Chapter Thirteen: Forcing the Palace

  The delicate golden threads were intertwined, forming a small net bag that was just the right size to hold the scarlet flame crystal. The two sides of the net bag were tied together with a thin golden thread, turning it into a golden silk necklace that he wore around his neck.

  Hiss!!!!!

  Wang Guanlan took a deep breath, although he knew he had succeeded, but when he put on the necklace and communicated with it through his spiritual awareness, the surging fire element fluctuations and the jumping hot flow still made him breathe slightly stagnantly.

  At the moment he put on this necklace, Wang Guanlan even felt as if he had returned to the Red Fire Dragon Flag, of course, although the two were not at all on the same level, but the feeling was so similar.

  He gently raised his hand, palm up, and his five fingers flexed. A faint flame formed in the air above his palm, quickly condensing into a small fireball, followed by a second one, a third one, a fourth one...

  In a short period of time, more than a dozen fireballs had gathered around his body, which was unimaginable before. With a thought, these fireballs quickly gathered together and merged into a large fireball the size of a basketball, which flew out of the window under Wang Guanlan's control and smashed onto a bluestone slab.

  A loud boom!!

  A two-meter-square bluestone was blasted into fragments by a fireball and splashed everywhere.

  "What's wrong, young master?!"

  "What happened!"

  "Fourteen Shao, are you okay?!!"

  The commotion caused by this fireball was too great, and it immediately startled everyone in the small courtyard. Tian Cheng and Tian You rushed in at the first moment to check the situation.

  "It's nothing, I'm just testing a new spell, you all go down!"

  After listening to Wang Guanlan trying out new spells, both Hua Lianwei and Wei's eyes flashed with a hint of admiration and understanding. Since the day Wang Guanlan used his formation technique to defeat the eighteen mountain bandits at An Tun Inn, these Hua Lianwei and guards had developed a deep-seated fear of Wang Guanlan. This fear made them more cautious and respectful when facing Zhou Bao.

  The subordinate's attitude was quite satisfying to Wang Guanlan's vanity, to put it bluntly, he was still a person who was easily satisfied.

  As he watched the two leave, Wang Guanlan continued to experiment with the effect of the Chi Yan Jing. This time, a small flame appeared at the tip of his index finger, less than half a centimeter away from his fingertip, and then on his middle finger, ring finger, little finger, and thumb. Soon, a small fireball appeared at the tip of each of his five fingers.

  "If one day I master the 123rd ranked Flame Ball Technique, wouldn't I be able to play with the Five Finger Exploding Flame Bullet?! He thought to himself in a distracted manner, as his understanding of martial arts and Taoist magic deepened, he also became more aware of the differences between the two."

  Martial arts, in essence, is the inhalation and exhalation of the heaven and earth's primordial energy, assimilating the heaven and earth's primordial energy into one's own internal energy. This is a process of assimilating the heaven and earth's primordial energy, whether it is using internal energy to temper and refine the body or cultivate various different martial arts techniques, all are applications of this internal energy. The Taoist methods are different.

  The Tao, in essence, is the use of spiritual or divine power to manipulate the primordial energy of heaven and earth. The primordial energy manipulated by the Tao is completely original and external, rather than internal. Therefore, many practitioners have weak bodies but can accomplish countless unbelievable things through their powerful divine power. Even when a practitioner reaches the ninth rank, their divine power can leave their body and exist independently, neither born nor destroyed, becoming a ghost immortal.

  Of course, there are many places where martial arts and Taoist techniques intersect. For example, the visualization methods and spiritual techniques in Taoist techniques for cultivating spiritual power are similar to the internal energy cultivation methods of martial arts, which are the foundation of everything. Without a strong, sensitive, and pure spirit, even the most magical techniques are just jokes.

  It is precisely because the Taoist technique directly manipulates the primordial energy of heaven and earth, so compared to martial arts, it appears even more mysterious and eerie. Therefore, the controllers of the Taoist technique, the Taoist practitioners, are also much more mysterious than ordinary warriors in the eyes of ordinary people.

  Wang Guanlan now understands three spells, one is the fireball technique, and the other two are the Scarlet Flame Arrows and Golden Rainbow Piercing the Sun, which he obtained from the black-clothed woman and Qing Xiang's magic soldiers. With the power of the Scarlet Flame Crystal, he can now cast the Scarlet Flame Arrows, but the Golden Rainbow Piercing the Sun is a gold-based spell that he cannot sense or manipulate with his current abilities. To cast this spell, he still needs to rely on Qing Xiang's magic soldier, but unfortunately, the quality of that magic soldier is only inferior, and it was ruined after forcibly casting the Golden Rainbow Piercing the Sun once.

  "Affinity, the affinity of heaven and earth's origin, it seems that not only my internal energy attribute tends towards fire attribute, but also my spiritual power tends towards fire, so I can easily learn fireball technique. However, this Golden Rainbow Piercing Sun is very difficult to perform."

  The affinity of the divine soul's power for the primordial energy of heaven and earth is innate, and cannot be cultivated through practice. However, generally speaking, any practitioner will have an unusual affinity for one or several types of primordial energy between heaven and earth. For example, Wang Guanlan has a much stronger affinity for fire primordial energy than for other elemental forces. This can be discovered by every practitioner when their divine soul's power awakens, because the divine soul cannot be deceived.

  With this Chi Yan crystal, Wang Guanlan's position is low, but he has enough attack power. If combined with his knife skills, I believe that no one can handle him if his cultivation is under the Yuqi realm. Combined with his formation method, at least he thinks that his safety in Yicheng is absolutely guaranteed.

  "I drove Hou Zihan out of Yicheng, making it clear that I wanted to monopolize the benefits of Yicheng. I wonder what kind of trump card that ambitious third son will use to deal with me!!"

  ………………………

  …………

  "Fourteen young masters, Wang Da Zhanggui from Shunhe Hang and Chen Da Zhanggui from Xinghe Hang request an audience!"

  "Shun He Xing, Xing He Xing!" Wang Guanlan gently put down the teacup in her hand and looked at Wang Qing, "What are they here for?!"

  "They want to discuss with you, Young Master Thirteen, about the acquisition of Feng Wei Cao!"

  "Phoenix tail grass acquisition? Aren't those all your responsibility? You've already discussed it with them, what do you need me for?" Wang Guanlan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, instinctively sensing that there was a problem here.

  Shunhe Xing and Xinghe Xing are the two largest business houses in Yicheng. Apart from doing business, they mainly collect Fengweicao because behind these two business houses stand the powerful families of the three southwestern provinces. The more powerful the family, the more martial artists there are, and the more martial artists there are, the more elixirs are needed, so naturally, the demand for Fengweicao will not be small either.

  However, the acquisition of Fengweicao has been a common occurrence in Yicheng for many years. Although Wang Guanlan had planned to raise the price for Fengweicao, it had not yet been implemented, nor had he mentioned it to anyone else, so naturally, there was no way it could have leaked out. It can be said that during this period of time in Yicheng, apart from a few changes in management and the departure of Hou Zihans, nothing else had changed. Under these circumstances, the arrival of these two managers seeking an audience with him seemed suspicious. Instinctively, Wang Guanlan thought that there must be more to it than met the eye. Indeed, what followed next confirmed his suspicions.

  "It's like this, young master. The merchants of Yicheng all think that our Fengweicao price is too high and hope to reduce it by 30% compared to before. Such a big thing, I can't make the decision, only you can. These two shopkeepers are representatives of Yicheng business!"

  "What, a discount, a 30% discount?!" Wang Guanlan almost laughed out loud. "I'm telling you, Wang Qing, are you crazy? Do you need to ask me about this kind of thing? Of course not! Get those two out of here, I won't see them!"

  "But...!"

  "What's wrong, is there something you can't bring yourself to say?!"

  "It's not that Xiaoyi has any unspoken secrets, but rather that Xiaoyi recently heard some unfavorable rumors. Since they haven't been verified, I didn't dare to report them to the young master. But now it seems, these rumors are true!"

  "Oh? There's a rumor? I'd love to hear it!" Wang Guanlan became interested.

  "It's like this, Young Master Fourteen, you also know that in recent years, the yield of Fengwei grass in Yicheng has been very good every year, and the supply is extremely sufficient!"

  "This is great!" Wang Guanlan said, "Can't people still owe and not pay?!"

  "No, young master, it's just that our inventory of phoenix tail grass has become too large. The warehouses in Yicheng are all full, and over the past two years, the price of phoenix tail grass has been declining, albeit not drastically. Now these people have taken notice that we've accumulated too much phoenix tail grass and want to haggle with us!"

  "Really?!" Wang Guanlan seemed to understand something, wiped his nose, and said somewhat awkwardly, "I remember that after the Fengwei grass is dried, its medicinal effect can be preserved for at least three years, right?!"

  "Yes, but the efficacy is different, and the price is also different. The three-year-old herbal medicine only costs one-third of this year's!"

  "Hmm, this isn't hard to understand either. When there's a surplus of goods, the price naturally drops. The shopkeepers must be thinking the same way, right?!" - Ba Tian Wu Sheng 13

  "Yes, that's what they said, and their hands were also full of goods!" He paused here, "Also, the dock at Angry River had problems too!"

  "What's wrong with the dock?!"

  "Some ship owners think the freight is too low and want to raise it!"

  "Raise the freight rate?!" Wang Guanlan's smile grew even brighter. This Yi City prospered thanks to the Fengwei grass, and relied on the Nu River for transportation. Waterway was undoubtedly the best choice, with low cost and large volume. Although the current of the Nu River was very rapid, there must be brave men under heavy rewards. All along, the freight rate of the Nu River had been more than three times higher than that of other rivers, and now it had just been raised half a year ago. Now it's going to be raised again, which is obviously unreasonable. Plus, the merchant wanted to lower the price, even a fool could see there was a problem here.