Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Cai Nianxiong, dressed in fine silk robes, had a beautiful geisha sitting on his lap. The geisha was pouring wine and serving food, flirting with him, and whispering sweet nothings to him from time to time, making Cai Nianxiong grin mischievously. Li Xiangsi, who was about to offer a toast, couldn't get a word in edgewise. Even when she managed to force a compliment, Cai Nianxiong ignored her completely, not taking her seriously at all.

Seeing this, Li Xiangsi was extremely embarrassed. She slowly sat down with her wine glass in hand, unsure of how to conduct herself.

He could see that Cai Nianxiong looked down on merchants, but for the time being, he could only swallow his anger.

At this moment, the middleman arrived late, accompanied by a white-haired guard with a scar on his face.

There are many middlemen like this in Jianta, but there are not many middlemen who truly enjoy a good reputation and word-of-mouth in the industry.

These people, formally known as brokers or middlemen, specialize in providing one-on-one services to the powerful and wealthy. They earn money primarily by taking commissions and handling fees. Brokers operate with extremely powerful connections, backgrounds, and networks, and their business scope is very broad.

Their business includes, but is not limited to, high-level activities such as murder and arson, money laundering, intelligence trafficking, illegal fundraising, matchmaking, power-money transactions, and the transfer of benefits. Due to the special nature of their profession and the sensitivity of their clients, the activities are extremely dangerous and require high levels of confidentiality.

Being a broker is a job that anyone can do, seemingly with virtually no barriers to entry. Most brokers go hungry for three days and nine days in a row, and they dare to call themselves brokers just by connecting people. However, the real barrier to entry for brokers is halfway up the mountain, which is very challenging and dangerous. But the money comes really fast, and once you really reach the top level in the industry, there is no turning back, and retirement is out of the question.

There are usually two possible outcomes: either they suffer a sudden and violent death, or they mysteriously disappear and vanish without a trace.

The middleman that Li Xiangsi hired was Ma Ruyi, a top broker who has enjoyed a good reputation in the industry in recent years.

This woman was often accompanied by a guard named White Wolf.

According to industry rumors, this young lady surnamed Ma shares the same surname as the high-ranking Ma in the Sword Tower. However, outsiders have no way to verify the authenticity of this information. All that can be said is that this young lady Ma has extensive connections, excellent credibility, and an excellent reputation. Anyone who asks her for a favor can basically get it done.

If the service cannot be completed, Ms. Ma will provide a full refund without taking any commission or handling fees, making her a top-tier broker with excellent reputation and credibility.

"Miss Ma, why are you so late? I've been waiting for you for ages." Cai Nianxiong's eyes lit up as soon as he saw Ma Ruyi arrive. Without hesitation, he pushed away the beautiful geisha in his arms: "Don't misunderstand, I didn't want her to sit on me. You know I've always been a person of integrity."

The beautiful geisha fell to the ground, stunned. She never expected Cai Nianxiong to change his attitude so quickly. She wondered who had been calling her "sweetheart" and touching and kissing her just moments before, and now he was acting like a gentleman. The change was too fast, and she really couldn't switch back to reality in a short time.

However, as a geisha, she had seen all kinds of customers, and she quickly composed herself and got up to sit aside as an accompaniment.

Ma Ruyi walked over with a smile: "I'm sorry to have troubled you, Master Cai, to wait so long. Please allow me to punish myself with three cups of wine."

After saying this, Ma Ruyi picked up the wine pot and poured three cups of wine in quick succession, drinking one cup in one gulp. His drinking capacity was even more generous than that of a man.

"Good, good, good! Miss Ma truly deserves to be called a heroine!" Cai Nianxiong clapped and cheered, "Please sit down, sit next to me."

As he spoke, Cai Nianxiong pointed at Li Xiangsi: "Hey you, move aside! Don't you have any manners? With your character, you dare to run a business? You're like an idiot. If it weren't for Miss Ma's invitation, would a lowly merchant like you even deserve to sit and eat with me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangsi's face turned red with anger, and her sharp eyes stared at Cai Nianxiong as if she wanted to kill him.

Cai Nianxiong noticed the unfriendly look in her eyes and pointed at Li Xiangsi's nose, saying, "What are you looking at? You seem to be in a bad mood?"

Li Xiangsi remained silent, only staring intently at Cai Nianxiong.

Seeing this, Ma Ruyi smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Please forgive him, Master Cai. Merchants from small places are dull-witted and haven't seen much of the world. Please don't try to scare him. Look how frightened he is that he can't even speak properly."

When Cai Nianxiong saw Ma Ruyi respond, he immediately laughed and said, "Miss Ma speaks so well, I love listening to her. But speaking of which, this lad doesn't know how to be funny. When I make a joke to him, he's like a wooden doll, he has no sense of humor at all."

Ma Ruyi covered her mouth and chuckled, her every move exuding charm and grace. She then brought up the important matter: "Master Cai, Manager Li specially requested to see you today, mainly to purchase a jade Pixiu from your collection. I wonder if Master Cai would be willing to part with it?"

“Of course, I will certainly give Miss Ma face.” Cai Nianxiong took out a small wooden box from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

"Master Cai, I won't look at it myself. Let Manager Li take a look." Ma Ruyi reached out her slender hand, picked up the wooden box, opened the lid, and handed it to Li Xiangsi for appraisal: "Manager Li, is this the jade Pixiu you asked for?"

Li Xiangsi took out a handkerchief and placed it in his palm to pick up the jade Pixiu. After examining it closely, he found that it was a fake and worthless. However, he still nodded repeatedly and said, "It is indeed a good thing. I really like it. I just don't know how many Lord Cai wants."

Cai Nianxiong casually held up five fingers: "Five hundred thousand coins."

Li Xiangsi stared wide-eyed: "Five hundred thousand? Isn't that a bit too much..."

Cai Nianxiong's eyes flashed with displeasure: "Is it a lot? What is the market price? This is my favorite collectible. This jade Pixiu is a lucky charm that brings me wealth and prosperity. If Miss Ma hadn't personally intervened, I wouldn't have planned to sell it at all. Since you don't want it, then forget it."

"Yes, yes, yes... I definitely want it." Li Xiangsi's lips twitched as she cursed the corrupt official inwardly. This jade Pixiu was worth at most fifty coins, and it wasn't even certain that anyone would want it. Yet the corrupt official dared to ask for fifty thousand coins. Damn it, he could have just robbed me, but instead he gave me a piece of junk.

Upon hearing this, Cai Nianxiong immediately beamed with joy: "You have good taste; I can tell you're someone who knows quality."

Li Xiangsi tentatively asked, "Lord Cai, what about my matter..."

Cai Nianxiong nodded nonchalantly: "No problem."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangsi smiled and raised her wine cup: "This humble one toasts to you, sir, thank you very much."

"Manager Li, you're so sensible." Cai Nianxiong picked up his wine glass, clinked glasses with Li Xiangsi for the sake of money, and took a small sip.

In the VIP box next door, Xiao Hongyun and his group were closely monitoring Li Xiangsi and her group. Through the fine sand that had been left on Li Xiangsi beforehand, which acted as eyes and ears, they were eavesdropping on all the scenes and sounds. This fine sand was the physical supernatural power 'Gathering Sand' that Xiao Hongyun had practiced.

The Calamity-level physical techniques include Gathering Quicksand, and the Fiend-level physical techniques also have it, but the conditions for studying and advancing are different.

If one has practiced such physical techniques beforehand, then one can simply upgrade them step by step. This way, a lot of cultivation resources and time and energy can be saved in learning new physical techniques. After all, familiar things are easier to learn, and the development of physical techniques can be more in-depth.

After decades of study, Xiao Hongyun's mastery of the 'Gathering Sands' technique, if not unparalleled before or since, is at least incredibly diverse and versatile, encompassing multiple uses such as offense, defense, reconnaissance, burst damage, escape, surveillance, and self-preservation.