As for Si Nan.

Ye Liuyun noticed the somewhat restless fluctuations of Si Nan’s inner strength.

Looks like he’ll be breaking through to the Postnatal Realm very soon.

Not bad at all!

After all, these are his own people—if he ever needs to leave the Great Qian Dynasty in the future, he can bring them along. Maybe he could even start his own faction and be the boss himself.

But those things are still way off; Ye Liuyun was just fantasizing for now.

A cool breeze in the shade of a big tree—it’s good to have strong backing.

With nothing much to do, Ye Liuyun wouldn’t really leave Great Qian out of boredom anyway.

"Rest well tonight. Early tomorrow morning, we’ll prepare to return to the Imperial City!"

"Yes, sir!"

Hearing that they would be heading back to the Imperial City tomorrow, everyone responded in unison.

Especially Si Nan.

If you asked why Si Nan was cultivating so diligently, on one hand, it was truly because he wanted to breakthrough to the Postnatal Realm as soon as possible.

But on the other hand—and this was the main reason—

Damn it, Lingdan City doesn’t even have a single brothel?

What kind of place is this for humans?

Lingdan City churns out Alchemy Masters, but everyone’s idea of entertainment here is alchemy competitions. No matter how long he looked, the best Si Nan found was crowds gathering to watch some Alchemy Master make pills.

Not a single brothel in sight. None at all.

Could it be that...

Everyone in Lingdan City only has alchemy on their minds? No one thinks about women at all?

What the hell kind of hellhole is this?

He actually used to find the peaceful, harmonious vibe of Lingdan City kinda nice.

But now, Si Nan couldn’t like it at all. No brothels—what else could he do but stay obediently at the inn and cultivate? Guy’s gotta find himself something to do.

Now that he could go back to the Imperial City—

Si Nan was starting to feel nostalgic for the Imperial Music Bureau.

...

At that moment—

On Bai Xi’s side, as soon as she returned to Bai Mansion, a bunch of elders from the Bai family came over. These were all the true antiques of the Bai clan, several generations above Bai Xi.

Using their seniority, they talked down to her.

They didn’t show her the slightest deference, even though she was the Patriarch.

"Patriarch, why didn’t you at least discuss it with us before lowering the price of the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s pills by ten percent?"

"Yeah! Do you realize how much profit we’re losing by cutting ten percent off?"

As Bai clan elders,

When the Bai family made money,

they got a cut as well. This was a matter of their own interests. A smaller payout had them squirming in their seats.

So right as Bai Xi returned,

they didn’t care if she was exhausted; they just crowded right in.

"..."

A bunch of short-sighted fools.

Her good mood was immediately gone. Bai Xi’s pretty eyes narrowed slightly; after glancing coldly around, she spoke with a steady voice.

"As the Patriarch of the Bai family, do I seriously not even have this much authority?"

All because of these old fossils,

the Bai family remained stagnated and stuck in its ways.

Once upon a time, they’d been one of the most prestigious alchemy clans, but now the Bai family was clearly at risk of dropping out of the top tier.

And these geezers? They act like they don’t have a clue.

Still basking in the reflected glory of the past.

Times are changing, and those who can’t keep up will only get eliminated.

Knowing this,

was precisely why Bai Xi had to find a new path forward and keep the Bai family moving ahead.

The only reason these old men could still run wild was that she hadn’t been Patriarch for long yet.

Give it time. Sooner or later, she’d drag them all down from their pedestals.

"So what if you are Patriarch?"

Seeing Bai Xi refuse to apologize and even pulling rank, these old men—so used to lording it over as clan elders—were immediately displeased.

They started rebuking her harshly right away!

"Don’t forget, we’re Bai clan elders—by seniority, you should call me Great Grandfather!"

"That’s right, don’t think that just because you’re Patriarch, what you say goes in this family!"

"We’re not dead yet!"

...

They wouldn’t let her get a word in edgewise, everyone talking over each other.

In reality,

these men were actually scared—worried that their status would be threatened. That’s why they oppressed Bai Xi as Patriarch, so they could show off their authority.

Bai Xi stayed silent,

but the killing intent in her eyes only grew stronger.

She’d finally managed to latch onto the Embroidered Uniform Guard, wrapped around Ye Liuyun’s leg, and the Bai family was finally on the verge of rising again. But if, at this juncture, her own people turned into baggage... well, there wouldn’t even be a place left to cry about it.

"Phew!"

She slowly regulated her breathing.

Bai Xi worked hard to reestablish her calm state of mind.

No way.

This group definitely couldn’t stay. With these elders holding the reins, not only would the Bai family never strengthen, they’d just wither more and more.

She’d considered it before, but never with such certainty as now.

Bai Xi was already plotting how to get rid of these useless old leeches.

That said—

On the surface, Bai Xi put her smile back on and spoke in her usual calm tone.

"I’ve already agreed to the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s terms—there’s no room for regret. If you elders have any objections, Ye Liuyun is still in Lingdan City. If you have ideas, go complain to him yourselves!"

...

The crowd, once full of righteous indignation,

instantly fell silent at those words.

They were unhappy about the money, sure, but they only ever intended for Bai Xi to handle it—they never meant to get involved themselves.