'Xiaoan, just you wait. I'll exact my revenge on you.' Yanyuan thought happily as he felt that Granny Kiyo was by far the most pleasing individual he had ever met.
"Shall we get down to business now, Clan Leader Yan?" Granny Kiyo said, taking a seat.
"Yes, please." The middle-aged man nodded as he snapped his finger, watching a servant bring forward a case, and set it up on the table.
The middle-aged man opened it, revealing the contents inside, stating in pride, "Red Mystic Iron, a valuable resource that's hard to come by. Just recently, my Yan Clan came across this mine. Please check the contents, Granny Kiyo."
Granny Kiyo didn't say anything as she picked up the reddish crystal-like substance, weighing it in her hands, seeing that it was heavy, and also containing a dense stream of Mystic Energy.
Once she probed through it, Granny Kiyo nodded in praise, "The quality is excellent. How much is your Clan able to mine daily?"
"Around a kilogram's worth." The middle-aged man said, "The difficulty in mining them is way too high, not to mention the risks involved in doing so."
"A kilogram is still a decent harvest. Alright, I'll buy everything you mine at market price." Granny Kiyo stated her demands.
"M-Market price?" The middle-aged man was shocked before beaming in joy. After all, when someone usually bought such resources, the price offered would be way below the market price, especially for bulk orders.
But, Granny Kiyo didn't even bother to haggle such a thing and directly quoted the market price.
'I heard that Granny Kiyo is incredibly rich. It seems the rumours are indeed the truth.' Thinking as such, he made a respectable bow, "I'm grateful for this transaction."
He then offered a proposition, "Granny Kiyo, since you need the Red Mystic Iron daily, please allow me to set up your lodgings in my Clan. We'll ensure that you're never disturbed with the mundane affairs of the world."
"That works." Granny Kiyo nodded, smiling a little, "I was just thinking of secluding myself to conduct my research. But if the Yan Clan is willing to create such an environment for me, I'll gladly take up on the offer."
"It's our honour." The middle-aged man said, bringing Granny Kiyo to a courtyard that was established in the centre of their Clan, beside a large lake, with the backdrop of a hill. The Yan Clan had spent a lot of their fortune just to build this place for Granny Kiyo.
Their goal was to make her stay there permanently. After all, she was a valuable person, someone whose name made rounds throughout their region for the past six months.
Cultivators in their world had what was known as Mystic Roots, a set of veins capable of circulating Mystic Energy. Only those with Mystic Roots could cultivate.
There were cultivation Realms that dictated one's strength, starting with the Spirit Apprentice Realm, someone that just embarked on harnessing Mystic Energy.
Each Realm was subdivided into nine stages. Spirit Apprentices were the most basic in terms of strength, a Realm dominated by kid cultivators. Following it was the Spirit Retainer Realm, the true start of one's cultivation journey.
Spirit Retainers were called as such because they each inherit the bloodline of a Mystic Beast. The Yan Clan had one such Mystic Beast sealed in their Clan for centuries, one whose blood they extract every year for their Spirit Retainers to obtain the bloodline of.
Every cultivator Clan had one such Mystic Beast sealed. Mystic Beasts were too powerful to be fought against alone. And in the Myriad Origin Continent, there existed the Mystic Beast Clan that worked on capturing Mystic Beasts to sell to those that wished to set up a Clan.
Lower Tier Clans such as the Yan Clan and Xiao Clan only had one Mystic Beast. But stronger Clans had more than one, with the strongest of their Mystic Beasts reserved only for their main family line in the Clan.
Granny Kiyo was at the Ninth Stage of the Spirit Retainer Realm. This strength wasn't anything spectacular, since even the guards of the Yan Clan were as strong.
Above the Spirit Retainer Realm was the Spirit Master and Spirit Grandmaster Realm respectively. The middle-aged man was a Spirit Grandmaster while most of the Yan Clan Elders were either peak Spirit Masters or early Spirit Grandmasters.
But, things weren't as simple as they seemed, as nothing was guaranteed on strength alone, especially for the development of a Clan.
And that was where people like Granny Kiyo came into the picture. She was an Inscriptionist, someone that dealt with runes and Mystic Characters.
Inscriptionists were able to draw and imbue the power of nature into an object. And it was through the power of an Inscriptionist that one was able to funnel the power of a Mystic Beast's blood into a Spirit Retainer.
And every time someone from the Yan Clan wished to do so, they had to invite an Inscriptionist from the Inscriptionist Guild. Four major guilds in the Myriad Origin Continent controlled the professions of Inscriptionist, Array Master, Alchemist, and Artificer respectively.
Finding someone not part of these guilds was almost impossible, as only through these guilds would they obtain resources to grow. Of course, there were rare exceptions like Granny Kiyo, an eccentric individual that had been unaffiliated until now.
Therefore, if they managed to make Granny Kiyo a permanent guest of their Clan, the Yan Clan would have an Inscriptionist with them, saving up a lot of money that they spent every year. Just for that alone, giving her the Red Mystic Iron for free was a worthwhile trade.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy to get such an eccentric individual on their side, hence why the middle-aged man had been trying to make Yanyuan get into her good books.
But things were in motion to prevent this from happening.
Wearing a robe that covered him from head to toe was Xiaoan, approaching the Inscriptionist Guild branch in their city, arriving before a counter as he handed out a medallion, stating with a mature voice that he changed using a technique, "I've come for some resources."
"A G-Grandmaster Inscriptionist?" The receptionist exclaimed in surprise upon staring at the medallion before catering to Xiaoan's needs.
"Master, would this work?" Xiaoan whispered once the receptionist ran away in a hurry to bring in the materials he had asked, "I've yet to learn anything about inscriptions."
"Relax, with me here, you won't be found out." A graceful voice resounded in his ear.
