Chapter 145: Taihe Mountain

Taihe Mountain is located in the northern part of the Zheng State and is one of the barriers shielding the Zheng State from demon beasts. To the north lies the Tianzong Shanmai, one of the Ten Thousand Mountains of the Southern Wilderness.

The Ten Thousand Mountains of the Southern Wilderness are the territory of the demon race. Deep within these mountains, demon beasts roam freely, and there are quite a few Tier 5 demon beasts, making it one of the strongest forces in the Southern Wilderness.

Among the many nations of the Southern Wilderness, only the Nangong Imperial Dynasty at the center can contend with them.

The ten nations of the Southern Wilderness, with the Nangong Imperial Dynasty as their center, resist the demon race.

The Zheng State is merely a small, peripheral nation among the ten nations of the Southern Wilderness.

The Tianzong Shanmai is naturally just a small branch of the Ten Thousand Mountains, and there are only a few Tier 4 demon beasts inside.

But even so, the pressure on the Zheng State remains immense; every hundred years, the demon beast riots cause significant losses to the Zheng State.

Fortunately, in the last two hundred years, this Taihe Laozu arrived at Taihe Mountain. With the help of the Taihe Laozu during the last two demon beast riots, humanity has managed to gain a slight upper hand.

At the very least, Taihe Mountain, which originally belonged to the spirit veins of the Tianzong Shanmai, has been occupied by this Taihe Laozu.

Originally, this Tier 3 high-grade spirit vein of Taihe Mountain was home to a Tier 3 high-grade Iron Eagle. Two hundred years ago, the Taihe Laozu arrived, killed this eagle, wiped out the Iron Eagle clan, and occupied this place.

After two hundred years of development, it has become a holy land for immortal cultivation.

"What dense spiritual energy."

Upon entering the territory of Taihe Mountain, Su Fan felt the difference; the closer he got, the more active the spiritual energy became.

A Tier 3 high-grade spirit vein is indeed different; even hundreds of miles away from the main peak of Taihe Mountain, one can feel the spiritual energy leaping.

"I imagine the spiritual energy at Taihe Peak must be even denser."

The Taihe Mountain Range spans thousands of miles. Its main peak is a Tier 3 high-grade spirit vein, followed by two Tier 3 low-grade spirit veins, and as for the other branches, there are even more Tier 2 ones.

The Taihe Laozu is a Purple Mansion ninth-layer cultivator. Although he is a loose cultivator, he has many disciples. The top three disciples are already Purple Mansion cultivators, and the remaining dozen or so are all Foundation Establishment cultivators.

His disciples established the Taihe Chamber of Commerce to manage the Taihe Market.

The Taihe Market is not built on the main vein of Taihe Mountain, which is where the Taihe Laozu cultivates; instead, the Taihe Market is built on another Tier 3 low-grade spirit vein, Lingyun Peak.

Su Fan's group, carrying the Cloud Beast, slowly entered the market and stopped to rest at a designated inn.

The Fourth Elder was clearly not here for the first time, so he quickly arranged everything.

Taihe Mountain is eighty thousand miles away from their Cloud Mist Mountain, and their Su family's cargo weighed a full one hundred thousand catties, making the journey quite arduous.

The world of immortal cultivation is not like the modern world with all kinds of technology; even if an immortal cultivator is a Purple Mansion cultivator, if you make him carry one hundred thousand catties of cargo, he absolutely cannot fly.

Therefore, the Su family's caravan traveled these eighty thousand miles in the most ancient way, using a horse team.

The Cloud Beast, a Tier 2 spirit beast, is a pack animal with a gentle temperament and the ability to carry heavy loads; it is the most preferred mode of transport for immortal cultivation families.

Su Fan and the others walked for a full two months to cover the eighty thousand miles, but fortunately, they did not encounter any danger on the way.

They arrived at Taihe Mountain safe and sound.

Next was the sale of the Su family's goods. Su Fan did not need to handle this; the Fourth Elder, following custom, would seek out the Taihe Chamber of Commerce, the chamber of commerce established by the Taihe Laozu's disciples.

It is also the largest chamber of commerce on Taihe Mountain, and many shops in the Taihe Market are managed by the Taihe Chamber of Commerce.

Moreover, the Taihe Chamber of Commerce conducts business quite fairly, and many families are willing to trade with them.

Especially for large shipments of goods, handing them over to the Taihe Chamber of Commerce is the most convenient.

Of course, there is one point: the auctions held by the Taihe Chamber of Commerce often have good items, so naturally, all the major families hope to be on good terms with them to profit from it.

Upon arriving at Taihe Mountain, the people of the Su family also relaxed. Those with spirit stones would wander around the market to see if they could buy items they liked.

At the same time, they could also sell things they did not need.

Regarding this, the Fourth Elder did not continue to supervise them, as long as they gathered here in one month.

Fighting is not allowed in the Taihe Mountain territory, especially in the immortal cultivation market, where private duels are strictly forbidden. Once violated, one will be suppressed by the Taihe Market.

That is a Purple Mansion great expert; no loose cultivator dares to be presumptuous here, so the market is quite safe.

Su Fan also took the opportunity to leave the inn and wander around the market. Upon arriving in a new place, Su Fan first observes to familiarize himself with the area, because he knows he will be living here for some time in the future.

He will first understand everything here.

This is a habit, a good habit Su Fan believes in; only by observing and understanding personally can one have better cognition and reduce mistakes.

As a holy land for loose cultivators in the Zheng State, the Taihe Market is naturally not small, with three main thoroughfares spanning east, west, north, and south.

On both sides of the thoroughfares are shops, both large and small.

In the entire Taihe Mountain, half of the loose cultivators of the Zheng State reside here, with the number of cultivators reaching tens of thousands.

Of course, on ordinary days, most of them cultivate in their caves or hunt demon beasts in the Great Wilderness Mountains, searching for spirit herbs, spirit minerals, and so on.

There are not too many cultivators in the market, so it is definitely not crowded, unless it is the monthly gathering.

However, there are quite a few people in the loose cultivator square of the market, because there are many loose cultivators setting up stalls there.

Most of the shops in the market are opened by major families or the Taihe Chamber of Commerce. The things they sell are not bad, but it also means they are more expensive.

Ordinary loose cultivators can rarely afford them.

As for the loose cultivator square, those setting up stalls are many passing loose cultivators. They may have some good things, and sometimes one can pick up a bargain.

Therefore, that place is often the liveliest.

Su Fan does not have many spirit stones left, as he has been relying on spirit stones for cultivation these past few years, and the consumption is too great.

But looking at this lively market, Su Fan feels that this is the place where he belongs, cultivating and earning money here, and then improving his cultivation.

The help the family can provide him is already limited.

As for the Foundation Establishment Pill, Su Fan is even clearer that he has no hope. Although his contribution in providing the breeding of Black Fire Chickens is great, it is not impossible to say he could obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.

But in reality, there is no chance.

First, his cultivation has not reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining; second, he is too young, only in his twenties, and he still has plenty of time.

If the family buys this Foundation Establishment Pill, they will only consider those elders around fifty years old.

They have worked diligently for the family for decades, and their cultivation is sufficient, so they will naturally be prioritized.

Therefore, it is really difficult to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill through the family.

He can only rely on himself, but a Foundation Establishment Pill costing thirty thousand spirit stones is really not that easy to get.

Previously, in the family, over seven years, excluding the family stipend, relying solely on himself, he had only obtained a few hundred.

Thirty thousand would take decades.

Therefore, he knows that the Black Fire Chickens cannot bring him more spirit stones, so he can only choose something else.

Alchemy, artifact refining, or array formations.

These three are very popular in the world of immortal cultivation; spirit pills and artifacts run through a cultivator's entire life.

And they are also very popular.

Of course, it is not that simple for him to find an industry here.

It requires long-term planning.

And his priority now is actually to absorb the harvest from his previous life.

And in fact, he already has an eighty percent certainty of Foundation Establishment; he does not need a Foundation Establishment Pill at all and can establish his foundation on his own.

The accumulation from his previous life in the Datang world, a full eighty years, has turned into a soul seed, flowing deep within his brow.

It is just waiting for him to slowly turn this soul seed into nourishment, be absorbed by himself, and then shed his mortal shell in one go to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

And all of this is unknown to outsiders.

On the third day after Su Fan returned to the main world, the family, led by the Fourth Elder, headed to Taihe Mountain.

For these two months, Su Fan could not care about the soul seed; after all, the wild mountains on this journey in the main world were very dangerous.

Fortunately, everyone arrived at the Taihe Mountain Range without any danger, and he could also carefully comprehend everything from his previous life.