Crafting an Immortal Race with Daily Hexagrams-Chapter 290 - 189: Reentering the Seven Sages Mountain Secret Realm (Part 6)
"During this period, we have been taking turns observing those loose cultivators’ stalls, but indeed, there’s not much in the way of clues."
Shen Wenping sighed upon hearing this.
In the years since she took over the shop in the market, her cultivation unknowingly reached the Qi Cultivation First Layer.
Last time she went home, she noticed her mother aging more rapidly and observed that her father, Shen Yuan, seldom went to train at the Black Water Pavilion.
Most of the time, he quietly accompanied her mother, holding some books in the courtyard.
Unintentionally seeing one of her father’s books, she found it was full of records about life-extending items. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
She secretly kept this in mind.
Upon returning to Jinghe Market, she immediately dispatched the shop’s cultivators to take turns in the market to inquire and seek out life-extending Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.
But unfortunately, despite all this time, there was no harvest.
Turning back to look at the pile of Defense Talismans behind her, Shen Wenping’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and an idea suddenly arose in her mind.
"Shi Yang, go fetch a blank signboard."
The cultivator named Shi Yang was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly fetched a signboard from the backyard of the shop.
"Help me hold it steady."
As Shen Wenping spoke, she picked up a pen and wrote vigorously on the blank signboard.
[Anyone who brings Heavenly and Earthly Treasures or various Spiritual Objects to our Shen Family shop for identification and passes the selection will receive a Lower Grade Qi Cultivation Realm Defense Talisman for free, regardless of whether they sell it or not.]
[If willing to sell the treasure to our Shen Family shop, they will receive two additional Lower Grade Qi Cultivation Realm Talismans as a gift on top of the agreed price.]
After writing these two lines, Shen Wenping reviewed them carefully. Finding no issue, she said, "Place this plaque in the most prominent place."
Seeing this, Shi Yang looked a bit troubled and said, "Miss, isn’t this action perhaps inappropriate?"
"These talismans, half of which belong to the Celestial Talisman Sect, how do we explain to them if we give them away for free?"
Shen Wenping replied calmly, "You don’t need to worry about this matter; just do as instructed."
The sales of these Lower Grade Qi Cultivation Realm Defense Talismans in the shop were very poor, and when customers bought other talismans with high enough consumption, she would give them as gifts.
Even so, every month there would still be some discarded due to spiritual power dissipation, causing them to fall below the standard in potency.
She did this to make use of those low-tier talismans about to be scrapped.
After some thought, she returned to the shop and personally wrote a letter.
When Shi Yang returned after hanging the signboard outside, Shen Wenping handed him the letter and said, "Deliver this to Immortal Master Zhang of the Celestial Talisman Sect immediately."
"Understood!" Shi Yang took the letter and left the shop.
...
"An extraordinary woman!"
"Indeed, an extraordinary woman she is!"
In the Commandery City of Wushan County, Zhang Shen, the chief of the Celestial Talisman Sect, couldn’t help but praise Shen Wenping after reading the letter she sent.
Beside him, a girl in purple couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Why is Senior Brother so agitated?"
Handing over the letter in his hand, Zhang Shen smiled and said, "Weren’t you just thinking about how to reduce the wastage of these talismans?"
"Take a look at this method by Miss Shen."
The girl in purple took the letter, read it, and her eyes lit up slightly.
"This method is indeed quite interesting."
"Our Celestial Talisman Sect cannot intervene in that Jinghe Market, and many exotic treasures flowing into the market are intercepted by several other Immortal Sects."
"If we truly follow Miss Shen’s method, with those Low Tier Talismans that might get scrapped at any moment, we can have the good things flowing into Jinghe Market pass through our hands first."
"Perhaps we might really get lucky and find something big."
"The expenditure of a few Low Tier Talismans can be recouped immediately if we find any one good thing."
Zhang Shen nodded, sincerely exclaiming, "The people of the Shen Family are truly dragons and phoenixes among men."
"Only it’s a pity that Miss Shen has no Spiritual Root, or else she would be another female cultivator of unparalleled beauty like Wei Qiuling..."
Hearing this, the girl in purple chuckled, "Senior Brother, don’t forget, Wei Qiuling is already Shen Wen’an’s partner. Though Miss Shen is a widow, she has a son."
"Ahem..."
Facing the peculiar expression of the girl in purple, Zhang Shen quickly coughed lightly and said, "Junior Sister, don’t misunderstand, I only admire and respect her, nothing more."
"Moreover, when compared to those two, Junior Sister is not inferior either."
The girl in purple said with a hint of irony, "Not inferior, you say?"
Zhang Shen was taken aback by these words.
Seeing his expression, the girl in purple covered her mouth and giggled, "Alright, I won’t tease you anymore."
"Miss Shen has invited a knowledgeable person from our Celestial Talisman Sect to Jinghe Market to oversee..."
Zhang Shen smiled gently at her and said, "No one is more suitable than Junior Sister for this task."
The girl in purple lightly laughed and nodded.
"This trip is a good chance to meet the Miss Shen who has earned such praise from Senior Brother."
...
Three Mountains County.
Since the appearance of the Seven Sages Mountain Secret Realm, Three Mountains County has become, aside from Jinghe County, the place with the most cultivators.
Rumors occasionally spread of cultivators acquiring some Heavenly and Earthly Treasures or cultivation techniques from the Seven Sages Mountain Secret Realm.
This incited noble families and loose cultivators, those with a gambler’s mindset, to perpetually flock into the secret realm.
Though many cultivators unfortunately left their lives in the secret realm,
all the newcomers believed they wouldn’t be the unfortunate ones; they thought they would be heaven’s favored ones who could obtain heaven-defying treasures and inheritances from the secret realm and soar to the skies!
On a mountain path, Shen Chongming and Chen Youran disguised themselves as an ordinary farming couple this time.
They even used the Concealing Breath Skill to suppress their cultivation to appear at the Qi Cultivation Fourth or Fifth Layer.
After paying two Spirit Crystal Fragments as an entrance fee, they followed the crowd heading up the mountain.
Looking at the endless stream of cultivators before and behind them, Chen Youran sighed and commented, "Brother Ming, I wonder how much One Qi Sect earns daily from the Seven Sages Mountain Secret Realm?"
Before Shen Chongming could speak, a middle-aged man in front of them chuckled and said, "The amount of Spirit Crystals One Qi Sect earns is beyond the imagination of us loose cultivators."
"It’s said that information from Tingfeng Valley reveals that since the emergence of the Seven Sages Mountain Secret Realm, One Qi Sect can gather nearly a thousand Spirit Crystals annually just from this one location."
"This doesn’t even include the times when some loose cultivators take out spiritual objects far exceeding the ticket price, giving One Qi Sect a windfall."
Upon hearing this, surrounding cultivators were stunned.
Shen Chongming and Chen Youran were equally shocked.
They knew that the Shen Family, now controlling the land of four cities, with all their assets combined, had an annual income of around two hundred Spirit Crystals.
For One Qi Sect to earn over a thousand Spirit Crystals annually from just one secret realm, it was truly enviable.
Yet, suspicion arose in Shen Chongming’s mind.
The Yangnao Land is already divided among other sects, and though they haven’t publicly disclosed their earnings from Yangnao Land, it seems unlikely to reach over a thousand Spirit Crystals.
With One Qi Sect occupying Three Mountains County and having such a lucrative income from just the Seven Sages Mountain Secret Realm, adding others would likely far surpass the other sects.
Is it possible these other Immortal Sects have no designs?
With this thought, his eyes narrowed slightly, and a budding idea sprouted in his mind.
As for how to proceed at the moment, it would have to wait until after their return to make a decision.
