasn’t like that one elder who continuously lost his temper.

“It doesn’t matter how much money we have, there is no way we can compete with the wealth of the Alchemist Guild, not even to mention the Sun Clan behind them.”

“Oh? So what do you suggest?” It wasn’t common knowledge that the Sun Clan was behind the Alchemist Guild, why would Zhao Fan bring it up now?

“First of all, all of the pills we make will be directly bought by the Gong family at market price.”

“That’s a grand request, we would have to cancel our contract with the Alchemist Guild for the supply of Qi Gathering pills. Can you even comprehend how many pills the whole Gong family needs?” Gong Jianghong rejected it vehemently. Maybe at some point it was possible, but definitely not now.

“Of course! There are precisely two hundred and fifty four members of the Gong family, this is including the birth given to a boy today. A single perfect Qi Gathering pill is enough to restore roughly a fifth of the total qi of a ninth level Qi Gathering cultivator! Considering there are a total of one hundred and ninety five Qi Gathering cultivators in your family, we can generously assume each one uses five pills per day! Everyone above Qi Gathering wouldn’t use Qi Gathering pills anymore so they aren’t taken into account. Under that assumption, I am confident in being able to provide for your whole family!” Zhao Fan did not falter for a beat. The whole speech seemed completely natural, as if he rehearsed it thousands of times beforehand.

“....”

“How do you plan to make that many pills per day?”

“Well, right now I can’t. But if you give me a period of a month, I can confidently say that even if I don’t make much initially, by the end of the month I can finish the total requested amount of pills!”

“What if you can’t? Why should I place so much trust in you?” The old man completely lost his composure, as he asked excitedly. Zhao Fan was obviously a genius for having invented a new method, if he took everything into account and was confident about providing the pills, it was very unlikely he would mess up! This was more of a probing question, Gong Jianghong would come to a compromise even if Zhao Fan couldn’t answer.

“If I can’t, then you will at worst have to pay a bit to resign the contract with the Alchemist Guild and lose supply of pills for a month. That’s obviously not the main issue for you, the issue is that the Alchemist Guild will become skeptical and might not accept the contract again. If they ask you why you broke the contract for a month, you can just say that you found a treasure trove of Qi Gathering pills. That goes into the second part of my plan! The Gong family will buy all the perfect pills and sell them all in bulk after a month, pretending that you actually did find a trove!”

“The market value of perfect pills won’t go down since everyone will assume it’s a one-time thing. Even with the small factory I have now, if I don’t expand and focus on producing pills, the amount of perfect pills will still be immense! If you sell them all to one buyer like the Alchemist Guild for a reduced price, they will slowly probably slowly sell them on the market or use small batches in their auctions. Then, all we have to do is start mass-producing perfect pills! The Alchemist guild will lose money like a sieve once the market demand for the perfect pills goes down! Even if they sell them to other cities, they will surely get ripped off!”

“Why do you want the Alchemist Guild to suffer so much?”

“Like I said before, the Alchemist Guild is backed by the Sun Clan. If the Alchemist Guild is weakened, the Sun clan is weakened as well. I think you should understand what I’m implying by now” Zhao Fan revealed an honest smile, showing his pearly white teeth.

To Gong Jianghong, the smile was as scary as the devil.

“It can’t be that this brat actually wants us to conquer the Golden Leaf city together?”