"Nephew Bai, I’ve long seen that your natural aptitude is extraordinary. You are destined for great things in the future."

Li Ting’s father, Li Wanqian, was lavishing Bai Yuan with praise.

The reason he was the Li Family Patriarch and not his older brother was precisely because he had a way with people—or to put it bluntly, he was shameless.

"Nephew Bai, my Ting’Er has now reached a marriageable age. If you have any talented friends, you must introduce them to her."

"Father~"

Li Ting’s face flushed red, and she could only cut him off, embarrassed and annoyed.

"Girls are so easily embarrassed."

Li Wanqian paid her no mind, continuing on as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

Bai Yuan simply smiled and nodded.

’After getting to know him for a while, I can see Li Wanqian is a shrewd man. He won’t cause any major trouble. I was already affiliated with the Li Family, so there’s no harm in officially becoming their Grand Elder now.’

’The position is equivalent to Elder Wu’s in the Zhu Family—transcendent and independent. Not even Li Wanqian himself would be able to restrain me in the slightest.’

The terms offered by the Li Family were also extremely generous.

A twenty percent cut!

Twenty percent might not sound like much, but it was twenty percent of the entire Li Family’s enterprise. That calculated out to at least a thousand taels of silver a year, far more than his dividend from the Five Flavors Pavilion.

Bai Yuan was now, in every sense of the word, a wealthy man.

But being a Martial Artist was a bottomless pit; no amount of money was ever enough.

With money, one naturally wants to upgrade their herbal formulas. In this world, aside from the precious herbs common in his previous life, there were also many Spirit Plants.

The effects of these Spirit Plants were a hundred times more potent than ordinary herbs. Some even had the miraculous ability to bring the dead back to life and grow flesh on bare bones.

The Devil’s Pepper he used in his powder was one such Spirit Plant; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been effective even against someone like Liu Hanshan.

Spirit Plants useful to Martial Artists were astronomically expensive, and what’s more, they were often unavailable at any price.

Often, the moment one was unearthed, it would spark a mad scramble, with most being snatched up by major powers like the Divine Mansion Sect.

Bai Yuan’s own dietary prescriptions also required Spirit Plants to achieve their maximum effect.

Li Wanqian was talking a mile a minute, with no intention of stopping.

Bai Yuan quickly waved his hands. "Patriarch Li, I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be taking my leave."

’Since the details had been settled, there was no need to linger at the Li Family residence.’

The Li father and daughter saw him to the door.

Just as Li Ting was waving goodbye—

Xiaoqing, hidden in his sleeve, suddenly grew restless.

’Demonic energy!’

The hair on Bai Yuan’s body stood on end, and his nerves stretched taut.

The wave of demonic energy came on so fast he had no time to react. It was far stronger than even that of the Huang Pizi.

’There’s a demon in Qinghe County!’

’He was horrified. Demons that dared to hide in plain sight among mortals were always formidable, far beyond what he could afford to provoke at his current level.’

Seeing Bai Yuan’s stiff expression, Li Wanqian and Li Ting were completely bewildered.

They were ordinary people and lacked the ability to sense demons, so they couldn’t perceive the demonic energy. They only felt a sudden chill in the air.

Some experienced old mountain dwellers knew that if they felt a sudden temperature change on a forest path, it meant a demon was nearby.

As a Demon Hunter, Bai Yuan’s senses were far more acute.

’That demon’s power is even greater than a Strong Internal Martial Master!’

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a towering, eight-foot-tall figure on the street not far away. A black robe concealed its face, leaving its features obscured.

The demonic energy was emanating from that black-robed figure.

The figure didn’t seem to notice Bai Yuan’s reaction and quickly vanished at the end of the street. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

As the demonic energy faded, Bai Yuan finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Li Ting finally dared to ask, "Senior Brother Bai, what just happened?"

Bai Yuan’s expression was grave. "The Li Family should have no one go outside for the time being. As for business... halt it for a while."

"Halt business?"

Li Wanqian’s brow furrowed.

The Li Family’s business was massive. Halting operations for a single day meant a loss of several thousand taels of silver. If it went on for too long, even the Li Family’s wealth would not be enough to sustain the losses.

Nevertheless, Li Wanqian nodded seriously.

"We’ll do as Nephew Bai says."

’If Bai Yuan said so, there must be a good reason. He had chosen to align with Bai Yuan not just for his potential, but also for his character.’

’In the eyes of outsiders, Bai Yuan was still just a Bone Forger Disciple. And while Old Xue had taken him as a true disciple, he had not yet reached the Yijin level. For the Li Family to offer him a twenty percent share was already unheard of.’

"Very good."

Bai Yuan nodded slightly.

’Li Wanqian’s ready agreement truly surprised him. It seemed the Li Family’s success wasn’t built solely on the strength of Li Wanqian’s older brother, the Yijin Martial Master.’

Only after confirming the tall figure had truly gone did he start walking in the direction of the Martial Arts Hall.

* * *

Deep beneath the Qinghe River, at the Soul-Chasing Tower.

The tall figure reappeared at the pinnacle of the wooden tower. Xinchou, the Soul Chasing Tower Lord, stood respectfully to one side.

"How are the preparations for the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival coming along?"

"Everything is ready."

"Good."

Hearing Xinchou’s reply, the tall figure nodded in satisfaction. The Ten Thousand Spirits Festival was a matter of great importance, which was why he had personally come to Qinghe County to oversee it.

Xinchou’s eyes flickered, and he hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I hear that Dong Wanjun has appeared in the neighboring county. If he wishes it, he could come for us in Qinghe at any moment."

He couldn’t help but tremble at the very mention of Dong Wanjun’s name.

The tall figure snorted.

"Let him come. I have my own ways of dealing with him."

Seeing the figure’s confidence, Xinchou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

’This tall figure was an expert sent by the Soul-Chasing Tower from Huanglong Prefecture. Surely he has a plan.’

Xinchou gave another respectful bow and began to back away slowly.

This had originally been his room, but after the tall figure’s arrival, it had naturally become the other’s.

The Soul-Chasing Tower might seem to be without rules, but in reality, strength was the greatest rule of all.

To survive, the weak had to do everything in their power to curry favor with the strong.

If Xinchou showed the slightest hint of impatience, the tall figure would likely kill him with a single palm strike. Such incidents were commonplace in the Soul-Chasing Tower.

The Soul-Chasing Tower had use only for the strong...

Just as Xinchou was about to exit the room—

"One more thing."

The tall figure suddenly stopped him.

Xinchou’s heart skipped a beat, terrified that he had somehow displeased the man.

"There’s an interesting lad associated with the Li Family. He can actually tame a Snake Demon. Go and investigate."

’Taming Demons!’

Xinchou was shocked.

In this world, the influence of demons was in no way inferior to that of the Demon Sect.

Every demon was immensely powerful. People capable of taming them existed, but they were all great figures found only in places like Ling Province. How could one suddenly appear in Qinghe County?

After all, taming a demon was only possible with the backing of a powerful heritage.

The reason the tall figure hadn’t acted on the spot was his apprehension about the faction behind Bai Yuan. Even someone like him was unwilling to invite such trouble.

"As you command."

Xinchou said in a low voice, a flicker of doubt in his mind.

He knew the city’s various powers like the back of his hand, but he had never heard of the Li Family having someone capable of taming a demon.

’Truly bizarre.’