vstars Chapter 165 - 142: The Nanchu Style
Chapter 165 - 142: The Nanchu Style
Accompanied by the exceptionally agile Wood Spirit Dragon Form, which occasionally dispersed and re-formed, Fang Qingyuan traveled to Yuanling Square Marketplace. Upon arriving at the Spiritual Material Store belonging to Yuanling Mountain, he met with Shopkeeper Jiang.
Shopkeeper Jiang had been resting in the back room, leaving the mess of front-of-house affairs to the hired Qi Cultivation assistants. But upon seeing Fang Qingyuan, he personally came forward to greet him.
Business at the Spiritual Material Store was becoming more and more prosperous. They had hired five Qi Refining Cultivator assistants just to greet customers at the front, which gave an idea of the scale of the shop’s operations.
Fang Qingyuan had contributed a great deal to this phenomenon. The spiritual materials from the Iron-Seeking Rats he produced were inexpensive, of good quality, and—most importantly—always in stock. This had essentially built a reputation for the Spiritual Material Store.
Inside his Immortal Mansion, Fang Qingyuan was now producing several thousand Spirit Stones’ worth of metal-attribute spiritual materials every month. To avoid letting them pile up, he chose to sell them at a low price for a quick return of capital, which he could then use to acquire more Gold Fire Spirit Ore, ensuring the entire process continued to cycle smoothly.
As a result, these metal-attribute spiritual materials became the Spiritual Material Store’s signature product. They sold very well, even attracting merchants from the Celestial Gate Mountain Marketplace who came to stock up.
Shopkeeper Jiang led Fang Qingyuan into a private room. After serving tea and seeing him seated, the shopkeeper stood beside him and began to speak.
"What brings you here today, Mountain Master? Do you have any important instructions for me?"
For the past few years, Fang Qingyuan had rarely visited the Spiritual Material Store. He had Liu Xun handle the errands of delivering the spiritual materials he produced and retrieving the Gold Fire Spirit Ore. Such trivial matters weren’t worth his personal attention.
Fang Qingyuan looked at Shopkeeper Jiang, quite satisfied with the man. Shopkeeper Jiang truly lived up to his reputation as a talent honed in the Qi Yun Territory. His interpersonal skills and business acumen were far superior to that amateur, Zhang Yuan. The main proof was in the numbers: the store’s monthly revenue was now as high as twenty to thirty thousand Spirit Stones, whereas it had been less than five thousand when Zhang Yuan was the shopkeeper.
The Spiritual Material Store’s profit margin was between one-fifth and one-fourth of its revenue. This meant the store brought in nearly five thousand Spirit Stones of income for Yuanling Mountain each month, making it the largest source of revenue aside from Yuanling Square Marketplace itself.
Hearing Shopkeeper Jiang’s question, Fang Qingyuan got straight to the point.
"Bring me one of every type of fire attribute spiritual material you have in the shop. I want to take a look."
After Fang Qingyuan spoke, Shopkeeper Jiang looked a bit surprised. However, he said nothing more and went directly to the Storage Room. Following Fang Qingyuan’s orders, he selected several dozen types of fire attribute spiritual materials and presented them one by one.
Fang Qingyuan looked at the dozens of types of fire attribute spiritual materials before him and asked,
"Are there any Tier Three Spiritual Materials among these?"
Shopkeeper Jiang chuckled.
"How could our shop possibly have Tier Three Spiritual Materials? We barely even have any Tier Two High Grade materials. Most of what we stock is Tier One. Even if we did have high-end spiritual materials, they would be hard to sell. You know how poor those Loose Cultivators are."
Hearing Shopkeeper Jiang’s words, Fang Qingyuan inwardly shook his head. ’This store follows a low-end strategy, relying on volume to succeed, so I can’t expect to find any high-end spiritual materials here.’
Fang Qingyuan had now made upgrading the Immortal Mansion’s Fire Spirit Root his most urgent priority, and he wouldn’t be stingy with his Spirit Stones to achieve it. In the last few years alone, his dividends added up to almost two hundred thousand Spirit Stones, and that didn’t even include his previous savings.
With a fortune of some three hundred thousand Spirit Stones, Fang Qingyuan felt confident enough to use Tier Two, or even Tier Three, spiritual materials. Unfortunately, his own shop didn’t deal in such high-end goods. His hopes of acquiring them at cost were dashed.
Picking out the few types of Tier Two spiritual materials they had—Fire Spirit Jade, Fire Mist Stone, and Withered Fire Vine—Fang Qingyuan asked for a box of each. All three were Tier Two Lower Grade. A single box was worth three thousand Spirit Stones, and that was just the cost price.
Just like that, Fang Qingyuan bought out nearly all of the shop’s Tier Two fire attribute spiritual materials. After instructing Shopkeeper Jiang to start collecting more high-end fire attribute materials, he left the shop feeling frustrated.
Having money but being unable to buy what he needed—Fang Qingyuan felt nothing had vexed him more recently. Just as he was preparing to head to the Treasure Pavilion to ask Wan Bochong about the situation, a piece of news sent him into a furious rage.
...
Inside the Grand Council Hall on Yuanling Mountain, the atmosphere was exceptionally oppressive. Fang Qingyuan sat in the main seat, his expression dark, while everyone below remained silent.
After a long moment, Fang Qingyuan finally spoke.
"This matter absolutely cannot be left as it is. I don’t care who they are or what their background is—I will make them pay a bitter price. Otherwise, if word gets out, our Yuanling Mountain caravans will become easy prey for anyone. We might as well just shut down this trade route entirely."
The reason for Fang Qingyuan’s fury was that the trade route between Yuanling Square and Jiuye Square, open for less than a year, had been plundered. A mortal caravan dispatched from Yuanling Square had suffered one hundred deaths, and four or five Cultivators had also been lost. Among the casualties were two disciples from the Liao Family—one dead, one injured.
Down below, Liao Wenlamp’s expression was much calmer than Fang Qingyuan’s. Even though his own clansmen were among the dead, he showed little grief. The rage in his eyes, however, burned hotter than anyone else’s.
After setting the tone, Fang Qingyuan asked,
"Have you found out who did it?"
Liao Wenlamp took a step forward and replied,
"It was the Wen Brothers. The three of them are all at the Late-stage Qi Cultivation and are proficient in a joint attack array, allowing them to fight against a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. They are always together, inseparable. Their bandit name is the ’Wen Family’s Three Evils.’ They used to lead a group of Loose Cultivators on White Mountain, working as Tribulation Cultivators. It’s unknown why they’ve come to the Southern Border now."
Hearing this, Fang Qingyuan sneered.
"I don’t care if they’re the Wen Family’s Three Evils or the Wen Family’s Three Idiots. Since they dared to target my Yuanling Mountain, I’ll turn them into the Wen Family’s Three Corpses. Relay my orders! Post a notice in the marketplace offering a bounty on the heads of the three Wen Brothers—ten thousand Spirit Stones per head! For anyone who provides reliable information about their hiding place, a reward of several hundred to two thousand Spirit Stones will be given, depending on the value of the information. I’d like to see for myself just how tough these Wen Brothers really are."
After the brief council meeting, Fang Qingyuan tasked Liao Wenlamp with handling the matter. He then went to a private area with Zhang Yuan. During the meeting, Zhang Yuan had looked as if he wanted to speak but ultimately held his tongue, clearly having some reservations. Fang Qingyuan now sought him out alone to find out what was on his mind.
Seeing that they were alone, Zhang Yuan finally spoke.
"Senior Brother, you can’t treat this matter lightly. You must reconsider. Those Wen Brothers are only at the Late-stage of Qi Refining. They must have a death wish to dare and plunder Yuanling Mountain’s assets. Who doesn’t know by now that Yuanling Square Marketplace is under the Beast Taming Sect? Even if those three were all Foundation Establishment Cultivators, they wouldn’t dare challenge the Beast Taming Sect without a very compelling reason."
After hearing Zhang Yuan out, Fang Qingyuan paced back and forth for a moment before retorting,
"Are you suggesting the Liao Family conspired with outsiders to set us up?"
Zhang Yuan shook his head.
"The Liao Family has neither the motive nor the courage. Their entire clan, more than ten thousand people, young and old, are all under our watch. I can’t imagine why they would do this."
Fang Qingyuan nodded in agreement, then mused,
’You’re right, Junior Brother. My thinking was flawed. But if the Liao Family isn’t involved, then it must be purely the work of outsiders. Who could it be? Shen Wenyan? Or She Xi Yu?’
For a moment, Fang Qingyuan’s suspicion even fell on She Xi Yu. He wondered if She Xi Yu, perhaps unhappy with the small share he’d initially received, was trying to stir up trouble to squeeze a larger stake out of him.
The reason for suspecting Shen Wenyan was even simpler. Given what Shen Wenyan had done to Jiang Kui in the past, Fang Qingyuan was instinctively hostile toward him. It was just that for the past few years, Shen Wenyan had been quietly mining, and there had been no trouble between them.
Aside from Zhang Yuan, Jiang Kui, and Liu Xun—people he had practically watched grow up—Fang Qingyuan subconsciously distrusted everyone else. Even an old partner like She Xi Yu, with whom he had collaborated many times, was among his first suspects.
Seeing Fang Qingyuan suspect even She Xi Yu, Zhang Yuan slapped his own forehead and interjected,
"Could it have been done by an unrelated party? Think about it, Senior Brother. As Yuanling Square Marketplace grows more and more prosperous, whose interests are being hurt the most?"
Fang Qingyuan’s eyes lit up, and he blurted out,
"Jiuye Square!"
Prompted by Zhang Yuan’s reminder, Fang Qingyuan immediately recalled Jiuye Square’s recent situation. In the three or four years since Yuanling Square Marketplace had opened, Jiuye Square had grown quiet, its business no longer as prosperous as before.
Jiuye Square had been jointly established by nine Foundation Establishment Cultivator Clans and was located on the edge of the Wilderness Forest. But although they were also in the Southern Border, they did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect.
Back when the Wei Family was still at Celestial Gate Mountain, Jiuye Square had always given them the cold shoulder. One reason was that it was simply too far from Celestial Gate Mountain, beyond the Wei Family’s reach. The second was that Jiuye Square was not without powerful backing of its own.
As far as Fang Qingyuan knew, Jiuye Square paid an annual tribute to a Golden Core Ancestor from the Nanchu Sect in exchange for his protection. Logically, a sect from Qi Yun like the Nanchu Sect should look down on a marketplace with a shady background like Jiuye Square. However, this particular ancestor from the Nanchu Sect didn’t have a very good reputation himself.
This ancestor’s surname was Chu, and his given name was Duo. His name, which meant ’to seize,’ truly suited him. Rumor had it that he was insatiably greedy, sinister, and cunning—nothing at all like the Nanchu Taoist School, and more in line with the style of Black Wind Valley.
With Chu Duo’s protection, Jiuye Square had naturally paid no mind to the Wei Family back then. As strong as the Wei Family was, what were they compared to the Nanchu Sect, which was presided over by a Nascent Soul Ancestor? Moreover, rumor had it that the Nanchu Sect’s Nascent Soul Ancestor had such a fiery temper that even other Nascent Soul experts dared not provoke him. Wei Tong, of course, had kept a wide berth.
Even when the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect arrived in the region, Lechuan gave face to the Nanchu Sect and refrained from expanding toward Jiuye Square. This wasn’t because Lechuan feared Nanchu, but because both sects were branches of major world powers, and they showed each other mutual respect.
As he wasn’t a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, Fang Qingyuan would have had no way of knowing these inside details. However, Zhao Liangde, though greedy, always told Fang Qingyuan what he needed to know to prevent him from suffering a huge loss out of sheer ignorance.
If that were the case, however—if Jiuye Square was truly pulling the strings—it would be very difficult for Yuanling Mountain to respond. Fang Qingyuan would dare to take on Jiuye Square itself, even with its nine Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
So, the key now was to first determine whether Jiuye Square was truly involved. If they were, Fang Qingyuan would have to go and report the matter to Lechuan.