Chapter 44: If She Weren't So Good

"Ah Nuo, did you calculate all this? You really can calculate!" Sheng Yuan Yao excitedly rubbed Ah Nuo's face: "And? Calculate a bit more?"

Ah Nuo wanted to retreat.

If I could really calculate, shouldn't your first reaction be to pester me about marriage fate?

So you only don't believe that matter, but believe the others?

It was a pity her short legs couldn't escape her older sister's magic grip. Ah Nuo was grabbed and rubbed into a ball of dough, forcing a helpless smile as she changed the subject: "Sister, you look really good dressed up like this in your small white flower dress."

"Really? Aiya, who cares about this, calculate a few more?"

"Actually, there weren't that many calculations, just the matter of Hall Master Wang's wife just now was calculated. The others were things I actually saw. I ran all over the mountain in the past few months and saw a lot. They treated me like a child and didn't avoid much..."

"The Little Dan Xia Gang really has abundant talents..." Sheng Yuan Yao sighed deeply: "Remember to call me later if there are such good things."

Ah Nuo quickly said: "This time it was Master who remembered to call you."

"Very righteous." Sheng Yuan Yao patted Lu Xing Zhou's shoulder with satisfaction: "That Yang from the He family, do you want help sending him off?"

Lu Xing Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You also want to send him off yourself. Are you using this as a reward for me?"

"How is that the same?" Sheng Yuan Yao glared: "If it were just for myself, I could just muddle through with him."

"Do you really want to help us... then on October 10th, the Tian Xing Sword Sect will hold its opening ceremony. Will City Master Sheng come as a distinguished guest to show your support?"

Shen Tang glanced at him but didn't say anything.

In reality, everyone hadn't discussed anything about an opening ceremony, let alone a specific date... but Lu Xing Zhou must have had a reason for saying this, so they just listened.

Sheng Yuan Yao's father had called her early to secretly assist Shen Tang. Now there was even less to say, so she agreed very simply: "This is only right. Supporting the Tian Xing Sword Sect is also His Majesty's intention. But Lu Xing Zhou, you always do things with ulterior motives. Holding a ceremony isn't just holding a ceremony. Don't stir up trouble, okay? I've just taken office..."

Lu Xing Zhou sighed: "Lord City Master, whether or not to stir up trouble is not up to me, but how the leaders of the various forces in Xia State think. If everyone is peaceful, we are naturally happy to have less trouble. Who is willing to have trouble during their own grand ceremony? To be honest, inviting you to鎮場 is also hoping that the new City Master's presence can suppress some unnecessary matters."

Sheng Yuan Yao thought for a bit and nodded: "Okay. On the tenth, right? I'll come."

Sheng Yuan Yao threw down this sentence and slipped away. After walking two steps, she turned back and grabbed Ah Nuo's face, rubbing it a few times before leaving contentedly.

Ah Nuo: "..."

Shen Tang finally transmitted her voice throughout the field: "All of you should also go back to your rooms to rest first. Starting from tomorrow, the Tian Xing Sword Sect will move into Dan Xia Mountain, and the elders will be responsible for the merging matters. I promise everyone here that as long as your aptitude is suitable, the three-grade sword cultivation methods will be displayed in front of everyone."

The crowd in the square dispersed amidst whispers. Shen Tang's gaze finally fell on Lu Xing Zhou's face: "Is there something about this ceremony?"

"Don't forget that your main purpose in inviting me as a guest official was for the sect's development, not just to cure your leg. And you now have enough manpower, and high-end combat power is also on its way. What's most important for you now is to make money and acquire large amounts of resources to support people."

"Yes. You said before to wait for the city master to settle... Now that it's Sheng Yuan Yao, is it more convenient?"

"Of course. With Sheng Yuan Yao here, it won't be difficult for us to turn the previous purification sword talisman business into a monopoly. This thing looks cheap and simple, but if we can truly monopolize it, the business is very big. Afterwards, we can also expand to the surrounding areas. Of course, this is not enough. We still need a true pillar industry. What do you say about monopolizing flying sword manufacturing and becoming an arms dealer?"

Shen Tang was slightly stunned. She thought Lu Xing Zhou would come up with another idea like the purification sword talisman that no one had thought of. Unexpectedly, he mentioned this kind of business that was everywhere in this world, which instead surprised her.

"Development strategy doesn't necessarily have to be novel, but it must be practical and adapt to local conditions. Based on the local situation and your strengths, choose the optimal solution." Lu Xing Zhou could naturally see what she was thinking and said seriously: "You were imperial merchants before, and the sources of goods were all ready-made, but now they are not. You need to choose a pillar industry that suits your strengths. For a sword sect, flying sword refining is a typical example, and this is one."

"Secondly, in the cultivation world, pills, magic treasures, talismans, flying swords, and armors are all considered lifeline industries. And in Xia State, the main industries are medicinal herbs and alchemy. Although there are other projects, they are not very skilled, and their grades are generally low. Many are imported from other places to sell. We have this advantage yet don't occupy this market, which is a pity."

"Thirdly, Xia State has many mountains, which may not only have many medicinal herbs. In fact, the peripheral mineral resources are also quite rich. Of course, there is a lack of high-end materials, but it is enough to supply the forging of ordinary flying swords. High-end materials can be purchased separately. Moreover, Xia State has many earth fires, so there is a lot of alchemy. Earth fire is not only suitable for alchemy, but it can also refine tools—Dan Xia Mountain has earth fire. The earth fire is red and hot and visible externally, hence the name Dan Xia, which may have no relation to the Dan Xia landform."

"So blessed by heaven, still considering what new things and new ideas, that is simply unreasonable."

Shen Tang listened and nodded: "I understand... then how specifically should we do it?"

"You can easily produce six-grade or even five-grade flying swords, while most people in Xia State are still fussing over below three grades. We don't need to compete with others for those ordinary goods on the surface. We mainly focus on high-end customization and even auctions. Once the brand is built, the market below three grades will naturally recognize our brand, and we will win without competing."

"Then should we first take out a high-grade flying sword for auction to grab attention?"

"Of course it's our opening celebration. There will be plenty of shows during the celebration." Lu Xing Zhou said leisurely: "But be aware, there will definitely be people causing trouble during this celebration, and Sheng Yuan Yao won't be able to suppress them."

"Clearly knowing there will be trouble, why must you choose this way?"

"Now is different from the past. You are no longer just the Shen family business that hid and hid in the past. This mindset of not wanting to provoke trouble needs to be adjusted." Lu Xing Zhou sighed: "My princess, I don't rule Dan Xia, you truly rule Xia State. Who else but you? Now the emperor's attitude happens to be the command arrow. If you don't take advantage of this opportunity to suppress the sects in Xia State, you may not have such a good opportunity once the momentum cools down."

Shen Tang was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Understood."

Lu Xing Zhou smiled somewhat tiredly: "Okay, it's getting late, you go back and rest... I'll cure my leg tonight, and tomorrow morning I'll change your medicine again, for the last time."

Shen Tang thought of the ointment hanging on the table before going out: "Is it convenient for you to apply the medicine yourself?"

Lu Xing Zhou was slightly stunned: "It's not me applying it myself, I have Ah Nuo helping."

Shen Tang subconsciously asked: "Do you want me to come?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt it seemed a bit too much. Her cheeks instantly flushed, and she stammered: "That, forget it, I won't. Ah Nuo is a famous teacher's disciple, Ah Nuo should come."

After finishing, she turned the wheelchair and slipped away quickly.

Du Gu Qing Li chased after her helplessly, secretly pondering the feasibility of moving the household affairs office over.

Ah Nuo craned her neck to watch the two people leave far away, then let out a long sigh of relief, grasping the handle of her own wheelchair with a relaxed heart.

Seeing Lu Xing Zhou's somewhat silent appearance all the way, she carefully asked: "Why didn't you really let her apply it? I saw you were also itching for it. With Sister Shen Tang's attitude, you might really succeed if you use some means..."

Lu Xing Zhou said helplessly: "Are these the words of a child?"

Ah Nuo hummed: "You are clearly lewd, how many times have you deliberately touched people, what are you pretending about?"

Lu Xing Zhou was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: "If she wasn't so good, I might have used some means."

Stopping at that, Ah Nuo understood.

From his childhood experience and his demonic path origins, where could there be any true gentleman? He even dared to eat Yuan Mu Yu's tofu, let alone others. Shen Tang was a top beauty in the world. If he said he had no ideas, he would definitely be a eunuch, and Lu Xing Zhou hadn't broken that third leg. But Shen Tang was very good to him, and he couldn't scheme against her.

If he were to truly speak of emotion, he wouldn't dare. He had tasted the taste of this thing before, but it wasn't very good.

Furthermore, before he could stand up, he didn't have too many other moods. How could he play in a wheelchair?

The front house vaguely appeared in his eyes. Lu Xing Zhou finally said: "Let's not go back yet, let's go to the He residence."

The He residence was already empty.

When Lu Xing Zhou took revenge and killed the adult servants earlier, there were originally still some young servants left, but with this major case coming out, they all truly ran away.

The old He steward, who had been kidnapped back and forth, had completed his historical mission and died early. The He residence hadn't even had a manager for several days. No one was a fool. They rummaged through boxes and cabinets to find their deeds of sale and burned them all, and also rummaged away the remaining valuable goods.

So when they entered the He residence this time, it was messy everywhere as if it had been robbed.

Lu Xing Zhou naturally didn't care about these things. Ah Nuo pushed him straight into the main room to see if there were any classics to check.

Most of the servants were illiterate and didn't understand the value of books. Books were also heavy, so these things were not taken away. Lu Xing Zhou casually pulled out an old book from the shelf and glanced at it: "Heh, it's still a rare unique copy."

Ah Nuo said: "The truly valuable ones were taken to the capital early. The ones left in the old residence aren't very valuable, are they?"

"That's not necessarily true. Those left in the old residence were originally planned to be used when they retired and returned home to continue living. Why move them all away? Only cultivation classics would be taken away. These cultural show-off items generally don't need to be taken. So even if the classics related to this terrain record have been moved away, it is still possible that some predecessors' casual notes and so on exist. I want to see if I can check for some clues."

Ah Nuo nodded. Seeing Lu Xing Zhou flipping through the books on the surface, she closed her eyes and perceived.

— As for divination, Ah Nuo truly only had a little bit of understanding. She couldn't even see who the real master of Sheng Yuan Yao's spouse palace was.

Hall Master Wang's wife was having an affair because she knew through other means.

Ah Nuo had a talent since before she started cultivating: she could receive information transmitted by the surrounding flowers and plants and could also communicate with them.

As her cultivation increased day by day, the range of her talent expanded. Now it could already cover half of Dan Xia Mountain.

The He residence definitely had a secret room, but no one knew where it was. However, some secret rooms would plant some flowers and potted plants inside to adjust the air, which might be perceived by Ah Nuo.

After a moment, Ah Nuo opened her eyes: "There's a secret room, right below here. The flowers in the potted plants inside are all almost dead..."

———

PS: Before going on the shelves, there were already a hundred alliances, which is the fastest one in my history... Thank you all for your great support, I'm ready to work hard~