CHAPTER 104: PERFORMANCE

Chapter 104: Performance

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He was lost in his thoughts about what to do next; he could already see how his actions had already changed a part of the future he knew, and he was certain that, like a chain reaction, this would influence quite a few other future events.

He had thought about this problem in the past, but now that it had created such a commotion, he realized he would have to be more strict with his next moves.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed, and he didn’t need to raise his head to know who it was.

He could tell by the lightness and pace of the steps,

It was obviously Ye Ning, coming to work.

He hadn’t disturbed her the day before, not after learning of a certain strange phenomenon that had affected the inn.

From the descriptions of the elves living there, he could immediately understand what had happened, and he couldn’t help but feel a little surprised, though not much,

after all, it was within his expectations that something like this would occur.

He lifted his head and looked at the elf girl, who seemed to be the same as before, but to his eyes, every small change was noticeable.

"Congratulations, little Ning, you’ve finally entered the second stage," he said, complimenting her.

He could sense her subtle aura, which, though suppressed, was still perceptible.

It was clear she wasn’t very skilled at hiding it yet, but he didn’t worry too much about that; he was certain that Lin Xian had stepped in and had most likely take care of this.

Ye Ning, with her usual serene smile, thanked her master, but then paused, a little hesitant, as if she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure.

Zhu Rong didn’t miss to notice this, and immediately understood what it was about.

He didn’t force her and waited silently to see what she would decide to do.

After a moment of hesitation, her voice grew more solemn as if she had weighed her decision.

With a slightly serious but low voice, she said,

"Master, I want to talk to you about something," she said, beginning to explain what had happened to her yesterday.

She thought her master might know something about her situation, since he had told her to be careful when something like this happened and to find a secluded place in that case.

But she didn’t know how much he actually knew, especially regarding that person.

She had thought about it for a while and finally decided to tell him.

She had accepted the other party as her master, and in the time she had been under his wing, she had had the chance to judge his attitude and develop a certain level of trust.

She wanted that trust to reach a higher level; he was someone she relied on to grow stronger, and she wanted there to be no secrets that could compromise their relationship in the future.

But just as she was about to speak, Zhu Rong, who had been observing her the whole time, stopped her.

"You don’t need to worry, I know about that sloth," he said.

Ye Ning, caught by surprise, noticed the other party had a reassuring smile on his face, as if he was expecting this to happen, but more importantly, he know about her aunt?

’Wait, a sloth?’

The lazy figure of Lin Xian lying on his throne came to mind, and she couldn’t help but agree with that description.

She could already hear some complaints in her mind but decided to ignore them for the moment.

She was tempted to ask more, if her master knew about her situation, then perhaps he also knew about her past, but she remembered the words Lin Xian had told her and decided to refrain from doing so.

As curious as she was, she realized there was no point in rushing things, and from how Lin Xian had spoken of it, her situation was complicated.

For now, the mere fact that she effectively had a living relative with her was already a source of joy.

This was the good image she had formed in her mind of her aunt, but it didn’t last long, as she remembered the "training" the other party had decided to give her do yesterday.

Shivers ran down her spine just thinking about it, so she pushed those thoughts aside and handed the folder she had to Zhu Rong.

"The reports on the performance of our three departments have arrived," she said, beginning to summarize the situation while Zhu Rong took a glance at the data he had gathered.

"The talisman trade is continuing to grow as usual.

Now that I’ve helped with production, the output has increased and we can meet client demands to a certain extent.

It still needs a few minor improvements, but overall, we’re doing well," she said, pride visible on her face, as if pleased with her own work.

She was the one managing this department, so the good performance was directly tied to her.

Zhu Rong had long since stopped actively helping them and now only acted as a teacher for all of them, assisting in correcting errors and improving various aspects, while also enhancing their knowledge and skills in rune engraving and talisman creation.

In two months of intensive training under his guidance, everyone had reached the adept rank, with a few exceptions who had already reached the expert rank;

Ye Ning was one of them.

Now her team could produce mortal grade talismans of all three tiers with relative ease and even in large quantities.

As for spirit-rank talismans, they were much lower in quantity, but still enough to meet a good portion of client demand.

Essentially, even if he no longer participated actively in creation, the efficiency of their department had not decreased at all. Just thinking about what he could do alone compared to what they achieved as a team still amazed him.

" Out daily production is increasing, we’ve now reached the point where we can earn five high-level spirit stones just from this department," she said, recalling how in two months they had gone from producing 2.5 high-level spiritual stones to five, considering that Zhu Rong wasn’t working with them, otherwise, the profit would have been even higher.

Five high level spirit stones a day was not a small amount of money for people like them, who not long ago even a single low level stone was considered significant.

She then proceed to describe the performance of the other two departments, and though they were a little behind hers in terms of profits, they hadn’t done badly at all, earning 2-4 high-level spirit stones per day.

After pavilion taxes, he was essentially earning 7–9 high-level spiritual stones a day, something only independent business of a certain level could achieve.

Only higher-level organizations with numerous profitable activities could earn more than this, the rest were at their level.

Hearing the report, Zhu Rong felt satisfied; he thought it was time to raise the level a bit.

Just as he was doing so, his gaze fell on the last sheet, and reading it, his expression turned curious.