Chapter 522

"Yes, Boss!"

Hearing Ye Qingxuan's words, Zhu Dafu bowed respectfully once more, then flew away from the stone pavilion, heading in the direction of the marketplace.

After leaving the stone pavilion for some distance, a flush suddenly appeared on Zhu Dafu's face, and he thought with excitement and agitation:

"This shopkeeper knew that the boss behind the scenes was not simple, but I didn't expect that I still underestimated him."

Besides the sixth and seventh-order Enlightenment Tea, Ye Qingxuan could even produce seventh-order supreme talismans.

And judging by Ye Qingxuan's intentions, he would continue to bring out lower-grade spirit treasures and seventh-order array discs for sale; how could this not shock him?

After all, these things are not items that ordinary Void Penetration realm cultivators can supply long-term.

"What exactly is the cultivation base of this boss behind the scenes now?"

Carrying this doubt in his heart, Zhu Dafu's flight path streaked across the sky.

The feeling of knowing a great secret that others do not, while being bound by a Dao oath not to speak of it, is truly maddening.

After returning to the marketplace, Zhu Dafu did not return to the Tianfu shop immediately, but instead headed to the marketplace management office.

After entering the management office in the center of the marketplace, Zhu Dafu bypassed the other Deity Transformation realm stewards and walked directly into a palace deep within the management office.

"Elder Li, I am Zhu Dafu, the shopkeeper of the Tianfu shop. I have come this time to upgrade the Tianfu shop to a star-rated shop."

"Tianfu shop?"

Hearing Zhu Dafu's words, a middle-aged man in purple-gold robes who was resting with his eyes closed in the palace slowly opened his eyes.

After sizing up Zhu Dafu, he cast his gaze onto a floating sand table in front of him.

The entire sand table was, surprisingly, a miniature version of the entire Xuantian Sect marketplace.

After finding the location of the Tianfu shop on the sand table and reading the shop's information with his spiritual sense, Elder Li felt a wave of astonishment in his heart.

"Hmm?"

Immediately following this, Elder Li frowned slightly, looked up, and sized up Zhu Dafu with a look of slight suspicion, making Zhu Dafu feel a bit numb inside.

Just as Zhu Dafu was feeling at a loss and preparing to ask a question, Elder Li nodded slightly and said: "It is permitted. Where are the spirit crystals?"

"Here, 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals. Elder Li, please count them!"

Hearing this, Zhu Dafu hurriedly took out the 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals Ye Qingxuan had given him and handed them to Elder Li.

"Hmm!"

After counting the spirit crystals Zhu Dafu handed over, Elder Li waved his hand and took out 1,000,000 upper-grade spirit stones to give to Zhu Dafu: "This is the deposit for your Tianfu shop from before; it is now returned to you."

"Remember, after upgrading to a star-rated shop, the turnover must reach 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals every hundred years."

"If this requirement is not met, the shop will be removed from the star-rated shop sequence, and the 30,000 lower-grade deposit will not be refunded."

"Alright, if there are no other objections, you may leave now!"

"Yes, thank you, Elder Li!"

Seeing that everything went smoothly, Zhu Dafu felt a sudden sense of relief.

After all, before this, other than hearing that upgrading to a star-rated shop required a deposit of 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals, he did not know if there would be other thresholds.

Now it seems that besides the 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystal deposit, there should be no other major thresholds for upgrading to a star-rated shop.

But that makes sense; 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals is a significant threshold in itself.

Being able to produce 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals as a deposit shows that the shop owner has sufficient resources and strength, which naturally means they have the capital to upgrade the shop to a star-rated one.

As for the 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystal turnover required every hundred years? That is not something he needs to worry about.

Based on his understanding of his boss behind the scenes, since Ye Qingxuan dared to upgrade the Tianfu shop to a star-rated shop, a mere 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals in turnover every hundred years should not be a big problem.

After Zhu Dafu left, Elder Li in the great hall watched Zhu Dafu's departing back and muttered to himself:

"Which elder is behind this Tianfu shop? The information encryption level is such that even this elder does not have the authority to view it?"

Naturally, he did not know that Ye Qingxuan's identity information had been successively obscured and sealed by the Hall Master of the Xuantian Sect's Alchemy Hall and the Xuantian Sect Master.

Now, except for the Xuantian Sect Master and the Supreme Elders, no one else in the Xuantian Sect has the authority to find Ye Qingxuan's detailed information.

As Ye Qingxuan is the boss behind the scenes of the Tianfu shop, under these circumstances, Elder Li naturally could not view deeper information about the Tianfu shop.

"Forget it! It has nothing to do with me anyway!"

Although he was a bit curious, since he did not have the authority to view it, Elder Li did not delve deeper; otherwise, if he accidentally uncovered some secrets that shouldn't be touched, it wouldn't be a good thing.

After suppressing his curiosity, Elder Li's spiritual sense flowed into the sand table in front of him.

The next moment, the Tianfu shop in the sand table erupted with dazzling light, and the whole structure began to undergo slight changes.

At the same time, after the Tianfu shop in the sand table changed, the Tianfu shop in the marketplace followed suit.

After a burst of eye-catching light flashed, the Tianfu shop began to grow taller involuntarily; although it was still three stories, it was more than twice as high as before.

Moreover, the internal spatial structure of the Tianfu shop also underwent significant changes, with many private rooms, counters, and several exhibition halls appearing out of thin air, and the area expanded by about ten times.

Not only that, amidst the brilliant light, a star condensed and began to rise from the roof of the Tianfu shop, its radiance attracting the attention of the entire Xuantian Sect marketplace.

"Look quickly, a brilliant star has suddenly risen in the marketplace; is there a rare treasure appearing?"

"Slap!"

"Idiot, that's a shop in the marketplace upgrading to a star-rated shop; this is a unique phenomenon when a star-rated shop upgrades."

After a shop in the Xuantian Sect marketplace upgrades to a star-rated shop, it will condense a star that floats above the shop for three full days, equivalent to announcing to the cultivators in the marketplace that the shop has upgraded to a star-rated shop; it can also be considered a form of promotional benefit after a shop upgrades.

After three days, this floating star will shrink and retract its light, eventually imprinting itself onto the plaque of the Tianfu shop.

As proof of the Tianfu shop's star rating.

After becoming a one-star shop, if the Tianfu shop wants to continue to improve its star rating, it depends on the transaction volume of high-order items every hundred years.

As long as the transaction volume meets the standard, the Tianfu shop will automatically upgrade the following year, and the stars imprinted on the plaque will also be added automatically. However, after this kind of star-upgrading, although the shop will also undergo certain changes, the phenomenon of a star floating in the air like today will not appear again.

"It's the Tianfu shop, the source of the light comes from the Tianfu shop; the Tianfu shop has upgraded to a star-rated shop."

"Damn! Didn't that guy Fatty Zhu say he was going to lie flat? How did the Tianfu shop suddenly upgrade to a star-rated shop?"

"Could it be that Fatty Zhu has broken through to the Void Penetration realm? But that's not scientific, is it?"

"Don't be silly, the last time I met Fatty Zhu, he was still in the early stage of the Deity Transformation realm; how could he suddenly break through to the Void Penetration realm now?"

"Exactly, if Fatty Zhu could break through to the Void Penetration realm, then I would be in the Void Meditation realm."

"Heh, Void Meditation realm? You dare to think that? Don't gild your own face."

"What? Not convinced? My master said that now that the Great Era has descended, anyone has hope of stepping into the Immortal Realm, let alone the mere Void Meditation realm? In a few years, when my cultivation breaks through to the late stage of the Deity Transformation realm, I will go to the Qingmo Realm for training."

"I have felt since I was a child that I am a child of destiny; when I go to the Qingmo Realm, I will surely turn bad luck into good, encounter one miracle after another, and my cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds; it will no longer be a dream."

"Ah, yes, yes, yes! You are the child of destiny, then I am destiny itself!"

"Boom!"

"Uh? Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue! At most, I have the life of a bootlicker! Please spare me!"

Watching the rolling thunder and surging lightning suddenly appear in the high sky, the person who had been spouting wild words previously decisively chose to concede. After that person conceded, the group looked at the sky with lingering fear and immediately stopped arguing.

Meanwhile, other cultivators in the marketplace who were unaware of the situation looked up at the lightning that had already faded, feeling confused for a moment.

Only those high-and-mighty elders who were attracted by the sight of the Tianfu shop upgrading to a star-rated shop had already cast their gazes toward the group of people who had been talking when the lightning appeared in the high sky, and could not help but sigh:

"It's good to be young! Not knowing the height of the sky or the depth of the earth, daring to fight and strive... hmm, and daring to dream!"

"Tianfu shop, is it? Does anyone here know who the person behind this Tianfu shop is?"

Clearly, these Void Penetration realm elders now appearing in the marketplace do not believe that the owner of the Tianfu shop is a mere early-stage Deity Transformation realm Zhu Dafu, as those people below were saying.

"I don't know; this is the first time this elder has heard of the Tianfu shop."

"Elder Sun has been focusing on cultivation, so it is normal not to know about this Tianfu shop. Hundreds of years ago, this Tianfu shop produced some kind of 'Nuclear Explosion Pill,' which caused quite a stir among the low-order cultivators in the sect at the time."

"Oh? Is that so? This Tianfu shop is quite interesting."

"Let's go, let's go take a look at this Tianfu shop. As the only shop to upgrade to a star rating in the marketplace in three thousand years, this seat wants to see what kind of extraordinary foundation this Tianfu shop has."

As a hegemon-level force, there are quite a few cultivators in the Xuantian Sect who have broken through to the Void Penetration realm in the last thousand years.

However, there are very few Void Penetration realm cultivators who open shops in the marketplace, and there is not a single one who has opened a shop in the marketplace and upgraded it to a star-rated shop.

Upgrading to a star-rated shop seems easy, but for ordinary Void Penetration realm cultivators, it is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Just the 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals alone.

Even for a Xuantian Sect cultivator who has just broken through to the Void Penetration realm, if they do not have the support of sect elders or a master, it is not easy to save up 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals.

And even if you can produce 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals, it does not mean you can keep a star-rated shop running.

After all, after spending 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals to upgrade the shop to a star-rated one.

If you do not have a steady stream of seventh-order heavenly materials and earthly treasures as a source of goods, then you have wasted 30,000 lower-grade spirit crystals for nothing.

But for an ordinary Void Penetration realm cultivator, wanting to occupy a treasure land that can continuously produce seventh-order heavenly materials is something they don't even need to think about.

Even in the Di Xuan Realm, which is rich in spiritual energy, if you do not have heaven-defying luck, it is extremely difficult to accidentally discover a seventh-order treasure land that has just been nurtured by heaven and earth and has not been occupied by anyone.

As for snatching someone else's seventh-order resource treasure land?

You are both Void Penetration realm cultivators; the other person is backed by a seventh-order resource treasure land, while you are a pauper. Why would you be able to snatch it from them in their own stronghold? As for those Void Penetration realm powerhouses who have practiced the four arts of cultivation, as alchemists, artifact refiners, talisman makers, and array masters, these cultivators can indeed accumulate resources more quickly.

But when they have just broken through to the Void Penetration realm, how could they have sufficient resources to raise their attainments in the four arts of cultivation to the seventh order? And even if these Void Penetration realm powerhouses have worked hard for a period of time and successfully raised their attainments in the four arts of cultivation to the seventh order.

But after reaching the seventh order, whether it is seventh-order talismans, seventh-order elixirs, seventh-order array discs, or lower-grade spirit treasures, the time required for refining will increase significantly.

Plus, if you are not careful, the refining process could fall short of success.

If you do not occupy a treasure land that can continuously produce seventh-order resources, even if these Void Penetration realm cultivators have raised their attainments in the four arts of cultivation to the seventh order, it is not enough to support the operation of a star-rated shop.

In addition, the Xuantian Sect will take a cut of the transaction volume for shops in the Xuantian Sect marketplace.

If the quantity of seventh-order heavenly materials and earthly treasures is small, it is better to trade privately among the Void Penetration realm cultivators of the Xuantian Sect.

For many star-rated shops that have been operating for a long time in the Xuantian Sect marketplace, profit is already secondary.

The main purpose of a star-rated shop is to help the controller behind the scenes collect sect contribution points through the star-rated shop, as well as to acquire special heavenly materials and earthly treasures that they need.

And all of this requires the controllers behind these star-rated shops to have vast high-order resources and spirit crystals as support.

Therefore, it is precisely because of these various reasons that Ye Qingxuan's Tianfu shop is the only shop in the Xuantian Sect marketplace to upgrade to a star rating in three thousand years.

After all, not everyone is like Ye Qingxuan.

He is simultaneously an artifact refiner, alchemist, talisman maker, and array master, not only with high attainments but also with an astonishing success rate for finished products.

He also possesses a seventh-order blessed land, as well as a Void Penetration-level Star Light Cave Heaven secret realm, and single-handedly dominates two eighth-order spiritual veins, more than a dozen seventh-order spiritual veins, and one seventh-order Star Light Spirit Stone mine.

Added to this are the seventh-order spiritual herbs continuously cultivated by the blessed land, a seventh-order Enlightenment Tea tree, and those seventh and eighth-order heavenly materials and earthly treasures from the Qingmo Realm that Ye Qingxuan purified and re-nurtured with the help of the eighth-order blessed land purification array.

Even if Ye Qingxuan does not sell the spirit treasures, seventh-order talismans, seventh-order array discs, and seventh-order elixirs he refines at the Tianfu shop in the future.

Relying solely on the seventh-order Enlightenment Tea, seventh-order spirit minerals, and seventh-order spiritual herbs that can be continuously produced, taking out a batch for sale periodically is enough for Ye Qingxuan to keep the Tianfu shop running after it upgrades to a star rating.

Moreover, with two eighth-order spiritual veins and more than a dozen seventh-order spiritual veins as a fallback, Ye Qingxuan can completely acquire seventh and eighth-order heavenly materials and earthly treasures through the Tianfu shop.

Except for what he uses himself, the rest can be sold at the Tianfu shop to earn the price difference.

Therefore, in the Xuantian Sect marketplace, anyone who dares to upgrade a shop to a star-rated shop.

If they are not a fool who knows nothing, then they are a big tycoon with a solid foundation and many good things.

This is also the real reason why those Void Penetration realm cultivators who happened to be in the marketplace today were tempted to go to the Tianfu shop to take a look after seeing the Tianfu shop upgrade to a star rating.

(End of chapter)