Xue Zhishen smiled and nodded.
Xue Danping said excitedly and somewhat incredulously, "I thought it was just a rumor, but I didn't expect it to be true! But why would such a powerful figure come to our remote place? Could it be for Senior Zhao Yanhua?"
Xue Zhishen shook his head. "Although the Zhao family is one of the ten great cultivation families in the Jiang Kingdom, they are still far inferior to that person. It's naturally not worth the great figure's personal attention."
"As far as I know, that great figure should be here for our Xue family's Cloud Crystal Pond. Otherwise, our Xue family wouldn't have blocked the export of Cloud Crystal Liquid during this time."
After hearing this, Xue Danping was enlightened and couldn't help but look excited.
This was because the great figure from the Huayu Sect had an astonishing background, with a power that ranked among the top even within the entire Huayu Sect.
Being able to interact with such a powerful figure naturally made Xue Danping incredibly excited.
After the excitement, Xue Danping became a little worried. "When will that Senior Zhao leave here? Daughter sees that he doesn't seem to be looking for anyone at all. It's fine that he goes sightseeing every day and spends a lot of money, but the key is that this person is very fond of young men. Some disciples in the family have already fallen victim, causing me to receive many sidelong glances."
Xue Zhishen also said helplessly, "We can't afford to offend the Zhao family. It is said that the direct descendants of this family possess an extremely powerful Spiritual Beast Bloodline. Although the Zhao family's strength has weakened considerably in recent years, their status as one of the ten great cultivation families in the Jiang Kingdom remains very stable. Therefore, as long as that person is not too excessive, we should just let him be."
After thinking for a moment, Xue Zhishen added, "Next, welcoming the great figure from the Huayu Sect is the most important matter. Your focus should be on this matter from now on. Rush to Cloud Crystal Island as soon as possible to ensure the Cloud Crystal Pond on the island is foolproof."
"As for accompanying Zhao Yanhua, you don't need to worry about it anymore. The family will send someone else to take over."
Xue Danping quickly agreed and breathed a sigh of relief.
Ning Family, Jinchang Island.
This island not only housed the Ning family's internal market but was also the headquarters of the Blazing Wind Hall.
After all, one of the main responsibilities of the Blazing Wind Hall was to provide guards for the family's merchant caravans.
In a cluster of buildings at the core of the island was the main hall of the Blazing Wind Hall.
In a pavilion at the core, radiant light shone, indicating that the restrictions were fully activated.
Ning Fa was cultivating in a quiet room.
He was only wearing shorts and was striking various strange poses.
Silver lightning flickered on his body from time to time, crackling audibly.
His muscles rippled like waves, rising and falling continuously, with streams of silver light flashing intermittently.
As he circulated his energy deeper, faint phantoms began to appear behind him.
These phantoms seemed to be human-shaped, or perhaps beast-shaped.
But without exception, they all exuded an extremely ancient and powerful aura.
After an unknown amount of time, Ning Fa slowly finished his practice.
Feeling that his physical strength had increased by a sliver, he didn't show much joy on his face.
He muttered to himself with some helplessness, "It seems I still can't do without that Cloud Crystal Liquid."
In the past year or two, the supply of Cloud Crystal Liquid had significantly decreased.
Because the local Cloud Crystal Liquid channels in Thousand Wave Lake had been cut off, Wei Shiqin had to obtain some Cloud Crystal Liquid from a very distant location each time.
This had directly restricted the refinement of the Nine Revolutions Purple Yuan Powder.
As a result, Ning Fa had to rely on diligently practicing the body-refining chapter of the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture for most of the time.
Fortunately, during this period, he had obtained a good amount of high-quality Blood Fang Rice from the Huang family, which greatly helped his body refinement.
However, it was still far inferior to the effects of the Purple Yuan Powder.
Ning Fa, who was accustomed to the assistance of the Purple Yuan Powder, found it very difficult to adapt.
During this time, he had also mobilized the family's resources to collect Cloud Crystal Liquid, but the results were minimal.
After all, the only source of Cloud Crystal Liquid in the Thousand Wave Lake area was the Xue family, but the Xue family had blocked the export of Cloud Crystal Liquid in recent years.
Therefore, even the Xudong Chamber of Commerce or the Ning family had few options.
Just then, a flash of fire appeared in front of Ning Fa, and a Sound Transmission Talisman materialized out of thin air.
After listening, Ning Fa's expression brightened, and a smile appeared on his lips. He immediately stopped cultivating and got up.
In a hall, Ning Fa met Ning Yuwen.
Ning Yuwen's face was slightly dusty, indicating that he had been busy traveling recently.
He said solemnly, "Tonight, at the hour of the ox, the Liu family will be smuggling a batch of Fire Sun Stones and Shihua Wood at Pier Number Three on Cui Liu Island. As far as I know, the quantity is not small."
Ning Fa's eyes lit up. He chuckled, "Liu Zhili, Liu Zhili, you couldn't hold back in the end. Don't blame me then."
After dealing with the Huang family's affairs.
Ning Fa began to focus on dealing with the Liu family.
Ning Fa already had a plan on how to deal with the Liu family.
The Liu family had two major industries. One was that their family owned the rights to a first-grade mid-tier ore, the Fire Sun Stone, mine.
This ore was relatively important, similar to green rubber, and was a Spiritual Material needed for various mid-to-high-tier Magic Tools, thus it was very valuable.
The other major industry was that the Liu family produced a first-grade mid-tier spiritual wood called Shihua Wood.
This wood's value is much higher than that Fire Sun Stone, and it is the pillar industry of the Liu Family.
This is because it is not only the main material for building Spirit Boats but also a very good Spiritual Material for making high-grade talisman paper.
Because of these two major industries, the Liu Family can be said to have profited greatly.
As for why the Ning Family allowed the Liu Family to possess these two major industries, it wasn't due to the Liu Family's skillful maneuvering.
Rather, it was a condition personally agreed upon by the Ning Family's First Elder when the Liu Family submitted to the Ning Family over a hundred years ago.
However, although the Ning Family permitted the Liu Family to own these two major industries, there were restrictions.
For example, they needed to supply the Ning Family first, and the prices had to be reasonable.
Additionally, there were strict limitations on the export of these two items.
To whom these Spiritual Materials could be exported and in what quantities required the Ning Family's permission.
This is because these two Spiritual Materials are important strategic resources, and selling them to other forces would be equivalent to aiding the enemy.
Ning Fa had vaguely known for a long time that the Liu Family's actions were not entirely clean, and there were irregularities in their export of these materials.
After all, both Fire Sun Stone and Shihua Wood could easily fetch large sums of Spirit Stones.
It was difficult for the Liu Family to resist the temptation of so many Spirit Stones and strictly adhere to the Ning Family's rules.
Especially since the Liu Family head was skillful at managing relationships and had good connections with many branches within the Ning Family, leading to numerous exchanges of benefits.
Therefore, Ning Fa sent Ning Yuwen to secretly investigate the Liu Family.
It seemed they also knew that Ning Fa serving as the Deputy Hall Master of the Blazing Wind Hall was not a good sign.
The Liu Family initially restrained themselves and did not dare to smuggle recklessly again.
Later, seeing that Ning Fa took no action for a while, the Liu Family began to slowly smuggle some Fire Sun Stone and Shihua Wood, albeit in small quantities, clearly testing the waters.
But Ning Fa was playing the long game, waiting for a bigger opportunity, so he endured and took no action.
And now, the Liu Family clearly couldn't hold back and wanted to smuggle a large batch.
This naturally made Ning Fa clap his hands in approval.