Biochemical Martial Arts: Supreme Heavenly Venerate

Three hours later, the morning sunlight, like a myriad of sharp swords, cleaved through the black curtain of night, falling upon the roof of the market department's main hall.

At that moment, Lin Rui was seated inside the main hall, holding a cup of strong tea, sipping it indifferently.

He gazed intently into the distance, looking through the grand doors towards the docks far away.

From his vantage point, he could see the bustling Jing Port dock, where a multitude of merchant ships were lined up, waiting to set sail.

"Master Li, by allowing these merchant ships to sail north from the port, can we alleviate the distress faced by the residence merchants of the Defense Commander?" Lin Rui spoke, his face flushed with a rosy glow, showing no signs of fatigue.

Despite having been busy all of the previous night, his spirits were still extremely high, and he felt profoundly joyful.

The main reason was the gifts he had received. Last night, Market Department Promoter Li Dan had introduced to him many merchants who had rushed to the market department overnight to pay their respects.

Every one of these merchants was very enthusiastic, not only bringing him a generous gift but also insisting he accept them. To refuse was not an option, as it would have led to confrontation.

Thus, the payoffs given by these people amounted to 13,000 ounces of magic silver last night alone, causing Lin Rui's hands to go soft from counting money.

Lin Rui had not expected that just one day after his arrival, he would nearly complete gathering the funds needed for his sister to create a different entity.

"Is it merely a relief?"

At that moment, Li Dan was sitting beside Lin Rui, also holding a cup of tea, his face bearing a bitter smile.

"A month ago, the 'Divine Bureau' placed orders at the Defense Commander's family merchant, as well as at our Li family, Zhuang family, and other major merchant families, stipulating that within two months, we must deliver three hundred thousand stones of Divine Heart Tea, one hundred and thirty thousand stones of various medicinal materials, five thousand pieces of Tongguan kiln ceramics, along with numerous tribute items and imperial goods.

This originally wasn't a difficult task as our families pooled resources and could easily muster them. However, a month ago, Wang Zhenli under the guise of defending against demons, blocked all merchant ships in Jing Port from setting sail, striking us at our Achilles heel.

We now faced either breach of contract, which would result in all merchant families facing severe punishment from the imperial court or we would have to obediently buy goods from stockholders like Prince Han and others at several times, even more than ten times the price."

Lin Rui thought to himself, so that was the case.

This was a commercial war, simple and yet lethal.

He looked puzzled. "Yuan Ji is under Prince Han, right? Wouldn't this action greatly offend the Defense Commander and you? What good would it do Prince Han?"

From what he knew, Zhuang Mingyue's Imperial City's faction was very strong.

A prince competing for succession, why would he deliberately make enemies out of them?

"It's us."

Li Dan gave a slight smile, then his eyes sharpened. "The Divine Envoy had offended Prince Han and his mother due to a case many years ago, and it has since been a fight to the death. If Prince Han could not bring down our Divine Envoy, how could he ever ascend to the highest office?"

Lin Rui's expression turned solemn upon hearing this.

He knew the 'Divine Envoy' Li Dan referred to was one of the three Divine Envoys of the Imperial City, positions nearly akin to the chief of the Imperial City.

The so-called Divine Envoys, servants of the deity, directly obeyed the Song dynasty's 'deity', that is, one of the five great abysses of the celestial pole, the 'East Abyss'.

This was also why the Imperial City had authority over many of the imperial court's institutions.

The Imperial City was not only the emperor's personal army but also the deity's limbs.

Lately, Li Dan mentioned the 'Divine Bureau,' the bureau founded by the court to serve the 'deity,' specifically handling various miscellaneous affairs for the 'deity' and gathering resources needed for daily use.

"We owe you greatly this time. They had already planned to concede defeat in the capital, even if it meant bankruptcy, to fulfill the 'Divine Bureau's' orders. Especially the three hundred thousand stones of Divine Heart Tea, which is crucial for refining 'Purification Divine Liquid.' Had we failed because of our faults, it would certainly have enraged the supreme deity."

Li Dan raised his teacup towards Lin Rui as a gesture of respect. "Honestly, the Defense Commander did not expect you could turn the situation around when you took over Wang City. We only hoped that after Lin Rui took office, he could get more than 200 ships at Jing Port unsealed and released, ensuring that subsequent business remained unaffected.

I never thought that Lin Rui would be so decisive and forceful, taking down Yuan Ji and Wang Zhenli on his first day, offering us a glimmer of hope."

Gratitude and admiration filled Li Dan's eyes.

Initially, when he heard that the Defense Commander had sent the young Lin Rui, a mere seventh-rank Capital Commandant and a Martial Cultivator of the third realm, he had been profoundly skeptical and had abandoned all hope.

How could this Mister Lin, a simple seventh-rank Capital Commandant, three realms Martial Cultivator, possibly deal with the complex situation of Wang City?

The problem was that in this vicinity, they had no one else available.

Although the Imperial City had suffered a catastrophic blow in this disaster, losing nearly half its personnel, there were still quite a few experts with fifth realm combat power within their ranks.

However, these individuals were either unreliable, incapable of managing the situation, or outright aligned with their adversaries.

Yet, Lin Rui had surprised him right after taking office yesterday; his afternoon battle with the Prefectural Governor had shaken the entire city, giving Li Dan hope.

That night, he had used an incident involving the Heavenly Demon assassination to directly deal with Yuan Ji and Wang Zhenli, swiftly resolving their predicament.

Therefore, those merchants were genuinely grateful to Lin Rui, the Defense Commander.

"So that's how it is!" Lin Rui's eyes cleared. "In doing so, I have also justified myself to Inspector Zhuang."

Li Dan burst into laughter upon hearing this. "The losses Lin Rui recovered for us today are immense, not just millions. Many families involved in this business, some of which were nearly collapsing due to their weak finances, owe their lives to Mister Lin.

The Defense Commander and the Divine Envoy would surely be overjoyed with today's events, praising Zhuang for recommending such a worthy individual."