Chapter 535
Zhang Shijie followed Qian Zhenren, along with Jiao Wuji and Yuan Shijie.
As soon as they stepped out, Zhang Shijie tossed out a few confidentiality agreements, her demeanor growing increasingly confident.
"This is…"
"You can take a look at the terms inside. If you’re unwilling, it might be inconvenient for you to visit the Jiushan Realm."
Song Zhangmen paused for a moment, scanning the contents of the agreement.
Though lengthy, the language was straightforward and easy to understand.
He felt a flicker of excitement; this confidentiality agreement indicated that the Jiushan Sect was about to show him something substantial.
The members of the Qingmu Sect exchanged glances, and upon turning around, they saw that Xin Zhangmen had already signed with the people from the Sunu Sect, seemingly without even reading the agreement…
Song Zhangmen quickly dismissed his thoughts and hurriedly signed his name.
Zhang Shijie glanced at them and nodded, saying, "The people from Qingmu Sect will follow me."
"The people from Sunu Pavilion will follow Jiao Wuji."
Given her current authority, no one dared to speak out of turn, and they all dispersed to carry out their tasks.
Song Zhangmen led the members of Qingmu Sect, following Zhang Shijie and Qian Zhenren.
Zhang Shijie, acting as a diligent tour guide, introduced, "The first place we’re going is the Jingkai Island market."
"Jingkai Island is the only island in the Jiushan Realm that allows outsiders to come and go freely, without any confidentiality restrictions."
Song Zhangmen smiled, "We know that; we have a shop in this market."
He was naturally clever and adaptable. When the Jingkai Island market was first established, Qingmu Sect had rented a shop there.
However, the market had only been open for a short time, and Qingmu Sect had been robbed twice, so the shop had hardly operated at all.
So, Qingmu Sect actually had an asset?
Unfortunately, it was just a rented shop…
"I know," Zhang Shijie, well-versed in everything about the Jiushan Realm, continued, "But your shop hasn’t been open much. There are people who want to contact you to see if you’re willing to transfer it."
"Transfer?"
Song Zhangmen paused, curious, "What do you mean?"
"They’re willing to pay a transfer fee."
Zhang Shijie thought for a moment and mentioned a figure.
The eyes of the Grand Elder beside them widened in shock.
"We haven’t even opened the shop, and we could make ten times the rent just like that?"
He suddenly turned to Song Zhangmen, signaling with his eyes: "Sell it!"
Heaven knows, Qingmu Sect was so poor that they were nearly driven mad. This amount of spirit stones wasn’t much before, but now… how should one put it?
It could turn from barely scraping by to living for the moment.
Song Zhangmen felt a surge of excitement but suppressed his joy, wanting to see the Jingkai Island market for himself.
This shop’s appreciation must have a reason behind it, right?
He followed Zhang Shijie onto Jingkai Island.
As soon as he stepped off the rainbow bridge, he stopped in his tracks.
The bustling scene before him left the members of Qingmu Sect speechless, unable to find their words.
In the three horizontal and three vertical streets, customers jostled for space, especially in front of some crowded shops where there was hardly room to turn around.
The lights and neon glowed, and the noise was deafening; the entire Jingkai Island market seemed to be pulsating with energy.
For ordinary cultivators, it might not feel like much.
But for the members of Qingmu Sect, who knew how hard it was to make a living, seeing this scene was intoxicating.
Thinking about the few stragglers in their own market, and then looking at what lay before them, this… was how the Qingmu Sect market used to be, or rather, how it should have been in their dreams.
"No wonder someone wants to transfer the shop…"
At this moment, the Grand Elder also came to his senses.
With such foot traffic, the shops inside were practically treasure troves!
Song Zhangmen looked outside the market and noticed that Jingkai Island had gained a dock, where about a dozen oddly-shaped boats were moored.
Zhang Shijie followed his gaze and saw Han Qi at the dock, welcoming passengers onto the island, which made her smile.
She had a deep impression of Han Qi.
By a twist of fate, he was one of the first to ally with her junior brother in the Jiushan Sect, and he had some luck on his side.
Now he had also reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
Moreover… he was in charge of the ferry boats that brought people to Jingkai Island.
Thinking of the ferry boats, Zhang Shijie’s expression became a bit dazed—this was also the handiwork of Zheng Shidi, marking one of the initial reforms he implemented in the Jiushan Realm.
At that time, it had worked well, bringing in a lot of income for the market.
However, with the emergence of the Great Freedom Demon Sect, the Jiushan market was abandoned, and the ferry service was halted.
Now, the ferry boats had made a comeback—
The Jiushan Realm was no longer fixed in one place but roamed across the vast territory of the Hundred Immortals Alliance, stopping for about half a year at each location.
This was also Zheng Shidi’s intention.
According to Zheng Shidi, this model could engrave the name of Jiushan Sect onto this territory, making sure that all major sects and families within the domain knew there was a Jiushan Realm above them.
But the main reason was still to facilitate business.
The current Jiushan Realm was akin to a mobile marketplace, attracting cultivators from the domain to trade whenever it arrived at a new location.
The ferry boats were reestablished to make it easier for these cultivators to come.
And today’s ferry boats were nothing like before.
Song Zhangmen, having a keen eye, stared at the round glowing orb at the bow of one of the ferry boats, dumbfounded, "Is that… an external dan?"
Zhang Shijie nodded.
This ferry boat could be considered an upgraded version of the Shenxiao Feizhou.
The improvement was simple: the ferry boat had a complete Shenxiao external dan!
Besides providing power to the boat, its greatest use was to unleash the power of the Golden Core in emergencies to attack enemies—
Or, as her junior brother put it, this thing was called a Shenxiao Warship!
Compared to the previous ferry boats, this Shenxiao Warship was more expensive to build, as it required an external dan.
But using it was incredibly cost-effective—because the power didn’t come from spirit stones but from the external dan itself.
Once built, it was almost pure profit!
Most importantly, it also had combat capabilities.
With about a dozen Shenxiao Warships docked, Song Zhangmen’s eyes were filled with longing.
How much would these things be worth if dismantled…
"This… must be expensive, right?"
Recalling the poverty back at the sect, he asked, but as soon as the words left his mouth, his face flushed, feeling quite embarrassed.
Zhang Shijie thought for a moment and nodded.
Song Zhangmen let out a quiet sigh of relief; seeing that even Zhang Wuyi thought it was expensive made him feel a bit better.
"It would take half a month’s income from the market to build one…"
Song Zhangmen’s expression twisted slightly; he wanted to curse, but looking at Zhang Shijie’s cool gaze, he didn’t dare to speak.
He stiffly turned his neck to look at Han Qi, who was giving orders at the dock, and asked, "You trust a Foundation Establishment novice to manage these dozen external dans?"
Zhang Shijie smiled, not hiding the truth, "He’s very good at managing these ferry boats."
Initially, Zheng Fa and Han Qi had met on one of the ferry boats.
Later, when Zheng Fa reformed the ferry service, Han Qi was among the first batch of Jiushan Sect disciples to help ferry cultivators.
He understood Zheng Fa’s arrangements for the ferry boats very well, and indeed, this batch of ferry boats had been managed excellently—Han Qi had contributed to the bustling atmosphere on Jingkai Island.
Hearing this, Song Zhangmen’s expression softened.
Then Zhang Shijie added, "He has another advantage…"
"What’s that?"
"He allied with Zheng Shidi quite early."
Allied early…
Song Zhangmen certainly caught the implication and turned to look at his own stubborn Grand Elder.
But the Grand Elder of Qingmu Sect was currently oblivious to their conversation, staring intently at a shop selling elixirs in the market.
The number of customers in this shop wasn’t particularly high compared to the bustling Jingkai Island market, but it was still surrounded by layers of patrons.
He sniffed, as if catching a whiff of some elixir, and exclaimed in surprise, "This scent… is this a shop of the Zhenling Sect?"
Zhang Shijie glanced at the old man, her expression showing some interest.
Indeed, this was a shop of the Zhenling Sect, a Golden Core sect within the Hundred Immortals Alliance, renowned for its alchemy, though not as formidable as Qingmu Sect.
What was even more impressive was this old man; with just a sniff, he could identify the shop’s owner?
Song Zhangmen quietly explained, "Grand Elder, he is the one with the highest alchemical skills in our Qingmu Sect. Some alchemical secrets can only be mastered by him."
It was precisely because of this that he valued the old man’s opinion so highly; there were some secret methods he truly couldn’t grasp!
Zhang Shijie nodded, feeling that the Grand Elder was a bit obsessed—he was completely ignoring everyone else, frowning as he stared at the shop, suddenly bursting out, "What’s wrong with the Zhenling Sect! With such little skill, how can they have such a good business?"
Table of Contents
