Chapter 547: Business Intent

Chapter 547: Chapter 547: Business Intent

It wasn’t that Flying Dragon was feeling nostalgic, but rather that he was a bit unsettled inside.

He knew exactly what kind of temper Lord Shen had—the sort who could kill without batting an eye. If he still had value, that was fine, but the moment he became useless, his ending would probably be dire.

Seizing control from within? Flying Dragon had entertained that thought a few times, but in the end he always gave up quickly on his own. He simply didn’t have the guts—and couldn’t think of a single chance of winning. If he failed, his entire family would be doomed. The risk was just too high.

So, clinging tightly to a powerful backer was still the safest course.

Back when he was scraping by, he’d never thought of leaving anything for his family. As long as they had meat to eat, he figured he’d done right by his wife and kids. But now, Flying Dragon kept wondering if it was possible for his children to live differently than he had.

Whenever nothing was happening, he’d absentmindedly rub the Thousand-Mile Sound talisman through his clothes, hoping a new job would come his way. Even just an inquiry would do. Lately, the Black Market had been stirring again—not just in Jingxi, but east, south, north, central—where wasn’t there a patch belonging to "Brother Feilong"?

The authorities always looked down on the Black Market. Taking advantage of the Xuanqing Guard’s crackdown and the Dynasty’s anti-smuggling efforts, Flying Dragon swiftly snapped up the Black Market’s turf—working both openly and under the table with Zhang Lie and the other Xuanqing Guards. Now it was finally time to reap the harvest.

Put simply, when it came to all the Black Market dealings that went on behind the Dynasty’s back, Flying Dragon could trace at least sixty percent of the threads—and the portion he directly held amounted to over thirty percent of the national Black Market business.

These days, in Jing Old Dynasty Territory and among those who ran in gray and black markets, there was hardly anyone who hadn’t heard of "Brother Feilong." Powerful, ruthless, loyal, capable... just not easy to meet in person. Very few had actually seen the real Flying Dragon face-to-face.

By Flying Dragon’s own reckoning, in this line of work, for every person eating and drinking with him, there were just as many wishing for his miserable death. Only once he was dead would others have the chance to climb over his corpse. So, he always hid himself deep and recruited a number of "tough" loose cultivators to guard his home and turf.

Previously, he’d heard from folks coming from the Imperial City that Lord Shen had taken down another high official—probably about to get promoted again? Hopefully he wouldn’t get transferred away and leave this whole mess behind?

Flying Dragon was anxious, and he wasn’t the only one—Zhang Lie, the brokers’ Zhu Shou, all of them worried Shen Hao would get promoted and transferred too fast. If he was replaced by a total pushover, that would truly be a disaster.

"Bzzz bzzz..."

Without any warning, the Thousand-Mile Sound talisman that Flying Dragon had been thinking about suddenly vibrated a few times. It was faint, but enough to make his face change expression. Then, pretending nothing had happened, he glanced around, got up from the lounge chair, clasped his hands behind his back, and strolled casually toward the study.

To call it a study was a stretch—it was actually the secret chamber in Flying Dragon’s home. There were a few books inside, but mostly erotic paintings, with the rest being blood-and-guts storybooks. Hardly refined, but perfectly suited to Flying Dragon’s tastes.

He shut the door, carefully pulled out the Thousand-Mile Sound, and skimmed the message quickly. His face gained a hint of a smile—not a big one, but noticeably better than his mood before.

It was word from Lord Shen! And he was assigning him a new task.

Except... this wasn’t the kind of job Flying Dragon had expected—it was neither risky nor did it need to be kept secret. He could do it openly—in grand fashion, even—though it would surely burn a lot of cash.

Hot and cold exchange? What the hell is that?

After reading the summary on the Thousand-Mile Sound, Flying Dragon’s thoughts spun for a while before he finally caught on. Seemed like some kind of array for cooling and heating? But why go to all this trouble—couldn’t just be about staying cool... right?

No way. With Lord Shen’s vision, he’d never do something that trivial. There had to be a deeper scheme!

The more Flying Dragon thought about it, the more excited he became. Not because he’d guessed what Lord Shen was really up to, but because he’d realized—this thing could make a killing!

Think of it—Jingjiu Dynasty’s territory was huge; all year long, the south was hot, the north was cold, the middle switched back and forth. Cultivators could withstand seasons by way of their cultivation, but ordinary folks? Just using fans or charcoal stoves? And those rich families—even with their wealth and power, at the end of the day, they couldn’t escape heat and cold either.

Burning charcoal in winter was dangerous—not to mention dry. And you couldn’t hole up in an ice cellar all summer, could you? If there were an array that could keep a house warm in winter and cool in summer, wouldn’t that be a game changer?

These past couple of years, Flying Dragon might not have seen much of other things, but he’d seen plenty of the lives of the wealthy. Jokingly, "The rich have so much money they don’t even know what to spend it on."

"If I get this thing out, won’t it sell like crazy?"

The possibilities ahead made Flying Dragon feel he might have guessed a hint of Lord Shen’s intention. Back then, when he had him work the Black Market scene, didn’t he start in just this way? Grab a thin thread, then weave it into a giant net—maybe Lord Shen was planning to spin a new web this time?

After sending a message back confirming he’d received the order, Flying Dragon put away the Thousand-Mile Sound and started pacing the study. He figured he’d caught on to Lord Shen’s intentions, so even though nothing had started, the first thing he had to think about was "secrecy." This would require real skill to pull off—the hot and cold exchange was one thing, but he also needed to figure out how to monopolize it so no one could steal the technique.

He mulled it over the entire day. When dawn broke the next morning, Flying Dragon was out the door and back to work. Returning to the Black Market, he could put yesterday’s ideas into motion.

First, Flying Dragon had people contact several array masters who made Magic Discs. All of them were loose cultivators—sneaking around the Black Market, selling contraband magic discs for spirit stones or elixirs to fund their cultivation, making a living with their craft. These guys knew their stuff, and to Flying Dragon, they were good enough for the hot-and-cold array Lord Shen wanted. The key thing was, these array-savvy loose cultivators had no real background—easy to control, and easy to deal with if anything went wrong.

Next was gathering intel—like how many big households in the key cities around the country had built ice cellars, how much they spent on charcoal in a winter, and how many died each year from charcoal accidents.

As for the cost of materials for the magic discs, Flying Dragon didn’t need to do special research. Those were readily available—ask any array master and you’d have a general idea.

Top dog in the Black Market as he was, when Brother Feilong said the word, how could a few loose cultivator array masters dealing in black market contraband magic discs dare not come running?

By noon that day, three so-called "master hands" of arrays arrived—not much in cultivation, but well versed in array techniques for sure.

They talked until evening. Flying Dragon set out the wine, and by the time the meal was over, he’d pretty much made up his mind. He ordered these three array masters settled in for the night—said there’d be more business to discuss tomorrow.

Then Flying Dragon summoned Zhang Lie, arranging manpower to keep tabs on the three, and had people deliver, overnight, all the materials for array instruments that might be needed according to their discussions at dinner.