Upon this thought, Yuan Ming dispersed the fiery clouds in the sky and descended near Hua Zhi to protect her.
But as soon as Yuan Ming landed, his legs suddenly gave way, and his body was racked with unbearable stabbing pain, as if flames were burning inside him. He wished he could tear open his flesh with his fingers to let this scorching power dissipate somewhat.
"Poisoned? Could there be hidden enemies nearby?" He was both shocked and furious, enduring the intense pain as he gathered his mana and swept his spiritual consciousness around.
However, the surroundings were quiet, with no enemies in sight.
Yuan Ming was momentarily stunned, then suddenly thought of something and turned his gaze to the dark purple cocoon and the spiritual flowers on it. The faint fragrance in his nostrils finally made him realize where the deadly poison had come from.
He struggled to mobilize the remaining strength in his body and moved outward.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Yuan Ming finally could no longer smell the fragrance of the dark purple spiritual flowers. He circulated the Nine Elements Formula, and his weakened body slowly recovered, the burning pain inside him gradually subsiding.
It was a long while before Yuan Ming returned to normal.
"The spiritual flowers that Hua Zhi produced are actually poisonous, and so potent that even I was nearly affected," he thought to himself, feeling lucky.
Yuan Ming looked at the dark purple spiritual flowers, his eyes sparkling, pondering something.
***
Three days quickly passed.
The dark purple cocoon suddenly began to shake, and the dark purple demonic vines as if awakening from a deep slumber, began to move slowly.
A few breaths later, all the vines fully awoke, and the dark purple cocoon slowly unfolded, revealing Hua Zhi's body, which seemed to have grown larger than before, her features more delicate, and her aura had clearly reached the middle tier of the second level.
Yuan Ming, recalling the incident in the underground palace of Snake King Valley where Hua Zhi had tried to attack him after her strength had improved, subconsciously became wary.
Contrary to his expectations, Hua Zhi immediately darted over, rubbing and nuzzling against him in a flattering manner: "Master, your fiery cloud secret technique is truly amazing. It even shattered the scales of the Mo Lizard, allowing me to break through to the middle tier of the second level!"
Yuan Ming sensed the beast-controlling runes within Hua Zhi's body and, realizing her flattery was genuine, felt relieved.
"Have you been subduing a lot of little demonic beasts lately? Are you planning to be a local tyrant here in Ruins Swamp?" he asked casually, then looked into the distance.
The little demonic beasts gazed over from afar but did not approach.
"Life in Ruins Swamp is just too delightful, I have to find some amusement! Besides, I'm doing this for you, Master," Hua Zhi replied.
"How does capturing these little demonic beasts benefit me?" Yuan Ming asked, looking at Hua Zhi.
"Of course, by expanding my territory and gathering underlings here, if you, Master, encounter a formidable enemy in the future, you can lure them here. At my command, these beasts will attack in unison. Combined with our power, even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator might not be impossible to defeat," Hua Zhi boasted, her arms crossing over each other.
"If your little demons can really deal with Nascent Soul stage cultivators, then those cultivators are too easy to handle," Yuan Ming thought to himself, but he didn't say it out loud.
After a moment's thought, he spoke: "Have your underlings pay attention to collecting various spiritual materials from the swamp, especially plants and herbs. Bring them to me later."
"Sure, no problem. Leave this little task to me," Hua Zhi said, patting her chest with one arm and readily agreeing.
"Does that dark purple spiritual flower on you contain potent poison?" Yuan Ming asked again.
"I absorbed the life essence of that black toad, which allows me to devour various poisons. Combined with my own characteristics, I can produce spiritual flowers that contain deadly poison," Hua Zhi answered.
"I want to use this flower to craft poisonous incense," Yuan Ming declared.
"No problem, these flowers are easy to come by. Master, you just need to plant these seeds in the soil, water them daily, and soon they will take root, sprout, and produce these poisonous flowers," Hua Zhi said, extending her arm, which flashed with green light, quickly producing many purple seeds.
Yuan Ming was pleasantly surprised at how easily obtainable the poisonous spiritual flowers were. He collected the seeds, planning to plant them in the garden of his courtyard once he returned.
However, since the flowers were poisonous, he would need to purchase a set of restrictions to isolate the toxic fragrance.
***
In the following days, Yuan Ming devoted himself to cultivation in his room in Xiaohu City, lighting Black Incense every seven days to possess other Foundation Establishment stage cultivators he had seen at the succession ceremony, attempting to stealthily learn their secret techniques.
Of course, for various reasons, the learning process was not very smooth, but having had the experience of possessing the old emperor, Yuan Ming was psychologically prepared and did not insist on success.
Another three months quickly passed.
Yuan Ming had gradually learned several spells from other sects of the Great Jin, including some high-grade ones with considerable power.
During this time, the reputation of Xuanhua Spiritual Incense Shop had gradually spread, attracting more customers. Muyang found it difficult to cope, so Yuan Ming had to temporarily stop his cultivation to personally attend to the customers.
One day, a dark-faced man entered the shop—it was Hu Tu.
"May I ask, which one of you is the boss?" Hu Tu hesitated as he asked.
Muyang stepped forward to greet him.
"Muyang, this is an old acquaintance of mine. Hu Tu, come inside," Yuan Ming, who was in the back room, called out.
Hu Tu, hearing the voice, entered the back room.
"Hu Tu, long time no see," Yuan Ming turned around, revealing his face.
"Master Immortal, it's really you! This place must be the city of immortals," Hu Tu said in surprise.
"From now on, just call me boss. Here, everyone is an immortal master," Yuan Ming said.
"So it is. The shop mentioned in the letter, is it this one?" Hu Tu suddenly realized and looked around.
"That's right. If you're willing, you can help me look after the shop here. If you have any questions, ask Muyang, the shopkeeper," Yuan Ming winked as he spoke.
After deciding to open this spiritual incense shop, he had no intention of personally managing it, as it would be a waste of time. Hiring Muyang alone was only a temporary solution; it was necessary to have someone he was familiar with to help manage and supervise. It was not appropriate to send someone from his family, so after some thought, Yuan Ming remembered Hu Tu, hence the shop was rented in his name.
He then used Black Incense to possess someone and find out Hu Tu's whereabouts, and later hired a small alliance in the market to bring Hu Tu from the Southern Border's Zuo State to Xiaohu City.
"Of course, I can. I was just getting by in Zuo State, and I thought coming to Great Jin would lead to a better life. But although the people of Jin don't say it, their eyes are full of disdain. Here in Xiaohu City, no one looks at me with prejudice, so I'm naturally willing. As for the salary, there's no need. I only have one request, and I hope the boss will agree," Hu Tu said.
"Speak freely, Hu Tu," Yuan Ming said with a smile, guessing Hu Tu's thoughts.
"Having seen the methods of the immortals these past days, I am very envious and extremely eager to cultivate the way of immortality. I ask the boss to take me as a disciple. I will be utterly devoted and repay this great kindness!" Hu Tu took a deep breath, bowed deeply, and performed a grand gesture according to the customs of the Southern Border.
"Please rise. It is common to admire the way of immortality, but cultivation requires certain qualifications, and not everyone can do it," Yuan Ming helped Hu Tu up and said slowly.
"I have some understanding of this. Please, boss, check if I have the qualifications. If not, I will accept my fate, and I will still take on the task of looking after the shop," Hu Tu said.
Yuan Ming nodded, took Hu Tu's wrist, and sent a thread of mana into his body. After advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage, he could test for spiritual roots with just his mana, without the need for a magical instrument.
Hu Tu was somewhat nervous at this moment, holding his breath, not even daring to breathe heavily, as if afraid that he would lose his spiritual roots if he wasn't careful.
"Huh, you actually have spiritual roots, and your luck isn't bad. You have the water, fire, wood, and earth spiritual roots," Yuan Ming said with a hint of surprise after a while.
"Really?" Hu Tu was overjoyed, kneeling on the ground and weeping with joy.
"Of course, since you have spiritual roots, you can cultivate immortal techniques. Here is a technique for you to study. If you have any questions, come and ask me," Yuan Ming took out a piece of white paper, quickly wrote down the mantra for the "Biluo Technique," and handed it over.
"Thank you, Master, for bestowing the immortal technique!" Hu Tu took the white paper with trembling hands and knelt down in gratitude.
"Stop! I have no intention of taking disciples. You still call me boss, and I'll call you Hu Tu," Yuan Ming stopped Hu Tu and said seriously.
Seeing Yuan Ming's serious expression, Hu Tu did not dare to disobey and agreed obediently, feeling even more grateful to Yuan Ming in his heart.
"Hu Tu, take good care of my shop in the future. If you do well, I have some Qi refining stage elixirs and magical instruments here that I can reward you with," Yuan Ming encouraged.
Hu Tu, who had followed Fu Qing and others to Great Jin and then came to Xiaohu City with the members of the alliance, had some understanding of the cultivation world and knew the significance of elixirs and magical instruments. He happily agreed.
"Boss, rest assured. I've done business in the Southern Border and Zuo State. I will not let you down and will manage the shop well," he promised, patting his chest.
Yuan Ming knew Hu Tu's character and personality. This man was somewhat slick and opportunistic, indeed suitable for business, otherwise, he would not have invited him over.
Yuan Ming then took Hu Tu around the shop, introduced him to Muyang, and told them to discuss matters together. He also informed Hu Tu of some common knowledge of the cultivation world and the key points of selling spiritual incense, then became a hands-off shopkeeper.
He did not return to the neighboring residence but sat quietly in the backyard to cultivate while monitoring how Hu Tu managed the shop.
Hu Tu was quite clever in doing business. In just half a day, he completely understood the ins and outs of selling spiritual incense. He was also adept at attracting customers, patiently explaining to them no matter how many questions they had, keeping the shop orderly and uncluttered. Whenever he had questions, he would ask Muyang. The two coordinated well, so Yuan Ming simply let Muyang live in the shop.
***
After watching for three days and feeling there were no problems, Yuan Ming explained the Biluo Technique to Hu Tu twice and gave him a few pointers before returning to his residence at number eighty-six to focus on cultivation.
Of course, he would occasionally summon a soul crow to perch on a nearby tree to watch over the situation of the two in the shop.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan