Chapter 22: Desire to Protect His Son

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

It was natural for the profits from the merchant trade between the two counties on that route to belong to whoever could clear the horde of foxes. Furthermore, it was the Zhao Clan that had strongly proposed this notion back in the day.

Back then, Zhao Pingsong thought that out of the three clans, the Han Clan was the weakest, followed by the Lu Clan. The Zhao Clan was the strongest out of all of them. Both the Lu Clan and the Han Clan did not have Initial Enlightenment cultivators. Besides, unless a Foundation Building cultivator had a unique ability related to spirits or souls, they would not be able to deal with the entire horde of foxes.

There was no such person in both the Lu Clan and the Han Clan.

And that is why the Zhao Clan had the best advantage of clearing out the horde of foxes since the clan had a Foundation Building cultivator who cultivated a soul technique and was rather powerful in that area. Basically, it was so easy for them to deal with this matter.

They would have definitely opened up the trade route if they invited that high-level cultivator from the clan. Wouldn’t the profits land into the hands of the Zhao Clan if that happened?

The profit of the merchant route between the two counties, even if it was just from human trade, could fetch them about 20 Spirit Stones a year. That amount of Spirit Stones was enough to sustain two Qi Refining cultivators.

Furthermore, they would be able to set up and operate their own merchant team, which would give them an even greater boost in profit if they controlled the interests of that trade route. They could also create high-paying positions in the magistrate’s office if they occupied a trade route that led to another county. That would further enhance the clan’s control over Pingyao County…

However, the cultivator from the clan had not had the time to come and deal with the horde of foxes, so the situation unexpectedly dragged on for five years.

Initially, Zhao Pingsong did not think too much about the matter since the other two clans could not have dealt with the problem. However, he did not expect the Lu Clan to fix the problem suddenly.

In all honesty, the news exceeded all of Zhao Pingsong’s expectations.

He was certain that the Lu Clan would use this to further wrestle for control over Pingyao County.

He thought for a moment and then felt that this might be a good thing.

He had been thinking about how he could explain the decrease in Spirit Stones after his son, Zhao Qingan, had caused trouble and damaged the Zhao Clan’s interests in Pingyao County. In the end, a perfect excuse had been created for him.

He felt that it was all right for the Lu Clan to fight for their interests. All he had to do was transfer the loss incurred onto the incident with the merchant route. That would allow him to balance the books on the missing Spirit Stones. All he had to do was give up a little more when the Lu Clan came to fight for their interests. He did not mind that.

After all, the clan would bear the losses. The income that the Pingyao County provided were all handed over to the clan. The Spirit Stones would never have headed into his pockets. Compared to that, preventing his son from being punished was more important to him.

Of course, the clan would reprimand him for the fact that the Lu Clan had snatched the opportunity to eliminate the demon foxes instead of him. However, that was not too much of a problem. After all, he had long reported this matter to the clan. It was the clan who did not send over the Foundation Building cultivator who was adept in searching for souls for the longest time. What did that have anything to do with Zhao Pingsong?

After he made sense of the situation, he became more confident about how he should negotiate with the fifth son of the Lu Clan, Lu Chaojun.

******

Lu Chaojun was 87 years old. He was a ninth-tier Qi Refining cultivator with three Spiritual Roots.

Logically, the talent of those with three Spiritual Roots was average. When his father was still around, he had ample resources and could have definitely tried to advance to the Foundation Building Stage.

However, he was young and immature back then. He had thought that there was nothing to fear with a Golden Core Patriarch as his father. Not only was he greedy for worldly possessions and spent his life amidst the glitz and glamor, but also he even used his father’s name and caused much trouble. Lu Qing had taught him many harsh lessons before he showed a little restraint.

He did not put in much effort in his cultivation, which meant that he did not have rapid advancements in his cultivation level.

He was put through hardship after the clan became down and out. His personality got better, and he became more down-to-earth. He became more willing to collect himself and train well.

It was great that he realized his mistakes and was willing to change. However, he could not make up for the lost time.

After the clan became down and out, the resources he received were far from comparable to when Lu Qing was still around. His relatively weaker talents also did not allow him to reverse the situation. He was already over 60 years old when he reached the ninth tier of the Qi Refining Stage. His stamina and body were weakened, and he had missed the opportunity to reach the Foundation Building Stage.

Since that was the case, Lu Chaojun’s limit was the ninth tier of the Qi Refining Stage with a Core Lifespan of around 120 years.

He was remorseful, of course. However, at his age, he had gradually understood a few lessons. He had to pay the price for his mistakes.

Pingyao County had always been an important source of income for the clan, especially after they became down and out. An annual income of over 200 Spirit Stones was a large sum and naturally required an important cultivator from the clan to defend that interest.

In the past, Foundation Building cultivators from the clan took turns taking responsibility for that income. When the fights between the Zhao Clan and the Lu Clan got quelled-despite the existing high tensions between the two clans-the Zhao Clan had pulled back their Foundation Building cultivators. Since that was the case, the Lu Clan saw no reason to continue stationing their Foundation Building cultivators in Pingyao County, so they too pulled them out and only sent over a cultivator at the ninth tier of the Qi Refining Stage.

Lu Chaojun was that person.

This time around, his seventh brother, Lu Chaohe, had given him the message that the clan had exterminated the group of Cave Foxes on the trade route. He immediately knew what his seventh brother wanted to express and started to set up a merchant team that would head toward Luyi County. He also displayed the foxes’ hide after they were sent over to him.

Then, as expected, he received a verbal message from Zhao Pingsong. Zhao Pingsong was inviting him over for a negotiation.

Lu Chaojun had made preparations for a bitter negotiation before he headed over to find Zhao Pingsong. Zhao Pingsong was not an easy person to deal with. He was an old fox.

However, he felt that the situation was a little too good to be true after he finished his negotiations with Zhao Pingsong.

It was natural to propose an extortionate amount when negotiations for interests had started before slowly going into the details. Lu Chaojun had first mentioned a condition that he thought was extremely favorable for the Lu Clan. He was also prepared to engage in a long battle with Zhao Pingsong. However, the other party was far softer than he imagined. The two parties had reached a consensus on matters regarding the trade route in an afternoon. The benefits the Lu Clan obtained was far more than he had first expected.

He was elated, of course. However, he felt that there was something off. When did the old thing from the Zhao Clan become so easygoing?

He thought deeply about the situation, but he could not understand just what was wrong about his negotiation with Zhao Pingsong.

“Could it be that there would be problems with the execution?” When he thought about this, he decided that he would pay closer attention when he set up the merchant team and obtained the benefits that belonged to the Lu Clan in the future, in case the Zhao Clan would cause any trouble.

The future developments proved that he thought too much about the situation.

The Zhao Clan seemed rather sincere. They handed over whatever they needed to as discussed.

Ten days later, the first wave of merchant teams set off on their journey. Two months later, regular trade between Pingyao County and Luyi County returned.

Lu Chaojun paid close attention to the developments for a year. Everything was calm. The Zhao Clan did not cause any trouble.

The situation felt a little weird. However, Lu Chaojun could never have thought that this situation had arisen because Zhao Pingsong wanted to cover up his son’s mistakes and had not reported the truth to his clan.

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