Chapter 229: The Broiler Plan and the Selection of the Trading Post Site

After Zhou You succeeded, he observed for a few days, verified the functions of the Blood Qi Gu, and then left.

He had originally intended to keep an eye on Li Chonghe to collect more intelligence, but a Martial Master's senses were far too keen.

Several times when Zhou You snuck in, before he could even get close, Li Chonghe would immediately react, his gaze sweeping over like a scorching beam of light, nearly exposing his tracks.

The more he came into contact with them, the more he understood the terrifying nature of Martial Masters.

Zhou You realized that being able to succeed in the past was mostly due to sheer dumb luck; he could no longer afford to be complacent.

His arrangement for Li Chonghe was to use him as a surprise trump card.

Once a confrontation with Li Chonghe occurred, the effect of the head disciple betraying him and launching a sneak attack from behind at a critical moment would be simply awesome.

Before that, he would let him lurk for the time being and incidentally "shear the sheep" to provide Experience Points.

The orders Zhou You gave Li Chonghe were to only cultivate two fist techniques: the Double Body Tiger Form Fist and the Heaven-Nurturing Origin Method.

The former was still in its initial creation stage and required the "stones from other hills" to further optimize it.

Through the Blood Qi Gu, Zhou You even stole the Heming Fist from Li Chonghe, using it to peek into the patterns of Li Chonghe's fist techniques.

Knowing oneself and the enemy ensures victory in every battle; this move was also to seize the initiative.

As for the Heaven-Nurturing Origin Method, it was like a chicken rib to Zhou You—time-consuming and laborious with little effect, though its only advantage was that it provided quite a lot of Experience Points.

Now that he had a "broiler" to train for him, he simply handed it over to him to practice and study; perhaps Li Chonghe had a special constitution and could help him realize some secret! Anyway, no matter what benefits Li Chonghe gained from his hunger, it would ultimately have to be handed over to Zhou You, the terminal.

Zhou You estimated that he could get at least 10,000 Experience Points from Li Chonghe.

If Jiang Hua could hold his temper, perhaps he could wait until Zhou You's third avatar was promoted to a blank-slate Martial Master and give him a big surprise.

"Experience Points -15,800, Five Blessings Palm and Fist Record lv8 → lv9."

"Name: Zhou You.

Qi and Blood: 631 (907).

Experience Points: 92.

Occupation: Martial Arts Disciple.

Level: Qi and Blood 6th Stage (Seven Step Poison Sand Palm, Double Body Tiger Form Fist), Qi and Blood 3rd Stage (Yanxing Quan), Qi and Blood 9th Stage (Five Blessings Palm and Fist Record).

Skills: Seven Step Poison Sand Palm lv6 (Attribute: Corrosion), Tiger-Subduing Fist lv31, Yanxing Quan lv29, Basic Lightness Skill lv6/lv10, Pipa lv3, Seal Script lv10, Alchemy lv19.

Cultivation Methods: Jade Tiger Method lv6 (Iron Tiger), Boneless Heart Method lv6, Jiaodie Technique lv6, Secret Method of External Profound Heart lv1, Heaven-Nurturing Origin Method lv1, Five Blessings Palm and Fist Record (lv8).

Ultimate Moves: Three-Fold Technique lv2, Tiger Fiend lv6, Poison Fiend lv3, Feather Qi lv2, Primordial Iron Garment lv2.

Talent: Hunger

Armory: Void Face (Flesh Magic Treasure) — False Identities: First Lu Zhigang, Second Yan Ping, Wuxiang Tongkui (calculating).

Trial Project One (Three-Star Level): Besiege and kill the Martial Master Li Chonghe.

Trial Project Two (Three-Star Level): Break through to the Martial Master realm and discover the secret of the Heaven-Nurturing Origin Method.

Trial Project Three (Two-Star Level): Accumulate 10 kills of Transformed Charms, 9/10 completed.

Trial Project Four (Three-Star Level): Refine one Ten Thousand Poison Heart-Attacking Pill."

After the upgrade, the Qi and Blood of the third avatar, Yan Ping, had reached the 9th stage, just one step away from breaking through to the primary Martial Master level.

Although he was a blank-slate Martial Master with no skills and no ultimate moves, it held extremely important significance.

Once the path of the Martial Master was opened, breaking through later with other fist techniques would become a matter of course.

After leaving the town, Zhou You specifically made a trip to the nearest Shen Family Trading Post.

After all, the excuse he used for coming out to handle affairs this time was to inspect the external environment of the trading firm and prepare for future work.

Freight depots and trading posts were key nodes for the firm's external transport, equivalent to the intersection of blood vessels.

Caravans coming from the south and going to the north needed to stop for rest, replenish supplies, and incidentally trade some goods on the spot to recoup funds.

Therefore, the location of the trading post was extremely important; even at its worst, it could not be opened in the middle of nowhere.

When Zhou You arrived at the trading post, he saw herds of mules and horses passing by, carrying large and small packages of goods. These were bulk goods; the more precious and delicate ones were packed in crates and transported by carriage.

"Zhou You, how do you have time to come over!"

The person in charge at the trading post was actually Manager Xu, the father of Xu Ying.

Because of his relationship with Xu Ying, and because Zhou Laodie was also a colleague, Zhou You politely addressed him as Uncle.

"Uncle Xu, I came over to see the situation, to be of help in the future."

Manager Xu did not say much; he knew more than outsiders.

Once upon a time, it was difficult for Zhou You to even take over his father's job as a clerk, but now...

Manager Xu had heard that Master Shen intended to marry his daughter to Zhou You, not to give him shares, but to rope him into the trading firm.

In troubled times, if you want to do business steadily, you can't do it without a hard fist; having a son-in-law who can fight is better than ten thousand gold.

Thinking that Zhou You was about to become his direct superior, Manager Xu became even more polite, "Come, take a look around."

Zhou You wandered around for half a day and discovered the shortcomings of this trading post.

Compared to the town where Li Chonghe was entrenched, the geographical location was not very good, and the transport costs for transshipment were quite high.

As a result, the cost of transporting goods took up the lion's share, eating away a large portion of the profits.

"Uncle Xu, why was the trading post built in this place?"

Zhou You voiced the doubt in his heart to Manager Xu.

Manager Xu was surprised by his precise insight and sighed, "Don't mention it."

The town with the best original geographical location was occupied by Li Chonghe. This person had a huge appetite; he thought the protection money wasn't enough, and if you wanted to do business on his turf, you had to hand over 30% of the shares first.

Master Shen would rather die than do such a thing as "inviting a wolf into the house," preferring to pay high costs to build the trading post elsewhere.

It was fine in the past, but with the turmoil of the times, bandits, beast herds, and monsters appeared in turns, and the cost of escorting in the wild rose straight up.

"Even I, as a manager, have to come out to oversee it, otherwise the transshipment would be a mess, with countless losses."

Manager Xu sighed, "Zhou You, the times are difficult, everyone has to tighten their belts to get by!"

Therefore, solving the problem is easy: just eliminate Golden Crane Mountain, take back the town, and build a cargo depot.

What a small matter! After Zhou You returned to Gongliang City, he first went to visit his Senior Brother, Shen Sijing.

"Junior Brother Zhou, what a rare guest!"

"Not at all, not at all. I just returned from outside the city and have some things I need to discuss with you, Senior Brother."

Zhou You exchanged pleasantries with him for a moment, mainly talking about his trip to survey the external environment.

"Sigh, you've seen it too; the trading firm is currently stretched thin. Last month we just let go of a batch of experienced hands. It pained my father so much he couldn't sleep for several nights, but there was no choice—we can't afford to feed so many mouths."

Zhou You did not speak; even with the trading firm in such difficulty, his father's salary had not been reduced.

Master Shen could be said to have done everything he could for their family.

Regardless of whether there was some ulterior motive, Zhou You felt he should do something for the Shen Family Trading Firm.

"Set your heart at ease, Senior Brother; things will surely improve."

Once Zhou You and Jiang Hua killed those from Golden Crane Mountain and the trading firm moved into the small town to establish a cargo depot, they would save a large sum in transport costs.

This move would also repay the kindness of Senior Brother Shen, who had stood by his side and offered help when he broke away from the martial arts school.

"I hope so."

Shen Sijing did not take it to heart; he treated Zhou You's words as mere comfort.

After all, given the trading firm's current state of operations, it would not be easy to turn things around.

(End of chapter)