The First One, Please Come In

Although Jiang Youfu was exceptionally skilled at cooking, there were still some areas of food preparation he had never ventured into. Tea roasting was one of them.

Ma Changlong, however, was a longtime gourmet. He had not only devoted considerable effort to studying cuisine, but had also carefully learned the various techniques involved in tea processing. Thus, after becoming Jiang Youfu’s disciple, he greatly expanded the Spirit Food Hall of the Lingxian Sect in all kinds of culinary directions.

Li Zhouxuan had tasted some of the Lingxian Sect’s spirit tea before. After all, the Li Clan had maintained close ties with the Lingxian Sect in the past, and he was fairly familiar with Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe. They would occasionally send him some tea in private.

This time, however, Mo Yuanjiao had claimed that the tea he had grown had been cultivated with exceptional care and was even better than the sect’s tea in previous years.

Li Zhouxuan opened the tea jar, used a small wooden clip to take out a pinch of tea leaves, and placed them into the purple clay teapot beside him. He then set the tea jar on a small antique display shelf nearby.

The small kettle beside the desk was heating silently. Li Zhouxuan took out the various proposals he had discussed with Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe over the past two days, along with several jade-slip contracts, from his storage ring and neatly arranged them in the document rack on the desk.

The storage ring provided by the sect had a very large capacity, but Li Zhouxuan did not put everything inside it. He only used it for important personal items and various work documents.

He kept all the everyday odds and ends in a storage pouch. Mo Yuanjiao had made that pouch for him. There was no helping it—the entire sect now used storage rings, and storage pouches had become much less common.

They were generally used only when transporting large quantities of goods. In their daily lives, the disciples all felt that storage rings were more convenient.

The desk itself was equipped with the Four Treasures of the Study, special cinnabar, and everything else needed for signing contracts. After checking that everything was in order, Li Zhouxuan heard the kettle beside him begin to bubble.

The water was ready.

He picked up the kettle and poured the hot water into the purple clay teapot. The delicate fragrance of spirit tea rose from the spout with the soft steam, filling the entire room with its aroma.

Two Azure Cloud Peak disciples who shared the office with him and assisted in handling administrative matters entered the room. Smelling the fragrance, they greeted him with a smile.

“Good morning, Brother Li. You’re making tea this early?”

“Good morning.” Li Zhouxuan replied with a gentle smile. He poured tea into three cups and offered two of them to the disciples. “Have some.”

The two disciples accepted the tea and thanked him before walking over to their own desks.

Two clangs of a gong rang out from the courtyard outside, signaling to everyone in the affairs center that the main gates were about to open.

Before long, the door to the office marked “External Trade” was knocked upon.

Standing outside was a long line of people.

They were the sect masters, elders, and other representatives of various sects and imperial families.

At first, they had all tried to rush in together. It was only after an elderly man from what had once been Xiushui Village—now employed to guard the entrance—reminded them, “Don’t rush. Line up and handle your affairs one at a time,” that they more or less formed a queue.

Li Zhouxuan and the other two Azure Cloud Peak disciples immediately became busy.

“Next person, please!”

Although he had been an emperor for many years, after relinquishing that lofty status in the mortal world, Li Zhouxuan adapted to his new role with remarkable speed.

At his call, the first two people in line entered.

They were Venerable Xunfang, the sect master of the Scarlet Sky Sect, and the sect’s Second Elder.

“Please take a seat here.” One of the disciples directed them to sit across from Li Zhouxuan’s desk.

Once the two had sat down, Li Zhouxuan asked, “May I ask your identities and what business you wish to conduct?”

The Second Elder turned to look at Venerable Xunfang.

“Master of the Scarlet Sky Sect, Xunfang. I have come to rent a shop in the commercial district of the city on behalf of the Scarlet Sky Sect,” Venerable Xunfang replied.

Li Zhouxuan quickly recorded the Scarlet Sky Sect’s information in the small booklet before him as he explained, “At present, only the shops on First Street are available for lease in the commercial district. Each shop has the same area—fifty square meters. The location cannot be chosen and will be determined by drawing lots. Rent is waived for this year; beginning next year, rent will be charged.”

As he spoke, he tore out the page he had just written and handed it to Venerable Xunfang.

“This is your sect’s leasing voucher. You may take it to the shop-leasing office next door to sign the lease and draw lots.”

Venerable Xunfang accepted the slip of paper. It contained only some basic information about their sect, along with the character for “one.”

Immediately afterward, he heard the young cultivator across from him ask another question.

“May I ask whether your sect is interested in accepting trade orders from Xiushui City?”

“Of course.” Venerable Xunfang nodded.

That was precisely why they had come. On New Year’s Eve, after the Lingxian Sect had brought up the matter, it had handed them over to the Li imperial family for further discussion. The problem was that the Li Clan had not been prepared at the time. Their explanation had been vague and incomplete; they had merely given the sect a general understanding of previous transactions, and nothing concrete had been settled.

Li Zhouxuan immediately pulled several sheets of paper bound together from the side and handed them over.

“These are our trade center’s purchase orders for next month. The types of goods, prices, and quality requirements are all listed. If your sect wishes to accept any of the orders, simply check the box beside the relevant item and indicate the quantity your sect can supply.”

Venerable Xunfang accepted the papers. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, he grasped their contents, then passed them to the Second Elder beside him.

The list contained a wide variety of goods. Some were things their sect could produce, while others were items they had only purchased at high prices from the cultivation world and had never learned to make themselves.

What surprised him most, however, were the purchase prices listed for each item.

They were surprisingly generous.

The Lingxian Sect knew that many of the items on the list were things that the sects of the mortal world had no knowledge of how to produce. In time, they would set reasonable prices and sell the relevant production methods.

But not now.

Many of the sects present had never done business with the Lingxian Sect before. Even if the production methods were made available, they might not trust the sect enough to purchase them. Moreover, since they had never accepted such orders, their proficiency would certainly be lacking.

To prevent sects that reached beyond their abilities from rashly purchasing production methods and accepting large numbers of orders, it would be better to wait until they had developed a certain level of trust in Xiushui City’s trade center before putting those methods up for sale.

Li Zhouxuan immediately took another list from the rack and handed it over.

“This is our sales list. Your sect may look it over as well. If there is anything you need, you may check the corresponding box and write down the quantity you wish to purchase. Of course, our city shops will also begin selling these goods at retail prices starting today. The prices on this list, however, are our center’s bulk rates, so they will be lower.”

Venerable Xunfang reached out and accepted the list, scanning it with his spiritual sense.

When he saw the range of goods and their prices, his astonishment deepened.