Chapter 188 - 135: "Guanxi Master of Braised Food
"Good."
Chen Fan smiled and nodded. A Level 9 Artifact Refiner was a perfect fit for the Mortal Realm’s needs. That batch of Earth Gold finally had a master to forge it.
"Didn’t you just say I only had one chance to make an offer?"
"If you didn’t like the price, you would turn and walk away on the spot, right?"
"Now, I’ll make you an offer."
"You have three breaths to kneel and join the Mortal Realm. Otherwise, you die."
"..."
The old man stood in the room, his tattered clothes reeking. Upon hearing this, his expression instantly darkened. "Domain Lord Chen, do you think I just picked up the title of Jiangdong Furnace Master off the street?"
"Or do you think a Level 9 Artifact Refiner like me is such a pushover?"
"Are you really going to force a fight to the death?"
"One."
"Chen Fan!"
The old man’s expression was furious as he bit out each word. "If word of this gets out, what will the rest of the world think of the Mortal Realm?"
"Two."
"Domain Lord Chen." The old man took a deep breath, his expression serious. "Just pretend I was never here today. I..."
Before he could finish,
Chen Fan lifted his teacup, took a light sip, and waved his hand casually.
"Three."
Standing beside him, a stoic Zhou Mo instantly drew his blade, preparing to step forward.
THUD.
Before Chen Fan had even fully uttered the word "three," the old man had already dropped decisively to his knees. His face was solemn and respectful. "Jiangdong Furnace Master pays his respects to Domain Lord Chen. I will be in your care from now on."
...
Chen Fan looked at the kneeling old man and laughed. "Bring them in," he said casually.
The next moment—
Zhou Mo’s subordinates brought in a dozen or so people.
The dozen or so people wore different clothes, but a careful observer at the city gate earlier would have noticed that these were the very people who had been hyping up how incredible the Jiangdong Furnace Master was.
"Master."
"Master..."
The group looked at the kneeling old man, then lowered their heads in shame. "We were so careful, but they still found us."
"Useless!"
The old man, finally realizing what was happening, turned to the group in a rage. "I was wondering what went wrong! You can’t even handle a simple task like this! Useless fools! After all this time I’ve been feeding you, I might as well have raised a herd of animals!"
He then turned back to Chen Fan, scratching his head with an awkward, sheepish grin.
"So, uh, Domain Lord Chen..."
"So... what... what do we do now?"
"All of you, leave,"
Chen Fan said with a wave of his hand. "I’d like to speak with this old gentleman alone."
...
Only Chen Fan and the old man remained in the room. The old man had dropped his act. Though his face was still flushed with embarrassment, he stood ramrod straight.
Like a sturdy pine tree.
The lines of his exposed muscles possessed a raw, powerful beauty. This was an old man knotted with muscle.
"Got a name for me this time?"
"I do."
The old man said awkwardly, "Zhao Shengping."
"So, tell me, what was with the whole performance? It’s obvious you intended to join the Mortal Realm from the start. Why not just get straight to the point?"
"Well..."
The old man scratched his head and whispered, "Well, you know what they say, even the finest wine can be overlooked if the tavern is hidden too deep in an alley. If I just came and said I wanted to join the Mortal Realm, wouldn’t that make me seem too cheap? I wanted to build up some prestige, you know, to negotiate a better price..."
"And this ’prestige’ you’re talking about is... this getup? Do you always dress like this?"
Chen Fan leaned back in his chair, looking the old man’s getup up and down.
"I don’t normally dress like this," the old man said, shaking his head firmly. "It’s hard enough to swing a hammer as an Artifact Refiner without these clothes getting in the way. I only have two hobbies, and one of them is listening to storytellers at the teahouse. In all the tales, the reclusive masters are always disheveled and unconcerned with appearances."
"So I figured, if I got myself an outfit like this, I’d look just like one of those reclusive masters."
"And you hired a crowd of hype men to sing your praises?"
Chen Fan couldn’t help but laugh.
"Who even taught you to do all this?"
"Actually... I had another script, but I didn’t use it."
"Let’s hear it."
"In the other script, after arriving in Mortal City, I’d have my apprentices pretend to be from other factions. They’d frantically try to recruit me, offering incredibly high prices, just so you, Domain Lord Chen, would see how in-demand I am. But I thought about it and decided against that one."
"Why not? That one sounds more interesting."
"Well, uh... I was a little worried you might... wipe out all those other factions."
"I think you may have some misconceptions about the Mortal Realm."
"So your goal was to join the Mortal Realm all along, wasn’t it?"
"Yes."
"Tell me why you want to join."
The wrinkles on Zhao Shengping’s face rippled a few times before his expression turned serious.
"First,"
"The Mortal Realm’s rise has been incredibly swift—the fastest I have ever witnessed. I believe the Mortal Realm is destined for greatness."
"Second,"
"I’ve heard the Mortal Realm currently has no Artifact Refiners. As a Level 9 Artifact Refiner joining this early, perhaps I can become the head of Artifact Refining for the entire realm."
"Third,"
"Domain Lord Chen, I greatly admire your style. Killing the Young Master of the Pill Sect one day and annihilating the entire sect the next... I believe that working for you will be incredibly exhilarating."
"What’s your asking price?"
"Would a salary of 500 Ghost Stones a month be acceptable?" the old man asked, hesitating for a moment.
"That’s all?"
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow. He was genuinely surprised. A Level 9 Artifact Refiner—a master capable of founding his own sect—was only asking for a salary of 500 Ghost Stones a month. What was the difference between that and getting him for free?
"But I do have three other requests I’d like to make, if that’s alright."
"First, my apprentices don’t have anywhere to go right now. I hope they can also join the Mortal Realm and just help me out day-to-day. Their wages don’t need to be nearly as high."