Chapter 394

Hearing the cultivators sitting nearby discussing, Song Qingming immediately knew that the big man above was the ancestor of the Ma family of Iron Immortal Valley.

The Ma family of Iron Immortal Valley was indeed a rather special existence in the State of Wei. Ever since the previous head of the Ma family successfully formed his Golden Core hundreds of years ago, although the Ma family had publicly announced that they were still affiliated with the Carefree Sect, the Carefree Sect had almost never interfered in anything that happened within their own territory for these past few hundred years.

Because it was located in the northwest of the State of Wei, besides the State of Wei, Iron Immortal Valley was also very close to the State of Chen in the west. It was said that the Ma family also had a very close relationship with the Danyang Gate of the State of Chen, though it was unknown whether this was true or false.

After Ma Hongshan took his seat, he first greeted Chen Jinliang with a smile, and then slightly closed his eyes, beginning to sit on the high platform and rest his mind.

After about another stick of incense, the cultivators who had come to Mount Tuoyun to participate in the trade fair had basically all arrived at the flat ground on the mountaintop. At this moment, a large crimson flying boat suddenly appeared on the horizon, flying rapidly toward the summit of Mount Tuoyun.

The first to see this movement in the sky was Chen Jinliang, who was sitting in the seat of honor. At this moment, he had already stood up on his own initiative, walked around the long table in front of him, and strode to the front of the wooden platform with an expectant expression.

"Where did these cultivators come from to have such a grand display that even Ancestor Chen had to come out to greet them personally?"

As the crowd discussed among themselves, the crimson flying boat soon arrived at the summit of Mount Tuoyun. Before long, four or five figures flew directly down from the flying boat and landed on the wooden platform at the very top.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, I have arrived a step late; I hope you will not take offense!" Following a voice, a man in green robes among the few who had landed on the wooden platform stepped forward and cupped his hands toward Chen Jinliang.

Seeing the visitor, Chen Jinliang immediately replied with a smiling face: "Fellow Daoist Chu is too polite. The trade fair has not yet begun, so you have arrived at just the right time. Please, everyone, take your seats."

"Am I seeing things? Is this the Golden Core Elder of the Carefree Sect, Chu Fengping?"

"How could a cultivator from the Carefree Sect openly come to participate in the Mount Tuoyun trade fair? What on earth is happening?"

Seeing this man in green robes take his seat to the right of Chen Jinliang, the many cultivators, who were already somewhat noisy, began to discuss again. The many cultivators in the crowd who were unaware of the situation began to speculate about the purpose of this Golden Core Elder of the Carefree Sect coming to Mount Tuoyun.

Even Huang Shengxin, who was sitting next to Song Qingming, was full of confusion at this moment. He looked at Chu Fengping above and then at Chen Jinliang sitting next to him. After a long while, still unable to understand, he could only shake his head lightly.

Ever since Chen Jinliang formed his Golden Core and occupied this third-grade spiritual vein at Mount Tuoyun, he had never been moved by the Carefree Sect's repeated attempts to win him over for hundreds of years. He had always maintained his status as a rogue cultivator, holding onto Mount Tuoyun with his subordinates and disciples, wanting to create his own foundation in this place.

Over these years, Mount Tuoyun and the several spiritual vein markets occupied by Chen Jinliang's disciples had already swallowed up much of the market share of Guiyun Market, the Carefree Sect's largest market in the north. For this reason, several Golden Core Elders within the Carefree Sect had long been dissatisfied with Mount Tuoyun. It was only because the Supreme Elder, Li Mufeng, had always wanted to win over Chen Jinliang to jointly resist the threat from the northern demonic beasts that the Carefree Sect had not taken action to suppress Mount Tuoyun.

Logically speaking, although the Carefree Sect had not yet publicly fallen out with Mount Tuoyun, their disciples would almost never appear openly near Mount Tuoyun unless they had a special mission. The fact that this once-in-a-few-decades grand event at Mount Tuoyun would actually lead Chu Fengping, a Golden Core Elder, to attend in person was truly something that the cultivators present found difficult to understand.

The several Foundation Establishment cultivators who followed Chu Fengping were also elite disciples within the Carefree Sect. Song Qingming found one of them, a very handsome man in gray robes, somewhat familiar, and it took him a while to remember that he had seen this person once before at an auction of the Sky Elixir Alliance.

After Chu Fengping and the others took their seats, Chen Jinliang, with a smile on his face, suddenly took the initiative to walk forward and said to the many cultivators below:

"Fellow Daoists, that you could come to my Mount Tuoyun today is giving me, this old man, some face. My Mount Tuoyun has been preparing for this trade fair for many years, and all kinds of spiritual items are available. In a moment, Fellow Daoists, please feel free to purchase whatever you wish.

Besides this, I have two major things to announce. First, in the last three days of this trade fair, a Sword Discussion Assembly will be held here. I will personally take out several rare spiritual items as rewards for those who perform well in this Sword Discussion Assembly. All cultivators present can go to the stage below to register and participate in a moment.

The Sword Discussion Assembly is just to give everyone an opportunity to spar with cultivators of the same rank; one must not harm the opponent's life. There will be no fees charged for cultivators who participate voluntarily, so please rest assured and participate, Fellow Daoists."

Hearing Chen Jinliang suddenly announce that he would hold a Sword Discussion Assembly at Mount Tuoyun, the many cultivators below instantly showed looks of surprise. Ever since this Ancestor Chen occupied Mount Tuoyun, he had held five or six large-scale trade fairs. Although there were slight differences each time, to hold a Sword Discussion Assembly and give away spiritual items for many cultivators to participate for free was truly the first time in history.

Hearing this somewhat shocking news, not only were the Qi Refining cultivators below starting to stir, but even the Foundation Establishment cultivators sitting on the wooden chairs on the second-level platform all showed looks of excitement.

Before the many cultivators below could quiet down, Chen Jinliang said calmly, "This second matter is actually of great benefit to everyone present. Some time ago, I already discussed with Sect Master Yao of the Carefree Sect that we will build a new large-scale market on Mount Tuoyun, and both sides will jointly manage this new market.

From today on, whether you are a rogue cultivator, from a major immortal cultivation family, or a fellow Daoist from the Carefree Sect, you can all come to the new Mount Tuoyun market to do business. I hope that after you finish attending the trade fair and return, you will help us promote it. I thank you all in advance here."

Compared to the first piece of news, the second thing Chen Jinliang said was clearly even more unexpected to the cultivators present.

"I didn't expect that this Ancestor Chen would actually take the initiative to choose to cooperate with the Carefree Sect, allowing the other party to extend their influence into Mount Tuoyun. It is no wonder that the Carefree Sect's Golden Core Elder, Chu Fengping, would appear at the Mount Tuoyun trade fair today."

If Chen Jinliang had chosen to join the Carefree Sect when he was young, he would certainly have been able to obtain more cultivation resources and opportunities, allowing him to go further in his cultivation. But Chen Jinliang had not thought this way after cultivating for so many years; he had always wanted to cultivate freely without being constrained by a sect. For this reason, he naturally lost many shortcuts in his cultivation path.

A rogue Golden Core cultivator cultivating alone, whether it was spiritual veins, cultivation techniques, or various cultivation resources, compared to a Golden Core Elder of a major sect like the Carefree Sect that had been established for thousands of years, the gap was extremely large.

Since he did not choose to rely on a sect when he was young, and now Ancestor Chen's lifespan was already insufficient and he had no opportunity to advance to the Nascent Soul realm, it really no longer had much significance for him to defect to the Carefree Sect at this time. It seems that by doing this, he is starting to pave the way for his disciples.

After Ancestor Chen finished these two sentences and stepped down, Feng Yangde, who had been standing on the side, quickly walked to the front again.

"Fellow Daoists, this Mount Tuoyun trade fair will be held for a total of seven days. The rules are the same as in the past. Fellow Daoists, feel free to purchase any spiritual items you take a fancy to later. If you do not have enough spirit stones, you can also go to the Golden Cloud Pavilion to exchange spiritual items for spirit stones.

Later, several registration locations for the Sword Discussion Assembly will be set up at the back. This assembly will be divided into two groups according to cultivation base. Whether you are a Foundation Establishment fellow Daoist or a Qi Refining cultivator, you can go directly to register in the first four days. Once the Sword Discussion Assembly begins, you will no longer be able to participate. I hope you will not miss the time, Fellow Daoists."

As Feng Yangde walked down with a smile, the Mount Tuoyun trade fair officially began. Like the Mount Bailong assembly that Song Qing participated in years ago, the trade fair held at Mount Tuoyun also divided many spiritual items into small stalls, distributed on this wide platform on the mountaintop.

These stalls divided the various spiritual items in the immortal cultivation world into different categories and then distributed them to different stalls according to the grade of the spiritual items. Elixirs, magic treasures, talismans, cultivation techniques, demonic beast materials, etc. all kinds of spiritual items could basically be found here.

Moreover, compared to that Mount Bailong assembly, the Mount Tuoyun trade fair was much higher in both the quantity and quality of spiritual items. Even second-grade high-grade spiritual elixirs that Song Qing had never seen at the Sky Elixir Pavilion in the past could be seen here.

Furthermore, during the Mount Tuoyun trade fair, various new spiritual items would appear every other day. Even if you couldn't find what you wanted today, as long as you were lucky tomorrow, you would still be able to buy it.

After Song Qingming looked around the trade fair for a while, it wasn't long before he saw a set of formation disks that were very suitable for him in the place where second-grade and above Foundation Establishment spiritual items were placed on the second floor.

This set of formation disks was of very good quality and also came with a set of formation flags of the same rank. The quality was that of a second-grade high-grade magic treasure, which was completely sufficient for refining a second-grade medium-grade Spirit Gathering Formation. However, the price of second-grade high-grade formation disks was indeed not low. After hearing the price of 2, 00 spirit stones reported by the clerk at the stall, Song Qingming still hadn't expected it, and after hesitating for a moment, he chose to leave.

There were not many formation masters above the second grade in the immortal cultivation world, so this set of formation disks shouldn't be that easy to sell here. After thinking about it over and over, Song Qingming decided to look for a second-grade medium-grade formation disk with a lower price.

Unfortunately, two days passed, and Song Qingming walked around the trade fair but still didn't see a suitable one. He could only grit his teeth and go back to buy that set of formation disks, feeling a bit of heartache.

"Fellow Daoist Song, seeing you so unhappy, could it be that there is a problem with the spiritual item you bought? All spiritual items sold at our Mount Tuoyun trade fair are guaranteed by the Golden Cloud Pavilion. If you really feel that there is a problem with the spiritual item in your hand, you can take it directly to the Golden Jade Pavilion and let them help you appraise it again. As long as there is a quality problem, the Golden Cloud Pavilion will refund your spirit stones."

Looking at Feng Yangde, who was walking over with a full face of smiles, Song Qingming slowly put away the formation disks in his hand and said with a bitter smile: "Fellow Daoist Feng has misunderstood. I originally wanted to find a formation disk of lower quality, but after searching for a long time, I couldn't find a suitable one. I just had to spend more spirit stones to buy a more expensive one. My spirit stones are almost bottoming out, making you laugh, Fellow Daoist."

"If you are afraid that you won't have enough spirit stones on you if you see a spiritual item you like later, Fellow Daoist Song can also go to the Golden Cloud Pavilion first to see if you can exchange the extra spiritual items you have for some spirit stones. Every time there is a trade fair, many fellow Daoists encounter this kind of thing. Fellow Daoist Song, rest assured, the price at which the Golden Cloud Pavilion acquires spiritual items will not be much different from the price offered by outside markets. This is also to facilitate everyone being able to buy the spiritual items they want at the trade fair."

Song Qingming nodded lightly and said: "This is my first time participating in a trade fair, and I am indeed ignorant of many things. Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Feng."

Hearing Feng Yangde's intentional reminder, Song Qingming quickly walked down from the mountaintop platform and arrived outside the Golden Jade Pavilion in the market. Unlike when Song Qingming and Huang Shengyue came a few days ago, the Golden Cloud Pavilion was now bustling with people, with several times more cultivators than before.

Just as he entered the door, Song Qingming was about to find someone to ask about something when he unexpectedly bumped into an old acquaintance. This person was none other than Fang Wuqian, who had explored the cave dwelling in the Floating Cloud Mountain Range with him years ago.

"Fellow Daoist Fang, it has been several years. I really didn't expect that you and I would meet here. It is truly fate!"

Seeing Song Qingming, Fang Wuqian did not show any surprise on his face; instead, he was quite happy, pulling Song Qingming to the side to chat.

"Fellow Daoist Song is not searching for spiritual items on the mountaintop now, but has come to the Golden Cloud Pavilion. Could it be that you, like me, have come here to sell spiritual items?" After the two chatted for a few sentences, Fang Wuqian remembered to ask why Song Qingming had come to the Golden Cloud Pavilion today.

Song Qingming nodded and said: "Fellow Daoist Fang is right. I spent a lot of spirit stones at the trade fair in the past two days, and today, being short of funds, I remembered to come to the Golden Cloud Pavilion to take a look. This is also my first time participating in a trade fair, and I don't know what kind of spiritual items the Golden Cloud Pavilion recovers here. Could Fellow Daoist please give me some pointers first?"

"Sigh! I wouldn't dare to say 'pointers'. It is normal for Fellow Daoist Song to not know some things since it is your first time here. As for this Mount Tuoyun Golden Cloud Pavilion, Ancestor Chen has been operating it for hundreds of years, and it can now be considered the largest shop in the northern immortal cultivation world of the State of Wei.

However, this Golden Cloud Pavilion doesn't just accept anything on ordinary days. Don't look at the fact that anyone can come in now; that is because the trade fair is being held on the mountaintop. In order to facilitate everyone's exchange for spirit stones, the Golden Cloud Pavilion has specially invited many shopkeepers who appraise spiritual items from various places. After the Golden Cloud Pavilion accepts these spiritual items, they will be taken directly to the trade fair on the mountaintop the next day. They can also earn a lot of spirit stones from this buying and selling."

"So that's how it is! I was wondering how they could bring out so many new spiritual items every day at the trade fair. It turns out these are also brought by the cultivators participating in the trade fair."