"Alright, since you've brought it up, I'll stay."
"Okay. The matter of helping you with the Spirit Stones is settled for now. Next, let's talk about my request. Make a Heart Oath that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to say, and you can choose not to answer my questions, but if you do, you must tell the truth."
"You make a Heart Oath too, that everything you say next is the truth."
After both made their Heart Oaths, Zhu Xiaosuo spoke:
"Why did you come to Mountain Chicken County to distribute Vein Opening Pills to the Zhu Clan?"
This question had been brewing in Zhu Xiaosuo's mind for a long time.
Why does Mountain Chicken County have four cultivator clans, while Yellow Dog County doesn't have a single cultivator?
Why is business thriving in Mountain Chicken County, while Yellow Dog County is withering?
In his view, there were undercurrents in Mountain Chicken County, possibly hiding secrets he didn't understand.
He suspected that Zhuang Yun's visit to distribute Vein Opening Pills was premeditated and not just for avenging his son's death.
Zhuang Yun pondered for a moment after hearing this.
He knew the excuse of avenging his son's death had been seen through by Zhu Xiaosuo.
Frowning, Zhuang Yun said:
"I can't say."
"I feel like there are undercurrents in Mountain Chicken County, as if there's some secret. It feels very unsettling to have things happening right under my nose that I don't understand. So, what I want to ask is, do you know the secret of Mountain Chicken County?"
"I can't say."
"Alright. Why is there not a single cultivator clan in the neighboring Yellow Dog County, while Mountain Chicken County has four? Do you know why?"
"I can't say."
Zhu Xiaosuo was getting frustrated:
"You're not saying anything to my questions, so what's the point of asking?"
Zhuang Yun was also getting annoyed:
"You've asked three questions, and the answer's the same for all of them. I think you're doing this on purpose! How am I supposed to answer?"
"Fine, let's each take a step back. I'll share my thoughts, and you just tell me if I'm right or wrong."
"What's the difference? Are you guessing answers with me? Am I a child playing guessing games with you? Don't ask this question anymore; you'll know when it's time."
"Alright then. Let's discuss something else."
"Speak."
"The Niu Clan has taken over sixty percent of our business, which is a big chunk. If we can't reclaim some of that from the Niu Clan, I won't be able to support your cultivation."
"The Niu Clan? Honestly, just mentioning the Niu Clan gives me a headache."
"Why? Isn't Niu Shilin only at the Seventh Layer of the Rebirth Stage? Can't you handle him?"
This time, Zhuang Yun didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he thought for a long time.
About the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn.
Zhu Xiaosuo was getting impatient when Zhuang Yun finally lifted his head, as if he had just made a very important decision.
"Zhu Xiaosuo, I still harbor some resentment towards you. Logically, there are things I shouldn't tell you. But I think you might have potential, and since you owe me this favor, who knows, you might help me in the future. So, I'm going to say a few more words."
"Godfather, what do you want to say?"
"Zhu Xiaosuo, your vision is too narrow."
Narrow?
Zhu Xiaosuo felt he had grand ambitions.
He thought Zhuang Yun was just being mysterious.
"You're only focused on this small piece of land in Mountain Chicken County. If you were Zhu Qigao, that would be fine, because the Zhu Clan is in Mountain Chicken County, and you only need to worry about its affairs. But you're a cultivator. How many cultivators are there in Mountain Chicken County? Not even one at the Bone Transformation Stage, just a few scattered ones. As a cultivator, an ambitious cultivator, how can you limit your vision to Mountain Chicken County?"
Zhuang Yun stood up and paced, giving Zhu Xiaosuo a moment to think before speaking again:
"Even mortals know that when you hit a dog, you have to consider its owner. How can you assume that the Niu, Ma, and Yang Clans have no one backing them? Or do you think a few Rebirth Stage cultivators are the top?"
"This... I thought they feared you because they had no backing."
"A backing is like a mountain, not a stone in your hand that you can throw wherever you want. Have you investigated? Do the three clans only have businesses in Mountain Chicken County? Do all their profits go into their own pockets? Don't they pay taxes to their backers?"
Zhu Xiaosuo fell silent.
Indeed, he didn't know.
He had taken it for granted that his opponents were just the three clans.
He thought Mountain Chicken County was an isolated world, and the Four Great Clans were the sky.
During these days of stirring up trouble in Mountain Chicken County, he had the illusion of having the world in his hands.
But Zhuang Yun had scolded him.
You're a cultivator, not a mortal.
Mortals can't see through the foggy situation.
As a cultivator, an insider, how can you be compared to mortals?
The Rebirth Stage is just an ant.
"Niu Shilin has Blue Vein Talent and passed the first Immortal Sect examination, which is impressive."
"More impressive than you?"
"Don't compare him to me; I'm one in a hundred. Just talking about him. According to the unwritten rules of the Immortal Sect, a Blue Vein cultivator who passes the first examination can establish a clan in a Township Level region."
"A Township Level cultivator clan... I've heard Immortal-Knocking Town has a population of over a hundred million. Even a small clan there would easily have several times the revenue of Mountain Chicken County."
"Exactly. Niu Shilin hasn't set up a new base in Immortal-Knocking Town but stayed in this remote corner of Mountain Chicken County. Would he do that without the arrangement of a backer?"
Zhuang Yun's words suddenly enlightened Zhu Xiaosuo.
Zhu Xiaosuo also agreed that Zhuang Yun's words, as he initially said, could have been left unsaid.
Given his own temperament, having just been sabotaged by an enemy and failed to break through, how could he be willing to immediately offer guidance?
He didn't have that kind of magnanimity.
Yet Zhuang Yun did it.
Zhuang Yun wasn't a fool, nor was he particularly generous.
The fact that Zhuang Yun could let bygones be bygones, while Zhu Xiaosuo couldn't, was precisely because of what he mentioned.
The vision of a cultivator.
The cultivation world isn't about the current disputes, nor is it about the small piece of land in front of you.
Zhu Xiaosuo's way of doing things might seem grand to mortals, but to someone like Zhuang Yun, a disciple of the Immortal Sect, it was like a frog at the bottom of a well, not worthy of the stage.
It was also because Zhuang Yun initially looked down on Zhu Xiaosuo that he underestimated him, almost losing his life.
This made Zhuang Yun realize that if Zhu Xiaosuo, with his limited vision, was already so formidable, then his potential with an open mind could be immeasurable.
Zhuang Yun admitted that his abilities were limited, and his lifetime cap was breaking through to the Bone Transformation Stage.
It would be better to bet on Zhu Xiaosuo; perhaps one day it would pay off.
"Godfather's lesson is well taken."
Zhu Xiaosuo accepted it wholeheartedly.
"Previously, you could rule Mountain Chicken County under my name because I was both an Immortal Sect disciple and could break through to the Bone Transformation Stage. Niu Shilin's backers wouldn't offend me over the small gains in Mountain Chicken County."
"But now, as a failed breakthrough Immortal Sect disciple, it's different. His backers only need to send a Bone Transformation Stage cultivator to deliver a message, and I would have to comply."
"Then... aren't we helpless?"
"Not entirely. My backer is my master in the Immortal Sect. Even if I've been abandoned after my failed breakthrough, the master-disciple relationship still exists. A typical cultivator clan's Bone Transformation Stage cultivator would still have to give me some face."
"So what should we do?"
"It's not you and I who should be worried, but Niu Shilin and his people. I estimate that soon someone from the local area will come to discuss the division of interests in Mountain Chicken County. No matter how much territory you seize now, you'll have to hand it over for unified distribution."
Zhu Xiaosuo's eyes lit up:
"So, we should prepare early to fight for the most benefits at the negotiation table!"