Chapter 37

Qinghe Marketplace is located at the confluence of several rivers in the west of Qinghe County, sitting on a second-tier mid-quality spiritual vein. It is the only marketplace in Qinghe County, established a thousand years ago by a Golden Core cultivator of the Xiaoyao Sect, in conjunction with several major Foundation Establishment families in Qinghe County.

There are over a hundred shops of various sizes in Qinghe Marketplace, most of which are rented to local cultivation families of various sizes in Qinghe County, and some are rented to rogue cultivators who have been doing business in Qinghe County for years.

Most of these shops deal in raw materials and supplies such as first-tier monster beasts, spiritual herbs, talismans, magic tools, and elixirs. There are also a small number of bookstores and grocery stores selling various low- and mid-tier cultivation techniques, as well as restaurants and inns that facilitate the dining and lodging of visitors within the marketplace.

The Xiaoyao Sect occupies forty percent of the shares of Qinghe Marketplace, while the remaining sixty percent of the marketplace shares belong to the other Foundation Establishment families in Qinghe County.

For this reason, the Xiaoyao Sect must also appoint a Foundation Establishment cultivator to garrison this marketplace all year round, and the four major Foundation Establishment families in Qinghe County who have obtained the remaining marketplace shares also need to appoint cultivators to help guard and manage the place.

According to the rules set by the Xiaoyao Sect at the beginning of the establishment of the marketplace, any cultivation family in Qinghe County that has a Foundation Establishment cultivator will automatically be promoted to a Foundation Establishment immortal family and can share the shares of Qinghe Marketplace with other Foundation Establishment families. However, they must also appoint Foundation Establishment cultivators to take turns to help guard the marketplace.

If a Foundation Establishment immortal family loses all its Foundation Establishment cultivators, it will also be downgraded to a Qi Refining immortal family. Subsequently, being unable to send Foundation Establishment combat power to guard the marketplace, it will also automatically lose its share in Qinghe Marketplace.

Among the four major Foundation Establishment families in Qinghe County today, the Huang family is the strongest, and the share of Qinghe Marketplace they occupy is also the largest. The Qian family, which has just become a Foundation Establishment family, naturally gets the smallest share now.

In order to maintain order within Qinghe Marketplace and prevent people from causing trouble, the Xiaoyao Sect specifically relied on this second-tier mid-quality spiritual vein to set up a second-tier defensive formation in the marketplace. Coupled with two Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed here all year round, even if three or five Foundation Establishment powerhouses came at the same time, it would be impossible to break through the defensive formation of Qinghe Marketplace in a short period.

Once a large number of external enemies come to attack the marketplace, the Huang family and the major cultivation families nearby will also quickly come to the rescue. After all, the major cultivation families in Qinghe Marketplace today have more or less rented shops, and the rise and fall of the marketplace are also directly related to the interests of the major families in Qinghe County.

After advancing to the fifth layer of Qi Refining, this was the first time Song Qingming had come to Qinghe Marketplace. He came here this time to purchase some mid-tier talisman-making materials and elixirs to improve his cultivation speed.

Although he had obtained a source of talisman-making materials from Daoist Pinglu at Caolu Mountain, because the number of rogue cultivators coming to Caolu Mountain was limited after all, apart from the first few batches of talisman-making materials collected by Daoist Pinglu, the materials sent to Song Qingming's hands later became less and less, and now they were completely insufficient for Song Qingming's use.

For this reason, Song Qingming had to choose to make a trip to Qinghe Marketplace. Fortunately, now that his cultivation had improved, his Ninth Uncle was also much more at ease with him going on a long journey. Mount Lingyuan was several hundred miles away from Qinghe Marketplace. Song Qingming set off early in the morning and didn't arrive at Qinghe Marketplace until the afternoon of the next day.

Although he had been here several times in the past, most of the time he was following the elders in the clan to transport or purchase materials needed by the family, and he hadn't stayed in the marketplace too much, so he wasn't actually that familiar with Qinghe Marketplace.

Walking to the entrance of Qinghe Marketplace, he saw several Qi Refining stage cultivators guarding the marketplace entrance, and the leader was a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. Looking at his clothing, Song Qingming also knew that this was a Qi Refining disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect.

Large sect disciples naturally had an air of arrogance when facing low-tier cultivators or rogue cultivators from small families like them. Song Qingming had also felt this at Guiyunfang several months ago.

After carefully registering his identity at the entrance and receiving a token that could prove his identity, Song Qingming successfully entered Qinghe Marketplace.

The entire Qinghe Marketplace was like Mujiao Town, with a street crossing through the middle, and dozens of pavilions and shops of varying heights scattered on both sides. There were also many residential houses for mortals on the north side of the street. Apart from cultivators, the entire marketplace was also inhabited by some ordinary mortals who lived here all year round.

The mortals living here were all under the jurisdiction of Qinghe Marketplace assigned by the Xiaoyao Sect. Once a cultivation family in Qinghe County could no longer protect the mortals under its jurisdiction, or if they were to migrate and leave this place, the large number of mortals they couldn't take away would generally be unified and assigned to Qinghe Marketplace by the Xiaoyao Sect, directly under the jurisdiction of the Xiaoyao Sect's garrison cultivators. Once a mortal here was born with spiritual roots, apart from those with outstanding spiritual roots who would be sent directly to the Xiaoyao Sect for cultivation, most would end up as rogue cultivators. Many of the numerous rogue cultivators in Qinghe County originated from here.

There was also a large piece of flat open space on the south side of the street, which was specifically reserved for those rogue cultivators who set up stalls on a whim. As long as they handed over a low-tier spirit stone to the cultivator managing the place, they could set up a stall in the open space for a whole day, and during this period, they would be protected by the marketplace, without fear of others causing trouble or enemies seeking revenge. It was already almost dark, and there were still quite a few rogue cultivators in the open space who were reluctant to leave.

Qinghe Marketplace had always been relatively peaceful and was still quite friendly to rogue cultivators from all walks of life. Its reputation in the northeast of the State of Wei was quite good. Although most of the spiritual items in the marketplace were first-tier, occasionally some second-tier spiritual items would flow out, which would also attract cultivators from nearby counties to come specifically.

The Song family also rented a shop in Qinghe Marketplace, currently managed by his Fourth Uncle, Song Zhangqiu. Song Zhangqiu was the fourth in the rank of the Song family's "Chang" generation and had been helping the family manage the shop in Qinghe Marketplace for years.

The Song family only had one shop in Qinghe Marketplace, usually selling items such as spirit talismans, spiritual medicines, and magic tools, and also purchasing first-tier materials such as monster beasts and spiritual herbs from various rogue cultivators. Relying on this shop, the Song family could also obtain a profit of about a hundred spirit stones every year, which could also be considered one of the Song family's important sources of income.

Song Qingming came directly to the Song family shop on the south side of the street. As soon as he entered the door, he saw several Song family mortal servants busy greeting a rogue cultivator who was shopping in the shop. Just as Song Qingming was about to ask, he happened to see Song Zhangqiu walking out from the back hall and hurriedly greeted him with a smile.

"Qingming, pays respects to Fourth Uncle."

"Oh, Qingming is here. Last time you returned to Mount Funiu, I heard your cultivation had broken through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining. I didn't believe it, but I didn't expect you to have caught up to me so quickly at such a young age. With you and Qingze among the younger generation of the clan, it is truly a case of the younger generation being formidable."

Seeing Song Qingming enter, Song Zhangqiu was also somewhat surprised. Seeing that Song Qingming's cultivation had already caught up to his own, he was also genuinely happy for him from the bottom of his heart.

Fourth Uncle Song Zhangqiu was only a five-spiritual-root cultivator, and he didn't have much interest in the path of cultivation, so he gave up his own cultivation early and came out to manage the family's external industries. Now he was over seventy years old, and his cultivation was only at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

However, after Song Zhangqiu took over the family's shop in Qinghe Marketplace, he had quite a few insights into the way of business. He was also very slick in the marketplace, and the family shop's business in his hands was much better than before.

Over a dozen years ago, Song Changqiu also met a rogue cultivator woman in the marketplace. The two had already become cultivation partners, and now they had already given birth to several children. The whole family had been living in this marketplace, which could be considered quite harmonious.

"Fourth Uncle, don't tease me. How can my talent compare to Third Brother's? Being able to break through in cultivation is just a matter of having encountered some opportunities by luck." Song Qingming shook his head and said modestly.

Song Zhangqiu smiled and continued: "Aren't you still garrisoning at Mount Lingyuan? Coming to the marketplace this time, is it because there is something in the clan that sent you?"

"There is nothing in the clan; I came here myself. Nephew has been learning talisman-making recently and wanted to purchase some talisman-making materials in the marketplace. I don't know which shop in this marketplace sells talisman-making materials. Nephew wants to purchase more at once, so I ask Fourth Uncle to give me some guidance."

Song Zhangqiu frowned after hearing this and said: "Qingming, you are still young, so you should put more effort into cultivation. You must never neglect your own cultivation because of talisman-making."

Song Qingming lowered his head and said with a bitter smile: "Fourth Uncle, you also know that cultivation also requires spirit stone resources. My learning talisman-making is also to make things more comfortable for my cultivation in the future."

(End of chapter)