Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 1458 - 917: Tenderness Like Water (Part 2)

”Mm, more than just not peaceful, it’s about to be turned upside down!” Yang Zhenshan lifted the teacup and gently savored the rich fragrance of the tea.

Zhongli Xiayi chuckled. ”But you don’t seem the least bit anxious!”

Yang Zhenshan looked up, staring at her in apparent surprise. ”Why should I be anxious? With the Ten Thousand Treasures Store backing me, could anyone possibly dare make a move against the Yang family?”

Hearing this, Zhongli Xiayi couldn’t help but giggle.

”Yang, are you planning to borrow the tiger’s might to bully others?”

”But of course. Otherwise, why would I have joined the Ten Thousand Treasures Store?” Yang Zhenshan said carelessly.

Zhongli Xiayi laughed so hard her whole body trembled, waves surging.

”I just like how honest you are, Yang.”

Yang Zhenshan raised a hand and waved it. ”Fellow Daoist Zhong Li, don’t you start messing around. I’m a man with a family; I can’t endure your favor!”

Zhongli Xiayi’s beautiful eyes flowed with light as she smiled sweetly at Yang Zhenshan.

Her jade-like hand picked up the teapot and poured him another cup of tea.

”So what if you have a family? I don’t mind in the least.”

This time Yang Zhenshan really was startled. He jerked his head up, looking at Zhongli Xiayi in disbelief.

Could this woman really harbor other intentions toward me?

He looked at Zhongli Xiayi, and Zhongli Xiayi was looking at him.

Their gazes collided, yet Yang Zhenshan still couldn’t see through Zhongli Xiayi’s thoughts.

Zhongli Xiayi was smiling, lips slightly upturned, dimples faintly showing. That hint of a smile spread from the corners of her eyes, like spring water breaking ice, golden shards leaping over the waves, pupils as if holding unmelded morning dew, clear and moist with a gentle sheen.

Soft as running water!

That phrase suddenly popped into Yang Zhenshan’s mind.

But he quickly reacted.

Soft as running water, my ass! If you believe that, you’ve already lost!

Yang Zhenshan had lived for over a hundred years, after all. As for matters between men and women, he’d long since lost the cravings and urgency of the young. Though he still had physical needs, his powerful cultivation gave him an extremely strong degree of self-control.

In certain places, if he wanted it hard, it would be harder than an iron rod—this wasn’t a metaphor, it really was harder than an iron rod. If he wanted it soft, then it couldn’t even hold up a thread.

The physical needs were still there, and the desire between men and women hadn’t vanished, but Yang Zhenshan was no longer a man of crude, low tastes.

When it came to men and women, he had always been extremely restrained.

So aside from Yu Qingyi, he had never had any other thoughts about other women.

He was like this, and other Cultivators were the same.

Whether Martial Artist or Immortal Cultivator, they were all very restrained when it came to matters of men and women, unless they were cultivating some special Cultivation Technique.

This could be seen clearly from the many experts.

Take Lin Daoyuan, Yun Xiao, Yue E, Yue Qing and so on; they were all single, without partners.

They had once married, once taken spouses; they also had descendants, yet in the end they were all alone.

Precisely because they restrained their desires.

Cultivation is not just cultivation of power and strength, but also of one’s state of mind.

Anyone who can become a powerhouse is, in most cases, able to restrain the desires that come from the flesh.

Others were like this, and Zhongli Xiayi was no exception.

Zhongli Xiayi was a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator. To say she was soft and tender like a little woman was definitely just an illusion.

Of course, experts also formed Dao-companion relationships.

But Dao-companions are not husband and wife, nor lovers; they are partners who can walk together on the long road of the Dao.

Cultivators have feelings, but they will not be ruled by them.

”Hehe~~” Seeing the incredulous look on Yang Zhenshan’s face, Zhongli Xiayi covered her mouth and laughed till she shook.

”Ah, I almost let my heart waver there!” Yang Zhenshan joked.

”Wouldn’t that be such a pity then!” Zhongli Xiayi said with a smile.

”I’m not blessed enough to enjoy it, not blessed at all!” Yang Zhenshan lowered his head, waving his hand again and again.

He didn’t know what was in Zhongli Xiayi’s mind. Maybe she really did have that kind of intention, or maybe she was just teasing him.

But no matter what she was thinking, he himself had no such intentions.

Yang Zhenshan shifted the topic. ”Does the Ten Thousand Treasures Store have no designs on the Sea of Spirit?”

The change of subject was a bit abrupt, but Zhongli Xiayi put away her playful expression and said solemnly, ”None!”

Yang Zhenshan wasn’t surprised. Given the Ten Thousand Treasures Store’s strength and influence, it was normal for them to look down on the Sea of Spirit.

He weighed his words, then said, ”Might I be able to hire two Guest Elders from the Ten Thousand Treasures Store?”

This was his true purpose in coming to see Zhongli Xiayi today.

Just yesterday, Lu Fusheng and Lan Peng had already given him their answer. In the end, they decided to ask him to help invite two Guest Elders from the Ten Thousand Treasures Store to sit in town at the Ancient County City.

”Hire them? What for?” Zhongli Xiayi asked.

”Uh, it’s actually nothing much. You also know how chaotic the Sea of Spirit has been lately. With the Ten Thousand Treasures Store supporting the Yang family, we don’t fear those petty scoundrels, but it’s different for the other Martial Arts Families!”

Yang Zhenshan briefly explained the Lu family’s situation and his relationship with them.

After listening, Zhongli Xiayi mulled it over and said, ”It’s not impossible, but it will cost contribution points!”

When he heard that contribution points were required, Yang Zhenshan understood what she meant.

Under normal circumstances, the Guest Elders of the Ten Thousand Treasures Store did not accept external commissions. But within the Ten Thousand Treasures Store, Guest Elders were essentially on a commission system.

They took contribution points as payment, and were hired to carry out various tasks.

These tasks were varied: Alchemy, Artifact Refining, talisman making, arranging arrays, hunting demon beasts, escorting caravans, and so on.

The Lu family could not hire the Ten Thousand Treasures Store’s Guest Elders, but Yang Zhenshan, as an eighth-grade Guest Elder of the Ten Thousand Treasures Store, could post certain tasks within the Store.

For example, searching for a certain herb, or hunting a certain demon beast.

Of course, he could also hire a few Guest Elders to protect himself.

As for sending them to some place to sit in town, that wasn’t entirely impossible either; it was just that the Ten Thousand Treasures Store generally wouldn’t allow such tasks.

Because that might drag the Ten Thousand Treasures Store into some unnecessary power struggle.

The Ten Thousand Treasures Store itself had no interest in the Sea of Spirit and naturally did not want to get involved in the conflicts there.

Under normal circumstances, they would not allow Guest Elders to privately participate in the struggles between other powers. But that raised another problem: Guest Elders themselves belonged to certain factions; the Ten Thousand Treasures Store couldn’t very well forbid them from helping their own descendants vie for benefits.

If they did that, the Ten Thousand Treasures Store would probably be unable to recruit any Guest Elders.

”I understand. I’ll go to the Wanxiang Building and post a task in a bit!” Yang Zhenshan said.

”Mm, there are some things you need to make more explicit, for example, turning that Ancient County City into the Yang family’s territory,” Zhongli Xiayi said.

This was essentially exploiting a loophole in the Ten Thousand Treasures Store’s rules: hiring Guest Elders under Yang Zhenshan’s name, and the ones they had to protect would have to be the Yang family’s interests.

Yang Zhenshan smiled and said, ”No need. I’ll just invite two Guest Elders to sit in town at Yang Family Town, then send the Yang family’s Foundation Establishment Cultivators to sit in town at the Ancient County City.”

Rules are dead, people are alive.

Just reshuffling the personnel a little would allow him to have the best of both worlds.

Of course, all the expenses incurred would be borne by the Lu family; Yang Zhenshan wasn’t about to help them for free.

After leaving Zhongli Xiayi, Yang Zhenshan went straight to the Wanxiang Building and posted a task.

Hire two Guest Elders to go to Yang Family Town to sit in town, with a reward of one hundred contribution points per year.

One hundred contribution points were roughly equivalent to one hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones. Earning a hundred thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones a year was a pretty good task for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

However, this was only for ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators. For Alchemists, Artifact Refiners, Talisman Masters, and Array Masters, that amount of contribution was hardly worth mentioning.

Yang Zhenshan could casually exchange a single Demon Essence Pill for several hundred contribution points, and one high-grade Demon Essence Pill had even earned him three thousand contribution points and the position of eighth-grade Guest Elder.

So he wasn’t short on contribution points now, and he didn’t mind spending a few hundred to help the Lu family hire two Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

As for why not hire from outside the Ten Thousand Treasures Store?

The reason was simple: he didn’t trust them.

The Guest Elders of the Ten Thousand Treasures Store had the Store’s reputation as a guarantee. If anything went wrong, the Ten Thousand Treasures Store would naturally be responsible for handling it.