"Master, you're back!"
The moment the formation opened, a fluttering phantom glided toward him, only to halt abruptly upon reaching his side.
"Caiyi?"
"How did you end up like this?" Bai Meiling asked in astonishment.
Gu Caiyi forced a faint smile. "It's nothing. Just a minor injury."
Bai Meiling opened her mouth to say more, but Luo Chen cut her off.
"Is the room ready?"
Bai Meiling nodded hurriedly. "I received the paper-crane transmission from the Director-General. The room has been swept clean."
Luo Chen gave an acknowledging hum and carried Gu Caiyi inside.
As he gently set her down, she could not suppress a wince.
"If it hurts, it's alright to make a sound."
Gu Caiyi blinked with a faint smile and lay back upon the bed.
Luo Chen sighed, his heart heavy.
That miracle physician had not been wrong.
In her current state, Gu Caiyi was truly unfit to have external qi enter her body.
Back on Danxia Peak, shielded by Min Longyu's formations, the pain had not been quite so pronounced. But once they entered Tianlan Peak, the rich spiritual energy coiled through the surrounding air even without her actively drawing it in. This made it all too easy to stir the spiritual energy inside her, worsening her condition.
Yet in times like this, simply blocking it off was impossible.
Luo Chen cast the Healing Art, meticulously combing through her meridians. Only after Gu Caiyi fell asleep did he quietly step outside.
Xiao Ling stood outside, watching him with longing eyes.
"What's the matter? After living with Huiniang for a year, are you still not used to it?"
"No, I just missed you terribly, Master."
Luo Chen smiled and ruffled her hair.
Yet the moment his hand touched her, he froze in surprise.
"Your body?"
"Hehe, Master noticed!"
Bai Meiling slipped from under his hand and twirled around several times within the spacious cave dwelling.
"My cultivation of the *Secret Records of Ghosts and Spirits* has reached minor completion! Following the method recorded within, using that wisp of Profound Yin Qi I absorbed before as the core, most of my ghostly form has solidified! Give me another ten years, and I'll be able to fully solidify my ghostly body and step into the ghost general realm!"
The young girl proudly showed off her cultivation progress over the past year.
Luo Chen chuckled and beckoned to her.
She glided back to his side.
He stroked her hair, soft and sleek like flowing silk.
"You've worked hard."
A rare word of praise!
Bai Meiling happily nuzzled against Luo Chen's large hand.
In the past, Luo Chen had been quite strict with her, always finding fault with her slow cultivation whether in the *True Soul Refining Art* or the *Secret Records of Ghosts and Spirits*. Now, after a year and a half of separation and diligent cultivation, she had finally achieved minor success.
After offering a few more words of praise, Luo Chen yawned and returned to his own room to rest.
He slept right through the night.
The following day, feeling refreshed, Luo Chen awoke from his slumber.
Stepping into the parlor, he smiled at the sight of Gu Caiyi sitting in a wheelchair, being wheeled outside by Bai Meiling to watch the snow.
Without disturbing them, Luo Chen ate the breakfast Xiao Ling had specially prepared, while retrieving several medicinal prescriptions from his storage pouch.
All of them had been prescribed for Gu Caiyi by that Miracle Physician Sun.
Their primary aims were stabilizing the meridians, guiding qi, invigorating blood circulation, and resolving stasis.
From this, it was evident the man's reputation was well deserved; he understood deeply that dredging was far better than damming.
However, Gu Caiyi's internal state was far too fragile. Trying to dredge that massive buildup of stagnant spiritual energy would only batter her already precarious body even more savagely.
What was more, if it was completely expelled, the decades of cultivation Gu Caiyi had accumulated would vanish like spring waters flowing east, gone forever.
Luo Chen could not accept that.
Gu Caiyi might have resigned herself to it, but Luo Chen refused to let her settle for such an outcome.
Therefore, to truly cure Gu Caiyi, he still had to employ the Life-Returning Pill he had bought in the Azure Pill Valley market.
Gazing at the prescriptions, Luo Chen fell into deep thought.
*The Life-Returning Pill is a Tier 3 medicinal pill intended for Golden Core cultivators. Even with only thirty percent of its potency remaining, it requires at least a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator to withstand it.*
*If I want the pill to take effect without putting her life in jeopardy, thorough preparatory work is essential.*
Reviewing everything he had learned, Luo Chen settled on a new treatment plan.
Of the prescriptions Miracle Physician Sun had provided, he would select the one for stabilizing meridians. That would serve as the foundation to keep her condition from deteriorating further.
In addition, he would regularly cast his Great Circle Healing Art, using the pure wood-attribute spiritual energy refined by his *Evergreen Sutra* to slowly mend her meridians.
Finally, there was the spiritual liquid Luo Chen had personally formulated in the past!
Using an improved recipe of the Yuan-Nourishing Pill, blended with the top-grade Golden Quality Jade Liquid from the Kang family of Taishan Market and supplemented with pure wood spiritual energy, he had created a medicinal liquid for medicinal baths.
Luo Chen had named it the "Golden Jade Yuan-Nourishing Liquid," proprietary to him and found nowhere else.
This medicine was extraordinary!
It had even managed to heal the extensive damage Luo Chen had sustained while connecting all the meridians throughout his body.
When applied to Gu Caiyi, its effects would only be even better!
With the plan settled, Luo Chen's anxieties subsided.
From here on, all that was needed was time.
When he came back to his senses, the two women were gazing at him from the doorway.
Gu Caiyi blinked. "Cramming at the last minute? It seems you aren't quite so confident about curing me after all."
Luo Chen laughed. "You underestimate me. I've already found a way. It will simply take a year, that's all."
*He really found a way?*
Gu Caiyi was astonished.
After a long pause, she murmured, "I've waited so many years already. What is a single year?"
Indeed, to a cultivator, one year was truly nothing.
...
Three days later.
Inside the Grand Hall of Luotian.
Luo Chen sat high on the dais, with Sima Huiniang seated at his side.
Below them sat the masters of the Luotian Association's nine halls:
Wang Yuan of the Merit Imparting Hall, Xu Huanzhen of the Spirit Beast Hall, Duan Feng of the Weapon Casting Hall, and Murong Qinglian of the Merit Hall;
Sima Xian of the Battle Hall, Qu Lingjun of the Pill Hall, Bian Zhen of the Spirit Herb Hall, Yuan Dongsheng of the Agricultural Plant Hall, and Yuan Xiaoyue of the Gold Hall;
and Qin Liangchen of the Outer Sect.
In addition, there were two Foundation Establishment elders: Min Longyu and Li Yingzhang.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, Min Longyu had only taken the title of elder, without holding any practical post in any of the halls. In truth, however, he stayed quite busy, lending a hand whenever a hall required formation support.
As for Li Yingzhang, he was the head of the Li family of the Qinhua River.
After many years, he had finally cultivated the *Ninefold Yuan Restoration* to completion the previous year, smoothly advancing into the Foundation Establishment stage.
According to the agreement Luo Chen had made with the late Li Jinhuang, once Li Yingzhang established his foundation, he would become a nominal elder in the Luotian Association.
Inviting him to an occasion such as today's showed how deeply he had integrated into the Luotian Association over the years and earned everyone's trust.
Looking down at the people below, Luo Chen felt a surge of pride rise within him.
Through years of toil and struggle, the Luotian Association he founded had grown to such an impressive scale.
Nine halls, eight Foundation Establishment cultivators, and over a thousand members.
Under its banner lay numerous thriving enterprises.
Outwardly, they had plenty of partners, backed by two major pillars: the Ice Fort and Azure Pill Valley.
It could be said that while the Luotian Association could not yet match first-rate factions presided over by Golden Core cultivators, it was undoubtedly among the foremost of second-rate powers.
Once he advanced to the late Foundation Establishment stage, they would be able to contest old-guard powers in Tianlan Immortal City like the Iron Sword Hall and Lianyun Merchant Alliance.
Even now, those veteran factions had to treat the Luotian Association with courtesy!
*If Mi Shuhua were to come back to life and see the Luotian Association that rose from the corpse of the Mountain Breaking Gang attain such grandeur, he'd probably be struck dumb with shock!*
Luo Chen could not help thinking with some self-satisfaction.
While he indulged in his reverie, the hall masters were conducting their reports in an orderly manner.
Although the Luotian Association was divided into nine halls, their functional priorities naturally differed. Most focused on internal development, while external affairs were handled primarily by the Battle Hall, the Gold Hall, and the Outer Sect serving all nine halls.
Consequently, the reports proceeded from internal to external.
The Spirit Beast Hall reported on the taming of demon beasts, the breeding of spirit beast herds, and the procurement of beast fodder.
The Weapon Casting Hall reported on the grades of magical artifacts they could forge, their annual output, and current sales figures.
The Pill Hall, with which Luo Chen was most familiar, presented a flourishing picture under Qu Lingjun's report.
Over the past year or so, the Luotian Association had operated completely without relying on Luo Chen to concoct Jade Marrow Pills.
What should have been a trying period had been successfully weathered through the efforts of six people: four alchemists who had grown into their roles—Qu Lingjun, Mi Li, Ma Shoupu, and Qiu Ying—along with Qi Yi and Xu Jie, two veteran alchemists who had joined after the destruction of the Dan Yuan Sect.
Their large-scale production of various pills ensured both high volume and rich variety.
While achieving this would have been exceedingly difficult before, the year Tao Yisheng had spent with the Luotian Association had thoroughly shored up their theoretical deficiencies. With extensive hands-on practice, concocting Tier 1 pills of moderate difficulty was no longer an arduous task.
Moreover, the Luotian Association no longer walked on the single leg of pills alone.
The Agricultural Plant Hall overseen by Yuan Dongsheng was already unlocking the value of hundreds of spirit fields on Danxia Peak.
The Spirit Herb Hall had formed deep cooperation with the Li family of the Qinhua River, utilizing their channels in the medicinal herb market to gradually secure a firm foothold in Tianlan Immortal City.
Department after department presented their reports.
Finally, it was the Gold Hall's turn.
Every gaze fell upon the woman who stood at merely the eighth layer of Qi Refinement.
Yuan Xiaoyue!
Once a stall-vending girl in Dahe Market nearly twenty years ago, she had blossomed into a woman of poise and presence.
The Gold Hall had originally been managed by Gu Caiyi. But when Gu Caiyi prepared for her breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, she temporarily entrusted its affairs to Yuan Xiaoyue. Later, after her breakthrough failed, the Gold Hall—one of the Luotian Association's most vital pillars—could not be left without leadership for even a day. Thus, Sima Huiniang promoted Yuan Xiaoyue to Vice Hall Master.
Strictly speaking, Yuan Xiaoyue had overseen the Gold Hall's operations throughout the past year.
Standing before the assembly of Luotian leaders now, even though Yuan Xiaoyue was seasoned and had mastered seventy to eighty percent of Gu Caiyi's managerial finesse, she still felt pressure bearing down upon her like mountains and seas.
It could hardly be helped.
She was surrounded by a crowd of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators, while the rest were either at the Great Circle of Qi Refinement or seasoned veterans at the ninth layer.
*Her cultivation realm is still a bit low.*
With a casual wave of his sleeve, Luo Chen brushed a warm, gentle wave of spiritual energy over her.
Yuan Xiaoyue's spirits lifted. Looking out once more, she felt the suffocating pressure vanish.
Casting a grateful glance at Luo Chen, she gathered her thoughts and began speaking with composure and fluency.
"Our Luotian Association's Danxia Hall is no longer confined to Tianlan Immortal City. We now operate branch shops in markets such as Biyou Valley, Tianyi Market, and Luosha Workshop.
"Following the collapse of the Divine Craft Sect, Tianlan Immortal City did not lease the area out as a whole to loose cultivator factions again. Instead, it was developed into a loose cultivator bazaar outside the city walls. Our Danxia Hall rented a storefront there as well.
"At present, the goods sold by Danxia Hall consist predominantly of our own Luotian Association's output: medicinal pills, magical artifacts, herbs, spirit fruits, spirit rice, and the like.
"As for consignment sales, we carry body-refining elixirs from the Kang family of Taishan Market, as well as spirit fish and medicinal herbs from Elder Li's clan. Additionally, three independent Foundation Establishment seniors have entrusted us to sell their handcrafted talismans and elixirs. The profit-sharing arrangements..."
"Furthermore, several other Foundation Establishment loose cultivators have expressed interest in cooperating, offering to provide batches of resources on a regular basis for us to sell on their behalf.
"Senior Kang Xianqiong mentioned earlier that with the Huo family's destruction in Taishan Market, a significant market vacuum has opened up. She asked whether we would be interested in opening a Danxia branch there, promising substantial support and preferential terms.
"However, the journey is long, and Liuguang Market in between has been rather tumultuous. That has left me hesitant, which is why I bring it forth today for the Guildmaster to decide!"
Yuan Xiaoyue laid out the extensive details in orderly succession.
When she finished, she turned her eyes toward Luo Chen.
Luo Chen smiled faintly and did not answer immediately, instead glancing at Sima Huiniang.
"What does Director-General Sima think of these matters?"
Sima Huiniang seemed to have formed a plan long ago and spoke in an unhurried manner. "Regarding cooperation with loose cultivators, so long as their sources are clean, our Luotian Association can accept them. This isn't just about earning spirit stones; it allows us to foster good relations with these Foundation Establishment loose cultivators. More friends mean more avenues, after all.
"As for opening a branch in Taishan Market, that requires careful deliberation.
"Strictly speaking, the Bai family of Liuguang Market shares a grudge with us as well. During the battle at Gaoling Plain, they were among the allies roped in by Huo Hu. Though they didn't clash directly with us, they pinned down the Nangong family. Furthermore..."
At this point, she looked toward Duan Feng.
"The Bai family also owes Hall Master Duan a blood debt for the death of his father, does it not?"
Duan Feng nodded. "Indeed. However, the Guildmaster and Director-General may decide as you see fit. Duan will not allow personal matters to compromise public duty."
"Compromise public duty for private grudge?" Sima Huiniang shook her head. "Whether in duty or grievance, the Bai family now stands directly across the Luotian Association's path. Their clan has only a single Foundation Establishment cultivator and lacks any formidable backing. Wiping them out would be as easy as turning over a hand!"
At those words, Duan Feng's eyes lit up.
The others felt a chill of awe in their hearts.
Over the years, not only had the Director-General's internal authority grown steadily more commanding, but her external methods had also grown increasingly ruthless and decisive!
"The exact plan will require further discussion to iron out the details, but the general direction is set. Within one to three years, we must blaze an open trade route to Taishan Market!
"Opening a branch there isn't merely about pocketing spirit stones; it taps into the Million Mountains' immensely rich demon beast, medicinal herb, and mineral resources!"
Seated upon the dais, Luo Chen listened to Sima Huiniang's words.
She had clearly considered everything with meticulous care, weighing private vengeance against strategic imperatives, spirit stone profits against trade route expansion, and the long-term growth of the Luotian Association. Every single facet had been accounted for.
And this was merely her judgment regarding the Gold Hall's affairs.
Prior to this, for every single department, she had provided targeted insights and firm decisions.
Attaining such profound strategic vision and rigorous clarity was no overnight achievement.
Listening through the entire meeting, Luo Chen could not help sighing in admiration.
*I've truly struck gold here!*
In the past, he had thought that had Mi Junping lived, she might have been well-suited to manage the Luotian Association. Yet compared to Sima Huiniang, she would have paled in comparison.
If Luo Chen had to personally oversee all these matters, large and small, his hair would have turned white from worry. There would have been no time for cultivation at all.
It was precisely because he had Sima Huiniang's assistance that he never had to bother with so many trivialities, freeing him to travel to Azure Pill Valley and compete for the Dao Seed without the slightest lingering concern.
"Guildmaster, what are your thoughts?"
At last, Sima Huiniang turned to look at Luo Chen.
Luo Chen clapped his hands and sighed. "You are the Director-General, so naturally these matters are for you to decide. Everything has been handled splendidly; I have no objections."
Sima Huiniang nodded, then instructed her disciple, Yao Mingyue, who stood beside her, to record every detail of the meeting.
When the meeting concluded, the leaders departed one by one.
Even Yao Mingyue, at a nod from Sima Huiniang, withdrew from the Grand Hall of Luotian.
Now, the grand hall was empty of others.
Sima Huiniang stood up and walked over with poised elegance to sit beside Luo Chen.
"Count it. Two years of revenue are all inside."
Luo Chen wrapped one arm around her slender, supple waist and took the storage pouch with the other.
It was bulging, packed full of spirit stones.
For a moment, Luo Chen felt dazed.
At this instant, power, beauty, and wealth seemed all within his grasp.
Chapter 350