Wu Long made sure to greet each and every member of the Frozen Garden Palace who agreed to take his proposal.
They knew what would their roles be and the relationship they would have, but it did not diminish the excitement.
The Sect Elders, of course, were more reserved in their reactions, but there was still a glint in their eyes when they had the opportunity to interact with him up close.
As he returned to the mansion on top of the Peak of Unity in the evening, he saw Sui Luxiao, Cao Xiang and Cao Mei sitting in sofas and discussing something with pondering expressions as he came into the hall of the private part of the mansion.
"...yes, and that would also alleviate the need for Demonic Cores?"
"Hmm, though it is not as critical at the moment, the future potential... Wu Long!"
As Sui Luxiao was speaking, she noticed him approaching, and smiles bloomed on the faces of the beauties who stood up to welcome him back.
"Haha, what were you so excited about?"
He chuckled after greeting each one with a kiss, and a glint of excitement as well as slight nervousness in Cao Mei's eyes intensified as she looked to her Mother and Sui Luxiao for encouragement, and receiving their reassuring nods turned to him with a determined gaze.
"Today, Sister Luxiao has been notified that there was actually a deficit of some medicinal plants and other cultivation resources lately as more people are in a rush to cultivate with the recent Spiritual Qi improvements"
She started, as Sui Luxiao nodded, adding...
"Mei'er is right, not only us, most of the merchants and even suppliers are running out of stock, and thus there is a frenzy over what is left on the shelves.
It is a good opportunity to gain more market share and increase our profits if we manage to fill our stock, not to mention that we would be competing with the Golden Ox Trading Company for customers..."
"The problem is that the quantity of supplies is actually decreasing, since due to the improvements in Spiritual Qi, it was inevitable that the Demonic Beasts have risen in tiers as well, their numbers are also growing.
It is getting harder for disciples of various Sects to collect ingredients.
Even here in the Yin Yang Unity Palace, several reports of the Outer Court Disciples encountering higher tier Demonic Beasts closer to the Sect have been coming to Sister Zhiqiu, who is currently in the Elder Hall, discussing the issue"
Cao Xiang spoke up with more details, filling in the blanks as Wu Long started to get the gist of the situation, which he did expect to an extent, but the magnitude of change was larger due to the fact the improvements of Spiritual Qi were unpredictable.
Though Wu Long highly doubted Lian Zhiqiu was actually in the Elder Hall as he felt her presence in her office not far from here, very possibly lazing around.
She most likely told them she was going to the Elder Hall after they witnessed her receiving said report from Elder Hai or someone of similar standing.
But seeing an excited look in Cao Mei's eyes he decided not to interject and listen to the end.
"Thus, I... I had an idea...
I want to branch out part of the Liugwei Escort Agency and form Liugwei Mercenary Corps.
It would be a dedicated part of our forces to gather medicinal ingredients, hunt Demonic Beasts and extract whatever valuable, as well as possibly even do other more general missions"
She spoke with a bit of nervousness, not sure if he would approve as he slightly widened his eyes in a bit of surprise.
She was effectively breaking away from her Mother's path, finally forging her own, something he did not expect to happen yet.
His eyes then glinted with a light of realization as Ye Ling's words echoed in his ears, since the latter likely anticipated this moment, as she looked after all of them during his trip to the Winter Forest.
"I-I have experience doing it in the Southern Archipelago for some time... of course it was a short time and I cannot claim to be a professional...
I-it was part of the way we raised funds for the fleet's upkeep as we sold the ingredients to local merchants... so a lot of our former crewmen actually are veterans in the field so I can assemble "
She then hurriedly added on.
"Such a group would honestly add versatility to our actions.
You also said that you needed Demonic Cores of higher tier beasts, and the stock of those has always been low as they are not such a popular item for the difficulty of obtaining one, so Mei'er could help with that as well"
Cao Xiang supported her daughter's endeavor with a smile, her gaze warming up from seeing her growth.
"It would also alleviate some of our stock issues and possibly even give us an advantage over competitors.
Going forward there may be a possibility such a branch would become even more valuable when we travel to the outside world"
Sui Luxiao also seemed keen on the idea, throwing in her two coins to the mix.
"Haha, why are you so nervous, Mei'er?
Mm, I believe it is a great idea, and would suit your more free style of operations. So I would support you in this as well"
He chuckled, as Cao Mei's cheeks reddened and she leaned forward for a hug.
"I... didn't know if you would be against it..."
"Heh, why would I be?
It is truly a good idea, not to mention that it is something you decided to do partially for me as well, why wouldn't I be happy about it?"
He hugged her tighter while the two looked on with warm gazes.
"Ah! But I want to spend a lot of time with you so I am going to follow Sister Luxiao's steps and find someone to manage daily operations as soon as possible"
She then raised her head as all four of them laughed, while Cao Xiang had a glint appear in her eyes as well.