A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 370: Chapter 328: When I Attain Nascent Soul

A flash of fire, and Guh Niqiang was already standing beside Lu Qian.

Lu Qian’s move caught her off guard, leaving her slightly injured.

The Cyan Flame Armor had dissipated, turning into the usual interwoven gold and red flames, with faint black lightning flickering over her entire body.

She gasped a few breaths, a trace of blood appearing at the corner of her mouth.

But she stood there, while Lu Qian lay down. She still had strength, while Lu Qian was paralyzed on the ground, unable to move.

"You lost," Guh Niqiang said calmly.

But she suddenly saw Lu Qian staring blankly, as if his soul had flown out of his body.

Guh Niqiang looked down and saw that her Flowing Cloud Immortal Robe was severely damaged, torn in several places, revealing her skin that was as translucent as jade.

In an instant, she felt both ashamed and annoyed, her face flushing bright red. Flames surged up around her, and she raised her palm to strike Lu Qian.

But when she saw Lu Qian’s pale face, weak and helpless on the mess of dirt, she couldn’t bring herself to make the strike.

A mixture of complex emotions welled up, and a word from a story Baitao had shown her came to mind.

Nemesis.

She pursed her lips, about to turn and leave.

Then she heard Lu Qian’s weak voice from behind, "When I can beat you, will you agree to my request?"

Guh Niqiang spat, "In your dreams. You can’t beat me."

To her surprise, Lu Qian started to be shameless again, "Since I can’t beat you, why not give me a glimmer of hope and agree anyway?"

Guh Niqiang hesitated, then said with embarrassment and annoyance, "Even if you beat me, my sect won’t agree."

Lu Qian took a few breaths, "What if I achieve the Golden Core, command a county, and stand proudly in a region?"

"No," Guh Niqiang replied, biting her red lips and shaking her head.

"What if I achieve the Nascent Soul, command dozens of counties, and be dominant within the state?"

Guh Niqiang turned her face, "Such big words, even my master never dared to dream of that."

"I have nothing else but courage," Lu Qian laughed weakly. "Since you think it is a fantasy, why not agree?"

Guh Niqiang stood silently for a while, then shook her head, "When you achieve the Nascent Soul and become a Spirit Monarch, you can have any woman you want. Why bother with me?"

"I don’t care; I won’t even look at other women. I only want you—" Lu Qian began to act childishly and unreasonably.

Guh Niqiang’s face burned, her heart filled with a sweet feeling.

"And Senior Sister," Lu Qian added.

"Get lost!" Guh Niqiang’s expression drastically changed, almost ready to smash his head with a punch.

Lu Qian shouted, "Promise me! Otherwise, I will go to the Liuxia Mountain Range to find you every day, shout loudly at your gate, and make the entire Danxia Sect know!"

Seeing this renowned figure in Chongming County act like a whining child in front of her, Guh Niqiang felt both amused and helpless, finally sighing in exasperation.

What a nemesis indeed.

A cultivator’s life can be very long but also potentially very short, full of unexpected twists. No one knows if tomorrow or a sudden fall will come first.

Perhaps this time, she wouldn’t even survive the Golden Core Celestial Tribulation, and they would never meet again.

Thinking this, Guh Niqiang’s heart softened.

Alright, since it’s impossible anyway, just consider it a faint hope.

"Then let’s talk about it when you achieve the Nascent Soul," Guh Niqiang said softly.

She turned and walked out, Lu Qian called out, "Then it’s settled, Guh Niqiang!"

"When I become a Nascent Soul Spirit Monarch, marshal the power of ten counties, unfurl my banners a thousand miles, spread colorful clouds across the sky, and come to welcome you!"

Guh Niqiang paused but didn’t turn back.

The disciples on the sidelines looked at each other in shock.

Shock! Between the Sect Leader and Elder Guh—

Have they privately decided on a lifelong commitment?

Ahem, but I heard that after the festival, the Sect Leader and Elder Jiang would become Dao Companions.

The world of the big shots is indeed beyond our understanding.

Let it be, don’t listen, don’t watch, don’t ask, just pretend to know nothing to avoid trouble.

Wu Yan rushed into the arena to help Lu Qian up.

Hmm, the Sect Leader has been so kind to me, I won’t tell Elder Jiang.

In the following days, the festival was in full swing, but the arena tournament was announced postponed. The cultivators outside listened to the sounds of reconstruction in the Grand Arena, puzzled.

Why is the arena still being repaired?

After a few days of rest, Lu Qian finally recovered. He shamelessly wanted to look for Guh Niqiang again, but heard from a disciple that Elder Guh had not come out of her room for days, and instantly felt a sinking feeling.

He hurriedly pushed open the door, only to find the room empty.

Guh Niqiang had left early.

"She clearly said after the festival... "

Lu Qian looked at the desk, where there was a pile of ashes and a single note.

"Take care."

It was in Guh Niqiang’s handwriting.

Really, before writing these two simple words, what else did she write and burn?

Lu Qian held the note, standing for a long time in Guh Niqiang’s room.

"You take care too."

On the last day of the festival, the shopping, recruiting, and compressed tournament had almost wrapped up.

Lu Qian convened the Shuangye Square controllers for a summary meeting in the Central High Tower.

The peak guest flow for this festival reached four thousand people, with profits from merchandise, advertising, sponsorship, and betting reaching an astounding fifty thousand Spirit Stones!

Even the Mingyu Sword Sect wouldn’t consider this kind of revenue as petty cash. One of their elders, responsible for sect management, sat in the conference room, smiling as Lin Le presented the business analysis.

It was indeed wise to hand Shuangye Square over to the Yunshan Sect for operation, now that these earnings truly bring a smile to everyone’s face.

According to the shares, the Shuangye Alliance holds thirty percent, which means they will receive fifteen thousand Spirit Stones from this festival.

This year, Shuangye Square’s annual profit is expected to hit a new high, estimated at two hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

Until the underground spiritual ore in Lingsha City can be successfully mined, this remains the main sustainable income source for the Shuangye Alliance.

Yet, after detailed calculations by both the Shuangye Alliance and the Mingyu Sword Sect leadership, the growth potential of Shuangye Square is almost maxed out, because 1,300 miles away is the region’s sole large-scale marketplace, Meihua Square.

No matter what new ideas are implemented, the scale and supporting sects here cannot compete with Meihua Square, which is operated by a super sect and three large sects and has become the economic center of Cangzhou.

The daily customer flow at Meihua Square already reaches ten thousand cultivators. For Shuangye Square to siphon some of that traffic and maintain its current scale is already quite impressive.

Notably, in Chongming County, despite being adversaries with the Xuanguang Sect below them and opposing sects like Shuangye Alliance and Liangxiang County, they still operated shops in Shuangye Square.

The Xuanguang Sect’s large shops number even more than five.

It was a guarantee made by Lu Qian in his capacity as Yunshan Sect Leader and Shuangye Alliance Leader.

In Shuangye Square, there are only business relationships, not factional disputes. Shops established there are subject to regular taxes and rent without being shut down due to factional enmity.

Fighting is one thing, making money is another. There’s money to be made together, harmony breeds wealth.