“I can give Your Highness the Second Prince a few shops,” Zhou Zhizhi said with a smile to Xiao Xiyou.

This idea came to him when he overheard Xiao Xiyou and Eunuch Wei talking at the door.

Although Xiao Xiyou is good at playing dumb to deceive others, in any place, money and power can make you do whatever you want. If Xiao Xiyou cannot get enough support within a limited time, he will not be able to defy Eunuch Wei or even take over the entire Eastern Depot.

Therefore, Zhou Zhizhi thought of giving Xiao Xiyou money as a condition, but this also strengthened her resolve to find a way to remove the male-female symbiotic gu as soon as possible.

Zhou Zhizhi believed that the cunning and methods of the impoverished Xiao Xiyou were very capable of controlling Eunuch Wei, even though she had made up her mind not to help him ascend the throne.

However, Zhou Zhizhi was unsure whether Xiao Xiyou could ascend the throne through his own efforts. Who could predict what would happen in the future? She needed to make plans for herself as soon as possible.

"I have never heard of Grand Preceptor Zhou having any private assets outside." Although Xiao Xiyou was very tempted by Zhou Zhizhi's conditions, as a prince of the Great Xiao Kingdom, he could not openly run a shop.

Firstly, this concerns the face of the royal family, and the emperor would not allow him to engage in business outside in the name of a prince. Secondly, such behavior would attract criticism and lead to impeachment by court officials, who would submit a memorial accusing him of competing with the people for profit.

The other princes all had the support of powerful local families to varying degrees, so they did not need to worry about money.

Doing business requires a considerable amount of time and energy. In this bustling capital city, there are all kinds of shops available, so how easy is it to run a successful business?

“I don’t have that shop yet, but if Your Highness agrees to my conditions, I guarantee that within a month I will provide you with three thriving shops that will bring in a fortune every day.” Zhou Zhizhi practically patted her chest to assure Xiao Xiyou, urging him to quickly agree to her conditions, after all, lives were at stake.

Originally, Zhou Zhizhi came from a family of generals and had no intention of going into business. Moreover, after her family suffered a misfortune and she was rescued by a master, she only wanted to learn martial arts to avenge her loved ones and never had any thoughts of going into business.

Zhou Zhizhi can spout off so easily now, it's no wonder Xiao Xiyou doesn't trust her.

"The Imperial Advisor is quite confident, making doing business sound so easy." Xiao Xiyou was skeptical of this matter. He didn't understand why Zhou Zhizhi was so determined to practice this kind of evil technique.

"Tomorrow, I would like to ask His Highness the Second Prince to accompany me to select a location for the new store."

"I, Zhou Zhizhi, always keep my word!"

Zhou Zhizhi's figure was reflected in the candlelight, her eyes filled with tiny glimmers of light, like sparkling diamonds.

Looking at Zhou Zhizhi's confident and flamboyant demeanor, Xiao Xiyou suddenly felt like agreeing to her request, to see if she could really succeed.

"Alright, then I'll wait and see." Xiao Xiyou thought of another strange possibility.

This might also be a clumsy excuse that Zhou Zhizhi came up with in order to get closer to him.

After all, Zhizhi had repeatedly barged into his residence and tried to get close to him this week, and now she was rushing up to deliver money, using cultivation as an excuse. She probably already harbored feelings for him.

Thinking of this, Xiao Xiyou smiled happily.

"So His Highness the Second Prince agrees?" Zhou Zhizhi was overjoyed. "Then let's start cultivating now!"

No one was more eager to master the Northern Darkness Divine Art than Zhou Zhizhi, after all, her life countdown was still ongoing.

"Are you in such a hurry now?" Xiao Xiyou was clearly shocked by Zhou Zhizhi's urgency.

"Yes, His Highness the Second Prince isn't going to back out, is he?" Zhou Zhizhi asked worriedly upon hearing Xiao Xiyou's question.

"Since I've promised you, I won't go back on my word." Xiao Xiyou felt a little better when he saw the nervous look on Zhou Zhizhi's face.

"Let's begin now." Zhou Zhizhi couldn't wait to stride to the window where Xiao Xiyou was having tea and entertaining friends, and immediately began to meditate.

"Your Highness, you only need to guide my qi and blood slightly when I circulate my energy, so that I can break through the true qi outside my dantian," Zhou Zhizhi carefully instructed Xiao Xiyou.

Xiao Xiyou nodded and began to meditate.

The night outside the window deepened, and moonlight shone on the two of them, illuminating their quiet figures sitting by the window. Xiao Xiyou gently closed his eyes and began to guide Zhou Zhizhi in cultivating the Northern Darkness Divine Art.

Zhou Zhizhi was filled with anticipation. At this moment, she closed her eyes tightly and focused on following Xiao Xiyou's guidance, trying her best to gather the true energy in her body.

With Xiao Xiyou's guidance, Zhou Zhizhi gradually felt the blood and qi in her body flowing with his guidance. Her aura gradually strengthened, and the true qi in her body condensed into clusters of solid energy.

However, as her inner energy surged into her dantian, Zhou Zhizhi began to feel excruciating pain.

Her brows were furrowed, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Zhou Zhizhi clenched her teeth tightly.

Pain seemed to envelop the entire room. Each surge of qi and blood into her dantian felt like a tremendous burden pressing down on Zhou Zhizhi, as if an invisible hand was pulling and tearing at her dantian, making it almost unbearable for her.

Seeing Zhou Zhizhi in such pain, Xiao Xiyou felt a little worried. After all, he was also a cultivator and could empathize with her feelings.

"Should we take a break before continuing?"

"I see you're about to give up. This kind of training is far too unpredictable. With your current martial arts level, there's absolutely no need for you to risk learning this Northern Darkness Divine Art."

Xiao Xiyou thought that Zhou Zhizhi had become obsessed with martial arts and couldn't extricate herself, so he spoke up to dissuade her and affirmed her martial arts skills.

"continue!"

Large beads of sweat dripped slowly from Zhou Zhizhi's face, soaking her hair. She was in too much pain to say another word.

But in order to break through the bottleneck as soon as possible and cultivate the Northern Darkness Divine Art more smoothly, she had to squeeze out those two words through gritted teeth.

Xiao Xiyou knew that there was no point in saying anything more at this point, so he calmed himself down and began to continuously channel his own blood and energy into Zhou Zhizhi, merging his blood and energy with Zhou Zhizhi's and guiding it towards her dantian.

Zhou Zhizhi gritted her teeth and tried her best to endure the pain.

As time went by, Zhou Zhizhi felt that the true qi in her dantian seemed to have loosened a little, and her blood qi began to break through the shackles of her dantian.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her entire body from her lower abdomen, and Zhou Zhizhi couldn't help but let out a scream.

Her body trembled violently, sweat poured out, and she felt as if she were surrounded by flames.

Xiao Xiyou quickly cut off his connection with Zhou Zhizhi. He knew that he couldn't continue at this point, otherwise his meridians would run rampant and destroy his existing martial arts foundation.