Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

The business philosophy of the Land of Gold Commerce was quite advanced. To increase its brand recognition, they created the concept of a “brand mascot,” designed by the renowned painter Xuandaozi. After three revisions, the initial draft for the mascot was finalized.

The initial draft featured a little chubby pig holding coins, looking very pleasing.

After Land of Gold Commerce introduced its brand mascot, it indeed increased its popularity significantly, with many businesses following suit and creating their own mascots.

One such business was a tofu shop on the main street of Yanjiang County.

Qin Yuanhao didn’t actually kill his lackey. After calming down, he realized that if his lackey, who usually performed his duties reliably and never made mistakes, said they couldn’t find the person, then they truly couldn’t have.

It couldn’t possibly be the tofu shop’s mascot stirring up trouble.

“With such a conspicuous appearance and still not found, it seems like someone within the demonic sect wants to frame me!” Qin Yuanhao sneered, easily guessing that this was done deliberately, although he wasn’t sure who was behind it.

Such schemes were not uncommon in the demonic sect, and Qin Yuanhao himself had done his share of sabotaging his peers.

So much time had passed without any clues, and Qin Yuanhao could only swallow this bitter pill, planning to figure out who to settle scores with later.

Qin Yuanhao pulled out a stack of papers and a few silver coins from his robe and threw them to his lackey.

This was also one of the reasons he didn’t kill anyone. Someone had to do the tasks arranged by the rudder master, and where would he find people if he killed them now?

“First thing tomorrow morning, gather the brothers and spread these papers in the black markets of the nearby eight counties. This money is for your monthly wages and travel expenses. Did you hear me clearly?”

“I, I heard you clearly,” the lackey jumped at Qin Yuanhao’s final shout.

“Louder.”

“I HEARD YOU CLEARLY!” The lackey straightened his back and shouted again, his neck turning red.

The neighbor lady yelled through the wall, clearly hearing the shout, “Do you know what time it is, shouting like that!”

The neighbor lady’s voice was even louder than the lackey’s.

A flicker of murderous intent crossed Qin Yuanhao’s eyes.

“Big brother, she’s a Foundation Building cultivator who came here to live in seclusion,” the lackey quickly explained. Many cultivators liked to mingle in the mortal world; perhaps even the street food vendor could be a cultivator.

Qin Yuanhao snorted coldly and left without saying more.

The lackey yawned, relieved that the boss had finally left, and fell asleep.

He had to get up early for work tomorrow.

The lackey often received some inexplicable tasks from Qin Yuanhao. For confidentiality, Qin Yuanhao told them nothing, just to do as instructed.

This time was no different.

After the lackey fell asleep, Lu Yang emerged from the ground, took the three papers, and followed Qin Yuanhao.

Qin Yuanhao had come out just to instruct his lackey and then returned.

When Qin Yuanhao passed by the “Come Again” barbecue shop, he paused.

“I’ve been in seclusion for just four days, and a new barbecue shop opened? And it’s this popular?”

Qin Yuanhao entertained the idea of having a meal there. The crowd wasn’t an issue; he could always cut in line. After all, having a Foundation Building cultivator come to this small place for a meal and not being greeted with kneeling was already good enough, let alone waiting in line.

In the end, Qin Yuanhao dismissed the thought. Barbecue was best enjoyed with a group; eating alone just wasn’t as fun.

“Maybe another time.”

Qin Yuanhao headed home.

Lu Yang returned to help at the barbecue shop and saw Meng Jingzhou performing a stand-up comedy act, much to the delight of the customers who clamored for more.

Lu Yang took a deep breath, wondering if the two really intended to expand the business.

Sensing Lu Yang’s penetrating gaze, Meng Jingzhou quickly stopped talking and diligently resumed his duties as a server, ignoring the customers’ calls for an encore.

After a while, the customers gradually left, and the barbecue shop finally quieted down.

The two specters cleaned up the grills and dishes, tallied the day’s ingredient consumption, and estimated the amount needed for the next day. The three men sat on the second floor, discussing the day’s earnings.

“How much did we make today?” Meng Jingzhou asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly, finding the experience of starting a business from scratch very fulfilling.

“Who told you that was the harvest!” Lu Yang slammed the table and glared, “Have you forgotten what we’re here for?”

“To start a chain?” Barbarian Bone was still thinking about expanding the family business.

Lu Yang decided to ignore the two fools and took out the three pieces of paper, recounting the evening’s surveillance of Qin Yuanhao.

“Blank paper?”

Meng Jingzhou inspected one of the papers back and front but couldn’t make sense of it.

Lu Yang wasn’t sure how to use the paper either. “Qin Yuanhao instructed his men to distribute these papers in the black market. There must be information on them; we just don’t know how to read it.”

“Could it be a method of communication unique to the demonic path?”

Meng Jingzhou nodded, agreeing with Lu Yang’s speculation. “It’s very likely. Those sneaky guys always like to use some kind of code.”

“This paper is meant for all demonic cultivators, who should all be able to understand it. If we, at the Foundation Building stage, can’t see the writing on it, it’s even less likely for Qi Cultivation stage demonic cultivators to see it.”

“So, the issue isn’t with the code, but with the paper itself.”

Lu Yang thought for a moment, then toasted the paper over charcoal.

“What’s this for?” Barbarian Bone asked, puzzled.

Lu Yang carefully toasted the paper, casually explaining, “I read in a book that if you write on paper with sugar water, the paper appears blank after drying. The sugar needs to be heated to remove the water, revealing brown text.”

Meng Jingzhou and Barbarian Bone found this piece of knowledge interesting.

After about five minutes, the paper remained blank, and Lu Yang had to abandon this method.

Lu Yang then summoned a small ball of water in his palm, bursting it suddenly, and the resulting spray of water droplets fell on the paper.

“What are you doing now?”

Lu Yang explained, “Special liquids like shower gel and laundry detergent absorb water well. If you write with these liquids and let it dry, it appears blank. Only by sprinkling water on the paper, utilizing the different absorption rates, can the text be revealed.”

The Central Continent, despite seeming ancient, was not exactly so. Due to the presence of magic, whether intentionally or coincidentally, many products not belonging to the ancient era appeared.

Unfortunately, the paper still showed nothing.

Undeterred, Lu Yang pondered a new method.

“Since this is a way of communication among the demonic path, maybe it requires a method commonly used in the demonic path to reveal it?”

Lu Yang bit his thumb, and a few drops of blood fell on the paper. The blood seemed to come alive, moving across the paper.

“Indeed, this is a paper refining method of the demonic path. We can’t judge it by ordinary standards,” Lu Yang sighed in relief, finally succeeding.

The invisible grooves on the paper seemed to fill with blood, forming text.

“On the first day of the fourth month, the Everlasting Sect’s Yanjiang Rudder will recruit followers. The specific location will be announced the day before the recruitment.”

(End of the chapter)