The stillness that had long settled over the Xiao Clan estate like a layer of dust was being torn apart by the rhythmic din of hammers and the grating sound of saws. A new structure was rising in a forgotten courtyard overrun by weeds long ago. It was a modest building. Built of sturdy timber and grey stone, yet it represented a hope the clan hadn't dared to entertain for decades.

  Overseeing the hurried construction was the Seventh Elder, a man whose stick-like figure seemed woven from tension and whose face seemed to permanently have an expression of grim disapproval. He watched the workers, his sharp eyes missing nothing but his gaze most often landed on Xiao Yun. The young master supposedly mediocre in all things related to cultivation, moved with baffling confidence. He gave directions not with the arrogance of a noble but with the authority of a seasoned foreman. He wasn’t exactly an architect, but he had a solid idea of what the interior of a soap workshop should look like. It was strangely discomforting from the elder’s perspective. The Seventh Elder had lived long enough to recognize power and while the boy radiated no formidable aura of Qi, he possessed a certain aura of competence. This "Mystic Cleansing Jade" was either the clan's salvation or the final, humiliating prank from the heavens.

  During that week of construction, Xiao Lian sought out the ‘useless young master’ several times. Her initial curiosity had morphed into a profound fascination. They talked about her past some more, but the conversation had gradually morphed into something else that hinted at a hopeful future.

  His perspective on things was so alien and so utterly contrary to the cultivation-obsessed world she knew that it shocked her out of her more than a decade-long rut. Failure in her world was an end. He spoke of it as a temporary stop, a trick her mind had played on her. The scar on her face she saw as the brand of her greatest failure, he had once called a "badge of honor, proving you were in the fight."

  The day after the workshop's roof was completed Xiao Lian came to see him one last time. She wore simple traveling clothes with her sword strapped to her back. There was a new light in her eyes. Light of hope and clarity.

  “I’m going into seclusion.” she announced. It was not the pained, desperate seclusion of before. “But not to attempt a breakthrough. I’m going to walk the mountains and the forests and find my own peace, away from the burdens of this place. Thank you, Little Yun.”

  She gave him a firm respectful bow with her fists cupped, a gesture she usually reserved for the Elders and then she was gone, her strong back receding into the morning mist. Xiao Yun watched her go with smile on his face. He had helped one person find a healthier path; it was a small victory, but it felt more significant than any business deal. Additionally, if she managed to break through, he would have a powerful cultivator on his side who owed him a debt of gratitude. He couldn’t think of a single downside to helping her with her ‘heart demon’. Other than her getting agitated at their first meeting and almost slapping him to death that is.

  Within a week the workshop was complete. The Elders convened at the site. The First Elder Xiao Chong, a man whose presence felt as ancient and unyielding as a mountain stroked his long white beard as he inspected the finished work. The clan’s coffers were nearly emptied long ago, but their next expenditure was non-negotiable. Well, their expenditure was quite minor comparatively, considering almost all of it was financed by Wang Shu, but the clan contributed whatever they could.

  “Activate the formation.” The First Elder commanded.

  With a heavy heart at the cost, the Seventh Elder inserted a series of low-grade spirit stones into a complex array carved into the courtyard's flagstones. A faint hum filled the air and a dim shimmering curtain that was almost invisible to the naked eye enveloped the entire courtyard. The air rippled as if seen through intense heat and then settled. From the outside the courtyard once again looked abandoned and overgrown, its sounds muffled into nonexistence. The secret of the Mystic Cleansing Jade was now shielded from prying eyes and spiritual senses with low grade illusion arrays. Their monopoly would be protected.

  Production began under the tightest security. Only a dozen of the clan’s most loyal servants, men and women whose families had served the Xiao clan for generations, were permitted inside the formation. They were joined by a rotating detail of guards sworn to secrecy on their cultivation paths. Xiao Yun patiently taught them the simple yet precise process: rendering the tallow, carefully extracting and measuring the lye, mixing in the fragrant herbs and flower petals and pouring the creamy mixture into neat rectangular molds and letting it cure. Naturally the Elders were aware of the procedure, but they themselves were sworn to secrecy by the First Elder.

  When they learned how simple and cheap the process was, they couldn’t believe their ears until Xiao Yun showed them the result, with the elders observing the process from beginning to the end. Even the sour Fourth Elder had to admit that this was indeed a proverbial gold mine, considering how cheap the ingredients were, how simple the creation process and how expensive the end product was.

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  They began producing over two hundred bars a day, but following Xiao Yun's unorthodox business advice they only released one hundred to Wang Shu’s shops. “Artificial scarcity.” Xiao Yun had explained to the bewildered elders.

  “If it’s rare they will desire it more. If they desire it more they will pay more. We control the supply, we control the price.” It was a scummy business practice but Xiao Yun didn’t have the luxury of adhering to simple morals, not when his life could be threatened by a random passerby who didn’t like the way he walked.

  The effect was instantaneous. The Mystic Cleansing Jade became one of the most sought-after luxury items in the city. Anyone below the Golden Core Stage didn’t have the ability to cleanse themselves with their spiritual energy, which was to say that 99.9 percent of the population was their customer base. Noble ladies whispered about its miraculous effects on the skin, wealthy scholars praised its clean masculine scent, and even cultivators found its ability to wash away the grime and blood of training without harshness to be a minor miracle. The daily supply of one hundred bars sold out within an hour of the shops opening, leading to frustration, intrigue and soaring prices on the black market.

  Xiao Yun had additionally come up with a simple way to make shampoo. All he needed to do was to dilute the soap solution with distilled water, then by adding some extra essential oils and into the mix, he’d made shampoo that would give hair an extra shine and a smooth texture. Which was an especially coveted item amongst the noble ladies. He’d asked the Wang Shu to prepare thirty jade bottles, which he would fill with shampoo and send it back to be sold alongside the soap each day.

  Naturally, the city’s other prominent merchants wouldn’t stand for it. A delegation of them, richly dressed and exuding the oily confidence of new money, finally cornered Wang Shu in his main store.

  “Brother Wang.” began a skinny man named Bu Fang. His smile did not reach his eyes. “You have struck a gold mine. This Mystic Cleansing Jade is simply a wonder. Surely, you cannot meet the demand alone. Allow us to partner with you. We can provide the resources to expand production tenfold. Producing such a treasure can’t come cheap after all.”

  Wang Shu, ever the picture of peaceful calm took a slow sip of his tea. He had been expecting this. After all, the market competition was cutthroat and the merchants who saw the profits and Wang Shu’s monopoly were like sharks smelling blood in the water. They were trying to get a piece of the pie.

  He set his cup down with a soft click. “Gentlemen, I appreciate the offer but my hands are tied.” he said with a voice as smooth as polished jade. “The creator of this item is not a man driven by spirit stones or influence.” He was in fact such a man, but the profits were simply means to an end for Xiao Yun.

  The merchants leaned in, their greed palpable. “Who is he?” another asked, unable to contain his curiosity. “A master from the central province? A reclusive sect elder?”

  Wang Shu allowed a mysterious smile to play on his lips. “He is an old friend of mine. A brilliant and eccentric alchemist. He values his privacy above all else and creates these… trinkets… on a whim. I am merely the fortunate soul he has chosen to distribute them.” He sighed wistfully. “Believe me, I have pleaded with him to increase his output but he is like an artist, not a businessman. He works when inspiration strikes and not a moment sooner.”

  The merchants looked at each other, a mixture of frustration and awe on their faces. An eccentric, reclusive alchemy master? It made perfect sense. It explained the product's quality, its mystique and its limited supply. The lie was far more believable than the truth: that this revolutionary product was being cooked up in the backyard of the failing Xiao Clan by their most famously lecherous wastrel of a young master.

  Merchant Fang unwilling to give up, asked another question. “Well, what’s the masters name? Surely you won’t be stingy enough to keep even that piece of information to yourself?

  Everyone looked at him with intense curiosity. Maybe if they could learn the master’s name, they could find a way to contact him and offer him their own deals.

  Caught a little off guard, Wang Shu stumbled over his words. They hadn’t developed the nonexistent master’s persona that much as of yet. “He’s called uh- his name is…” looking out the window, he saw the peaks of the Heavenly Flame mountains over in the distance beyond the city. “Mountain…Yes, I can’t tell you his name, but he goes by the alias of Master Mountain.”

  Wang Shu steadfastly refused to reveal any more, leaving the merchants to scheme and speculate, further cementing the legend of the Mystic Cleansing Jade and its mysterious creator. All the merchants slowly dispersed and started their own investigations into this secretive Master Mountain.

  Back in the Xiao Clan’s ancestral hall, the First Elder Xiao Chong reviewed the first week's accounts delivered by Wang Shu. The numbers written in crisp, clean ink showed a profit that while not astronomical, was more than the clan had earned from its failing ventures in the last three months. It was a trickle of water on parched earth, but it was a start. He looked out of entrance, his gaze directed toward the now-invisible workshop. A single spark had been struck in the dying embers of his clan. Now, all they could do was fan it, protect it and pray it grew into a great fire.

  Elder Xiao Chong was a man of vast experience. He’d been through many tribulations in his life, and now in his old age he was carrying the weight of the entire clan on his back. But at this moment that weight felt a little bit lighter. With the additional income, they could slowly pay back their debts, and once the clan was debt free, they could focus all their power into nurturing the younger generation. Xiao Chong was aware that some of their old enemies still harbored resentment and they were lying in wait for their clan to collapse on it’s own before they snuffed it out completely. But if they learned that the Xiao clan had a new lifeline, they would do anything in their power to cut it off before it had a chance to sprout, therefore they had to play their cards right.