Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 162 Budget Benefits
At night, the moon is as round as ink and the stars are shining brightly.

Zeng Rou walked slowly into the spacious and bright hall of the majestic Yang Mansion.

Song Xian and Feng Yan immediately went up to her, bowed to her and greeted her.

"You're welcome, take a seat!" Zeng Rou went straight to the main seat and sat down, smiling brightly as she said, "I've already informed the master of your affairs. From now on, the business of the former Qingyuan Sect will be handed over to you."

"Thank you very much for your help, Madam Yang. This favor will be forever unforgettable to me and my clan. From now on, if you need anything, we will be happy to help you, even if it means death." Song Xian expressed his gratitude immediately, looking tearful.

"Brother Song is in a serious condition, but it's no big deal! I just mentioned it to the master casually because of our friendship. Sister, are you happy now?" Zeng Rouyun said calmly, seeming to be indifferent.

Although she had to cry and make a fuss to convince Yang Jinzhang to hand over the three industries to Hunyuan Sect, but in front of outsiders, as Yang Jinzhang's wife, she still had to maintain the proper airs.

Feng Yan smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Sister Zeng. The Sect Master was a little worried because our sect is so weak and he was afraid Senior Yang wouldn't agree to this. I told you, Sister Zeng, that everything will be perfectly safe. This is a huge deal for our sect, but it's nothing to you, Sister Zeng. Even if Senior Yang looks down on our sect, with Sister Zeng's approval, it's easy to get him."

Zeng Rou smiled, clearly enjoying the flattery. "These three businesses are nothing to the master, but you must do a good job. I recommended you, and if you don't do well, it will also bring shame to me. I'll be honest, if you mess up, I won't be able to speak for you. We'll handle everything impartially."

"Madam Yang, please rest assured. Our sect will see to it that it is done properly and will not bring shame upon you." Song Xian flipped his hand and pulled out a gold and blue cloth bag from his storage bag. Inside was twenty third-tier spirit stones. "Thank you for your kindness. This is the filial tribute I promised you. I hope you will continue to look after our sect in the future."

Zeng Rou took the bag and nodded with satisfaction at Song Xian's understanding.

Before the matter was settled, Hunyuan Sect had already given next year's tribute in advance, which shows that he is a good person.

"As long as you do a good job, I will speak well of you to the master when there is another chance."

As soon as the words fell, a housekeeper came in and said softly, "Madam, the master is back."

"That's perfect. You guys wait here, I'll go and inform the master." Zeng Rou stood up and said, and the two of them quickly stood up as well.

After watching her leave the hall, the two of them sat down. Not long after, the housekeeper came here again and invited them to meet him.

The two followed him into an elegant room, where Yang Jinzhang sat in the main seat and Zeng Rou sat beside him.

"Junior greets Senior Yang." Song Xian and Feng Yan both bowed to him.

Yang Jinzhang glanced at him, his face showing no emotion, and said calmly, "How many people are there in your Hunyuan Sect now?"

"Senior, our sect has twenty disciples." Song Xian answered honestly while still keeping his head down.

"The situation in Bianxia Town is very chaotic right now, and you are a small sect. Can you accomplish those tasks?"

"Please rest assured, Senior. Our sect will do its utmost to live up to your trust. If we fail to complete the task you have entrusted us with, we will be held responsible."

"Originally, your sect's strength doesn't qualify you. But for Madam's sake, I'll leave these three tasks to you!"

"Thank you, senior."

At this moment, footsteps were heard outside, and Yang Yuling walked into the house: "Uncle, you called me, what's the matter?"

"This is the Hunyuan Sect's headmaster. Starting next year, we will hand over the tasks we entrusted to the Qingyuan Sect to them! Explain the details to them clearly."

"Yes."

Yang Jinzhang waved his hand, and Yang Yuling said to the two of them, "My fellow Taoists, please follow me."

"Junior takes his leave." The two followed her out of the room and into a large hall.

"Please take a seat, fellow Daoists." Yang Yuling sat down at the desk and pulled out a stack of files from her storage bag. She pulled out a few pages and handed them to Song Xian. "This is the treaty of our sect. Fellow Daoists, please take a look first. If you have no questions, please sign and seal it."

"This sect will entrust you with the cultivation of 12,000 black swordfish, 1,000 beast soul incense sticks, and 1,000 kilograms of Xuanbu spiritual liquid every year."

"The Black Arrowfish are being purchased at the price of four for one first-level spirit stone, the Beast Soul Incense is being purchased at the price of four first-level spirit stones, and the Mysterious Soul Liquid is being purchased at the price of seven first-level spirit stones per pound."

"Our sect will provide you with black arrowfish eggs. For the first batch, we will charge you one thousand spirit stones. You can then cultivate them yourself. If an unexpected situation occurs and the fish die, you can also purchase new eggs."

"When the time comes, our sect will send someone to teach you the techniques for breeding black arrowfish and the methods for refining beast soul incense and Xuanbu spiritual liquid."

Song Xian read the contents of the file, which was basically what Yang Yulin had said. Of course, the various clauses on it were much more detailed than what she had said, such as the compensation clauses and deposit clauses.

To take on this job, you must first pay a deposit of 10,000 spirit stones. If you fail to complete the task by the end of the year, you must compensate for the loss based on the purchase price.

For example, the treaty stated that the Beastmaster Sect required 12,000 black arrowfish every year, but in the end only 8,000 were handed over. The Beastmaster Sect then had to pay only 2,000 spirit stones. In addition, it had to pay a fine for the loss of 4,000 black arrowfish, which was 1,000 spirit stones.

It has to be said that this clause is very overbearing, but there is no way around it. It’s because the Beastmaster Sect is so powerful that others are waiting for food from his mouth, so naturally they have to look at his mood.

Song Xian signed and sealed the treaty honestly: "I wonder when your disciples will come to our sect for guidance?"

"We will send someone to your location within this year. Before then, you must prepare everything, including a suitable muddy pond for breeding black arrowfish, the materials for refining Beast Soul Incense and Mysterious Soul Fluid, and the deposit and the spirit stones for the black arrowfish eggs."

"Our sect still doesn't know what materials are needed to refine the Beast Soul Incense and the Mysterious Spiritual Fluid."

"There's a shop called the Beast Materials Pavilion in Fengyuan Town's market. Go there and tell them you need one thousand Beast Soul Incense sticks and one thousand kilograms of Mysterious Spiritual Fluid. They'll naturally give it to you. From now on, you can go to that pavilion to purchase the materials you need every year, and they'll prepare them for you."

"I understand." Song Xian heard this and was so confused. He didn't know that Yang Jinzhang was trying to have it both ways. The shop called Animal Materials Pavilion must be opened by him.

"These three matters were originally the responsibility of the Qingyuan Sect, but now they are handed over to you. This is all due to my uncle's grace. How do you plan to thank me?"

"I heard that the Qingyuan Sect used to pay Senior Yang three thousand spirit stones every year. Naturally, our sect will not pay less than the Qingyuan Sect."

"Go ahead! Get everything ready this year and pay the deposit. I'll send someone to your mountain gate right away."

"I'll take my leave now." Song Xian turned around and left, returning to Qingfengfang to meet up with Zhong Wenyuan and inform him of the situation.

After some discussion, the two decided to act separately. Zhong Wenyuan continued to stay in Bianxi City to recruit suitable candidates to take over the Beast Soul Incense and Xuanbu Spirit Liquid industries, while Song Xian went to the Fengyuan Town Market.

.........

Lingcai Pavilion is located at the corner of the third street in the market town. It is not a good location and is a second-class shop.

At this time, the wind was howling, snow was flying, and the sky and the earth were vast.

Song Xian walked into the shop in the heavy snow. Looking around, he saw that the shop was very deserted and there was no one around.

There were neither maids welcoming guests at the door nor groups of guests.

Only at the desk at the end of the left side, a man with a rat-like face was sitting lazily with his legs crossed. He was eating from a fruit plate while reading a book leisurely. He didn't even notice Song Xian coming in.

This shop was undoubtedly set up by Yang Jinzhang to amass wealth, hence the choice of such a remote location, naturally to avoid public notice. "Where is your shop owner? I'm here to pay you a visit." Song Xian walked to the table, his spiritual sense passing over the rat-faced man, but he didn't detect any spiritual energy fluctuations from him.

The man only then noticed Song Xian had entered. He put down the book in his hand and did not rush forward to greet him like ordinary servants in other shops. Instead, he calmly asked, "Master, what are you doing here?"

Although he was just an ordinary man, he did not panic or feel uneasy when facing a cultivator like Song Xian. It was obvious that he had seen many scenes.

This shop is where Yang Jinzhang makes money. The shopkeeper must be his confidant. Except for the wandering cultivators who accidentally entered without knowing the situation, the people who come here are basically small forces that took over the business from Yang Jinzhang.

This kind of behavior of being grateful to others and asking for help from others will inevitably lead to the store bullying its customers.

Shops serve buyers, so they always welcome people with a smile, but shops like this have a certain monopoly nature and become the dominant party.

"I was introduced here by Daoist Fellow Yang Yuling, and I need to buy some things."

Hearing this, the rat-faced man left his seat and put on a smile. "Oh! So you're a guest from the Yang Residence. Master, please wait a moment. I'll go tell the shopkeeper right away."

Not long after Song Xianhou arrived, he saw a fat, big-eared man approaching from the backyard. He sized him up and bowed, saying, "I am Yang Yuquan, the shopkeeper of this shop. I'm unfamiliar to you, Daoist friend, so I'd like to ask your name."

"My name is Song Xian from the Hunyuan Sect." Just by hearing his name, you can tell that he is also a younger generation of the Yang Zhang clan, and is of the same generation as Yang Yuling and Yang Yude.

"It's Master Song! I heard Ling'er asked you to come. I wonder what it is for?"

"I need a thousand sticks of Beast Soul Incense and a thousand kilograms of Mysterious Spiritual Fluid. Fellow Daoist Yang ordered me to come and find you."

Yang Yuquan gave him a meaningful look and said, "These are what the Qingyuan Sect wants. It's not easy for your sect to take over these things with its strength."

"It's all thanks to Senior Yang's kindness."

"Do you need it now, fellow Daoist?"

"Fellow Daoist Yang Yuling has asked me to prepare everything this year. I'm just passing through here and wanted to learn more about the situation. I wonder how many spirit stones are needed for these materials?"

"One thousand sticks of Beast Soul Incense and one thousand kilograms of Mysterious Spiritual Fluid are priced at four thousand spirit stones."

Song Xian silently calculated in his mind that the black arrowfish, beast soul incense, and Xuanpu spiritual liquid had a total annual revenue of exactly 14,000 spirit stones. Yang Jinzhang took 3,000 for himself, and 4,000 for materials, so half of it was gone in one go.

If you add the labor costs and round-trip transportation costs, the cost will be at least eight or nine thousand spirit stones, and the actual profit is only about 30% to 40% of the operating income.

The Hunyuan Sect adopted an outsourcing system. Although there was no labor fee, Zeng Rou had to be paid an additional 2,000 spirit stones, and a portion of the profit had to be set aside for the person who took over. The profit in a year was probably only 3,000 to 4,000 spirit stones at most.

This is on the premise that everything goes smoothly. If the task is not completed, there will definitely be a huge loss.

"I understand. I'll come back with spirit stones to get the materials in a while."

"Okay, then I'll prepare it for Master Song as soon as possible."

………………

"Master, this is Fellow Daoist Ding Yi, and these three are his friends, Wang Xiu, Mao Jie, and Shi Wenqian." In the main hall of Guzi Peak, Zhong Wenyuan entered from outside with three men and one woman, and bowed respectfully to Song Xian who was sitting in the main seat.

"Greetings, Master Song." The four of them bowed their heads.

Song Xian's eyes swept over several people. Ding Yi was over thirty years old and a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining. The others were all around twenty years old and at the initial stage of Qi Refining.

"Fellow Daoists, please take a seat."

Several people took their seats one by one, and Zhong Wenyuan said, "Master, these fellow Taoists have experience in making talisman paper and are now willing to take over the sect's beast soul incense production business."

Song Xian smiled and nodded: "Are you fellow Daoists talisman masters?"

"I do know a little about talisman refining, but my skills are limited. We mainly make talisman paper to supply other talisman masters. I heard that your sect is recruiting a team to refine beast soul incense. Several of my brothers would like to give it a try. I hope Sect Master Song can give us a chance."

Ding Yi had a flattering smile on his face and was very humble. Several of them made talisman paper for a living all year round, but the profit in this industry was low. In addition, they were not well-known and had no sales channels, so they could only sell it at a low price to shops that supplied casual talisman masters.

Of course, a few of them also tried other industries, such as running a business, but they lost all their money.

The situation of a casual cultivator is extremely difficult. If he has a special skill, such as alchemy, talisman making, spiritual plants, or spiritual cooking, his life would be a little better.

If you don't have any skills, you can only make a living by relying on various low-end industries. Of course, there are also teams that have established relationships with some forces and become their exclusive supply teams, and live a more comfortable life.

But most of them are in a rather bleak state. Among the thousands of independent cultivators in Bianxi City, except for a very small number who have completely given up on cultivation and only seek to eat, drink and have fun, the vast majority still have some hope for cultivation.

What's more, even if you just want to have fun, you still need to earn spirit stones.

Few people are willing to really get along with ordinary people. This is at the lowest end of the contempt chain in the entire cultivation world.

There are at least hundreds of teams like Ding Yi in the entire Bianxi City. They are all engaged in the lowest-end cultivation industry, working in groups of three or five to earn a hard-earned living.

In his early years, Ding Yi followed a team of independent cultivators for several years. That independent cultivator had some connections and had a good relationship with a young man from the Kong family in Bianxi City. He used this relationship to make some money from the Kong family and was responsible for providing nutrients to the Kong family for watering their spiritual fields.

This was not originally a high-end industry, but because there was serious corruption within the Kong family, the price they purchased was much higher than the market price. In this way, profits were made. In addition, the Kong family had a lot of spiritual fields, so the income was quite high.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. For some unknown reason, the son of the Kong family who was in charge of the spiritual fields made a mistake, so someone else was replaced to take charge of the affairs of the spiritual fields. As the saying goes, the emperor has his own ministers, and their team was immediately kicked aside and replaced by another group of people to provide nutrients for the spiritual fields.

After the disbandment of the Unity, Ding Yi wandered around independently for a few years and organized his own small group, but he had no connections and no skills, so he could only engage in low-end industries such as making talisman paper and supplying it to private shops.

Fortunately, he is a nice person and usually takes good care of these team members, so they all follow him sincerely.

The experiences of these years have given him a deep feeling that a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Any oil left between the fingers of those big forces is enough for them to make a fortune. There is no way out if they rely on themselves alone. If they want to become bigger, they must rely on the big forces.

In the past few years, he tried his best to squeeze in. Whenever there was a chance, he would get close to the children of those powerful forces. Unfortunately, no one looked down on him and he didn't get any chance at all.

Therefore, when he heard from Qingfengfang that Hunyuan Pavilion was looking for talents to refine beast soul incense, he immediately went there with the mentality of giving it a try.

Although Beast Soul Incense is not a high-level cultivation item, the profit is incomparable to that of making talisman paper.

Moreover, it is an industry under the Beast Taming Sect, with high profits and stable channels.

For him, this is his dream industry.

At that time, Zhong Wenyuan was having a headache recruiting people to refine Beast Soul Incense and Xuanbu Spirit Liquid, so time was very tight and he had to find candidates before the New Year.

He was just looking forward to it when someone came to him. The two sides hit it off and immediately finalized the deal.

(End of this chapter)