Chapter 49: Monopoly

Qingyang Marketplace.

Qin Ming walked down the street half-heartedly, recalling the words of Shopkeeper Liao.

If the price of spirit rice drops, his income will take a massive hit.

It directly affects how fast he accumulates spirit stones.

His mind kept turning over the problem, gradually growing restless and agitated.

Just then.

A large crowd of cultivators had gathered beside the notice board on the road, pointing and discussing something.

Cultivators often gathered here to read notices, but he had never seen so many before.

“Could something else have happened?”

Intrigued, Qin Ming drifted over to join the crowd.

Tacked to the wall was a striking red reward notice, its paper twice the size of those around it.

It bore no portrait, only a description of a five-man bandit gang, their appearances unknown.

These bandits were audacious beyond measure—they had lured and kidnapped the only son of a senior elder from Jin Yun Valley during daylight, then extorted a massive ransom.

And they had brutally murdered him afterward!

But that wasn’t all.

Even more shocking was that they had escaped intact from the pursuit of a Foundation Establishment elder of Jin Yun Valley.

This was no longer just a kidnapping and murder.

It was a direct challenge to Jin Yun Valley’s entire sect’s authority—an outright atrocity. Jin Yun Valley had lost face completely and was offering massive rewards to hunt them down, vowing to dig up the earth three feet deep, no matter the cost, even if they turned the Yunze Wildlands upside down, to find their whereabouts.

The notice stated that anyone who captured or killed any one of the five would be rewarded with a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Anyone providing specific clues would be granted admission into Jin Yun Valley’s inner sect, plus an additional Bone-Marrow Cleansing Pill.

Anyone concealing knowledge of the bandits would be treated as an accomplice and executed on the spot!

“Holy shit, they’re monsters.”

“They even dared kill the son of a Jin Yun Valley elder!”

Qin Ming stared at the notice, stunned.

Many of the onlookers, seeing the tempting rewards, grew eager to act.

“The Foundation Establishment Pill is tempting, but you’ve got to live to claim it, sigh!”

“Anyone who escapes a Foundation Establishment elder unscathed can’t be ordinary.”

He shook his head sharply, then silently walked away.

“Could this gang be the same ones who killed Long Dao?”

“Such lawlessness, daring to defy an entire sect’s authority—their methods are strikingly similar.”

As Qin Ming walked, he suddenly remembered something!

He returned to “Qingliang Xiaozhu.”

He silently congratulated himself for choosing to move his residence inside the marketplace.

Though the cost was high, at least it was far safer than living outside.

With the area around Qingyang Marketplace so chaotic now—even the son of a sect elder was being killed without hesitation—what wouldn’t these bandits do? The next morning.

Knock knock knock! Qin Ming was casting the Advanced Spirit Rain Technique on the withered blood poison vine.

Someone knocked on the courtyard gate.

Qin Ming ended the spell and went to peek through the peephole.

Outside stood Cai Laojiu.

He deactivated the gate’s seal and let Cai Laojiu in.

“Laojiu, what brings you here today?”

“What’s up? Did you sell your spirit rice and plan to treat me to drinks at Juxuan Pavilion?”

“Come in, have some tea first.”

Qin Ming smiled as he asked.

“No tea, thanks.”

“Xiao Qin, could you lend me a hundred spirit stones?” Cai Laojiu kept his head down, stammering, unable to meet Qin Ming’s gaze.

Qin Ming froze.

He’d worked alongside this man as a spirit farmer for years—this was the first time Cai Laojiu had ever asked to borrow spirit stones.

Something’s off. “Didn’t I tell you to secretly sell all your spirit rice yesterday?” “What’s”

As Qin Ming frowned, he noticed Cai Laojiu still kept his head lowered. “Look at me when you speak!”

Cai Laojiu raised his head immediately.

His face was swollen and bruised, looking utterly miserable.

Qin Ming stared, stunned.

“Laojiu, what happened to you?”

Cai Laojiu sighed bitterly. “Yesterday, after I got your message, I headed to Shopkeeper Liao to sell all my spirit rice.”

“But halfway there, Jiang Kun’s crew from Lingyu Sect blocked me.”

“They accused me of selling Lingyu Sect’s spirit rice to outsiders, beat me up, and seized all my rice.”

“They also demanded double the fine—two hundred spirit stones.”

“If I don’t pay within three days, they’ll… they’ll send me to the war camp.”

Qin Ming’s brow knotted. Again, Jiang Kun! Last time in the Office of Affairs, he’d nearly caused trouble for him too.

“What do you mean ‘selling privately’?”

“After paying the spirit rice tax, the rest is ours—Lingyu Sect has no right to interfere!”

“Why are they punishing you?!”

Cai Laojiu mumbled, “They say Jiang Kun and the other inner sect disciples opened a place called ‘Mingzhen Pavilion’ in the marketplace.”

“Their main rival is Juxuan Pavilion.”

“They never expected the profits from running a tavern here would be so huge—and part of the spirit stones earned by Mingzhen Pavilion are funneled back into the sect.”

“So even Lingyu Sect’s upper echelons have tacitly approved it.”

“They say that when the spirit fields are tilled in two days, Elder Gu will announce it.”

“From then on, all spirit farmers under Lingyu Sect’s jurisdiction are forbidden from selling spirit rice to any shop except Mingzhen Pavilion.”

“Violators will be severely punished.”

“Several other farmers were also arrested yesterday for selling spirit rice at stalls in the marketplace—one of them had his leg broken by Jiang Kun’s inner sect disciples.”

Cai Laojiu’s voice grew hoarse as he spoke.

Qin Ming’s mind rang like a bell.

“This is a monopoly!”

Leaving other concerns aside—

He himself had signed an agreement with Juxuan Pavilion!

If he violated Lingyu Sect’s ban, he’d face dire consequences.

But if he broke his contract with Juxuan Pavilion, he’d face a ruinous compensation fee.

Spirit stones were one thing.

The real danger was angering Gu Qingzhao—Jingxue Pavilion wouldn’t let him off either.

He knew full well the cost of breach.

“Damn Jiang Kun!”

“Why the hell did he have to open Mingzhen Pavilion?!”

“Those bandits should’ve kidnapped him and torn him to pieces too!”

Qin Ming gritted his teeth in fury.

This move had trapped him in an impossible bind.

He thought for a moment.

He immediately took out one hundred and fifty spirit stones and two healing pills from his storage pouch and handed them to Cai Laojiu.

“Take these to cover your expenses and heal up.”

“We’ll deal with the rest later.”

Cai Laojiu took the spirit stones and pills, his eyes instantly welling up.

He was speechless with emotion.

In this cruel cultivation world, not everyone would lend out spirit stones so freely.

PS: Thank you to every reader for your recommendation votes—I’m overwhelmed and grateful for all of them!

(End of Chapter)