Quote of the Day: "A rising tide lifts all boats. But first, you must control the dam, the weather, and the shipbuilding contracts."
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The [Franchise Management Console] was a thing of cold, beautiful clarity. In Lin Feng's mind, it glowed, a schematic of power. Team Alpha—Kang, Wei, and Fen—were three steady green nodes. Their loyalty metric, a number he hadn't noticed before, sat at a respectable 75/100. It wasn't love; it was calculated gratitude and the recognition of a good deal. That was a loyalty he could trust.
Their first haul had transformed the teahouse. The rare Ghost Cap mushroom alone was worth thirty Spirit Stones. The robust Silverleaf Grasses and Sun-Kissed Roots were no longer dying inventory; they were premium assets. The very air in the shop seemed richer, the Qi from the high-grade herbs subtly enhancing the formation's output.
This success, however, was a beacon. The day after Team Alpha's return, a steady trickle of low-level cultivators began to appear. Not customers for tea, but applicants. Word had spread through the grubby, interconnected network of the desperate and ambitious. The Serene Heart Teahouse wasn't just selling cures; it was selling opportunity.
Lin Feng stood behind the counter, Elder Bai a silent, stunned spectator, as he interviewed them. He was no longer a shopkeeper; he was a venture capitalist assessing startups.
"You," he said to a hulking young man with calloused hands and a Core of Earth affinity. "Your spiritual sense is weak, but your physique is strong. You would be inefficient at finding delicate herbs. Your team would focus on excavating fortified roots and mining spirit-imbued clay. The terms are sixty-five, thirty-five until the initial tool investment is repaid."
To a sharp-eyed woman who seemed to blend with the shadows: "You have a talent for stealth, but your cultivation is shallow. Your team would be assigned to gather herbs in contested or spirit-beast claimed territories. High risk, high reward. The split is seventy-thirty due to the danger premium."
He assessed, categorized, and contracted. By the end of the day, he had formed two new teams: Team Beta (Excavation) and Team Gamma (Recon). He didn't have enough of the potent catalytic solution to equip them all immediately, so he used the Capital from Team Alpha's haul as leverage.
"Your first dose will be provided upon the delivery of your first harvest, the value of which will be applied to the cost," he told them, binding them with Dao Contracts that obligated them to work for him before they'd even received the tool. It was a breathtakingly audacious credit scheme.
The Spirit Stones flowed in, but so did the complexity. The teahouse was now a logistics hub. Herbs of varying grades, purity, and elemental affinities were piled in carefully sorted sections. The [Franchise Management Console] now showed five nodes, each with their own yield metrics and loyalty scores. Team Gamma's loyalty was a shaky 60. They were gamblers, not believers.
[Capital Score: 387/1000.]
[Karma Score Increased!]
[Trait 'Inspiring Presence' has been acknowledged.]
[Trait 'Boundary Setting' has been utilized to prevent resource depletion.]
[Dao Heart Stability: 40/100.]
The System approved of the structured growth, the creation of a functioning ecosystem. But Lin Feng felt a new kind of pressure—the pressure of management. He was no longer just the inventor and sole salesman; he was the CEO, the supply chain manager, and the risk assessment officer for a growing, volatile organization.
It was during this controlled chaos that Su Ling arrived for her weekly delivery. She stopped short at the doorway, her basket of modest herbs seeming pathetic against the burgeoning wealth inside. Her eyes widened at the organized piles of premium ingredients, the focused energy of the new teams receiving their briefings.
She looked at Lin Feng, who was currently directing Team Beta on the proper method for extracting a Bluestone Root without damaging its taproot. The cold, confident authority in his voice was a world away from the weak young master she'd known.
Lin Feng finished his instructions and his gaze fell on her. His [Customer Insight] and [Value Perception] passives activated automatically.
Su Ling. Loyalty: 88/100. Potential: High. Specialization: Herbology. Current Output: Low-Tier. State: Anxious, Feeling Obsolete.
"Su Ling," he said, his tone shifting from commander to analyst. "Your current arrangement is no longer optimal."
Her face fell, expecting dismissal. She clutched her basket tighter.
"You have a genuine affinity for plants that these brutes lack," Lin Feng continued, gesturing to the members of Team Beta. "Your output is low because you work alone and scavenge. That ends now."
He walked over to a small, cleared space where a few of the Silverleaf Grasses from Team Alpha's haul were sitting. "You are promoted. You are now the Head of Cultivation and Refinement. Your task is not to find herbs, but to perfect them. You will use the enhanced Qi from the formation to nurture these high-grade herbs, increase their yield and potency. You will also be responsible for assessing the quality of all incoming harvests from the teams."
He named a salary that made her gasp—a fixed five Spirit Stones a week, plus a bonus based on the increased value of the herbs she refined. It was a stable, prestigious position. He was leveraging her innate talent and loyalty, moving her from a precarious gig economy into solid middle management.
Tears welled in her eyes. This was recognition beyond anything she'd dreamed of. "I... I will not fail you, Young Master Lin!"
[Karma Score Significantly Increased!]
[Trait 'Teaching Instinct' has been acknowledged.]
[Trait 'Loyalty Magnet' effect strengthened.]
[Dao Heart Stability: 50/100.]
[Su Ling's Loyalty is now 95/100.]
The reward was immense. Placing the right person in the right role, nurturing talent rather than just exploiting it, yielded a huge Karma return. He was learning.
But as Su Ling set to work with a feverish intensity, and the new teams headed out for their first assignments, a familiar, azure-robed figure appeared across the street.
Chu Yue.
She didn't approach. She simply observed. She watched the comings and goings of the franchise teams, her sharp eyes taking in the organized bustle, the new sense of purpose that had replaced the teahouse's former despair. She saw Su Ling, once a simple supplier, now meticulously tending to premium herbs.
Lin Feng met her gaze from across the counter. He gave a slight, cold nod.
Chu Yue's lips quirked into a tiny, unreadable smile. She didn't return the nod. Instead, she turned and melted back into the foot traffic.
Her message was clear. I see your move. The game is still on.
The resource rush had begun. Lin Feng had built a dam to capture the tide of desperation and ambition flowing through Blue Spirit City. He was now channeling it, refining it, and converting it into power.
But a dam was also a target. And the Void-Severing Pavilion owned the river.
He had 387 Spirit Stones. He had a growing organization. And he had four days left.
The easy part was over. Now, he had to protect what he had built.