Chapter 307: Chapter 274: Minor Formless Skill

For the past three days, Lin Miao hadn’t stepped out of the house, mainly because he was studying a martial arts technique Yue Mei’Er obtained from Yin Mei’Er. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Minor Formless Skill.

This martial arts technique is a treasured heirloom skill of a top-tier sect that was destroyed by the Moon Worship Sect. The sect was called the Wuxiang Sect.

This sect established itself with this cultivation technique and even developed into a first-class sect, which clearly illustrates the power and exceptional nature of this cultivation technique.

The Minor Formless Skill is quite impressive. After researching it a bit, he felt it was quite suitable for the women in his family who haven’t practiced martial arts; it’s at least stronger than the cultivation techniques collected and sent by the Su Family.

Of course, the Minor Formless Skill isn’t perfect; it has its own flaws, though the imperfections aren’t quite visible.

Yin Mei’Er was able to reach the Great Perfection of the Meridian Realm with the Minor Formless Skill, which shows the high caliber of this cultivation technique.

Yin Mei’Er actually handed over this skill to Yue Mei’Er, indicating his sincerity.

He wanted Lin Miao to believe that what he said was true; otherwise, why would he inform Yin Mei’Er about his cultivation technique?

Although Lin Miao obtained the heart method of the Minor Formless Skill, he didn’t directly pass it to Sun Youwei for cultivation, but studied it himself and tried operating it within his own body first.

His cultivation of Dragon Elephant Wisdom Strength didn’t conflict much with the Minor Formless Skill, so he could practice this Minor Formless Skill as well.

Anyway, with the Yijinjing General Outline, he could perfectly match any inner cultivation heart method.

Buddhist inner power methods emphasize moderation and peace, and they are the most orthodox. Plus, he can now internally observe his body condition, so correcting the Minor Formless Skill poses no problem.

The modified Minor Formless Skill surely underwent some changes, but its core remained the same, and Lin Miao didn’t change the name.

He directly followed the original method of operating it and transcribed the new method.

"Senior sister, weren’t you lacking an inner cultivation heart method? This is a cultivation technique of someone else’s that I slightly modified to make specially tailored for you."

"For me only, can I alone cultivate it?"

"You can pass it on to those who you think are worthy; you decide that yourself, no need to ask me," Lin Miao said.

"Alright."

...

"Is he coming to pay his respects to me?" Lin Miao was very surprised when Xia Zhu ran over to tell him that Wen Ruyu was coming to pay his respects to him. Isn’t this quite reversed?

Wen Ruyu is the director of the Medical Bureau, and he was the deputy. The deputy shouldn’t be paid respects first by the director; when does the director come to pay respects to the deputy?

"He said that Master has now been awarded the title of Official Rank Six, so in terms of official rank, you are indeed two levels higher than him. It’s reasonable for him to come and pay respects to you, too."

"Though saying that, he’s from the capital city, while I hail from this small place, so I should go pay respects first. If this word gets to Mr. Fu’s ears, I’m afraid it could leave a bad impression of me. You go tell him that tomorrow I’ll personally visit the Xinglin Institute to pay respects to the new director," Lin Miao instructed.

"Understood, Master."

"This Xia Zhu, you... never mind, it’s nothing. Tomorrow, go to the diagnosis site and post a notice saying that the day after tomorrow, I’ll return to the convenient medical diagnosis point to continue diagnosing and treating the folks in Dongshan City," Lin Miao instructed.

"Got it."

...

Ever since taking in Lianxin and Liansuo, these two women openly became part of the household, so tasks like serving tea and water no longer required Xiaolian or Yu Zhu.

Usually, it was elder sister Lianxin.

Lianxin had a quiet disposition, was meticulous, and when attending to Lin Miao, understood his preferences better. Younger sister Liansuo was a bit careless, forming an internal-external arrangement with the elder sister.

At home, Lianxin was always beside him, and when out, it was Liansuo.

On Sun Youwei’s side, Yu Zhu rarely followed her, and instead the main follower changed to Ling Yu’Er.

Only when Sun Youwei was around did Lianxin and Liansuo automatically avoid her, for the status of the great lady was unchallenged.

The two sisters knew well that no matter their status, they couldn’t surpass Sun Youwei.

...

"Sanshui, Sanshui..." Lin Miao was cooling off in the backyard pavilion, eating chilled watermelon while someone fanned him.

A familiar voice suddenly came through.

"Mr. Su, you’re here." Lin Miao quickly stood up, spat out the watermelon seeds in his mouth, and briskly walked down the pavilion to pull him over.

"Your days are really comfortable; I’m having a much tougher time than you!" As soon as Su Chen arrived, he began lamenting, "My father now wants me to make decisions on everything. I hardly even have time to eat properly."

"You have such a huge family inheritance to take over; how can you compare with me?" Lin Miao chuckled and took a piece of watermelon from Lianxin to hand over, "Here, have some chilled watermelon to refresh your throat first."

Su Chen took it and unceremoniously took a big bite, saying, "It’s really sweet. This watermelon must have been shipped from Gua Province, right? In this hot weather, if you ship three, one must spoil. One costs at least one or two pieces of silver; ordinary families can’t afford it."

"I got this as a gift from someone, didn’t spend any money," Lin Miao laughed, "Any gains from your trip back?"

"Those people who were so unruly before are now behaving well. When my father was earning money for the family, they enjoyed a life of luxury, like rice worms. At the first sign of trouble, they all sprang out, acting all righteous, criticizing my father. If they weren’t bearing the Su name, I would have thrown them out long ago!"

"No hurry. Once you become the Patriarch, settle accounts slowly. For a family to prosper long-term, besides clear rewards and punishments, there needs to be an effective benefit distribution system. Those who contribute to the family naturally get more; those who do nothing get less. Don’t distribute by family, but by headcount. To get more, they must be rewarded according to labor; otherwise, just ensure basic living," Lin Miao suggested.

"Reward according to labor might face strong opposition," Su Chen was taken aback.

"Originally, the Su Family could have used this crisis as an opportunity for reform, so they could operate with less burden. Currently, the Su Family’s annual burdens are quite heavy, leading to a lack of liquid capital," Lin Miao noted. "They need the courage to cut losses."

"I’m afraid that’s not possible. Although my father has stabilized the situation, many in the clan do not support him. If the measures are too extreme, there will be a backlash, potentially causing a split in the Su Family, giving others an opportunity to exploit!" Su Chen said.

"Then it’s like boiling a frog in warm water, gradually pushing these people out of core positions. Mr. Su, we can test this in our cooperative venture. Don’t let these people in; a single bad apple can spoil the whole barrel," Lin Miao reminded.

"Rest assured, our cooperation won’t have such issues. I won’t accept any of those useless troublemakers. But if they have real skills, I won’t refuse them. And if someone tries something under my nose, handling it becomes justified!" Su Chen chuckled, "When can we start shipping the next batch of goods?"

"It depends on you. I can ship from my end anytime. Additionally, I have prepared some other products for you. Try taking them along and see if you can open up new markets. Also, I’ve reached a cooperation agreement with the embroidery house; they have a stockpile of embroidered goods. If you can sell them off to the Great Yue Country, we’ll split the profits evenly?"

"Is it the embroidery house from Li Hen City?"

"Yes, it’s the Li Hen City embroidery house."

"Brother, how do you manage to land such businesses?" Su Chen was amazed.

"Don’t worry about that. If you can sell them, all my profits will be exchanged for high-quality silk and thread. Exchange as much as you can," Lin Miao said.

"Li Hen City’s goods are tightly monitored by the imperial court. However, if it’s through our Su Family, mixed with regular goods, it shouldn’t be a big issue. But if discovered, there will be significant trouble," Su Chen noted. "Though the imperial court can’t handle Li Hen City, they don’t want it to grow stronger. Even though they allow business in Da Li’s domain, the taxes are high. Officially, Li Hen City’s annual tax to Da Li isn’t much, mostly paid indirectly. When cornered, these people disregard the law, and those with strong backing aren’t afraid of dealing with Li Hen City. Longchuan Canyon has many minerals unavailable elsewhere, and the imperial court wants in but can’t get in."

Lin Miao understood. Unless the imperial court stationed troops in Longchuan Canyon, things revert once the army leaves.

That place is not somewhere ordinary people can survive.

Yet, Longchuan Canyon isn’t entirely wilderness inhospitable to humans; some areas are inaccessible. The cost of seizing them is immeasurable.

Some areas are perpetually shrouded in mist, plagued with miasma and forests, where ordinary people cannot survive.

The Yingfeng Valley Lin Miao holds is already considered a treasured location, yet previously housed two giant serpent beasts and countless venomous snakes. Who would dare go there?

Now, many eyes are on it, but Lin Miao’s formidable prowess in eliminating the serpent beasts deters anyone from making the first move, lest they meet a grim fate.

In fact, many forces have sent scouts, all dealt with decisively by Si Miaoxue.

Otherwise, how could the construction in Yingfeng Valley proceed?

In the past, Si Miaoxue, with her Middle Grade Meridian Passage Realm cultivation, barely managed, even with Yue Wu and Yue Shisan assisting.

But now she’s at the Peak of the Meridian Passage Realm, with Yue Wu and Yue Shisan at Middle Grade and Lower Grade Meridian Passage Realm, respectively.

Anyone eyeing Yingfeng Valley faces three Meridian Passage Realm experts; they better think twice, for any attempt would end poorly.

"Will it affect your Su Family?"

"No, actually, many dignitaries secretly engage in smuggling. We don’t count as smuggling, as long as it’s not labeled with Li Hen City’s embroidery house products," Su Chen said. "You own a silk shop, don’t you? You could also open an embroidery house, using your brand for Li Hen City goods, as long as the Jiangnan merchants accept them."

Lin Miao pondered, recognizing its feasibility, but doing so might swallow the Li Hen City embroidery house’s brand.

This couldn’t be handled dishonorably.