Clarity

Qiu Junsong looked at her and shook his head with a smile, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepening.

“We can’t hear anything from outside, and perhaps the people outside can’t hear us either. But that doesn’t mean this private room is completely soundproof or secure. Think about it—the attendant who received us was very careful with his words, yet from beginning to end, he never once mentioned that this room could block sound and spiritual perception.”

Jiang Sisi was puzzled by this, but since her sect master had said so, she switched to transmitting her voice directly. “Master, didn’t you just tell me that the attendant was a mortal? It’s only natural that mortals wouldn’t think things through as carefully as cultivators.”

After receiving her voice transmission, Qiu Junsong shook his head at her with a smile again. He did not reply through voice transmission, however, and instead spoke aloud:

“I’ve always taught you that you must never underestimate people. The thoughts of mortals may not necessarily be inferior to those of cultivators. Besides, when traveling outside, it is best to be cautious and regard both people and matters with a higher level of vigilance. That can help you avoid many unforeseen troubles.”

“If the information we’ve gathered over the years is accurate, the mortals in Xiushui City are different from ordinary mortals. They have far more contact with cultivators than ordinary people do. Since we don’t know the extent of that contact, we naturally cannot make rash assumptions about the knowledge or mentality of the mortals here.”

“When dealing with things, you cannot rely solely on habitual assumptions to think or act. You must take every variable into consideration…”

The moment she heard her sect master and master begin lecturing her again, Jiang Sisi groaned inwardly. Unfortunately, Elder Yu—the only person who could stop the sect master—had been assigned by him to remain outside today!

Fortunately, at that moment, the center of the venue, which had been pitch-black, suddenly lit up with a flash. Bright light poured through the windows of the private rooms, bringing all the conversations taking place inside them to an abrupt halt.

All the lights directly above the venue converged on the center.

“This auction is the first one held by the Xiushui City Trading Center. Thank you all for coming today.” Liu Yunan appeared beneath the gathered lights and raised his hand in a salute toward the windows of the surrounding private rooms.

Who knew how many times he had practiced that gesture with Sun Yigao over the past few days?

“First, I must inform everyone that all auction items in this auction are guaranteed by the Xiushui City Trading Center. We guarantee that every item matches its description, and when the goods are delivered, buyers will be provided with an inspection process. If there is any discrepancy, the item may be returned or exchanged.”

“Second, future auctions will be held regularly. Different venues will be opened according to the grades of the auction items. If any sect has valuable goods, they are also welcome to bring them here for auction.”

“Furthermore, I believe everyone noticed the sign outside reading ‘Trading Affairs Center’ when you came in. From now on, Xiushui City will establish different commercial districts for cultivators based on various categories. These districts will contain shops selling all kinds of goods closely related to cultivation.”

“Not only that, every sect and imperial family present today will receive a shop rent-free for one year. If your sect or clan has any goods to sell, you may bring them here. Once the one-year rent-free period ends, you can simply return the shop if you no longer wish to lease it.”

As soon as these words were spoken, all the cultivators present were caught off guard.

They had not expected further plans for commercial districts.

It seemed that this auction really was an ordinary auction after all.

They immediately thought of the shops Liu Yunan had mentioned—shops that would be free of rent for a year—and many of them were tempted. But when they considered that their own sects and clans had no goods suitable for long-term sale, their enthusiasm quickly faded.

Although the mortal world did not have any large-scale trading markets, there were actually quite a few scattered, small marketplaces.

However, one marketplace would usually become lively for a few years before gradually disappearing, while another would flourish for a few years before meeting the same fate.

And even when people called them lively, they were in reality nothing more than a few small stalls put together by the nearby sects and imperial families, selling scattered quantities of their sects’ limited surplus products.

There were not many such goods to begin with, and most were items the sects had painstakingly accumulated over many years. Moreover, none of the sects was willing to spare manpower and energy to maintain a marketplace that offered almost no profit. As a result, it was impossible for any marketplace to remain in operation for long.

The most successful attempt had been a marketplace organized jointly by more than a dozen sects.

Even so, it had lasted no more than ten years.

There were many reasons for its failure, but no one had been willing to step forward, summarize the lessons, and lead everyone in trying again.

Of course, even if someone had been willing to do so, no one else would have accepted being the sacrificial bird.

After all, none of them possessed resources that were particularly outstanding, and no one was willing to become the party that had to follow orders and submit to someone else’s leadership.

In short, after hearing Liu Yunan’s words, the representatives of the various sects and imperial families present understood what the Lingxian Sect intended to do.

Some of them sneered inwardly. Their sects had been unable to establish a successful marketplace after so many years, so where had the Lingxian Sect found the nerve to try?

Others did not mock them, but merely sighed in silence, clearly not optimistic about the plan.

There were also people like the Qinghe Sect Master, who quickly connected this matter with certain other developments.

For example, in recent years, the resources that had suddenly begun appearing from the Li imperial family of the Pusi Kingdom had always been delivered in full and on time, without the slightest delay or shortage, no matter how many transactions they conducted.

There were also the various orders the Li imperial family had placed. As far as he knew, whether it was the Qinghe Sect, the Yunyan Sect, or the Shangyang Sect, all three sects had been delivering their talisman orders on schedule every month. Over time, the accumulated quantity was no small amount.

But those talismans were all rather obscure and practically useless in the mortal world!

Previously, since the Li imperial family had always been able to pay the full amount of spirit stones, everyone had deliberately chosen not to think too deeply about where the Li family was selling those talismans.

Now, however, it seemed that the Li family had already been cooperating with the Lingxian Sect for quite some time. The source of the goods—and their true market—belonged not to the Li family, but to the Lingxian Sect.

If the Qinghe Sect Master could figure this out, then the Yunyan Sect and the Shangyang Sect naturally could as well.

Not only them—even the other sects present that usually interacted closely with the three major sects could reach the same conclusion. Since the three major sects had obtained cheap goods from the Li family, they would naturally sell some of them elsewhere.

Thus, in practically no time at all, every sect present understood the origins of the suddenly abundant supply of goods that had appeared over the past few years.

Li Zhanying sighed silently to himself.

It seemed that the Li family’s days of standing above everyone else would come to an end today. With Xiushui City, the Lingxian Sect would no longer need them in the future.

Li Zeyuan, the only Golden Core cultivator in the Li family, naturally knew about his clan’s dealings with the Lingxian Sect as well. Seeing his old ancestor sigh, he became somewhat dejected too.

“Old Ancestor, does this mean the Lingxian Sect won’t do business with our Li family anymore?”

Li Zhanying smiled when he saw his expression.

“That may not be the case. We have already benefited greatly over the past several years, and the clan’s accumulated wealth now far exceeds what it was during the previous several decades. I sighed only because I feel a little regretful. In the future, it may be difficult for us to maintain such a close relationship with the Lingxian Sect again.”