75: Secretly building a force

"Brother Fellow cultivator Zhang, Sister Wanqing is here."

While Zhang Qingxiao and Zhou Yun were talking in the room, Liang Qiaoer brought Li Wanqing into the room.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, I came over to see if there is anything I can help with."

"I didn't expect you to have finished tidying up the courtyard so quickly."

Li Wanqing said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Fellow Daoist Li, we are already extremely grateful that you could come to help."

"We must thank you, Fellow Daoist Li, for helping us get such a good courtyard assigned this time."

Zhang Qingxiao said politely.

Although they were assigned this place because the Li Family Foundation Establishment Cultivator had greeted the Outer Sect Internal Affairs Hall, it still had something to do with Li Wanqing.

"It was all my grandfather who greeted them; I didn't really help with anything."

"Since there is nothing here that requires my help, Fellow Daoist Li, I will head back now."

"Now that our two families are living so close, it will be much more convenient for us to visit each other."

Li Wanqing had only come to help, and now that she saw Zhang Qingxiao had already finished tidying up, she naturally felt embarrassed to stay any longer.

"Fellow Daoist Li, since you're already here, please stay for a simple meal. You can also taste the cooking of Liang Qiaoer and myself."

Zhou Yun quickly spoke up to ask her to stay; she had intended to play matchmaker between her husband and Li Wanqing.

Now that she saw her husband was not as cold towards Li Wanqing as before, and combined with this recent matter, she realized how important it was to build a relationship with a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, so she became even more attentive.

"Fellow Daoist Li, if you have nothing else to do, please stay for a simple meal."

Zhang Qingxiao saw Li Wanqing look at him, so he also added.

"Then I will impose on you."

Li Wanqing agreed somewhat bashfully, then turned to say to Zhou Yun, "Sister Zhou Yun, I will help you out in a moment."

"When I am at home, I also often cook with my mother."

Although her grandfather was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he was not pampered.

Because they were not short of Spirit Stone and Medicinal Pill, they basically did not eat Pi Gu Pill on a regular basis; they ate normal meals.

Relatively speaking, Pi Gu Pill could only maintain a Cultivator's basic needs, and most wealthy Cultivators rarely used Pi Gu Pill as their main food source.

They only consumed Pi Gu Pill under special circumstances.

The reason Liang Qiaoer and her grandfather had always eaten Pi Gu Pill was mainly because her grandfather spent a lot of time on Alchemy, and Liang Qiaoer was too young at the time.

Taking Pi Gu Pill was the best choice.

"How could I let you cook, Sister Wanqing? Just stay here and chat with my husband."

Zhou Yun knew how to take advantage of the situation; seeing Li Wanqing call her "Sister," she immediately changed her address to "Little Sister."

"Just let Fellow Daoist Li go to the kitchen to help you. I still have some matters to attend to and need to go out."

If Li Wanqing hadn't come over, Zhang Qingxiao would have been ready to head to Xiaoyao City immediately to check on the situation.

After the Sect Leader of Carefree Sect gave the order, the families in the Xiaoyao Sect with Foundation Establishment Cultivator immediately moved into Xiaoyao City.

Now, the various shops and markets on the streets had already begun normal operations.

He had to go and understand the situation himself, and then he also had to give Luo Fei some instructions.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, since you have matters to attend to, please go ahead. I also happen to want to communicate more with Sister Zhou Yun and Little Sister Liang Qiaoer."

Li Wanqing said very sensibly.

"Please forgive me for my poor hospitality, Fellow Daoist Li."

"I will be back before noon. If you are free in the afternoon, we can discuss Alchemy experience with Fellow Daoist Li."

After Zhang Qingxiao finished speaking, he gave Zhou Yun a wink.

After Zhou Yun and Liang Qiaoer took Li Wanqing to the kitchen, chatting and laughing, he turned and left the courtyard.

He first took a tour of the Inner City, looked at the four markets in the Inner City, and after getting a good idea of the situation, he arrived at Luo Fei's house.

Luo Fei had only just moved in a while ago, and his things were not yet fully unpacked.

However, he knew how to enjoy life better than Zhang Qingxiao; he had long since hired several servants and maids, so he did not need to do it himself.

Seeing Zhang Qingxiao come over, he hurriedly took him into the study.

"Brother Zhang, is there anything you need to instruct me on?"

After Luo Fei personally brewed a pot of Spirit Tea for Zhang Qingxiao, he asked.

"Hmm, have you fully understood the situation in the Inner City and Outer City markets?"

"How many Utility Disciples who are cooperating with us want to terminate their cooperation with us now?"

Zhang Qingxiao took a sip of Spirit Tea and then asked slowly.

"Hmm, I have already inquired clearly about the situation in the four markets of the Inner City and the eight markets of the Outer City."

"It is indeed a bit troublesome."

"The twelve markets have been completely divided up by factions built by Outer Sect Disciple. If we want to set up stalls to sell Medicinal Pill, Talisman, and Magical Artifact, besides paying the stall fee to the Sect, we also have to pay protection fees to these factions built by the Outer Sect Disciple."

"Moreover, the areas where Utility Disciple live have also been divided up by these factions built by Outer Sect Disciple."

"Besides collecting rent, the Sect also requires Utility Disciple to pay street cleaning fees, protection fees, and other expenses."

"In a month, just these fees alone require five Low-Grade Spirit Stone."

"This has also caused a small portion of Utility Disciple to give up entering the Outer City."

"Among the Utility Disciple cooperating with us, only a dozen or so have terminated their cooperation with us so far, so the impact is not very significant."

Luo Fei said everything he knew in one breath.

The Spirit Stone that the Xiaoyao Sect charges Utility Disciple living in the Outer City every month is much higher than what the Chang Sheng Sect charged, reaching three Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

Of course, there was no other way.

Whether it was maintaining the operation of the city-protecting formation or keeping the Spiritual Qi in Xiaoyao City sufficient, it all required consuming a large amount of Spirit Stone.

In order to reduce the Sect's expenses, they could only set their sights on the Utility Disciple.

At the same time, they also canceled the monthly distribution of Spirit Stone to Outer Sect Disciple.

They only exempted the Outer Sect Disciple from rent, and tacitly approved of the behavior of these small factions built by the Outer Sect Disciple themselves.

"For now, don't worry about the protection fees and such; let's observe the situation first."

"We are earning quite a lot of Spirit Stone every month now, so a few extra expenses are harmless, as long as these factions built by Outer Sect Disciple don't go too far."

"In order to prevent special situations, we also need to secretly build a faction to be prepared for emergencies."

"I authorize you to take out 10% of the profits every month to cultivate our own loyal subordinates."

"Try not to look for Utility Disciple, but look for Outer Sect Disciple, as long as they are Cultivator from the original Chang Sheng Sect."

"For those Utility Disciple who terminated their cooperation with us, if they want to continue cooperating with us, do not make things difficult for them."

Although Zhang Qingxiao did not care about the protection fees charged by these factions built by Outer Sect Disciple, he was worried that these Outer Sect Disciple would push for more.

The matter of building a faction was imperative.

If it really reached a point that was unbearable, he would let his strength do the talking.

Once these factions built by Outer Sect Disciple knew that they were not to be trifled with, they would naturally not dare to push for more.