Chapter 41: Calm Seas and Still Waters

Chapter 41: Calm Waters

Life within the Prince’s mansion settled into a period of tranquility.

Upon returning, the retainers naturally sought out the finest physicians, desperate to purge the poison from their systems. However, the toxin had been crafted by a cultivator, and its principles were poles apart from the mundane arts of the mortal realm. Ordinary doctors were completely out of their depth, and some, in their anxious haste, only succeeded in making matters worse.

Some attempted to sway the Princess, hoping she would intervene. Yet, the Princess seemed to tacitly approve of Yu Xian’s actions, even refusing to see the Prefect, who had come to plead on behalf of the Xia family. Regardless of how weakened the Prince of Fu’s estate had become, it remained the master of Changning Prefecture. The Prefect, having been turned away in front of many onlookers, lost significant face, and his resentment extended to the Xia family as well.

Because of this, Xia Zhu—who claimed to be the nephew of the Censor-in-Chief—remained imprisoned. It was said that in his cell, he was being tormented so severely by the poisonous pellet that he no longer resembled a human being. Xia’s mother, heartbroken for her youngest son, quarreled bitterly with her husband and wept daily. Eventually, finding no other recourse, she knelt before the gates of the mansion for three days and nights without food or water, begging for the Princess’s mercy. Moved by her maternal devotion, the Princess ordered that Xia Zhu be confined to his home, forbidden from stepping out without the mansion’s permission. Of course, that is a story for another time.

Ever since Yu Xian had rounded up the retainers that day, they had lived in constant trepidation, fearing that Supervisor Yu might use his leverage to force them into something even more dangerous. Privately, they made pacts: if the Supervisor dared to demand anything too excessive, they would rather perish with him than let him have his way.

Slowly, however, they realized that Supervisor Yu seemed genuinely focused on investigating the assassination of the Prince, albeit using rather ruthless methods. He did not ask much of them on a daily basis, merely requiring them to report their whereabouts and assist the mansion guards in scouring the city of Changning for any suspicious activity. Every seven days, there would be a major review. Anyone who dared to slack off or perform their duties perfunctorily would find their antidote delayed.

Those who did not receive their antidote did not die immediately. Instead, they would grow increasingly frail, as if thousands of ants were gnawing at their bodies, wailing day and night until, within a few days, they were tortured out of all human shape. Usually, at this point, Supervisor Yu would show mercy and grant the antidote to sustain their lives. Anyone who had experienced this once was unwilling to try it a second time, and so they complied obediently, secretly hoping that Supervisor Yu would hurry up and find the truth, catching the assassin. Having one’s life held in another’s palm was not a pleasant feeling.

Time flowed on, and even after two months of investigation, the assassination case yielded no results. People began to grow accustomed to the routine, sending out men daily to coordinate with the mansion guards and monitor the movements across Changning.

As previously mentioned, the Earth-grade retainers of the Retainer Hall were elites in their respective fields, holding significant influence within their trades. If it weren't for the direct control provided by the poison, it would have taken an immense amount of effort for Yu Xian to subdue them. Take, for instance, Master Yan. As one of the prominent martial arts school masters in Changning, he had trained countless disciples, ranging from the sons of the wealthy to dock workers and even beggars. Once he was willing to cooperate, the energy and manpower he could mobilize were not to be underestimated.

With such a group aiding him, all walks of life in Changning became the eyes of the mansion. Any stranger appearing in the city would be spotted immediately and placed under secret surveillance. Consequently, before the assassin could be caught, many secret agents sent by the Guangnan rebels into Changning were apprehended. Several notorious thieves, hoping to take advantage of the chaos in the city while the mansion lacked a head, were also tracked down and handed over as achievements to the local magistrates. Security in Changning, unexpectedly, improved rather than declined.

***

That day.
The Retainer Hall, Heaven-grade Building No. 2, quiet room.

Yu Xian slowly calmed his spiritual energy. He reached out his hand, and a crystalline object shimmering with golden light landed lightly in his palm. This was Refined Gold, a low-grade material for artifact crafting in the world of cultivation, and one of the few materials that could be artificially produced.

The method was quite simple: a cultivator would use their spiritual energy to continuously smelt gold. Under the prolonged refinement of spiritual energy, the surrounding spirit essence would gradually seep into the pure gold, slowly altering its properties until it became Refined Gold, which was more adaptable to the structure of spiritual energy. Many who had just entered the world of cultivation earned their keep by processing such materials. After all, this method required no capital and little skill—only one’s own spiritual energy. An ordinary early-stage Qi Refining cultivator, with their meager energy, could process three catties of Refined Gold a day and would need a day of rest to recover. But a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator like Yu Xian, even using only half his energy, could process thirty catties in a single day!

He had fifteen thousand taels of gold in the mansion—that is, fifteen hundred catties—which he could finish processing in just fifty days. In the cultivation world, ten catties of Refined Gold could be sold for one tael of spirit sand; fifteen hundred catties would be one hundred and fifty taels of spirit sand, or twelve and a half spirit stones—the equivalent of his savings over four years.

Of course, a serious late-stage Qi Refining cultivator wouldn't bother with such low-profit work. Even hunting a single low-grade demonic beast would fetch more than a dozen spirit stones. Moreover, rogue cultivators at this level usually possessed a specialized skill to make a living. Among the hundred arts of cultivation, though most were not suited for "Arrays, Alchemy, Artifacts, or Talismans," many still took up side jobs like spirit planting, spirit farming, or spirit tailoring to earn an income.

"Resources from the mortal realm can be exchanged for spirit stones, but the overhead costs are too high. Only powerful cultivation families like the Lin or Jiang clans have the transportation capacity to dilute these costs; it is simply not suitable for ordinary rogue cultivators."

Yu Xian had been melting down the gold he had on hand during his spare time these past few days, turning it into crafting materials. In any case, his energy was replenished by Yulan, and it would be a waste to let it sit unused. He stroked the Refined Gold in his hand, lost in thought.

"Although the Yue Kingdom is a mortal dynasty, the various basic cultivation resources it transports to the Jiang family each year must amount to tens of thousands of spirit stones when converted. Over time, that is a truly terrifying figure. And that’s not even counting other hidden benefits. Wealth moves hearts; it’s no wonder the Lin family couldn't help but stir up trouble in the Yue Kingdom."

"Fortunately, I am only taking a small share on the sly. They shouldn't notice me. Besides, it’s been nearly two months since I returned, and there hasn't been a ripple in the city; no one has come to contact Retainer Ding either. It is likely that the Lin family cultivators really were the ones who assassinated the Prince and have long since left. Or perhaps it has been my own groundless worry all along. The Lin family may never have held the Prince of Fu in any regard. Perhaps the two Lin cultivators who fled that day simply mistook me for a passing reclusive elder rather than a retainer of the mansion, or perhaps they never reported my existence at all. That makes sense—having fled the battle and left their companions to die, why would they tell their superiors the truth? It would be far more advantageous for them to remain silent and report a disappearance."

"In that case, I shall hold my own small patch of ground in the mansion and live in 'great seclusion within the city.' No matter how turbulent the waves outside, with the mansion’s prestigious banner as a shield, not a drop will splash onto me."

Yu Xian’s thoughts drifted, mapping out his future life in the mansion. With his worries set aside, a sense of lightness washed over him, and the spiritual energy in his body flowed more vigorously. In the cultivation world, such a moment of mental tempering might have helped him make a small breakthrough in his cultivation, but this was the mortal world.

He watched as the spirit essence in the air gathered to form a thin vortex, but by the time the energy dissipated, he had only managed to replenish a bit of his internal reserves.

"What is lost is fate; what is gained is luck. And with Yulan here, I don't need these flashy, abstract insights."

Yu Xian suppressed the bitterness in his heart, muttering to himself, feigning indifference. But after holding it in for a long time, he couldn't help but curse under his breath:

"Damn it, my first epiphany in life, and it ended so sloppily!"