Something strange in the Neighborhood

The VIP dining area at the bottom of the lake was a sight to behold. A large round table in the middle of the room was surrounded by several curved tables on one side, and a fully equipped kitchen on the other. As guests arrived, they were met by Wei Huoran, the nine human ministers, and the nine merfolk ministers. Once everyone arrived, there was the Nanying continent cultivators, Zhuo continent beastkin, Sea beastkin, and Golden Peony leadership. The various leaders were discussing pleasantries with their neighbors, and recollecting the various amazing sights they had seen today after the tour.

Huoran stood up at the top of the hour, "Welcome everyone, and thank you for taking the time to attend", Huoran told the crowd, "Please enjoy the food and drink prepared today. If you wish to discuss business, please speak with the appropriate minister. If this is your first time here on the island, I will gently remind you not to harass my citizens."

A line of servers walked out of the kitchen area and dispersed throughout the guests, taking orders and serving drinks.

"Daoist Wei", Sect master Han suddenly asked, "Why do you often have the meals made in front of the diners?"

"Two reasons, Sect master Han", Huoran responded, "The first reason is that if the kitchen was too far away, the meal would be cold by the time it was served. The second reason is that if the ingredients are prepared in front of you, you have less worries about suspicious activity happening to the food and drink."

Han looked around and did notice that others would follow the chefs actions from time to time and seem to enjoy the showy way the food was being prepared.

Sect master Liang was next to ask, "Daoist Wei, do you own all the businesses on the island?"

Several of the sects, companies, and families quieted down in anticipation of Huoran's answer.

"Yes and no", Huoran replied before explaining, "Obviously, I have made it known that the citizens I recruited where not wealthy when I offered them work. A clause that was in their contract when I first negotiated was that workers had the ability to apply for a loan or attract investment."

Grand merchant lord Kang interrupted, "What are these things?"

"I'll give a quick explanation then", Huoran said in response, "By now everyone here should be aware what our bank is."

Everyone nodded in agreement that they understood.

"A loan is a contractual agreement between the bank and another party in which the bank will loan spirit coins to that party", Huoran explained, "In the agreement, it will state the amount loaned, what method of repayment is acceptable, the timeframe of repayment, and the fees and penalties that are levied."

"I don't quite understand", Kong said while scratching his head.

"For example, Sect master Kong has decided to open a Teahouse, but doesn't have enough spirit coins to do so", Huoran narrated, "He has one hundred thousand spirit coins but to build the teahouse, get tea from a supplier, and hire staff, he needs one hundred and fifty thousand spirit coins. He could go to the bank, and apply for a loan for fifty thousand spirit coins. Once it's approved, he would get the coins and a contract that state the terms in which it must be paid back. If his business is successful, the loan is repaid, if it's not or he doesn't repaid his debt on time, the bank with the Ministry's backing will forcibly collect payment. We have many businesses here on island that successfully used loans so that workers became owners."

Huoran discussed a few more in-depth details and everyone eventually understood the process.

"Sounds complicated" Sect master Lu commented.

"Yes, it can be", Huoran replied, "It works for us since the Bank, the cultivator, and the ministry have to agree to the terms. It might be more difficult for you to apply this in your own city or sects. We also only provide this service for citizens only at this time."

Grand Merchant Lord Gong asked, "What are the chances of non-citizen businesses setting up a shop here?"

"It's possible", Huoran replied, "But there will be rules and fees that would apply. I have a feeling I know what you want to do, but to do so will require a lot of effort. Let me return to my previous explanation before I tackle this one."

"Of course, Daoist Wei", Gong said, "Excuse my rudeness."

"I believe everyone understands how loans work, so now I'll turn to investing or investments", Huoran lectured the group, "This is when someone with wealth makes an agreement to provide funds to a business for a share of profit, or power, or both. You can have active investors or quiet partners and I'll give you an example of both. Grand Merchant Lords, you all belong to the Golden Peony trading company but each of you have a controlling position in the company. Now imagine that one day a Dao Soul stage cultivator with a lot of wealth approached the three of you about paying you so much spirit stones, materials, and resources but also wanted to have power in your company, this is an active partner. Now look at this restaurant, after the restaurant was built and started doing business, I felt it would be successful. So I invested one hundred thousand spirit coins into the business for a small portion of the profits and have done so for most of the businesses on the island. So in conclusion, I own small amounts of each shop or restaurant, but I don't interfere in their operations."

Sect master Zheng asked, "What is the purpose of doing things this way when you can own it all?"

"This might sound naive to Sect master Zheng", Huoran sheepishly smiled, "But I believe that progress in all things moves smoother when everyone feels motivated to accomplish this rather than being forced and oppressed. Don't misunderstand me, there must be competition to prevent stagnation, but cooperation must still exist."

Sect master Yuan said, "Not every person accepted by us is capable of living up to their potential."

"Well, Sect master", Huoran replied, "For the ones that don't live up to their potential, send them here, and I'll accept them as citizens as long as you aren't trying to send me spies."

"Why would you want drop outs and wastes from my sect, Daoist Wei?", Zheng asked in confusion.

"If I can improve the lives of mortal in poverty", Huoran remarked, "I believe I can do the same for the ones you believe are failures. If you don't believe me, you should ask the mortals I recruited from your region."

Zheng took a drink and no longer engaged in conversation, while Huoran started discussions with other guests. Even though that moment was tense, the rest of the meal was positive as information was shared and deals were made. Soon artisans from under the sea, as well as both continents would soon be traveling here to attend classes together.

In a region of the far north of the Zhuo continent was a village of beastkin that resembled Yaks. Even in human form, they had long hair of brown or blonde coloration and a set of stubby horns protruded out of their head.

Two individuals beastkin yaks were walking in the forest that was covered in snow.

"Hunturok", the slight smaller figure called out to the larger figure.

"What is it, Niden, I thought you were too frighten this morning from the land quake to leave your dwelling", Hunturok joked.

This caused Niden to pout and say nothing in return. As the pair continued to walk, Niden stopped and pointed to the left, "Look, the quake seems to have uncover a cave, it could have belonged to an elder. We should go back and report it to someone so they can comeback and perform the rituals of burial again."

"Ok, let's go check inside first, and make sure it's an actual burial ground, and not a cave made from an underground river", Hunturok told her.

Niden nodded, and followed behind Hunturok as he descended into opening of the cave. Hunturok lifted his hand and a sphere of light rose from his hand. Niden copied his actions, and they both made their way deeper into the cave. They slowly walked through a naturally carved stone corridor, until they came upon wall of stone with a doorway intricately carved into it. A language Hunturok couldn't understand was chiseled around the doorframe.

"This isn't the tomb of an elder", Hunturok said with a solemn expression.

The pair entered the room and Hunturok summoned another light sphere in his other hand and took a look at his surroundings. The room was relatively small, about one hundred meters squared in diameter. As the light spheres illuminated the walls, there were murals covering the walls. Thirteen sections were represented, each one displaying an image of a different tribe of beasts. In the center of the room was a marble altar with an amber stone sitting on top. The stone and the altar both shared the same markings, the altar had the markings carved into it, the stone seem to have the marking naturally appearing on it.

"This stone is filled with power", Hunturok remarked, "I believe we can use this to gain dominance over the other tribes of the region."

"Maybe we should wait to invite a shaman here first to identify what this is first", Niden countered.

Hunturok walked over and picked up the stone, "I'll just put it in a safe box made of treasured wood, that way we can just take it to the shaman."

Niden turned around towards the door, "Fine, let's get moving before it gets dark, I don't want to get caught by…"

The sounds of an impact interrupted her words as her world turned dark.