Chapter 254

He Pingsheng put away the items and slowly walked down to the first floor.

The first floor was empty.

Qiao Huizhu was not there.

Qiao Huizhu restored her cultivation to Foundation Establishment sixth layer in just two years.

In the following ten years, she spent eight more years raising her cultivation to Foundation Establishment eleventh layer.

Then, she too hit a bottleneck.

Over the past two years, since breakthrough seemed impossible, she liked to wander outside—partly to seek opportunities to break through, as both she and He Pingsheng faced such bottlenecks; partly to search for Qiao Xiaoqiao.

It had been twelve years in total.

Qiao Xiaoqiao remained utterly silent.

If He Pingsheng was Qiao Huizhu's reliance, then Qiao Xiaoqiao was her only blood relative in this world.

Not finding Qiao Xiaoqiao left her unsettled.

"Is Xu Daoist here?" A loud voice came from outside the courtyard.

He Pingsheng recognized the voice at once.

Elder Ling.

He was a low-ranking Elder of the Red Moon Trading Society, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, whose real name was Ling Zhiwang.

Since arriving in Hongshi City, He Pingsheng had always used the name Xu Kunlun, so Ling Zhiwang calling him Xu Daoist was perfectly fine.

Over the past decade, He Pingsheng had not been in seclusion the whole time.

When free, he would visit the Red Moon Trading Society and had purchased third-rank array materials several times.

Ling Zhiwang had delivered goods to him before.

Later, after seeing the true third-rank array He Pingsheng had set up outside the courtyard, Ling Zhiwang began to view him with new respect.

Even in Hongshi City, array masters capable of setting up third-rank arrays were exceedingly rare, and each was highly esteemed.

They held extraordinary status.

Thus, Ling Zhiwang had asked He Pingsheng to set up several arrays for him.

Of course, not for himself, but for friends he had introduced.

Each array setup brought a substantial reward.

Back and forth, though they were not old friends, they had become familiar acquaintances.

"Elder Ling… please come in, please come in…" He Pingsheng invited Ling Zhiwang into the courtyard.

"I won't go inside your cultivation hall!" Ling Zhiwang glanced at the small building and said: "Xu Daoist, I've got good news—city lord's mansion has released a batch of shops!"

"They're being auctioned right here!"

"Aren't you in need of one?"

"Don't forget to attend the auction in three days!"

"Here's your auction token!"

Ling Zhiwang handed He Pingsheng a red token.

He Pingsheng was overjoyed: "Thank you, thank you… I'll definitely be there in three days!"

"Good. Xu Daoist, I won't keep you—see you in three days!"

He Pingsheng saw Ling Zhiwang out to the gate.

Opening a shop was not He Pingsheng's idea.

It was Qiao Huizhu's suggestion.

Of course, opening a shop wasn't the real intent.

Her goal was to meet people through the shop, thereby improving her chances of gathering news about Qiao Xiaoqiao.

Or, to choose a uniquely distinctive name—so if Qiao Xiaoqiao ever saw the shop, she would come to it herself.

This idea gained He Pingsheng's approval.

Opening a shop in Hongshi City was no easy matter.

First, you had to win a shop at auction.

Every shop auction was driven up to astronomical prices.

Second, once you opened a shop, you had to pay annual taxes to the city lord's mansion.

Tax rates varied, but were generally one percent of the shop's total price.

Similar to buying a house.

Finally, to protect the interests of major trading societies, all cultivators opening shops must sell only a single category of goods.

For example, a pill shop.

Then you could sell only pill-related items.

Such as finished pills and herbs.

Nothing else was permitted.

Similarly, if it was a talisman shop, you could sell only: talismans, talisman ink, talisman paper—absolutely no pills or other goods.

In short, it was to safeguard the trading societies' interests.

And those major trading societies usually had shares owned by the city lord's mansion; some were even directly operated by it.

Of course, some trading societies were established by the Liang State.

Over the next three days, He Pingsheng did not inform Qiao Huizhu, but instead tidied up the courtyard.

Three days later, he went directly to the Red Moon Trading Society.

"Xu Daoist… please come in, please come in…"

Ling Zhiwang, beaming, said: "I've reserved a VIP seat for you—just take your place up there!"

He Pingsheng said: "No need for that."

"It's necessary!" Ling Zhiwang said: "You're my good brother!"

"Good brother" was just polite flattery.

In truth, Ling Zhiwang had benefited greatly by introducing He Pingsheng to several powerful figures for third-rank array setups.

He had gained substantial profit from He Pingsheng.

Of course, He Pingsheng, as an array master, had also received ample reward.

"Young brother!" Ling Zhiwang whispered: "Are you planning to open an array shop?"

"If so, you'll be swamped—probably no time left for cultivation!"

He Pingsheng smiled: "No… I'm opening a pill shop."

"Huh?"

Ling Zhiwang said: "You know how to refine pills?"

"This… really?"

He Pingsheng said: "Refining pills and setting up arrays are fundamentally connected."

After speaking, He Pingsheng took his token and walked straight to the back of the auction hall.

Ling Zhiwang was left bewildered: "Pill refining… array setting?"

"Connected?"

"How are they connected?"

"How did I not know this?"

He Pingsheng had reached the auction hall.

As for how pill refining and array setting were connected, He Pingsheng meant it in terms of spiritual sense.

As long as your spiritual sense was strong enough, neither was a problem.

The auction hall's layout was nearly identical to the only other auction He Pingsheng had attended, hosted by Jiang Lan.

Below were the regular seats.

Above were the VIP seats.

He Pingsheng checked his token—it was for a VIP seat.

He took his assigned seat and waited patiently.

The auction would not begin for a while yet.

Today's auction was not a general one—it was a special Zhuanchang.

The city lord's mansion Zhuanchang auctioned only shops.

And more than one shop was being auctioned today; He Pingsheng had seen the announcement—over twenty in total.

Each location differed, each size varied, and thus the starting bids naturally differed.

After half an hour, the auction began.

He Pingsheng noticed few people had come to bid.

The auction hall could seat over a thousand, yet fewer than two hundred had arrived.

But everyone present had high cultivation.

Either Foundation Establishment peak or Golden Core.

And all of them were seated in the VIP section.