AZI Volume 5 Chapter 17

Momentarily, Zhen Rong comes over to guide Long Hua and Tian Cheng into the lotus garden.

"…"

Seeing Long Hua approaching the stone table, Zhen Qing Huai remarks—

"Shouldn't Long-xiong be staying at home with his wife after just getting married?"

Taking a seat at the stone table, Long Hua replies—

"Can it. I need a large-sized storage pouch that can be opened without using spirit Qi."

Should a complete Immortal Sealing Chain be encountered, his current storage pouch would be rendered useless, a situation that Long Hua didn't wish to deal with.

"Oh? That I do have in stock, but price-"

Cutting Zhen Qing Huai off, Long Hua says—

"Zhen-laoban, it's only courteous of you to bring a gift to someone's wedding, is it not?"

"…"

Glancing between Long Hua and Zhen Qing Huai, Zhen Rong blinks her eyes.

"That's…"

"It'd be one thing if you can't afford to bring a gift, but the capable and wealthy Zhen-laoban—that I know of, is extremely well-off."

"…Ai."

Heaving a sigh, Zhen Qing Huai looks at Zhen Rong with a helpless expression on her face.

Towards this, Zhen Rong nods, and leaves the area to grab the item.

Raising a subtle smile, Long Hua goes on to ask—

"Oh, I also want to ask. Does the name Wen Qing, and Gu Yun Sect ring any bells?"

"The name not really, but the sect does. Long-xiong, why are you asking this?"

"I need to know my business partner's background after all. He should be a Quasi-Heaven Manifestation realm practitioner."

Hearing this, Zhen Qing Huai blinks her eyes, and replies—

"…Hmm. I'll look into it. As for the sect, off the top of my head, it has 4,000 years of history, and is considered to be a mid-rank sect in the Everlasting Spirit Realm. It's located on Planet White Cloud."

"I see. Sounds somewhat… Hard to say promising."

If the sect has over 10,000 years of history, Long Hua might consider it to be somewhat reliable.

"How did you come to meet this surnamed Wen anyways?"

Towards Zhen Qing Huai's question, Long Hua merely smiles, to which, the former remarks—

"Ai, whatever. Since you're here, I might as well inform you of that cigar deal between us."

"Oh?"

The reception of the spirit herb cigar from an elder of her bloodline branch is quite positive; hence, Zhen Qing Huai is willing to offer—

"Long-xiong, I'll give you 20 percent of the profit."

"…"

Being given only 20 percent causes Long Hua to frown immediately, as he replies—

"50 percent."

"Long-xiong, that's-"

"60 percent."

Hearing this, Zhen Qing Huai's expression also turns into a frown, to which, Long Hua says—

"Zhen-laoban, you and I are both bosses, so you should understand my struggles well. I got a family to feed myself."

Chuckling coldly, Zhen Qing Huai replies—

"Bullshit!"

"I can guarantee you this, those spirit herb cigars will definitely be a major hit with those old fogies. Once common quality products are thrown onto the market, you can start selling products of a higher quality, and charge people a limb or two for one smoke. Being given only a mere 20 percent of the profit—as the one who made it possible for you to make these products, don't you find such treatment unfair? Besides, I'm not going to stay in this world forever. Once I leave, you'll have 100 percent of the profits to yourself. Temporarily giving me a larger share won't harm you in the long run."

"…"

Despite Long Hua's words making plenty of sense, Zhen Qing Huai still finds it difficult to just swallow this arrangement, as she twitches an eye.

"Long-xiong, this matter…-?"

Cutting Zhen Qing Huai off, Long Hua says—

"Zhen-laoban, ever heard of the term "seasonal items?" They're items that are only sold during a specific season, and aren't expected to return until that season occurs again. A cigar that's of a minty flavor for the winter, think about the demands such a product will draw once the season is over."

"…"

Naturally, Zhen Qing Huai has knowledge of this, since she has been working in the Leng Bing Realm for so long.

"Long-xiong, I…-"

"Ai…"

Cutting Zhen Qing Huai off with a sigh, Long Hua says—

"Zhen-laoban… No, Zhen-xiong…"

Widening his frown, Long Hua shakes his head, and corrects himself for the third time, and says—

"No, Lao Zhen; calling you Lao Zhen is a show of my sincerity towards you as a true brother. Our relationship as brothers cannot be measured in spirit stones or immortal jades, can it? Also, once I leave this world, our first contract's restrictions will also be lifted. Once that happens, you can pass those cultivation methods and divine arts to anyone you please."

"…"

Understanding that this is Long Hua's way of establishing a foundation in the Everlasting Spirit Realm ahead of time, Zhen Qing Huai grinds her teeth together, while thinking—

(Surnamed Long, you son of a bitch…!)

Heaving a heavy sigh, Zhen Qing Huai begrudgingly says—

"…50 percent. I can't go any higher than that."

"Let's make it so that we'll be able to re-negotiate the profit shares after a year. You know, in case, profits aren't meeting expectations—that sort of thing."

Twitching an eye at Long Hua's additional condition, Zhen Qing Huai clicks her tongue, and replies—

"…Fine."

"Deal then. Ai, Lao Zhen, you truly are easy to talk to."

"…"

Coincidentally, Zhen Rong returns with the requested storage pouch at this time, and unable to stand the smug look on Long Hua's face, Zhen Qing Huai rises off her seat, and shouts—

"Surnamed Long, piss off! Get out of my office!"

"Ai…"

Rising off his seat with Tian Cheng, Long Hua raises a sigh, and walks over to Zhen Rong to take the storage pouch.

Prior to leaving, Long Hua takes one final glance at the fuming Zhen Qing Huai, and says—

"Remember, smoking is bad for the lungs of those below the Nascent Soul realm, try to keep it in moderation if you choose to delve into it yourself."

"Out!"

Shrugging his shoulders, Long Hua leaves.

...…

Leaving New Moon Village, and appearing in an empty alleyway, Long Hua smiles with satisfaction, as he remarks—

"My plan to build a good foundation to stand on is coming along just fine, it seems."

"Master, is it truly wise to anger surnamed Zhen that much?"

In response to Tian Cheng's question, Long Hua chuckles, and replies—

"I need to let that merchant know that doing business with me will never lead to losses—regardless of how little his share of the profit is. Once that happens, I'll be able to raise my profit share to 90 percent."

"Conditioning, is it?"

"Indeed."

...…

"…"

Pouring her elder sister a cup of tea, Zhen Rong slides the cup near Zhen Qing Huai, who has yet to seat herself, and is staring down at the table.

"…"

Grabbing the cup, Zhen Qing Huai sips from it—prior to seating herself.

Despite not knowing what had happened between her elder sister and Long Hua, Zhen Rong felt the need to say something; hence—

"Big sis, cheer up."

"I'm fine."

Setting the cup down, Zhen Qing Huai has a composed look on her face, but this expression is quickly replaced with that of a schemer's, as she remarks—

"Ai Long-xiong, Long-xiong, you were right in saying that giving you a bigger share of the profit isn't harmful to me in the long run. However, everything has a price attached to them. Before you leave this world, I'll be sure to have you give me as much of your otherworldly knowledge as possible."

"Uh…"

Seeing the dark expression on Zhen Qing Huai's face, Zhen Rong can't help but shy away from the former a bit.

Raising the cup again, Zhen Qing Huai thought—

(Hmph, want to take 50 percent of the profit share from me? You'd be wrong to think I'd let you get away with it so easily! You want to play a game of brothers, do you? Well, two can play at that! I'll be using this as an excuse to make it so that you can only sell whatever new ideas that you may have to me!)