Crimson Hall Emerges

"Brat, you better have money to pay for all this! I don't have a single spirit stone after you grubbed it all!"

Li Wei continued to down jar after jar of wine, each with a different aroma and taste.

"Relax Uncle Wei, we should drink as much as we want, I still have some money left." Lu Feng smirked.

Li Wei put down the wine jar in his hand and looked at Lu Feng with a strange expression. "What do you mean 'You have SOME left,' did you spend it already!?"

Putting down the wine jar in his hand, Lu Feng looked at Li Wei with a smile, "Uncle Wei, this is a celebration of our reunion, let's not talk money at the table. What does that money even amount to. I've invested in a good opportunity... Come let's drink"

Chuckling at Lu Feng's comments, Li Wei picked up a piece of braised pork from the plate and savored it. He wondered how food accompanied by wine became wine accompanied by food.

Nevertheless, Li Wei was happy, even though the young master's cultivation could no longer be considered top-notch, with the Clan's resources, it's only a matter of time.

With the young master back again, the clan will have some fresh blood. Originally, the Baihu Clan was relatively new and had mortal origins.

It was customary for the men to have a single wife— This was the case for the Ancestors and the current Patriarch too, as such even with its immense wealth, the Baihu Clan was quite small and the lineages weren't too broad.

The Patriarch's lineage only had the young master and his uncle's daughter as the representatives of the younger generation.

With these thoughts in mind, Li Wei had a smile on his face as he looked at Lu Feng, who was happily devouring the food on the table.

40 Minutes later.

Lu Feng and Li Wei walked towards the exit of the Jade Pavilion after paying the bill along with some generous gratuity. The waiter who also served Lu Feng on his last visit, respectfully followed behind them as if they were his own ancestors.

Lu Feng and Li Wei walked for a while as they discussed some things. After assuring Uncle Wei, Lu Feng flew toward the Golden Inn on his sword.

***

Lu Feng arrived at his room. After washing his face, he sat down on his bed and recalled the conversations he overheard on his way to the Jade Pavilion. Most of the cultivators at the Jade Pavilion were also discussing this subject.

'Profound... Supreme... A new Buddha... ' Lu Feng cackled as he summarised the reactions of the people.

Lu Feng's newfound "Uncle," Li Wei, too, had some questions and interrogated Lu Feng. This Uncle Li Wei doubted that it had something to do with Lu Feng, as he was thoroughly convinced by Lu Feng's Buddhist wonderland story.

In fact, when Li Wei couldn't get into Lu Feng's room, he half-suspected that Lu Feng had gained enlightenment and became a Buddha.

After Lu Feng's assurance during their time at Jade Pavilion, Li Wei was convinced and dropped his suspicion.

Feeling tipsy, Lu Feng wanted to enjoy the feeling but he remembered that he was running short of time if he wanted to get the shop up and running soon.

Using a technique he was very familiar with, Lu Feng circulated his Qi in a specific path, instantly flushing out the alcohol from his body in the form of vapor.

With a clear mind, Lu Feng moved to the table and laid out some pill scriptures, scrolls, and recipes for the selected pills.

After noting down the recipes and methods on a parchment, Lu Feng scanned the storage ring he received from Hai Jingzi and Song Jin. There were a diverse set of plants, roots, seeds, and the lot. It would be extremely useful once planted, but for right now he had to check back with Song Jin.

Lu Feng entered the System Space and surveyed the endless fields outside of the large warehouse. He planted seeds, saplings, and herbs.

The System Space was a strange place where time worked differently and if the other plants and trees were any indication, Lu Feng was assured that he'd see his seedlings bear fruit, and quite soon at that.

After a joyride around the System Space, Lu Feng selected a large number of botanicals, special ores, talisman crafting supplies and scriptures, Alchemy scriptures, and other assorted items, including a mix of weapons, armor, and artifacts of various grades.

After making a mental note of needing to replenish his supply of comprehension orbs, he left the system space and chose to use a comprehension orb to recompile/reforge the items.

He laid out the newly retrieved Alchemy scriptures on the table. He started to cross-reference and understand the mechanism of action and refinement method in great detail.

While Lu Feng had never dedicated a significant amount of time to pill crafting in any of his previous lives, the sheer amount of cumulative experience he's had with Alchemy and various types of pills helped him a lot.

Almost all of the recipes he acquired from Elder Fu were what are known as "Base Recipe" and the accompanying method for pill refinement was just as basic and crude.

Many factions had their own modifications to the materials and methods thereby having varying efficacy and success rate.

Lu Feng tweaked some parts of the refinement process and made substantial changes to other parts. He scanned the botanicals he retrieved from the System Space and began to modify the recipes, either subtracting or adding the new botanicals he had on hand.

It was evening by the time he was done. Just as he was about to stretch his legs, Lu Feng saw the room token he placed on the desk vibrating.

When he picked up the room token, he heard a voice.

"Please forgive me for disturbing Master Lu, but someone is waiting for you and he says it's quite urgent."

Lu Feng understood what was going on and answered, "I'll be there in a minute."

'Looks like they got the materials...'

***

Lu Feng and Song Jin were seated at a table, a maid brought a tea set and after pouring a cup of tea for the two of them, she left.

"Looks like you've collected the materials, Brother Song." Lu Feng smiled as he took a sip of the flavorful tea.

"You guessed it right, Brother Lu. I've gathered a few hundred sets of materials for each pill. I've also gone ahead and made a few deals with the City Lord's office to procure materials on short notice if need be. But we hit a snag with the talisman supplies."

Lu Feng acknowledged Song Jin's work, "Good job, I didn't expect to get our hands on so much stuff... Regarding the talisman supplies, is it the Duyi realm?"

Happy with Lu Feng's acknowledgment, Song Jin sighed in relief and replied, "Yes, most of the local forces have started to buy out the market in preparation for the Duyi realm.

"Since Brother Lu is from the Baihu Clan, I thought it would be cheaper and faster to procure from there rather than overpaying for these items."

Lu Feng was satisfied and pleased with Song Jin's decision-making.

"You've done an admirable job... Brother Song, I find you reliable. Uncle Wei has investigated you for me and he concluded the same...

"I may or may not be around to manage the business, so I'm making you the manager from now on. As we discussed, you'll be entitled to twenty-five percent of the profit, but it also means you'll have to work for it... What do you say, Brother Song."

A smile broke out on Song Jin's face, "You won't be disappointed, Brother Lu. Thanks for your trust. But Brother Lu, our shop doesn't have a name yet..."

Lu Feng put down his teacup pondered for a moment and answered, "I want to name it Crimson Hall... What do you think?"

Song Jin grinned, "You're the boss, it's your money so you decide the name. Crimson Hall sounds good."

Lu Feng chuckled, "You're already speaking so casually with me— You've even left out the 'Brother Lu'... Haha, forget it, I too don't like formalities. You can call me Lu Feng and I'll call you Song Jin, what do you say?"

Song Jin raised his teacup and said, "That works for me... Here's to our business Bro—Lu Feng, cheers!"

Clinking their cups, Song Jin and Lu Feng drank the tea in a single gulp.

"Bro—" Song Jin stopped in his tracks and corrected himself, "Haha, it will take some getting used to. Lu Feng, there's no doubt you're from the Baihu Clan, but what's with your name?"

Lu Feng looked towards the ceiling and sighed, "It's a long story. Due to a series of events, I decided to adopt the name 'Lu Feng.' It's a name bestowed on me by my dearest master."

After some back and forth regarding this cock-and-bull story, poor Song Jin was so touched that he expressed his respect for Lu Feng, for adopting a different name for the sake of his master, despite being from the Baihu Clan.

Handing over a storage ring to Lu Feng, Song Jin departed.

'He's not bad,' Lu Feng thought as he left for his room, with a smile on his face.

***