Chapter 768: Thus Far

"Hall Master, thank you for the hospitality today." Pang Mingde said with a smile.

Yan Buji clasped his hands and said: "Elder Pang, you are too kind; your presence at my Nascent Soul Banquet is my honor."

Pang Mingde nodded, then turned serious: "Yuan Zhen sought me out; I suppose it's about the Time Sand?"

Yan Buji felt a stir in his heart, knowing Pang Mingde had already guessed Yuan Zhen's intention. He nodded and said: "Elder Pang, your insight is correct; Elder Yuan indeed has some matters he wishes to discuss with you."

Pang Mingde pondered for a moment, then said: "If that's the case, I'll go see him. Hall Master, please lead the way."

Yan Buji nodded, leading Pang Mingde to Yuan Zhen's residence. Yuan Zhen had been waiting inside; upon seeing Pang Mingde enter, he immediately rose to greet him.

"Elder Pang, long time no see." Yuan Zhen said with a smile.

Pang Mingde nodded and got straight to the point: "Elder Yuan, you summoned me—is it about the Time Sand?"

Yuan Zhen also didn't beat around the bush, nodding: "Exactly. News of the Time Sand has spread throughout the cultivation world; all major powers have come pressuring us to hand it over. Though our sect fears them not, a direct clash would likely incur heavy losses."

Pang Mingde frowned slightly: "You mean you want to cooperate with our Paolong Sacred Land?"

Yuan Zhen nodded: "Exactly. Our sect has always been on good terms with Paolong Sacred Land; joining forces would not only safeguard the Time Sand but also give us the initiative in future developments."

Pang Mingde reflected for a moment, then said: "The Time Sand is indeed a supreme treasure, worthy of cooperation. However, Paolong Sacred Land also has its own considerations. Elder Yuan, do you have any concrete plan?"

Yuan Zhen smiled: "We can discuss the specifics slowly. I suggest we first sign a cooperation agreement, clearly defining each side's rights and obligations. That way, both parties can proceed with peace of mind."

Pang Mingde nodded: "Good, let's first sign the cooperation agreement; we'll discuss the detailed terms later."

Yuan Zhen nodded satisfactorily: "Elder Pang, you are indeed straightforward."

Yan Buji listened from the side, secretly relieved. He knew the sect's alliance with Paolong Sacred Land would bring tremendous aid to the sect, and he himself could secure a more advantageous position in the future.

Yuan Zhen said to Yan Buji: "Hall Master, this time we owe you for enabling the smooth cooperation with Paolong Sacred Land."

Yan Buji clasped his hands: "Elder Yuan, you overpraise me; I merely did my duty."

Yuan Zhen nodded: "Regarding the Monster Tribe, things may not be very peaceful lately; could you go investigate?"

"Monster Tribe?..... Yes, I understand!"

Yan Buji walked to the Sect Mining Area entrance, seeing off Ye Lin and these Paolong Sacred Land cultivators, Pang Mingde included.

"Hall Master, we'll take our leave now; we'll meet again later." Ye Lin waved with a smile.

"See you." Yan Buji waved back, seeing them off.

Soon, Yan Buji sought out Xiong Ba Tian and Tu Nuo Duo again.

"My friend, this wine really can't be sold to me?" Xiong Ba Tian clung to the wine jar, refusing to let go; Yan Buji shook his head:

"I've said it's not for sale; if I hadn't broken through to Nascent Soul, I'd be reluctant to bring it out."

"Stingy." Xiong Ba Tian pursed his lips.

Yan Buji couldn't deny it, shrugging his shoulders as he looked at Tu Nuo Duo: "Have you discovered the identities of those black-robed cultivators?"

Tu Nuo Duo fell silent, then whispered: "We suspect they might be from the Otherworldly Race..."

"Otherworldly Race?"

"To be precise, it's the Azure Fox Tribe!"

Azure Fox?

Yan Buji furrowed his brow; he had heard before that the Fox Tribe is related to the fox clan among monsters, though he wasn't sure if that was the case.

"Earlier years, I once heard that the Fox Tribe, this Otherworldly Race, has some connection with the monster fox clan; is that so?" Yan Buji asked.

Tu Nuo Duo hesitated, while Xiong Ba Tian beside her had no reservations, saying directly: "The Fox Tribe and the fox clan are distinguished by bloodline concentration."

"Huh?"

"Many Otherworldly Races are hybrids of humans and monsters, aside from a few particularly special ones. Take the Fox Tribe, for instance; I recall it originally stemmed from the Celestial Fox line, which had close ties to the fox clan, and it's said the ancient Celestial Fox clan were sisters of the fox clan."

Yan Buji stroked his chin: "You mean the Celestial Fox branch of the Fox Tribe broke away from the fox clan, willingly becoming an Otherworldly Race?"

"More or less; originally the Celestial Fox branch had sufficient bloodline to join the fox clan, and no one would object, but they chose not to. As for the other Fox Tribes, only the Azure Fox Tribe remains in Zhong Tian Zhi Yu. So..."

"Does this involve the relationship between the Otherworldly Race and the fox clan? Then, does that mean the Azure Fox Tribe is acting under the fox clan's orders to cause trouble for you?" Yan Buji looked at Tu Nuo Duo.

Tu Nuo Duo shook her head: "No evidence, I dare not say that."

"Indeed." Yan Buji looked at Tu Nuo Duo: "Then what is your stance?"

"Thus far."

"Alright." Yan Buji sighed, then looked at her: "If anything happens, come to us; aside from anything else, I'll guarantee your safety."

Tu Nuo Duo laughed: "Thank you, Yan Buji."

"You're welcome."

Saying nice words costs nothing, yet you take pleasantries seriously— that only shows you're still too young.

However, Tu Nuo Duo's status is different; after all, she is the daughter of the Rabbit Tribe chieftain. Although Yan Buji has never visited the Rabbit Tribe, the Tribe might truly possess a way to find the Time Sand; regardless, maintaining good relations with them is certainly no loss.

After the banquet.

Yan Buji returned to work in the mining area. Although these years he had been in seclusion, affairs had been delegated to Wan'an Zhou and others; Yan Buji flipped through his old ledger and immediately spotted some minor issues.

"Hall Master Zhou." Yan Buji held the ledger and sighed.

"Hall Master Yan, you're...?" Zhou Wan'an chuckled, sweat beading on his forehead.

"Your accounting has some problems. For instance, here you shouldn't have spread everything evenly; it would be better to simply write off the loss once."

Zhou Wan'an naturally understood Yan Buji's meaning, saying softly: "Hall Master Yan, it's not my fault; those elders during that period couldn't produce goods, and the Monster Tribe urged us urgently, so I really had no choice..."

"Sigh, I'm not blaming you; since trade with the Monster Tribe continues, from now on don't do this. If the elders truly intend to run this business, they'll prepare properly no matter what. If shoddy goods become frequent, even if they don't complain, they'll surely feel uneasy inside." Yan Buji said.

"Yes, yes, yes."

Yan Buji smiled: "Of course, if you can devise a way for Monster Tribe cultivators to accept substandard goods, that would be even better."

"Huh?!" Zhou Wan'an stared at Yan Buji: "Hall Master Yan, you mean..."

"For example, levy an additional fee based on the goods' value." Yan Buji said: "Since our goods, connections, supply, etc., are not problematic, we aim to earn greater profit; we might as well sell goods at cost price!"

"Selling at cost? How would we profit?"

"The profit is the Spiritual Stones from the additional goods! If you don't force the other party to buy, and you sell at cost price, as long as the goods aren't fake, just slightly inferior in quality, do you think anyone would buy?"

Zhou Wan'an nodded immediately—do you even need to think about it?

Who wouldn't want to get a bargain?

"Then we can prepare lots and lots of additional goods—for example, the other party prepares a large sum of Spiritual Stones, but only spends a little money to buy the needed items at cost price; then the remaining Spiritual Stones we need to figure out how to earn back from the additional goods, and we can even earn more!" Yan Buji laughed.

Zhou Wan'an was stunned, and patiently listened as Yan Buji began to speak.