Chapter 286: Short Chen Township

In the years since the Xiao family rose to power, Guanyun Peak no longer served as a place for paying tribute, and the flow of people had decreased a lot. Fortunately, the Yu family's market was destroyed, and the Xu Kingdom in the north was waiting to be rebuilt. Most of the passenger flow from Wangyue Lake and a small part of the Xu Kingdom poured into the Guanyun Peak market, so it was not much different from before.

Deep in the market, Li Ye Qiuyang squatted in front of a shop, holding several animal skins in his hand, pushing and shoving with the loose cultivator in front of him. The man's face turned red, and he shouted:

"This is the skin of a first-level Qi Refining monster, intact! How can it not be worth seven spirit stones!"

Li Ye Qiuyang had become a miscellaneous Qi cultivator, and his path was considered over. It was a fluke that he could get the nearly hundred years of lifespan that followed. Miscellaneous Qi cultivators had poor fighting ability, having only the name of Qi Refining and the ability to ride the wind. The shops in the Li family market needed manpower. Li Li Xuanxuan thought that it was better for his own family to earn the spirit stones than for others, so he called Li Ye Qiuyang to the market to find work.

Watching this loose cultivator act like a shrew, Li Ye Qiuyang smiled bitterly and replied:

"Fellow Daoist, although this skin is from a Qi Refining monster, it has no essence and is messy. At a glance, it is a small monster that has just entered Qi Refining. Although the skin is complete, it is only a small beast the size of half a person..."

"Old Third Li! Don't you talk nonsense and slander!"

Seeing Li Ye Qiuyang belittle the skin to nothing, the man immediately cursed. Li Ye Qiuyang was under Li Li Xuanxuan and Li Li Xuanling in the shop, so this man called him by his nickname, Old Third Li, his face full of anger.

Li Ye Qiuyang didn't care at all and just bowed:

"Fellow Daoist, if you go to any other shop, it won't be worth seven spirit stones!"

The man looked at him resentfully, threw the gray skin on the table, and shouted:

"Six is six."

Li Ye Qiuyang nodded, counted out six spirit stones, and gave them away. The man snorted and left. Until he left the courtyard, a young man poked his head out from the corner. He looked ordinary, with slightly high eyebrows, and shouted:

"This man has a big temper."

Li Ye Qiuyang shook his head. He was used to the attitude of the loose cultivators. He was just a miscellaneous Qi cultivator. Outside, he could still be called an Immortal Master, but in this market, his status was not as good as an outstanding Fetal Breath cultivator. He just shook his head and replied:

"Chen Mufeng, the family intends to transfer you back to the lake. Perform well, get close to the clan members, and strive to get that third-grade inheritance."

Chen Chen Mufeng nodded vigorously and asked with some hope:

"The third-grade cultivation techniques in the clan have always been cultivated by the main family. Branch lineages and those with different surnames cannot be bestowed without great merit. It is rumored that Uncle Donghe followed Lord Li Xiangping west and survived nine deaths before being rewarded. For me to get this technique, I am afraid it is not easy..."

Li Ye Qiuyang remained silent, thinking secretly in his heart.

"I don't know how Li Xuanfeng is doing in Yishan City. I heard that there are countless monsters and ghosts in the Southern Frontier. Fortunately, the Sword Immortal is also in the Southern Frontier, so he should be able to protect him."

"Big Shopkeeper!"

Li Ye Qiuyang was thinking when Chen Chen Mufeng called out, immediately waking him up. He saw a person walking down slowly from the upper floor, wearing gray clothes, his beard combed meticulously, his hair gray-black, walking down with his hands behind his back.

"Clan Leader."

Li Ye Qiuyang called out. Li Li Xuanxuan nodded. He was now nearly fifty years old. People didn't like to move when they got old, so he just watched the shop.

The competition in this market was fierce. Although the Li family had Foundation Establishment support and marriage with the Xiao family, most of this market was the Xiao family's industry. They were all their own people. Li Li Xuanxuan had to maintain human feelings and earn enough profit, which was also exhausting.

"Li Xuanling has been gone for several months, right? Why hasn't he returned yet..."

Li Li Xuanxuan had limited talent and was still hovering at the second level of Qi Refining. Li Li Xuanling, as the son of Li Li Tongya, was much better and was already at the third level of Qi Refining. They were cultivating in the market together, and from time to time, they would leave Guanyun Peak and go north to explore the direction of the Xu Kingdom and the Dajiang, saying they wanted to add some knowledge to the family. It was common for him not to return for more than half a month. Now it had been more than two months, which made Li Li Xuanxuan anxious.

"Seventy-one days, more than two months."

Li Ye Qiuyang replied respectfully. Li Li Xuanxuan gritted his teeth and said:

"Take pen and ink. I will write a letter to the family and send Donghe to take a look!"

That was what he said, but the Xu Kingdom and the Dajiang were vast, and Li Li Xuanling's whereabouts were uncertain. It would be difficult to find him, and it would just be a waste of manpower. Li Li Xuanxuan wrote a few words on the small letter, but still sighed dejectedly and put down his pen.

"Fortunately, the Jade Talisman is fine..."

Li Li Xuanxuan took out a small jade pendant from his arms and saw that it was crystal clear and warm, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

The Li family could now be considered a prominent family. Although they were not as good as the three sects and seven gates, they not only had magic power imprints but also layers of measures on their storage bags, so they had some means. As long as they crushed this jade talisman, other parts could inform each other of the direction.

"Still have to ask the Old Ancestor."

Li Li Xuanxuan thought for a moment, then picked up the pen and ink and wrote on the small letter.

————

Zhao Kingdom, Short Chen Township.

Short Chen Township was in the southernmost part of the Zhao Kingdom, located at the junction of Xu and Zhao. It was rumored that this place was the foothold for the northern prominent families to cross the river when they moved south, but it had been occupied by Dharma cultivators for hundreds of years.

Short Chen Township had a small temple, which was Short Chen Temple. According to the northern rules, all the land in Short Chen Township belonged to the temple. Below the monks were tenant farmers, but they were called nicely, known as "Sangzhi Households." There were also several Hu aristocrats who lived in the temple and cultivated Dharma.

Li Li Xuanling had stayed in this ghostly place for a whole month and deeply realized how difficult the Dharma religion was. When he first arrived here, he was in a Daoist robe. The gaunt tenant farmers saw him as if they had seen a disaster star. Some smaller children had hatred written all over their faces and secretly spat at him. If he were not a Qi Refining cultivator, they would have tied him up and sent him up the mountain.

"The Central Plains, after hundreds of years of Dharma cultivators, has completely lost its foundation..."

Li Li Xuanling looked at the dense temples on the mountain, feeling a lot of emotion in his heart. According to the Immortal cultivators, after the Immortal-Demon War, the Immortal Path declined, and the north was lost. Most of the existing great prominent families and great sects moved from the north after the Immortal-Demon War. Now, looking back at the north, where is there any shadow of Immortal cultivators? Although he did not recognize the cultivators of the Purple Mansion and Jin Dan paths, seeing this scene, he still sighed.

Looking at the gaunt but busy tenant farmers below, Li Li Xuanling felt deeply. In the north, he could not see any singing and dancing, pear garden spring buildings, or shops and peddlers, only the boundless yellow land and tenant farmers with shaved heads and small braids, a piece of dead silence.

"My appearance is not suitable for walking in the north."

He pinched the Dharma seal, changed his form, wore a brown robe, had a bright, shiny bald head, and used illusion to turn his magic sword into a long stick. Only then did he descend, wanting to ask for directions.

But he didn't expect that as soon as he landed in the field, a tenant farmer shouted, and a group of tenant farmers knelt down in unison, prostrating themselves neatly. The small braids on the back of their heads stood up, like a piece of pumpkin with black stems, spread all over the field.

"Blessings to the Dharma Master!"

The person at the very front seemed to be a leader, with a withered face but fanatical expression, his voice high and crazy. Li Li Xuanling looked up and saw several gaunt women and children in the distance fainting from excitement, lying crookedly on the ground, and no one turned back to look at them.

"You..."

Li Li Xuanling opened his mouth, a sorrow inexplicably rising in his heart, and for a moment he could not speak.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 287 =====