The Guanxi Braise Master

"Very good." Chen Fan nodded with a smile. A Level 9 artifact refiner met Fan Domain's needs perfectly. That batch of Earth Gold finally had a master capable of forging it. "Didn't you say earlier that I only had one chance to make an offer? "And if the price didn't suit you, you'd turn on your heel and leave on the spot, right? "Now I'll give you a price. "Within three breaths, kneel and join Fan Domain, or you die." Standing inside the room, the old man reeked from his tattered rags. Hearing this, his expression instantly turned dark. "Domain Lord Chen, do you take my title of Jiangdong Furnace Master for something I picked up off the street? "Or do you think a Level 9 artifact refiner like me is so easily bullied? "Do you truly want a fight to the death?" "One breath." "Chen Fan!" The old man ground out each word in fury: "Once word of this spreads, how will the people under heaven view Fan Domain?" "Two breaths." "Domain Lord Chen." Taking a deep breath, the old man adopted a grave expression. "Just pretend I never came today. I..." Before he could finish, Chen Fan raised his teacup, took a light sip, and gave a casual wave. "Three breaths." Standing beside him, Zhou Mo drew his blade expressionlessly, stepping forward to strike. *Plop.* Before the words "three breaths" had even fully left Chen Fan's mouth, the old man dropped cleanly and decisively to his knees on the spot. With solemn respect, he announced, "The Jiangdong Furnace Master greets Domain Lord Chen. Please look after me in the days ahead." Chen Fan chuckled at the kneeling old man and said casually, "Bring them in." The next instant— Zhou Mo's men escorted a dozen people inside. They all wore different attire, but anyone who had observed closely at the city gate would have recognized that these were the exact same people hyping up how formidable the Jiangdong Furnace Master was. "Master." "Master..." Looking at the old man kneeling on the floor, the dozen individuals lowered their heads in shame. "We were very careful, but they still found us out." "Useless trash!" Only now realizing what had happened, the old man glared at them in fury. "I was wondering how things went wrong! You can't even handle a tiny matter like this! A bunch of useless trash! Raising you all this time is worse than raising livestock!" Only then did he turn back to Chen Fan, scratching his head with an embarrassed, fawning grin. "Uh... Domain Lord Chen..." "So... what... what do we do now?" "Leave us," Chen Fan waved his hand. "I'll speak with this gentleman alone." Soon, only Chen Fan and the old man remained in the room. Dropping his act, the old man stood ramrod straight, though embarrassment still covered his face. He stood tall like a green pine. The muscle lines exposed to the air exuded a fierce, violent beauty; this old man was a bundle of solid muscle. "Do you have a name this time?" "Yes." The old man said sheepishly, "Zhao Shengping." "Speak. Why put on such a show? It's clear you came for Fan Domain from the very start. Why not get straight to the point?" "Well..." Zhao Shengping scratched his head and muttered in a hushed voice, "As the saying goes, even good wine fears a deep alley. If I came right in and offered to join Fan Domain, wouldn't I look too cheap? I thought putting on an impressive front would help me fetch a better price..." "And the front you're talking about is this get-up? Do you usually dress like this?" Leaning back against his chair, Chen Fan looked the old man up and down. "I don't usually wear this." The old man shook his head resolutely. "For an artifact refiner, swinging a hammer in this is pure agony. I only have two hobbies in my daily life, and one of them is listening to storytelling at teahouses. The hidden masters in the storybooks are always filthy, unkempt, and unconstrained by conventions. So I figured I'd put together an outfit like this so I'd look like a hermit master." "And then you hired a bunch of shills to hype you up?" Chen Fan couldn't hold back a laugh. "Who taught you all this?" "Actually... I had another script, but I didn't use it." "Let's hear it." "The other script was that after arriving in Fan City, I'd have my disciples disguise themselves as members of other factions desperately trying to recruit me with sky-high offers, so Domain Lord Chen would see how sought-after I was. But after thinking it over, I decided against it." "Why? That sounds even more interesting." "Well, uh... I was worried Domain Lord Chen would just go and slaughter all those factions." "I think you might have a slight misunderstanding about Fan Domain." "So you knew you wanted to join Fan Domain from the start?" "Yes." "Tell me your reasons." The wrinkles on Zhao Shengping's face rippled like waves before he spoke solemnly. "First, Fan Domain's rise has been fast enough. It's the fastest-rising faction I've ever seen, and I believe Fan Domain will accomplish great things in the future. "Second, I learned that Fan Domain currently has no artifact refiners. If I join early enough, as a Level 9 refiner, I might get to take charge of Fan Domain's refining operations. "Third, I really like Domain Lord Chen's way of doing things. Slaying the Dan Sect young master one day and wiping out the Dan Sect the next—I feel that following Domain Lord Chen will be thoroughly exhilarating." "What price are you asking?" "Would five hundred ghost stones a month as wages be acceptable?" the old man asked after a moment of hesitation. "So little?" Chen Fan arched a brow. He was genuinely astonished. A Level 9 artifact refiner capable of establishing a sect was asking for only five hundred ghost stones a month. That was virtually getting him for free. "However, I would like to make three requests, if that's acceptable. "First, my disciples have nowhere to stay right now. I hope they can join Fan Domain as well to assist me with daily chores. Their wages don't need to be nearly as much." "Are they refiners too?" "Every one of them." "No problem," Chen Fan agreed with a smile. "What are the other two requests?" "I cannot forge low-tier spirit treasures like White grade. Not because I'm unwilling, but because I truly cannot. I can only forge high-tier spirit treasures." "Go on." "I hope... to have a braising room of my own, so I can make braised food." "No problem." Though Chen Fan had no idea what to make of this braising room, he agreed anyway. Rising to his feet, he helped Zhao Shengping up and smiled. "Have Sick Monkey take you to change into fresh clothes. Later, once darkness falls, I'll bring you back to Fan Domain. "By the way—when did you come to Jiangdong from the Guanxi Plain?" "About seven years ago, I reckon." "And the faction you had in Jiangdong?" "It went under due to poor management." "Good." Sitting alone in the empty room, Chen Fan watched Zhao Shengping being led away by Sick Monkey, his eyes narrowing slightly. He was naturally glad to have a Level 9 artifact refiner suddenly come knocking; it would solve many of his problems. More importantly, however, he needed to look into the man's background. Coming to Jiangdong from the Guanxi Plain... Very few people moved from the Guanxi Plain to Jiangdong; one had to be utterly destitute to do so. The Guanxi Plain lay to the south of Jiangnan. It covered a vast territory—larger than all four regions, including Jiangbei and Jiangnan, combined. The Immortal Slaughter Holy Land was situated at the southernmost end of the Guanxi Plain, and the God Slaying Hall that Shao Qiu had founded single-handedly at age seventeen was also established there. Exactly seven years ago, Shao Qiu was captured. Perhaps Shao Qiu had heard of this person. After pondering for a moment, he drew a voice transmission talisman from his robes and contacted Shao Qiu: "Have you ever heard of a figure in the Guanxi Plain named Zhao Shengping? He currently goes by the title of Jiangdong Furnace Master, a Level 9 artifact refiner." Soon, a voice came through the talisman. "Zhao Shengping?" A heavy gust of wind accompanied the voice; clearly, Shao Qiu was on the road. Earlier today, Shao Qiu had led the Dark Pavilion south to other cities to clear out the shops established by the Wind and Rain Tower. "How did you hear about him, Domain Lord? "He's quite famous in Guanxi. People called him the 'Guanxi Braise Master'!" Chen Fan's brow furrowed slightly. Listening to the voice from the talisman, he asked in confusion, "Are Level 9 artifact refiners so rare in the Guanxi Plain that he could be called the 'Guanxi Furnace Master'?" "Domain Lord, you might have misunderstood. A Level 9 artifact refiner doesn't amount to much in Guanxi. His title isn't Furnace Master—it's Braise Master, as in braised food! "Zhao Shengping was once the most outstanding disciple in an artifact refining sect, extraordinarily gifted. But from the day he joined, he neglected his craft. His greatest passion in life was braising meat. "By the time he was expelled from the sect, he was still only a Level 9 artifact refiner, whereas those who had less talent than him had long surpassed Level 10. "He was famous precisely because of neglecting his proper duties, and also..." Over the talisman, Shao Qiu sounded like he was smacking his lips. "And also, that fellow's braised dishes are truly divine! Domain Lord, if you ever have the chance to taste them, you'll know he absolutely deserves the title of 'Guanxi Braise Master'. No one in all of Guanxi makes better braised delicacies than him. "His crowning masterpiece is Beggar's Chicken—an absolute wonder! "Later, the young master of that sect took over as sect master. He had always looked down on Zhao Shengping, thinking he brought shame upon the sect. On top of that, Zhao refused to forge ordinary spirit treasures, making up excuses like his whole body ached whenever he forged ordinary ones. The young master felt he was aiming too high while neglecting his duties, so he kicked him out outright. "Supposedly, Zhao Shengping knelt on the ground and begged the young master not to drive him away, swearing he would refine properly from then on. He said he had already come to view the place as his home and had nowhere else to go, but he was still thrown out. "It was quite sorrowful, really. "He had spent nearly his entire life in that sect, treating it as his home. He became an outer sect elder, filling the sect grounds every day with the aroma of braised meat and feeding the disciples. The disciples all loved him. "After that, I was imprisoned by the Immortal Slaughter Holy Land and didn't hear much about him. Now that you bring him up, Domain Lord, I'm actually craving a bite. I wonder if I'll ever get the chance to eat it again. "By the way, Domain Lord, where did you hear about this fellow?" "From the mouth of a beggar." With a slightly odd look, Chen Fan cut the transmission. Leaning back in his chair, he turned the matter over in his mind. For now, it seemed the man's background was clean, and he hadn't joined Fan Domain with any ulterior motive. Of course, everyone had motives. No one did anything without a purpose. As long as his motive wasn't to cause trouble or stab them in the back, it wouldn't be an issue. Besides... He genuinely refused to believe it. How good could a damn Beggar's Chicken possibly taste? Without lingering, Chen Fan stood and walked toward the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage waiting outside. He needed to return to the camp first to construct an artifact refining workshop. Inside the Fan Domain camp. On the sinkhole ground outside Chen Fan's cave, he marked out an area for the artifact refining workshop. The structure was relatively large and required adequate ventilation and heat dissipation, making the interior of the cave an unsuitable choice. Soon, white lines took shape in the air, outlining the phantom of a building before solidifying into a wooden cabin. In a single breath, he upgraded it to Level 3. Just as he was about to upgrade it to Level 4, he looked down at the Luck Whistle in his hand with sudden hesitation. Should he give it a try to see if he could trigger a qualitative change into an extraordinary artifact refining workshop? Even if it yielded a special living workshop or alchemy workshop, it wouldn't be a loss. Or should he save it for later? After several breaths, his mind was made up. There was no point in hoarding an exotic treasure like this; whenever there was an opportunity, however slim, to strengthen Fan Domain's foundation, he should seize it immediately. But... his reaction time had to be fast. "Phew..." He took a deep breath. He blew the whistle at once. The moment the sound rang out, the whistle shattered, turning into a pale-green streaming radiance that wrapped around his body. In that very instant, he upgraded the wooden cabin before him to Level 4, and a familiar yet distinct panel popped up before his eyes: [Wooden cabin upgraded to Level 4; transformed into a stone house, substantially sturdier.] [Please select an upgrade path.] [1: Living Workshop: Capable of producing daily necessities.] [2: Alchemy Workshop: Capable of concocting pills by refining ghost materials; requires an alchemist in residence.] [3: Qualitatively Changed (Heavenly Artifact Pavilion): Capable of forging spirit treasures from ghost materials; requires an artifact refiner in residence (Ordinary).] Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Fan selected the third option without even checking whether it was the qualitatively changed path for an artifact refining workshop, preparing to upgrade again to secure another upgrade path if possible. However... The upgrade failed. [PS: Upgrading to Level 5 requires 5,000 ghost stones and 1 Sea Embryo.] "A Sea Embryo again." Chen Fan let out a soft sigh. So be it. Looking closer at the qualitative change path, he broke into a smile. Though it was only an ordinary qualitative change, he was already quite satisfied. He only wondered how it compared to an ordinary artifact refining workshop. He checked the Heavenly Artifact Pavilion's panel: [Building Name]: Heavenly Artifact Pavilion [Building Grade]: White [Building Level]: Level 4 [Building Effects]: 1: Increases the success rate of forging spirit treasures. 2: Grants a low probability of receiving Heaven and Earth's blessing, automatically elevating the forged spirit treasure by one grade. [PS: Upgrading to Level 5 requires 5,000 ghost stones and 1 Sea Embryo.] "Not bad." Chen Fan grinned. Having completed all this, he built four Level 3 stone houses nearby before pulling out his voice transmission talisman: "Bring Zhao Shengping over." "Domain Lord." By now, Zhao Shengping had shed his tattered beggar's rags and donned a suit of hemp clothes. Looking at Chen Fan respectfully, his expression was solemn, devoid of the earlier flippancy and frivolity at the city gate. Clearly, this was his true self. "This Heavenly Artifact Pavilion is yours from now on. "As for those four houses over there, one is for your residence, two are for your disciples, and the last one is the braising room prepared for you. I haven't prepared any meat or spices, however; you'll have to procure those yourself."