Hermit in the Mountains

The two people on the other side, walking down the mountain, congratulated each other as they went.

At Yang Dashan's doorstep, Zhang Yuanfu asked for Yang Dashan's bank card number and contact information, and transferred 100,000 yuan as construction fees. "Brother Yang, I've transferred 100,000 yuan to you. If it's not enough, just let me know. I'm leaving the house construction to you."

"I'll find the video for you when I get back and send it to you on WeChat."

"Thanks, Brother Zhang. I'll get the house built as soon as possible," Yang Dashan replied solemnly, holding his bank card in his hand.

Zhang Yuanfu sincerely pointed out the current situation of the two of them, saying, "We are now in the same boat. Let's communicate and do what our seniors asked us to do."

"I have to go see an old friend, so I'm leaving now. Call me if you need anything."

"Goodbye, Brother Zhang!" Yang Dashan waved goodbye.

Zhang Yuanfu got into the car, and when the vehicle reached a fork in the road, it turned onto the road to the left, which ran along the stream.

The car was parked in the parking lot outside the courtyard gate. Before getting out of the car, Zhang Yuanfu left a message: "You can take a stroll around the neighborhood. I'm going to see some old friends and catch up."

He opened the car door, walked alone to the courtyard, stopped at the gate, and called out, "Old Li!!!"

Hearing the commotion outside, the bodyguards in the courtyard immediately went to the gate. The burly bodyguard had just reached the gate when he saw that it was his boss's friend. He stepped forward to greet him, "Old Zhang."

Hearing a familiar voice from outside, Li Jianguo walked to the door and a look of surprise crossed his face. "Old Zhang, you've taken so long to come see me. Did you finally have a change of heart?"

Zhang Yuanfu's old mouth seemed to have been smeared with arsenic. "Old Li, you're so narcissistic. I didn't come here to take care of something important, but I happened to remember you were recuperating here, so I just stopped by to see if you were still alive."

Standing at the door, Li Jianguo pondered for a moment, as if he had thought of something. "Old Zhang, you're not here to take care of something important in the mountains, are you?"

Zhang Yuanfu gave his old friend a look, "It's a good thing you didn't blindly go into the mountains before, now good things are happening."

"You should thank me for this. I was thinking of you and managed to get you a chance. Whether you can seize it depends on your courage."

Seeing his old friend's exaggerated performance, Li Jianguo said, "If you want me to owe you a favor, you have to see if the opportunity you're talking about is worth it."

The two chatted as they walked, speaking in cryptic language.

Sitting at the tea table inside, Li Jianguo watched his old friend across from him, who was only focused on sipping his tea and remained silent. He couldn't help but ask, "What exactly happened?"

He recalled the pill-tasting gathering that Fushoutang had previously held. "Could these be elixirs that leaked from that gathering?"

"Yes and no." Zhang Yuanfu acted mysteriously, refusing to say anything, wanting to see Li Jianguo anxiously begging him.

Once Old Man Li asks a question and the other party lowers their head, negotiations can proceed smoothly.

Seeing Zhang Yuanfu's confidence, Li Jianguo guessed that the opportunity Zhang Yuanfu mentioned was probably a benefit he couldn't refuse.

He had been working in the business world for decades, and a dozen days ago he learned a lot of secrets about cultivation through special channels. The team he sent to verify did not get a clear answer, but sometimes no answer is the answer.

After cross-verifying information from multiple sources, the group's think tank arrived at an unbelievable answer.

Unknown particles have been detected in the air, which may promote plant growth.

To verify the authenticity of the think tank's answer, he personally used his greatest personal connections to learn that the country had assembled dozens of research teams to conduct investigations in famous mountains and rivers.

The other party did not explicitly state the purpose of the inspection due to matters of principle, only saying that an inspection team was simultaneously entering famous mountains and rivers. But that was enough. Some things do not need to be explicitly stated; one can judge the general content by observing national trends.

The reason why Fushoutang attracted his attention was because his granddaughter had mentioned it to him. Gu Changsheng went to Fushoutang again and discovered three days later that Zhang Yuanfu had held a secret gathering.

Afterwards, he spent a lot of time and effort to find out from someone that the gathering Zhang Yuanfu had organized was actually a pill-tasting event, where elixirs that could improve bodily functions had appeared.

Unfortunately, the six people who attended the pill-tasting event were all from extraordinary backgrounds. They only revealed that the pills were miraculous elixirs that would benefit the body's functions, and refused to discuss anything else.

He could understand; after all, the more people knew, the more likely they would be eliminated next time.

Gu Changsheng's name came to mind again. He was too familiar with Zhang Yuanfu. If his old friend could really make elixirs, how could he not know?

In the end, there is only one answer: the elixir came from Gu Changsheng.

After learning this secret, he warned his granddaughter not to bother Gu Changsheng anymore and planned to find a breakthrough through Zhang Yuanfu.

The thought of using force flashed through his mind, but he immediately abandoned it.

If Gu Changsheng possesses the legendary magic, he wouldn't even know how he died.

Assuming Gu Changsheng doesn't have any special abilities and can only refine elixirs, would you really dare to take the elixirs refined under his control?

Gu Changsheng could deliberately fail to refine it indefinitely;

Gu Changsheng could tamper with the pills, and even having someone test them wouldn't work. He could use slow-acting poisons, and it's not impossible for him to wipe out the Li family.

There was no way to coerce Gu Changsheng, because Gu Changsheng had no relatives or friends, no one or anything he cared about, and no weaknesses. The other party could take them down with him.

The best solution is to use Zhang Yuanfu, an old friend, to get in touch with Gu Changsheng, gradually build a relationship, and finally achieve cooperation and a win-win situation. This is the safest approach.

Li Jianguo didn't intend to test the waters and went straight to the point, "Old Zhang, let's not beat around the bush. I've also heard some rumors about cultivation."

He paused, pointed to himself with his right hand, then to Zhang Yuanfu, and said, "We can exchange information."

Zhang Yuanfu believed that what Li Jianguo said was true, but he still shook his head.

The other party offered him uncertain information in exchange; how could he possibly give up the information he possessed in exchange?

Gu Changsheng had never displayed any extraordinary abilities in front of him, but his alchemy and beast-taming skills alone were enough to show how mysterious Gu Changsheng's methods were.

He experienced these two techniques firsthand and witnessed them with his own eyes; they can't be lied about.

Zhang Yuanfu came to Li Jianguo not to exchange information, but to use the Li family's connections and resources to serve Gu Changsheng, acting as a communication bridge between the Li family and Li Jianguo.

While on the mountain, he had already come up with a plan. Fushoutang was weak and couldn't withstand any major storms, so he had to find the Li family to act as a shield. After all, Old Li was tough and resilient.

Better to die for your fellow Daoist than for me.

It's safer for him to stay behind Old Man Li, and he can still spend more time making his presence felt at Changsheng Peak.

Zhang Yuanfu bet that even if Old Man Li knew his thoughts, he wouldn't dare to go see Gu Changsheng on his own and would have to ask him to introduce him.

He was overjoyed at the thought that Old Man Li would thank him after being humiliated.

The more confident Zhang Yuanfu was, the more mysterious Gu Changsheng became in Li Jianguo's mind, which led to Li Jianguo becoming more curious and his mind wandering, thus weakening his momentum.

Li Jianguo picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then put it down. His gaze suddenly met Zhang Yuanfu's eyes. "What conditions will you take to tell me?"