Naked Sword Art

[ Laboratory Room ]

Opening the large metal door to his lab room, Xiao Fang immediately noticed all the different kinds of herbs, plants, and equipment all over the place. In the middle of that mess, he saw Yuan Fei working on creating a new kind of perfume.

"L-Long Wang. If I had known you'd be coming, I would've cleaned up a bit," she said after bowing to him.

"Just call me Fang from now on," he replied kindly.

"G-Guild Leader Fang," she said after slowly looking up at him.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Fang liked the sound of that, so he didn't correct her.

"Are these the herbs you bought today?" Xiao Fang asked before smelling a few of them.

"Yeah, I was able to buy a bunch of new ones I never tried before for a really good price!" she replied excitedly. "I only started experimenting with them now, so I don't have any completed products yet. I'll be sure to present it to you as soon as it's done," she added.

She was given a 15% discount for being in a guild, and another 5% discount for buying them in bulk. She never would've been able to get such a good deal on her own, so of course she was extremely happy about it.

"How much did you spend on all of this?" Jiang Mei suddenly asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Umm... I think it was around 500 merit points," Yuan Fei answered.

"500..." Jiang Mei suddenly looked at Xiao Fang with a disturbed look on her face.

"Yuan Fei, will you leave us for a moment," Xiao Fang said.

"S-sure," Yuan Fei replied before leaving the room. She didn't know what was happening, but it was clear that the mood had suddenly changed.

Once Yuan Fei stepped outside and closed the large medal door, Jiang Mei finally revealed what she was thinking.

"These are all low-grade. They shouldn't even be worth 300 merit points, much less 500," Jiang Mei said.

"That's not even the worst bit, they are also starting to show signs of rotting," Xiao Fang said as he pulled his blindfold down to confirm a suspicion.

"It's an illusion," he said when he finally saw all of it with his eyes.

Jiang Mei didn't even notice the trace amounts of Illusory Qi on the herbs till Xiao Fang mentioned it. She suddenly picked up one of them, then removed the Illusory Qi that was on it.

"This..." Jiang Mei was speechless.

"I wouldn't even pay 150 merit points for all of this," Xiao Fang shook his head disappointedly.

The only bright side about all of this was that she didn't buy too many of the same type of herb, so it was clear that she was just using them to experiment on.

"Tell Yuan Fei to come back in. I'd like to speak to her alone," Xiao Fang said while putting his blindfold back on.

Although Jiang Mei was curious to hear what Xiao Fang would say, she still obediently did as he said, and waited outside for him after telling Yuan Fei to step back inside.

"Yuan Fei, you're doing a good job here, so I won't keep you for long. Do you know where I can find Lai Yun? There are some guild matters I've been meaning to speak to her about, but I can't seem to find her anywhere," Xiao Fang said.

Although it was true that he wanted to tell Lai Yun of the new Guild Group arrangement he set up, that wasn't the true reason he was asking for her. According to the contract Xiao Fang gave Lai Yun, she was supposed to accompany Yuan Fei in buying these herbs from the marketplace. So he was going to punish her in Yuan Fei's place.

"Lai Yun? I don't think I've seen her since yesterday," Yuan Fei replied.

"I see. She was supposed to accompany you to the marketplace today. Next time don't go without Lai Yun, because she's from the Phoenix-Class she will be able to help you get a much better price for an even better quality," Xiao Fang explained.

Yuan Fei was surprised and nearly drooled at the thought of it.

Since she had to meet a profit goal of 1000 merit points by the end of the month, she tried to be extra careful about what she spent her merit points on. She even used the new confidence she gained from being in a guild to bargain the price down from 600 to 500 merit points today. However, what she didn't know was that she was still ripped off by a lot.

"Un, from now on if I can't go with Lai Yun, I won't go at all," she replied.

"Good good. Just use these herbs to experiment with, wait till you get the better quality stuff before you start selling again. Alright, I will leave you to your work. I'll see you later," Xiao Fang said before turning to leave.

She could tell that Xiao Fang was the humble type, so she waited for him to turn around before she bowed deeply to him again in respect. Of course, Xiao Fang could still sense her bowing to him, but he didn't stop her since she could understand what she was thinking.

Having been visited by her benefactor so early in her studies, she was motivated to work harder just for him. Right after Xiao Fang left, she immediately got back to work.

...

"How did it go? Did you scold her properly?" Jiang Mei asked when she saw him finally step out of the lab room.

She had to scold a few of her own guild members back when she used to be a guild leader herself, so she knew it wasn't an easy thing to do.

"How can I punish someone that is ignorant of their own mistake?" Xiao Fang replied.

Jiang Mei smiled because she didn't think that a tough guy like Xiao Fang would be such a softy. She assumed he would certainly put his foot down and discipline Yuan Fei for wasting almost 400 of his merit points on low-tier rotting herbs.

"I know it can be hard to punish your own guild members, but if you don't do it, they will likely do it again," Jiang Mei tried to lecture him.

"Don't take my kindness as weakness, Jiang Mei. There's a reason for everything I do," he replied.

"I don't know, I kind of like this soft side of you," Jiang Mei said teasingly, as she smiled beautifully at him.

Xiao Fang sighed lightly as he shook his head. Just letting her think what she wanted, he began to walk away. Jiang Mei quickly followed him, poking fun as they walked.

...

[ Method of Scolding a Subordinate: The 1st time a subordinate makes a mistake, assume they didn't know. The 2nd time they make the same mistake, blame it on yourself. The 3rd time they make the same mistake, punish them severely ]

...

Xiao Fang was the son of a powerful Patriarch, so of course he was familiar with the best method to discipline a subordinate. However, this method was only effective to those who were earnestly trying their best to work for you, so what he had planned for Lai Yun wasn't going to be nearly as 'soft'.