The Mo Clan's boutique was clean elegance in architectural form — soft glowing lanterns, shelves of flawless vials, and incense drifting in disciplined spirals. You could tell everything was curated down to the exact scent of the floorboards. It wasn't loud wealth. It was the kind that whispered to you that you didn't belong... unless you knew exactly what you were doing.
Good. That meant I was in the right place.
Mo Yuyan was waiting behind the main counter, dressed in pale silk, hair knotted with silver pins. Her calm, sharp-eyed gaze swept over me as I approached.
"Welcome, Young Master Ye. I trust Clear Sky's markets haven't dulled your sense of scent?"
I grinned. "No, just sharpened my nose for quality."
She nodded and motioned toward a small table set in the back under a canopy of spiritual paper lanterns. Tea was served, and then came the scroll — laid out between us like a contract waiting for fate to sign it.
"This list includes our main lines," Yuyan said. "The perfumes in the right column can be made exclusive — reserved for your use alone, for a period of three years. No re-sale. No other clothier access."
The prices weren't cheap. But the right ones jumped off the page:
Blushing Crane – soft floral top, graceful and dignified
Silken Embers – a warm, burning undercurrent with spice notes
Cloudspine Mist – sharp, clear, slightly ethereal
"These three," I said, tapping the names without hesitation. "Two of them exclusive to us. And I want them integrated into select robe batches — scent-tagged into the fibers. Low-key but present."
"Accepted," she replied without blinking. "You'll receive the sealed essence vials by courier. Anything further?"
I rolled the scroll closed, signed the agreement, and stood.
But I didn't leave right away. Something in me — that bold voice I rarely tried to hide — pushed forward.
"You know," I said, glancing over my shoulder with a smirk, "someday, this'll flip. When enough people chase our robes, your perfumes will need us for exposure."
Yuyan blinked once — then tilted her head and smiled, the faintest shift in her composed demeanor.
"I look forward to that day, Young Master Ye. With interest."
I walked out into the late-afternoon light with the scent of Blushing Crane still trailing behind me. Maybe it was arrogant. But I believed every word I'd said.
And the world would just have to catch up.
(mc is 18, he talks like a highschooler)
By the time I got back to the shop, the scent of Mo Clan's perfumes still clung faintly to my sleeves.
I stood outside for a long moment, just taking it in — the four stories of polished elegance, jet-black stone tiles and deep redwood beams, the Ye Clan sigil proudly gleaming on the facade. This wasn't just a robe shop anymore. This was going to be Clear Sky's first taste of prestige-as-product.
Inside, final preparations were almost done.
First Floor – Walk-In Elegance
The first floor was open to the public. That didn't mean it was cheap.
I had the walls fitted with mirrored crystal panels and soft gold inlay. The lighting was layered: warm glows from enchanted orbs overhead, accent spotlights over mannequins dressed in our Grade 1 upper and top-tier robes. Each display piece had its own podium, a rune-glass plaque listing the robe's spiritual properties — clarity enhancement, qi conductivity, minor resistance charms — and the perfume signature it carried.
The staff? Personally selected. Well-dressed in black and crimson uniforms with subtle Ye embroidery, posture-trained, voice-controlled, and polite enough to make nobles pause. No shouting. No sales-pitching. Just pure curated service.
There was even a scent trail system — subtle streams of aroma woven through the air with directional spells, drawing customers deeper in with each step.
Second Floor – By Appointment Only
Floor Two was different.
Closed doors. Velvet rope barrier. The guards at the staircase wore actual Foundation Building cultivation tokens and didn't smile. To enter? You needed an invite. Or a booked appointment verified by a clan name or spirit stone deposit.
The walls were midnight silk. Private viewing rooms behind carved spiritwood doors. Grade 2 robes lined the space, each with display lighting mapped to highlight different thread weaves — shadowfade cloth, jade-thread embroidery, stormsilk imported from the coast. Some came scented with Silken Embers, some had embedded formation arrays, and one or two had qi-reactive dye that shimmered based on your elemental affinity.
I'd set up two private lounges for VIPs. Those were still being finished, but I already had the imported furniture brought in: softspine couches, arctic-glass tea trays, and mood formations that adjusted the room's qi flow to calm or energize guests. I wasn't selling robes. I was selling the fantasy of being better.
Third & Fourth Floor – Management and Residence
The third floor was admin. My office. Ledgers, robes in development, spirit crystal safes. All locked tight.
The top floor was mine. My house. A home above the city, with views over Clear Sky's southern districts. I'd bought a small hot-spring bath for the back, set up a cultivator meditation corner, and was planning to add a rooftop tea table. Still messy. But it would come together.
The Marketing Campaign – Ye-Style
I didn't believe in flyers. That was for outer-ring stores.
What I did believe in was curiosity. So I set it loose.
I had word sent — quietly — to other Ye Clan stores. Nothing concrete. Just whispered questions:
"Did you hear Zenren Tianjian's nephew is opening a robe boutique?""I heard he got the Mo Clan involved.""Apparently only the elite get to see the second floor..."
A week of that and you had nobles whispering. Not buying — yet. But they'd come sniffing. And once they walked in, they'd never forget the smell.
Changhu helped spread the word through his friends — and through me, I started sending invitations. Not to everyone. Just the ones I'd spoken to at the banquet. The ones who mattered, or thought they did.
Even a couple Jindan Zenren had been sent invites — including my third uncle, Ye Tianjian.
(Zenren -means Real Master ) honorific title used for a jindan(golden elixir )cultivator
(Zenjun-means True lord) honorific title used for a yuanying(Nacent-soul )cultivator
Now all I had to do was wait for tomorrow.
The grand opening.
The robe shop of Clear Sky's next era.
And if it didn't work?
...Well. It would.