Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

As time passed, news of the relics gradually ceased to be mentioned, and Yunping State returned to a state of tranquility.

However, the relics still brought some changes to Yunping State, such as the increasing number of Loose Cultivators staying in Yunping State, as well as the increasingly bustling Marketplace.@@novelbin@@

The two issues were related, for as the number of Loose Cultivators increased, so did their spending power, which naturally made the Marketplace more prosperous.

The reason why Loose Cultivators were willing to stay in Yunping State was because the prices there were lower.

Although the two states bordered each other, the mountains had previously been a barrier, and low-level Loose Cultivators rarely traveled between them, unfamiliar with each other.

With the collapse of the mountains and the emergence of the relics, the contact between the Cultivators of the two states gradually increased, leading to a deeper understanding and familiarity with one another.

It was then that the Cultivators of Green Mountain State discovered, to their surprise, that the daily lives of the Dao friends in Yunping State were much better than theirs!

For instance, in Yunping State, a Jade Spirit Pill cost three Spirit Stones, but in Green Mountain State, it sold for four Spirit Stones! Other Spiritual Objects were also cheaper.

Of course, Yunping State had its drawbacks, such as the Spiritual Energy not being as dense as in Green Mountain State and the resources not being as abundant. However, thanks to the advantage of lower prices, many Loose Cultivators were still attracted to settle in Yunping State.

In addition, because of the differences in prices between the two regions, a group of middlemen flourished.

Business dealings between the two states had previously been confined to the various powers, but now, many low-level Cultivators were using their limited Spirit Stones to purchase inexpensive Spiritual Objects in Yunping State and then transport them to Green Mountain State to sell at higher prices.

As a result, the businesses in the shops of Yunqing Marketplace flourished even more, including the Li family's two major industries in the Marketplace.

"Last month, the family's two major industries yielded a net profit of over four thousand Spirit Stones!" This figure excluded the portion of the Jade Spirit Pills purchased by the merchant caravans. Had these been included, the net profit might have been around six thousand Spirit Stones.

This was not the highest earning month for the Li family, but it was previously due to several merchant caravans passing through the Marketplace.

Moreover, an income of four thousand Spirit Stones was a thousand more than usual.

This was due not only to the increased number of Cultivators in the Marketplace but also to the hard-working small traders from Green Mountain State.

Li Zhirui nodded and asked, "The Alchemists currently being trained by the family should still be able to meet the demand, shouldn't they?"

Since Li Zhirui had been successful in refining Consolidating Yuan Pills, he seldom took part in refining first-order Spirit Pills. The occasional batches he did refine were for Da Qing.

The family's Alchemists, besides supplying the general store, also had to meet the needs of the clan members.

"After years of practice, the success rate for Jade Spirit Pills has reached eighty percent, but sometimes when demand is high, they can get a bit busy," answered Li Shihe.

"In that case, select a few more family members to train," Li Zhirui suggested after some thought. He added, "The family has assigned tasks to those Alchemist clan members. If we ask them to refine additional Spirit Pills, they must be compensated accordingly."

"As for the specifics of this compensation, I'll leave it to Elder Shihe and Elder Shiqi to handle the details."

Seeing the two nod in agreement, Li Zhirui then inquired about other matters, "How is the situation with the Giant Spirit Poison Bees?"

Li Shiyu quickly responded, "With the guidance of Elder Shilian, we have successfully bred three queen bees, and they have signed servitude contracts with two clan members."

The combat ability of Giant Spirit Poison Bees was not weak, but the precondition was to have a large number in the swarm. Although the bees were second-order Devil Beasts, apart from the queen bee, it was practically impossible for the other Spirit Bees to break through to the second order.

Furthermore, now that all clan members, apart from a few at Foundation Establishment, had Spirit Beasts, the only option for better control of the swarm was to find people willing to sign servitude contracts.

"With the 'Beekeeping Manual' in hand, if any clan member wishes to contract with the Giant Spirit Poison Bee in the future, cultivating a bee queen from a nest would be feasible,"

Li Zhirui inquired about other matters one by one and his feeling was that, apart from the shortage of manpower, everything else was fine.

However, Li Zhirui couldn't simply conjure up people—where would he get so many?

Lately, quite a few clan members' wives and concubines had become pregnant, but it would be at least a decade or more before their children grew up. Distant water can't put out a nearby fire!

"I do have an idea," Li Zhizhun suddenly spoke up. "I remember that most of our clan members have taken mortal women as wives. We could find reputable loose cultivators to become their Dao companions. That way, our clan wouldn't lack manpower."

The Li family wasn't devoid of members with different surnames, but their numbers were few, mostly male cultivators who had come from Bailang County to Da Rong Island and had joined the Li family many years ago.

They had undergone numerous tests to earn the clan members' trust.

If things were done as Li Zhizhun suggested, then these newly admitted loose cultivators could initially only handle some less crucial tasks, such as helping in the East Mountain Spirit Field or caring for some common Spiritual Medicines on Spirit Medicine Mountain.

Still, this was a good thing; at least some clan members could be freed to deal with more important matters.

"This method is good. Since it was you who proposed it, Zhizhun, you take the lead on it," Li Zhirui felt the matter was somewhat troublesome, with too many aspects to consider, so he decisively passed it on to Li Zhizhun to sort out.

Li Zhizhun had no choice but to agree; after all, he was the real Clan Leader, even though he hadn't formally taken up the position.

"If there's nothing else, let's leave it at that." Just as Li Zhirui was about to rise and leave, he saw a clan member from the guard squad knocking on the door.

"What happened?" Li Zhirui gestured for him to come in.

The clan member reported, "An envoy from the Yuanming Sect has arrived, she'll be at the main hall shortly."

"Did the envoy say what it's about?"

The clan member shook his head.

"Understood. Continue patrolling," Li Zhirui led a group of Elders out of the main hall to welcome the envoy's arrival.

Before long, they saw a Foundation Establishment female cultivator with outstanding features approaching gracefully, who greeted them, "Yuanming Sect's Kong Qing'er pays respects to all fellow Daoists here."

"We pay our respects to Daoist Kong," Li Zhirui and the others responded.

"I have long heard of Daoist Li's youthful talent, but I had never had the pleasure of meeting. Now that I see you in person, I realize the rumors do not do justice. A personage like Daoist Li cannot be simply encapsulated by the term 'talent'."

Her eyes roved with admiration, brimming with radiance.

Kong Qing'er's gaze towards Li Zhirui was filled with adoration and reverence, as a fitting blush flushed over her fair cheeks, rendering her quite bashful.

Li Zhirui's expression stiffened slightly. Although he had not experienced love and romance himself, he had certainly seen enough of it secondhand.

Moreover, it was obvious that this female cultivator was putting on an act! Find more to read at My Virtual Library Empire

Even though he was quite handsome, the world of cultivation teemed with too many attractive men and women, leading to general beauty fatigue; love at first sight was hardly a thing.

But since Kong Qing'er was an envoy from the Yuanming Sect, Li Zhirui couldn't afford to offend her. Otherwise, if it had been any other female cultivator, he would have turned around and left without bothering to converse further.

Ignoring the bashfulness on Kong Qing'er's face, Li Zhirui spoke warmly yet without undue familiarity, "Since the envoy has come from afar, it would be proper to host a banquet to refresh you from your journey. However, I am wary of detaining you from important matters of the Supreme Ancestor. I beg your understanding."