Each Takes What They Need

Led by Zhou Hu, Zhou Minghu walked toward the market.

When he was about a hundred paces away, he felt a faint ripple, as if he had just passed through a curtain of water.

The coverage of the Small Five Elements Array was extremely small, spanning a mere five hundred jin in radius. This was why the Huang clan had never bothered to set one up in the past.

With such a restricted range, unless it was laid over an area naturally rich in Spiritual Qi, it might not even encompass a few plots of spirit fields. Deploying it would cost more than it gained.

Formations, however, all had their own unique strengths. Although the Small Five Elements Array lacked range, it possessed the marvelous effect of isolating the outside world.

The moment he stepped inside, he felt as though he had entered another realm. His surroundings sharpened into focus, stripping away the blurry illusion seen from the outside.

A wide street led straight toward the small market in the distance. At the entrance of the formation, Huang Zhenghua stood guard with over a dozen sentries, keeping strict watch.

Sweeping his gaze past them, Zhou Minghu instantly sensed the auras of three or four Spirit Awakening Realm cultivators. He could not help but sigh inwardly at the Huang clan's profound foundations.

"Fellow Daoist, I trust you have been well," Huang Zhenghua said with a smile.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist."

Zhou Minghu bowed in return before continuing toward his own shop.

A half-grown child wearing a Daoist robe peeked out from behind Huang Zhenghua, asking in confusion, "Uncle, who is he? How come I've never seen him before?"

"He is a cultivator from the Zhou clan to the west," Huang Zhenghua smiled. "Xuanqing, as the next generation of our Huang clan, you must walk through the market more often. Get to know the cultivators of various families and see if any are worth befriending. It will serve as an aid when you manage our household in the future."

This child was the first cultivator of the Huang clan's Xuan generation. Having tested with two cun of four-colored spiritual light, his aptitude was already quite decent. If nurtured with spiritual items later on, he might just become their clan's third Qi Condensation cultivator.

Even if he fell short, he was still highly likely to become a future person in power. Familiarizing himself with the youths of other clans would benefit him down the line.

Huang Xuanqing simply shook his head back and forth, not quite grasping his uncle's deeper meaning.

The market itself was not large. It consisted merely of two intersecting streets, appearing rather crude. In a few scattered patches where the Spiritual Qi was slightly thicker, the Huang clan had planted ornamental flowers and spirit grasses, trying to keep the market from looking entirely shabby.

Right in the middle of the street stood an elegant, three-story wooden pavilion, meticulously carved and polished. Inside, figures flickered about, raising cups and exchanging toasts in a lively commotion.

That was the Huang clan's stronghold-the Clear Breeze Pavilion.

It operated as a restaurant famed for its thirteen spirit delicacies. If consumed over a long period, they could even slowly wear down cultivation Bottlenecks.

However, a single dish started at the price of one Spirit Stone. For the vast majority of cultivators, it was simply a fleeting taste of luxury.

Right next to the Clear Breeze Pavilion sat an exceedingly shabby two-story building. Although its interior was lined with numerous shelves, they were all completely empty. The plaque hanging above the door bore three large characters: White Stream Residence.

Along both sides of the street, seven other shops had also opened their doors. These belonged to the immortal clans of the surrounding four counties.

Although there were only nine immortal clans in total, the market bustled with quite a few cultivators, easily numbering several dozen.

Establishing this market benefited far more than just the immortal clans; it also served a multitude of Rogue Cultivators and minor Spirit Awakening factions. In the past, whenever they obtained a treasure or wished to trade, they had to take a thousand precautions before daring to interact with the immortal clans, terrified of being subjected to killing to seize treasures.

Now, within the bounds of the market, the Huang clan's reputation stood as a guarantor. It finally offered them a sliver of safety.

However, while immortal clans could set up shop free of charge, Rogue Cultivators and minor Spirit Awakening factions had to pay an entrance toll. Every individual was required to hand over one jin of spirit rice-a small method for the Huang clan to extract a profit.

"Brother Hu, bring all those goods out and arrange them neatly. From today onward, our Zhou clan is officially open for business."

Zhou Hu nodded. "I'll see to it at once."

Wang Dashi swayed his burly frame and followed close behind, terrified that the ignorant servants might mishandle and ruin the spirit fruits or talisman papers.

Zhou Minghu, meanwhile, took a stroll through the market, keeping an eye out for anything the clan might need.

Soon, a small roadside stall caught his attention. It displayed several Spirit Awakening Realm spirit plant seedlings.

He crouched down to examine them closely. The stall owner, a previously drowsy Rogue Cultivator, instantly perked up.

"Fellow Daoist, see anything that catches your eye? The price is always negotiable."

His stall carried nothing but extremely common spirit plants. Any immortal clan with a few years to its name would inevitably have them growing at home. But having heard of newly risen immortal clans entering the fray, many Rogue Cultivators had specifically dug these up from the wild, hoping to wring a few coins out of the newcomers' pockets.

"Green Origin Tree," Zhou Minghu murmured, picking up a tiny sapling.

Because Spirit Awakening Realm spirit plants had not yet entered the true ranks, their demand for Spiritual Qi was relatively low. This Green Origin Fruit Tree, for example, could take root even in mountain forests with thin Spiritual Qi, though it would hardly thrive in such conditions.

"Dragon Blood Grass, Blood Ganoderma, Earth Profound Grass."

Zhou Minghu picked up a few other seedlings, examining them as he nodded in satisfaction.

His clan's territory sat in the west, where the earth's vital aura was painfully sparse. Even now, they possessed only a handful of Spirit Awakening Realm plants. Buying these would greatly fill the void in their reserves. Once planted beside the Purple Gold Vine, their growth would be heavily accelerated.

The Green Origin Fruit Tree was especially valuable. Green Origin Fruits served as a core ingredient in several low-grade Pills and were widely sought after in the cultivation world.

Ever since discovering the miraculous effects of the Purple Gold Vine, Zhou Ping had been charting out the clan's future. At least in the short term, they would have to rely on selling spirit herbs and fruits as their pillar industry before seeking deeper ambitions.

"I will take these four. Name your price."

The Rogue Cultivator broke into a wide grin. "Eight Spirit Stones."

Zhou Minghu shook his head. "The root system of this Green Origin Tree is damaged, and the other stalks aren't worth much either. Six stones, at most."

"Fellow Daoist, I spent painstaking effort digging these out of the mountains. How about seven and a half? Consider it the price of making a new friend." The Rogue Cultivator feigned a look of heartache.

Zhou Minghu remained completely unmoved. No matter how hard the man's life was, it was not worth squandering his clan's wealth out of misplaced sympathy.

"Six and a half."

The Rogue Cultivator forced a bitter smile. "I'll take one more step back. Let's call it seven."

Zhou Minghu simply stood up and turned to leave. The Rogue Cultivator hastily cried out.

"Fine, six and a half!"

Only then did Zhou Minghu reach into his sleeve, pulling out a thick stack of talisman paper. He counted out exactly one thousand nine hundred and fifty sheets.

Although goods were typically priced in Spirit Stones, actual transactions at this level were mostly conducted using spirit rice, talisman paper, or straightforward barter.

This was because the Spiritual Qi in the surrounding counties was simply too thin, falling far short of the standard required to condense a Spirit Stone mine. Only deep within the territories of certain established immortal clans was there a faint trend of spirit veins beginning to coalesce.

Of course, it was merely a trend.

The Huang clan, for instance, had been continuously laying down methods to gather and lock down Spiritual Qi deep within Pingyun Mountain, attempting to artificially condense a Spirit Stone mine. Once a territory birthed a spirit mine, its ambient Spiritual Qi concentration would skyrocket.

An increase in Spiritual Qi concentration not only benefited the daily cultivation of the clan's members and the flourishing of spirit plants, but it also increased the odds of cultivators breaking through their Bottlenecks. It was a monumental endeavor that would bless generations to come.

After completing the transaction, Zhou Minghu wandered toward the other stalls. He even spotted offshoots of White Marrow Grass on a few Rogue Cultivator mats.

Seeing the fresh, vibrant vitality pulsing through the offshoots, he did not even need to think to know they had leaked out from the Huang clan. He was in no rush to buy them himself. He planned to have an outsider purchase some later on, lest he draw the Huang clan's suspicion.

Soon after, he drifted between the merchants, quietly acquiring various resources and treasures his family desperately needed.

The other immortal clans and Rogue Cultivators were naturally doing the same, weaving through the streets in a lively, bustling chorus of buying and selling.

A market, after all, was exactly this-a place where everyone simply took what they needed.

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